Guyana Times - Monday, November 19, 2018

P14

Technology in tourism inevitable – Minister Hughes THE BEACON OF TRUTH

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

Issue No. 3751

Monday, November 19, 2018

PPP/C to name presidential candidate by yearend Page 9

- as Party moves into national campaign mode for 2020

Teen allegedly Page stabs 9 labourer to death during drinking spree

Natural Resources Fund

Media rep to sit on 22-member Oversight committee Page 3

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WHAT'S INSIDE:

Annandale man killed in Good P10 Hope accident Lusignan Prison P2 escapee recaptured at Tuschen

Driver P2 abandons car with over 21kg of ganja

Leopold Street vagrant stabbed to P8 death in row over “drugs” As Guyana celebrates Tourism Awareness Month, staff of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) and residents of Charity, Essequibo Coast, were engaged in a cleanup campaign on Sunday

Police Constable dies after losing control of car Page 10

ECD man arrested for discharging loaded P2 firearm

2 news

mondAY, November 19, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Lusignan Prison escapee recaptured at Tuschen

Sudesh Dyal

S

udesh Dyal, 23, one of the three inmates who escaped from the Lusignan Prison on October 15, 2018, was Sunday morning recaptured while hiding out in a house at Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo (EBE).

According to reports, the Police acted on information received and went to the house about 03:00h when the escapee was nabbed. He was taken to the Leonora Police Station and was later transported to Georgetown to face charges.

The man, formerly of Wales, West Bank Demerara (WBD), along with 29-year-old Dextroy Pollard and murder accused Travis Evan, escaped from the Prison’s holding bay.

Evan was the first to be recaptured by ranks of the Joint Services in Linden, Region 10 while Pollard was recaptured by residents of Wales and handed over to the Police.

Pollard had just been sentenced to spend the next two years in prison on a charge of break and enter and larceny. Dyal was on remand for the said offence.

The men, according to Prison Director Gladwin Samuels, had escaped as a result of a lack of vigilance by the officers on duty.

The holding bay from which the

men escaped is reportedly surrounded by four towers from where ranks had a bird’s eye view.

Additionally, the barbed wire fence had to be cut in order for the escape to be successful. At the time of the escape, both prison and police officers were on duty at the holding bay facility.

Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) footage showed that the men took approximately four minutes to successfully escape. As such, Samuels slammed the officers, some of whom were reportedly asleep.

A number of search parties were deployed in several areas in Regions Three and Four, where it was suspected the men might have gone.

The Prison was used as a holding facility with several holding areas after the July 2017 fire at the Camp Street Prison. During that fire, several high-profile prisoners had escaped. The others were dispatched to correctional institutions across the country, including Lusignan.

However, 13 prisoners had escaped from the facility by digging a hole under the perimeter fence. The hole was about five feet in diameter and another five feet deep.

Those who had escaped were murder accused Clive Forde, Pascal Smith, Kerry Cromwell, Odel Roberts, Kendell Skeet, Rayon Jones, Jason Howard, Shawn Harris, Paul Goriah and Jamal Forde, along with Teshawn McKenzie, Cobena Stephens, Winston Long and Jamal Joseph.

All the others were recaptured with two being killed by the Police during an exchange of gunfire. However, Goriah and Stephens remain at large.

Goriah’s last known address was given as Grove Squatting Area, East Bank Demerara (EBD) while Lot 82 Gopie Street, Middle Walk, Buxton, East Coast Demerara (ECD) was given as Stephens’ last known address.

Driver abandons car with over 21kg of ganja

T

he Police are hunting for the driver of a motor car that on Saturday was left abandoned on the No. 6 Public Road, West Coast Berbice with over 21 kilograms of cannabis.

Based on reports received, the driver of the white Toyota

Carina 212 motor car fled the scene after he crashed the vehicle into the rear of another vehicle.

After the accident, which caused extensive damage to both vehicles, Police ranks checked the 212 motor car and found the large quantity of

marijuana on the back seat of the car wrapped in black plastic bags. The illicit substance, when weighed, amounted to 21.770 kilograms.

Both of the vehicles have been lodged at the Police station as ranks continue their investigations.

ECD man arrested for discharging loaded firearm

A

n East Coast Demerara (ECD) man is in Police custody for discharging a loaded firearm in the vicinity of Vryheid Lust South, ECD in the wee hours of Sunday.

Guyana Times understands that about 01:50h, the man

was seen discharging the firearm into the air and the Police were summoned.

As the Police arrived at the scene, the man spotted them and fled. He was later apprehended at Better Hope Public Road. A search was conduct-

ed on his person and two live rounds of 9mm ammunition were found.

He was arrested by the Police. Based on information received, he is not cooperating with law enforcement. An investigation is ongoing.

news

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mondAY, November 19, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

BRIDGE OPENINGS The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Monday, November 19 – a night retraction from 02:30h and a day retraction from 14:30h-16:00h and Tuesday, November 20 – a night retraction from 03:00h and a day retraction from 14:30h-16:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Monday, November 19 – 13:35h-15:05h and Tuesday, November 20 – 14:15h-15:45h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

Natural Resources Fund

Media rep to sit on 22-member Oversight committee – Bill proposes parliamentary approval for withdrawals

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

WEATHER TODAY Thundery and light rain showers are expected, with sunny skies from the mid-afternoon. Partly cloudy skies are expected in the evening, with temperatures ranging between 22 degrees Celsius and 30 degrees Celsius.

Winds: Easterly to East North-easterly between 2.23 metres and 5.36 metres.

High Tide: 13:55h reaching a maximum height of 2.43 metres.

Low Tide: 07:25h and 19:51h reaching minimum heights of 0.84 metre and 0.77 metre respectively.

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The Bank of Guyana will house the Fund

By Jarryl Bryan

G

overnment has released the draft Natural Resources Fund Bill of 2018, which proposes among other things a 22-member Public Accountability and Oversight Committee that will oversee the management of the Fund and provide checks and balances.

According to the Bill, the Committee will include a media representative proposed by the Guyana Press Association (GPA). Other entities that will have to propose representatives include the Guyana Bar Association; the Guyana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GY-EITI); Transparency Institute of Guyana Incorporated (TIGI), the Guyana Consumers’ Association and the various trade unions.

In addition, nominees will have to come from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Guyana; the Private Sector Commission (PSC); the governing council of the University of Guyana (UG) and each of the 10 administrative regions.

In the case of the regions, the terms of these members will be for two years with the possibility of being reappointed for one more term.

Members nominated by any other organisation besides Regional Democratic Councils (RDCs) will serve a single three-year term.

The Bill specifically excludes persons such as Members of Parliament, Ministry staff, persons of unsound mind, ex-convicts and the bankrupt from serving on the Committee.

The Bill also lists the functions of the Committee, which will include monitoring and evaluating the compliance of Government and other officials related to the NRF, with the provisions of the Bill. They will also have to independently assess the management of the Fund and use of withdrawals, as well as facilitate public consultations on the NRF. The Committee will be charged with “monitoring and evaluating whether the Fund has been managed in accordance with the princi-

ples of transparency, good governance, and international best practices, including the Santiago principles.”

The Santiago principles are a set of generally accepted principles and practices that reflect Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) investment best practices and objectives. They include expectations of a sound legal framework, well-defined mission, clearly defined rules for withdrawals, transparency, annual reporting and independent auditors.

Where transparency is concerned, the Bill stipulates that biannual reports on the Committee’s activities must be published on its website or Parliament’s website. In addition, the Committee must organise annual public consultations to update the public on its work.

The Bill adds that the Committee must “submit copies of its biannual reports to the President and to the National Assembly within 60 days after the end of the first half of each fiscal year,

Just some of the organisations that will have to nominate persons for the Oversight Committee

as well as within 60 days after the end of the second half of each fiscal year.”

While the subject Minister, in this case the Finance Minister, will have overall responsibility for the management of the Fund, the Bank of Guyana will have operational management responsibility. In addition, the Minister must obtain parliamentary approval for withdrawals.

“The amount Parliament shall approve as the withdrawal from the Fund for the next ensuing fiscal year shall be included in the annual budget and shall not exceed, for that year, the economically and fiscally sustainable amount plus any amount required for emergency financing,” the Bill states.

According to the Bill, the Fund will be held at the

Bank of Guyana. However, the Fund itself will be managed independent of the Bank’s reserves. All budget requests must go through the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), with the monies being charged on the Fund.

The Fund

A SWF, which is what the NRF was previously known as, is a State-owned investment fund that is made up of surpluses from official foreign currency operations, proceeds of privatisations, governmental transfer payments, fiscal surpluses and/ or receipts resulting from resource exports.

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mondAY, November 19, 2018

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 PNC and Media Intimidation

O

nly Guyanese with very short memories or absolutely no knowledge of our post-Independence history would be surprised at the intimidation of journalists at the press conference ostensibly arranged by the APNU (but only PNC officials in attendance) and the AFC at Congress Place last Friday. And this intimidation had to have been planned beforehand, since APNU supporters who thronged the occasion to deliver their insults and heckling had to have been invited and seated by the organisers.

They were in full view and earshot of the bevy of the highest officials of the PNC and the AFC – including Moses Nagamootoo (PM and Acting President); PNC Chair Volda Lawrence; and VP and Acting PM, Carl Greenidge – who were seated at the head table, since they were given priority seating over the invited journalists. While the party partisans’ cheers and applause -- which made the occasion appear to be one of those taped game shows, with canned “audience response” -- might have been excused in light of the need for the leaders to bolster their ego after their humiliating rejection at the LGE, the supporters’ raucous behaviour was frightening in light of the PNC’s sordid history with the press.

Forbes Burnham explicitly declared that the role of the media was to, first and foremost, operationalise the paramountcy of the PNC over all other institutions – and indeed the state -- and to insist his word was law. But even more insidiously, he envisaged the media as acting to create a “vacuum of information”. The absence of factual information serves to prevent the PNC line from being challenged, or a competing discourse from being formed.

Burnham explained his control over the Guyanese media by a “development-support communication theory”, which postulated that only information supportive of the Government’s – read PNC’s -- development programme should be transmitted to the populace. And this is why the present iteration of the PNC is afraid of journalists seeking to report on “all the news that’s fit to print”.

But the PNC went even further to control the media.

In 1970, Burnham acquired the national newspapers, the “Daily and Sunday Chronicle”; and the “Daily and Sunday Guyana Graphic” in 1973, and merged them as the “Guyana Chronicle” in 1976. During that year, “Radio Demerara” was purchased and merged with the already state-owned “Guyana Broadcasting Corporation”. In conjunction with the sycophantic treatment of Burnham, the P.N.C. and its ideology, the media were used to viciously attack the opposition. The racist line that Burnham and the P.N.C. could not overtly espouse (being protective of their “progressive” Third World reputation) was delegated to the House of Israel. This group fanned the ethnic fears of the PNC supporters of being dominated by the traditional supporters of the PPP by violently attacking them while predicting an imminent racial “Armageddon” in Guyana.

The independent media became vestigial: a weekly four-page tabloid (P.P.P.’s Mirror) and three “eight by seventeen” mimeographed newsletters (two -- W.P.A.’s ‘Open Word’ and ‘Dayclean’ -- together with “Catholic Standard” of the Catholic Church). Even these vestiges were harassed continuously by libel suits, intimidation of journalists, and non-delivery of newsprint. The last was explained as due to a “lack of foreign newsprint”, yet gifts from aboard were refused entry in the country.

While the Guyana Press Association (GPA) has condemned the actions of the APNU/AFC leaders in condoning the hooliganistic behaviour of their supporters, and APNU has belatedly “apologised”, all Guyana must be on guard for the continuation of press intimidation, and even further repression through putatively regulatory governmental institutions over the media. Now that the Government’s support has been exposed as very soft in the LGE, they will revert to what has “worked” for them in the past: bullyism and intimidation to secure 2020.

They want to create the “vacuum of information” coupled with the constant bombardment of the population with the “big lie” from the state media to foster, even in the minds of the Opposition followers, a sense of omnipotence concerning their rule and impotence concerning the latter.

The Hurakabra beach front – one of the attractions along the Mighty Essequibo River

Trump says “full report” on Khashoggi murder in 2 days …US President states his Administration’s report will include information on “who did it”

U

S President Donald Trump has said that his administration will release a full report in two days about the killing of Saudi Journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Trump told reporters on Saturday that the report will include information on “who did it”.

“We’ll be having a very full report over the next two days, probably Monday or Tuesday,” he said.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was murdered at the Kingdom’s Consulate in Istanbul on October 2 after he went there to obtain marriage documents.

The whereabouts of his remains are still unknown.

Turkish and Saudi authorities say Khashoggi was killed inside the Consulate by a team from the Kingdom.

The CIA has concluded that the Crown Prince, also known as MbS, ordered the killing of Khashoggi, according to reports in the US media in recent days.

Other US officials familiar with the case have cautioned that while it was likely that MbS was involved in the death, questions remain about what role he played, according to The Associated Press news agency.

Saudi Arabia has repeatedly changed its narrative of the killing, first denying knowledge of the Journalist’s whereabouts and later saying he was killed when an argument turned into a fistfight.

Last week, Saudi authorities announced that Riyadh

Saudi Journalist Jamal Khashoggi

was seeking the death penalty for five people accused of “ordering and committing” the murder.

Shaalan al-Shaalan, the kingdom’s Deputy Public Prosecutor, told a news conference in Riyadh that a 15-member squad was formed to bring Khashoggi to Saudi Arabia from Istanbul “by means of persuasion”.

But after “talks with him failed” inside the Consulate, Khashoggi was killed with “a large amount of a drug resulting in an overdose” and then dismembered, in the Kingdom’s latest account of what happened.

Al-Shaalan also said MbS was not implicated in the gruesome murder.

“Unanswered questions” On Saturday, a day after the reports on the CIA’s conclusions in the case, the US State Department said in a statement “there were numerous unanswered questions” with respect to Khashoggi’s murder.

“Recent reports indicating that the US Government

has made a final conclusion are inaccurate,” it said, adding that the Government was “determined to hold all those responsible for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi accountable”.

The murder of Khashoggi triggered an international uproar that has frayed the decades-long relationship between Washington and Riyadh.

Intelligence officials have been providing information to Trump about the death for weeks and he was briefed again by phone on Saturday

by CIA Director Gina Haspel and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as he flew to California.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders provided no details of his call, but said the President has confidence in the CIA. Before his call on Air Force One, Trump told reporters that when it came to the Crown Prince, “as of this moment we were told that he did not play a role. We’re going to have to find out what they have to say”.

That echoed remarks by National Security Adviser John Bolton, who said earlier this week that people who have listened to an audio recording of the killing do not think it implicates the Crown Prince.

Before leaving on his trip, Trump also said Saudi Arabia was “a truly spectacular ally in terms of jobs and economic development”.

“I have to take a lot of things into consideration” when deciding what measures to take against the

Kingdom, he said.

Trump has called the killing a botched operation that was carried out very poorly and has said “the cover-up was one of the worst”.

But he has resisted calls to cut off arms sales to the Kingdom and has been reluctant to antagonise the Saudi rulers. Trump considers the Saudis vital allies in his Middle East agenda.

Members of the US Congress are pushing Trump for a tougher response to the killing. The Administration last week imposed economic sanctions on 17 Saudi nationals for their alleged role in the killing.

The measures, which follow travel bans already in place, freeze any assets the 17 may have in the US and prohibit Americans from doing business with them.

The sanctions were imposed under the Magnitsky Act, which targets the perpetrators of serious human rights abuses, in a rare move against Riyadh.

But American legislators have also called on the Administration to curtail arms sales to Saudi Arabia or take other, harsher punitive measures.

US Vice President Mike Pence told reporters travelling with him on Saturday for the APEC summit in Papua New Guinea that the “murder of Jamal Khashoggi was an atrocity”.

“It was also an affront to a free and independent press, and the United States is determined to hold all of those accountable who are responsible for that murder,” he said. (Al Jazeera)

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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

Troubling results of CCJ referendums in Caricom

Dear Editor, The Caribbean has been a hot spot for the European Colonial powers for many centuries. Territories changed hands regularly as wars of possession flared up time and again. The people living in them had no say in what was happening.

However, gradually the masses began to insert themselves in those fights. First, they abolished slavery, then indentureship, and later began the fight for freedom- independence.

The intensity of that struggle varied in each territory. However, the forward-looking leaders were always for a clean break with colonialism.

In the post-independence period, attempts were made to establish a Caribbean Community. Progress has been made over the years.

Admittedly though, very often it has been so, that it makes the tortoise look like a sprinter.

Recently, the movement towards integration has suffered some serious setbacks.

The referendums held in

Antigua and Grenada to decide whether those two countries should withdraw from the Privy Council of the United Kingdom as their court of final jurisdiction and for them to join the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) delivered results that are very disturbing. Those two referendums rejected the proposition to join the CCJ. It is worrying, because this is not a case where the British or the Privy Council are fighting to keep the Caribbean states in their jurisdiction. In fact, it is the opposite, they have been encouraging the region to leave, because they are aware that the judges at the CCJ are more familiar with the culture of the people of the region, the nuances of life here, etc.

The fact that the people of the region have a lot in common is important. Generally, we have a common history, and experience has shown that our people interact with each other with great ease.

There are positions to promote and facilitate integration.

Why, therefore, is it prov-

ing so hard to build institutions that can facilitate greater integration?

After all, via CARICOM we have established a common market; we have expressed our intention to work harder to unite our economies. We have often coordinated our position on international issues. Working together has helped the region to punch way above its weight. We are often courted in appointments to import international bodies.

While I don’t profess to have all the answers, I believe that while we have independence, our colonial past still weighs heavily on our mind. The influence of centuries of colonial domination has not yet been overcome.

I recall that when I made my maiden speech at the CARICOM Heads meeting in St. Lucia, I raised this issue. I said then that it does not speak well of us that after fifty years of independence all the territories are not members of the CCJ. I had called for all the territories to join and strengthen this important institution.

I must admit that I did not fully grasp the depth of the colonial domination on people’s and leaders’ mind. I now marvel at Bob Marley’s exertions to emancipate our minds from mental slavery, or the regular exertion of the Mighty Chalkdust to do the same in many of his calypsos.

I say this because most of the region’s territories are still outside the CCJ. It is clear that the important leaders, people in politics, law, media, etc. are not convinced of the importance of CARICOM. They do not think the benefits of integration are significant.

We are living in a world of great fundamental contradictions. On the one hand, the international economy has now interlinked, but it is producing a greater nationalism even among highly developed nation.

Under the slogan of ‘making America great again’, President Trump has been pulling the US out of many important bodies and agreements. He is using the power of the US not to assist in building a better world, but to

extract more benefits for the US. At least that is how he sees things.

The withdrawal of the UK from the EU is another manifestation of this growing nationalism. The movement for withdrawals from internationalism is strong in France, Spain and Germany as well.

I believe that this is so because of the failure of this neo-liberal model of globalisation to improve people’s lives. Figures are numerous to show that the benefits from increased production and productivity goes mainly to the one percent of the very rich internationally. The ‘dog eat dog’ mentality which dominated our world for centuries is still the strongest sentiment internationally.

Ordinary working people have experienced stagnation and decline in a world of great abundance.

This direction of isolation will not help the people as they are being told, it could make things worse. The task, is to change the model of globalisation.

Therefore, CARICOM leaders and opinion makers,

must consider carefully their position on this issue. The CCJ has shown great capacity and integrity. It can become even stronger. This act of rejection of the CCJ has with it the seeds of greater harm.

It shows the mentality that many still believes that we in the region are inferior to others. It can be interpreted, that we still believe that things from abroad are always superior to what we have or produce.

This, in the global environment, can lead to disintegration. It can threaten the other gains that have already been made, however modest they may be.

On the other hand, with boldness, the region can become a region of hope, and serve as an alternative experience on the need and benefits of integration for the world.

We must work to overcome the recent setbacks, or else face the consequences of great reversal.

Donald Ramotar Former President

Disturbing trend of robberies Too many criminal activities in central Georgetown Dear Editor, There is a very disturbing trend of robberies in central Georgetown, particularly in the evenings by what appears to be a well-organised gang of young men.

On the evening of Thursday, November 16, 2018, persons were robbed in the vicinity of the Route 44 bus park, as well as the Stabroek area close to Demico. The known incidents took place just after 20:00h.

This follows the observation of similar incidents by some persons who resorted to sharing their horrifying experiences on social media.

The method employed, involves a snatcher, who snatches the victim’s possessions, then runs away, followed by a group of 5-10 young men. The snatcher’s followers would pretend to be public spirited citizens running to catch him, shouting “catch him”.

The gang would subsequently regroup after the snatcher would have covered a safe distance. This gang, which is said to be known, continues to

operate with unfettered boldness. They seem to prefer the most populated bus parks, such as routes 40, 44, 45 and 48; their targets being mainly unsuspecting passengers with earpieces/ headsets on, persons with bags, and the feeble. Even when there is police presence around Stabroek Square, the gang’s numbers alone seem to be a discouragement for the one or two unarmed police traffic ranks to intervene.

The gang operates at all hours, but prevails at night because of inadequate lighting around the areas close to bus parks, making it particularly challenging for victims or even some witnesses to provide reports with clarity of their identity to police.

Stabroek Market is iconic, and an insignia of Guyana’s capital city - Georgetown. It has been advertised internationally in tourist documentaries, magazines and other media. The area surrounding it is a hub, where workers, merchants, students, visitors and others transit by their hun-

dreds on a daily basis.

How then does this area continue to be the most unsafe place for persons to traverse? Even more ironic, is its proximity to the Ministry of Public Security and the main precinct, Brickdam Police Station.

I wish to make it categorically clear that this issue is not being highlighted with any political motive whatsoever.

Rather, it seeks to obtain relief and safety for the well-being of all citizens, as well as prevent further distortion to the image of this country.

The relevant authorities are therefore urged to properly illuminate and purge the areas mentioned of all unwelcome and criminal elements.

They are further encouraged to maintain active police patrols and presence on a 24hour basis. Such moves will not only deter criminal elements, but increase safety and rebuild public trust towards our security sector.

Sincerely, Orette Cutting

It is about how to govern Dear Editor, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the People Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) on its success during the Local Government Elections (LGE).

Let us take this time to recognise that it is not just about winning elections (be it Local Government Elections or General Elections). It is about how you Govern that matters.

The PPP/C lost the 2015 General Elections because the majority of people believed that its governance style left a

lot to be desired.

In this day and age, people expect accountability, transparency and good governance from their government. These are basic requirements.

It is up to the PPP/C to prove to the Guyanese people that it can deliver these tenets of Democracy, as well as enhancing development in their communities.

I believe that the PPP/C has made a big mistake in its campaign by promising no rates and tax increases, as these communities will have to rely on Central

Government for their funding. This means that the APNU+AFC Government will have significant control over Local Government because it controls the purse strings.

A decentraliation of power from Central Government is needed, so that local authorities can develop cash starved communities and so that people have more say in their community’s development.

LGE is about giving more power to the people.

Yours faithfully, Sean Ori

Dear Editor, Crime is on the rise in this country. Almost every day you pick up a newspaper, surf the internet, listen to the radio, go on Facebook or other social media site, you will always hear, read, or see some form of criminal activity being portrayed from all walks of life, ethnic groups, religious background, and from all the administrative regions of this country.

It seems as though, instead of getting a change for the better, we are getting the opposite in terms of criminal activities.

Editor, what makes it worse is that the people who are supposed to be there fighting for our protection and security, and living up to their mandate of providing peace and order in this country, are among the ones that are getting themselves involved in killing the comfort and security that we looked up to them to provide.

Editor, take these examples for instance: this poor housewife from Corentyne, Berbice who was wrongfully accused by a taxi driver of picking up his cellphone that he mistakenly left in his car. She was beaten by Police because she could not provide them the cellphone that they were asking her for. She wasn’t even given an opportunity to justify herself, and what makes it worse is that they took her money that was in her possession, which was saved for her husband’s eye surgery, and when she reported the matter to the Whim Police Station and requested a medical form to be taken to the hospital, they refused to give her one.

Secondly Editor, the taxi driver fiasco: another Corentyne, Berbice resident who was beaten by Police at the Springlands Police Station. They choked the taxi driver when he was asking

questions about the present situation, when they confronted him outside of his home. He was forced to endure a breathalyser test using a used pipe.

Where is the justice? And to crown it all, they kicked him all over his back, head, jaw, mouth and ribs, and thus broke it.

Thirdly Editor, let me refresh your mind about the Fly Jamaica Airline that crashlanded at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport after encountering hydraulic issues.

The firefighters -- another set of people who were supposed to be there for the citizens’ comfort and security, providing assistance when problems erupt -- were under investigation. Why were they under investigation? For stealing personal items from the captain and crew members of the said plane.

Editor, I must personally -and I’m therefore repeating -personally oppose this wrongful acts that is being meted out towards the citizens of our country by the persons who are in authority, who swore an oath to safeguard and protect the citizens of our country, and in the end blatantly stab us in the back. Editor, these criminal activities have no place in our society, in our country; they need to stop. This sort of corruption must stop.

I do believe that it is time Guyana takes a stand against criminal activities in our country. No one, and I repeat: no one; whether you are a Police officer, a probation officer, a

fire fighter -- no matter how big or whatever position you may hold, you should be held accountable for the unlawful acts that you have committed.

It is time Police officers and other stakeholders in high positions stop covering each other from the consequences of acts of crime and injustice; it is time all these bribes that are being accepted by persons in high authority be abolished; it is time for a change; and this change must be for the betterment of this country in terms of criminal activities.

Editor, I do hope this letter doesn’t return void, but must go through all sections and crevices of this country and bear fruit. Editor, I do hope that the Minister of Public Security, Hon. Khemraj Ramjattan, would look into this matter of the poor housewife and the taxi driver, which are just two of the many injustices in this country.

I hope they receive justice.

All of these things are adding more stain towards our beautiful country Guyana. I am therefore appealing for all our religious institutions, be it Muslim, Hindu or Christian: let’s come together and pray, seeking for a divine intervention for the betterment of our country. Let’s all pray and ask for guidance and protection for our citizens, so as to eradicate crime and criminal activities.

Regards, Robin Joseph Councillor: Waramuri Village

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Foundation

(Continued from Sunday)

By Lisa Linnell-Olsen

4) They begin misbehaving at school

Sometimes misbehaviour at school is really your child’s way of trying to take attention off the fact they are struggling with their work. Children and teens also often lack many of the skills necessary to speak up and specifically say what it is they are having trouble with in school.

They are children, after all, and are learning those important social skills throughout the growing up process. Until then they may just act up if they feel frustrated or upset because they know they are not being successful with their school work.

If your child is usually well behaved and suddenly begins to have behaviour problems at school, take a look not only at what is happening in their social world but also their academic

work as well.

5) Your child’s teacher expresses concern

Sometimes it is easy to dismiss what a teacher is telling you about your child, especially if what the teacher is telling you is different than what you have always known your child to be. Your child’s teacher is the person who is teaching a classroom full of students the same material. If your child’s teacher believes that your child is struggling more than other students, pay attention to what the teacher is saying.

Your child’s teacher letting you know about a change in your

child’s academic progress is the teacher’s way of giving you the chance to help address any problems they may see beginning to develop. Teachers usually have some suggestions in mind what they think might help.

If the teacher doesn’t volunteer suggestions, they may be waiting for you to ask what help is available.

Of course, this is a dialogue, and parents often know their children better than anyone else, teachers included. The teacher’s thoughts and ideas are information that you can put together with everything else you know about your child to know if they are struggling and some of the options available to help them.

6) Your child begins having trouble sleeping or eating

Problems sleeping or eating often result from worry.

Your child may be having problems sleeping or eating if they know they aren’t keeping up with the class on their school work. Young children want to please the caring adults in their lives and may worry that if they aren’t doing well in school that these adults will be upset with them. Older children and teens may be well aware of the overall importance of school to their futures and concerned about their future success if they start to fall behind.

once the child is a little older.

An occasional poor grade on one assignment may not be cause for serious concern, but a pattern of low grades – or worse – a report card full of poor grades, is a concern. A report card of poor grades is a sign of some kind of problem.

We parents want to believe the best about our children and love them tremen-

dously. Poor grades mean they are not succeeding. Do not fall into the pattern of denial that low grades are not a problem for your child.

Poor grades mean they are not being successful in completing their work.

Be sure to understand all of the information that is on a report card, and come up with a plan to help your child. (www.verywellfamily.com)

7) Your child receives low grades

This sign is an obvious one, yet sometimes children and school parents do not want to believe that it is a sign that the child is struggling with the material in school. Some parents feel that bad grades only mean that the child just doesn’t understand the importance of education in their lives yet and will somehow snap out of it and be successful

T

hese practical tips on goal setting can help make it easier to set and reach goals: Specific, realistic goals work best. When it comes to making a change, the people who succeed are those who set realistic, specific goals.

“I’m going to recycle all my plastic bottles, soda cans, and magazines” is a much more doable goal than “I’m going to do more for the environment.” And that makes it easier to stick with.

It takes time for a change to become an established habit . It will probably take a couple of months before any changes — like getting up half an hour early to ex-

and what you’re working for. (Writing it down works too.) Every time you remind yourself of your goal, you’re training your brain to make it happen.

Pleasing other people doesn’t work The key to making any change is to find the desire within yourself – you have to do it because you want it, not because a girlfriend, boyfriend, coach, parent, or someone else wants you to.

It will be harder to stay on track and motivated if you’re doing something out of obligation to another person.

Roadblocks don’t mean failure Slip-ups are actually part of the learning process

Every time you remind yourself of your goal, you’re training your brain to make it happen ercise — become a routine part of your life. That’s because your brain needs time to get used to the idea that this new thing you’re doing is part of your regular routine.

Repeating a goal makes it stick Say your goal out loud each morning to remind yourself of what you want

as you retrain your brain into a new way of thinking.

It may take a few tries to reach a goal. But that’s OK – it’s normal to mess up or give up a few times when trying to make a change.

So remember that everyone slips up and don’t beat yourself up about it. Just remind yourself to get back on track.

(kidshealth.org)

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mondAY, November 19, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Health sector in disarray – Dr Ramsammy ..urges Public Health Ministers to act now

I

n citing various issues that continue to plague the local health sector, former Health Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy says that urgent attention is needed to correct some of the most questionable issues that are allowed to happen in the public health system.

The former Minister noted that babies dying in a hospital under questionable circumstances, x-rays and laboratory services being unavailable at several hospitals, prevalent medicine shortages in hospitals and health centres, and staff shortages are among those issues.

“The health sector in Guyana is in disarray. We need urgent attention to turn around things for the people's sake. The health sector cannot be a political football. None of us know when we will get sick or need the services of the health sector,” he stated.

No sector in Government, he said, is more reflective of how much a government cares for its people. Under this premise, he noted that the present Government apparently does not care for its people. And as of this moment, the disarray in

the health sector is frightening.

Dr Ramsammy, one of the longest serving Health Ministers in Guyana and the Caribbean, pointed to the recent report where the Chief Executive Officer of the New Amsterdam Hospital proceeded on an undetermined leave of absence after being on the job for just one day.

He described the situation as disturbing, explaining that the Hospital has been without a substantive CEO since July.

That CEO never returned, because the Public Health Ministry did not renew his contract in September.

Instead, another unqualified candidate, a person without even a day’s experience, assumed the office as acting CEO, Dr Ramsammy highlighted.

Another observation made by the former Minister is the recent report that some 19 doctors at the hospital, the majority of its medical staff, including its medical director, proceeded on leave at the same time.

“Almost on a daily basis, patients at the New Amsterdam Hospital are faced with chaos in the clinics as the available

Former Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy

doctors are unable to meet the demands,” he noted.

In-patients, according to him, are faced with minimum to zero attention from a depleted medical staff. But the staffing situation and the poor management of staff is not unique to New Amsterdam Hospital. Across the country, the same staff mismanagement prevails.

Operation

Recent reports in the media pointed to the fact that not a single cataract operation was per-

formed at the National Ophthalmology Centre at Port Mourant. Although it was designed to provide comprehensive tertiary ophthalmology service, including glaucoma management, the hospital was merely limping along with barely primary eye-care service.

Even as these matters percolate, Dr Ramsammy said that the HIV treatment programme is challenged. There is news that a critical HIV medicine is unavailable at this time.

“This is not the first

time there is non-availability of medicines for HIV. In 2017, the programme went nine months without any medicine. Earlier this year, the Ministry of Public Health had to admit that new cases of HIV are on the increase. This is no coincidence,” he opined.

He noted that the treatment programme has been a major part of the prevention strategy. With prolonged interruption in the treatment of patients, risk of transmission increases. This, he said, is compounded by the weak or absent prevention initiatives.

“There was a time, not so long ago, when public education and awareness programmes and other prevention initiatives were in people's face. Incidentally, the prevention-of-mother-to-child HIV transmission programmes are also being weakened,” he observed.

Dr Ramsammy also noted that reports of weak laboratory services at Bartica Hospital, with the complete closure of biochemistry testing, are not unique to Bartica.

“Several other hospitals are faced with the same challenges. The x-ray and

other diagnostic services at Lethem Hospital ceased within recent weeks. None of these services are available at Skeldon Hospital.

Suddie Hospital barely functions.”

Services at the Leonora, Mahaicony, and Fort Wellington Hospitals are not any better. Across the country, dental clinics cannot offer comprehensive services because of shortages of basic supplies.

Meanwhile, even with large contracts for the procurement of medicines, there are still alarming medicine shortages across the country.

“While attention has been largely focused on the corruption surrounding medicine procurement and warehousing, patient care has suffered from critical shortages,” Dr Ramsammy said.

He is, therefore, calling on the subject Ministers, to act on these issues with the aim of bringing relief to persons in various communities countrywide. He also urged them to conduct a daily survey of the senior officers and find out how many are out at the same time.

8 news Leopold Street vagrant stabbed to death in row over “drugs” mondAY, November 19, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

– 1 nabbed in nearby street, 3 others at large

P

olice are working to ascertain the identity of a man known only as ‘Buckman’, who allegedly had been a vagrant who used to frequent the Leopold Street, Werk-enRust area in Georgetown, where he met his demise reportedly in an argument over drugs.

Buckman, who had been

about 45 years old, is reported to have been stabbed multiple times by four men in an alleged row over the selling of drugs. This incident is reported to have occurred at about 23:00h on Saturday at the corner of Leopold and Lombard Streets, Georgetown.

Buckman died while receiving medical atten-

tion at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC).

Individuals familiar with the matter have stated that the four implicated men are not from Leopold Street.

While details regarding the killing remain sketchy, it was pointed out that the suspects supposedly became annoyed after ‘Buckman’ and a few others

had stopped buying drugs from them.

Official information has indicated that one of these four men whom Police are seeking has been nabbed at Cross Street, Werk-en-Rust, Georgetown, while the others remain on the run.

Police say their investigation into the matter is in progress.

Amelia’s Ward man granted $50,000 bail on simple larceny charge

A

n Amelia’s Ward, Linden man who appeared before Magistrate Judy Latchman at the Linden Magistrate’s Court on Thursday was

granted bail on a charge of simple larceny .

The defendant, Vernon Arthur, of South Amelia’s Ward, Mackenzie, Linden, allegedly stole $60,000 in cash

and a black haversack belonging to Houston Gordon.

The incident is alleged to have occurred on November 13, 2018 at Coop Crescent, Mackenzie. The defendant,

however, pleaded not guilty to the charge and was granted bail.

The matter was adjourned until December 19, 2018 for statements.

Struggling…

N

…for political survival

ow that the LGE has confirmed the AFC’s “dead meat” state, Moses Nagamootoo’s desperately struggling to show some personal worth to the PNC -- to enjoy his super salary and, as important, those sirens and outriders to convince him he’s “important”!! This was pathetically on display after the results showed the PPP had comprehensively defeated both the PNC/APNU and the AFC by 45,000 votes.

After his prediction of trouncing the PPP in his home village of Whim was turned on his head, and the AFC was routed by the PPP, he didn’t even have the grace to concede defeat. Rather, he launched into a tirade against the PPP’s “racism”, which was grotesque, since Whim is overwhelmingly “Indian”! But he was obviously just echoing the PNC’s stock line so as to ingratiate himself with them, and not be dumped like a used tissue full of snot!!

But it was the political genius of his bete noir, Bharrat Jagdeo, to have immediately filed a motion of no-confidence in the APNU/AFC coalition Government after the lopsided results that forced Nagamootoo to display his desperation.

He immediately dubbed the no-confidence motion an “act of provocation”!! What can be “provocative” about utilising a Constitutional mechanism (Art 106 (6))?? It was definitely a Freudian slip that revealed his state of mind in 2014, when he filed his motion of no-confidence against the Donald Ramotar PPP Government!

In the press conference at Congress Place, to rally the spirits of their dispirited supporters – following their frantic late night tete-a-tete with PNC Whip Amna Ally in her nightie – “suck-up” Nagamootoo showed up in a PNCgreen shirt!! Even old time PNC stalwart Carl Greenidge sported a green-and-yellow shirt, to acknowledge the AFC!! But like your Eyewitness said, Nagamootoo’s frantically doing whatever it takes to save his neck, and he has no shame!!

In his Chronic column, Nagamootoo once more tried so desperately to grovel before the PNC that he didn’t even care he was shooting himself in the foot. He tried to throw shade at the PPP by alleging they’d submitted a “plagiarised, 10-word, No-Confidence Motion” – presumably his! What he didn’t realise is that a no-confidence motion – “That this National Assembly has no confidence in the Government” -- is specified!! Someone must’ve drafted his in 2014, and he thinks he can now claim originality!!

Finally, in desperation, he invoked the departing US Ambassador’s speech, and gratuitously boasted there were no uncouth “feral blasts”. Yet, while he boasts about his “journalistic roots” – carrying around Janet’s handbag!

– he ignored the thuggish behaviour of APNU supporters at the press conference, who “cuss out” journalists!!

The gods first make mad those whom they wish to destroy!!

…to stop the inevitable

In Westminster-style Parliament, the authority for its practices is encapsulated in the venerable “Erskine May: Parliamentary Practice”. Wiki pithily summarises the universal assessment: “It is considered to be the most authoritative and influential work on parliamentary procedure and the constitutional conventions affecting Parliament which form a major part of the uncodified UK constitution. Such is the authority of the text, it is regarded as analogous to part of the constitution itself.”

So, as the PNC-led APNU/AFC combine flails away to escape the people’s verdict, captured by the no-confidence motion, what does Erskine May say about the urgency of dealing with such motions? “The government will always accede to the demand from the Opposition to allot a day for the discussion of such a motion?; and while the ?government is entitled to have regard to exigencies of its own business, a reasonably early day is invariably (always) found…(this prioritisation) is founded on the recognised position of the Opposition as a potential government?, and thus ?guarantees the legitimacy of such an interruption of the normal course of business” (p. 344, Erskine May, 24th Edition, 2011).

Let’s see the PNC traduce this tradition!

…with misdirection

When caught with its pants down, the PNC-led coalition invariably creates diversions and misdirections.

Expect SOCU to issue some new trumped-up, forcedripe charges!!

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

News

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mondAY, November 19, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

PPP/C to name presidential candidate by yearend ...as Party moves into national campaign mode for 2020

T

he Opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) could name its next presidential candidate in the coming weeks, as General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo has made a commitment to making the announcement by the end of this year.

Jagdeo said that his party would stick with the promise to name the next candidate who will take the Party through the

2020 General Elections.

He recalled that earlier this year Party executives had agreed to name the candidate after the Local Government Elections (LGE). “… we will return to the issue on that timeline on when we settle for the presidential candidate.

But it seems as though all of this will happen within the year, before the end of 2018,” he said.

Jagdeo said he would throw his support behind anyone he found to have the ability to lead the Party to victory at the 2020 elections. “There are a lot of people that I like, and very competent people, and I wish them all well,” he stated.

The Party’s General Secretary said he had no problem with members within the Executive of the party who were desir-

Teen allegedly stabs labourer to death during drinking spree

Dead: Desmond Sewdath

A

14-year-old boy is now in custody after he allegedly stabbed a 29-year-old labourer to death Saturday evening at Auchlyne Village, Corentyne, Berbice.

The dead man has been identified as Desmond Sewdathh of Auchlyne Village. Based on information received, the teen and the now dead man were seen imbibing after which an argument broke out between them.

However, the argument escalated into a scuffle.

Shortly after the scuffle, the now dead man was discovered lying motionless with a single stab wound to his stomach.

He was picked up and rushed to the Port Mourant Hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries on the way there.

At the home of the dead man, his sister, Nafeeza, told Guyana Times that she received a report that her brother was injured and was

Eulex Welch, the mother of the teen accused of murder

lying on the street.

At the time, she was at the Community Centre and she left about five minutes after. When she arrived at the scene, Police were already there and from all indications, her brother was already dead.

“The Police tell me that he already died… he had one bore on his chest.”

The grieving sister related that the suspect was not at the scene when she arrived.

Another sibling, Shameza, explained that her now dead brother visited her prior to his demise.

According to her, Sewdath was under the influence of alcohol when he visited and he asked for a telephone call to his godfather. He then asked his father for a shirt and left.

Eyewitnesses stated that the now dead man, who was imbibing with friends, was being ‘tantalised’ about a dirty shirt that he was wearing. He left and returned with the clean shirt, but his

friends continued to tease him.

The sister noted that her brother and the suspect were friends. “I always see him talking to this boy and one, one time I does see he and dis boy riding on the road, but I don’t know if they have a close relationship because he don’t live here with me and only when he drink, he does come….” she explained.

Meanwhile, the suspect’s mother, Eulex Welch, confirmed that the now dead man and the teenager were close friends.

“The boys dem don’t do without meh son. Sometimes early morning that same one that dead does come early in the morning for O’Neal and I does quarrel why he dot to come calling before 6:00. I tell him he musn’t come for meh son because when he in his worries is I alone goes got to go and run behind O’Neal, you all don’t even give me a dollar to look after meh son, so you all don’t come calling for him.” turn to page 11

ous of becoming the presidential nominee canvasing support.

“There is nothing wrong with people saying, I am interested. What’s wrong with that? But I urge all of the Party members and those who are canvasing not to disparage anyone else. Because at the end of the day, what will happen is not all of these people will rally around the person we chose and we move on to win the election,” he said.

Various concerns have been raised about the process, which will be used to select the next presidential candidate for the PPP/C, but Jagdeo, has made it clear that the system used since 1992 would remain the chosen one.

“There is a longstanding tradition: The Congress selects the Central Committee and the Central Committee choses the candidate,” Jagdeo said at the news conference.

He said this system, which was introduced by the Party some 25 years ago under the leadership of the late Dr Cheddi Jagan, still obtained today.

“So I doubt that is going to change for these elections, because that is the position. I tell you this because it seems as though many people, in speculating about how the candidate would be chosen, are not aware of this process,” he explained.

He maintained that the Party remained committed to the highest levels of transparency, accountability, and democracy as it undertook the process

PPP/C General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo

of selecting its next presidential nominee. “That’s the process we have used, and from all indications, that is the process we will use again to select the next candidate, unless the Central Committee itself decides to change that procedure,” he added.

Jagdeo said the race for the candidacy was open, as this has been a longstanding practice of the PPP/C. “But at the end of the day, it is how many votes you muster there from the 35 (Central Committee members) that will matter in a democratic fashion. That person will emerge as the candidate.”

There are several persons who are reportedly interested in being the Party’s top candidate.

So far, junior member and former Member of Parliament, Charles Ramson Jr has publicly announced his candidacy for the position.

Also, a number of former Government Ministers under the PPP/C, including Anil Nandlall, Irfaan Ali and Dr Frank Anthony, have been expressing an interest to lead the PPP/C

into the next elections.

It is also believed that some women candidates may join in the race to be nominated. These include party stalwart Gail Teixeira and MP Dr Vindhya Persaud.

Meanwhile, Jagdeo said that the PPP/C was moving “straight into its national campaign” for the 2020 General and Regional Elections following a massive victory at the LGE. “We will continue to work hard … we will keep going back to certain areas, including areas that are seen as the strongholds of the People’s National Congress (PNC) … we will keep going back to people across Guyana over and over… we have to go back to them,” he said. “…some said they didn’t want to give us the vote, but they didn’t give A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) … we have to go back to get them not to stay away the next time, not to give anyone the vote … we want them to vote for our party.”

The General Election is constitutionally due in the next 18 months.

10 news

mondAY, November 19, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Annandale man killed in Good Hope accident

T

he carnage on Guyana’s roadways continued over the weekend with another life being lost and an East Coast Demerara (ECD) family being plunged into mourning.

The latest casualty resulted from a vehicular accident that occurred on the Good Hope Public Road, ECD on Saturday evening, when pedestrian Imran Khan, 36, was reportedly struck and killed by a minibus being operated by an elderly man.

According to Police information, the fatal accident occurred at about 20:35h, and the 65-year-old driver and owner of minibus BHH 8465 – a resident of Cherry Lane, Melanie, ECD – detailed that he was proceeding west along the southern carriageway of the road when Khan “suddenly ran across the road” from south to north, collided with the left side of the vehicle, and fell onto the roadway.

Police related that Khan was picked up by the said driver in an unconscious condition and transported to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Police further explained that the driver, who passed a breathalyser test, has been placed in custody as investigations continue.

lic health and development problem with significant health and socio-economic costs.

The WHO lists road carnage as the ninth leading cause of death across all age ranges on a global standpoint.

Vehicular accidents lead to the loss of over 1.2 million lives and over 50 million nonfatal injuries. Half of those who die are pedestrians, motorcyclists and cyclists.

“We need to ‘Stop The Tears’,” Coordinator of

the National Road Safety Council, Ramona Doergen, has implored. “Road safety has become very dormant right now, people are not taking interest; we got to start knowing that this is a serious thing. Road safety is everybody’s business!”

Police Constable dies after losing control of car

The Annandale, ECD home where the late Imran Khan resided

When Guyana Times visited the late Imran Khan’s home -- at Lot 161 Droom Street, Annandale North, ECD -- relatives were said to be meeting with Police as the latter continued their investigations.

Khan’s death comes days after the “Stop The Tears” Campaign was launched last week by the National Road Safety Council of Guyana to reduce the high percentage of road deaths in Guyana.

This initiative has seen collaboration from the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO), Traffic Department of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), the Public Security Ministry,

Public Health Ministry, Public Infrastructure Ministry, and several private sponsors.

At launch of this campaign, Deputy Police Superintendent Dennis Stephen had pointed out that 89 fatal accidents with a total of about 101 deaths were recorded for 2017.

PAHO/WHO Representative Dr Paul Edwards had emphasised the worldwide impact of road deaths. He had cited statistics to back his observation that road traffic crashes are the main cause of death among people aged between 15 and 29.

He had also outlined that road traffic crashes constitute an important pub-

P

olice Constable Cardiss Joseph of the Aroaima Police Outpost in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) was killed on Sunday after he lost control of the motor car he was driving along Company Road, Aroaima, and it toppled several times before coming to a halt.

Preliminary investigations revealed that at approximately 12:50h on Sunday, the 33-year-old Joseph, of Lot 43 Stanleytown, New Amsterdam, Berbice, was off duty at the time and was driving a friend’s car, PPP 4196, along Company Road in Aroaima when the accident occurred.

He was reportedly driving at a fast rate towards the Waterfront Area when he lost control of the car. As a result of the accident, he reportedly was pitched out of the vehicle and landed on the roadway.

Police ranks who were on scene confirmed that two of the vehicle’s wheels were “soft”, suggesting that a blowout might have caused the accident.

Divisional Commander Linden Lord has described the incident as a very unfortunate

Dead: Police Constable Cardiss Joseph

incident. Joseph had been a member of the Force for the past 10 years.

His body was first transported to the Linden Hospital Complex (LHC), before being taken to the Upper Demerara Hospital mortuary at Wismar.

A post mortem is expected to be performed on Monday.

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mondAY, November 19, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Sole-sourced Demerara River bridge feasibility study

SOCU investigation near completion T

he Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) is close to wrapping up its investigations into the awarding of a sole-sourced contract for a feasibility study into constructing the new Demerara River bridge.

This is according to SOCU Head, Assistant Police Commissioner Sydney James, when contacted by Guyana Times.

While he noted that investigations were in an advanced stage, he declined to give details on whether charges would be laid.

“The investigation is almost completed. It’s an ongoing investigation, but it is being finalised. The report is being finalised,” James explained, although he would only say “shortly” when asked for a specific timeframe for completion.

The contract in question was awarded to Dutch company LievenseCSO for a feasibility study into the new bridge. The Opposition had requested that the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) investigate the award of the $148 million sole-sourced con-

SOCU head, Assistant Police Commissioner Sydney James

tract.

In its report on the matter, the PPC had flagged Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson for requesting from Cabinet that the contract be sole-sourced, instead of being processed through the Procurement Board as the law says should be done.

The PPC completed its investigation into the award of the contract for a feasibility study on a new Demerara River bridge, and handed its report over on August 7, 2018. The report noted that several companies had bid for the project to do the feasibil-

ity study and design for the new Demerara River bridge, and 12 companies had been shortlisted.

The report had added that only two of the 12 companies had made proposals. As such, the bidding process was annulled. It added that on November 12, 2016, the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) approved the move for the project to be re-tendered. The project was not re-tendered; instead, Dutch company LievenseCSO was engaged by the Public Infrastructure Ministry to do the work.

Page seven of the report noted that the bid from LievenseCSO was “unsolicited”, but Patterson took the company’s proposal to Cabinet for approval, and Cabinet granted its approval for the company to be engaged. The report, on page seven, stated that monies to be spent on the project were taken from the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (Asphalt Plant Accounts).

It was subsequently an-

Teen allegedly stabs labourer...

According to Welch, her son told investigators that he and the now dead man indeed had an argument over clothes.

“He told the Police that he didn’t do the crime. The CID [Criminal Investigation Department] treated him very nice, but the Police harassing him a lot. The CID asked me if I satisfy with the statement and I tell them yes.

“He said he never do it.

He said that the man fall down with the knife and bore himself. He tell me that the boy was drunk.”

“He had give my son some clothes from a barrel that he get and the clothes can’t fit him. When my son bring the clothes, I told him to carry it back,

but he say that the two of them are friends.”

Welch said the now dead man was demanding that the teenager return the clothes and he apparently refused to do so.

The teen’s mother related that her son has been involved in several incidents and was arrested by the Police.

“He went to Juvenile Centre. Only the other day he come from Juvenile Centre and a month before he come from Juvenile Centre. I can’t say what he went there for, because the Police did not tell me anything as a parent, they just pick him up and carry him,” she related.

Welch is of the belief that her son did not commit the crime. This, she

from page 9

related, is based on his actions on Saturday.

“Whenever he do something, he does get away and hide. When the Police come for him, he does run away. Saturday, he tell me that he didn’t do it and ask me to take him to the Police so he could clear his name,” the mother cried.

She says there were other persons around and as such, they should all be held as suspects.

“Is because my son is small and he can’t explain himself that is why they only hold him up,” she claimed. A post-mortem is expected to be performed on the man’s body today as Police continue their investigations. (Andrew Carmichael)

The Public Procurement Commission had stated that the sole sourcing of the contract for the new Demerara River bridge feasibility study was illegal

nounced that SOCU would be investigating the matter. Patterson submitted a statement to the investigative unit in September of

this year, although this was criticised as the Opposition said the same standard used on them should apply to the Government. Around

that time, Opposition politicians were being questioned at SOCU headquarters over other matters.

12news

mondAY, November 19, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

5 conferred with the Sydney Allicock Global Humanitarian Award

Indigenous Peoples' Affairs Minister Sydney Allicock

F

ive Guyanese were on Saturday awarded the IChange Nations – Sydney Allicock Global Humanitarian Award, named after Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs.

According to the Department of Public Information (DPI), the award was conferred upon Minister Allicock himself when it was first established last year by founder and president of “IChange Nations”, Dr Clyde Rivers.

The award honours Minister Allicock’s dedication to empowering the Indigenous people of Guyana and ensuring that standards of education and community tourism in hinterland communities

are strengthened.

The five persons on whom the award was conferred on Saturday are Jacqueline Allicock, Nicholas Fredricks, Victor Ferreira, Julio Perreira, and Glendon Allicock.

Dr Rivers said that his research led him to Minister Allicock’s love for the environment. It was through that knowledge that the award was established. According to him, the Sydney Allicock Award was earlier this year presented to persons in Costa Rica, Peru, Spain and Hungary.

Dr River said that since the establishment of the award, and with its presentations all over the world,

persons are becoming familiar with Guyana’s fight to secure a green state.

“When he opens his mouth, every word that comes out is wisdom, and every word brings us back to the original design of how this earth is supposed to run. He is one of the greatest men I know that is fighting for mankind. We are honoured to have an award in this great man’s name,” Dr. Rivers said of Minister Allicock.

“I will make sure the world hears the message of this country,” he said.

In his remarks, Minister Allicock compared “mother earth” to the human body.

“The diamonds are like your eyes, the gold is like your heart, the rivers are like your veins. When you start to pluck out the diamond and gold and start to pollute the rivers, it is like what you could be doing to yourself,” he said.

The Minister said that while the country can develop economically from its natural resources, that development should be done in a balanced way. He spoke of the pollution of the waterways and the detrimental impact it has on the life forms.

“The very things that we depend on for our survival we attack, which is like causing slow suicide on

Founder of IChange Nations Dr Clyde Rivers

ourselves. We have to understand and respect more the laws of Mother Nature.

Understand what it means not to overdo; understand how to utilise or develop

products that could be able to give you what you need,” Minister Allicock said.

Meanwhile, the IChange Nation organisation also established another award in

the name of humanitarian Dr. Astell Collins. This year, the organisation inaugurated the Dr. Astell Collins Global Inspiration Award.

Six persons from the United States of America received that award.

“What Dr. Collins stands for is, he is a man for the people, he is a leader,” Dr Rivers said.

The IChange Nations is a reputable, internationally recognised organisation which identifies individuals for outstanding humanitarian work in their respective countries and areas of service.

Last year, ten Guyanese, including Minister within the Ministry of Natural Resources Simona Broomes, received the Sydney Allicock Award Global Humanitarian Award.

Media rep to sit on...

In Guyana’s case, the discovery of oil raised the need for the Fund.

These monies are usually invested and ultimately used in a way that would benefit the country’s economy and citizens. Guyana’s NRF Bill was drafted in partnership with the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Government has been touting the Fund with specific attention to how it will tie in to Government’s Green State Development Strategy, a document that is yet to be completed and presented in Parliament.

The Green Paper on the NRF, which was laid in the National Assembly a few months ago, had recommended that Parliament be responsible for passing the

Natural Resources Fund Bill; approving the Annual Budget, which would include the annual withdrawal from the Natural Resources Fund; and reviewing the Annual Report.

“The Ministry of Finance would be responsible for overall management of the NRF, including requested withdrawal in the Annual Budget Proposal; calculating the Fiscally Sustainable Amount; drafti.ng the Investment Mandate; entering into the Operational Agreement with the Bank of Guyana; and drafting the Annual Report and reporting on the NRF through the Annual Budget,” it had explained.

Also, a Sovereign Investment Committee

from page 3

(SIC) would be responsible for advising the Finance Minister on the investment mandate, and would consist of seven members appointed by the Finance Minister.

The SIC would comprise a representative of the Minister; an ex-officio representative nominated by the Natural Resources Minister; an ex-officio representative nominated by the Governor of the Bank of Guyana; a representative nominated by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Guyana; a representative nominated by the Guyana Association of Bankers; a representative nominated by the Leader of the Opposition; and the Senior Investment Adviser and Analyst.

news

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mondAY, November 19, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

PM’s $5M reform expenditure

Govt not serious about constitutional reform – Jagdeo

Parliament Building

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s the appointments of a substantive Chancellor of the Judiciary and Chief Justice (CJ) remain in limbo, the Opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) is contending the Government is perhaps not too serious about advancing constitutional reform.

At a sitting of the National Assembly earlier this month, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo had disclosed that his secretariat spent some $5 million on constitutional reform, but the Opposition cast doubt on the expenditure based on its position that it was not clear how the funds were being utilised.

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo spoke on the issue at two recent press conferences, where reporters sought to ascertain the Party’s response to the Prime Minister’s expenditure. Jagdeo, who is a former President, appeared not to be too convinced about the spending, saying that constitutional reform should be broad-based.

“If you trace how it is spent, it is probably spent

for drinks and food maybe ... we have an open mind to constitutional reform once it comes out of a consultative process, is broad-based and that the people of our country support it; not anything contrived in an office by a few people who think they know best for all of our people across Guyana. I don’t think they’re serious about it,” Jagdeo observed last week.

He also said that the PPP was willing to “move forward the process” of such reforms, as he called on the Government to meet at the table. He stressed that any reform must reflect the will of the Guyanese public.

“Let’s discuss it to see what is possible; we don’t know what will be the outcome,” highlighted Jagdeo, who is the PPP’s General Secretary.

His fellow Party executive, Anil Nandlall, who served as Attorney General in the PPP/C Government, told Guyana Times earlier this month that Government was not fulfilling its promises regarding the reform. The Attorney had even questioned the veracity of the

PM’s $5 million expenditure as he noted that three and a half years in Government passed without any tangible steps being taking towards achieving constitutional reform. “We had a report done by a few persons handpicked by the Prime Minister and we were told millions were expended; it was handed to the PM and we have heard nothing about the report since,” the PPP executive complained.

In August 2015, the Prime Minister appointed a Steering Committee that was supposed to lay the framework for a new constitutional process. The Committee’s convener was Attorney Nigel Hughes, while constitution expert Haslyn Parris was named as a member in addition to Professor Harold Lutchman and Attorneys Gino Persaud and Geeta ChandanEdmond.

However, Nandlall had pointed out that the Committee “did not speak” with the PPP, which is the only Opposition party in the National Assembly. In the 2018 Budget, it was outlined that the Office of the Prime

Minister spent $5 million on constitutional reform out of the $109.2 million allocated to Nagamootoo’s secretariat, under the sub heading ‘other’.

Highlighting the slow implementation of the functioning of certain constitutional bodies, Nandlall posited that the current administration was not embarking on the required measures to achieve the reforms which it assured would have been carried out.

Aside from the non-appointment of acting Chancellor, Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards and acting CJ, Roxane George, SC, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) which appoints Magistrates and recommends Judges for the President to appoint was not currently constituted.

President David Granger, who is currently receiving treatment for cancer in Cuba, had recommended Justice CummingsEdwards for the CJ position and Chief Justice of Belize, Kenneth Benjamin for the post of Chancellor. The Opposition Leader did not agree and as such, the conformation of two posts remains in limbo.

The life of the most recent JSC ended in September 2017 along with the Police Service Commission (PSC).

However, the PSC was constituted in August 2018, nearly one year later. In the PSC’s absence, Citizenship Minister Winston Felix

acting in the capacity of Public Security Minister for Khemraj Ramjattan instructed then acting Police Commissioner to send an Assistant Superintendent of Police home, but the High Court has determined this as unconstitutional.

Prior to the President’s ailment, he and the Opposition Leader were not meeting regularly to discuss urgent constitutional posts, but the two sides eventually met after former United States President Jimmy Carter intervened.

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mondAY, November 19, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

PPP looks forward to make impact with 1 seat in Linden

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n the heels of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) securing one seat on the Linden Municipality at the recently concluded Local Government Elections (LGE), that party has said it is looking forward to making a significant impact, geared along the lines of its campaign promises.

This was according to the Party’s Vice Chairman for Region 10 (Upper DemeraraBerbice), Akanni Blair, who noted that the party is jubilant, given the improvement in votes seen in the Region.

Blair said that while the Party lost constituency seats, the fact that the Party secured an increase in votes this time around is commendable.

“During our campaign, we would have distributed at length our plans, and we promised to stick to our campaign promises. The policies set out by the Party are going to be adhered to, basically to create a better Municipality for this town of Linden. We talked about greater transparency, we said that we would not increase any new taxes, and I hope that the one seat (would) be a strong opposition to those things that go contrary to those things that we would have talked about”, Blair said.

He added that while it may not be easy for one seat to be as effective, he believes that with reasonable fight, a lot can be achieved.

“So it is my hope that

PPP’s Vice Chairman for Region 10 (Upper DemeraraBerbice), Akanni Blair

whoever that Councillor is, they are prepared to fight hard to maintain what the

Party would have campaigned on”, he noted.

Further, he stated that the town, which has always been under the rule of the People’s National Congress (PNC) and the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), has seen little progress over the years .

He noted that while the PPP has been blamed for this while in Government, an examination of the facts would show that it was never in control of the Municipality nor the Regional Democratic Council (RDC).

“Even though we wanted to do so much while we were in Central Government, those efforts were stymied because we had to go through the Municipality

or the RDC. Things of a capital nature that Central Government had direct responsibility for, we would have delivered”, he said.

As such, Blair remains positive that with an opportunity to manage the town from an advantageous position, things will be different.

Noting that Party Leader Bharrat Jagdeo is adamant about success, and has Linden at heart, he said the Party is going to deliver, once given the opportunity to do so.

“So I am expecting that the next time around we are given a bigger bite of the cherry”, he said.

Moving forward, the PartyVice Chairman posited that the PP will seek to improve on its campaign

methods as well as logistical support. “I believe that the campaign in Linden should be covered in flamboyance.

The Party did use another method, where they used a kind of low- key, house-tohouse (strategy), and coming to the tail end of the campaign, we had our public meetings and so on. But I think those efforts at the tail end were a little too late.

I believe that our campaign needs more financing”, he indicated.

Blair noted that despite this, the Party is excited about its prospects. He noted that the Party will take a more careful look at its methods, and implement changes for improvement in the next elections.

Essequibo one-day Circuit Trip – Technology in tourism inevitable – Minister Hughes excitement of several days in one package

Mathematics teacher, Dr Richard Yates

Some of the exhibitors at the expo

P

u b l i c Telecommunications Minister Cathy Hughes on Sunday told local drone operators that their participation in the tourism industry was pivotal to both the sector and the development of Guyana.

Addressing the opening of

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years in tourism, agriculture, housing, and other sectors.

“Our tourism industry is benefiting from drone-assisted photography and videography that provides a bird’s eye view, beckoning all our citizens and visitors alike to come and enjoy, discover this beautiful country,” she told

Drone Association in Guyana President Lancelot Khan

Public Telecommunications Minister Cathy Hughes

an expo highlighting the use of drones in tourism at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre, Minister Hughes said the partnership between the tourism industry and technology has long been a “foregone conclusion”. According to her, in any part of the world where tourism is either developed or developing, technology is used.

“Technology in tourism is inevitable. Drones and tourism marketing in today’s hitech world … in this digital era, you cannot have one without the other.”

As a former Tourism Minister, Hughes said Guyana has been using drone technology for a number of

the expo.

According to a report by the Department of Public Information (DPI), the Guyana Drone Operator Association was established to provide key information to local drone operators. Association President Lancelot Khan said drone technology has been growing rapidly over the years.

Khan said Guyana has embraced the use of drones and while there was the need for protocols to protect all, the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has been working with the Drone Association to create a glitchfree environment for operators.

GCAA Director General Lieutenant Colonel (ret’d) Egbert Field noted that “drones are here to stay”.

“The drone technology entered into the aviation industry and is not just to be used as a toy, but also for commercial activities.”

Field said drone technology has advanced so much, it has been immersed in the aviation industry. According to the Director General, there is enough room for drone technology to boost tourism in Guyana.

“Let us concentrate on what we can do with drones in a productive and commercial fashion.”

He too called on the “technologically savvy” youth to make the industry into something worthwhile.

The drone and tourism expo forms part of activities to celebrate Tourism Awareness Month, which is observed in the month of November.

he tourist experience in Guyana has now been taken to new heights with the introduction of the Essequibo Circuit Tour by the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG).

According to a Department of Public Information (DPI) report, the new one-day tour package includes visits to several historical sites and resorts along the mighty Essequibo River, and those visits would be facilitated by Old Forts Tours.

During the fun-pack, mind-blowing trip, visitors will make stops at Fort Island, which has the Court of Policy; and Fort Zeelandia, Hurakabra Resort, the Municipality of Bartica, Aruwai White H2O Water Resort, BK Quarries, Sloth Island and Baganara Island Resort. The package costs just $13,500, and includes lunch, and snacks provided throughout the day.

Members of the media were among a group of sightseers who were given a firsthand experience of the trip yesterday. The experience has left them wanting more.

Even though many have visited a few of the local resorts before, all said the experience being offered was like no other.

President of THAG, Mitra Ramkumar, is encouraging Guyanese to take advantage of the package, which he says is very affordable. According

to Ramkumar, there is no need to spend several days visiting the various locations when it can be done in one day, and visitors will leave with the same feeling as if they had spent several days at the tourist spots.

“The beauty of this is that it is within the reach of Guyanese, and that is what we want to showcase.

We want local participation. This is a blessed country, and we need to showcase that; we need to see the beauty and sell it to the world,” Ramkumar stated.

tion, since each destination has its own uniqueness. He is encouraging everyone to take advantage of the package being offered. “It is not all about work. You should come out here, even for just one weekend, to enjoy this, because it is really nice,” Chow stated.

The Essequibo Circuit Trip is one of the many special getaway packages and other exciting activities that are being launched during November for Tourism Awareness Month 2018.

At the official launch

The Court of Policy building on Fort Island

Popular Mathematics teacher Dr. Richard Yates, who was a part of the tour, said it is a tour that needs to be experienced by all Guyanese and persons who come to visit Guyana.

“I say to the people, ‘Guyana, know your home’.

This tour has been more than an eye-opener. It gave me the opportunity to actually experience what it is like to see areas in Guyana that we were not aware of or given the opportunity to see,” Dr. Yates said. He further added, “I have learnt so much, and cannot wait to share it with folks not only on social media, but also on my education programme, called Graspmatxy.”

Zack Chow, who also participated in the tour, said he enjoyed every part of the trip. He pointed out that it would be impossible to choose a favourite destina-

of the month’s calendar of activities in late October, Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), Brian Mullis, said the organisation is partnering with the private sector to provide economical trips for locals and foreigners to explore Guyana “We are working with the tourism private sector on new management and pricing strategies so that they can offer some specials. These will not only be available during the month of November; some will be available year-round. And as the number of participants in the packages increases, the price per participant decreases,” Mullis said.

Tourism Awareness Month 2018 is being observed under the theme “Promoting sustainability and celebrating diversity.”

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monDAY, november 19, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

VOX POPULI

What the people say

I SAY...

What are your thoughts on the silence of the religious community on the recent cross-dressing ruling by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ)?

Aaliyah Pompey “I think that the religious community has given up and is ready to accept any law.

The reason being is because not one pastor or priest or no leader representing religious bodies came out to oppose to the passing of the crossdressing law...so I guess they all are accepting it.”

Leslyn Thompson “There is nothing that religious leaders could say to change anyone’s mind; these days, people are accepting what they think is right as well.

They are just letting people live and be whatever they want to be, act however they want to act.”

Maya Hercules “At the end of the day, everyone has beliefs and everyone has rights as human beings...I’d rather not comment as I wish not to offend anyone.”

Karran Ramsammy “The religious community must have given up upon the Government in doing the right thing. I think they should address the way they are supposed to. That’s not in keeping with any religious teaching, [but] it’s already legal and cannot be changed back so easily, so I think they have to accept that it will be a part of the society which we are living in, so yes they should be teaching tolerance and acceptance – maybe not acceptance but acceptance is part of modern society.”

Shaunell Wilson “I think that the reason being is because they know that the public will oppose them, so instead of coming out and being vocal about their disagreement with such, they choose to keep their opinions to themselves and leave it to God to judge if need be.”

Jim Jones’s surviving sons speak out in new documentary about the Jonestown Massacre

Dead bodies lie around the compound of the Peoples Temple cult on November 18, 1978

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David Hume Kennerly)

n November 18, 1978, 909 members of the Peoples Temple living in the Jonestown settlement in Guyana consumed a deadly, cyanide-laced drink.

They did so on the orders of the cult’s leader, Jim Jones.

The massacre was the largest loss of US civilian life in a single, deliberate act until 9/11.

Ahead of the 40th anniversary of the tragedy, ABC released a special, “Truth and Lies: Jonestown”, which aired September 28 at 20:00h Eastern. The special featured new interviews with Jones’s two surviving sons, who open up about the haunting massacre brought about by their megalomaniacal father’s religious group.

“He was dark, a handsome man,” Stephan Jones says in a trailer for the special, exclusively premiering on Esquire.com. “The man had charisma.”

“Dad, like any good demagogue, would conjure up fear,” he adds.

Stephan was not at the settlement when the incident occurred. According to The Washington Post, Stephan, then 19, was with the Jonestown basketball team at a tournament about 150 miles away. He ended up spending three months in jail, until being cleared of involvement in the crime.

“I think I’d probably be pretty messed up if I hadn’t lost everybody I had and hadn’t gone through the

(Getty Images/

prison experience,” Stephan told the newspaper in 1983.

“I mellowed out.”

Stephan is the only biological child of Jones and his wife, Marceline Baldwin Jones, per The Atlantic. The couple adopted several children of different ethnicities, which they referred to as their “rainbow family”.

In the new ABC special, Jim Jones Jr says, “I was the first African American child adopted by Caucasians in Indiana and [my father] always reminded me of that.”

He says his father often referred to him as “my adopted black son”.

He was 18, and also at the basketball tournament, when the massacre happened.

Jones formed the Peoples Temple in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the mid-1950s.

He had a motto, which he

Jones and his wife, Marceline Jones, seated in front of their adopted children and next to his sister-in-law (right) with her three children in California in 1976 (Getty Images/Don Hogan Charles)

Jim Jones (Getty Images/Michelle Vignes)

said the church stood for: “Divine principles. Total equality. A society where people own all things in common, where there is no rich or poor, where there are no races.”

After intense scrutiny from the media, he relocated with his wife, seven children, and followers to San Francisco and eventually to the jungles of Guyana.

He preached about building a utopia – a remote settlement which became known as “Jonestown” – free of violence, racism, sexism, and classism.

But Jonestown turned out to be far from perfect. His followers worked in fields and were harshly punished if they questioned Jones or the Peoples Temple. Over time, Jones became increasingly paranoid, thinking the media and the Government were targeting him.

In November 1978, a delegation, including Reps Leo Ryan and Jackie Speier, vis-

ited Jonestown with a news crew in an attempt to assist people who may have been held against their will. As the group boarded planes to leave, they were shot at by several temple members.

Five people died, including Rep Ryan. Later, Jones commanded his over 900 followers to drink a cyanide-laced punch and commit what he called a “revolutionary act”.

The tragedy has been called both a mass suicide and a mass murder.

Photographs taken afterwards show a gruesome scene: the bodies of hundreds of people, including children, lying face down in the grass and dirt. Jones was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head.

The new ABC special features rare video, audiotapes, diaries, letters, and FBI documents that have been declassified in the past decade and provide new insight into what happened. (esquire.com)

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guyanatimesgy.com

mondAY, november 19, 2018

Regional

Former Peruvian President New Salvadoran migrant caravan forms; asks for asylum in Uruguay hundreds wait at US-Mexico border

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ormer Peruvian President Alan Garcia entered the Uruguayan Embassy and applied for asylum, hours after being banned from leaving the country while under investigation for corruption, the Peruvian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

Garcia entered the Embassy and home of the Uruguayan Ambassador in a residential Lima neighbourhood on Saturday night and requested asylum, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry.

Garcia “has requested asylum from that country, in accordance with the provisions of the Convention on Diplomatic Asylum of 1954, of which Peru and Uruguay are parties,” the Foreign Ministry said, adding the request “should be evaluated by the Government of Uruguay”.

Officials at the Uruguayan Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Garcia’s asylum request came hours after a judge ruled on Saturday to pro-

Former Peruvian President Alan Garcia talks to the media as he arrives at the National Prosecution Office in Lima, Peru, March 27, 2018 (file photo)

hibit the ex-President from leaving the country for 18 months while under investigation for bribes allegedly received during the construction of an electric train in Lima by Brazilian company Odebrecht.

Garcia, who mostly resides in Spain, arrived in Lima on Thursday to testify in the case before a prosecutor, who postponed the hearing and requested the former President be barred from leaving.

The Prosecutor in the

case, Jose Perez, also accused Garcia of receiving US$100,000 for taking part in a conference in Brazil, and said the money likely came from an Odebrecht fund, used to pay out bribes in several Latin American countries.

The sweeping Odebrecht corruption scandal has implicated dozens of high-ranking officials across Latin America, who have been accused of taking bribe money in exchange for public works contracts. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Ambassador Marks urges eligible J’cans to become US citizens

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amaica’s Ambassador to the United States, Audrey Marks is urging eligible Jamaicans residing in the US to take the necessary steps to become US citizens as a means of stemming the high number of deportations to the island, particularly among young males with little or no connection to Jamaica.

Marks, who was delivering the keynote address at the New Jersey-based HELP Jamaica Medical Mission’s eighth annual fundraiser black tie gala in New Jersey, last Saturday, noted that

over the past nine months, a total of 650 Jamaicans were deported to the island.

Of that number, 75 of them were young males, she said, noting that there has been a dramatic increase in deportations from the United States.

“Tonight, I want to use this opportunity to appeal to those of you who are residents in the US and are not citizens of the United States – please go out and become one. You will have all the benefits and no disadvantages, as Jamaica and the United States offer dual citi-

zenship,” she said.

The Jamaican Ambassador explained that she had held several meetings with the US Congress as it relates to immigration.

Prior to these meetings, she had visited a number of persons held in detention and slated to be deported.

“At one centre, there were 64 healthy young Jamaican men, many of whom have been in the US since they were kids and did not get around becoming citizens; and they have no one in Jamaica and are slated to be deported.” (Excerpt from Jamaica

Observer)

Tobago comfortable with Sandals project – Chief Secretary

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obago House of Assembly Chief Secretary Kelvin Charles says Tobagonians, especially businessmen, are fully on board with the Sandals Resort project.

Charles was responding to a question on public feedback for the project in the wake of public criticism that it involved a secret deal and posed a problem to the island’s ecosystem.

“As far as I am aware, the business community is very comfortable with the project ... we just came back from World Travel Market (WTM) where we went to launch, at an international level, our new Go To Market strategy,” Charles told reporters at Saturday’s post-Cabinet media briefing at Magdalena Grande Resort in Tobago.

Tobago House of Assembly Chief Secretary Kelvin Charles

He noted that many tour operators and airlines at the WTM were pleased the THA was upgrading the quality of its room stock by introducing Sandals to the island.

“Truth be told, we do not currently have any five-star hotel in Tobago and what

will be coming with a Sandals brand is a five-star hotel.”

Questioned further about concerns raised by Tobago’s environmentalists that the project would negatively impact the environment, Charles referred to statements made earlier by Minister Stuart Young.

Young had said Sandals aimed to do whatever was necessary to preserve the environment.

“There is going to be absolutely no interference with the No Man’s Land split. In fact, I was here a few months ago and did a walkthrough of the (area ) ... and the mangrove with the Sandals executives and what they were discussing is the clean-up of the No Man’s Land split for the public,” Young said. (Excerpt

from Trinidad Guardian)

t least 150 Salvadorans set off on Sunday from their impoverished Central American country in a USbound caravan, ignoring their likely rejection at the US-Mexico border where a larger caravan of mostly Hondurans has been stalled for days.

Guarded by Police Officers, the men, women and children of the gathering caravan marched through San Salvador’s streets to Guatemala-bound buses, loaded with heavy

backpacks, water and the knowledge of an arduous 4300-kilometre (2700-mile) trek ahead to the US border.

The group from El Salvador was at least the fourth caravan to set off since a first, large-scale mobilisation in neighbouring Honduras, which departed on October 13 from the crime-wracked northern city of San Pedro Sula.

That caravan quickly grew to thousands as it moved north on daily 50-km (30-mile) treks. Many of its members were still wind-

ing their way on Sunday through Mexico toward the US border, where hundreds of early arrivals have been waiting since last week to cross.

Ahead of the November 6 midterm US congressional elections, President Donald Trump denounced the large caravan as an “invasion” that threatened American national security and sent thousands of active-duty US troops to the border with Mexico. Trump has not publicly focused on the caravan since the election. (Excerpt from

Reuters)

Biodiversity conference sounds alarm about protecting coral reefs in the Caribbean

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new coalition of organisations, including the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), has been launched to galvanise global leadership to focus on the urgent need to protect coral reefs in the Caribbean and other places from extinction within decades.

The coalition was launched last week, during the UN’s Biodiversity Conference.

“It’s clear to anyone who puts their head below the waves that the fate of the world’s coral reefs is hanging in the balance,” said UNEP chief Erik Solheim.

“At the moment, these undersea explosions of colour and life face an extremely bleak future.”

The UN said coral reefs provide food and livelihoods for hundreds of millions of people around the world, support more than a quarter of all marine life, and protect communities and coastlines from natural disasters.

“And if urgent action is not taken, they could be lost forever,” the UN warned.

It said eight internation-

The UN said coral reefs provide food and livelihoods for hundreds of millions of people around the world

al organisations have joined forces to advocate for decisive action to protect these natural wonders: UNEP, the International Coral Reef Initiative, the World Wildlife Fund, the Nature Conservancy, the Wildlife Conservation Society, Vulcan Inc, the Ocean Agency, and the Secretariat of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

“The expectations for this coalition could not be higher. Coral reef protection

must become a global priority. Coral reefs need a better deal,” said Solheim, who unveiled the new partnership in the Egyptian coastal resort of Sharm El Sheikh.

The UN said dozens of Ministers whose countries are party to the CBD gathered with experts and representatives of civil society organisations, to start a twoyear process to adopt a global framework for protecting biodiversity, including coral reefs, around the world. (Excerpt

from Jamaica Observer)

Barbados: Social Justice Committee set up

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he Barbados Government has created a Social Justice Committee.

Word of this has come from Labour and Social Partnership Relations Minister Colin Jordan.

Speaking Saturday morning at the Civil Society and Government Dialogue on Creating an Enabling Policy and Legislative Environment for NGOs, held at the Courtyard by Marriott, he disclosed that this committee – which is one of their manifesto promises – was recently approved

by Cabinet.

He said that it would seek to ensure that

Non-Governmental Organisations and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) become part of the discussion and decision-making process at the national level.

“We’ve spoken for a number of years about the need for the internationally-accepted tripartite arrangement which we call the Social Partnership to be expanded to include other organisations that are critical to the development of our country.

Cabinet has approved the establishment of the Social Justice Committee, and this committee comprises representation from a number of Civil Society Organisations,

including BANGO [Barbados Association of Non-Governmental Organisations]. Social justice, the aim of this committee, is both a goal and a process, to ensure equity or a certain level of equality among us all,” he indicated.

Jordan further told the gathering of NGO and CSO representatives gathered that the goal of the Social Justice Committee is to assist in efforts to create a society where no one is marginalised, where there are opportunities available to all, and where all persons are physically and psychologically safe and secure.

(Excerpt from Barbados Advocate)

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mondAY, november 19, 2018

guyanatimesgy.com

Around the World

Hundreds injured as French fuel protests continue D

emonstrations in France over rising fuel prices have left more than 400 people injured, officials say, as protests spilled into a second day.

The French Interior Ministry said that nearly 300 protesters were questioned, with 157 among them taken into custody.

Some 288,000 people took part in Saturday’s protests, the Ministry said, with scores under way on Sunday.

The demonstrators, known as the “yellow vests”, have been setting up roadblocks across France.

Many turned their anger on President Emmanuel Macron, who they accuse of being out-of-touch. He is yet to comment on the protests, and has seen his popularity slump in polls.

The President came to power last year vowing to overhaul the French economy and argues the hikes are needed to wean the French people off fossil fuels.

The Government has announced a number of measures to help poorer families pay their energy and transport bills.

But support for the protests ap-

Y

The blockades continued at several sites on Sunday

pears broad. Nearly three-quarters of respondents to a poll by the Elabe institute backed the yellow vests and 70 per cent wanted the Government to reverse the fuel tax hikes.

Demonstrators took to the streets at more than 2000 locations across France on Saturday, according to the Interior Ministry.

Most protests passed peacefully but

at some places tempers flared and drivers tried to force their way through the roadblocks.

In the worst incident, a female protester died after a driver surrounded by demonstrators panicked and accelerated.

The driver has been charged with manslaughter and released on bail, Prosecutors said. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Malta “identifies masterminds” of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder

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uthorities on Malta have identified several people believed to be behind the murder of investigative Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, according to local media.

The 53-year-old was killed in October 2017 when a powerful bomb exploded in her car as she drove away from her home in Mosta, a small town outside the capital, Valletta.

The killing sent shockwaves throughout the small island country and prompted international condemnation.

In a report on Sunday, the Times of Malta said au-

Daphne Caruana Galizia ran a hugely popular blog in which she highlighted cases of alleged high-level corruption [Darrin Zammit Lupi/

Reuters]

thorities have identified “a group of more than two Maltese nationals” that allegedly masterminded the murder, but refused to give

any details about them.

There was no immediate comment from the Police on the report.

Caruana Galizia’s death

was believed to be a result of her reporting on her popular blog, Running Commentary, where she highlighted alleged high-level corruption by politicians across party lines.

She also covered criminal gangs and drug trafficking, and was responsible for exposing Malta’s links with the so-called “Panama Papers” document leak, which revealed the identities of the rich and powerful with offshore holdings in the Central American country.

It is unclear if the suspects are from the criminal, business or political world, local media said. (Excerpt from Al

B

May has vowed to fight on, but with both pro-EU and pro-Brexit lawmakers unhappy with the draft agreement, it is not clear she will be able to win the backing of Parliament for it, raising the risk Britain leaves the EU without a deal.

“These next seven days are going to be critical, they are about the future of this country,” May told Sky News. “I am not going to be distracted from the important job.

“A change of leadership at this point isn’t going to make the negotiations any easier ... what it will do is mean that there is a risk that actually we delay the negotiations and that is a risk that Brexit gets delayed or frustrated.” (Excerpt from Reuters)

S

outh African President Cyril Ramaphosa is to repay US$35,000 given to his leadership campaign by a firm accused of corruption.

The donor, a firm called Bosasa, has won lucrative Government contracts but is under investigation.

Ramaphosa initially told MPs the money had been paid to his son, Andile, for consultancy work for Bosasa.

By later admitting it was a donation, he undermined his own anti-corruption fight, the BBC’s Will Ross reports.

The controversy is a setback for a President who has vowed to fight corruption, our Africa editor adds.

Ramaphosa also ordered a review of all payments to his campaign for the leadership of the African National

emen’s Houthi movement said on Sunday it was halting drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and their Yemeni allies, responding to a demand from the United Nations.

International pressure has mounted on Yemen’s warring parties to end the war that has killed more than 10,000 people and pushed the country to the verge of starvation.

The move from the Houthi group came after the Saudi-led coalition ordered a halt in its offensive against Yemen’s main port city Hodeidah, which has become the focus of the war.

“After our contacts with the UN envoy and his request to stop drone and missile strikes ... We announce our initiative ... to halt missile and drone strikes on the countries of aggression,” Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, the head of the Houthis’

Supreme Revolutionary Committee, said in a statement.

UN special envoy Martin Griffiths is trying to salvage peace talks after a round in September collapsed when the Houthis did not show up.

He hopes to convene talks before the end of the year in Sweden to agree a framework for peace under a transitional government.

The Iranian-aligned group which has been battling the Saudi-backed Government for nearly four years added it was ready for a broader ceasefire if “the Saudi-led coalition wants peace”.

Western countries have provided arms and intelligence to the Arab States in the alliance, but have shown increasing reservations about the conflict since the murder of US-based Saudi dissident Journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul early last month. (Excerpt from Reuters)

APEC leaders divided after US-China spat

Jazeera)

PM May: Getting rid South Africa’s of me risks Ramaphosa to repay delaying Brexit campaign donation ritish Prime Minister Theresa May said on Sunday toppling her would risk delaying Brexit and she would not let talk of a leadership challenge distract her from a critical week of negotiations with Brussels.

Since unveiling a draft divorce deal with the European Union on Wednesday, May’s premiership has been thrust into crisis by the resignation of several Ministers, including her Brexit Minister, and some of her own Members of Parliament are seeking to oust her.

More than two years after the United Kingdom voted to leave the EU, it is still unclear how, on what terms or even if it will leave as planned on March 29, 2019.

Yemen’s Houthis halt missile attacks on Saudi Arabia, UAE; say ready for peace

Congress (ANC).

Answering questions in Parliament on November 6, Ramaphosa said money paid to his son by Bosasa (which is now named African Global Operations) had been for legitimate business between the company and Andile.

Then, in a written clarification to parliament this week, he said he had been subsequently informed that the payment did not relate to his son, but had been paid into a fund used for his leadership campaign.

“The donation was made without my knowledge,” Ramaphosa wrote. “I was not aware of the existence of the donation at the time that I answered the question.” (Excerpt

from BBC News)

US Vice President Pence and Chinese President Xi Jinping did not appear together in APEC leaders pictures

A

sia-Pacific leaders have failed to bridge divisions over trade at a summit dominated by a war of words between the United States and China.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Papua New Guinea ended on Sunday without a formal statement for the first time in its history.

“You know the two big giants in the room. What can I say?” said host and Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, adding that a chairman’s statement would be released later on Sunday.

The US and China presented contrasting visions for the future of trade and investment in the region in competing policy speeches on Saturday.

Washington and Beijing have been engaged in an es-

calating trade war this year, imposing tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods, and have said that the tariffs could be increased.

O’Neill said that the main sticking points that prevented a joint statement related to “the World Trade Organisation and reform of the World Trade Organisation.”

“APEC has got no charter over World Trade Organisation, that is a fact. Those matters can be raised at the World Trade Organisation,” he said.

Sources told the AFP news agency that the US had pressed for the leaders to issue a statement that would amount to a denunciation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and a call for its wholesale reform.

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

18

guyanatimesgy.com

mondAY, november 19, 2018

ARCHIE

ARIES (March 21April 19)

TAURUS (April 20May 20)

dilbert

GEMINI (May 21June 20)

CANCER (June 21July 22)

Peanuts

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

Calvin and Hobbes

You’ll be torn between what you want to do and what you should do. Take care of business before you head out with friends. Your reputation will depend on your actions.

Reconnect with people you have worked with in the past to gain some information that could help you advance.

Prospects will vary depending on how you respond. Use your imagination.

Don’t reveal information that someone asked you to keep secret. It’s important to show that you can be trusted if you want the same respect in return. Meddling will backfire.

Keep busy. Fitness and a healthy lifestyle will be important when it comes to maintaining endurance and stamina. Don’t let an emotional situation affect your work or relationships with others.

A change will do you good, but before you leap into something new, do your due diligence and find out what it costs and what’s expected of you.

Problems with partnerships will mount if you are too trusting or let someone take care of matters that you should handle yourself.

Practicality and hard work will be essential.

Discuss problems openly.

LIBRA (Sept. 23- If you let situations fester, Oct. 23) you will end up making matters worse. Use your charm and kind gestures to avert a dispute. Patience will be required.

WORD GAME TODAY’S WORD — REINVENT (REINVENT: ree-in-VENT: To make over completely.)

SUDOKU

Can you find 40 or more words in REINVENT? The list will be published tomorrow.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19)

SATURDAY’S WORD — CATTIER attic

tier

irate

caret

attire

tire

race

cart

tacit

titer

rate

cater

tact

trace

react

cire

tare

tract

rice

cite

tart

trait

rite

citrate

tear

treat

crate

teat

trice

acre

tetra

trite

RULES OF THE GAME: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. For example, if “bake” is used, “baked” or “bakes” is not allowed, but “bake” and “baking” are admissible. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed. To contact Word Game creator Kathleen Saxe, write to Word Game, Kathleen Saxe, Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

Copyright 2015, Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS

A creative project should be considered carefully.

Weigh the cost involved and whether it’s feasible.

Someone will mislead you in order to get his or her way.

Expect to face opposition SAGITTARIUS if you try to make an unpop(Nov. 23- ular change. You are best off Dec. 21) taking care of every detail before you present your intentions to others.

Average mark 28 words Time limit 40 minutes

care

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

solution for LAST PUBLISHED puzzle AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 19)

PISCES (Feb. 20March 20)

Ease into your day. Don’t let an emotional incident throw you off course. Avoid acting in haste or taking on responsibilities that don’t belong to you. Stick to your agenda.

A vocational move or financial gain looks promising. Personal improvements can be made, as long as you stick to your budget. Don’t let anyone talk you into something you don’t need.

If you let someone take advantage of you or talk you into something, you will regret it. Stick close to the people you know you can trust and adhere to your set schedule.

mondAY, november 19, 2018

19

UEFA Nations League…

Kane strikes late to take England through to finals I

n the end, it became another test of character. An examination of a young side’s ability to rouse themselves just as the occasion was veering cruelly off script, with all that giddy pre-match expectation threatening to give way to familiar, asphyxiating anticlimax. Previous England teams might have cramped up, accepting the worst. Plenty of these players had been left drained and dispirited back at the Luzhniki Stadium in July once Croatia, such familiar opponents, had seized the momentum. But lessons have clearly been learned.

This current crop have something about them, a conviction that has been forged by a relaxed, appealing atmosphere around their training camps and a comfort with the style of play implemented and encouraged by the management staff. They appear to be a better team now than they were in the summer, and certainly a squad with more options to explore, so, once behind and chasing, their late rally was almost to be expected.

Gareth Southgate’s team were five minutes away from being relegated to Division B of Uefa’s new competition.

From one extreme to the other, up stepped the captain to force them into the inaugural finals.

Harry Kane had actually been enduring the longest scoreless run of his England career, a seven-match blank that had stretched all the way back to Colombia in Moscow in the last 16 of the World Cup. But, after Tin Jedvaj had fouled Ben Chilwell, there was the striker to meet the fullback’s low delivery on the stretch as it fizzed across the six-yard box. The ball squirted past Lovre Kalinic and “the best goalscorer in the world”, according to his manager, had his first England goal in 747 minutes to book that week-long jaunt to Portugal.

“We had to live with the pressure, and we did,” said Southgate. “We’ve ended up coming out of an incredibly tough group. In terms of form and world rankings, it was probably the toughest.”

They have done so by demonstrating there is, actually, depth to their options despite only

a dominant opening period when, in truth, their delivery at set plays had been relatively desperate. “Maybe we’re not a new England, and we’re actually the England we’ve always been,” offered Southgate through a smile. The fact his side had become the first England team to come from behind to win in the last 20 minutes

from wide. Raheem Sterling scuttled beyond Domagoj Vida too often for comfort, Marcus Rashford gliding into space down the opposite flank, with the full-backs marauding at will.

The chances came and went in flurries, Kalinic overworked and stretched to thwart Kane, Sterling twice and Chilwell. Fabian Delph,

Harry Kane celebrates his late winner at Wembley

around a third of the players in the Premier League being eligible for selection. The staff have stuck firmly to the philosophy that led the team to prosper in Russia, even if the manager could appreciate the irony that it had taken a long throw from Joe Gomez – with a foot actually planted illegally on the pitch, unnoticed by the assistant referee – and a free-kick flung into the box to prise Croatia apart, rather than all the assured and incisive approach play the hosts had mustered during

of a competitive match since playing Cameroon in the World Cup quarterfinal at Italia 90 was more reflective of proper progress.

They had merited this victory, for all that the visitors were hampered by injuries, withdrawals and fatigue having beaten Spain only 66 hours previously. Zlatko Dalic would admit as much, pointing to a first half when Croatia had been stretched to survive a prolonged onslaught, heaving to contain England’s pace and invention

playing with Jordan Henderson not quite fit enough to start, was authoritative in midfield, an English lead seemingly imminent. But Kane, off balance, skied over the bar, and frustration seemed to set in.

Therein lay another test. Croatia had offered so little, early wastefulness from Ante Rebic aside, but the same might have been said in July. Their own belief is unswerving, so there, just before the hour, was the substitute Josip Brekalo exploiting space down

England’s left before supplying a fine pass for Nikola Vlasic. His quickly taken pass shifted the ball across for Andrej Kramaric, squeezing space initially from Kyle Walker, to collect near the penalty spot. The striker twisted and turned, seeking out a clear view of goal and flummoxing John Stones and Eric Dier in the process, with his eventual shot flicking up off the Tottenham midfielder to loop agonisingly beyond Pickford.

For a while, doubt did flare, memories of Moscow rearing up with all the early dominance having given way to grim acceptance. Yet Southgate has spritely options to lift a performance these days. Jesse Lingard, a stalwart from the summer, and the whippersnapper of the moment, Jadon Sancho, would stretch the visitors’ tiring ranks, freeing up space for teammates to exploit. The former would also hack Vida’s header from his own goalline, having just tapped in an equaliser after Kane’s prod from Gomez’s throw had been blocked improbably by Kalinic with his feet.

The din whipped up by parity would drive England on, with supporters engaged rather than idling away their time making paper aeroplanes to litter the turf. Kane’s glorious finale offered the majority real reward. A year of resurgence marked by a World Cup semi-final, a startling win over Spain in Seville and the progression of dynamic, young players into the senior setup has now culminated in Nations League success. A four team minitournament awaits in June, when a trophy will be up for grabs. “England have a young and extremely fast team,” added Dalic, deadpan as the strains of “Three Lions” boomed over the public address system outside.

“It’s coming home very, very soon.”

(The Guardian)

Zverev stuns Djokovic to win ATP Finals

A

lexander Zverev stunned world number one Novak Djokovic in straight sets to win the seasonending ATP Finals and earn the biggest victory of his career.

Djokovic, 31, was the heavy favourite to win a sixth finals title but was outclassed 6-4 6-3 by the German.

Third seed Zverev broke Djokovic for a 5-4 lead in the first set and then served three big aces to take the set.

Zverev, 21, continued to dominate in the second set and sealed a memorable victory as Djokovic faltered.

Zverev lost to the Serb in straight sets in the round-robin stage but, after beating Roger Federer in Saturday’s semi-finals, produced a more confident performance to stop Djokovic winning a record-equalling sixth end-of-season title.

Zverev missed his first championship point before hitting a sensational backhand

down the line for victory, falling to the court in a mixture of disbelief and celebration as Djokovic jumped over the net to congratulate him.

Zverev has long been heralded as the young player most likely to carry the mantle for the men’s game once the likes of Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray have retired, with the 6ft 6in German’s booming serve, crunching groundstrokes and improved play around the net showing he has all the facets needed to reach the very top.

Against Djokovic he also showed strong mental resilience and staying power in gruelling rallies to prove he is the real deal.

A high-quality opening set remained on serve in the opening eight games, both players only managing to win three receiving points up to then, before a stray forehand from Djokovic - a rare unforced

Alexander Zverev displays the 2018 ATP Finals Trophy after defeating Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the finale

error this week - brought the first break point of the match in the following game.

Djokovic landed a deep first serve but when it came back over to his side of the court

could only crack a forehand into the net.

For the first time in the match - and in the tournament - Djokovic had lost his serve.

The true test for Zverev was to keep his nerve and serve out for the first set, a question answered by the German firing down three aces.

A volley into the net checked him briefly but he took his second set point when Djokovic went long with a backhand after a short rally.

The Serb had not lost a set all week but had not faced the sustained pressure Zverev was putting him under.

Another break point came Zverev’s way in the opening game of the first set after he outlasted Djokovic in a 26-shot baseline rally and although he could not convert that, he did take a second opportunity.

But he lost his focus in the next game, producing two double faults - the only ones in

the match that far - as Djokovic immediately broke back.

Any thoughts that might swing the momentum back to the Serb proved unfounded, Zverev breaking again to hold a lead which he would not relinquish.

Djokovic, who had won 35 of his previous 37 matches, suddenly lost the control he had shown all week and was unable to make Zverev serve out for victory as the German broke again to win in one hour and 19 minutes.

Now Zverev’s next challenge is to show he can perform over the five-set format at the Grand Slams.

This year he reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the French Open and it looks only a matter of time - especially with eight-time major champion Ivan Lendl now in his corner - that he will go deeper into the biggest tournaments. (The Guardian)

20

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

mondAY, november 19, 2018

Michael Johnson: "I stopped counting after 42 rejected job applications"

A

disillusioned Michael Johnson was ready to quit football when a kick up the backside from a friend and a Brendan Rodgers soundbite changed his life.

“I raced home,” Michael Johnson says as he recalls his cocktail of emotions after flying through the door of his Nottinghamshire home in June having just been appointed manager of Guyana. He remembers the overriding relief after a challenging conversation several years earlier that pulled on the heartstrings. It was with Pharrell, the eldest of his three boys.

“I always said: ‘If you work hard in life, the one thing I’ll guarantee you is you’ll get your rewards.’ My son said: ‘You’re going out again?’ I said: ‘I’ve got this networking meeting.’

He goes: ‘But you haven’t got a job, have you?’ I said: ‘No, no, but it’s coming.’ Then he said: ‘But Dad, you said that if you keep going and working hard, that you’ll get a job you deserve. Why haven’t you got yours?’

“And you know when you just don’t know what to say?” Johnson’s lips trill as he explains how he walked out, his eyes bubbling. It was six or seven years in the making but Johnson – after Skype interviews with the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) president and technical director – had his reward.

“That was the ‘Aaaah, yes!’ moment,” he says. “It was more about me passing that on to my children to say: ‘Look

what’s happened to your dad.’

Yes, there were struggles along the way, but if you keep going, you get there.”

Johnson did not apply for the job but was among 10 coaches recommended to the GFF by Jason Roberts, the CONCACAF director of development. Johnson beat 200 other applicants to the part-time role as head coach of the South American nation, ranked 179 in the world. Every international break, after getting the train to King’s Cross, the 45-year-old and his staff start the 4,500-mile commute from Gatwick to Georgetown, usually via Barbados. “Guyana is bigger than England but it only has a population of around 800,000. A lot of it is made up of rainforest, mountains, waterfalls – it’s a beautiful country. There’s indigenous people from the Indian community still living there that use boats to travel, barefoot and hunting.”

Not so long ago Johnson was seriously considering walking away from football – a scary thought especially given his rich CV. Out of work and in a lull five years after retiring as a player in 2009, the former Derby captain was disillusioned, thinking of becoming an HGV driver. “I was watching daytime television, putting on weight and I was looking at other jobs. I had to do something; I was thinking: ‘Maybe I can turn my hand to a bit of driving,’ getting one of those big lorries, going to Folkestone, crossing over into Paris.”

That was until a kick up the backside from a former teammate and a Brendan Rodgers soundbite pricked up his ears. It was 7.30am one spring morning in 2015 when Johnson received a phone call from Darren Moore, his close friend and then a youth coach at West Brom. In the weeks before, they had spoken about attending a League Managers Association seminar at the Hawthorns, where Rodgers was the keynote speaker, but Johnson found himself moping at home. Even now, Johnson is not sure whether he might have had depression.

“I was like: ‘I can’t be bothered, Mooro,’” he says. “He said: ‘Can’t be bothered?

Get your arse up here now or I’m driving up.’ It was one of those

moments in your life when you put the phone down and go ‘F-it’, so I rolled out of bed and jumped in the shower.

You’re in the car, stuck in traffic thinking: ‘What am I doing?

This is just another wasted day.’”

On arrival, Johnson perched at the back, detached from the rest of the room as Rodgers ran through coaching drills, before moving on to a mini-survival guide for those out of work. “I’m now putting my hand up, asking questions,” Johnson says. “I said to him: ‘How do you keep yourself going?’

He just said: ‘You’ve been a professional for 20-odd years, why would you let yourself go?’ That’s when he said: ‘When you’re out of work, n o w is the time t o

Michael Johnson: "I’ve been blessed to help several clubs but to do it for the country of Guyana would be life-changing"

work.’ And I wrote that down.

That one strapline changed my whole approach.”

Until then, he was at a loss to understand where he was going and was hurt by endless rejection. He was armed with coaching badges, watching training sessions and networking, but was getting nowhere. Asked how many jobs he applied for, he replies: “I stopped counting on 42. I got five or six responses, I had two interviews and one of those was for a non-league club.

How far do you keep going? All of the qualifications are good but it is during that in-between period when you get lost.”

His faith helped him focus but Johnson raises the issue of his comments in 2012, when he stated that homosexuality was “detestable” on the BBC show The Big Questions.

“The comments were naive, because I was very young in my Christian walk and very new out of football at the time.

I didn’t have the education I now have for my message to come across in the right and proper way. There is no way I would hate or vilify anybody for homosexuality.”

In December 2013 he was appointed a member of the FA’s inclusion advisory board; when the remarks came to light a month later it led to his resignation, though he stressed at the time: “I have since invested a great deal of my time and energies into reeducating myself. As a result, my whole way of thinking has changed.”

Since then, Johnson has

built on his Uefa pro licence by enrolling for a master’s in sporting directorship at Manchester Metropolitan University, as well as the Uefa masters for international players, a course Gilberto Silva and Luis García are also on. Johnson is writing a 10,000-word dissertation: “Understanding World Cup winners, European Cup winners, the culture and environment that enabled them to be successful”. A couple of years ago he bumped into Rodgers in the lift at the Kensington Palace hotel in London. “I said to him: ‘You’ve changed my life.’”

For Guyana, whose squad includes 10 England-based players including the Liverpool goalkeeper Kai McKenzieLyle and the Dover midfielder Kadell Daniel, qualifying for next summer’s Gold Cup for the first time would be an extraordinary feat. Unbeaten in their two qualifiers so far, they beat the Turks & Caicos Islands 8-0 last month and a win away to French Guiana on Tuesday would be a huge step.

“I’ve been really blessed to leave a footprint on Derby County, helping them to win promotion in 2007, Birmingham City in 2002, Notts County. I’ll always take that with me, but to get the opportunity to do it on a country …” Johnson says, puffing out his cheeks. “It would be life-changing; it would really put Guyanese football on the map. There is so much hope.” (The Guardian)

BCB/Pepsi 50 Overs First Division

Anderson strokes sensational 128 to send Rose Hall Town into final

– to face Young Warriors for spoils

By Brandon Corlette

T

he semifinal matches of the Pepsi First Division 50 Overs Cricket tournament being staged by the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) are ongoing, thus ensuring that exciting cricket continues to be featured in Berbice.

As things stand, Rose Hall Town (RHT) Gizmos and Gadgets have crushed Blairmont by 112 runs in play that occurred at the Area H Ground in Rose Hall Town, while Young Warriors defeated Port Mourant by 33 runs at the Cumberland Ground in East Canje.

In the star-studded contest at Rose Hall Town, the hosts took first strike against the Blairmont Blazers; and Javed Karim, bowling the new ball for Blairmont, removed the dangerous Kevin Sinclair for six.

Junior Sinclair and Kevlon Anderson then joined forces, and

Shawn Pereira

Kevin Sinclair

Junior Sinclair played a cameo before he was caught-and-bowled by left-arm spinner Nigel Deodat for 29.

When Guyana Jaguars player Clinton Pestano was removed by the impressive swing-bowler Karim for two, the home team found themselves in a spot of bother. The level-headed, 18-year-old Kevlon Anderson, however, continued to show his maturity at what can be considered ‘a tender age’. He kept his cool and carried on making imperious shots on the fast Area ‘H’ outfield.

Having already twice represented Guyana at the Under-19 level, Anderson hit 11 cracking fours and 3 maximums as he single-handedly batted Blairmont out of the game.

Receiving support from another Guyana Jaguars player -- Eon Hooper, who scored 31 -- Anderson was left unbeaten on 128.

Bowling for Blairmont, Deodat grabbed 3-39 while Karim snatched 2-21, as Rose Hall Town ended on 233-6 in their 50 overs.

Requiring 234 runs to advance to the finals, Blairmont Blazers soon discovered that they had run into a roadblock, as the impressive Shawn Pereira and Kevin Sinclair spun webs around the weary but wary Blairmont batsmen.

Karim, batting as solid as the rock of Gibraltar, was the only batter to cope with the intimidating Rose Hall Town bowling line-up. He top-scored with 45,

and Kevin Jawahir managed 13, as the Blairmont Blazers crumbled to 121 allout.

Shawn Pereira, a consistent legspinner who has been having a dream season, grabbed 4-32; while Kevin Sinclair, bowling his off-spin, harvested 4-17 as the Blairmont Blazers were comprehensively outplayed.

Young Warriors defeat Port Mourant Over at the Cumberland Ground in East Canje, Young Warriors, facing the formidable Port Mourant, took first strike and compiled 192 all-out. Trevon Stanislaus scored an unbeaten 61; Seon Hetmyer, older brother of West Indies Test player Shimron Hetmyer, scored 33.

Bowling for Port Mourant, Kellon Carmichael harvested an impressive 4-44; and the tall, fiery fast-bowler Dimitri Cameron picked up 2-29. Another guest player for Port Mourant, Shemroy Barrington, took 2-25 to restrict Young Warriors to a small total.

In pursuit of 193 for victory, Young Warriors’ spinners demolished Port Mourant for 159, with Lydel Lewis hitting a composed 48; T Ramsarran 35, and Shemroy Barrington 29.

Hetmyer snatched 3-23, while Ricardo Ramdhial claimed 3-13 and Kassim Khanhad bagged 2-26.

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sports

21

UFC Fight Night 140…

Ponzinibbio finishes Magny, calls out Woodley T

he UFC held its first event in the country of Argentina on Saturday, and the crowd went home happy, courtesy of Santiago Ponzinibbio.

Fighting out of La Plata, Argentina, Ponzinibbio (273) knocked out Neil Magny (21-7) with a vicious right hand to the chin at 2:36 of the fourth round. The welterweight contest headlined UFC Fight Night at Parque Roca Arena in Buenos Aires.

It was an emotional night for Ponzinibbio, who trains out of Coconut Creek, Florida. The 32-year-old moved to Brazil in his early 20s in pursuit of better MMA training. Before Saturday, Ponzinibbio hadn’t fought in Argentina since 2010.

“He was a difficult guy to finish,” Ponzinibbio said of Magny. “Long reach, difficult to finish. I keep patient and finish for my people. In 2019, I will give the shot for Argentina. This is my title shot. This is my belt.”

Magny, who fights out of Denver, struggled to meet Ponzinibbio’s pressure all night. Ponzinibbio hobbled him with leg kicks early, to the point that Magny could

Santiago Ponzinibbio face-plants Neil Magny

barely stand in the fourth round. Ponzinibbio scored three knockdowns in the fourth round alone, all due to leg kicks.

The greatest adversity Ponzinibbio faced came in the form of an accidental head-butt in the second round. The head-butt opened a deep cut on his left eyelid. Referee Herb Dean had the cut checked out, but it did not appear to slow Ponzinibbio’s offense.

Ponzinibbio extends his win streak to seven with the

victory. Welterweight champion Tyron Woodley does not currently have a fight booked, but he is expected to face Colby Covington in his next title defense. That did not stop Ponzinibbio from calling the champ out.

“Tyron, you are the real champion of this division, but you have not received my power,” Ponzinibbio said. “I knock you out, and I am the next champion of the world.”

Former featherweight ti-

tle contender Ricardo Lamas (19-7) earned a TKO finish at 4:09 of the third round in a gritty bout against Darren Elkins (24-7).

Lamas, of Chicago, noticeably hurt Elkins with leg kicks in the second round, but Elkins continued to march forward with punches. The pressure paid off for Elkins in spurts, but Lamas scored a key takedown in the final round, which eventually led to the final ground and pound.

It was only the third time Elkins, 34, had been finished by strikes in his 11-year professional career.

“Darren Elkins, I know him from back in the day.

We used to train each other. The guy is an animal,” Lamas said. “He’s a monster. The guy does not stop.

The plan was to be aggressively patient. Pick our spots because he can come back and win it at any time.”

It’s a bounce-back win for Lamas, who went into Saturday coming off backto-back losses to Josh Emmett and Mirsad Bektic.

The 36-year-old veteran had won two in a row prior to the brief skid. (ESPN)

Ireland’s Joyce twins retire from international cricket I reland’s Joyce twins, Isobel and Cecelia, announced their retirement from international cricket after Ireland’s eight-wicket loss to New Zealand in their final groupstage match in the World T20.

It was also the last international game for their team-mates, Clare Shillington and Ciara Metcalfe, who had, in May this year, announced that the tournament would be their last. All four have been in the international circuit for nearly two decades, with 37-year-old Shillington having debuted in 1997.

While Shillington and Metcalfe received a guard of honour from players of both teams before taking the field, the Joyce’s informed their decision to their team-

Clare Shillington, Isobel Joyce, Cecelia Joyce and Ciara Metcalfe sport a smile after retiring from international cricket

mates only during the postmatch huddle.

Allrounder Isobel, who made her Ireland debut in 1999, has played 79 ODIs and 55 T20Is, while opening batsman Cecelia, who entered the international circuit two years later,

has played 57 ODIs and 43 T20Is. Isobel had also led Ireland in 62 games before stepping down as captain following the World T20 in 2016.

“I can’t thank them enough for what they’ve done for us. The next 10-12 months will be about transi-

Mbappe dismisses talk of Cavani-Neymar rift K

ylian Mbappe is confident Edinson Cavani and Neymar will have no problems playing together at Paris Saint-Germain despite their clash in Uruguay’s 1-0 defeat to Brazil.

Neymar’s 76th-minute penalty settled the friendly at Emirates Stadium on Friday, but a late challenge on the Brazil captain by his clubmate left him writhing in agony.

As he kept possession on the left flank, Neymar was hacked down by Cavani with a clumsy tackle that earned the Uruguay striker a yel-

low card. The pair exchanged words after Cavani had helped Neymar back to his feet, leading to some suggestions there could be tension in Paris after the international break.

Mbappe insists there will be no problems, though, having already shared a joke with Neymar on WhatsApp. “Cavani is a great player,” Mbappe told a media conference ahead of France’s friendly with Uruguay on Monday. “He is really good for PSG. “What happened with Neymar is... I sent a message on WhatsApp to Neymar with the video. And he laughed. So

it is nothing.

“It was a duel; they defended their country, they were right to do so. Both of them gave their best. “And it won’t have any consequence in PSG; they will still hug each other and score goals together.

So there is no problem.”(Sportsmax)

Edinson Cavani and Neymar

tioning the team as we don’t have any international fixtures coming up,” Laura Delany, the Ireland captain, said.

Earlier this year, their brother Ed Joyce, who has represented both Ireland and England, announced his retirement from professional cricket, following Ireland’s inaugural men’s Test match against Pakistan in Dublin.

Five Joyce siblings have represented Ireland in all - Dom, who played three ODIs in 2006-07, and Gus, who played one first-class game for Ireland in 2000.

Post-retirement, all four players are set to stay involved in the game, with Cecelia focusing on her role as vice-president of Ireland’s player association and the other three taking up coaching roles. (ESPNcricinfo)

22

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

mondAY, november 19, 2018

20th Diamond Mineral Water Cycling Road Race…

Niles eclipses Wilkinson to claim title

C

yclists Junior Niles and Akeem Wilkinson proved to be in a class by themselves when they rode off with the top two spots of the 46-mile Diamond Mineral Water Road Race, held on Sunday from Schoonord, West Bank Demerara to Parika, East Bank Essequibo, and back to commencement point.

In this 20th staging of the event, Niles outsprinted Wilkinson in the final stretch to stop the clock at one hour, 41 minutes and 25.47seconds (1:41:25.47s), but Wilkinson was right there behind him!

These two riders outdid an aggressively approaching peloton by at least a minute.

The top performers of the 20th edition of the Diamond Mineral Water Cycling Road Race

In emerging triumphant, Niles made off with two prime prizes, while Wilkinson and Deeraj Garbarran each claimed two prime prizes as well.

Niles’s performance also earned him the top Veteran title, with McKay in second and Alexis Mendes in third.

Deeraj Garbarran edged out Paul DeNobrega in a fiery showdown to the finish for third, while Michael Anthony was fifth, and Warren ‘40’ McKay claimed the final rewarding spot.

Adealie Hodge finished as the top Junior-rider, while Emmanuel Gayral was second and Briton John came in third.

In the Mountain Bike category, Ozia McAully successfully defended his title, while Jamal Cappel and Talim Shaw copped the second and third place spots.

Linden Blackman, Guyana’s oldest competing athlete, of course finished the race, and was rewarded for his effort.

Prior to the presentation of prizes, organizer Hassan Mohamed made a few remarks, in which he thanked the Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) for their involvement in cycling, and said it has been a fruitful partnership that has spanned two decades.

Brian Tiwari 60th Birth Anniversary Reifer in for Holder as Windies, Football Tournament kicks off tomorrow Bangladesh battle in Test H G e is already recognised as a very successful businessman whose focus is mainly in the infrastructure and aviation sectors; but Brian Tiwari, of BK International Inc. fame, who celebrates his 60th birth anniversary on November 23, has a similar reputation for his support for sports.

In this regard, former national football player/coach Lennox Arthur has organized a tournament to honour the significant achievements of Brian Tiwari. Thus the staging of the Brian Tiwari Inter-Ward/Village Knockout Cup is scheduled to kick-off tomorrow at the Den Amstel Community Centre Ground, West Coast Demerara.

According to Arthur,

teams from the western and eastern coasts and banks of Demerara, together with those from Georgetown, have been invited to participate in this two-day competition.

Arthur added that Tiwari has, over the years, been one of the most consistent sponsors of football and sports in general; and as a result of Tiwari’s unwavering support for tournaments such as the Mayor’s Cup and the Annual Hamilton Green Birthday KO Cup, he thinks it is only fitting for him to organize a special event in honour of Brian Tiwari.

Among the teams listed to participate in the tournament are: Sophia, Wales, Plaisance, Lima Dam, Crane, Timehri, Zeelugt, Kuru Kururu, Soesdyke,

Den Amstel and Bagotville.

The organisers have scheduled six matches to open the tournament, with hosts Den Amstel slated to appear in the feature clash against Bagotville.

The other fixtures are: Sophia versus Wales, from 16:00hrs; Plaisance vs. Lima Dam at 16:30hrs; Crane vs. Timehri from 17:00hrs; Kuru Kururu vs. Zeelugt at 17:30hrs, and Den Amstel (Back Street} vs. Soesdyke at 18:00hrs.

Prize monies totaling in excess of $150,000 and trophies will be up for grabs, with the winning team set to receive $100,000 and the runner-up $50,000.

The final will be played on December 2nd at the same venue.

By Clifton Ross

uyana Jaguars all-rounder Raymon Reifer will be seeking to carry his tremendous Regional Super50 form with the bat into the ongoing Away Series versus the Bangladeshis, and possibly cement his place in the team.

The Barbados-born leftarm swing bowler, one of Guyana’s main players in the Jaguars set-up over the past 4 years, replaced injured Windies skipper Jason Holder for the Bangladesh tour. Holder was recently ruled out of the entire tour of Bangladesh, which bowls off November 22. He has a shoulder injury.

Vice-captain and opener Kraigg Brathwaite will lead the side for the two-Test series, which will be played in Chittagong and Dhaka.

Reifer, the only change from the squad that toured India last month, teams up yet again with his Jaguars teammates in Guyanese Keemo Paul, Devendra Bishoo and Shimron Hetmyer.

The 27-year-old made his Test debut against New Zealand in Hamilton last year, but has since not played another Test. He has now gotten his chance, because the skipper has been diagnosed with a partial thickness tear of the subscapularis tendon in his shoulder, and will undergo physiotherapy and rehabilitation in Barbados, according to a Cricket West Indies (CWI) release.

In the recently concluded Regional Super50 tournament, Reifer was among the leading run-scorers.

He was a member of the Jaguars team which made it to the finals but lost to a Carlos Brathwaite-led CCC Marooners. The lefthander, who has two Test wickets to his name, played match-winning innings of 50*, 28, 66, 61*, 68 and 38; as he got the selectors’ nod

Raymon Reifer

for the Bangladesh series.

Versus the Tigers, the Caribbean side lead the Test contest 10 - 2; ODIs 20 -9, but are tied 4 matches apiece in the T20s. The last time the teams met, Windies easily won the Test series 2-0, but suffered major losses in the ODIs and T20I series 1-2 respectively; as the Tigers displayed their prowess in the limited overs arena.

The Windies have bowled off their 2-day practice game versus the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) XI at the MA Aziz Stadium in central Chittagong, ending day one with the score strongly placed at 303-6 from 83-odd overs. Reifer and Paul are set to resume their innings today on 14 and 18 respectively.

The two-Test series will be followed by three ODIs and as many T20Is in December to be played in Dhaka and Sylhet.

Bangladesh Squad: Rubel Hossain (capt), Soumya Sarkar, Zakir Hasan, Mizanur Rahman, Fazle Mahmud, Ebadat Hossain, Shadman Islam, Nazmul Islam Shanto, Nayeem Hasan, Shafiul Islam, Robiul Haque, Mohammad Mithun, Rishad Hossain Windies Test squad: Kraigg Brathwaite (capt), Sunil Ambris, Devendra Bishoo, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich, Shannon Gabriel, Jahmar Hamilton, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Shermon Lewis, Keemo Paul, Kieran Powell, Raymon Reifer, Kemar Roach, Jomel Warrican

guyanatimesgy.com

mondAY, november 19, 2018

Stand-alone Women’s World T20 tournament…

23

Courageous Campbell leads Windies to 4th consecutive victory – Dottin shines with bat and ball

By Brandon Corlette

T

he lone Guyanese in the West Indies Women’s team, Shemaine Campbell, brought to the party a vital 45 runs; which, coupled with all-rounder Deandra Dottin’s 46 runs and two wickets, helped the Caribbean side to register a hard-fought 4-wicket win against England on Sunday and remain undefeated in their quest to defend their title as champions of women’s T20I cricket.

West Indies and England have both already qualified for the semifinals, but this was a top-of-the-table clash that dictated the winner would face Australia and the loser would take on India.

In hot and humid conditions prevailing on Sunday at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in St Lucia, West Indies Captain Stafanie Taylor won the toss for the first time and opted to bowl.

In the course of the match, the West Indies Women managed to restrict England, the World’s number two ranked team in Women’s World T20 International cricket, to 115-8 in their 20 overs.

England got off to a terrible start, losing Danielle Wyatt to Shakera Selman in the fifth delivery of the innings.

Tammy Beaumont and wicketkeeper/batter Amy Jones (8) briefly held things together, until Shamilia Connell got the breakthrough and removed Jones with the score on 22-2.

completed it in similar fashion as England’s hopes of winning went downhill.

The nail-biting match continued with Shrubsole helping her team claw their way back into the contest.

Campbell was out on the second ball of the final over, but West Indies were again saved by the dark knight.

Kaciya Knight came in to bat, and the first ball she faced came off the middle of her bat as she beat the point fielder

3

SCOREBOARD

Shemaine Campbell sweeps

England wickets continued to tumble as the St Lucian crowd stood behind the home team. Beaumont was the only top six batter to reach double figures, but she was removed for 23, scored from 28 balls.

Sophia Dunkley and Anya Shrubsole saved their team from being bowled out for an embarrassing total, the pair adding 58 important runs down the order. Dunkley, a relatively new player in T20 Internationals, top-scored with 35, and the veteran Shrubsole scored 29 as England managed 115-8 after the expiration of their 20 overs.

The West Indies team have been the most consistent bowling unit since they have a distinctive variety of bowlers.

Selman and Connell, two bowlers with contrasting swing styles, picked up two and one English wicket respectively; while the tournament’s leading wicket-taker, Dottin, continued her superb bowling form,

to have it racing away to the boundary to seal the victory in style.

The dramatic win saw the Windies ladies completing a four-wicket victory against England, but the match was more than the statistics would reveal, because supporters were sitting nervously at the edges of their seats.

Shrubsole, the best bowler for England, picked up 3-10, while Ecclestone and Gordon captured one wicket each.

snaring 2-21 as leg-spinner Afy Fletcher picked up one wicket.

The West Indies have had only one outstanding batting outing -- their recordbreaking match against Sri Lanka. Nevertheless, the batters were expected to carry on from where they had left off, in order to chase down a respectable total.

Hayley Matthews (1) was the first batter out, when she was bowled by Shrubsole, who had picked up a hat-trick in the recent match. Shrubsole bowled some astonishing deliveries, swinging the ball inward as if she were at Lords.

She had Stafanie Taylor (0) undone by a peach of a delivery that swung sharply between bat and pad when the score was 3 - 2.

The defending champions were encountering difficulties, but Shemaine Campbell stabilised the run chase with Dottin. The gifted allrounder brutalised the English

bowlers as Campbell played a supporting role.

In the first ten overs, England bowlers were superb in the field, but the packed stands at the Stadium kept on inspiring the Windies ladies to play.

Dottin smashed four huge maximums and one boundary in her destructive innings of 46 runs, scored from 52 balls.

Then Kristie Gordon picked up Dottin, who was out caught on the deep square leg boundary as she attempted another big shot.

Campbell continued to bat on, but here she switched gear swiftly and powered a maximum straight down the ground. It was a hit-and-run situation almost every ball in the latter part of the game, when some 25 runs were required from 18 balls.

England’s off-spinner Hazel was taken to the cleaners when Campbell produced the big over of 12, which arguably sealed the victory. She started off the over with a four, and

England Innings Danielle Wyatt c Chinelle Henry b S Selman 1 Tammy Beaumont lbw b Afy Fletcher 23 Amy Ellen Jones (wk) c S Taylor b Shamilia Connell 8 Natalie Sciver c Kycia Knight b S Selman 5 Heather Knight (c) lbw b D Dottin 6 Lauren Winfield run out (Britney Cooper) 0 Sophia Dunkley Brown c Chinelle Henry b D Dottin 35 Anya Shrubsole c D Dottin b S Taylor 29 Danielle Hazell not out 2 Extras (lb 3, w 3) 6 Total (8 wkts, 20 Ov) 115 Fall of wickets: 2-1 (Danielle Wyatt, 0.5), 22-2 (Amy Ellen Jones, 3.6), 33-3 (Natalie Sciver, 6.2), 48-4 (Tammy Beaumont, 9.5), 48-5 (Heather Knight, 10.1), 50-6 (Lauren Winfield, 10.5), 108-7 (Sophia Dunkley Brown, 18.3), 1158 (Anya Shrubsole, 19.6) Bowling: Shakera Selman 4-0-15-2, Shamilia Connell 2-0-14-1, Stafanie Taylor (c)

4-0-26-1, Deandra Dottin 4-021-2, Afy Fletcher 4-0-24-1, Hayley Matthews 2-0-12-0

West Indies Innings Hayley Matthews b A Shrubsole 1 Deandra Dottin c D Wyatt b Kirstie Gordon 46 Stafanie Taylor (c) b A Shrubsole 0 Shemaine Campbelle c D Wyatt b A Shrubsole 45 Natasha McLean b Sophie Ecclestone 8 Britney Cooper run out (L Winfield) 7 Kycia Knight (wk) not out 4 Chinelle Henry not out 0 Extras (b 2, lb 2, w 2) 6 Total (6 wkts, 19.3 Ov) 117 Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Hayley Matthews, 1.1), 3-2 (Stafanie Taylor, 1.4), 71-3 (Deandra Dottin, 14.1), 90-4 (Natasha McLean, 16.6), 111-5 (Britney Cooper, 19), 113-6 (Shemaine Campbelle, 19.2) Bowling: Natalie Sciver 4-022-0, Anya Shrubsole 3.3-110-3, Sophie Ecclestone 4-028-1, Kirstie Gordon 4-0-14-1, Danielle Hazell 4-0-39-0

2018 Windies tour of Bangladesh…

Hope, Powell warm up with fifties

By Clifton Ross

K

ieran Powell and Shai Hope warmed up with classy half-centuries as West Indies ended day one of their 2-day tour game versus Bangladesh, which bowled off on Sunday at the MA Aziz Stadium in Chittagong.

W e s t Indies officially bowled off their

At the crease was the Guyanese all-rounder Keemo Paul, who was looking solid on 18, and his Guyana Jaguars teammate a n d skipper -- Jason Holder’s replacement -the

all-rounder Raymon Reifer, who was 14 not out.

The Windies took full advantage of batting first, despite scoring only two fifties.

The core of the Windies’ middle order also showed some fight, with Roston Chase hitting 35, and Guyanese batting star Shimron Hetmyer and the consistent wicket-keeper Shane Dowrich hitting 24 apiece, and Sunil Ambris scoring 17, the next best score.

Windies stand-in skipper

3

tour of Bangladesh on Sunday with a strong batting performance, led by Powell who stroked 72, with six fours and a six; while a more aggressive Hope smacked 88 from 112, with 10 fours and 3 maximums, to help the tourist post a formidable 303-6 in 86.3 overs following stumps on day one.

Kieran Powell scored a crucial half-century at the top of the order

Kraigg Brathwaite was the only batsman to really miss out on a seemingly good batting surface. The righthander was rocked for just 6 runs by pacer Shafiul Islam, who was among one of three bowlers to grab a wicket for Bangladesh (1-23).

The 17-year-old debutant off-break bowler Nayeem Hasan turned in the best bowling figures with 2-104.

Having lost their skipper with just 6 runs on the board, the pair of Hope and

SCOREBOARD

West Indians 1st Innings KC Brathwaite (c) b Shafiul Islam 6 KOA Powell c †Zakir Hasan b Fazle Mahmud 72 SD Hope retired hurt 88 SW Ambris b Nayeem Hasan 17 RL Chase lbw b Rubel Hossain 35 SO Hetmyer c Rishad Hossain b Nayeem Hasan 24 SO Dowrich † c †Zakir Hasan b Soumya Sarkar 24 RA Reifer not out 14 KMA Paul not out 18 Extras (lb 3, nb 2) 5 TOTAL (6 wickets, 86.3 Overs,

RR: 3.5) 303 Yet to bat: D Bishoo, JA Warrican Fall of wickets: 1-11 (KC Brathwaite, 6.4 ov), 2-174 (KOA Powell, 49.1 ov), 3-200 (SW Ambris, 56.6 ov), 4-239 (SO Hetmyer, 71.1 ov), 5-270 (SO Dowrich, 78.4 ov), 6-271 (RL Chase, 80.2 ov) BOWLING : S Islam (10-3-231), R Hossain (10-2-40-1), E Hossain (8-0-36-0), R Haque (7-0-21-0), N Hasan (26-3-104-2), R Hossain (15.32-55-0), F Mahmud (5-111-1), S Sarkar (5-1-10-1)

Powell anchored the innings and took the score to 174, before the latter was removed

by Fazle Mohammed.

Cruising to a brisk fifty, Hope was then forced to retire hurt just a small portion of runs away from warming up ahead of the Test series with a ton.

The Windies’ middle order then put together a few good innings, despite not crossing fifty. Chase, Hetmyer and Dowrich all showed glimpses of their decent batting form, which they have maintained from

the Indian tour.

The visitors will now seek to show their class with the bat, as both sides have just one day left to get themselves properly fine-tuned

ahead of the first Test, which bowls off on November 21at Chittagong.

17-yearold newbie Nayeem Hasan returned 2 wickets for Bangladesh

mondAY, november 19, 2018

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

guyanatimesgy.com

Stand-alone Women’s World T20 tournament…

Courageous Campbell leads Windies to 4th consecutive victory Page 23

2018 Windies tour of Bangladesh…

Hope, Powell warm up with fifties Page 23

– Dottin shines with bat and ball Windies players were delighted to pick up an England wicket

Shai Hope retired with a top-score of 88

20th Diamond Mineral Water Cycling Road Race…

Niles eclipses Wilkinson to claim title

Page 20

Page 22

Michael Johnson: Junior Niles celebrates outsprinting Akeem Wilkinson to win the 20th Diamond Mineral Water Road Race

"I stopped counting after 42 rejected job applications"

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