Guyana Times - Monday December 13, 2021

Retendered Ogle to Eccles bypass road finally attracts bids P7 …3 companies from India vying for project Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Issue No. 4860

MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2021

Pres Ali-activated Cabinet Task Force responds to floods ...thousands affected by unusual rainfall – PM Phillips

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WHAT'S INSIDE:

Essequibo family cremates wrong body after morgue P15 mistake

Consultant P14 being sought to prepare action plan to reduce road deaths $25M worth of ganja found hidden in P15 cane field …as boat intercepted with 684g of cannabis

Pages 12 & 13 Minister within the Housing and Water Ministry, Susan Rodrigues (left) meeting with an East Coast Demerara family who experienced flooding as a result of heavy downpours on Sunday. In photo at right, Attorney General Anil Nandlall also examining the level of flooding on the ECD

Cash grants distributed to Berbice sugar workers fired by APNU/AFC See story on page 16

Enmore call centre to provide over 300 jobs – Finance Minister Page 2

…more call centres planned for Budget 2022

Brawl over money ends in murder P8

Guyana in good Page position to 3 leverage oil blocks – oil executive …as remaining and relinquished

blocks go out for auction next year

Deaths of 3 more women take COVID-19 fatalities to 1020 …62 new cases recorded Page 15

Another labourer falls to death at P10 worksite

Butcher appeals 15-year jail P14 term for cattle farmer’s murder

2 NEWS

MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Enmore call centre to provide over 300 jobs – Finance Minister …more call centres planned for Budget 2022

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he Enmore call centre, one of the several projects that languished under the previous A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government, will provide over 300 jobs once it is operational.

This assurance was given by Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh, who visited the East Coast Demerara (ECD) community on Saturday along with Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha to distribute $250,000 grant to severed sugar workers.

“Right behind me here, you can see that building over there. We had constructed that building with the intention that a call centre would be established there. That building was conceptualised by President Irfaan Ali when he was Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce.

And we have built buildings like this elsewhere.”

“There’s one in Tuschen, there’s one here, there’s one in Linden. And we will be building more in Budget 2022. With the intention of partnering with call centre companies that will establish operations here. And I myself visited here, just a few weeks ago, with one and two operators who are interested in establishing a call centre in Enmore.”

According to the Minister, there are a number of young people in Enmore who are searching for jobs. The Minister assured that very shortly, the Enmore call centre will be up and running and creating over 300 jobs.

“Very soon the call centre will be up and running and creating in excess of 300 jobs right in this community. And first and foremost, you know who those people are? First and foremost, those people will be your children, your grandchildren, your nieces and nephews. Right here in Enmore.

And we’re going to be doing many similar,” Dr Singh informed the gathering, which included current and former Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) workers.

The Enmore call centre has a long history, dating back to December 2014 when a $116 million contract was approved to con-

Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh

struct the call centre at Enmore and another $114 million contract was awarded for the construction of a call centre at Tuschen.

These projects were executed under the Rural Development Fund and fell under the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce. It was reported that construction for both centres was supposed to commence on January 15, 2015.

However, the then People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government would soon exit Government after losing the May 2015 elections and the call centre projects languished under its successor APNU/AFC Government.

As late as May 2017, the then Ministry of Business (now Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce) had reported that works were still being done on the Enmore call centre. In fact, the Ministry had told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which was then being chaired by now President Irfaan Ali, that liquidated damages had not even been applied against the contractor.

A call centre is a centralised office used for receiving or transmitting a large volume of requests by telephone. An inbound call centre is operated by a company to administer incoming product support or information inquiries from consumers. Outbound call centres are operated for telemarketing, solicitation of charitable or political donations, debt collection and market research. (G3)

NEWS

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS OPENINGS BRIDGE

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

Monday, Dec 13 – 01:00h – 02:30h and Tuesday, Dec 14 – 01:30h – 03:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Monday, Dec 13 – 12:45h – 14:15h and Tuesday, Dec 14 – 13:25h – 14:55h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

WEATHER TODAY There will be thundery showers and light cloud during the day. Expect partly cloudy skies at night.

Temperatures should range between 22 degrees Celsius and 29 degrees Celsius.

Winds: East North-Easterly to North-Easterly between 1.78 metres and 4.02 metres.

High Tide: 12:33h reaching a maximum height of 2.25 metres.

Low Tide: 06:00h and 18:33h reaching minimum heights of 1.0 metre and 0.97 metre.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2021

LOTTERY NUMBERS G

05 15 16

17 26 27

FREE TICKET

04 Bonus Ball

DAILY MILLIONS

08 09 11 17 21 LUCKY 3

4

6

0

3

Afternoon Draw

2

7

Evening Draw

DRAW DE LINE

03 05 06 11 16 18 21 SUPER

PAY DAY

PAY DAY

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2021

04 07 09 10 14 13

07 09 10 12 19

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1 Afternoon Draw

2X Afternoon Draw

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8 Evening Draw

5X Evening Draw

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

COMMODITIES Indicators

US$

Change %

Crude Oil

$75.15/barrel

Rough Rice

$254.34/ton

+0.12

London Sugar

$511.40/ton

+0.14

Live Spot Gold

+0.97

USD Per Ounce

Bid/Ask

$1783.20

$1784.20

Low/High Change

$1782.10 +0.30

$1786.00 +0.02%

Guyana in good position to leverage oil blocks – oil executive …as remaining and relinquished blocks go out for auction next year

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uyana, which is expected to go out next year and auction oil blocks both untapped and relinquished, is likely to be in a good position to leverage the value of those blocks when the context of the global oil and gas industry is considered.

This view was expressed

by Director and Chief Reservoir Engineer for MidAtlantic Oil and Gas, Dennis Pieters. The oil executive was at the time appearing on a webinar hosted by Americas Market Intelligence Analyst Arthur Deakin.

“They’ve got some blocks left and I think the Government would be within its rights to have a bid round, which is what President Ali and Vice President Jagdeo have talked about. A bid round in 2022. And I think that would probably be very successful. They’ve got Block C and the contracts signed by the oil companies including Exxon requires that they relinquish portions of the block, each year,” he said.

“So not only do they have block C, they have portions of blocks that are being relinquished. And these will come up for auction next year. In addition, they’re talking about having a 3D seismic done over these blocks so people can come and bid on it. So, I think it’s going to be open for business in 2022, because like we talked about initially about capitalising on that.”

According to Pieters, whose company alongside ExxonMobil, Total and JHI Associates Incorporated is a co-venturer in the Canje Block, the Government

Mid-Atlantic Director Dennis Pieters

Map showing the various oil blocks already in the hands of operators and the untapped Block C

through Vice President Jagdeo has rightly said they will capitalise on the favourable conditions now.

According to him, Guyana is in an extremely good position when the overall lack of oil and gas exploration in the world is considered.

“We’re in a good spot right now. There’s not a lot of exploration going on. The dollars have been cut by most companies. This is one of the only areas in the world where they’re actually continuing to do exploration and developing fields. And I think Guyana is in an extremely good position,” he said.

It was explained by Vice President Jagdeo last month that the Guyana Government would be activating and enforcing the relinquishment provision in contracts, which speaks to handing over portions of the awarded oil blocks during the course of the exploration period.

Additionally, Jagdeo had signalled his Administration’s intention

of auctioning new oil blocks no later than the third quarter of 2022. This would call for the enforcement of the Relinquishment Provision, thereby adding these acreages to the existing pool of blocks to be awarded.

“We’re hoping that latest next year third quarter, that we will be able to auction the new blocks. That requires us now to aggressively enforce the relinquishing provisions in all of the contracts so that added to the existing pool of areas available, we will have now the relinquished areas which can then form part of the auction that will take place,” Jagdeo had said.

The relinquishment clause is typically included in contracts so that companies can relinquish a portion of the block when the renewable period is up, thereby allowing other companies to buy into the respective blocks.

For the Stabroek, Canje and Stabroek Blocks, operators are required to relin-

quish 20 per cent of their blocks after the first renewal period; while those of the Demerara and Corentyne Blocks are expected to relinquish 15 per cent within this period.

The Kaieteur Block’s relinquishment provision is said to be 25 per cent, then 20 per cent by the first renewal; with the Mahaicony and Roraima Blocks at 25 per cent. By the time of the first renewal for the Orinduik Block, the operators are not expected to relinquish any portion.

Speaking on the auction, Jagdeo had said at the time that the Government is still to decide whether it would look to increase the value of the areas by conducting a seismic scan of the blocks.

“To go to an auction, we have to make several policy decisions. We’d have to get somebody in who has done auctions before. Secondly, we have to make decisions like some countries are doing to shoot 3G seismic and then auction the block with seismic data which gives you a higher price; or to avoid that, just auction the areas as is,” he had said.

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guyanatimesgy.com

MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2021

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

Equality in a free-enterprise democracy

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he word “ideology” is not so ubiquitous as in the heady independence and post-independence period when “socialism” of various flavours ruled the local roost. As far back as 1962, Harvard sociologist Daniel Bell, who wrote the seminal “End of Ideology” said he was a “socialist in economics, a liberal in politics, and a conservative in culture”.

Ironically, it was at the same time that US President John F Kennedy, a Harvard graduate, was using the CIA to oust the claimed “communist fellow traveller” Cheddi Jagan from office.

Three decades later, with the end of the Cold War, another Harvard professor, Francis Fukuyama trumpeted the triumph of Liberalism and its free enterprise system in 1992 as “‘The End of History and the Last Man”. By then, of course, Desmond Hoyte had jettisoned Burnham’s cooperative socialist experiment and accepted an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout that was premised on implementing the neo-liberal Washington Consensus ideological package. Jagan and the PPP inherited its Economic Recovery Program of privatisation of the nationalised industries, liberalization of the financial system to allow the free flow of funds in and out of the country and stabilisation of the domestic economy through controlling inflation, monetary and fiscal policy.

With the collapse of the developed economies in the north by 2008 that initiated the “Washington Consensus”, there has been some rethinking about the question of “ideology”. By 2014, Fukuyama had to accept that Liberalism had not delivered on his exuberant promise. In the wake of the Arab Spring’s democratic wave, he posited that that the biggest challenge for the democratically-elected governments in some countries was not ideological but “their failure to provide the substance of what people want from Government: personal security, shared economic growth and the basic public services.”

But we would like to suggest that in our specific circumstances in Guyana, while our people – as expressed by their political and social leaders – desire the same valued goods that Fukuyama identified, because of our ethnicallyfractured polity, any government that hopes to govern and retain widespread legitimacy will have to deliver the goods in an equitable manner. As such, if we consider that the term “ideology is intended to refer to an internally consistent and coherent set of ideas that both explain the world and suggest how we navigate our way in it”, then maybe we ought to consider what is the guiding ideology of our present leaders.

One of the attractions of socialist ideology for our early leaders was its promise of “equality” among our citizens with the slogan, “from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs”. Unfortunately, the promise was flawed from the very beginning since even Karl Marx accepted that the economy and all its relations have to first pass through a capitalist stage that generates wealth most efficiently. The socialists attempted to distribute wealth – presumably equitably - -before accumulating it.

The challenge for us in Guyana as far as development – of our human and physical resources are concerned – was the necessary capital to develop the infrastructure necessary for a growth trajectory that would lead to sustainable development.

The latter demands a diversification of our economy so that all our resources are utilised optimally. Both the Government and the Opposition agree on this premise; as such, it is hoped that our politics would move away from the “position politics” – that is, their stand in a particular constituency – to “valency politics”, where votes are attracted by their stand on identified issues.

With the discovery and exploitation of oil – with at least 20 billion bbl reserves – at last we will have the necessary capital to launch us on a sustainable growth path. We have also serendipitously arrived at a demographic state where no one party can obtain a majority of votes without seeking votes from outside their core ethnic constituencies. This, however, demands that the two major parties behave rationally and not emotionally to ensure that there is equality of opportunity for all Guyanese.

Saint Nicholas and his reindeers fly above Lake Leman at the Christmas Market in Montreux, Switzerland (Reuters)

Commendations for GECOM selection of new CEO

Dear Editor, The New York-based Guyana Democracy Project, praises the appointment of Mr Vishnu Persaud as Chief Elections Officer of GECOM. The organisation, led by President Dr Tara Singh, former Senior lecturer at UG, advocate, promotes, supports, and defends democracy in Guyana.

The group played a prominent role combatting electoral fraud in Guyana 2020 elections.

The organisation released a statement praising the appointment and cheering the Chair, Ret’d Justice Claudette Singh, for selecting Mr Persaud, who had distinguished himself in service at the body before his appointment was not renewed. In part, the NYGDP statement says: “The decision by GECOM to appoint Mr Vishnu Persaud as the Chief Executive Officer has received wide support from Guyanese at home and the diaspora. Many felt that it is/was poetic justice for a man who denied the position on account of racial bias and politics.

The GECOM Chair, Justice Claudette Singh says that Mr Vishnu Persaud has the right “skills, experience and expertise” for the job of CEO. She further indicates that he knows the 10 geographic regions of the country. She is right. He is very knowl-

edgeable about electoral issues in the varied regions.

In the interaction with Mr Persaud in his capacity of Public Relations Officer and then as Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO), he has always been responsive and forthright.

In the circumstances, NYGDP welcomes this appointment as an essential step in the promotion of democracy, inclusive of free and fair elections especially when efforts were made to rig the 2020 elections. The GECOM Chair is commended for assessing the objective realities regarding Mr Persaud’s credentials and synchronise these with the broader national need for integrity, and confidence in the electoral process.

Casting aspersions on the Chair’s integrity and professionalism are misguided. She has made the right choice. There was no other candidate that is more qualified than Mr Persaud.

We note also that the country has been without a GECOM CEO for several months. This has resulted in the postponement of Local Government Elections (LGE) constitutionally due in 2021. Thus, filling the vacancy was long overdue and the Commission could now proceed to lay the groundwork for LGE. Mr Persaud worked tirelessly almost for two decades at GECOM and was unjustly rejected (which was con-

firmed by Guyana Ethnic Relations Commission) for the Deputy CEO position in 2017 when a person less qualified than him was chosen for the position.

GECOM’s image was severely tarnished during the 2020 elections process when elements of the Commission, in collusion with political party operatives, attempted to stage an electoral heist. Several of them are before the courts to answer charges relating to electoral fraud. The Chair knows that the integrity of GECOM has to be repaired if Guyanese are to have confidence in the electoral machinery. No bet-

ter a person can assist the chair to restore the integrity of the elections body.

Mr Vishnu Persaud’s appointment, his competence, integrity and professionalism will help to restore the image and integrity of GECOM. Guyanese could now breathe freer as the stage is being set for free and fair elections. The task ahead for Mr Persaud would be formidable but he has shown from past experience that he would navigate this with distinction. Congratulations to Mr Vishnu Persaud.”

Yours truly, Vishnu Bisram

What is the Ministry of Labour doing?

Dear Editor, Again, it must be lamented: another young person has died at his worksite, this time from a scaffold. Again, more tears and grief for another family.

How long will deaths of this nature continue? Is it a case of occupational hazard? What is the Ministry of Labour doing besides another investigation? Were the employees of the contractor suitably attired in PPE including helmets and other safety gear and were

safety measures and precautions while on the scaffold taken into account?

It is time small, informal, ad hoc contractors are brought in line with safety measures and precautions for their employees. Far too many fatal accidents are occurring.

My condolences to the grieving family, relatives and friends of the deceased and a full and speedy recovery to the injured party.

Sincerely, Shamshun Mohamed

guyanatimesgy.com

MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2021

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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

Investigation into alleged 914 calls Dear Editor, We at the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security extend our heartfelt condolences to the family of Ms Malini Wahid who was brutally murdered by her partner Balram Heeralall also known as “Nappy” from Martyr’s Ville. For us, one life lost is one life too many. Every life is valuable and precious.

We were forwarded various reports from media houses stating that several calls were allegedly made to the 914 Hotline to report the abuse on the 10th December, 2021, which went unanswered.

It caused us great concern, as the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security takes cases of domestic violence seriously.

Upon receipt of these allegations, an investigation was immediately launched which included a thorough review by Digicel,

GTT and the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security of all calls placed to the 914 Hotline on that day, a review of the Ministry’s internal call logs and several interviews with personnel who manage the 914 Hotline. The findings of this investigation revealed: 1. That no calls placed to the 914 Hotline by any GTT or Digicel number for the entirety of the 10th December, 2021, were missed (unanswered) or dropped.

2. That there were no reports received by the 914 Hotline for the entirety of the 10th December, 2021, in relation to Balram Heeralall’s (Nappy) abuse and murder of his partner.

3. That no report to date was made to the 914 Hotline on Balram Heeralall’s (Nappy) abuse and murder of his partner.

4. That the 914 Hotline, was receiving and responding to calls for the 24 hours

on that day during which the operators received numerous reports of other incidents of abuse.

We thank Digicel and GTT for providing us with all information required to aid in this investigation.

The purpose of the release of the findings of this investigation is to develop and maintain a relationship of mutual trust, cooperation, and respect by providing citizens with accurate information on the 914 Hotline’s administration and operation.

Again, we reiterate the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security’s commitment through the 914 Hotline to respond to all cases of domestic violence, abuse, and gender-based violence.

Sincerely, Ministry of Human Services and Social Security

Christmas should be a time of joy!

Dear Editor, Christmas should be a time of joy, but for the many homeless people across the country it will be anything but. While most of the country will be celebrating and enjoying a family meal, those who are homeless will face a struggle just to stay safe and escape the humiliation of society.

With only a few days left for Christmas, it is important that those of us who are in a position to extend a little kindness towards the less fortunate avail ourselves.

Volunteering our time and talent can go a far way to make up for our inability to provide financial or material gifts. We might not be able to buy someone a traditional gift, but we can go over and cook for our elderly neighbour or cut the lawn of a disabled person’s house. There are so many ways we can spread the love of Christmas without even spending a dime.

Those of us who are blessed financially, but don’t have the time to reach out and do something special for someone, don’t be afraid to donate to charitable organisations and individuals in your community, like citizens’ associations.

Let us remember the disabled, mentally ill, orphans, homeless, poor, and marginalised this Christmas and show them some love.

Let us take a moment to ruminate on the meaning of Christmas, to reflect on the year’s experiences, and use them to show greater love towards each other.

If we must take a message from this Christmas, let us realise that no man is an island and no man

stands alone. We all need each other’s love and kindness to lead happy lives.

However, the sad reality and ugly truth is that oftentimes the people who need our love and kindness the most are given the least.

As a community leader, I have learnt that the dignity and worth of a person is extremely valuable. When one is living in situations where he or she does not know if there will be food or warmth on a cold night, it is hard to feel like a person. When this same individual is be-

ing dismissed and ridiculed for things such as bodily odours, it is hard to feel dignified or worthy. These situations and acts are slowly but surely taking away the humanity of those facing homelessness.

It is important for us to remember that the gift of the Christ child, almost 2000 years ago, was indeed a gift of love. Let us share that gift this Christmas as an act of love!

Sincerely, David Adams

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2021

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Foundation ◄

Adding and subtracting money

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ou may not realise it, but you work with a great many decimals in your life.

Look at this problem: $98.20 + $10.80 A dollar is divided into 100 hundredths, each of which is called a cent.

Adding and subtracting money is done exactly the same way as adding and subtracting decimals.

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ingerprints are very small and hard to explore and investigate. In this fun little science experiment, you will use a balloon to expand your fingerprint to gigantic proportions so you can see the arches, whirls, loops and more.

Materials:

How it works: When the balloon inflates, the image of your fingerprint stretches out and grows. This allows an opportunity to inspect your fingerprint.

Instructions: Stretch your balloon several times so it is easy to blow up.

Lay the balloon on the table and flatten an area big enough to fit a fingerprint making sure there are no creases in the balloon.

Press your finger into the ink.

Now press your inked finger onto the balloon.

Gently roll your finger to cap-

Make this a science project Can you imprint other things on the balloon that enlarge in the same way as the fingerprint? Do other types of paints act in the same way as the ink? (scienceisfun.org)

Example: Add $98.20 + $10.80 Step 1: Line up the decimals $98.20 +$10.80 Step 2: Add, just as you would any other decimals: $98.20 +$10.80 $109.00

Remember You can add placeholder zeroes to money , too. Doing this does not change its value! For example, $40 = $40.00

T

hink about the characteristics of pourquoi tales — talking plants, animals, and celestialbodies (sun, moon, planets, and stars), a story that begins "long, long ago," and an ending that explains why something is the way it is today and create your own.

ture your entire fingerprint.

Blow up the balloon and tie it off.

Enjoy inspecting your giant fingerprint.

Balloon Ink pad

WORD SEARCH

NEWS

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Retendered Ogle to Eccles bypass road finally attracts bids …3 companies from India vying for project

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he Ogle to Eccles bypass road, which had to be retendered in November because the first invitation for bids failed to attract any bidders, has now attracted bids from three Indian contracting firms.

The bids were opened by the Finance Ministry’s National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) last week.

According to the tender minutes, Indian firm Afcons submitted a US$108 million bid for the project.

Meanwhile, Ashoka Buildcon Limited also submitted a bid, this time of US$111.9 million. Indian firm Dinesh Chandra R Agrawal Infracon Pvt Limited (DRAIPL) submitted the lowest bid of US$106.7 million. All three firms had a bid security of US$500,000.

Based on checks on Afcons, the firm has done work ranging from road and other infrastructure, to

work in the oil and gas sector. This work has included installing an offshore process platform and modifying existing ones.

DRAIPL has meanwhile done extensive work on roads and highways, including bypass roads, for the Indian Government.

They have also done work in the aviation sector, constructing hangars and heliports.

Ashoka Buildcon Limited has meanwhile built a number of bridges and roads. According to the company’s website, it even built a bridge in 38 days, namely the Mandve Bridge near Pandharpur, India.

According to the company, the bridge was supposed to be built in 12 months.

In February 2021, the Government of India had approved the new scope of works for the redesigned bypass road project that would link the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) at Ogle to Haags Bosch in

Eccles, on the East Bank of Demerara (EBD).

The Diamond-Ogle bypass project will see the construction of some 26 kilometres of road linking two of the country’s main thoroughfares. This new road link will also be connected to key communities in Georgetown and along the East Bank of Demerara. These include Diamond, Mocha and Eccles – all on the East Bank – and Aubrey Barker Road in Georgetown. These connections will prove crucial in diverting traffic.

RITES Limited, an engineering consultancy company based in India, had undertaken a 10-month design consultancy, which produced a Detailed Project Report (DPR) outlining the draft final design of the bypass road. It is this report which recommended a fourlane highway as most feasible.

Rajendra Sothwal, a senior engineer with RITES

Limited, had previously said the bypass road would include a metal beam barrier, concrete crash barrier, traffic signs and impact attenuators that reduce damage to infrastructure, pavement markings, highway lighting, a raised median that will reduce headlight glare.

Back in 2015, the Indian Government had provided a US$50 million Line of Credit (LOC) for the road link that was initially slated for Ogle to Diamond, EBD. However, the project cost was driven up to over $208 million by the previous A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government and the project languished under them.

However, when the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Government took office in 2020, it redesigned the project into two phases to fit the LOC – first from Ogle to Haags Bosch road, which is about 48-50

The Ogle to Eccles bypass road is an India-funded project

per cent of the project, and then from Haags Bosch to Diamond – in order to fit the US$50 million LOC. Because of these changes in the scope of the project, additional approvals were required from New Delhi, and after several months, this was obtained.

M e a n w h i l e , Government has undertaken several new road projects along the EBD corridor to ease the heavy traffic congestion. Works were done earlier this year for an alternative road connecting Diamond and Eccles on the

EBD corridor in order to ease the traffic congestion.

The new alternative road will run from Sixth Avenue, Diamond to the Windsor Estate Road that leads on to the Eccles Landfill Site Road. This will form a connection through the new Herstelling Housing Scheme and other schemes that are being developed along the EBD corridor. The project is slated to be completed by April 2021. Additionally, a second road is being constructed between Eccles and Mandela Avenue. (G3)

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Boat intercepted with 684g of ganja

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Jagdeo Ramdass

anks of the Customs AntiNarcotics Unit (CANU) intercepted a boat that was preparing to leave for neighbouring Suriname and discovered parcels of marijuana.

According to CANU, ranks acting on information received went to Moleson Creek, Corentyne, Berbice, Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne) where they conducted a narcotics operation.

During the exercise, officers intercepted a wooden boat suspected of smuggling narcotics to Suriname.

The ganja that was unearthed on the boat

The boat was searched in the presence of three persons that were in the vessel at the time of interception and a quantity of narcotics was discovered onboard. The three people were detained and transported to CANU Headquarters with the cannabis. The narcotics were weighed and yielded a total of 684 grams. Following an investigation, Jagdeo Ramdass, also known as “Spragga” was charged.

He is scheduled to appear in court today at the Springlands Magistrate Court.

Brawl over money ends in murder

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gold miner was killed during a scuffle that ensued from an argument over money owed by him.

Dead is 38-yearold Victor Pedro, a gold miner and resident of Lethem, Rupununi, Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo). The suspect is on the run.

Police said that the incident occurred at about 19:00h on Friday at Turtle Creek, Five Star North-West District, Region One (Barima-Waini).

Investigations have so far revealed that the location is of an outdoor nature at a campground owned by Pedro. These

camps are the kitchen, workers’ camp, and the cook’s camp, Police said.

Pedro’s 13-year-old daughter told investigators that she was cooking in their kitchen when the female cook and her father got into an argument over monies that he owned her.

As a result, the suspect, who is the cook’s reputed husband, got involved in the argument.

Police said that the deceased, who armed himself with a sharp instrument, lashed the suspect twice about his body and slapped his music box out of his hand and a scuffle ensued. It was during the scuffle that Pedro was killed.

Desperately seeking survival…

I

…as Dead Meat n our tropical climes, it doesn’t take long for “Dead Meat” to rot and stink to high heavens. Gone are the days when the rotting carcasses of donkeys and horses would lie upended on our country roads to assail our noses and sensibilities. But the AFC’s doing a pretty good job to keep that tradition alive! And this didn’t happen by chance. It was the leader Khemraj Ramjattan, after all, who’d predicted that if the AFC were to coalesce with the PNC, they’d become “Dead Meat”. And he’s old enough – especially coming from rural Berbice – to’ve been assailed by the stench of rotting carcasses, so he knew of what he spoke!!

But he DID go ahead on the coalition with the PNC and while it might’ve been sweet for a while – what with all those outriders and a 50% raise! - -he and his sidekick Nagamootoo were Dead Meat long before that NCM of Dec 21, 2018. Remember when a new Security Strategy was unfurled by Granger and as Public Security Minister he wasn’t even invited? The less we speak of Nagamootoo’s treatment the better. De mortuis nil, nisi bonum, as Burnham would say!

Anyhow, while Nagamootoo has discreetly dropped out of sight, Ramjattan’s still desperately seeking to levitate the dead!! Hope beats eternal and all that, but isn’t there a point where it becomes delusional? And with the AFC, that point of no return has loooong been passed!!

But what brought up this meditation on “raising the dead” was Ramjattan and the AFC’s – aren’t they the same? – statement that they welcomed the selection of Vishnu Persaud as the new GECOM CEO!!

It wasn’t just the announcement but the background against which it was made that betrayed the Ramjattan’s desperation. Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon and his opponent in the PNC leader sweepstakes, Aubrey Norton had earlier issued stinging denunciations of the choice of Persaud – and of the GECOM Chair Claudette Singh – whose casting vote made the choice real!! In a word, Ramjattan was taking on the present and possible future leadership of his coalition partner!! He was trying to show that the AFC wasn’t the doormat for the PNC it had been for five years!!

And was “providing leadership” when he called on “leaders, politicians, GECOM, civil society and development partners to strengthen Guyana’s weakened democracy and unite the nation”!! Can you imagine the brass balls?

“Strengthen Guyana’s weakened democracy”? From the man who toadied up to Granger and gratuitously insisted that he could violate the Constitution and unilaterally appoint James Patterson as GECOM Chair??

It’ll be easier to bring back to life one of those Mastodons found in Siberia than raise the Dead Meat AFC!! …in a COVID-19 world We know to our cost that when it comes to this COVID-19 pandemic we just can’t say “we know”! Just like we can’t say we “know” people since they can always change – like viruses. It’s just that scientists use the fancy term “mutate” to describe their changeability. So, we’ve seen – and experienced – the original virus dubbed “Alpha “that came Straight out of Wuhan!! But then there came the Beta, Gamma and Delta versions –- with the last still wreaking havoc, especially in T&T and Europe. But we came up with vaccines that neutralised these killers so now they’re not “of high consequence”.

But just when we thought we were out of the woods – and some countries like India thought they’d reached the declining “endemic” phase – up comes this new Omicron variant out of South Africa. The jury’s still out on its overall impact but what’s known for sure is it spreads exponentially faster than Delta but evidently not as deadly.

It might even work like an “attenuated” vaccine against its siblings!! …in PNC’s leader race Basil Williams displayed discretion to quit the race.

Maybe it’s now time for Van West-Charles to follow suit and create a straight fight between Harmon, the outsider, and Norton, the consummate insider!

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

9

MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

10 NEWS

MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Another labourer falls to death at worksite

Dead: 23-year-old Abrams

A

Norman

nother young construction worker has lost his life after he fell off a scaffold while working on a building at Montrose, East Coast Demerara.

Dead is 23-year-old Norman Abrams of Lot 804

B Field Sophia, Greater Georgetown.

Reports are that Abrams was employed by a resident of Third Street Montrose.

On Saturday, the young man was on a scaffold along with another worker putting on moulding on the outer part of the western roof of a two-storey concrete structure.

While working, the wood on the scaffold turned over and both persons fell off.

Abrams fell in the neighbour’s yard while the other man that was working with him fell under the scaffold.

Abrams was found lying on his back in a pool of blood, with injuries to his head. He was picked up and rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) by his employer

and colleague where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

An investigation has been launched.

On November 27, a 16-year-old worker died after he fell from a rice mill shed which is under construction at Vilvoorden, Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam).

Dead is Amar Dindyal.

Reports are that Dindyal, the eldest child for his single mother, was employed with a private contractor of Pomona Scheme, Region Two, as a labourer.

The contractor was employed by the owner of the Golden Fleece and Vilvoorden Rice Mill for the construction of a dryer shed at Vilvoorden.

Reports are that at about 15:00h a relative

of the teen was contacted to inform the family that Dindyal fell from the shed.

The teen, however, succumbed to his injuries while receiving medical attention.

An investigation has been launched.

Only on November 24, Guyana Times reported that at least 50 persons have lost their lives since August 2020, according to data released by the Labour Ministry.

Labour Minister Joseph Hamilton in releasing the data had said that this occurrence has to be stopped.

“We have two choices in this matter. Either we continue our merry way, and we prepare to go wake houses and play dominoes and cards, and to attend funerals; or we change. For

me, the first option is that I don’t want to shepherd that. I have already had to issue nearly 50 death announcements since I am a Minister. Fifty is too much,” he had said.

The Minister said many times people pay attention to the statistics when their main focus should be the loss a family has to endure.

“For me, it is a person, a father, a husband, a son, and in many cases, persons who are leaving children behind because the breadwinner is gone. That cannot continue.”

Earlier this month, 22-year-old Sudesh Charran, a labourer of Lot 3964 West Minister, West Bank Demerara (WBD), was crushed by a metal lift while working at a super-

market at Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara (WCD).

The now dead man was reportedly walking under the metal lift to enter the supermarket when it fell from the upper flat and pinned him to the ground.

As a result, workers rushed to his assistance and used a piece of wood to lift the metal structure from the man’s body. They managed to pull him out but by this time, he was motionless and a large wound was seen to the top of his head.

The Police were summoned, and the injured victim was taken to the West Demerara Regional Hospital (WDRH) where he was pronounced dead on arrival. An investigation is underway.

11

MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2021| GUYANATIMESGY.COM

12

MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 202

Pres Ali-activated Cabinet Ta

...thousands affected by un

U

nusual heavy rainfall over the past days have resulted in half of the administrative regions across Guyana experiencing floods that have affected some 5900 households.

This was revealed on Sunday

by Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips, who is leading a Cabinet-level Taskforce activated by President Dr Irfaan Ali on Saturday to respond to the current rainy season. The Prime Minister on Sunday held the first meeting to discuss flash floods across the country.

Attending that meeting were Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha, Local Government and Regional Development Minister Nigel Dharamlall, Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal, Director of the CDC Lieutenant Colonel Kester Craig, and heads and representatives of key agencies involved in the flood response.

The Civil Defence Commission (CDC) reported on Sunday that coastal communities in Regions One (BarimaWaini), Two (PomeroonSupenaam), Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), Four (Demerara-Mahaica) and Five (Mahaica-Berbice) recorded the

highest accumulated rainfall over a 24-hour period ranging between two to six inches. This is according to a report from the Ministry of Agriculture’s Hydrometeorological Service, which had predicted even more intensive rainfall Sunday night into this morning in Regions One to Three and parts of Region Four.

Nevertheless, Prime Minister Phillips held a press briefing after that meeting during which he disclosed that 23 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) across the country have reported floods that affected some 5900 households across Regions One to Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).

Concern about Region 2

However, he noted that the major concern is Region Two, where the CDC reported that some 600 households along the Pomeroon River are inundated with at least one of them needing to be evacuated.

Moreover, the CDC is urging livestock farmers to remain vigilant, find alternative grazing pastures and to elevate their pens, if possible, to protect the animals. Additionally, cash crop farmers are being encouraged to harvest their crops early.

Guyana Times was told that

several acres of farmlands located in the Lower Pomeroon are currently flooded due to excessive rainfall over the past few days.

According to cash crop farmers in the Pomeroon, their lands have been underwater since the prolonged rainfall started earlier this month. Several low-lying areas in the lower and upper Pomeroon have approximately one foot of water on the land, this newspaper was told.

The farmers say that the floodwaters in their farmlands are not receding as a result of the continuous rainfall.

One farmer residing in the Pomeroon related that his farmland is located in a low-lying area and every time it rains continuously, his land is submerged.

The flooding has affected both farmers and residents in the Pomeroon-Supenaam region.

Meanwhile, Region Two Vice Chairman, Humace Oodit said a team from the regional administration has been dispatched to the Pomeroon River to assess the situation. He said that based on that assessment, the necessary recommendations will be made.

13

21 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

ask force responds to floods

nusual rainfall – PM Phillips

n w

s e r ,

e s f

e g s -

d n -

e a d s d e

Not passed the worst

But according to Prime Minister Phillips on Sunday, this might not be worst of the current rainy season.

“We have not passed the worst,” he said adding that in addition to rainfall expected Sunday night into this morning, the Hydromet Office has also forecast even more continuous rainfall throughout today that could possibly lead to floods.

However, he added that “while all the pumps in Region Four are working and we’re able to get the water off the land in due course… when we open the sluices and so, we also have to continue to monitor what will happen over the next 48 hours because rainfall is still threatened. So, we are not out of any danger yet”.

In light of the expected continued flooding due to the unusual rainfall expected during this time, the Prime Minister is urging citizens to take necessary precautionary steps to prevent floods, especially at their homes and other premises.

Meanwhile, RDCs across the country have been taking a series of interventions such as clearing outfalls and ensuring that pumps are operational to alleviate floods. Assistance is also

being provided by the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), which is keeping all major drainage canals clean and clear.

However, authorities are also imploring with residents to play their part in ensuring that their surrounding drains are clean as well.

Prime Minister Phillips stated that while some NDCs have taken steps ahead of this rainy season, some of these local organs failed to properly prepare.

Regardless, the CDC’s Kester Craig explained that because of the prolonged intense rainfall in short periods, it is proving difficult to drain the flood water quickly.

Nevertheless, the CDC continues to work along with the various agencies including RDCs to ensure that necessary systems and responses such as emergency shelters are in place for those in need.

Ministers in communities

In response to the flood situation, several Government Ministers on Sunday fanned out across the country to visit communities that were inundated to have a first-hand look at the impact.

TURN TO PAGE 17

14 NEWS Consultant being sought to prepare action plan to reduce road deaths T MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2021| GUYANATIMESGY.COM

he Government has commenced works for a Road Safety Diagnostic and Action Plan (2022-2026). The Public Works Ministry is seeking a consultant to commence the design of a Road Safety Action Plan (RSAP) which is aimed at reducing the number of road traffic deaths.

The initiative is part of the Adequate Housing and Urban Transport Programme (AHUTP) which is being funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

An Expression of Interest (EoI) in the daily newspapers said the consultant will be tasked with preparing studies for the implementation of the programme.

More specially, the EoI outlines that the studies will diagnose and analyse the overall situation, identify key risks, opportunities, and entry points for

improvements.

According to the EoI, the studies will also be used to prepare an action plan of activities and investments to be financed and implemented in order to reduce the number of road fatalities overtime.

The consultant is required to have experience in road traffic safety analysis, particularly relating to engineering, enforcement, and investigation, conducting legal services, reviews, and comparative law analysis.

This includes identifying legislative and institutional deficiencies and recommending appropriate measures for improvement.

The consultant must be experienced in public law and governance and know international standards in relation to road safety and traffic management.

Experience in legal drafting in Guyana would be a distinct advantage,

the EoI states. Moreover, the consultant will be responsible for communication studies regarding road use practices, with particular emphasis on analysing current levels of awareness, identifying deficiencies in existing strategies, and crafting behavioural change strategies and messages for all categories of road users.

Six months is the estimated period for the consultancy.

The consultant(s) will be selected in accordance with the quality and cost-based selection (QCBS) procedures set out in the IDB’s Policies for the Selection and Contracting of Consultants. The EoI states that consultants may associate with other firms in the form of a joint venture or a sub-consultancy to enhance their qualifications.

At the launching of road safety month in October, Home Affairs Minister

Robeson Benn had called on the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to advance its routine interventions to change the lawless culture of road users.

Between January to June of this year, 48 persons were killed in road accidents with pedestrians and motorcyclists accounting for the majority of those who lost their lives.

Speeding and inattentiveness continue to be the main cause of accidents, according to the Police Force.

While statistics for 2021 show a 31 per cent decrease in fatal accidents, Benn said that an aggressive approach together with stiffer penalties could further reduce this number. He said the Government is putting in more tools and training for road use and improving roads.

The Home Affairs Minister called on the GPF to accelerate its wheel-clamping exercise for drivers who act outside of the law. He also urged law enforcement officers to regularly practise the different types of field sobriety tests.

Benn revealed that more measures are being implemented to significantly boost the safe city project, with the installation of additional road cameras with upgraded features. Since assuming office last year

August, the Government has been distributing safety helmets to motorcyclists to stop the culture or persons driving without safety gear.

Meanwhile, the Government is undertaking massive infrastructural upgrades to the country’s roadways.

These include the Sherriff Street – Mandela Avenue road expansion project and the Mandela Avenue to Eccles bypass road. Once completed, the latter will ease the growing traffic congestion on the East Bank Demerara highway. The Government has also embarked on several other road upgrades/ expansion projects to improve connectivity.

In October, the World Health Organisation (WHO) kicked off its Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 with the ambitious target of preventing at least 50 per cent of road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030.

The WHO and the UN regional commissions, in cooperation with other partners in the UN Road Safety Collaboration, have developed a Global Plan for the Decade of Action.

According to WHO, globally, over 3500 people die every day on the roads, which amounts to nearly 1.3 million preventable deaths and an estimated 50

million injuries each year – making it the leading killer of children and young people worldwide.

As things stand, WHO noted that road traffic accidents are set to cause a further estimated 13 million deaths and 500 million injuries during the next decade, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

“These unacceptable numbers, both in absolute and relative terms.

Road traffic crashes have remained a major cause of death globally, even though every one of those deaths and injuries is preventable,” the WHO said.

“The loss of lives and livelihoods, the disabilities caused, the grief and pain, and the financial costs caused by road traffic crashes add up to an intolerable toll on families, communities, societies, and health systems,” said WHO Director General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

He added, “So much of this suffering is preventable, by making roads and vehicles safer, and by promoting safe walking, cycling, and greater use of public transport. The Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety lays out the practical, evidence-based steps all countries and communities can take to save lives”. (G1)

Butcher appeals 15-year jail term for cattle farmer’s murder

A

Dead: Henry Lalmam

sif Hamid, the Corriverton, Berbice butcher, who was imprisoned for 15 years for killing an elderly cattle farmer whose burnt remains were found at the back of this house, is appealing his “severe” and “harsh” sentence.

He has filed a Notice of Appeal at the Court of Appeal outlining the grounds on which he is seeking to set aside the custodial sentence.

On January 27, 2021, Justice Simone MorrisRamlall presiding at the Berbice High Court imposed the custodial sentence after Hamid, 27, who was initially indicted for murder, pleaded

guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter.

In August 2015, Hamid unlawfully killed 76-year-old Henry Lalmam of Number 56 Village, Corentyne, Berbice.

Reports in 2015 were that Hamid had been taking animals from the cattle farmer on a credit arrangement just as his father had done.

According to reports, Police found evidence that suggest that Lalmam had spoken to Hamid’s father about an outstanding bill, and the elder Hamid had expressed alarm since he did not send his son on such an arrangement.

Lalmam subsequently made contact with the younger Hamid to enquire about the outstanding money and was invited to his home. It was there that Hamid killed the cattle farmer. Worried about the cattle farmer’s whereabouts, his family reported him missing. Close relatives of Hamid had informed the Police about the debt issue.

When questioned at the time, the younger Hamid had said he had not seen

Jailed: Asif Hamid

Lalmam.

Investigators searching the yard for evidence discovered a recently-dug-up area behind the house. It was later found to contain the remains of the cattle farmer. The younger Hamid later confessed to killing his father’s friend to avoid having to pay his debts.

A probation report revealed that Hamid was a habitual gambler. The prosecutor had told the court that he killed the man because of his gambling habit and greed. The prosecutor said that the elderly cattle farmer trusted Hamid, and instead, he lured him into his yard and killed him. (G1)

NEWS

15

MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2021| GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Deaths of 3 more women take COVID-19 fatalities to 1020 …62 new cases recorded

GUYANA COVID-19 DASHBOARD DECEMBER 12, 2021 UPDATE

T

hree more females who tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) have died, according to the Health Ministry on Sunday.

These latest fatalities are a 76-year-old woman from Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), who died on Sunday; a 79-year-old woman from Region Four (DemeraraMahaica) who also died on Sunday, and a 70-year-old woman, also from Region Four, who died on Saturday.

With the exception of the Region Three female, who was unvaccinated, the other two women were fully vaccinated.

Nevertheless, the total number of deaths in Guyana from the pandemic has gone up to 1020. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 death toll for the month of December is now at 21.

According to the Health Ministry on Sunday, some 62 new COVID-19 cases were detected within a 24hour period, taking the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 38,554.

Of this, however, only 895 are currently active cases including 14 patients in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the remaining 881 persons in isolation, that is, 43 in insti-

tutional isolation and the other 838 in home isolation.

In addition, there are also five persons in institutional quarantine.

To date, some 36,639 persons have recovered from the life-threatening virus – three more recoveries than the figure reported the previous day.

Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Guyana last year, some 404,841 persons have been tested, from which 18,177 males and 20,377 females have tested positive to date.

Of the 62 new cases recorded on Sunday, three were from Region One (Barima-Waini), another three from the Essequibo Islands-West Demerara region, 20 cases from the Demerara-Mahaica region, five from Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), a whopping 24 cases from Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne), one more from Region Eight (PotaroSiparuni) and the remaining six cases from Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).

No new cases were recorded in Regions Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and Nine (Upper TakutuUpper Essequibo) on Sunday.

In order to curb the ris-

ing number of cases in the country, the Guyana Government launched its COVID-19 vaccination exercise back in February and is aggressively rolling it out across the various regions in order to achieve herd immunity.

The latest vaccination figures show that over 435,000 first doses have been administered across the country, accounting for about 56.3 per cent of the population. Overall, second dose coverage has crossed 39.5 per cent.

Persons are encouraged to get immunised since the COVID-19 vaccine provides a layer of protection against severe symptoms of the deadly COVID-19.

Nevertheless, as more people continue to get vaccinated, authorities are urging the public to continue observing all COVID-19 preventative measures, particularly masking in public, social distancing and frequent hand washing and sanitising. The measures also include vaccination requirements to access any public building such as restaurants, places of worship, schools as well as Government buildings.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), recent figures show

Essequibo family cremates wrong body after morgue mistake

A

Suddie Funeral Home

day after a funeral service for 71-yearold Odit Ram, who had succumbed to COVID-19, his family was left in shock after realising that they had cremated the wrong body, owing to a mistake at the Suddie Public Hospital morgue.

It was on Sunday when relatives were in the pro-

cess of preparing for the funeral service of 87-year-old Nathan Fiedtkou, who died seven days ago and whose body was placed in storage at Suddie Funeral home, that they realised that there was a mistake.

While waiting on the body to arrive at Fiedtkou's residence, his family members received his coffin, with

his clothes folded neatly inside but no corpse.

When relatives of Fiedtkou realised what had occurred they became very annoyed and chaos immediately broke out at the Suddie Funeral Home in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam).

It was then that they were told that another family was accidently given Fiedtkou’s body and he had been cremated on Saturday.

Relatives told this publication that they are very angry and hurt over the actions of the Suddie Public Hospital morgue staff.

"It was our desire to bury him and grant him a grand send-off. We are not blaming the other family for this ... We will say that it is the poor management at the funeral home's fault,” a relative told Guyana Times.

The body of Odit Ram is currently at the Suddie parlour.

NUMBER OF NEW CASES

62

NUMBER OF PERSONS IN INSTITUTIONAL ISOLATION

43

NUMBER OF PERSONS IN HOME ISOLATION NUMBER OF PERSONS IN COVID-19 ICU

838 14

NUMBER OF PERSONS IN INSTITUTIONAL QUARANTINE

5

TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES BY GENDER (FEMALES)

20,377

TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES BY GENDER (MALES)

18,177

TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES IN GUYANA SINCE 2020

38,554

NUMBER OF RECOVERED CASES

36,639

TOTAL 1st DOSE VACCINATED FULLY IMMUNISED

REGION 1

1690

REGION 2

1573

REGION 3

5163

REGION 4

17,997

REGION 5

1454

REGION 6

3525

REGION 7

1793

REGION 8

622

REGION 9

2476

REGION 10

2256

HERE IS HOW YOU CAN BE SAFE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC Wear a face mask.

405,043 284,870

TOTAL NUMBER OF DEATHS

DISTRIBUTION OF TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES SINCE MARCH 2020

1020

Keep a physical distance of at least 6 feet.

Wash your hands or use handsanitizer If you have any symptoms, call the COVID-19 Hotline.

GET MEDICAL ADVICE ON COVID-19 FROM MOH 24/7 HOTLINE NUMBERS: 2311166; 226 7480; 624 6674; 624 2819; 624 3067 OR 180/181.

that some 267,865,289 confirmed cases were reported globally along with 5,285,888 deaths.

The WHO also reported that in the Region of the

Americas, that is, Latin America and the Caribbean, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has increased to 98,346,191 while the death toll in the region

has gone up to 2,369,006.

As it relates to vaccination against COVID-19, a total of 8,158,815,265 doses have been administered worldwide. (G8)

$25M worth of ganja found hidden in cane field

S

The 80kg (176lbs) of ganja that was found hidden in a cane field

ome 80 kilograms of marijuana was discovered in a cane field on the Corentyne, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), on Friday last by ranks of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU).

The narcotics were found at the Goat Dam area, Line Path village, Corentyne.

According to CANU, on Thursday and Friday last, ranks acting on information conducted operations between the Sandaka Pump Station, Skeldon and Goat

Dam area of the village of Line Path. The aim of these operations was to identify routes used for transporting narcotics.

However, on Friday evening, whilst on patrol along a dam in the Line Path area, CANU officers noticed several people in one of the cane fields adjacent to the dam.

The officers identified themselves and made attempts to apprehend the persons, but the suspects immediately fled in sever-

al directions and made good their escape.

The officers combed the area where the persons were seen and discovered four brown salt bags with 28 parcels containing cannabis wrapped in transparent plastic. The parcels of cannabis weighed a total of 80kg (176lbs) with a street value of over $25,000,000.

The cannabis parcels were transported to the CANU headquarters.

Investigations are ongoing.

16 NEWS Cash grants distributed to Berbice sugar workers fired by APNU/AFC T MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

he economy of Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne) has been boosted with an injection of $685 million placed into the pockets of almost 3000 sugar workers who were fired under the APNU/AFC Administration.

On Sunday, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha and Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh visited the region to continue distributing the Government’s $250,000 one-off grant to the sugar workers.

The money was payable to those who were on the payroll when the two estates in Berbice closed in 2016 by the then David Granger-led Administration.

Some 1830 workers were severed from the Skeldon Estate and 910 from the Rose Hall Estate.

With $457.5 million going to the severed workers at Skeldon, economic activity in the bordering town of Corriverton is expected to reach new heights and with $227.5 million going to severed workers from the Rose Hall Estate, the towns of New Amsterdam and Rose Hall are expected to see an increase in economic activity as the week progresses.

According to Minister Mustapha, they could have sent the cheques to Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) for the corporation to make the pay out but he and the Finance Minister visited in order to make a statement.

“We are here to fulfil a promise that was made by the General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic. I could remember before we went to the elections the PPP/C made a promise that when we get back into Government, we would give direct support to the sug-

Lillowtie Budhi receiving her cheque

ar workers who would have lost their jobs. Remember before the elections the APNU Government said that sugar is too important and they will not close the sugar estates. What we found? As soon as they

will be one of the first estates to start grinding and that will be followed by the other estates but we are fulfilling the promises that we have made to the people of our country. We are not taking away jobs from peo-

Persons braving the inclement weather to collect their grant

cause of the closure of the estates, many parents could not have sent their children to school while a substantial number had to go to other parts of the country seeking jobs. This, he said, resulted in many families being broken.

“The entire economy in the community died a sudden death because you did not have a job and were not earning so money was not circulating. Today the PPP/C Government is restoring hope to the people of this community,” he told those at Skeldon.

Cruel, callous and unconscionable

Distribution at Rose Hall

got into Government, they closed four sugar estates and 7500 sugar workers lost their jobs.”

The Agriculture Minister said the PPP/C Government will work with everyone to restore their livelihoods.

“We promised to reopen the closed sugar estates and we are doing so. Rose Hall

ple, we are not taking away benefits from people, we are giving benefits and we are restoring your livelihood.”

He said it has nothing to do with politics but the welfare of the people of Guyana, noting that the Party which has the welfare of Guyanese at heart is the PPP/C. Mustafa noted that be-

Meanwhile, Minister Singh noted that the decision to close sugar estates across this country by the APNU/AFC was one of the most cruel, callous and unconscionable made by any Government in the entire history of Guyana.

“Thousands of people were put out of work without a single thought being given by the APNU as to what this meant to you and your families. Without a single thought as to what this meant for your children because if you take out the income from the breadwinner of our family you are inflicting punishment and harm to the entire family and hardship to the entire family including the children,” he pointed out.

Singh added that efforts are also being made to create other jobs in the region.

“Our commitment to you is not only to reopen the sugar estates which we have started already, not only to offer assistance to everyone who was severed in such a cruel manner, but our commitment to you is to also create more jobs and a more diverse range of jobs. Many of you who left the sugar in the street had skills that could have been applied elsewhere.”

Vice President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo announced in October that before the end of 2021, severed sugar workers would benefit from the Government payout totalling approximately $1.8 billion.

Lillowtie Budhi, who was severed from the Rose Hall Estate and still remains unemployed told this publication that she was very happy to have received

a cheque for $250,000, explaining that she has a lot to do with it.

She said she was surprised that the money has been made available so quickly after the Vice President made the announcement.

James Nicholson, 61, a father of seven who was also severed from the same estate, explained that he struggled to make ends meet after being sent home in 2016 when the Rose Hall Estate closed its doors.

“I had a lot of children to send to school and I was the only breadwinner.”

He too expressed surprise at the timely payout.

Prakash Borrows, 63,

now, I am thankful because it come in for the holidays so the family can get some sort of entertainment.”

Ricky Braithwaite, a young cane harvester who has been rehired by the Rose Hall Estate, explained that when the announcement was made, he was elated since he had not been expecting to receive a further severance.

“After being sent home, life was pretty tough because I was getting a hard time finding a job. Things were really hard back then,” he explained.

Meanwhile, Gladwell Matterson, who took a good look at his cheque after collecting it, was high

Gladwell Matterson looking at his cheque after collecting it on Sunday

who was severed from the Skeldon Estate, remembered the last day at work as being a sad day.

“When I came out and I looked back I knew I wouldn’t be going back there, so it was very emotional and I couldn’t find a job at the same time. It was very stressful for the family because I could not get an income. I did get the severance but after a while, it finished and the little saving that I had, all gone.”

Borrows said it took him almost one year to find a job.

“Because everybody hustling for a job and as old as I am there was no opportunity because everybody rushing for the younger people. I was very happy when the Vice President made the announcement. When he came, I thought he was going to give us $50,000 but then he announced $250,000 so we were all excited. I was expecting to get it next year but as it come

in his praise for both the Government and the Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo.

Many of the severed workers had been given a severance payout by the previous Administration after months of waiting.

In fact, it was their union, the Guyana Agriculture and General Workers Union, which took the then APNU/AFC Government to court which ruled that the Government must pay the workers a severance.

Over $600 million was on Saturday distributed at Enmore and Wales to severed sugar workers.

Severed workers from Enmore Estate benefited from a payout of $398 million while severed workers from Wales Estate received $232 million.

Approximately 1200 workers who were severed have been re-employed, with the Government investing close to $12 billion to rehabilitate the industry.

(Andrew Carmichael)

NEWS

17

MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Pres Ali-activated Cabinet...

“A number of Ministers visiting different parts of Guyana doing their own assessments and that information is being used by the Taskforce to determine our next course of action in the next 48 hours… But we are in far better place now than we were six months ago,” the Head of the Cabinet Taskforce contended.

He was referring to the unprecedented May-June floods that saw over 20,000 households affected and hundreds of acres of farm-

lands being destroyed.

This current rainy season comes as many are now recovering from that midyear devastation.

The PPP/C Government had employed a series of relief measures including $7.8 billion in cash grants to affected persons including farmers and households.

Meanwhile, only Saturday, President Ali appointed the Cabinet-level Taskforce to respond to the current rainy season and potential flood impacts

across Guyana.

The Task Force will work in tandem with all local authorities to ensure that all response and mitigative systems are in place and functional. These systems will include, but are not limited to, all working sluices; kokers; and drainage systems.

According to the President, the aim is to make certain that there is a proactive and coordinated response to the current rainy season with the intent to safeguard livelihoods and

property.

In addition, all administrative regions are mandated to regularly update the Task Force (at 12-hour intervals) on any and all impacts. Reports are to describe the communities affected, types of impacts and the measures being taken by response and technical entities.

The Task Force comprises of the Prime Minister as Chair, and authorities such as the Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Local Government and

Regional Development, Minister of Housing and Water, the Civil Defence Commission's (CDC) Director General, Guyana Defence Force's (GDF) Chief of Staff, the National Security Advisor, the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority's (NDIA) Chairman, and the Chief Hydrometeorological Officer.

At the time, it was reported that continuous rain and thunderstorms were predicted across the entire coastland and parts

FROM CENTRE

of Regions Seven (CuyuniMazaruni), Eight (PotaroSiparuni) and 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice). Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) will see scattered showers intermittently.

Residents countrywide are advised to remain vigilant and take all necessary flood precautions. Also, they are encouraged to report any impacts to local authorities or the National Emergency Monitoring System (NEMS) on 6007500 at any time. (G8)

18

guyanatimesgy.com

MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2021

Regional

Haiti’s Moïse was probing After Nicaragua flips, US sanctions seen officials linked to drug trade pushing Central America towards China when he was killed – NYT A

H

aitian President Jovenel Moïse was compiling a list of officials and businessmen linked to the drug trade before he was assassinated in July, the New York Times reported on Sunday, adding he planned to give the names to the US Government.

Moïse was murdered in a late-night raid on his home by a group of armed men that included former Colombian soldiers. Haitian authorities have arrested 45 people, but have not yet charged anyone with the crime.

Some of those who were captured confessed that retrieving the list with names of suspected drug traffickers was a top priority, the Times reported, citing three senior Haitian officials with knowledge of the investigation.

“The document was part of a broader series of clashes Mr Moïse had with powerful political and business

A person holds a photo of late Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, who was shot dead earlier this month, during his funeral at his family home in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, July 23, 2021

figures, some suspected of narcotics and arms trafficking,” the Times wrote.

A spokesman for the office of Prime Minister Ariel Henry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Moïse’s murder left Haiti in a political vacuum with no elected President, and

further fuelled a wave of kidnappings by gangs that now control much of the Caribbean nation’s territory.

The Government has promised to serve justice in the case, but judicial officials have also reported intimidation and death threats.

(Reuters)

Cuba sees slow economic recovery at 4% in 2022 – official

A

cash-short and crippled Cuban economy will grow four per cent next year as the Communist-run country struggles to recover from an economic crisis, according to a report by the Prime Minister posted over the weekend.

Prime Minister Manuel Marrero’s annual report said the economy began a slow recovery of around two per cent this year after declining 10.9 per cent in 2020 and stagnating for several years before that.

New US sanctions on top of the decades-old trade embargo and the coronavirus pandemic cost the im-

port-dependent nation at least US$4 billion in revenues over the last two years, according to the Government.

The shortfall led to a 40 per cent decline in imports and has hobbled the Government’s ability to provide Cubans with food, medicine, consumer goods and inputs for industry and agriculture. Cuba has defaulted on some payments to its creditors and suppliers.

The Government’s decision to devalue the peso for the first time since Cuban leader Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution combined with increased dollarisation of the economy have sparked

triple-digit inflation estimated by local economists at around 500 per cent this year.

The goal of four per cent growth could indicate that Cuba would still see shortages of critical goods and have continued difficulty paying creditors, said a western businessman in Cuba with years of experience in the market.

The Government is preparing measures to tame inflation and strengthen the peso, Marrero said. The peso is trading for around 70 to a dollar on the informal market versus the official rate of 24 pesos. (Excerpt from Reuters)

creeping barrage of US sanctions on top Central American officials has made China an attractive partner for Governments resisting Washington’s push to tackle corruption and democratic backsliding in the region, officials and analysts say.

The trend was thrust into focus this week when Nicaragua re-established ties with Beijing, severing a longstanding relationship with US ally Taiwan, which relies heavily on diplomatic recognition from small countries.

Other countries in the region are also courting China. Salvadoran

President Nayib Bukele ratified his country’s new economic cooperation accord with China earlier this year after Washington put close aides of his on a corruption blacklist.

Bukele, who this week accused Washington of demanding “absolute submission or bust”, in May celebrated that China had made US$500 million public investments “without conditions”.

Nicaragua’s decision to embrace China followed a slew of sanctions against aides to President Daniel Ortega following his re-election for a fourth consecutive term in a campaign steeped in the ar-

rests of leading Opposition figures.

While Nicaragua’s case is “unique” in Central America due to its increasingly authoritarian bent, the international isolation of Ortega played a role in his switch to China, according to a senior US official, who noted: “As the sanctions tighten, they look for other avenues and economic partners, there is an element of that.”

US pressure on Central American officials ranges from visa revocations to Treasury sanctions, effectively cutting them off from the global banking system.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Mexico’s Guadalupe pilgrimage draws huge crowd after one-year absence

A

throng of Catholic pilgrims estimated at more than 1.5 million people gathered at a basilica in Mexico City on Sunday for the annual Virgin of Guadalupe gathering after the festivities were cancelled last year owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Virgin of Guadalupe basilica, the most visited Catholic shrine of the Americas, was constructed next to a hill in the north of the Mexican capital where Catholics believe that Mary, the mother of Jesus, appeared to an Aztec man in 1531, a decade after the Spanish conquest of Mexico.

The feast day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, celebrated annually on December 12, features lavish pageantry at the basilica as crowds of pilgrims arrive on their knees in prayer. More than 1.5 million pilgrims came to

Pilgrims line up at the Basilica prior to the celebration of the annual Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, Mexico, December 11, 2021

the basilica on Sunday, Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum wrote on Twitter, adding that city security officials were monitoring the event.

“We’ve come from Nicaragua,” said Anabel Manzanarez, 46, wearing a crown and mask with the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe. “It has been my dream for 46 years. It

is a great blessing to be here with the Mexican people.”

Mexican church and civic leaders last year cancelled the annual gathering amid the intensifying pandemic, with festivities instead held online. Mexico City has since lifted most strict pandemic-related measures. (Reuters)

the past 30 years that brings together Government, the labour movement, and the Private Sector on all major national, social and economic issues,” she said.

“Our issue in this part of the Region, I believe, is more encouraging active citizenship to support the architecture of our democracy, recognising that democracy comes in many shapes and forms.”

“Our fight also relates to the elimination of corruption in high and low places. We must, therefore, have these conversations, and it is vital that we deconstruct and truly appreciate where our concerns are as small island developing states in the Caribbean, where we may strengthen what we are do-

ing within our countries and across the global community of nations.”

Mottley said it was important to find mechanisms through which Governments can see, hear, feel, and give citizens the freedom to make choices that impact their lives.

“Fundamentally, democracy must always be about people,” she said. “It is ironic, therefore, that this pandemic has laid bare much of what must concern us today: the inequity and the discrimination; the lack of trust that is further fuelled by fake news; and the invisible hands that influence what we view in our virtual world.” (Excerpt from Nation News)

US helping Jamaica to ease flow of guns Mottley says active citizenship critical to democracy With the vast majority of the guns used to commit crimes in Jamaica originating in the United States, repeated calls for greater efforts by the Americans to deal with the trafficking of firearms to the island seem to be gaining even more traction in the corridors of power in that country.

It has long been estimated that as many as 200 guns are smuggled into the island from the US every month and over the years, American law enforcement agencies have introduced several measures and assistance to help Jamaica stem the flow.

But still the last official report said that of the almost 1500 weapons seized in Jamaica between 2016 and 2018, 71 per cent came from the US. Last Friday, US Deputy Assistant Secretary for

US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Caribbean Affairs and Haiti in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Mark Wells

Caribbean Affairs and Haiti in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Mark Wells told the Jamaica Observer that the problem of the trade in illegal firearms in the Region was being given special attention by the current Administration.

“Illegal arms trafficking is a significant issue for us

throughout the Americas,” said Wells during an interview with the Sunday Observer in Kingston.

“We deal with this issue in several countries. Some of those guns come directly from the United States, some arrive through secondary illegal sources. I know that they come from other countries and are often associated with drug trafficking and other forms of international crime.

“So, we have a variety of ways that we are working with the Government of Jamaica, and other Governments in the Region, to try to control those flows.

We understand that many of them come from the United States and we accept that it is a shared responsibility for us to deal with those crimes when we can,” added Wells. (Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

B

arbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley said she believed “encouraging active citizenship” was critical to supporting democracy in Barbados and the rest of the Caribbean and urged global leaders to work harder to end inequality and poverty.

The Prime Minister made her remarks during the virtual Summit for Democracy hosted by United States President Joe Biden on Thursday.

Mottley said “freedom of the press, freedom of elections, freedom of movement or freedom of association are not issues” in the Englishspeaking Caribbean.

“Barbados has had an active social partnership for

guyanatimesgy.com

MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2021

OILNEWS OIL NEWS US to sell 18 million bbls of oil from reserve on Dec 17

T

he US Department of Energy said on Friday it will sell 18 million barrels of crude oil from its strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) on Dec 17, as part of a previous plan to try to reduce gasoline prices.

The Biden Administration announced last month it would release about 50 million barrels from its reserves in conjunction with other consumer countries including China, India and South Korea to combat the rising cost of fuel.

The White House has been trying to deal with Americans' worries about high fuel costs and inflation as drivers emerge from the pandemic, even though the President has few tools to deal with the price of crude, a global market influenced by numerous factors.

“The President rightly believes Americans deserve relief now and has authorised the use of the SPR to respond to market imbalances and reduce costs for consumers," said?Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

Oil prices rose to seven-year highs of more than US$86 a barrel in late October on surging fuel demand worldwide, but have dropped by nearly 13 per cent since, in part due to the US announcement and the emergence of the Omicron variant of coronavirus that has dented travel around the world.

The Brent benchmark ended at US$75.15 a barrel on Friday.

The 18 million barrels to be sold had already been approved

by Congress in previous years. The remaining barrels will be issued in coming months through exchanges, that will have to be returned to the SPR with interest.

The first exchange of 4.8 million barrels will be with Exxon Mobil Corp, the largest US oil company, the department said.

"As DOE moves forward with the sale, exchange requests will continue to be accepted from interested parties and approved as appropriate to address supply disruptions," the department said.

US retail gas prices are averaging US$3.33 a gallon, the lowest since mid-October, according to the American Automobile Association. Prices peaked at US$3.42 a gallon early in November.

The United States holds roughly 600 million barrels of crude oil in giant caverns in Texas and Louisiana. Its current inventory is at its lowest since 2003. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Palestinians killed during funeral at Lebanon refugee camp

T

hree members of Hamas were killed on Sunday when a shooting erupted at the funeral procession for a member of the movement killed in a blast at a south Lebanon Palestinian refugee camp, the group said.

Hamas official Raafat al-Murra said people from the rival Fatah movement “shot at the funeral procession” of a Palestinian killed in a blast on Friday at the Burj al-Shemali camp, outside the port city of Tyre.

Six people were wounded, he added.

Hamas and Fatah have been at odds since 2007 when the former defeated party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in parliamentary elections in besieged Gaza Strip.

One camp resident told the AFP news agency that there was a dispute “when the funeral procession arrived at the camp cemetery and sud-

denly there was shooting towards the crowd”, adding that in the chaos it was unclear who was shooting at whom.

An electrical short circuit in a store containing oxygen supplies for COVID patients caused Friday’s blast, Hamas had said, denying reports that an arms depot blew up.

The explosion blackened the walls and shattered the windows of a nearby mosque.

According to a Palestinian official, one man died of his injuries from the explosion, which also left several people wounded.

On Sunday, mourners had been out on the streets of the Burj al-Shemali camp, shouting pro-Hamas slogans.

Lebanon is home to tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees and their descendants. Many live in the 12 refugee camps that are scattered across the small Mediterranean country.

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

19

Around the World

Pandemic health costs pushed half a billion people into poverty

M

ore than half a billion people globally were pushed into extreme poverty last year as they paid for health costs out of their own pockets during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the World Health Organisation and the World Bank.

The pandemic disrupted health services globally and triggered the worst economic crisis since the 1930s, making it even more difficult for people to pay for healthcare, a joint statement from the two organisations said on Sunday.

“All governments must immediately resume and accelerate efforts to ensure every one of their citizens can access health services without fear of the financial consequences,” WHO DirectorGeneral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

Tedros urged governments to increase their fo-

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted health services globally [Shannon Stapleton/Reuters]

cus on healthcare systems and stay on course towards universal health coverage, which the WHO defines as everyone getting access to health services they need without financial hardship.

Healthcare is a significant political issue in the United States, one of the few industrialised countries that does not have universal coverage for its citizens.

Globally, the pandem-

Putin rues Soviet collapse as demise of “historical Russia”

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a joint news conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis following their meeting at the Bocharov Ruchei state residence in Sochi, Russia December 8, 2021

P

resident Vladimir Putin has lamented the collapse of the Soviet Union three decades ago as the demise of what he called "historical Russia" and said the economic crisis that followed was so bad he was forced to moonlight as a taxi driver.

Putin's comments, released by state TV on Sunday, are likely to further fuel speculation about his foreign policy intentions among critics, who accuse him of planning to recreate the Soviet Union and of contemplating an attack on Ukraine, a notion the Kremlin has dismissed as fear-mongering.

"It was a disintegration of historical Russia under the name of the Soviet Union," Putin said of the 1991 breakup, in comments aired on Sunday as part of a documentary film called "Russia.

New History", the RIA state news agency reported.

"We turned into a com-

pletely different country.

And what had been built up over 1000 years was largely lost," said Putin, saying 25 million Russian people in newly independent countries suddenly found themselves cut off from Russia, part of what he called "a major humanitarian tragedy".

Putin, who served in the Soviet-era KGB, has previously called the collapse of the Soviet Union, which was ruled from Moscow, as the "greatest geopolitical catastrophe" of the 20th century, but his new comments show how he viewed it specifically as a setback for Russian power.

The West has accused Russia of massing tens of thousands of troops near Ukraine in preparation for a possible attack as soon as January. The Group of Seven wealthy democracies warned Moscow on Sunday of massive consequences and severe costs if it attacked Ukraine.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

ic made things worse and immunisation coverage dropped for the first time in 10 years, with deaths from tuberculosis and malaria

increasing.

“Within a constrained fiscal space, governments will have to make tough choices to protect and increase health budgets,” Juan Pablo Uribe, global director for health, nutrition and population at World Bank, said.

According to a Pew Research Center study published in March, the pandemic has driven 32 million Indians out of the middle class, defined as those earning US$10 to US$20 a day.

It estimated the crisis has increased the number of India’s poor – those with incomes of US$2 or less a day – by 75 million. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Kentucky tornadoes: Desperate search for survivors as death toll rises

A

desperate search for survivors is under way in parts of six US states devastated by powerful tornadoes that have left at least 94 people dead.

Dozens more people are missing and entire towns were destroyed by about 30 tornadoes on Friday.

President Biden has declared a disaster in Kentucky, the worst-affected state.

At least 80 people have died in the state, including dozens in a candle factory, and the death toll is expected to rise above 100.

Kentucky Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman told the BBC the death toll was continuing to rise "with every hour".

Local congressman James Comer, working with rescuers in the ruined town of Mayfield, said the tornado there was the widest ever seen.

"It's the most devastating storm damage I've seen in my entire life. We've had tornadoes that have been the

same length as this tornado but we've never had one with the width of this tornado," he said.

Forty people have been rescued from the collapsed candle factory in Mayfield but 60 more remain missing and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, who has visited the scene, said it was unlikely there were more survivors.

He said no-one had been found alive since Saturday.

"There's at least 15ft of metal with cars on top of it, barrels of corrosive chemicals that are there. It'll be a miracle if anybody else is found alive in it," he said.

The intensity of the latest storms has encouraged speculation about how much they have been affected by climate change, though President Biden said the exact impact was not yet clear.

"We all know everything is more intense when the climate is warming, everything," he said. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Eruption in Spain's La Palma is longest running on island, experts say

T

he volcanic eruption on La Palma that has sent spectacular rivers of molten lava running down the slopes of La Cumbre for nearly three months is the longest running on the Spanish island since records began in 1500, experts said on Sunday.

It began on Sept 19 and Stavros Meletlidis, of the Spanish National Geographic Institute, said that was longer than any eruption on La Palma since records started over 500 years ago.

Residents just wish it would stop so they could re-

turn to normal life.

"People are fed up. As a local Palmero I took a break and went to Madrid to get some air," Juan Ernesto Pérez, 57, of Los Llanos de Aridane told Reuters.

The red-hot lava that lights up the night sky has been disruptive. According to the Copernicus disaster monitoring programme, lava flows have damaged or destroyed at least 2650 buildings, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people from their homes on the island, part of the Canaries archipelego. (Excerpt from Reuters)

20

MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2021

guyanatimesgy.com

ARCHIE

ARIES (March 21April 19)

TAURUS

DILBERT

(April 20May 20)

GEMINI (May 21June 20)

CANCER (June 21July 22)

PEANUTS

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

CALVIN AND HOBBES

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

SUDOKU

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

Downplay your emotions, and you'll avoid giving someone the upper hand. The less personal information you share, the easier it will be for you to advance. Focus on what you do best.

Don't let a change of plans ruin your day. Keep busy, and you will accomplish what you set out to do. A project you spearhead will pay off. Avoid joint ventures.

You'll have plenty of energy, so be sure to use it wisely.

Focus on how much you can accomplish. Say little and do a lot.

Trust in yourself and your abilities. Your achievements will count for much.

It's OK to change your mind or head in a different direction. Take care of matters that will improve your life. Don't let your emotions or an outsider mess with the big things in your life.

Participate in events that have something to offer.

What you learn will broaden your outlook and help you venture down a new and exciting path. Take a unique approach to life and what you do.

Someone will disappoint you. Don't trust what others say, and don't follow someone for the wrong reason. Take care of your needs, health and finances, and you'll avoid regret.

Say what's on your mind, but be diplomatic when doing so. Don't make unnecessary changes that will upset your budget. Put a limit on spending. Focus on longterm plans, not on shortcuts.

Control your emotions when dealing with peers and superiors. You can question what's going on and offer suggestions, but don't make demands. Simplicity and moderation will serve you well.

SAGITTARIUS Disregard rumors and gossip. Be a part of the solu(Nov. 23tion, tell the truth and offer Dec. 21) positive suggestions. Don't limit what you can accomplish. Stretch your mind and speak up.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19)

SATURDAY'S WORD -- CLIPPERS

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

Resentment will mount if you disapprove of what a friend, relative or loved one is doing. Offer thoughtful input and be willing to compromise if it will help keep the peace.

Touch base with people who inspire you. Getting back to the basics will help you budget wisely for upcoming festivities. A kind gesture will be worth more than a gift.

Pay attention to detail, and get things done correct(Feb. 20ly and on time. Refuse to let March 20) what others do or say slow you down or lead you astray.

Be true to yourself and your beliefs.

PISCES

MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2021

21

Russell help Melbourne Stars demolish Sydney Thunder A

ndre Russell hurt his former team Sydney Thunder with an unbeaten 21-ball 42 to give his new team Melbourne Stars a six-wicket win in the battle of the greens at the Sydney Showground Stadium. Walking in with the Stars in a difficult position, Russell maximised the power surge and demolished the Thunder bowlers to help chase 152 with 17 balls to spare.

When Russell came in, the Stars had just lost Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell. However, five massive sixes and one four from the West Indian put all fears to rest, and the Stars now sit at third on the points table with two wins in three games.

Russell wasn't the only standout player for the Stars.

Seamer Brody Couch, only three T20s old, took 2 for 26 and Afghan leggie Qais Ahmad picked up 2 for 17 to restrict the Thunder to 151.

Maxwell, too, entertained with a 25-ball 40.

Russell's muscle after Maxi's hustle

After legspinner Tanveer Sangha dismissed the set Stars batters – Stoinis and Maxwell – in the 12th over, the Stars were 83 for 4. The first ball Russell faced was Sangha's hat-trick delivery. But when Nathan McAndrew offered pace in the 13th over, Russell pummelled him for six over long on and clobbered two more sixes in the next over when Daniel Sams missed his mark with two short balls.

Andre Russell

With 26 runs off his first 11 balls, Russell had swiftly absorbed all the pressure that the StoinisMaxwell dismissals had brought along, and once the power surge was taken, run-scoring eased up even further. Sangha's half-tracker was pulled over long on, Gurinder Sandhu's short ball was punished in the same direction, and before one knew it, Russell was collecting the Player-of-the-Match award – from a distance, of course, due to the special and strict bio-bubble/ close contact rules applied by the Big Bash League (BBL) for him.

In an unbeaten 68-run stand for the fifth wicket with Russell, the number six Hilton Cartwright contributed 23 in 13 balls. Before the stand, though, Maxwell played his part in shepherding a thirdwicket stand with Stoinis. The duo added 59 after Stars lost Joe Clarke for a duck and Nick Larkin for an 11-ball six, with Stoinis choosing

to anchor himself for the long haul after the early dismissals.

That forced Maxwell to take the onus of keeping up with the required rate, and he started his assault with a well-timed flick off McAndrew over deep midwicket in the seventh over. After surviving a dropped chance, he drilled two fours back past Ben Cutting in the eighth and even hit Chris Green for a reverse-sweep that very nearly went for six. His 40 seemed to be the match-defining innings of the evening, but his dismissal instead made way for Russell to steal the day's headlines.

Young Stars bowlers impress

With Alex Hales hitting three fours off Nathan Coulter-Nile in the first over of the match, it was the Thunder who came off the blocks red hot. And Stars Captain Maxwell had to shift to spin very early to put Hales in an uncomfortable

position. After Hales carefully saw off the second over from Adam Zampa, he clocked Qais over midoff for a six in the third. However, Maxwell's persistence with spin finally paid off when he himself dismissed the other opener, Sam Whiteman, in the fourth over.

With a new batter in the crease, Qais then pounced on the opportunity by bowling four tidy deliveries before bowling Matthew Gilkes behind his legs. Two quick wickets put the pressure on Hales to go big, but he failed to do so as Couch – who celebrated his 22nd birthday last week – went short, and the batter instead edged an attempted upper-cut to Clarke behind the sticks. Couch, in fact, was Maxwell's sixth bowling option inside the first seven overs, a ploy he said, when miked up, was to unsettle the Thunder batters.

It wasn't the Hales wicket that was most impressive about Couch, but his bowling channel through his first spell. With a packed legside field on the boundary line, he went short or on a length, forcing the experienced middle-order batters Sam Billings and Alex Ross to only play across the line.

From the other end, Qais' tossups tempted the batters, but his guile ensured they couldn't find boundaries. Instead, a frustrated Billings succumbed to cover looking to break the shackles by attacking a Qais delivery that had extra turn.

All this time, Ross had been industrious in his run-scoring by picking singles and twos and

playing low-risk shots, but with the death overs approaching and the Thunder's score still under 100, he looked to change gears. After Sams clobbered Zampa for two sixes in the 18th, Ross tore into Russell with a hat-trick of sixes in a 23-run 19th over. Those hits helped Ross reach his highest-ever BBL score of 77.

However, the young Couch bowled two terrific overs at the death to keep the Thunder

down to a gettable total when momentum was not with the Stars. He kept Ross and Sams quiet in a five-run 17th over. And given the responsibility of the 20th, he conceded just one six in an 11run final over that also included Sams' scalp. Together, Couch and Qais shared four wickets for 43 runs in eight overs and were key contributors in ensuring that their side needed only 152 to win.

(ESPNcricinfo)

SCOREBOARD Thunder Innings Alex Hales c †Clarke b Couch 28 Sam Whiteman c †Clarke b Maxwell 4 Matthew Gilkes b Qais Ahmad 7 Sam Billings †c CoulterNile b Qais Ahmad 9 Alex Ross not out 77 Daniel Sams c Qais Ahmad b Couch 22 Ben Cutting not out 0 Extras (b 1, lb 2, w 1) 4 TOTAL (20 Ov, RR: 7.55) 151/5 Did not bat: Nathan McAndrew, Chris Green (c), Gurinder Sandhu, Tanveer Sangha Fall of wickets: 1-24 (Sam Whiteman, 3.2 ov), 2-33 (Matthew Gilkes, 4.5 ov), 3-40 (Alex Hales, 6.1 ov), 4-65 (Sam Billings, 11.5 ov), 5-149 (Daniel Sams, 19.5 ov) BOWLING O-M-R-W Nathan Coulter-Nile 4-0-31-0 Adam Zampa 3-0-29-0 Qais Ahmad 4-0-17-2 Glenn Maxwell 1-0-7-1 Andre Russell 4-0-38-0 Brody Couch 4-0-26-2

MELBOURNE STARS INNINGS (TARGET: 152 RUNS FROM 20 OVERS) Marcus Stoinis c Sams b Sangha 31 Joe Clarke †c †Billings b McAndrew 0 Nick Larkin c McAndrew b Cutting 6 Glenn Maxwell (c)c Cutting b Sangha 40 Andre Russell not out 42 Hilton Cartwright not out 23 Extras (b 4, lb 4, nb 1, w 4) 13 TOTAL (17.1 Ov, RR: 9.02) 155/4 Did not bat: Beau Webster, Nathan CoulterNile, Adam Zampa, Qais Ahmad, Brody Couch Fall of wickets: 1-15 (Joe Clarke, 2.1 ov), 2-24 (Nick Larkin, 4.2 ov), 3-83 (Marcus Stoinis, 11.2 ov), 4-83 (Glenn Maxwell, 11.3 ov) BOWLING O-M-R-W Daniel Sams 3-0-36-0 Gurinder Sandhu 3.1-0-27-0 Nathan McAndrew 4-0-37-1 Ben Cutting 2-0-17-1 Tanveer Sangha 4-1-20-2 Chris Green 1-0-10-0

Swan trounce St Cuthbert’s 4-1 Brilliant Verstappen claims maiden title after victory in Abu Dhabi

British High Commissioner to Guyana, Jane Miller

T

he ladies of Swan Football Club on Saturday afternoon pulled off a stunning second-half comeback to make their way to the quarterfinals of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF)Guyana National Women’s Football Association (GNWFA) Super-16 tournament.

The Swan ladies, hailing from the Linden-Soesdyke Highway, were tasked with travelling to St Cuthbert’s Mission for the opening game of the first-ever women’s yearend football event.

Once there, the ladies heard remarks from the likes of Village Toshao Timothy Andrews, Deputy Speaker Lenox Shuman, GFF President Wayne Forde, GNWFA President Andrea Johnson and British High Commissioner Jane Miller.

The St Cuthbert’s ladies make a try at the goal

The speakers all highlighted the importance of the tournament’s antidomestic violence slogan.

When the football action A snippet of the action from the GFFfinally commenced, GNWFA Super-16 opening game the Swan ladies seemed to find the game, however, as Swan drilled sandy surface difficult for four goals home in pursuit of playing while the ladies from victory.

St Cuthbert’s played with ease, Aviana Adrian found the but missed many chances. back of the net in the 47th A free kick awarded to St and 81st minute, while Aaliyha Cuthbert’s in the 12th minute Baston completed her brace of resulted in the first goal of the goals in the 84th and 89th, for game, coming off the boots of Swan’s quartet.

Zanita Abraham.

The women’s competition The remainder of the half will continue on Tuesday, elapsed quietly, with Swan still December 14 when the Guyana unable to find their rhythm. Defence Force FC take on the The second half of play was women of Upper Mazaruni. a completely different ball

M

ax Verstappen secured his maiden World Championship with victory in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton finishing second as the race ended in a nail-biting one-lap sprint after a late safety car. The result, which saw Valtteri Bottas finish sixth and Sergio Perez retire, means Mercedes have clinched a record eighth consecutive constructors’ championship.

Medium-tyred Hamilton jumped soft-shod Verstappen at the start, while the Dutchman came back in Turn 6, nudging him wide and over the run-off, but the Mercedes driver continued in the lead. Stewards decided not to investigate. The pit window opened when Verstappen came in on Lap 13, Hamilton a lap later, leaving Perez in the lead with the mission to hold off Hamilton.

Perez did exactly that, on

Laps 20 to 21 – being dubbed a “legend” by his team-mate as he let him past to continue the chase, before pitting on Lap 22.

The podium looked certain until he retired on Lap 56 under a safety car, which was brought out for a Nicholas Latifi crash.

That safety car, during which Verstappen pitted for soft tyres, left the race with just one lap of green flag racing remaining, producing another memorable moment in this epic season.

Verstappen did make the pass on Hamilton into Lap 5, the decisive move, and while Hamilton attempted to come back towards Turn 9, there was nothing doing.

History was made, as it was always going to be, and the trophy went to the Dutchman for the first time.

Carlos Sainz took the final podium place ahead of AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda in P4

– while AlphaTauri team-mate Pierre Gasly rounded out the top five. Bottas struggled to P6, running as low as eighth, and losing a potential podium spot from fourth to sixth under the final safety car.

Alpine took points with Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon eighth and ninth respectively, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc rounding out the top 10.

Alfa Romeo suffered a double retirement as Kimi Raikkonen bowed out on Lap 26, team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi 10 laps later.

Latifi was Williams’ second retiree after George Russell bowed out from his tenure with the team with a loss of drive on Lap 27.

Mercedes and Red Bull, therefore, shared the spoils in this incredible season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, fit for a season that will no doubt go down as one of the greatest ever. (F1)

22

MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2021

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

West Indies lock horns with Pakistan today amid COVID-19 scare in WI camp W est Indies will come into this T20 International (T20I) series hurting from how their title defence went at the T20 World Cup a month ago. They'll have more than just hurt to deal with, given the positive COVID-19 tests for Sheldon Cottrell, Roston Chase, and Kyle Mayers, which have ruled the trio out of all three T20Is. First ball of the first T20I bowls off today, Monday, December 13 from 09:00h Eastern Caribbean time.

While West Indies are dealing with that, Pakistan will come back to a format in which they might feel they ought to be world champions in. They had trampled through the group stages in the World Cup and had the semi-final all but sewn up against Australia, when Matthew Wade struck.

A different 10 minutes and it might have well been Babar Azam with his hands on the trophy instead of Aaron Finch.

Their 3-0 sweep of Bangladesh in Bangladesh merely reinforced the point, winning handily against an opponent and in a country where the two finalists – Australia and New Zealand – had lost comprehensively.

In all this, the larger picture is that there is international cricket happening in Pakistan for the first time since New Zealand pulled

Babar Azam and Nicholas Pooran

out, and then England followed suit, just about two months back.

West Indies have already arrived, and the first T20I looks set to go ahead despite the positive COVID-19 tests. If any team had half a mind to pull out, surely a slew of positive tests provides a readymade reason, but that West Indies are still in Karachi and preparing to play, means cricket will happen, barring the exceptionally unforeseen.

Form guide Pakistan WWWLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)

West Indies LLWLL In the spotlight He was part of the travelling reserves in West Indies' T20 World Cup squad until Fabian Allen's injury catapulted him into the main party, and Akeal Hosein has only grown since then. He's the complete package for T20s, able to bowl restrictively through different innings phases, handy with the bat lower down the order, and an athletic livewire in the field. Hosein is likely to be a sure starter in the XI, and with greater responsibility in a depleted squad. If he can step

up to it, West Indies could have themselves another great T20 prospect.

The Babar Azam question will never really go away from Pakistan. It's about whether the team is best served by Babar playing within himself and looking to bat long, because the batting can be brittle, or whether it would be better that a batter with the kind of range Babar has should give it a full airing, and get the team off to dominant starts. Even at the cost of falling early more often. So far, Babar has largely preferred the first method. There are legitimate concerns about whether Pakistan's batting can withstand early departures for Babar in the quest for more dominance.

But until it is tried for a decent run, we'll never know. Against an already depleted West Indies further hit by COVID-19, might be the best time to try out a more aggressive approach up top.

West Indies have got plenty of exciting new talent to call on, despite missing Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Jason Holder, Shimron Hetmyer and Fabian Allen. There's the trio of Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, and Dominic Drakes – all fast-bowling all-rounders. Each can hit the speed gun as well as the white ball to considerable distances, and all three could be in action in

the first T20I. West Indies XI (possible): 1 Brandon King; 2 Shai Hope; 3 Darren Bravo; 4 Nicholas Pooran (Captain, wicketkeeper); 5 Rovman Powell; 6 Romario Shepherd; 7 Odean Smith; 8 Dominic Drakes; 9 Akeal Hosein; 10 Hayden Walsh Jr and 11 Oshane Thomas.

Pakistan rotated their players

(Vice Captain); 8 Mohammad Nawaz; 9 Haris Rauf; 10 Shaheen Shah Afridi and 11 Shahnawaz Dahani/Mohammad Wasim.

Pitch and conditions The pitch at the National Stadium is expected to be full of runs, with the weather forecast to be pleasant and clear. The match is starting at 18:00h

Mohammad Rizwan has been in red-hot form

in the Bangladesh T20Is, rightly figuring that some needed a bit of a rest after the T20 World Cup and with a Test series against Bangladesh to follow. They're back at full strength now, apart from leaving out Shoaib Malik, Imad Wasim, and Hasan Ali. Pakistan XI (possible): 1 Babar Azam (Captain); 2 Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper); 3 Fakhar Zaman; 4 Haider Ali; 5 Khushdil Shah; 6 Asif Ali; 7 Shadab Khan

(06:00pm) local time, which reduces any effect dew might have.

Stats and trivia Pakistan have won all four T20Is they've played at this venue, although the first game was back in 2008 and the other three came in 2018 – and were against West Indies.

(ESPNcricinfo)

Guyana officially announced as a host country for ICC U-19 World Cup

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uyana was officially announced on Sunday as one of the host countries for the International Cricket Council (ICC) U-19 World Cup at a ceremony at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence. This will mark the first time the tournament will be hosted in the West Indies.

On January 14, West Indies will battle Australia at the Guyana National Stadium, while Sri Lanka and Scotland will face each other at Everest.

India vs South Africa will be played at the Guyana National Stadium on January 15; Ireland and Uganda are set for Everest on the same day. Admission to all matches will be free.

Culture, Youth and Sport Minister Charles Ramson Jr, who graced the occasion with his presence, projected that a US$3 million economic boost was in store for Guyana.

“We quantified internally at the Ministry that in excess of US$3 million in economic value will be coming to Guyana within the month of January. We were not going to allow an opportunity to host a tournament where you are getting that kind of revenue stream indirectly or directly into the country and let that flitter away,” the Minister said.

This will make Guyana the only country to host matches

to the Super League while the remaining teams feature in the Plate across 23 days of competition.

The group stage will take place across Guyana, St Kitts and Nevis, and Trinidad and Tobago between January 14 and 22.

Trinidad and Tobago will host the Plate competition between January 25 and 31, with the Super League taking place in Antigua and Barbuda from January 26. The semifinals will be played on February1 across two venues – the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground and Coolidge Cricket Ground on February 2. The final on February 5 will also be held at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground.

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Culture, Youth and Sport Minister Charles Ramson Jr and Tournament Director Fawwaz Baksh

in all four ICC events that were held in the Caribbean: the 2007 Cricket World Cup; 2010 T20 World Cup, 2018 Women's T20 World Cup, 2022 (U19 Men's World Cup. Sixteen teams travelling to the Caribbean will compete in 48 matches from January 14 to February 5 across the

four host countries.

Of the 16 teams competing, current title holders Bangladesh, England, Canada and the United Arab Emirates form Group A, with debutants Uganda placed in Group B alongside India, South Africa and Ireland.

Group C comprises Pakistan,

Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Papua New Guinea, and Group D features hosts West Indies, Australia and Sri Lanka. Scotland complete the tournament line-up in Group D after New Zealand withdrew due to the extensive mandatory quarantine restrictions for

minors on their return home.

The four host countries have been confirmed as Antigua and Barbuda, Guyana, St Kitts and Nevis, and Trinidad and Tobago with 10 venues hosting 48 matches. The format will see the top two teams from each of the four groups advance

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23

…draft picks, retained players and potential XIs: How PSL teams stack up ahead of the 7th edition

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Odean Smith

he Pakistan Super League (PSL) starts on January 27 in Karachi, with all sides picking two supplementary players to cover for injuries and COVID-19.

The six PSL franchises firmed up their full squads for the seventh edition of the competition. Each franchise had the opportunity of retaining a maximum of eight players. Then they met in Lahore to finalise the remaining squad and complete an 18-man side, including two supplement players to prepare for scenarios such as injury and COVID-19 cases in any camp.

However, it was agreed that these players can feature in the XI regardless of circumstances.

Teams were allowed three platinum, diamond, and gold players each, five silver ones, and two apiece from the emerging and supplementary categories.

However, no one could pick more than four players combined – both overseas and local – in the platinum and diamond groups.

A team had to choose at least three foreign players among their first nine picks, and could get the other foreigner from the supplementary round.

That apart, sides must field a minimum of three overseas players and a maximum of four in their playing XIs. The 16-man

squad must include five foreign and 11 local players, while the 18-player group could have been a combination of either six foreigners and 12 locals or five foreigners and 13 locals. Also, according to PSL regulations, an emerging player should either be Under?23 as of January 1 of the playing season, or someone who has played an aggregate of 10 or more games in the PSL over two seasons, but is not eligible to be in the emerging category as per age.

ESPNcricinfo lists the draft picks and the retained lot of each PSL franchise, and presents a potential starting XI. Lahore Qalandars Draft picks: Fakhar Zaman (Platinum); Abdullah Shafique; Phil Salt; Harry Brook; Kamran Ghulam; Dean Foxcroft; Zaman Khan; Maaz Khan; Samit Patel and Syed Faridoun Retained: Rashid Khan; Shaheen Shah Afridi (both Platinum); Haris Rauf (Diamond, Brand Ambassador); David Wiese (Diamond); Mohammad Hafeez (Diamond); and Ahmed Daniyal; Sohail Akhtar and Zeeshan Ashraf (all Silver) Potential first XI: Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Phil Salt, Mohammad Hafeez, David Wiese, Kamran Ghulam, Samit Patel, Rashid Khan, Zaman Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Haris Rauf.

Multan Sultans Draft picks: Tim David, Odean Smith, Rumman Raees, Asif

(Diamond, Brand Ambassador); Alex Hales (Gold, Mentor); Azam Khan (Gold); Mohammad Wasim Jr (Gold) and Paul Stirling (Silver) Potential first XI: Paul Stirling, Alex Hales, Colin Munro, Shahdab Khan, Azam Khan, Asif Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Muhammad Zeeshan/Mubasir Khan and Marchant De Lange

Sherfane Rutherford

Afridi, Anwar Ali, Rovman Powell, Imran Khan Sr, Amir Azmat, Abbas Afridi, Ihsanullah, and Blessing Muzarabani Retained: Mohammad Rizwan and Rilee Rossouw (Platinum); Imran Tahir (Diamond, Mentor); Sohaib Maqsood (Diamond); Khushdil Shah (Gold, Brand Ambassador); Shahnawaz Dahani (Gold) and Shan Masood (Gold) Potential first XI: Mohammad Rizwan, Shan Masood, Sohaib Maqsood, Rilee Rossouw, Khushdil Shah, Tim David, Odean Smith, Abbas Afridi, Imran Khan Sr/Rumman Raees, Imran Tahir and Shahnawaz Dahani Karachi Kings Draft picks: Chris Jordan; Lewis Gregory; Umaid Asif; Tom Abel; Rohail Nazir; Mohammad Imran (wildcard: from Emerging to Silver); Qasim Akram (Right to Match); Amir Azmat; Talha Ahsan

and Romario Shepherd Retained: Babar Azam (Platinum); Imad Wasim (Platinum); Mohammad Amir (Diamond); Mohammad Nabi (Diamond); Joe Clarke (Gold, Brand Ambassador); Aamir Yamin (Gold); Sharjeel Khan (Gold) and Mohammad Ilyas (Silver) Potential first XI: Babar Azam, Sharjeel Khan, Qasim Akram, Tom Abel, Imad Wasim, Lewis Gregory, Mohammad Nabi, Aamir Yamin, Chris Jordan, Mohammad Amir and Umaid Asif Islamabad United Draft picks: Colin Munro; Marchant de Lange; Mohammad Akhlaq; Reece Topley; Danish Aziz; Zafar Gohar; Mubasir Khan; Mohammad Zeeshan (Right to Match); Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Athar Mahmood Retained: Asif Ali (Platinum); Hasan Ali (Platinum); Faheem Ashraf (Diamond); Shadab Khan

Peshawar Zalmi Draft picks: Hazratullah Zazai, Usman Qadar, Salman Irshad, Arshad Iqbal Sameen Gul, Kamran Akmal, Sirajuddin, Mohammad Amir Khan, Ben Cutting and Mohammad Harris Retained: Liam Livingstone (Platinum); Wahab Riaz (Platinum); Haider Ali (Diamond); Sherfane Rutherford (Diamond); Shoaib Malik (Diamond); Hussain Talat (Gold); Saqib Mahmood (Gold, Brand Ambassador) and Tom Kohler-Cadmore (Silver) Potential first XI: Hazratullah Zazai, Haider Ali, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Ben Cutting, Hussain Talat,

Romario Shepherd

Sherfane Rutherford, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir, Saqib Mahmood and Salman Irshad/ Arshad Iqbal Quetta Gladiators Draft picks: Jason Roy, James Faulkner, Umar Akmal, Sohail Tanvir, Ben Duckett, Naveenul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Arshad Qureshi, Ahsan Ali and Noor Ahmed Retained: James Vince (Platinum); Sarfaraz Ahmed (Platinum); Iftikhar Ahmed (Diamond); Mohammad Nawaz (Diamond); Shahid Afridi (Gold, Mentor); Mohammad Hasnain (Gold, Brand Ambassador) and Naseem Shah (Gold) Potential first XI: Jason Roy, James Vince, Umar Akmal, Sarfaraz Ahmed, James Faulkner, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Hasnain and Abdul Wahid Bangalzai.

(ESPNcricinfo)

Cevons Waste Management Inc partners with GFF-K&S for Super 16 Cup

Minister Rodrigues, OPM, Dave West Indian, Beacon Café support RHTY&SC Christmas programme

– John Lewis Styles, The Gift Centre, Star Rentals, Delmur Shipping also onboard

Latoya Jacobs (second left) of Cevons Waste Management Inc, hands over the sponsorship to GFF President Wayne Forde. At left is Jacobs’ colleague, Jennifer Gordon and at right, K&S Co-Director Aubrey “Shanghai” Major

C

Ramdeo Kumar of Beacon Café hands over a donation of toys to Foster in the presence of Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir

The plans of the 12 cricket teams of the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (RHTY&SC) to make a positive difference in the lives of the less fortunate and single-parent households during the festive season received a massive boost on Friday when several donors handed over their contributions to the effort.

The 12 teams under the supervision of club management would be undertaking a total of 12 major activities and would also be hosting the seventh edition of the very popular Christmas Village.

Club Secretary/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Hilbert Foster, along with Vice President Mark Papannah and Assistant Secretary/CEO Simon Naidu, visited Georgetown on Friday and received a wide array of contributions from

friends of the club as preparations steamed ahead. Prime Minister Mark Phillips and Minister within the Housing and Water Ministry, Susan Rodrigues, both honorary members of the RHTY&SC,MS, handed over financial contributions to the programme, which would include the distribution of 1000 food hampers, 7000 Christmas toys, cycles to youths, educational materials to students, Christmas breakfast for senior citizens, and Christmas packages for singleparent households; a feeding programme; a Christmas concert and assistance to other NonGovernmental Organisations (NGOs), churches and clubs in the county.

The programme was launched on December 1 and would conclude on December 24 with the

Dave Narine hands over the donation to RHTY&SC’s Hilbert Foster

final night of the Christmas village.

Dave West Indian Imports handed over $200,000 which was used to purchase toys while Ramdeo Kumar of Beacon Café donated a large amount of toys to the club. Other donors to the programme who handed over their contributions on Friday were Delmur Shipping, Jennifer Cipriani, The Gift Centre, John Lewis Styles, Chandradat Chintamani, Fitzroy McLeod, and Lennox Cush of Star Rentals.

RHTY&SC Assistant Secretary/ CEO Naidu expressed thanks to all the donors and reassured them that as usual, the events would be well organised. He also disclosed that the club had obtained permission from the COVID-19 task force for the hosting of the Christmas village, and stated that it would be held under

very strict COVID-19 guidelines.

Only vaccinated adults would be allowed into the village and they would be allowed a maximum of 20 minutes.

The village would involve the transformation of the Rose Hall Town Primary School into a dreamland of fantasy for kids with fairy lights, dozens of inflatable characters, the Nativity Scene, a 20foot Christmas Tree, Christmas Star, and toy houses among numerous other attractions. Foster, who is also the President of the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) and a Director of Cricket West Indies (CWI), stated that the objectives of the village were to promote the true tradition of Christmas, provide clean entertainment to families, promote social cohesion, and keep children away from loud music and lewd behaviour.

evons Waste Management Inc, located at Cevons Park, Lot 1 Mandela Avenue, Georgetown, the market leader in the waste industry in Guyana, has joined forces with the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) and the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation (K&S) for the Super 16 Cup, which kicked off on Friday evening at the Leonora Track and Field Facility, West Coast Demerara (WCD).

On hand to receive the company’s donation at its Mandela Avenue headquarters were GFF President Wayne Forde along with K&S Co-Director Aubrey “Shanghai” Major.

Handing over Cevons Waste Management’s contribution was Latoya Jacobs in the presence of her colleague, Jennifer Gordon.

Jacobs, in brief remarks, informed that Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company, Morse Archer was thrilled to be contributing to the tournament, which makes a timely return and shows the

grit and determination of all involved to beat the ongoing pandemic.

“As a company, we recognise the challenges the world and, by extension, Guyana have faced due to COVID-19, but we also applaud you guys for fortitude and determination you have shown to pull off this tournament.

We are, therefore, gratified to be a part of this year-end extravaganza and we wish you and the teams the very best,” Jacobs said.

Forde, in response, expressed pleasure on behalf of both the GFF and K&S to CEO Archer and his company for helping to make the competition a success.

“We know that teamwork makes the job easier for all, so we thank you, Mr Archer and team, for being a part of the corporate team which will bring smiles to the faces of many as the prizes and other tournament expenses are taken care of. We look forward to your continued support in the coming months and years,” the GFF President declared.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2021

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

Page 23

West Indies lock horns with Pakistan today amid COVID-19 scare in WI camp Page 22

…draft picks, retained players and potential XIs: How PSL teams stack up ahead of the 7th edition

Pg 22

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