Guyana Times -- Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Canadian-Guyana Chamber of Commerce to be launched P15 Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Issue No. 4486

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2020

Guyana’s legal, statutory framework protecting investors’ confidence most robust in Caribbean – Devindra Kissoon See story on page 3

PRICE

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WHAT'S INSIDE:

20% of P11 population suffers from mental health issues – Director …as toll-free hotline launched

Miner gets 12 P8 months, fined $1.3M for ganja possession

…AG's Chambers modernising arbitration system National COVID-19 measures

Guyana-Suriname ferry service to restart on Dec 12 …non-essential travel restricted in Reg 7

Lawyers up pressure to have 2nd election petition thrown out Page 7

…David Granger cannot contend he is not a party – lawyers

GA-FDD seizes climate-unsuitable, incorrectlylabelled drugs from 11 pharmacies P10

Page 14

Enough of the violence!

Georgetown goes orange during 16day genderbased violence awareness

Page 17

Remorseful man gets 20 years for killing vagrant

…First Lady highlights plan to eliminate domestic violence

Local facilities being retrofitted to store COVID-19 vaccines – Health Ministry …as 30 new cases recorded

See story on page 9

Sluice operator killed in East P11 Berbice accident

Boat Captain commits suicide after chopping housewife See story on page 16

…as woman objected to his advances to teen daughter

P10

"Ben Laden" to serve 15 years for raping teen

P16

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

NEWS

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS OPENINGS BRIDGE

The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Tuesday, December 1 – 04:30h – 06:00h and Wednesday, December 2 – 04:30h – 06:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Tuesday, December 1 – 05:00h – 06:30h and Wednesday, December 2 – 05:35h – 07:05h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

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

Winds: East North-Easterly to North-Easterly to North North-Easterly between 1.78 metres and 3.57 metres.

High Tide: 16:57h reaching a maximum height of 2.68 metres.

Low Tide: 10:33h and 22:58h reaching minimum heights of 0.68 metre and 0.52 metre.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2020

LOTTERY NUMBERS F

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20 Bonus Ball

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2020

DAILY MILLIONS

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Afternoon Draw

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

COMMODITIES Indicators Crude Oil Rough Rice London Sugar

US$ $47.59/barrel $225.72/ton $404.70/ton

Live Spot Gold

Change % -1.24 -0.14 +0.15

USD Per Ounce

Bid/Ask

$1781.10

$1782.10

Low/High Change

$1765.10 +4.90

$1786.60 +0.28%

Guyana’s legal, statutory framework protecting investors’ confidence most robust in Caribbean – Devindra Kissoon …AG's Chambers modernising arbitration system

G

uyana’s legal and statutory framework in the investment arena is being hailed as one of the most robust in the Caribbean region and on par with those of developed countries.

The assessment was made by prominent attorney Devindra Kissoon while on a panel discussion, hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce Guyana (AmCham) on the importance of the rule of law for foreign investment.

Kissoon is the founder of the London House Chambers.

He has extensive knowledge in the legal arena and has practised in many Caribbean countries and the United States and London.

“Guyana, despite what may attract the public headlines, has one of the most legal and statutory systems in the Caribbean, one of the most robust court structures in the Caribbean where investors rights are adequately secured,” Kissoon said on Monday night.

He said that investors can come here and invest quite freely, adding that to date “we have seen no situation where a private party or the State had managed to abscond or ignore its legal rights and not be made to adhere to what was agreed…despite what is happening in the backdrop, the courts here are not afraid and they do respect the rule of law…we believe that Guyana is really a safe haven for investors.”

He noted that Guyana’s laws, just like the rest of the Caribbean, are based on English Commonwealth principles and statutes. However, there is an exception when it comes to property and company matters.

Since his return to Guyana, Kissoon has a large clientele of foreign companies/persons seeking investment in Guyana and he explained that from 2014 to date, there have been continuous improvements in the judicial systems. He said that the Judiciary is actually one of the most efficient judiciaries in the Caribbean especially with oversight from the Caribbean Court of Justice, which is Guyana’s highest appellate court.

“The courts itself – the standards are higher than when compared to our sister countries. Certainly, meeting more advanced economies in the Caribbean and with the speed of resolution, to the extent that there is limited exposure with complexities from the disputes, the availability of the appellate process coupled with the oversight of the Caribbean Court of Justice gives great investor confidence with things that go awry they can be easily straightened out,” Kissoon posited.

He explained that initial court proceedings would typically take between three and 12 months to be resolved except in cases with complex disputes and mountainous stacks of evidence and witness testimonies. The lawyer furthered that the local courts would not adjourn for long periods and that trials are conducted on a day to day basis. He also commended the Commercial Court Judges for their robust and efficient delivery of justice.

In the appeal arena,

Attorney-at-Law Devindra Kissoon Kissoon posited that it is on par with the international standard of just about 3 years with a decision within 3-8 months.

“So, from beginning to end there is a comprehensive timeline of 4-5 years for resolution of a matter which is not shoddy compared to New York where I was for 13 years or London or Barbados or Trinidad,” he related.

He said in their meetings with prospective investors, they are quite often asked about the protections in the tendering process and explained that small countries like Guyana tend to have a poor reputation and perception when it comes to the tendering process.

He added that the perception is that tendering is not done in a fair, transparent and equal manner which causes concerns for investors. But he lauded the fact that with the current procurement legislations in place, it provides the investors with avenues for redress which is promptly delivered by the judicial system.

“I am pleased to say that the rule of law steps in (where there are contentions about tendering) in Guyana quite promptly to quash decisions by

tender bodies which may make decisions which may be unfair or doesn’t follow the law.

Guyana actually has under the auspices of our Attorney General, one of the most advanced procurement legislations in the Caribbean and it’s something that is taken quite seriously. If for some reason there is some inadvertence on the side of the public body, the courts are quick to step in to correct what is wrong and our jurisprudence is replete with cases from the time that Act came to force to present where persons have gotten a speedy resolution to matters,” the attorney informed.

Modernising arbitration legislation

Meanwhile, Kissoon said that arbitration and foreign

I

judgments are respected by the local judicial system in spite of Guyana’s old Arbitration Act. In relation to Guyana’s Arbitration Act, Attorney General Anil Nandlall – who also appeared on the panel discussion – said that his Chamber is the currently reviewing the Act. “Right now, we are examining the arbitration architecture to make it modern and there is a model legislation promulgated in the world and we are in the process of adjusting it to meet Guyana’s expectations and to also link it to the Judiciary while at the same time having arbitration as a process available to the parties outside of the legal system if it does not wish to go into the formal legal system.

TURN TO PAGE 7

Correction

n the Monday, November 30, 2020 edition of Guyana Times, we inadvertently published that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had granted permission for ExxonMobil’s subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), to land a fibre optic cable from its operations offshore Guyana to its office in Georgetown.

However, the EPA has waived the usual requirement for submission of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for this project, but has invited public appeals on the issue. Approval has, as such, not yet been granted for the project, but rather it was the EIA that was waived.

Guyana Times apologises for any misconceptions caused.

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guyanatimesgy.com

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2020

Views Editor: Tusika Martin News Hotline: 231-8063 Editorial: 231-0544, 223-7230, 223-7231, 225-7761 Marketing: 231-8064 Accounts: 225-6707 Mailing address: Queens Atlantic Investment Estate Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown Email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, marketing@guyanatimesgy.com

The colliding epidemics of HIV and COVID-19

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oday, December 1, is observed as World AIDS Day. As expected, countries all over, along with international development partners, such as the World Health Organisation (WHO), will be highlighting the progress being made while drawing global attention to the need for broader engagement with various stakeholders, especially those at the frontline involved in providing health care and support to those affected.

However, this year, World AIDS Day 2020 is like no other as countries all over are grappling to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. This in effect means that priority will go towards fighting the pandemic with HIV being placed on the backburner.

As pointed out by UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima, the COVID-19 pandemic is threatening the progress that the world has made in health and development over the past 20 years, including the gains made against HIV/AIDS. “Like all epidemics, it is widening the inequalities that already existed. Gender inequality, racial inequality, social and economic inequalities. We are becoming a more unequal world,” she was quoted as saying in an address to mark World AIDS Day. HIV continues to be a major global public health issue that claims the lives of thousands worldwide every year. According to the WHO, in 2017, 940,000 people died from HIV-related causes globally. And in its most recent statistics, the WHO has stated that of the 37.9 million people living with HIV at the end of 2018, 79 per cent received testing, 62 per cent received treatment, and 53 per cent had achieved suppression of the HIV virus with no risk of infecting others.

Also, according to WHO, 59 per cent of adults and 52 per cent of children living with HIV were receiving lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART) in 2017. Global ART coverage for pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV is high at 80 per cent.

Thousands of community health workers and members of the HIV and key population networks – many of whom are living with HIV or affected by the epidemic – contributed to this success.

To reach the target of 90 per cent, an additional 7.5 million people need to access HIV testing services. It should be noted though that many more people with HIV are now receiving lifesaving drugs, which help to keep the virus under control. But millions of people who need treatment still do not have it. For example, Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most severely-affected part of the world, though some countries in the region have made impressive efforts in reducing fresh cases.

Caribbean countries, including Guyana, can boast of several successes in relation to our HIV response. Programmes to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission, reduce new HIV infections and treat people living with the virus have yielded encouraging results. Additionally, the Caribbean is the only developing region that has approached the near-universal coverage of antiretroviral medicines to prevent mother-to-child transmission. According to official statistics, the Caribbean leads the world in the rates of its reduction in new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths.

In Guyana’s case, there are over 8200 persons living with HIV. In 2018, about 500 new infections occurred mainly from key populations and young people. Of the 8200 persons living with the virus, 93 per cent of them know their status, making Guyana the only Caribbean country to achieve the first 90 of the United Nations AIDS (UNAIDS) 90-90-90 target ahead of the 2020 timeline. The 90-90-90 target aims to diagnose 90 per cent of all HIV-positive persons, provide antiretroviral therapy for 90 per cent of those diagnosed, and achieve viral suppression for 90 per cent of those treated by 2020.

Globally, the COVID-19 vaccines will be rolled out in the coming weeks and it gives hope that the virus will be brought under control. However, there are serious threats to ensuring equitable access, especially for poorer countries.

According to UNAIDS Executive Director, the goal of ending the AIDS epidemic was already off track before COVID-19. We, therefore, join the call for countries to engage in renewed efforts to first get the AIDS response back on track. UNAIDS correctly pointed out that only global solidarity and shared responsibility will help us beat the coronavirus, end the AIDS epidemic, and guarantee the right to health for all.

We urge the health authorities and other stakeholders here to use this day to recommit to winning the battle against the colliding epidemics of HIV and COVID-19.

First Lady Arya Ali, conducted a tree-wrapping exercise on Main Street, Georgetown as part of the 16 Days of Activism Against GenderBased Violence campaign. The event is a collaborative effort of the Human Services and Social Security Ministry; Canadian High Commission and the United Nations. In photo, First Lady Arya Ali (centre) along with Human Services and Social Security Minister, Dr Vindhya Persaud; Head of Aid, High Commission of Canada to Guyana and Suriname, Janine Cocker and UN Resident Coordinator Robert Natiello (Office of the First Lady photo)

Encourage & support local initiatives in oil market Dear Editor, I commend Vice President Jagdeo for his strong position on increased utilisation of local content in the emerging oil and gas sector of the economy as he announced in his latest press conference. The foreigners are milking the system and the contract while locals are neglected. Worse, locals are not adequately included in the chain supply of goods to and labour on the offshore base. Local investors must be encouraged and supported by Government to get into the oil and gas business – to manage onshore bases addressing needs, services and supplies of the offshore rig. Jagdeo must be complimented for announcing that Guyanese would be given first preference in the emerging oil and gas market unlike what has happened so far under the policy of the predecessor coalition regime.

Preference must be given by local Guyanese companies with priority given to those who championed democracy followed by those in the diaspora who supported the struggle for the restoration of democracy in the homeland. They should team up with foreigners where Guyanese lack capacity and capability.

Heretofore, almost every input in oil production

has been foreign. Labour was brought from overseas.

Even cooks are imported.

The use of local labour has been limited and restricted to basic manual movement of goods and pipes, cleaning, and medical services.

And they are at the bottom of the pay scale. The onshore base and its management base have been foreign. Even most food has been imported with limited supplies of local pumpkin and bhajji, papaya, bananas and watermelons. This must change; it is hoped that local content proposal addresses these imbalances. There should be specific targets (percentages of local content). Otherwise, there will not be significant benefits for Guyana.

Guyana needs its own onshore base owned and managed by Guyanese.

Investing in oil and gas base or establishing a refinery or power generation using gas transported from the gas fields may be financially prohibitive for one company or investor in Guyana.

It may require a team of investors to come together to get into the business, or else the foreigners would move in and control the onshore base as is currently happening. Supplies are also taken directly from Trinidad to the onshore production site. Guyanese are excluded

from the financial largesse.

Potential local investors should team up, forming a conglomerate (companies from unrelated businesses), bringing their financial resources together to get into onshore base management.

That conglomerate can then link up with foreign companies in USA, Middle East, India, etc to raise the required capital to build onshore bases. Demerara and Berbice Rivers, and even islands in the Essequibo River, are ideal for onshore bases. The Vreed-en-Hoop area is perfect for an onshore base. Around 2005, I prepared a proposal for a duty-free port at the Vreeden-Hoop stelling; it was not acted upon. Onshore bases can help meet the needs of the offshore production of oil and gas and in so doing create a lot of jobs for Guyanese as well as wealth in the economy. The wealth will remain in the country rather than be expropriated to foreign bank accounts.

And a duty-free port can attract businesses to Guyana.

Onshore bases and overall oil management and duty-free ports are where the money is – not low paying manual labour. Local Guyanese should be encouraged to pursue studies on petroleum engineering and offshore base management.

The foreign companies

have gotten a lot of benefits for their production - duty-free imports and tax-free labour. Similar incentives must be given to local companies. Incentives would encourage aspects of new business activity that bring employment benefits to locals. Economic development projects must be dominated by local business interests, including Chambers of Commerce, local banks, and local real estate developers. And these must be supplemented by local staff and local food (with imports permitted where local is not practical). Those of us who study economics would know that theory, empiricism, and practice have shown that economic development incentives will encourage investment.

And locals have a love and patriotism for the country lacking in foreigners.

When treated similarly to foreigners, locals will outperform them and create greater wealth for the country. The local companies will keep and invest their wealth, growing the economy and creating jobs. The foreigners will take their money and leave drying up Guyana as happened to so many emerging oil economies.

Yours truly, Vishnu Bisram

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2020

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

Is it the rotten apple or the barrel?

Dear Editor, I recently read an interesting article in the print media purportedly written

by Jai Lall under the caption, "Police officers should be role models in society”. I agree with the title but not with all of the contents of the letter. Many of the issues and concerns posited will promote lively conversations. However, one sentence titillated me. Here is it: "Unfortunately, only one rotten apple spoils the barrel." Editor, please permit me to repeat some issues I raised some time ago and introduce some new concepts of thinking about law enforcement. This missive has a law enforcement bias but it could be equated to some other Government departments, the Private Sector and some other organisations in Guyana.

The vexed question is: Is it the rotten apple or the barrel? Often the argument is heard that just a few "bad apples" can ruin the entire barrel, so a few bad cops can ruin the entire department.

Trautman (2000) contended, "The 'rotten apple' theory that some administrators propose as to the cause of

their demise is usually nothing more than self-serving, superficial facade, intending to draw attention away from their failures. "Swope (2001) believes, "It is the unethical breeding environment of the barrel that generates the major difficulties. It is the barrel, the culture of police organisations, that can cause the root shaking scandals that periodically face some police organisations. Swope also believes that an officer’s behaviour is influenced more directly by the actions or lack of actions in response to ethical shortcomings of his superiors than by the stated directives or written ethical code of an organisation.

Perry (2001), likewise, suggested examining the barrel: "The rotten-apple theory won’t work any longer. Corrupt police officers are not natural-born criminals. The task of corruption control is to examine the barrel, not just the apples, the organisation, not just the individuals in it, because corrupt police officers are made, not born. " If I can add, we may have to change some of the hopes and staves that make up the barrel and also look at the quality or lack

quality of materials that we utilise to make up the barrel.

Perry contended, " Those who serve the public must be held to a higher standard of honesty and care for the public good than the general citizenry. A higher standard is not a double standard.

Persons accepting positions of public trust take on new obligations and are free not to accept them if they do not want to live up to the higher standard. " Managers must examine their departments and find ways to promote integrity and ethical behaviour that adheres to this higher standard.

All is not lost. A good starting point to promote ethical behaviour and integrity is to eliminate the code of silence: "The code of silence encourages people not to speak up when they see another officer doing something wrong." Fulton (2000) stressed: "Police commanders must exemplify the honesty and integrity they seek in their subordinates." In addition: "Ethical mentoring and role modelling should be consistent, frequent and visible."

What can be done to prevent unethical behaviour

and corruption? Wayne W Bennett and Karen M Hess presented seven steps that can help prevent unethical behaviour and corruption: "(1) Recruit with great care. (2) Establish appropriate policies and put them in writing. (3) Adopt a good employee evaluation process. (4) Make sure your sergeants share management's values and philosophies. (5) Develop operational control. (6) Perform regular anti-corruption inspections and audits. And (7) Implement ethics and integrity training into every training activity.”

The movers and shakers of law enforcement are apparently nibbling around the edges. What is required is a holistic approach, a comprehensive plan to deal with the situation. Piece-meal methods will definitely produce piece-meal results. Let us stop concentrating on the fruits. Shift the heavy concentration on the root, not the fruits. Cut the main root and the tree dies.

Yours faithfully, Clinton Conway Assistant Commissioner of Police (Retired)

Crime-fighting patrol Equally responsible for boat for Wakenaam well-being, progress and Leguan islands of our nation Dear Editor, It was reported in Guyana Times on November 29 that the Ministry of Home Affairs has donated an aluminium boat with a 40 HP outboard engine to the Community Policing Division 3 for Wakenaam and Leguan islands in the Essequibo River. In handing over the boat, Minister Benn expressed the view that “it is a signalled effort that crime-fighting at the community level will be successful since the boat will reinvigorate community safety and security through enhanced performance and professionalism”.

No information was given as to how this will be achieved particularly so with a boat which is illequipped and grossly underpowered for crime-fighting on the channels of the Essequibo River. Further, the Chairman, Community Policing Division 3 expressed gratitude for the boat since as he stated, its absence had hindered the islands' crime-fighting ability on the waterways.

In reality, this boat will make little or no difference towards crime-fighting on the islands for several reasons. Firstly, difficulties will be encountered getting the boat from its stored location to the river quickly since the boat is not sup-

plied with a trailer and there are no ramps on the islands or secured mooring facilities for quick mobilisation. Secondly, the waterways where the boat will operate are dangerous and it will take a “lifetime'” for this under-powered boat to reach hotspots where crimes are likely to occur. Thirdly, the islands have limited medical facilities and seriously ill patients often require emergency transportation to the Suddie and/or Vreed-enHoop Hospital. This boat is not equipped for such a task.

The resources allocated to this boat for crime-fighting on the waterways around Wakenaam and Leguan could have been better spent and more effective by equipping the police stations with SUVs and a network of wireless equipment linking the police station with the policing communities located at strategic locations on the islands for quick and effective communication and appropriate action. The crimes committed on the islands are all land-based and therefore efforts to combat them should be directed at the areas where they are committed and not on monitoring the waterways hunting for elusive criminals.

Yours truly, Charles Sohan

Dear Editor, It is very frustrating to observe the constant negativism being displayed by our politicians, columnists and commentators in the various media, contributors to the letter columns in our newspapers, and other prominent members of the society, about what is happening or being done in the various spheres in our country.

We should all realise that we all have the responsibility to contribute in a positive manner to whatever we feel should be done towards the progress of our nation. In fact, it should be understood that, whenever we happen to learn of anything which we feel can impact negatively on our livelihood or progress, we must see that with this knowledge comes the moral obligation, not only to point this out in a critical man-

ner, but to suggest some way in which this could be improved. It must be clear that, if we cannot ourselves see a solution to any damaging situation, then we are ethically not in a position to criticise others who we feel are responsible for such.

Moreover, we should appreciate that we all see things from our unique point of view, and what we see as the proper mode of action may not be clear to others.

No one is perfect, and the persons involved can definitely benefit from our positive input into any problematic situation.

We are all equally responsible for the well-being and progress of our nation, and we have to fulfil our obligations towards this in an optimistic and positive manner.

Sincerely, Roy Paul

news@guyanatimesgy.com

Is PNC interested in peace, harmony and stability of this country?

Dear Editor, I watched with great concern the Minister of Home Affairs, Mr Robeson Benn, lamenting the fact that 150 guns are missing from the armoury of the Police Force.

He was making the comment against the backdrop of these very same guns automatically turning up at the scenes of armed robberies. He further explained that these seized exhibits come with their registration number sawed off which is a deliberate attempt to conceal the real source of the weapon.

Now all of these things give testimony to two things, (a): Some elements of the Force are of the rogue type and are issuing these weapons to their friends for nefarious activities; guns for hire.

And (b): There are behind the scenes political operatives who are bent on destabilising the nation. I make those bold remarks based on direct field observations of the various entities involved.

For starters, one idiotic supporter of the PNC party made the asinine remark on Facebook that these guns are for the PPP and their followers, I am speaking of a university lecturer making such a remark. And while she might deny this confession, I would like you to pay strict attention to the calls made by this party and its blind adherents. They spoke in reference to these cold-blooded murderers as freedom fighters and persons who were fighting for their rights.

What those rights are to this day we are yet to know, but suffice it to say a number of civilians lay dead and persons of a particular race were being sought after for slaugh-

ter.

It was a period in Guyanese history which Granger referred to as "the time of the troubles."

Interestingly enough, he just spoke of this time as one that rocked the country and nothing else. He never elaborated as to the source of those troubles, those who initiated it, why they did and for what purpose. He stopped woefully short in detail when defining this period of troubles.

What is of importance is that the time of troubles was a convenient quote used

by Granger to highlight his agenda but not to enlighten the public as to the true nature of what took place.

However, all of this became clearer when a few of the freedom fighters were shot and killed by law enforcement when his party made the rabid call to "kill the police," by this time it was pellucidly clear on whose side they were on and for whose welfare they were looking after. Twenty-three policemen were indeed killed during that period, these are the bare facts of the case.

My question is are we in the throes of another "time of troubles" seeing 150 guns are unaccounted for? Mark you well, the Opposition is strangely quiet right now and are not offering any help as to the whereabouts of these weapons which suspiciously went missing during their time in office. I urge my fellow Guyanese to take a cold hard look at the antics and statements coming from the Opposition's camp right now.

Respectfully submitted, Neil Adams

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2020

Page

Foundation ◄ Unit Test

(1) John is replacing the moulding around his windows. The perimeter of each window measures 1 metre and he has 6 windows. How many metres of moulding does he need?

(2) Anne wants to make a big batch of sorrel drink. The container holds five gallons and she is using a 1-quart jug to fill it. How many jugs of water will she need to fill the container?

(3) Harry is weighing black cake for shipping to the USA. The first cake weighs 32 ounces, the second weighs 2 pounds and the third weighs 12 ounces. Which cake is heavier?

(4) Sandra wants to build a fence around her yard, and she needs to know how much chain-link material to buy. Her yard has sides of 20 feet and 20 yards. How much chain-link material does she need in metres?

Æsop’s Fables

FOR CHILDREN

would travel how far in 1 minute?

(10) If the earth is 24,000 miles in circumference, how much time would it take the spacecraft mentioned in Question 9 to orbit it once?

(11) 98.6o F = ______oC (12) In track and field, the standard middle distance is 15,000 metres. How many feet is that?

(13) My grandmother’s cookie recipe calls for 4 cups of flour and 1 pint of milk. Convert those quantities to metric units.

(14) What is the volume of the triangular solid below?

(5) Which has the greater area: a 100-yard square or a rectangle with sides of 10 metres and 11 metres?

(6) What is the area of a triangle with sides of 3 metres, 5 metres and 60 inches?

(7) Which is more expensive: $1000 per gallon gas or $275 per litre kerosene?

(8) What is the volume of a shoebox with sides of 24 inches, 25 centimetres and 0.25 metre?

(9) A modern spacecraft travelling at 17, 500 miles per hour

(15) Annual rice production in Guyana for the year 2020 will reach an estimated 1.1 million tonnes. How many pounds of rice would that be?

Monday’s answers: (1) A 4-litre bottle of ginger beer (2) 174.195 pounds (3) 12 tonnes (4) $1000 per gallon gas

(5) The 100-yard dash (6) a. 160.9 kilometres per hour b. 72.405 kilometres per hour

Materials Paper or card stock Paper straws Scotch tape and/or decorative tape Hot glue gun, glue Scissors Instructions 1.Cut two strips of card stock using the following dimensions: 1" x 7 1/2" and 1" x 5" 2.Tape each strip into a circle.

3.Cut paper straws to be approximately 5 1/2" long. If you do not have straws see the optional paper tube directions at the end.

4.Glue the straws to the outside edge of the big circle. They should be placed at the 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock positions. The fourth straw should be glued at the point where you taped the circle together.

5.Glue the other end of the straws onto the outer edge of the small circle. Be sure to align the taped starting point of this circle with the larger circle below to make sure your zoomer isn’t twisted!

6. Decorate it! If desired decorate your zoomer with washi tape or markers.

A

lion and a man chanced to travel in company through the forest. They soon began to quarrel, for each of them boasted that he and his kind were far superior to the other both in strength and mind.

Now they reached a clearing in the forest and there stood a statue. It was a representation of Heracles in the act of tearing the jaws of the Nemean Lion.

"See," said the man, "that's how strong we are! The King of Beasts is like wax in our hands!"

"Ho!" laughed the lion, "a man made that statue. It would have been quite a different scene had a lion made it!"

WORD SEARCH 7. If you don’t have straws, you can make paper tubes.

Do not make paper tubes out of card stock, it is too difficult to bend. Make them out of paper only. Cut four strips using the following dimensions: 2" x 7 1/2". Wrap each strip tightly around a pencil, then unfurl and cut out each individual tube. Roll one of the tube sections around a pencil again and tape to hold it together. Repeat to make four tubes total. Note: These are a bit heavier than straws so they do add some weight to the zoomer.

Optional: Fly them! Hold one of the straws near the back end and aim the zoomer up. Fly it as you would a paper airplane. (babbledabbledo.com)

NEWS

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Lawyers up pressure to have 2nd election petition thrown out …David Granger cannot contend he is not a party – lawyers

Validity of Elections Act and gave notice that he would not be contesting the petition. In his oral submissions to the court on Monday, Nandlall argued that by using this Act, Granger himself has acknowledged that he is a properly named party in the case.

Section 27 (2) of the Validity of Elections Act states “A respondent who has given the prescribed notice that he does not intend to oppose the petition or for whom any person has been substituted shall not be allowed to appear or act as a party against the petition in any proceedings thereon.”

“A respondent, your honour, must mean a properly named respondent. So, by filing that notice to say that he is not opposing that petition, Mr Granger has implicitly or rather, expressly ac-

cepted that he is a properly named respondent. That is what the Section gives him the power to do,” Nandlall argued.

“Any of the named respondents, including (fourth named respondent) Bharrat Jagdeo or anyone else, have an option in the law to choose not to oppose the petition. And Mr Granger has exercised that option.

Mr Granger cannot contend that he is not a proper party in the petition and then use a mechanism in the Act that is directed to proper respondents. He cannot have it both ways, your honour.”

In addition, Nandlall noted that for a party with so much at stake in the case to absent himself would go against the very principles of natural justice. According to Nandlall, there are multiple legal precedents for this. Indeed, Nandlall cited Sections of the law and several legal precedents in his submissions.

He cited Section 4(2) of the National Assembly (Validity of Elections Act), noting that it mandates the representative of the list of candidates at the elections to be named as a respondent, once their interest conflicts with contentions in the petition.

Nandlall also cited the case of Barnwell v the Attorney General (1993), in laying out the necessity of all representatives of the list of candidates appear-

Jailed: Lennox O’neil Estwick

er were caught by Police at Lover's Lane, Amelia's Ward, on April 30.

Ranks at the time arrested the older Estwick, whom a wanted bulletin had been issued for since 2019.

Reports are Police, acting on intelligence, swooped down on the house at Lover's Lane at about 00:45h on April 30 and nabbed the duo.

The younger Estwick was fined $50,000 along with a year’s imprisonment for the crime. (G13)

From left: T&T Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes and Attorney General Anil Nandlall

By Jarryl Bryan

A

ttorney General Anil Nandlall and Trinidad Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes on Monday upped the pressure for the second election petition filed by Monica Thomas and Brennan Nurse to be thrown out by the High Court on the basis of its defective service.

Nandlall and Mendes are seeking to have this petition thrown out by acting Chief Justice Roxane George, since it was not served on former President David Granger, the second named respondent in the petition, within the prescribed time set out in the National Assembly (Validity of Elections) Act. Last week, Granger’s legal team made efforts to extricate him from the case by using Section 27 of the

Lindener jailed, fined for harbouring wanted man

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South Amelia’s Ward, Linden, Region 10 (Upper DemeraraBerbice) man was on Monday jailed and fined for harbouring a wanted person.

Lennox O’neil Estwick appeared before Magistrate Wanda Fortune at the Linden Magistrate’s Court where he was found guilty of harbouring his older brother, Lennox Leon Estwick, who was wanted by Police.

The 23-year-old man along with his fugitive broth-

ing. He also cited the ruling of Mohan Raj v Surendra Kumar Taparia & Ors, 1969, in noting that necessary parties cannot be excluded from the case.

No jurisdiction

Nandlall also noted that once defective service has been established, the court has no jurisdiction to hear that petition. The point was reinforced by Mendes, who argued that Granger is a proper party, since the petition concerns him and the party he leads and would lead to their loss of 31 seats in the National Assembly.

He also dived into why the petition is defective.

According to Mendes, the affidavit of service has the wrong date and the explanation does not add up. He noted that service within time is yet to be proven and as such, the petition should be dismissed.

“Your honour, you raised the question of service on the 22nd of October. It should have been apparent to everyone why you were raising it, because it was out of time. One would have expected that if an error was made in the affidavit, either you would have been told

right away that there is an error and they would correct it and within a very short period of time affidavits would have been filed correcting the issue of service.”

“But it was not until we filed an application asking the petition be dismissed and another 12 days elapsed before an affidavit was filed seeking to correct the date of service,” Mendes argued before the court.

Oral arguments were also heard from Attorneysat-Law Kashir Khan and Senior Counsel Basil Williams. Khan reiterated that defective service of a notice would render the entire petition null and void. At the end of their arguments, the Chief Justice adjourned the case until December 1, at 09:30h, for the continuation of oral arguments from Senior Counsel Roysdale Forde and Mayo Robertson.

Nandlall had filed an application since November 10, requesting the dismissal of the second election petition on the grounds that it was served in breach of the requirements under Section 2 of the National Assembly Validity of Elections Act. Justice George herself had also raised concerns re-

Former President and representative of the APNU/ AFC list David Granger

garding the timing of the service of the petition during the previous case management hearing. In fact, she had pointed out that service of the petition on the second named respondent in the matters – APNU/AFC’s leader David Granger – was “out of time”.

She had pointed out that according to the rules, the petition must be served within five days of filing on the respondents, but the court records show that the petitions were served until September 25, 2020, when they were filed on September 15. The coalition’s side has, however, denied that service of the petition breached the rules. (G3)

Guyana’s legal, statutory framework...

“So you have a hybrid arbitration system - one that is integrated and forms part of the judicial process and one that is wholly independent of the judicial process.

The contracts now, they say that if there is a dispute between the parties including the Government of Guyana, they have to go to Brussels or London or New York or Texas to resolve these disputes. We can resolve them right here by arbitration once

we put the requisite mechanisms in place and the statutory framework in place that is modern and responsive as those in the destinations chosen by these contracts,” the AG explained.

Nandlall said that arbitration is one of the means of alternative procedures to the Judiciary and that his office is also working on a new dispensation to deal with mediation. Now, in every contract – particularly those with the

FROM PAGE 3

oil and gas companies – there are arbitration clauses and the AG related that once the clause is included, it means that the matter will have to go to arbitration and then delay the dispute through the process.

He reminded that Guyana’s arbitration structure is over 5 decades old, which is clearly archaic and cannot meet the demands of new and dynamic industries.

(G2)

8 NEWS

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Miner gets 12 months, fined $1.3M for ganja possession

Jailed: Neal Griffith

T

wenty-nine-year-old Neal Griffith, of Middle Street, McDoom, Greater Georgetown, was on Monday slapped with a

12-month jail term and fined $1.365 million for ganja trafficking.

Griffith made a virtual appearance at the Bartica Magistrate’s Court, where he pleaded guilty to the charge when it was read to him.

Police stated that on November 27, 2020 at Sherima Crossing, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), Griffith had in his possession 913 grams of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.

Guyana Times understands that on the day in question, Police ranks at the crossing conducted a search on a truck during which two bulky parcels were found in a bag belonging to the accused.

During inspection, a quantity of leaves, seeds, and stems were unearthed.

Griffith claimed owner-

The new twist...

A ship of the bag and its contents, and as such, he was arrested. The illegal substance was weighed in his presence.

Over the past two weeks, several persons were arrested at the Itaballi Crossing with cannabis. On Saturday last, Police conducted a search on a truck during which a black plastic bag was found; when opened, it contained three parcels and 55 small ziplock bags filled with cannabis.

This has led to the arrest of a 22-year-old miner of Block 22 Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) after he claimed ownership of the 545 grams of weed.

Prior to that bust, a salesman was arrested after 791 grams of cannabis was found in his bag at the Police checkpoint at Itaballi.

It was reported that on November 20, Police ranks intercepted a truck and conducted a search on same.

During the operation, the ranks conducted searched a camouflage haversack belonging to the salesman and found a multi-coloured hammock which had two parcels containing the cannabis and a quantity of methamphetamines.

The salesman was told of the offence and cautioned.

He then admitted ownership of the parcels and was subsequently arrested and charged.

223-7230-1 (Ext 55)

...in the land scam Dickensian henpecked husband, Mr Bumble, was being cross-examined in court on a matter, which he asserted had been committed by his wife. The lawyer, however, insisted that he was also responsible, “for the law supposes that your wife acts under your direction”.

Looking around to ensure his wife wasn’t within earshot, the brow-beaten man replied, “If the law supposes that, the law is an ass”!

The point, of course, is that sometimes, reality doesn’t conform to the premises on which the law was made. And not surprisingly, those appointed in the Courts to ensure that justice be done will have to interpret the law to ensure it’s not “an ass”. As even the Romans insisted, “F?at j?stitia ruat cælum “ – meaning “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.” Surely, we in Guyana should expect our Courts to be held to that standard in the 21st century.

This thought flashed into your Eyewitness’s mind (limited, as it might be!) when he read of the latest legal strategies deployed by one member of the Bar in defence of this Heath-London fella who doled out lands to PNC cronies like they were “sweeties”. This lawyer, not coincidentally, was the one who threw that life raft to the PNC after Granger, Nagamootoo and Volda Lawrence had accepted they should demit office after the passage of the NCM. He cited some non-relevant dicta from some obscure jurisdiction to insist that 33 wasn’t the majority of 65 – even though the PNC was the government by just such a majority!!

The Courts (CCJ) ultimately ruled in the interest of justice that the lawyer and his argument had more holes than a colander! And as they say, the rest is history – but what a labyrinthine history!! And so we return to the counsel’s latest attempt to throw a monkey wrench into the land scam. The first one was to assert that the sincedeceased CEO of NICIL – who obviously can’t defend himself – had concocted a “Board Memo”, in the absence of a Board Quorum, to remove the need for NICIL to give permission before its lessees could sublease lands.

When that ruse was exposed, the crafty fella jumped on this second limb: that “government lands” aren’t all subjected to the same laws. Some are “transported” which he claims don’t need permission for subleasing, as opposed to those that have “titles”, which do! The lands that were passed on to James Bond by Heath-London didn’t need permission, he insists!!

As with 33 isn’t the majority of 65!! The point, however, is what was the purpose behind the law?

And not being an ass, it would certainly not permit this absurdity! ...on the GPL underwater cable On these continued GPL blackouts, your Eyewitness feels compelled to paraphrase Henry II’s plaintive cry when he felt he was being hounded beyond reason by Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury: “Will no one rid me of this turbulent supplier of electricity?” How much can any one man take? Aren’t sixty years of blackouts enough?

Especially now that one is now in the age of COVID-19, which is depressing enough!

Last June, the underwater cable connecting GPL’s Vreed-en-Hoop generating sets to the rest of the grid was snapped by some passing ship. This resulted in extensive blackouts when the damage was finally fixed. At the time we were assured that there’d be no recurrence since the cable would be buried FIFTEEN FEET BELOW THE RIVER BED by the company that had laid it in the first place – China’s CMC. But lo and behold, it was snapped again by a ship’s anchor. This can only mean CMC didn’t do its job.

Penalties must be imposed – for Guyanese pain and suffering. ...in Granger’s petition Basil Williams, Granger’s lawyer, confirmed that by withdrawing as a petitioner. his client only wants not to present any evidence. Including those SoPs he insisted show he won the elections!

Yet he wants to be declared President!

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

NEWS

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Local facilities being retrofitted to store COVID-19 vaccines – Health Ministry …as 30 new cases recorded

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uyana has reported an increase of 30 new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), which raised the overall positive figures to 5406. Of this amount, however, 4392 patients have completely recovered.

Locally, 2786 males and 2620 females have contracted the virus ever since it was first detected here on March 11.

With 151 deaths, there are three persons in the Intensive Care Unit, 63 persons in institutional isolation, 797 in home isolation and 31 in institutional quarantine.

A breakdown showed that two new cases were detected in Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam), four in Region Three (Essequibo IslandsWest Demerara), two in Region Four (DemeraraMahaica), 16 in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), five in Region Seven (CuyuniMazaruni) and one in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).

The cases in Regions One (Barima-Waini), Five (Demerara-Mahaica), Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) and Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) remain at 848; 40; 180 and 379 respectively.

Orealla and Siparuta villages in Region Six had recently experienced a surge in COVID-19 cases. Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony said there are approximately 49 cases in Siparuta and 31 in Orealla.

A medical team is on the ground. He pointed out that before the active cases drop, there will be a slight increase in the area. Lockdown and imposed travel restrictions continue until there is some positive indication that persons

are no longer at risk.

Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony on Monday disclosed that the Intensive Care Unit of the Infectious Diseases Hospital at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara, is finally operationalised, and patients desiring such medical care have since been transferred.

These patients were transferred from GPHC to the new facility – which has a capacity for 29 severely-ill persons.

“As of Friday, what we’ve been able to do is transfer all the ICU patients that we have at GPHC over to the Ocean View facility. We have the capacity there that is much larger than GPHC. GPHC was catering for about 15 patients.

At Ocean View, we have capacity for 25 patients,” Dr Anthony shared.

It has been some weeks since the Ministry was working to fully operationalise the ICU facility. While there were some delays in the past, all equipment and instalments are completed.

“It took us a while to get the ICU up and running but all the things that were necessary for an ICU are now in place and we currently have at Ocean View in the Infectious Diseases ICU, 14 patients.”

Vaccine storage

As companies move closer to start producing a vaccine for COVID-19, the Health Ministry is also working to get all storage facilities in order, in preparation for the vaccine distribution.

Dr Anthony shared that a team has been dispatched to inspect bonds, and where necessary, upgrades will be made.

“We have regional storage

facilities for vaccines and we have been doing an assessment of the regional storage facilities that we have. We’ll be upgrading all of them to ensure that they have the capacity to be able to manage a COVID-19 vaccine,” he shared.

Along with the expansion, freezers and power units will be added to ensure that the vaccines are kept at the designated temperature.

“Within the next few weeks, all these facilities will

be upgraded, expanded in some cases, because we need additional space and we will be adding new freezers, appropriate for the type of vaccines that we will be getting.

In some cases, we will have to do some power upgrades.

We’ll have to keep these vaccines at a certain temperature and if in some cases we need backup generators, then we need to put those in place as well,” Dr Anthony said.

Last week, AstraZeneca revealed that its COVID-19

vaccine is around 90 per cent effective, cheaper to produce and there are no issues with distribution. Moreover, 700 million doses could be produced in the first quarter of 2021.

This comes after Pfizer and Moderna would have achieved 95 per cent effectiveness in the clinical trials of their vaccines. They have applied for emergency authorisation use from the US Food and Drug Administration, and this permission can give

the greenlight for December production. With these vaccines, cold chain storage is required.

AstraZeneca’s vaccine does not require a cold chain, making it easier to use with the existing infrastructure. The Minister had indicated last week that while it is “promising”, authorities are awaiting more information from the detailed studies. Overall, the number of potential vaccines under various trials present many options. (G12)

10 NEWS

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

GA-FDD seizes climate-unsuitable, incorrectly-labelled drugs from 11 pharmacies T

he Government Analyst – Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD) has seized and removed a quantity of climate unsuitable and foreign labelled drugs from 11 pharmacies in Georgetown, the Department said in a statement.

The Department also used the opportunity to remind the general public, especially importers and retailers engaged in the importation, marketing and distribution of medicines not locally produced of the relative laws associated with them. It also reminded of the zoning of medication for specific climates.

The climatic zones are as follows: Zone I - Temperate (eg Canada and Germany), II -Mediterranean/ Subtropical (eg Chile and Turkey), III - Hot/dry (eg Chad and Iraq), IVa - hot/ humid (eg Jamaica and Pakistan) and IVb - hot/very humidity (eg Guyana, India and Brazil). Information on zoning can be found on the World Health Organisation (WHO) website.

The GA-FDD reminded that during the formulation process, manufacturers determine the medicine’s, stability, shelf-life and expiry date according to the climatic zone. Therefore, parameters such as the medicine’s stability, quality, efficacy or safety, cannot be guaranteed if it is sold outside the intended zone. It noted that the climatic zone for which a product is manufactured can sometimes be located on the outer package of the product or in the information leaflet.

The Department said that zone differences oftentimes result in products being labelled in the language of the respective countries for which the medicine is manufactured to be market-

ed or distributed. The Laws of Guyana – Food and Drug Act of 1971 and Regulations of 1977, stipulate that products for the local market must be labelled in English and any product that is labelled in a foreign language is in contravention of the stipulated laws.

“Inspectors of the GAFDD recently visited in excess of eleven (11) pharmacies in Georgetown and other outlying areas where out of zone and foreign language (Turkish) labelled medicine were seized and removed from approximately ten (10) of those pharmacies.

The department is expected to continue this exercise to curb this practice and enforce our labelling laws,”

the Department related in a statement.

It added that no waivers will be granted for the importation of any medicine that is intended for use and sale outside of Zones IVa or IVb. It reminded that declarations must be clear to the Department regarding the intended zone or be stated on the label. The label must also be in English before those medicines can be allowed entry into Guyana.

The Department said that only medicines which have undergone the requisite stability testing and are intended for use in Zone IVa or IVb countries will be allowed to be imported into

Guyana.

The GA-FDD is now an accredited Conformity Assessment Body (CAB) and is therefore bound to uphold the necessary standards for document and trade facilitation. GA-FDD said there will be no facilitation of any med-

icine that puts that status at risk, adding that waivers will therefore be prohibited and greater scrutiny will be given to medicines emanating from countries outside of Zone Iva or IVb which can potentially put the health of the population at risk.

Remorseful man gets 20 years for killing vagrant

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remorseful 20-yearold John McKenzie was on Monday sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to a manslaughter charge, thereby admitting that on November 17, 2018, he unlawfully killed “Buckman” (only name given). McKenzie, formerly of Leopold Street, Georgetown, was initially indicted for murder. He was taken before Justice Priya SewnarineBeharry at the High Court in Demerara and opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter.

Media reports are that the now dead man lived like a vagrant and frequented the Leopold Street, Georgetown area. According to reports, on the day in question, he was involved in an argument with McKenzie and two teenagers – who were also charged with his murder – over the sale of drugs.

They are awaiting trial.

It was reported that the now dead man was stabbed multiple times. It was re-

Jailed: John McKenzie

ported that McKenzie and his accomplices became annoyed after “Buckman” and a few others stopped buying drugs from them. The man died while receiving medical attention at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

A probation report was presented to the court on McKenzie. It revealed that he dropped out of school in the Fourth Form due to

his learning disability. The probation officer said that teachers advised McKenzie’s mother to enrol him in a vocational school, but instead, she kept him at home to assist her with vending.

According to the probation report, he was neglected by his father when he was a toddler, and by his mother when he turned into a teenager after she moved to another region to live with her husband. The probation officer noted that at a very young age, McKenzie was left without proper parental guidance and had to fend for himself from age 13.

The probation officer highlighted that this resulted in him socialising with peers who were of questionable character and becoming engaged in delinquent activities. The probation report also noted that he grew up in a socially deprived community where persons expressed mixed sentiments about him.

TURN TO PAGE 14

NEWS

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

operator killed in 20% of population suffers from Sluice East Berbice accident mental health issues – Director P …as toll-free hotline launched I t is estimated that 20 per cent of Guyana’s population suffers from some form of mental health issue, which has been compounded by the COVID-19 global crisis.

Director of the Mental Health Unit, Dr Util Richmond-Thomas made this revelation on Monday, during the launching of a toll-free hotline number titled “Safe Space”, where the public can access assistance.

She related that stigma and discrimination have played their part as hindrances for many persons, preventing them from seeking support or counselling.

Data shows that some 50 per cent of individuals with a mental health issue experience their first episode by 14 years of age.

“Due to stigma, discrimination, and severe human rights violation of those afflicted, as well as their family members, a large number of persons prefer not to acknowledge their vulnerability or seek help. But whether we want to admit it or not, the prevalence of mental health issues is approximately 15 to 20 per cent of the population,” the Director emphasised.

Presently, the COVID-19 pandemic has added to the overwhelming impact of mental problems. Dr Richmond-Thomas went on to say that some one in five patients who was infected

with the coronavirus would later develop a psychiatric condition.

“One in five people who have COVID-19 are diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder, such as anxiety, depression and insomnia within six months of testing for the virus. The pandemic is one example where physical illness is a stressor that can lead to mental illness,” she noted.

Apart from this, psychosocial stresses are causing an upsurge in the use of alcohol and other substances of abuse, specifically among teenagers.

The Mental Health Director shared that persons from dysfunctional homes or those exposed to violence were at risk of developing a mental illness.

The list also concludes those suffering from chronic illnesses, poverty, inequality, and workplace stress among others.

“Given the worldwide historical neglect and underfunding of mental health and the mismatched need for services compared to the actual provision of it, and given the emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is expected that the need for mental health and psychosocial support services will increase with the coming months and years.

Investment in mental health at this moment is very critical,” Dr Richmond-Thomas highlighted.

She went on to laud the

Director of the Mental Health Unit, Dr Util Richmond-Thomas

new hotline initiative, which materialised through support from the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and GTT. The tollfree number is 655-7233.

“It will serve as a safe place for persons to discuss feelings and emotions triggered by daily stressors, help persons identify issues which cause emotional distress and help them to develop strategies and solutions to help decrease the severity of their symptoms,” she explained.

Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony has since pledged to ensure that the hotline was properly man-

aged, so that the public could benefit from quality assistance. He said it was even more essential with the high rates of suicide in Guyana’s rural communities.

“We know that if we do it right, it will save a lot of lives…One of the worst things that can happen is that we start this service now and when people call, we have some rude person at the other end of the line.

We don’t want that. This is a new thing we are doing and we want the commitment from the staff to ensure that this thing is properly run,” the Health Minister stressed.

While mental health training was offered virtually for health-care workers, he pointed to the need for more such initiatives, since many doctors and nurses were unable to detect mental health cases without training.

“They’re not able to detect persons who have mental health issues. If the prevalence is one in five, then you could imagine how many people are passing through our clinics without being detected. Therefore, we need to do more training like the one we had virtually,” he noted.

olice in R e g i o n Six (East B e r b i c e Corentyne) are investigating the death of a pedal cyclist, who was struck down on the East Coast Berbice roadway on Sunday evening.

Dead is 26-yearold Ganesh Ramlackhan of Number 11 Village, ECB. Reports are the accident occurred at Dead: Ganesh Ramlackhan Bramfield Public Road, a few villagGeorgetown Public Hospital es away from his home. where he was pronounced According to the podead on arrival. lice, motor van GRR 3351 His 29-year-old wife, was proceeding east along Hemwattie Balkarran, has the northern driveway on since told this publication Bramfield Public Road when that her husband was on his it was alleged by the driver way to work when the accithat Ramlackhan, who was dent occurred. riding a bicycle at the time, Meanwhile, his colproceeding the opposite dileague, Kishan Anandtram, rection, swerved into the explained that Ramlackhan path of his vehicle. The drivrode past his house and er alleged that he tried to called out to him for them to avoid a collision, however, go to work. He said that he the right-side rearview mirwas about 300 feet behind ror came into contact with Ramlackhan when the accithe pedal cyclist’s left arm, dent occurred. causing him to fall onto the Anandtram said that the road’s surface where he rearea had a power outage at ceived injuries. the time, adding that there Ramlackhan was takwere two cars and a minien to the New Amsterdam bus on the road at the time.

Hospital and subsequentTURN TO PAGE 16 ly transferred to the

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14 NEWS

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

National COVID-19 measures

Guyana-Suriname ferry service to restart on Dec 12 …non-essential travel restricted in Region 7

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overnment has taken a decision to extend the national COVID-19 measures throughout the month of December and give the greenlight for the reopening of travel between Guyana and Suriname via the ferry service.

From December 12, the Moleson Creek crossing to facilitate travel between Guyana and Suriname will be reopened. However, operators and passengers are asked to comply with port health measures issued by the Health Ministry.

The document was published in the Official Gazette on Monday, and is in effect from December 1 to December 31, 2020, unless terminated or extended by the Minister of Health.

These emergency measures are made pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2)(b) of the Direction by the President, given under the Public Health Ordinance, Cap 145, and published in the Gazette, Legal Supplement – B, 16th March 2020.

The Guyana-Suriname Ferry Service was closed since March 14, 2020 – days after the first COVID-19 case was recorded in Guyana, prompting the

shutdown of all ports of entry. In October, Guyana made a decision to reopen its two airports to international commercial flights.

Just last week, authorities in Guyana and Suriname said they were working to have the ferry service between the two countries resumed as early as possible since the <<<MV Canawaima>>> had been out of operation for months. This is after President Irfaan Ali made a State visit to the Dutchspeaking neighbour and held talks with President Chandrikapersad Santokhi.

Curfew

Meanwhile, the curfew has remained unchanged from 22:30h to 04:00h.

The Government concluded that it made a rapid assessment of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and found that it was fragmented and incapable of administering the public health, economic and social measures needed to keep the population safe. The Order noted that the current measures are extended to allow for further assessments and consultations to develop updated protocols to aid in the combatting of the COVID-19 spread.

The MV Canawaima will restart services between Guyana and Suriname

Special measures are now imposed on Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), whereby non-essential travel into or out of this area is restricted unless permission is approved for essential travel. Gatherings should not exceed five persons and the physical distance of six feet shall always apply.

Meanwhile, the new guidelines indicate that transportation services can carry the number of passengers which the vessel, vehicle or aircraft is licensed to carry, while adhering to the other safety protocols such as mask-wearing.

The Kurupukari Crossing shall be closed

during the hours of 06:00h to 17:00h and only to facilitate the passage of essential services or supplies.

Tourism

The tourism sector is also permitted to restart local travel, but operators and stakeholders must comply with the protocols issued by the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA).

The measures have remained unchanged for essential services to operate 24 hours a day, and this includes hospitals, pharmacies, the Judiciary, Parliament, diplomatic corps, disciplined services, solid waste management,

airports, hotels or other accommodations, energy services, mining operations, security services, telecommunication providers, fisherfolks, limited port operations, construction, post service and freight, funeral homes, among others.

Any person working beyond the curfew is asked to have in their possession, an official identification document or proof of workplace.

From 04:00h to 21:30h, stakeholders will still be able to access services at banks, markets, supermarkets, grocery shops, gas stations, postal or shipping services, beauty salons, barbershops, hardware stores,

clothing stores; or other maintenance services.

Outdoor dining at a restaurant shall only be permitted between these hours, with tables six feet apart and a maximum of four persons that are three feet apart per table. Food services are still permitted to conduct delivery and curbside pick-up.

Persons are still required to wear a mask, covering the nose and mouth, when in public. However, exemptions are given to children under the age of eight; where a person is in a vehicle, vessel or aircraft alone; and any other accommodation alone.

Both private and the public sectors will have their staff on rotation while those in the health sector will be subjected to priority treatment.

No one is permitted to host or attend a cinema except for drive-in movies; private party, banquet hall, bar, public swimming pool or water park, wake or vigil, club, meeting fraternity or any other social activity.

Failure to comply with the mandatory mask requirement would make persons liable under Section 152 of the Public Health Ordinance. (G12)

Appeal hearing for ex-soldiers challenging death sentence set for January

Sherwin Hart

Devon Gordon

Deon Greenidge

even years after three former members of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) filed an appeal against their conviction and death sentence for a 2009 murder, the Court of Appeal on Monday said that it would commence hearing arguments in the case on January 11, 2020. This announcement was made following a virtual Case Management Conference (CMC).

Former GDF Coast Guards Sherwin Hart, Devon Gordon and Deon Greenidge were in 2013 found guilty of the August 20, 2009 murder of Bartica gold miner Dwieve Kant Ramdass. They were sentenced to death by hanging by High Court Judge Franklin Holder.

According to media reports, on the day in question, at Caiman Hole in the Essequibo River, the trio forced Ramdass into their boat and relieved him of $17 million, which he was carrying in a box for his employer.

They then dumped Ramdass overboard.

The appeal will be heard

by Chancellor of the Judiciary Yonette Cummings-Edwards and Justices of Appeal Rishi Persaud and Dawn Gregory.

Greenidge and Hart are being represented by Attorneyat-Law Nigel Hughes in association with Trinidadian Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes.

Attorney-at-Law Latchmie Rahamat is appearing for Gordon. The

three convicted killers first appeared at the Court of Appeal in October 2019.

However, the court was unable to proceed with hearing the matter as a result of the missing appeal records.

At that time, Hughes had informed the court that the records he received did not reflect rulings by the trial Judge in three voir dires. The lawyers had further informed the court that the records did not accurately state the Judge’s summing up.

Rahamat had explained that what was said by a particular witness is recorded as being said by someone else. McCammon had noted that the record of the Judge’s summing up was

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disjointed and “some of the pages do not flow.” In light of this, the Court of Appeal made every effort to locate the missing records.

During the CMC on Monday, the lawyers confirmed that they had received the full records of appeal. Asked by the Chancellor if they were filing additional grounds of appeal, Hughes said that this was done for Hart and was sent to the court via email.

For both of his clients, Hughes disclosed that he would be laying over submissions on the lawfulness of the death penalty.

According to the defence

Dead: Dwieve Kant Ramdass

counsel, he will be leading fresh evidence on this issue and will be calling two witnesses - a professor at the Middlesex University and a Professor from the Columbia Law School.

Rahamat stated that she would be seeking leave to file additional grounds of appeal and submissions on the death penalty.

Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Dionne McCammon was granted leave to reply.

The Court of Appeal will entertain arguments in the case on January 11, 2021, at 09:30h.

Remorseful man gets...

According to the probation officer, some residents described him as very mannerly and helpful and expressed shock at his involvement in the crime, while others claimed that he was a troublemaker. McKenzie worked for three months as a patient attendant at the Georgetown Public Hospital before he was charged with the killing.

His former workmates told the probation officer that he performed his duties diligently and shared a good relationship with them. Reports from the prison are that he is well be-

haved. While he accepted responsibility for the crime and expressed remorse, the probation officer said that McKenzie claimed he was acting in self-defence since he was attacked by the now dead man.

The confessed killer pleaded with the Judge to be lenient with him, stating that this was the first time he had found himself on the wrong side of the law. In his plea to Justice SewnarineBeharry, he cried, “I am sorry for what I have done. I am sorry for breaking the law. I never went to jail before. I am just asking you to be le-

FROM PAGE 10

nient with me. I am just asking for mercy because I did not waste the court’s time.”

Justice SewnarineBeharry advised McKenzie to make the most of his time while in prison by taking part in the various rehabilitation programmes so that he will be of benefit to society when he is released.

State Counsel Teriq Mohammed and State Counsel Nafeeza Baig appeared for the prosecution, while Attorney-at-Law Mark Conway represented McKenzie, who appeared in court virtually from the Camp Street Prison.

NEWS

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Canada-Guyana Chamber of Commerce to be launched ...in bid to strengthen bilateral trade, investments

World AIDS Day 2020

“Global solidarity, shared responsibility”

The launch will be held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre

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ollowing on the heels of the AmericaGuyana precedent, the Canada-Guyana Chamber of Commerce is set to be launched in an effort to strengthen trading and investment between the two countries.

According to a statement, the Chamber will be launched on December 4 at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre. It will also feature addresses from President Dr Irfaan Ali, outgoing Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, Lilian Chatterjee and Chamber Chairman Anand Beharry.

“The main objective of the Chamber is to strengthen trade and investments between Canada and Guyana and provide support to Canadian and Guyanese business interests in the two countries,” the statement said, adding that the Chamber will have offices in both Toronto, Canada, and Georgetown, Guyana.

It was explained that the Chamber has 24 founding members, including Banks DIH Ltd, Caribbean Surgery Inc, CGX Energy Inc. Additionally, the founders include Demerara Distillers

Limited, Edward Beharry Liz Wyatt of Sol Guyana, and Company Limited, Dave Kissoon of London Empire Plus Home and House Chambers, Justin Commercial Inspection Nedd of Guyana Telephone Services Inc, Gafsons Telegraph (GTT), Rod Industries Limited and Go Henson of ExxonMobil and Logistics Incorporated.

Davie Sukdeo of Guyana The Chamber also Marriott. has as its founders Royal George Kalantzakis of Bank of Canada, Scotia HESS Corporation, Rafael Bank Guyana Inc, Sterling Nabi of Nabi Construction Products Limited, Gold Inc, Saskia Wigingaarde Source Mines Incorporated, of RED Entertainment, N&S Mattai and Company, Yolander Persaud of Nalico/Nafico, NSBOmega Massy Group Guyana, Guyana Inc and Panthera Jorge Medina of MACORP, Solutions Incorporated.

Richard Sammy of Republic Government of Newf Bank, Marisca Jordan of oundland and Labrador, RAMPS Logistics, Andrew Guyana Bank for Trade Mendonza of Baker Hughes and Industry Limited, Guy and Fitzroy McLeod of ana Goldfields Inc, Guyson NAMILCO. s Oil and Gas, High Commi Members of the ssion of Canada to Guyana Executive include Zulfikar , International Developme Ally as Chairman, nt and Relief Foundation, J Clairmont Cummings as HI Associates Inc, are the First Vice Chair, Justin remaining members.

Nedd as Second Vice Chair, Back in 2018, the Liz Wyatt as Third Vice American Chamber of Chair, Fitzroy McLeod Commerce was officially as Treasurer, Devindra launched in Guyana at the Kissoon as General Counsel, Marriott Hotel, the event and Yolander Persaud as drawing a large section of Company Secretary. the local Private Sector Since AmCham’s enand representatives from trance to Guyana, it has the United States business met with the US diaspora community. and called on them to reAmCham’s Board had turn to Guyana to invest included Zulfikar Ally of and take up the opportuniQueens Atlantic, Clairmont ties currently available to Cummings of Corum Group, develop the country. (G3)

Indian HC celebrates life of Guru Nanak Dev on 551st birth anniversary

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he Indian High Commission in Guyana on Monday celebrated the 551st birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev - the founder of the Sikh religion.

Due to the ongoing health protocols and the current COVID-19 pandemic, the celebrations this year were held virtually. The celebration in Georgetown was organised with remote participation of a large number of devotees and followers of Guru Nanak Dev from Guyana, Antigua and Barbuda, St Kitts and Nevis and Anguilla.

On the occasion, High Commissioner Dr KJ Srinivasa addressed the Sikh community and other listeners, nothing that Guru Nanak Dev showed people the path of unity, harmony, fraternity, comity, and service. The diplomat urged persons to conduct themselves in a manner so as to emulate Guru’s teachings.

Guru Nanak is known for his message, that all humans are equal and there should not be any discrimination in any form of gender, caste or creed. He is regarded as one of the most important religious figures of India to has contributed to women empowerment in India.

“Sikhism became a religion that supports the lifestyle of an average householder. Moreover, he taught his disciples the methods to attain salvation while leading a normal life within the society. He stressed on the importance of life with one’s family

Guru Nanak Dev

members. He taught and also served as a living example of his teachings. There are unlimited teachings, those inspire the humankind to lead a right kind of life. Guru Nanak strongly preached the brotherhood of mankind and the fatherhood of God. His universal message is peace, love, unity, mutual respect, service and dedication to all of humankind. His preachings came at a time when there were conflicts between various religions,” the High Commission said in a statement. (G12)

Dr Tariq Jagnarine Family Medicine, Endocrinology/ Diabetes

Every year, on December 1, the world commemorates World AIDS Day. People around the world unite to show support for people living with and affected by HIV and to remember those who lost their lives to AIDS. In 2020, the world’s attention has been focused by the COVID-19 pandemic on health and how pandemics affect lives and livelihoods. COVID-19 is showing once again how health is interlinked with other critical issues, such as reducing inequality, human rights, gender equality, social protection and economic growth. With this in mind, this year the theme of World AIDS Day is “Global solidarity, shared responsibility”.

This year, 2020 marks 40 years since the first cases of AIDS were reported in the western hemisphere, a pandemic that has led to nearly 700,000 lives lost and still no cure four decades later. World AIDS Day was first observed in 1988. Each year, organisations and individuals across the world bring attention to the HIV epidemic, endeavour to increase HIV awareness and knowledge, speak out against HIV stigma, and call for an increased response to move toward ending the HIV epidemic.

FACTS * In 2019, the estimated number of people living with HIV in Guyana amounted to 8700, up from 8200 HIV-positive patients in the previous year. Estimated HIV prevalence 1.7% * 38 million people globally are living with HIV, of these, 36.2 million are adults and 1.8 million are children (<15 years old). * 25.4 million people are accessing antiretroviral therapy. 12.6 million people are still waiting. * 1.7 million people became newly infected with HIV in 2019 a 10% decrease since 2010. * AIDS-related deaths have been reduced by 60% since the peak in 2004. In 2019, around 690,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses worldwide, compared to 1.1 million in 2010. * 75.7 million people have become infected with HIV since the start of the epidemic (end 2019). * 32.7 million people have died from AIDS-related illnesses since the start of the epidemic (end 2019). * HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is one of the world’s most serious public health challenges CHALLENGES Despite advances in our scientific understanding of HIV and its prevention and treatment as well as years of significant effort by the global health community and leading government and civil society or-

ganisations, too many people with HIV or at risk for HIV still do not have access to prevention, care, and treatment, and there is still no cure. Further, the HIV epidemic not only affects the health of individuals, it also influences households, communities, and the development and economic growth of nations. Many of the countries hardest hit by HIV also suffer from other infectious diseases, food insecurity, and other serious problems.

Despite these challenges, there have been successes and promising signs. New global efforts have been mounted to address the epidemic, particularly in the last decade. The number of people with new HIV infections has declined over the years.

In addition, the number of people with HIV receiving treatment in resource-poor countries has dramatically increased in the past decade and dramatic progress has been made in preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV and keeping mothers alive.

However, despite the availability of a widening array of effective HIV prevention tools and methods and a massive scale-up of HIV treatment in recent years, UNAIDS cautions there has been unequal progress in reducing new HIV infections, increasing access to treatment, and ending AIDS-related deaths, with too many vulnerable people and populations left behind. Stigma and discrimination, together with other social inequalities and exclusion, are proving to be key barriers.

In 2020, the world’s attention has been focused by the COVID-19 pandemic on health and how pandemics affect lives and livelihoods. COVID-19 is showing once again how health is interlinked with other critical issues, such as reducing inequality, human rights, gender equality, social protection and economic growth. COVID-19 has demonstrated that, during a pandemic, no one is safe until everyone is safe.

Leaving people behind is not an option if we are to succeed. Eliminating stigma and discrimination, putting people at the centre and grounding our responses in human rights and gender-responsive approaches are crucial to ending the colliding pandemics of HIV and COVID-19.

In Guyana, according to the UNAIDS 2017 report, 68 per cent of people living with HIV know their status. Of those, 84 per cent are on antiretroviral treatment (ART). Moreover, of those, 82 per cent have achieved viral suppression. While we should celebrate the achievements in treatment coverage and viral suppression, it is estimated that there are over 2600 people in Guyana who have not yet been diagnosed. Hence, global solidarity and shared responsibility require us to view global health responses, including the AIDS response, in a new way. It requires the world to come together and better the 90-90-90 metric, which aims for 90 percent of those infected with HIV to know their status, 90 percent of those diagnosed to be on ART, and 90 percent of those on treatment to achieve viral suppression.

Intensify HIV prevention in the communities where HIV is most heavily concentrated such as Sex workers, Transgender people, Prisoners and refugees. Expand Testing centres beyond working hours. Identify areas of greatest impact and use various combination of social awareness approaches to highlight the impact of HIV/AIDS. Let us all keep promoting more awareness to help eradicate HIV/AIDS despite the setbacks of the COVID-19 pandemic.

16 NEWS

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

6 nabbed after bandits storm former murder accuse's home …escape with $15M

Marcus Bisram

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ix persons are now in custody assisting with the investigation into the robbery of former murder accused Marcus Bisram

at his Number 71 Village, Corentyne, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) home on Sunday evening.

The bandits reportedly carried away in excess of $15 million in cash, jewellery and other valuables.

Reports are Bisram was sitting outside of his home at about 19:00h when the bandits pounced on him.

According to the former murder accused, four men entered his yard, three of whom were armed with firearms and one with a cutlass.

“They came in and they relieved us of our cell phones

CCTV footage shows the bandits during the robbery

first and then they took us into the house and relieved everyone of their jewellery that they had on,” Bisram said.

Meanwhile, some rela-

tives who had attempted to escape were accosted by one of the bandits.

After relieving everyone inside of their jewellery, Bisram said the bandits

“Ben Laden” to serve 15 years for raping teen

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27-year-old man will be spending the next 15 years behind bars for raping a 14-yearold girl. Akeem Wong, 27, also known as, “Ben Laden”, pleaded guilty to the charge, which stated that on June 30, 2017, in the county of Demerara, he engaged in sexual penetration with the child.

The custodial sentence was handed down on Monday by Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the High Court in Georgetown.

A probation report stated that the Half Mile, Wismar, Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) resident is illiterate, associated with persons of unsavoury character, and was involved in many delinquent activities.

According to the probation officer, Police records show that Wong was wanted for a murder, which occurred in Mabaruma, Region One

Jailed: Akeem Wong

(Barima-Waini), and was only arrested in 2018 after a wanted bulletin was issued.

The probation officer told the court that Wong told her that he was also previously charged for breaking and entering and robbery, but claimed that the charges were dismissed.

Wong blamed his bad upbringing on his father, stat-

ing that he did not have a male role model in his life.

A resident of Half Mile, Linden, told the probation officer that Wong was a good person who was falsely accused of crimes. Another resident claimed that he stole her sister’s cell phone and jumped her fence one time to escape from the police.

Some other residents expressed that he was involved in delinquent activities, stating that he was a “known thief.” Reports from the Mazaruni Prison indicated that he is a well-behaved prisoner who was given special privileges because of his conduct. In the report, Wong admitted that he has anger problems when he consumes alcohol.

He claimed that the young girl told him that she was 16 and persuaded him to have sex with her. He nevertheless begged the teenag-

Boat Captain commits suicide after chopping housewife

…as woman objected to his advances to teen daughter

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boat captain has taken his own life after chopping a 36-yearold Riverview, Ruimveldt, Georgetown housewife, who objected to his attempt to have a relationship with her teen daughter.

Dead is 52-year-old Jeffrey Narine.

According to Police, the La Parfaite Harmonie, West

Bank Demerara resident went to the housewife at her Riverview, Ruimveldt home at about 09:00h and told her if he couldn’t be with her daughter, who is 14 years old, he would kill her and also kill her daughter.

Police on Monday stated that the woman rebuked the man’s advances after which he left her home.

However, at about 13:00h, Narine again returned to the woman’s home armed with two cutlasses in his hands and a knife on the right-side waist of his pants.

The man then proceeded to the housewife’s apartment and dealt her chops with the cutlass to the right side of her abdomen and on her left hand and left the yard. The woman was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.

However, following the incident, Police said that Narine went and sat on a bench in front of a shop and upon seeing the police, he used one of his weapons and injured himself. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel were summoned to the scene and he was pronounced dead. The body was subsequently picked up by Lyken Funeral Parlour.

Police on Monday evening said that investigations are in progress.

er for forgiveness, stating that he knows she is hurting. Wong told the probation officer that he was ready to pay the consequences for his actions.

But in an interview with the probation officer, the girl, who is now 17, vehemently denied telling him that she was the age of consent.

The victim expressed that she is still living in fear and wants justice, stating that she wants to see Wong locked up for a very long time. According to the young lady, she still gets flashbacks about the incident and would think of him coming to her home to get her.

Attorney-at-Law Mark Conway begged the court to temper justice with mercy.

He said that there is hope for his client to become a better person. State Prosecutor Teriq Mohammed urged the court to take into consideration that a weapon and violence were used during the commissioning of the offence. He also asked the court to consider the psychological trauma the young girl continues to endure.

When given a chance to speak, Wong told Justice Sewnarine-Beharry, “I begging you to be lenient with me. If you could forgive me and give me second chance.

I now understand that a girl cannot permit you to have sex with her and she is underage. I have a young child; I never grow up with my father and I don’t want him to grow up like that.”

then turned their attention to him.

“They took me to my room and they asked me for all the jewellery and money. One of them picked up a child and had a gun at the child’s head, so, I took him to my room and gave him all of the money and jewellery that I had. It happened so fast, not even two minutes; in and out.”

This publication was told that nine other relatives were robbed during the invasion.

According to the police, all ten victims are from the Upper Corentyne. Police said that the bandits took two gold bands valued $2.8 million, one gold chain valued $1.4 million, six debit cards, $5 million and US$2000 from Bisram.

In addition, a 50-yearold relative of Number 71 Village was robbed of four gold bands and a taxi driver of the same village was relieved of his $20,000 cellular phone. The taxi driver was beaten by one of the bandits.

Police in a statement on Monday said that a 54-yearold businesswoman of Number 60 Village, who was also at the home at the time of the invasion, was robbed of one black Samsung Galaxy S8 cellular phone valued at $100,000 while a 22-yearold housewife of Number 71 Village was robbed of her Samsung Galaxy S5 cellular phone valued $54,000.

Cellular phones were also taken from a 24-yearold self-employed man of Number 60 Village, a hire car driver of Number 70 Village and a labourer of Number 60 Village.

One of them was also robbed of $35,000 while an accountant of Number 71 Village was robbed of one gold iPhone S5 and one gold

chain and his finger rings.

In addition, a 56-yearold businessman of Number 60 Village was dealt several lashes with cutlasses and robbed of one brown wallet containing his National Identification Card and Driver’s Licence along with one black Samsung Galaxy J2 phone.

The police said the men escaped on foot.

According to Bisram, following the incident, the police were immediately contacted.

“I must say that they were very quick responding and very professional when they got here. I got a call this morning (Monday) from them and they are still investigating; there was some immediate investigation done last night as well,” he related during an interview on Monday.

Bisram was accused of ordering the death of Fayaz Narinedatt, a carpenter of Number 70 Village, Corentyne, on November 30, 2016.

His death was initially reported as a suspected hit-and-run accident. It was later reported that Bisram made sexual advances to Narinedatt, who objected to the advances.

Bisram was charged here in absentia, while five others: Orlando Dickie, Radesh Motie, Diodath Datt, Harri Paul Parsram, and Niran Yacoob have been committed to stand trial for the murder.

Meanwhile, after being extradited from the US to stand trial here, Bisram was subsequently acquitted for the murder. However, the DPP is currently appealing a High Court decision which has freed Bisram. That appeal comes up for hearing in the Court of Appeal on December 18. (G4)

Sluice operator killed in...

“The first car passed with a reasonable speed. The second car that past was the car in front of the bus. I see the bus swing and go over the double line. The car that was in front of the bus had on bright light so, I only got to see the bus when it go out on the double lane…”

The eyewitness revealed that he saw the minibus swerving from right to left and then realised that other vehicles were stopping and had put on their hazard

lights.

“I realised that there was an accident, so, I ride up and go. When I approach the bus, I see the rearview mirror break up and the bus over the white line and the boy cycle one foot away and the boy lying in the grass unconscious.

Anandtram said he assisted in placing his friend into the van to be taken to the hospital.

The father of three is said to have suffered head

FROM PAGE 11

injuries and a broken shoulder.

His grieving wife said that she is now left with her three children with no means of support as her husband was the sole breadwinner.

Meanwhile, Police said that a breathalyser test was conducted on the 47-yearold driver of Letter Kenny Village, Corentyne, but there was no trace of alcohol. (G4)

NEWS

17

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Enough of the violence!

Georgetown goes orange during 16-day genderbased violence awareness

Enhancement workers to be employed in Region 9

…First Lady highlights plan to eliminate domestic violence

Local Government and Regional Development Minister Nigel Dharamlall and regional officials during an outreach in Region Nine

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President Mohamed Irfaan Ali along with First Lady Arya Ali and Head of Aid/Counsellor, High Commission of Canada, Janine Cocker at State House

F

irst Lady Arya Ali on Monday led a tree-wrapping exercise along Main Street, Georgetown, to raise awareness about domestic abuse as part of the 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence campaign.

The First Lady, the Department of Public Information reported, was joined by the Human Services and Social Security Minister, Dr Vindhya Persaud, along with Head of Aid, High Commission of Canada to Guyana and Suriname, Janine Cocker and UN Resident Coordinator Robert Natiello.

The First Lady said the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in incidences of domestic abuse, and the activity was designed to help to raise awareness about this scourge. Ali said her Office has pursued several initiatives to empower victims of abuse who remain trapped due to a lack of adequate finances.

“We are currently in discussion with vocational institutions to provide skills training to female entrepreneurs and are exploring ways to provide financial capital to female-owned start-ups, especially in rural areas,” the First Lady is quoted by DPI as saying.

She pledged to continue working closely with the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security and private institutes to curb domestic violence and its root causes.

Meanwhile, Dr Persaud said each individual has a role to play in reducing this ill.

“I want to send a strong appeal to everyone that it starts with all of us, it starts with the messaging that

we have in our homes, reinforcements of those messages in schools, the wider community and of course by extension the country.”

The Minister explained that the colour orange was chosen because it “represents resilience, strength and endurance and those are the qualities that we ask persons who move from the stage of victimhood to survivors.”

She said her Ministry has been doing its best to bring awareness about the scourge and to provide avenues to curb it.

In Guyana, the figures are staggering. The Minister said that about 55 per cent of Guyanese women experience domestic violence. In 2020, 17 mothers lost their lives, leaving 43 children with broken homes.

Meanwhile, UN Resident Coordinator Robert Natiello said that focus must also be placed on the dreaded abuse that members of the

LGBTQ+ community and migrant women and girls also face.

He praised Guyana for signing on to the UN’s Spotlight Initiative, which was launched in the country in October 2020.

Monday’s event was held in collaboration with the High Commission of Canada under the UN Secretariat’s UNiTE by 2030 to End Violence Against Women campaign. The theme for the 2020 UNiTE campaign is “Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect!”.

Head of Aid/Counsellor High Commission of Canada, Janine Cocker also attended the event. She said Canada has focused on eradicating domestic violence and is pleased to partner with Guyana on this initiative.

The State House was Monday evening lit with orange lights in solidarity and to bring more awareness to the issue.

he Local Government and Regional Development Ministry plans to employ Community Enhancement Workers (CEWs) across several Region Nine (Upper TakutuUpper Essequibo) villages to preserve and enhance their respective infrastructural aesthetics. This announcement was made by Nigel Dharamlall, the Department of Public Information reported, during an outreach to the region last week. The Minister, the report stated, said at least five CEWs will be employed under the Community Infrastructure Improvement Project (CIIP) in 2021.

“My Ministry, almost immediately, will employ five enhancement workers in the communities where we will

pay them as soon as they are selected from the relevant stakeholders to start working. Moving forward, we intend to increase the number of employees,” he said.

The initiative will not only create jobs which will boost villages and regional economies, but also preserve aesthetics that will benefit tourism. Villages such as Yupukari, Awaruwaunau, Fairview, and Massara are among those expected to benefit.

Dharamlall told residents this initiative is among several plans his Ministry has to help transform the region in every sector.

“We want to do much more for our people and so despite the Government approving the National 2020

Budget; it is just an emergency budget which does not allow us to do what needs to be done now,” the Minister is quoted by DPI as saying.

CIIP started in 2014 and was modified in 2015 to decentralise resources to the local democratic organs.

This remodelling has seen the day-to-day management of the workers transferred from the Ministry to the local democratic areas via the Community Enhancement Initiative, which falls under the CIIP. The CIIP also enables the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils to provide services to the communities and to encourage citizens to pay their rates and taxes to facilitate maintenance of crucial structures and other development works.

18

guyanatimesgy.com

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2020

Regional

WHO alarmed by COVID-19 surge in Brazil, Mexico

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he World Health Organisation (WHO) voiced alarm Monday over a rapid worsening of the COVID-19 situations in Brazil and Mexico, urging them to be "very serious" about halting the spread.

Both countries had seen both cases and deaths from the novel coronavirus surge in recent weeks as a second wave of the pandemic has hit.

"I think Brazil has to be very, very serious," WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters, warning the situation there was "very, very worrisome".

And he echoed the same concern when asked about Mexico, saying that country

WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

was "in bad shape".

"The number of cases doubled and the number of deaths doubled... we would like to ask Mexico to be very serious."

Brazil has been one of

the countries hit hardest by the pandemic, with more than 172,000 people killed – the second-highest number in the world, following the United States.

After a seemingly end-

less plateau, with more than 1000 deaths a day from June to August, on a seven-day rolling average, the numbers had finally been falling in the giant nation of 212 million people.

But Tedros pointed out that while the first week of November had seen 2538 deaths, last week's death toll in Brazil stood at 3876 -- "a significant increase".

Case numbers had also effectively doubled over the same period, with Brazil facing 218,000 cases last week alone.

President Jair Bolsonaro, who has downplayed the pandemic since the outset, has also dismissed talk of a second wave as "gossip".

Trinidad: Minister’s statements on Venezuelan migrants worry Law Association

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ecent statements by National Security Minister Stuart Young on court proceedings involving illegal Venezuelan migrants have concerned the Law Association.

In a release on Monday, the Association said it was concerned by aspects of the press conference at which the Minister questioned the role played by lawyers in the court proceedings which seek to prevent the deportation of Venezuelan mi-

grants.

The Association said it noted with “some concern aspects of the recent press conference held by the Minister of National Security in which he questioned the role played by lawyers in recent court proceedings seeking to prevent the deportation of Venezuelan migrants, his criticism of the court for not applying the law but 'the policy that it wants', and his lament about the 'up-

surge in habeas corpus proceedings' the use of which he described as “very dangerous'."

The Association reminded that the courts were bound to uphold all of the laws of Trinidad and to hear and determine all applications brought.

“For their part, Attorneys-at-Law are duty-bound to represent their clients fearlessly in order to ensure that the law is followed and the State is held

to account.

“The pandemic poses a danger to all of us, but the fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution to all who happen to be on our shores, including especially the rights of the child, the independence of the Judiciary and the rule of law must not be disregarded even in these trying times,” the Association said in its statement on Monday. (Trinidad Newsday)

Indigenous leader named environmental hero

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n indigenous leader from the Ecuadorean Amazon is one of the winners of the Goldman environmental prize, which recognises grassroots activism.

Nemonte Nenquimo was chosen for her success in protecting 500,000 acres of rainforest from oil extraction.

She and fellow members of the Waorani Indigenous group took the Ecuadorean Government to court over its plans to put their territory up for sale.

Their 2019 legal victory set a legal precedent for Indigenous rights.

For Nemonte Nenquimo, protecting the environment was less a choice than a legacy she decided she had to

carry on.

"The Waorani people have always been protectors, they have defended their territory and their culture for thousands of years," she tells the BBC. Nenquimo says that when she was a child she

loved to listen to the elders tell stories of how the Waorani lived before they were contacted by missionaries in the 1950s.

"My grandfather was a leader and he protected our land from incursions from outsiders, he literally spear-

headed that defence by confronting intruders, spear in hand."

Nenquimo says that from the age of five, she was encouraged by the elders to become a leader herself.

"Historically, the Waorani women have been the ones to make the decisions, the men went to war," she explains.

"Waorani women made the men listen to them and it wasn't until we had contact with the evangelical missionaries that we were told that God created Adam and that Eve came second and was created from Adam's rib, that's when the confusion [about women's role] started." (Excerpt from BBC News)

from Brazil’s national space research agency Inpe, seven times the size of London.

That means Brazil will miss its own target, established under a 2009 climate change law, for reducing deforestation to roughly 3900sq km. The consequences for missing the target are not laid out in the law but could leave the Government open to lawsuits.

The official annual measure, known as PRODES, is taken by comparing satel-

lite images from the end of July 2020 with those from the beginning of August 2019. These dates are chosen to coincide with the Amazon’s dry season, when there is less cloud cover to interfere with the calculations.

The Amazon is the world’s largest rainforest and its protection is crucial to stopping catastrophic climate change because of the vast amount of carbon dioxide it absorbs.

The latest annual destruction is a substantial increase from the 7536sq km that were deforested in 2018, the year before Bolsonaro took office.

While environmentalists blamed the Government for the rise, federal officials hailed the figures as a sign of progress in fighting deforestation, as the increase was far lower than the 34 per cent increase recorded in 2019. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Nemonte Nenquimo is one of the six winners of the 2020 Goldman Environmental Prize

Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon surges to 12-year high

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eforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest surged to a 12-year high in 2020, official Government data showed on Monday, with destruction soaring since President Jair Bolsonaro took office and weakened environmental enforcement.

In 2020, destruction of the world’s largest rainforest rose 9.5 per cent from a year earlier to 11,088 square kilometres (2.7 million acres), according to data

The 65-year-old far-right leader, who has himself had COVID-19, argues the economic impact of lockdown measures are worse than the virus itself, and has also said he would not take a vaccine when one becomes

available.

Mexico meanwhile saw its total death toll pass 100,000 on November 20 and has added more than five thousand deaths since then. (Excerpt from AFP)

Argentines celebrate “eternal love” for Maradona with tattoos

U

nder his shirt, pizza shop owner Guillermo Rodriguez is a walking shrine to Diego Maradona. His entire back is covered in tattoos depicting the soccer great, whose death last week at the age of 60 inspired enormous grief in Argentina and beyond.

“It is something The death of Maradona has beautiful to live with highlighted the almost him, so for us he did cult-like adoration that grew not die, he will continup around the player ue being there for all me I felt that pain the day of us, the love we have is eternal,” said Rodriguez, that Maradona died. The whose pizza store is called grief is enormous,” said “Siempre al 10”, referring to Cintia Veronica, who showed tattoos of Maradona on her Maradona’s jersey’s number.

The death of Maradona arm, at her home in Buenos has highlighted the almost Aires.

“Having that tattoo now, cult-like adoration that grew up around the player nick- in this moment, is to feel that named “el dios” (or God), who he (Maradona) is alive. I feel mesmerised on the pitch and that he is alive.”

A few days after inspired fans off it despite death, fan long, public battles with ad- Maradona’s Maximiliano Fernando is in a diction.

Argentina declared sever- tattoo parlour in Buenos Aires al days of national mourning and showing off tattoos of the for him and his body lay in player on his arm, including state at the presidential pal- images where Maradona is in mid-stride, and another he is ace.

“For a woman in child- holding the World Cup aloft. birth it is very painful. For (Excerpt from Reuters)

Outrage in Haiti over spike in kidnappings

S

taff at multiple Haitian health-care facilities went on strike Monday to protest the kidnapping of an intern, part of widespread public outrage at a recent increase in abductions on the island.

Hans David Telemaque was kidnapped early Saturday morning in a street near the State University of Haiti Hospital (HUEH), in Port-au-Prince. He was freed Sunday evening following a ransom payment of an unknown amount, local media reported.

"When you leave your home, you have doubts about whether you're going to return. Mothers, fathers, spouses, parents...

We all live in daily and constant anxiety," said Bead Charlemagne Charlorin, an HUEH intern who joined the protests Monday in the streets of Port-au-Prince.

In solidarity with the demonstration by interns at the island nation's main hospital, multiple healthcare facilities suspended all non-urgent care activities

Monday.

"Every day, at least four cases of kidnapping followed by demands for ransom are recorded. Some parents, they're very rare, talk about it. The majority are content to pay the ransom for their child, for their relative, to get them back," said Marie Rosy August Ducena, of the National Human Rights Network.

Furthermore, residents of the Haitian capital share an atmosphere of panic as members of the police force have been accused of being involved in acts of kidnapping.

"Several victims have actually said they were approached by Police Officers, abducted in Haitian national Police vehicles," Ducena said.

"We believe it is up to the Inspector General of the national Police to intervene, investigate and punish all Police Officers who are involved at one level or another in the perpetration of these acts," she said.

(Excerpt from AFP)

guyanatimesgy.com

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2020

T

Around the World

OILNEWS OIL NEWS Goldman Sachs sees oil hit US$65 in 2021

G

oldman Sachs expects Brent crude to reach US$65 a barrel next year following the release of an effective COVID-19 vaccine and a limited increase in supply from OPEC+.

However, before this, global demand will drop by 3 million bpd because of the string of national lockdowns in Europe, the investment bank also warned.

OPEC+ is still a major factor for prices, Goldman also said, and if it fails to agree to an extension of the current production cuts, this could cost the oil industry a US$5 price drop per barrel.

OPEC+ began a two-day meeting on Monday to discuss its production control measures. While an extension of the current level of cuts – 7.7 million bpd – is the most likely outcome, the cartel is facing growing pressure from US shale producers who have already begun raising production. The rig count has been rising for weeks, with Baker Hughes reporting last week drillers added 10 rigs.

Analyst forecasts for prices vary but appear to all be for an increase from current levels next year. According to CNBC, BCS Global Markets, for example, expects Brent to rise to the mid50s by the end of 2021. Capital Economics is even more bullish, expecting Brent crude at US$60 a barrel next year.

Crude oil prices got a boost recently from a string of potentially promising updates from pharma companies developing vaccines for COVID-19. The rally ended by the end of last week, but at the time of writing, both Brent and West Texas Intermediate were trading at the highest in months ahead of the OPEC+ meeting.

They were, however, down on the day at the time of writing as concern increased about the outcome of the two-day meeting.

While a week ago an extension of the deep cuts looked almost guaranteed, reports about internal discords in OPEC have undermined the prevailing optimism. (Excerpt from Oilprice.com)

NATO must focus more on challenge of rising China, report to say

French Government drops draft law curbing filming of Police

T

he French Government has dropped a controversial security bill that would have curbed the right to film Police officers in action after growing opposition and mass protests against it.

“The bill will be completely rewritten and a new version will be submitted,” Christophe Castaner, head of President Emmanuel Macron’s governing party in the French Parliament, told a news conference on Monday.

Tens of thousands of people in cities across France marched against the draft law on Saturday, with dozens wounded during clashes with Police in Paris.

The proposed legislation was passed by the

Riot Police clash with protesters in Paris during a rally on Saturday against the proposed security law

National Assembly earlier in November, though it still required approval from the Senate.

One of its most controversial elements was Article 24, which sought to criminalise the publication of images of

on-duty police officers with the intent of harming their “physical or psychological integrity”.

Under the article, offenders faced sentences of up to a year in jail and fines of 45,000 euros (US$53,760) for shar-

Soldiers of China’s People’s Liberation Army march during the Victory Day Parade in Red Square in Moscow, Russia, June 24, 2020. The military parade, marking the 75th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, was scheduled for May 9, but was postponed due to the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)

ATO must think harder about how to handle China and its military rise, though Russia will remain its main adversary during this decade, according to a report to be published today on reforming the Atlantic alliance.

The report “NATO 2030”, prepared by a group of socalled “wise persons” and containing 138 proposals, comes amid growing doubts about the purpose and relevance of an alliance branded last year by French President Emmanuel Macron as “brain dead”.

“China is no longer the benign trading partner that the West had hoped for. It is the rising power of our century and NATO must adapt,” said one NATO diplomat who has seen the report, pointing to Chinese activity in the Arctic and Africa and to its heavy investments in European infrastructure.

Part of NATO’s response

should be maintaining a technological advantage over China, protecting computer networks and infrastructure, the diplomat said, citing the report, although not all recommendations will be adopted.

The 30-member alliance could also forge closer ties with non-NATO countries such as Australia and focus more on deterrence in space, where China is developing assets, the report suggests.

In comments on Monday ahead of the report’s publication, NATO SecretaryGeneral Jens Stoltenberg said China’s rise posed “important challenges to our security”.

NATO should consider including China in NATO’s official master strategy document, its “Strategic Concept”, diplomats cited the report as saying, though it will stop short of declaring the country an adversary. (Excerpt from Reuters)

ing images of Police officers.

Protesters called for the article to be withdrawn, claiming that it contradicts “the fundamental public freedoms of our Republic”.

Media unions also said it could give police a green light to prevent journalists – and social media users – from documenting abuses.

The controversy was intensified by a video showing the beating and racial abuse of a Black man last week.

The images of the beating of Zecler emerged days after Police were already under fire over the forcible removal of a migrant camp in central Paris, where journalists on the ground recorded Police brutality. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Saudi Arabia agrees to allow Israeli commercial planes to cross its airspace – senior Trump official

S

audi Arabia agreed on Monday to let Israeli airliners cross its airspace en route to the United Arab Emirates after talks between Saudi officials and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, a senior Trump Administration official said.

Kushner and Middle East envoys Avi Berkowitz and

Brian Hook raised the issue shortly after they arrived in Saudi Arabia for talks.

“We were able to reconcile the issue,” the official told Reuters.

The agreement was hammered out just hours before Israel’s first commercial flight to the UAE was planned for this morning.

The Israir flight was at risk

of being cancelled with no overflight agreement.

The direct flights are an offshoot of normalisation deals Israel reached this year with the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan.

“This should resolve any issues that should occur with Israeli carriers taking people from Israel to the UAE and back and to

Bahrain,” the official said.

Kushner and his team were to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman later this week, as well as the emir of Kuwait.

One goal of the trip is to try to persuade Gulf Cooperation Council countries to end a three-year blockade of Qatar. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh: Iran scientist “killed by remote-controlled weapon”

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N

19

ran believes Israel and an exiled opposition group used a remote-control weapon to shoot dead top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh on Friday.

Security chief Ali Shamkhani said the attackers had "used electronic equipment" when Fakhrizadeh's car was fired on east of the capital Tehran.

He was speaking at the funeral of the scientist Israel accused of secretly helping to develop nuclear weapons.

Israel has not publicly commented on the allegations of its involvement.

In the early 2000s,

General Amir Hatami said Iran would continue the path of the "martyr doctor"

Fakhrizadeh played a crucial role in Iran's nuclear programme but the Government insists its nuclear activities are entirely peaceful.

It has been subjected to crippling Western sanctions

aimed at preventing it from developing nuclear weapons.

Israeli and Western security sources say Fakhrizadeh was instrumental in Iran's nuclear programme.

The physics professor is said to have led "Project Amad", a covert programme that Iran allegedly established in 1989 to carry out research on a potential nuclear bomb.

The project was shut down in 2003, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, though Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said in 2018 that documents obtained by his country showed Fakhrizadeh led a programme that was secretly continuing Project Amad's work.

In a presentation, Mr Netanyahu urged people to "remember that name".

(Excerpt from BBC News)

India investigates alleged AstraZeneca vaccine “adverse reaction”

T

he Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is assisting an inquiry into an alleged adverse reaction during AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine trial but has found no reason to recommend halting it, a senior official at the regulator said.

A 40-year-old man said in a complaint seen by Reuters news agency that he had suffered serious “neurological and psychological” symptoms after receiving the vac-

cine in a trial being run by the British drugmaker’s partner, the Serum Institute of India (SII).

“There was no immediate cause of concern at this stage,” Samiran Panda, Head of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases at the ICMR, the research body involved in trials, told Reuters.

“It doesn’t mean that long term assessment will not happen, it is still happening.

I am aware of the activity,”

Panda said.

Law firm NGR Prasad & R Rajaram Advocates sent the complaint by the unnamed volunteer, who is seeking 50 million rupees (US$676,288) in compensation and a suspension of testing, manufacturing and distribution of the vaccine, to ICMR, SII, AstraZeneca and the Drugs Controller General of India.

The Serum Institute of India responded in a statement saying the “allegations in the notice are malicious

and misconceived”.

“While the Serum Institute of India is sympathetic with the volunteer’s medical condition, there’s absolutely no correlation with the vaccine trial. The volunteer is falsely laying the blame for his medical problems on the COVID vaccine trial,” SII said.

India’s novel coronavirus cases rose by 38,772 on Monday, the Health Ministry said, making it the 23rd straight day that daily cases stayed below 50,000.

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

20

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2020

guyanatimesgy.com

ARCHIE

ARIES (March 21April 19)

Don’t hold back if someone gets in your way. Stand up and push forward. Look over your options and negotiate on your behalf. Strive to realise your true potential.

Be wary of passing TAURUS along dubious information.

(April 20Getting to the bottom of a May 20) nettlesome situation will depend on the facts. The decisions you make can influence a meaningful relationship.

DILBERT

GEMINI (May 21June 20)

CANCER (June 21July 22)

PEANUTS

CALVIN AND HOBBES

SUDOKU

Set a high standard.

Speak up and share your plans.

Handle sensitive issues with compassion and understanding. Don't let a change someone makes distract you. Be true to yourself.

Take care of personal matters before someone steps in and takes charge.

Change may not be welcome, but it’s best to deal with it yourself. Personal improvement is favored.

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

Lend a helping hand, and someone will offer the same courtesy. Taking an unnecessary risk will be costly. Focus on doing a good job and making a memorable impression.

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

Sit tight, listen and assess what’s going on around you before you decide to make a move. A change to a relationship will improve your day. Share a special moment with a loved one.

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

Follow your heart and intuition. Take action, make a statement and do your best to bring people together.

Problems will arise if you let someone put unreasonable demands on you.

SCORPIO

Opportunities will come and go. It’s up to you to take advantage of what’s going on around you. Tie up loose ends to avoid being put in a position that leaves you at a disadvantage.

(Oct. 24Nov. 22)

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23Dec. 21)

Spend time fixing up your surroundings and nurturing meaningful relationships.

Judicious research will help eliminate any misconceptions you have about someone who is elusive or secretive.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19)

Visualise what you want to accomplish, and make alterations that will help you achieve your goal. Look for an opportunity, and seize the moment. Leave nothing to chance, and success will follow.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 19)

Show passion in all you pursue, and progress will follow. Refuse to let others sway you in a direction that benefits them instead of you. It’s what you do, not what you say, that will count today.

SOLUTION FOR LAST PUBLISHED PUZZLE

PISCES (Feb. 20March 20)

Call in favors and ward off an emotional altercation.

Getting your responsibilities out of the way will leave time to enjoy the rest of your day. Doing the right thing could lead to a gift.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2020

21

Knight Riders Group buys stake in USA T20 franchise project Major League Cricket T

he Knight Riders Group will play "a very broad role" in the USA-based Major League Cricket (MLC), the latest attempt to launch a franchise-led T20 tournament that is expected to kick off in 2022. That brings to three the number of leagues in which the Knight Riders Group have a team, after the IPL and CPL, and they will hold a "significant" stake in the tournament.

The investment in the MLC by the Knight Riders group, which is owned by Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla along with her husband Jay Mehta, will be strategic and

see them playing the role of "consultant" to help USA Cricket run the six-team T20 league.

The league will be unlike a number of others at least in one way: the six (to start with) franchises will own a part of it. "In the IPL or the CPL, you own a franchise, and that's all you own and operate", whereas in the case of the MLC, "you have a stake in the league", Venky Mysore, CEO and Managing Director of the Knight Riders, said.

The Knight Riders Group, which owns Kolkata Knight Riders and the Trinbago Knight Riders, was invited by American

Kolkata Knight Riders CEO Venky Mysore shares the stage with Dinesh Karthik

Cricket Enterprises (ACE), USA Cricket's partner in developing a professional T20 league in America.

The result is what both ACE and Mysore have called "a long-term investment in American cricket".

"When they invited us, we said we want to take a deep dive into this, and not just have a shortterm outlook," Mysore told ESPNcricinfo. "So they see us as a consultant in many ways, apart from being a

Romain Grosjean to leave hospital, but miss next race after Bahrain fireball

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omain Grosjean is to be discharged from hospital on Tuesday having escaped from a life-threatening accident at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Haas driver has been thoroughly examined, but sustained only burns to his hands after the car burst into flames.

In order to ensure he recovers properly, moreover, Grosjean will be replaced at the Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain next weekend by test and reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi, grandson of Brazil’s double world champion Emerson Fittipaldi.

Grosjean’s crash on the opening lap of Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix came when he clipped a wheel of Daniil Kvyat’s car and veered off into the trackside armco barriers at 220 kilometres per hour (137 miles per hour). The impact was measured at 53G and caused his car to split in half. The front part, including the Frenchman in the cockpit, speared through the barriers and was engulfed in a fireball. Grosjean was in the car amid the flames for almost 20 seconds before extricating himself and climbing to safety.

“After it was decided that the best thing for Romain was to skip at least one race, the choice to put Pietro in the car was pretty easy,” said the team principal, Guenther Steiner. “Pietro will drive the VF-20 and he’s familiar with us having been around the team. It’s the right thing to do and it’s

Romain Grosjean escaped with burns to his hands after his Haas car erupted in flames at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday

obviously a good opportunity for him. He’s been patient and was always prepared for this opportunity – and now it has come. That’s why we want him in the car and I’m sure he’ll do a good job.”

The Brazilian tested Haas cars in 2018 and 2019, but this will be his first competitive outing in Formula One. Haas has dropped Grosjean for the 2021 season, but has yet to announce his replacement, with Michael Schumacher’s son Mick expected to be given a drive.

F1 has also responded to Daniel Ricciardo’s criticism of the way the accident was repeatedly broadcast after Grosjean was confirmed to be safe. The Australian driver described it as “like something from Hollywood”.

“I’m disgusted and disappointed with Formula One for showing or choosing the way to show it as they did,” he said. “They broadcast replays after replays after replays of the fire, and his car split in half and then, like that’s not enough, they go to

his onboard.”

An F1 spokesperson has insisted they followed well-established protocols, however. “At F1 this isn’t about entertainment and a few procedures and protocols are in place before any decision to run a replay is made,” he said. “No footage is shown until there is confirmation that the driver is OK. On this occasion at this point F1, showed Romain with the ambulance, helmet off and walking with aid. No replays of an accident are shown until there is approval and confirmation from race control/FIA that all persons are safe – driver, marshals and doctors. Replays then started.

“The context of what a viewer sees and hears with the commentary is important, with them talking about the safety of Romain, the halo, FIA safety improvements, and updates from the medical centre. There is constant dialogue between F1, FIA, race control, and sound judgement on viewers, families and those affected.”

Grosjean’s escape was welcomed as a testament to F1’s pursuit of safety, especially the mandatory employment of the halo cockpit protection device which almost certainly saved the Frenchman’s life when his car smashed through the metal barriers. However, the incident has still raised serious issues.

The barriers are designed to absorb energy from the impact in the process of deflecting a car back on to the run-off area. That Grosjean’s went through was a major concern, as was the subsequent fire, a danger believed to have been largely eliminated from F1 cars. The last time one caught fire in a crash was at Imola in 1989.

The FIA is to launch an investigation and the race director, Michael Masi, insisted it would be comprehensive and include every party involved. “With every incident, but more so with every major incident, the FIA safety department leads the investigation,” he said. “The single-seater department, of which F1 is a part from a technical perspective, has an involvement. The F1 teams and the technical directors will be involved. The circuits commission will be involved on circuit safety.

“All of the various parts of the FIA group as a whole and all the respective subject matter experts really will review this particular area and see what can be learnt, what can be improved.” (The Guardian)

big part of the league. They want us to play a very broad role, to help and assist them with all aspects of cricket in the US. "USA Cricket are looking at a bigger national cricket set-up, academies, develop talent, and all that is complementary to what the T20 league will do as well. In addition, we will be working hard to build infrastructure there, six world-class stadiums in the next few years.

"It will be like a public-private partnership where you have conversations with the city council and they are used to doing it with other sports when it comes to, say, giving you land, or long-term financing arrangements.

"Eventually their ambi-

tion is to host international competitions, including, potentially, the World Cup. So this could be on the agenda. USA has a strong sports culture. It's also the number one media market. Cricket is the second-most-watched sport in the world, so you combine it all, it's got all the ingredients of a very successful product."

Only last week, Greg Barclay, the new ICC Chairman, indicated that the USA would likely be one of the places cricket will target in its push for further growth. He had also hinted at the possibility of wresting global events away from India, England and Australia, and that the USA would be "the logical place to start". (ESPNcricinfo)

Cavani apologises for offensive social media post that Man United insist was “misconstrued”

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dinson Cavani has apologised for a social media post that could be deemed offensive, though Manchester United insist there was no "malicious intent" on the Uruguayan's part.

Cavani was critical to United's 3-2 win over Southampton on Sunday, setting up Bruno Fernandes and scoring twice after being introduced as a half-time substitute.

In doing so, he became the first player since United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 1999 to be involved in at least three Premier League goals in a single game after coming off the bench.

But after the match he landed himself in hot water for a post to his Instagram – which was soon deleted – that saw him use a Spanish phrase that could be deemed racially insensitive as he thanked a friend for paying tribute to him.

The Football Association (FA) was notified and began looking into the matter on Monday, with a ban

not out of the question, but Cavani issued an apology a few hours later.

In a statement released

by United, Cavani said: "The message I posted after the match on Sunday was intended as an affectionate greeting to a friend, thanking him for his congratulations after the game.

"The last thing I wanted to do was cause offence to anyone. I am completely opposed to racism and deleted the message as soon as it was explained that it can be interpreted differently.

"I would like to sincerely apologise for this."

In a statement of their own, United added: "It is clear to us that there was absolutely no malicious intent behind Edinson's message and he deleted it as soon as he was informed that it could be misconstrued.

"Edinson has issued an apology for any unintentional offence caused.

Manchester United and all of our players are fully committed to the fight against racism." (Sportsmax)

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2020

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Windies, Kiwis settle for A team draw W

est Indies prospective Test bowlers suffered a blow to their confidence, when Will Young and Cole McConchie hit hundreds to earn New Zealand A a tame draw in their tour match on Sunday.

The Windies attack again failed to make inroads into the batting of the Black Caps’ reserves, and Young with a top score of 133 and McConchie, not out on 124, batted the home team to safety on 440 for eight, replying to the Caribbean side’s first innings total of 571, on the final day of the four-day, First-Class match at John Davies Oval.

Uncapped pacer Chemar Holder was the most successful Windies bowler with three for 100 from 28 overs and Kraigg Brathwaite, plying his uncomplicated off-spin, grabbed two for 66 from 28 overs.

The match was the final warm-up for the visitors before the first Test

against New Zealand, starting this coming Thursday (6 pm East Caribbean Time) at Seddon Park in Hamilton.

West Indies would have been hoping for an early breakthrough, when play started half-

Chemar Holder

hour earlier to make up time lost for an early close the previous day and New Zealand A resumed from their overnight total of 249 for four.

But they failed to catch a break, and Young and McConchie carried the New Zealanders to 356 for four at lunch.

Windies Captain Darren Bravo went through a succession of bowlers to find the spark, including the uncomplicated medium-pace of Jermaine Blackwood, who Young turned through square leg for two to reach his milestone from 209 balls a little before the morning drinks break.

Brathwaite finally broke the stand with the fourth ball after lunch when Young was bowled behind his legs, getting too far inside the

line to play into the leg-side.

This proved to be a purple patch for the Caribbean side – Holder bowled Dylan Cleaver for 10 off the inside edge five overs later, and Brathwaite had Sean Solia caught in the deep for a duck in the next over.

West Indies continued to find McConchie a brick wall and he reached his landmark from 217 balls, when he cut John Campbell, plying his flighty off-spin, through backward point for his fifth boundary.

The Windies still hunted a swift end to the New Zealand A innings, but Ben Sears came to the crease and spent nearly an hour with McConchie to carry the home team to 400 before Campbell trapped him lbw for five.

The visitors spent an-

other half-hour trying to remove McConchie and Blair Tickner, not out on 13, without success before the two teams chose to bring the match to a tame conclusion about five minutes before the rescheduled tea break.

Summarised scores: WEST INDIES 571 (Kraigg Brathwaite 246, Darren Bravo 93, John Campbell 45, Jermaine Blackwood 53, Raymon Reifer 46, Jason Holder 24, Shane Dowrich 23, Alzarri Joseph 22; Cole McConchie 3-130, Michael Rae 2-100, Rachin Ravindra 2-102).

NEW ZEALAND A 440 for eight (Will Young 133, Cole McConchie 124 not out, Henry Cooper 54, Rachin Ravindra 52, Kevin McClure 20; Chemar Holder 3-100, Kraigg Brathwaite 2-66). (CMC)

Statue of cricket great GCB Tropical Springs T20 Over-40 Sir Wes Hall unveiled at Kensington Oval Tournament continues

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Regal Masters are at the top of the table

he fifth round of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Tropical Springs T20 Over-40 Tournament continued on Monday.

Over at the Everest Cricket Club Ground, on Camp Street Georgetown, West Demerara Masters and Sand Pipers Masters got off to a late start, owing to the inclement weather, which affected the possibility of play in the outfield prior to 15:30h. However, both teams were eager to get involved in on-field action, and when play was called at 15:30h, it was Sand Pipers who were tasked with the responsibility of setting a victory target for their opponents. However, this task appeared not to be as easy as Sand Pipers may have previously thought, as they lost their first two wickets in as many overs. Nevertheless, the number three batsman Bhupendra Deokie stroked 20, which included two fours and one six to help Sand Pipers post 60 all out off 11.4 overs of their re-

vised allotment of 12 overs.

Bowling for WD Masters, Saenaraine Mathura claimed 2 for 5 from 2 overs and Sudesh Persaud 2 for 15 from 2.4 overs..

In reply, WD Masters reached their victory target off 10.4 overs of their allotted 12 overs, as they paced themselves to 62 for 7. Seenarine Mathura was run out for 13, while Patrick Khan and Ganesh Persaud were unbeaten on 12 and 7 respectively. Bowling for Sand Pipers, Parmanand Deokie grabbed 2 for 5 from 3 overs, Ryan Mangah 2 for 6 from 2 overs, and Nandkrishna Ram 2 for 19 from 3 overs.

Earlier at Everest, the match between Everest Masters and Rubis Bel Air Ultra Tec was abandoned, owing to unsuitable outfield conditions caused by rainfall during the morning hours. Over at the Enmore Community Centre Ground, Regal Masters gained a walk-over from WD Mavericks, while RP Construction Legends were

rewarded for showing up by obtaining walk-over points from KV Construction.

The sixth and penultimate round in the “preliminary” round of matches of the GCB Tropical Springs T20 Over-40 Tournament will bowl off at the Everest and Enmore venues on Wednesday. At Everest, Everest Masters will be at home to KV Construction Masters from 09:30h, while Sand Pipers will battle with WD Mavericks from 13:45h.

The Enmore Ground will have Regal Masters opposing WD Masters in the first encounter of the day, from 09:30h, and RP Construction Legends will compete against Rubis BelAir Ultra Tec. The current point standings for the tournament are as follows: Regal Masters: 11 points West Demerara Mavericks: 10 points RP Construction Legends: 10 points Bel Air Rubis Ultra Tec: 6 points

stature of Barbados and West Indies iconic fast bowler Sir Wes Hall was unveiled at Kensington Oval on Sunday night on the eve of the country’s 54th year of independence.

Between 1958 and 1969, Sir Wes Hall played 48 Tests for the West Indies taking 192 wickets. During the 1960/61 series between the West Indies and Australia, he featured prominently taking nine wickets in the famous tied-Test in Brisbane.

The eight-foot tall statue created by 42-year-old fine artist Jason Hope was erected next to that of another Barbados and West Indies legend, Sir Garry Sobers.

The statue was unveiled

by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley during a ceremony attended by about 200 persons from Barbadian society, including retired cricketers Ian Bradshaw, Vasbert Drakes, and Floyd Reifer as well as Barbados Cricket Association President Conde Riley and Roland Butcher.

Sir Wesley Hall’s children, Dr Kerry Hall, Sean Hall and Remi Hall were also in attendance.

“I want on behalf of the Government and the people of Barbados to salute

you and to say to all of the others who helped to create that moment, that we will do all in our power as a government to continue to ensure that you will not only be honoured but that the legends of Barbados will not just remain as a cricketing legacy,” Prime Minister Mottley said.

“We must merge the legacy of the legends with the current requirement of what we must do to earn.”

In addition to the Prime Minister’s message, there were also recorded video tributes from past greats including former West Indies Captain Clive Lloyd, Joel Garner, Michael Holding, Desmond Haynes, Sir Charles Griffiths and current West Indies Captain Jason Holder.

The 83-year-old Hall said he was humbled by the occasion.

“I really appreciate those Barbadians who came on board and made this statue here for all Barbadians to see and we did not have to go to India, Australia and England to get the funds. I want you to recognise these Barbadians that have come to the party and this is why we have this statue and I am very happy. I am very humbled,” he said. (Sportsmax)

22

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Nand Persaud renews BCB Female Cricket sponsorship for 2021 – youths continue to benefit from donations of gear

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he Berbice Cricket Board (BCB), just after calling off its cricket season for the rest of the year due to the rapid increase of COVID-19 cases in the Ancient County has started to plan for a busy season in 2021 when it is hoped that play would finally restart.

Last week, the Board received its first 2021 sponsorship from Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha for an Under-15 tournament while on Thursday last, the Board finalised the sponsorship of its annual female 20/20 tournament with Nand Persaud Co Ltd. BCB President Hilbert Foster visited the company and held discussions with the company’s marketing executive, Devesh Persaud.

The tournament would be contested by defending champions Rose Hall Town Metro, West Berbice and New Amsterdam/Canje on a round-robin basis. Foster proudly stated that the BCB was the only county board to organise cricket for its female cricketers. The BCB President further stated that

R

The three young cricketers pose after collecting their cricket gear

great effort would be made to play another two tournaments in 2021 for females as the Board continued to invest heavily in the game for the fairer sex. Additionally, the BCB would also seek to arrange matches for the female team to play across Guyana. Another major plan is to have the powerful Metro Female team play a Rest of Berbice team during the finals of the historic Semi Professional League for an attractive prize package.

With the BCB placing special emphasis on educa-

tion as part of its developmental programme, one female cricketer would also receive financial assistance to assist their academic career. The Nand Persaud Co 20/20 tournament would begin early in the new year with matches expected to be played at the Area H Ground, Rose Hall Canje and Hopetown.

Among the players expected to play are West Indies players Shemaine Campbelle, Erva Giddings, Sheneta Grimmond, Shabaki Gajnabi, and Tremayne

Smartt, with others like Plaffina Millington, Dian Prahald, Sherica Campbelle, Kantana Mentore, Marian Samaroo also expected to turn out. At the end of the tournament, the Berbice selectors would select the Berbice inter-county team and then they would be part of an intense preparation camp with Head Coach Winston Smith.

The BCB President expressed gratitude to Nand Persaud Co Ltd for coming on board for the third successive year and assured that

New Zealand take series 2-0 after Bay Oval washout

ain played an early spoiler in the third and final T20I between New Zealand and West Indies at Bay Oval. Only 2.2 overs were possible in a contest that promised much.

With Tim Southee joining the Test squad in Hamilton, Mitchell Santner became the eighth New Zealand Captain in men's T20Is. He won the toss and put the West Indies in under overcast conditions.

With Kyle Jamieson and Ross Taylor also having joined Southee on the trip to Hamilton, New Zealand brought back Hamish Bennett, and added all-rounder Daryll Mitchell and Scott Kuggeleijn to their XI. The toss seemed a perfect recipe for the hosts to put the West Indies top order under pressure with seam and pace.

Santner, though, opted to bowl the first over himself, perhaps with a mission to avoid later match-ups with the likes of Nicholas Pooran and Kieron Pollard, who had taken him for three successive sixes in Sunday's game.

Two of Santner's first three deliver-

ies were fired down leg. Then, Brandon King stepped away and lofted him over the extra cover boundary, making the first over a productive one for the West Indies.

New Zealand pose with the T20 series trophy

Lockie Ferguson, who picked six wickets in the first two matches, started with a wide slip in place, and got King to edge as he sought to drive the first ball, but the ball flew past a diving Mitchell to the boundary. Ferguson

then held the length back a touch, but kept it fast and wide again, and King had a slash at it, only to hole out to Jimmy Neesham at third man.

Kyle Mayers, playing just his sec-

ond match, walked in next, and nonchalantly whipped one bowled down the leg side past short fine leg to get off the mark in style. Ferguson had another shot at a wicket with a wicked in-dipper to Andre Fletcher, but the inside edge as the West Indies opener looked to defend, flew low to the left of Tim Seifert and through to fine leg for four.

At 25 for 1, West Indies had made their intentions of attacking clear, but the conditions were ripe for the New Zealand seamers to cash in on the overhead conditions. This was amply clear when Bennett got his first two balls to pitch and fizz off the surface, beating two attempts by Mayers to counterattack by swinging across the line.

That's when the hitherto steady drizzle intensified, and forced the players off the field. It would continue to alternate between a light drizzle and steadier rain through the rest of the evening, with the umpires eventually calling it off with about a half hour to go before the threshold for a five-over game. (ESPNcricinfo)

the tournament would be well organised. He also stated that the company would receive widespread PR. Marketing executive Persaud noted that the company was delighted to support Berbice cricket as it was impressed with the work of the Board and its effort to develop female cricket even more.

Meanwhile, another three youth cricketers from the West Berbice area have benefited from the work of the Board under its Patron Fund. The youths drawn from cricket clubs in Bush Lot Village received cricket gear which was do-

nated by Patron Vickram Bharrat, Minister of Natural Resources. Two players carried home a pair of batting gloves while one received a pair of batting pads. Over the last 30 months, more than 200 youths have benefited from donations of cricket gear, uniforms and bicycles while hundreds more have received educational materials including school bags. Foster has disclosed that the assistance programme is expected to be expanded shortly while dozens of youths would receive more cricket gear in a joint project with former West Indies opener Clayton Lambert.

GFF launches #wecare health & football social media campaign

T

h e Guyana Football Federation (GFF) has launched a social media campaign to encourage healthy behaviour and greater participation in football as part of its UEFA Assist “Bounceback” programme.

The #wecare campaign will feature weekly videos of GFF football ambassadors, including national team players and coaches, sharing COVID-19 and other health awareness messages while performing football drills and skills.

Golden Jaguars Head Coach Marcio Maximo kicked off the campaign on November 28 with a simple trick to get the ball rolling – the flick up – alongside a message for fans to “maintain social distancing and stay safe” .

“We want to see football fans having fun by trying to copy these skills and drills in their own videos and sharing them with their friends, so that we can all stay connected and active as we work towards the responsible and safe resumption of football competition,” said GFF President Wayne Forde.

“We know that football has a great power to engage, entertain and inspire, but also to make a real impact as a platform for positive messages and change. I want to encourage everyone to share their own videos and to stay safe.”

The videos will be broadcast on the GFF’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok accounts in the coming months: Facebook: @GuyanaFootballFederationInc Instagram: guyana_football_federation_inc TikTok: GFF_Inc_ Twitter: @GFF_Inc_ “Part of our work under the UEFA Assist “Bounceback” programme is to make sure we keep the football community engaged while football is still offline,” said GFF Technical Director Ian Greenwood. “Some of these videos will be focused on having fun and expressing yourself, while others will feature top football drills and exercises designed by GFF Coaching Education Director Wilson Toledo.”

Under the UEFA Assist programme, the GFF is working with European football administrative experts to develop a comprehensive plan to transition to the full resumption of football activities, once conditions allow.

Guyana is the second nation in the CONCACAF region – after Mexico – to participate in the “Bounceback” initiative.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2020

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

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Nand Persaud renews BCB Female Cricket sponsorship for 2021

– youths continue to benefit from donations of gear Page 23

See story on page 21

Knight Riders Group buys stake in USA T20 franchise project Major League Cricket GCB Tropical Springs T20 Over-40 Tournament continues BCB President Hilbert Foster receives the sponsorship from Nand Persaud Co Ltd marketing executive Devesh Persaud

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