Guyana Times - Monday November 1, 2021

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Guyana looking at projects for funding from UAE investment company Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

Issue No. 4818

THE BEACON OF TRUTH MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2021

Guyana’s multicultural makeup shines during festivals like Diwali – acting Pres at Diya Light-up

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WHAT'S INSIDE:

Row over P17 women ends in murder of Venezuelan man EU-funded P15 agency sees great potential on int’l markets for Guyana's agro-products

Crime prevention strategy a work in progress P8 — Benn

Ushering in Diwali – The Festival of Lights: The 7th National Diya Light-up by Hindus for Selfless Service at the intersection of Rahaman's Park, East Bank Demerara

Page 3

Tourism Awareness Month

Guyana cannot advance sector with archaic approaches, nonadaptive strategies – Minister

…to advertise for developers of new eco-lodges, resorts

Young mother, newborn die at NA Hospital

Guyana likely to start accessing climate financing by next year

New lawyer P8 sets eyes on becoming Judge Page 16

See story on page 9

…“me child dead, me wife dead, …15% of climate service me and me daughter alone left” – grieving husband Page 7 revenues could go to Indigenous communities

6 males, 1 female among new COVID-19 deaths

Page 17

Local Govt P14 Ministry again warns M&CC against “nefarious plans” to sell city properties

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS OPENINGS BRIDGE

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

Monday, Nov 1 – 01:30h – 03:00h and 13:30h – 15:00h and Tuesday, Nov 2 – 02:00h – 03:30h and 13:30h – 15:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Monday, Nov 1 – 14:05h – 15:35h and Tuesday, Nov 2 – 14:40h – 16:10h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

WEATHER TODAY There will be sunshine during the day. Expect partly cloudy skies at night. Temperatures should range between 21 degrees Celsius and 30 degrees Celsius.

Winds: South-Westerly to North-Westerly between 1.78 metres and 4.91 metres.

High Tide: 14:05h reaching a maximum height of 2.49 metres.

Low Tide: 07:35h and 20:00h reaching minimum heights of 0.76 metre and 0.7 metre.

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Guyana’s multicultural makeup shines during festivals like Diwali – acting President at Diya Light-up A cting President, Prime Minister Mark Phillips, on Sunday said that Guyana’s multicultural makeup truly shines during festivals such as Diwali when citizens from all backgrounds get together to celebrate with their Hindu brothers and sisters.

He made this remark at the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh/ Hindus for Selfless Service (HSS) seventh annual Diya Lighting ceremony held at Rahaman’s Park, Greater Georgetown, ahead of Thursday’s observance of Diwali or Deepavali.

PM Phillips joined HSS members to flip the switch thus illuminating a large Diya display at the intersection of the East Bank Demerara Highway.

Delivering the feature address, Phillips lauded the organisation for hosting events such as these that continue to promote national unity among people.

“At events like these, I always declare what a blessing it is that Guyana has a multicultural make up of people where we can share in the practices and beliefs of our neighbours, friends and fellow citizens. It is at these times that our oneness truly shows as we partake in the practices of other cultures, whether it be through food, dance or even social events. These opportunities can serve as a platform to share beyond just our presence.

We can share support; we can share mutual respect and most of all we can share our knowledge with an aim to achieve a collective goal of building a brighter healthier nation for our future generations,” he posited.

The acting President noted that the Hindu Festival of Lights is a significant one as it is a symbol for the illumination or enlightenment of the human consciousness. He said Diwali not only brings together family and friends but also focuses on harmony, peace, respect and love for others.

He said, “It is a celebration of the vanquishing of all darkness as we seek as a people to aspire to positivity and greater understanding as an enlightened society builds on togetherness.”

According to Phillips, who is currently performing duties of the President, this festival is especially inspiring given the trying times Guyanese, and people around the world, have been enduring as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which continues to devastate countries and take the lives of millions.

“So, as you celebrate this year with your families and friends, we can seek greater knowledge to contribute to our society and the common goal of our country’s development and even as we pursue this knowledge, we must also remember the importance of aligning ourselves in a way that will continuingly build on our goal of being one nation…

I hope that these celebrations encourage us to look within ourselves and among each other for that greater meaning and purpose that Diwali truly encourages,” Phillips posited.

Similar sentiments were shared by Indian High Commissioner, Dr KJ Srinivasa, who praised Guyana’s diversity.

“Guyana, like India, is truly a great diverse nation. I’m sim-

Acting President Mark Phillips with HSS Member Ravi Dev and Indian High Commissioner Dr KJ Srinivasa along with children who attended Sunday’s Diya Light-up ceremony ply amazed by the diversity of the various races here and which is strengthened by the contributions of various people. That amazing solidarity and brotherhood is an example which I gave back home in India,” he stated.

The Indian diplomat went on to laud Indo-Guyanese for preserving and commemorating Indian heritage, cultures and traditions. This, he noted, is something that has not gone unnoticed by the Government of India.

Nevertheless, Dr Srinivasa urged the Hindu community to make this Diwali a time for reflection, prayers and contemplation of their obligations to society, while encouraging the triumph of knowledge over ignorance.

He reminded that the tradition of Diwali uses wealth and riches to provide the opportunity to do good towards the betterment of society.

“We must have patience. No matter how long the wait is, time

changes and things will be favourable especially in this time of COVID-19. It is time that we all remember those who are less fortunate in this society. If we reaffirm our commitment to one another and strive to lift each other up then together we will continue to work towards a brighter future that we all seek,” the Indian diplomat stressed.

Meanwhile, HSS Mentor Ravi Dev, during his remarks at Sunday’s ceremony, pointed out that this is the second year that Diwali will be celebrated in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, he noted that while the global pandemic has curtailed many lives, Diwali brings a message that would lighten up these dark times. He recited a story in the scriptures where the Devas (Gods) had been cursed and became weak, losing their immortality. But they were advised to churn an ocean of milk which would produce a nectar (Amrit) that would return their

immortality. He said they did that and were successful but they did not do it alone.

“Facing this pandemic, we have been searching, we have been churning the oceans for a cure that would give us back our lives – very similar to them. But what is very important from this story is that even the gods themselves could not accomplish this task alone. They had to get the cooperation and the assistance of their opponents and that is the lesson. Only if we all cooperate that we can face the challenges of this pandemic and other challenges that we face in this world.” According to Dev, in Guyana there are so many other challenges apart from the pandemic that would find this story apropos.

“Out of cooperation, so many things were produced… So in the darkest, which is Diwali – it is the darkest night of the year – on Thursday, we’re seeing that there can be light,” he stated.

(G8)

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 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

Lies, BS, and fake news in politics

P

olitics has always been conceded by the ordinary people as being a “dirty game”: the word “game” being as significant as “dirty”. A game, after all, is not “real life”, but actions based on made-up rules, specifically for that performance. It is accepted, however, that games can influence persons’ actions in “real life”, but generally this is seen as a positive as in cricket “building character”.

But if politics is a “dirty game”, then we should expect that it will also influence us in the wider context also into less salubrious actions.

Part of the tradition of politics is that politicians have to lie. Or at least be willing to lie so as to achieve their aims. According to one definition, “a lie is a statement that the liar knows or believes to be false, stated with the express intention of deceiving or misleading the receiver for some advantageous gain on the part of the liar.” In the case of politicians, they insist that the lie is for the “greater good”.

Take the case of the A Partnership for National Unity/ People’s National Congress (APNU/PNC) and its camp followers who have been telling their supporters that it was the “anomalies” that were “discovered” during the later recount stage which forced Region 4 Returning Officer (RO) Clairmont Mingo to intercede in the tabulation of Reg 4’s Statements of Poll (SoPs) to “rectify” matters. As to how Mr Mingo knew about these “anomalies” ahead of time, when all and sundry in the APNU/PNC affirmed at the end of the polls on March 2 that the voting had proceeded to its conclusion without a “hitch” has never been explained. But the question as to why these lies by politicians are believed by their followers and they do not feel “wronged” – even though they accept that politicians “must” lie – is as intriguing.

But liars at least acknowledge that there is a “truth” – they are simply misleading others as to what that is. In Guyana, the original lies about the No Confidence Motion and the March 2 elections have been long transmuted into what the Princeton philosopher Harry Frankfurt called “BS”.

He made this distinction between lying and BS’ing: You lie when you know the facts, but you misstate them to score “points”. BS’ing, however, is when you do not care about what you are saying; you just speak for effect. As Frankfurt showed, BS’ing is worse than lying, especially with people in authority; because of the possible consequences. As Frankfurt noted, the BSer’s “focus is panoramic rather than particular. He does not limit himself to inserting a certain falsehood at a specific point, and he is thus not constrained by the truths surrounding that point...’.

As opposed to 1985 when Frankfurt made his famous distinction, in today’s world, social media is particularly accommodative of BS. According to research carried out by the Pew Research Center, “social media posts tend to be overly dramatic or exaggerated versions of the truth, and people are likely to make accusations and start arguments about an issue without consideration of the facts.”

In Guyana, these posts have morphed into Facebook platforms via which select like-minded audiences are regaled with fake news that abounds in BS. There is very little, if any, effort made to check truth claims that are asserted categorically and swallowed wholesale by their audience. This demagoguery serves to deepen the extant polarisation in the society, but more insidiously, to delegitimise in the minds of the audience, contra opinions. For example, the Facebook BS’ers have been asserting that all the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government’s assistance to schoolchildren, pensioners, or flood victims, etc, have been discriminatorily distributed without providing any evidence. It is now a “given” in their echo chambers that this is the reality and the trust that is necessary to hold societies together is further eroded.

The dangers of this demagogic descent into lying, BS, and fake news in politics is caught in Thomas’ Theorem: “When men define their perceptions as real, they are real in their consequences”.

Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips, who is performing the functions of President, lighting a diya at the 7th National Diya Light-up, which was hosted by the Hindus for Selfless Service at the intersection of Rahaman’s Park, East Bank Demerara. Also in photo is former Parliamentarian Ravi Dev and a representative of HSS

Greater awareness of Rett syndrome Dear Editor, Imagine being stuck in a glass box, in front of your family and friends. You are uncomfortable, hungry, thirsty, sad, lonely and frustrated.

Think about that frustration and lack of acknowledgement.

Why can’t they notice your frustration; why are they still smiling and laughing while you’re in discomfort? You scream your requests louder but to no avail. Now, instead of a glass box, imagine it’s your own body that you are trapped in. Imagine waking up every day unable to pull the curtains, brush your teeth or drink your first glass of water. Think about being unable to say good morning to your family and tell them all about your dreams. Imagine being trapped in a world where all your efforts to express yourself are blocked. Your head or tummy hurts, but you cannot ask for relief. Someone is hurting you, but you cannot scream for help. Then imagine seizures, multiple silent seizures, mostly unnoticed.

Imagine seeing others living their lives to their full capabilities while you are trapped.

That scarcely brushes the surface on the suppressing disorder that is Rett syndrome.

Rett syndrome is a rare neurological disability that affects every aspect of an individual’s life - their ability to breathe, speak, walk, eat.

Rett syndrome leads to severe physical impairments and loss of motor skills. The child has a lessened ability to express feelings. According to the Rett Syndrome Research Trust, statistics show that 1 in every 10,000-12,000 kids

are born with Rett. There is a lag in the brain and head growth in a child with Rett syndrome. They may seem to be growing normally; however, significant symptoms occur between 6-18 months of a baby’s life. Sometimes, delays in walking abilities; or, they may lose the skill, some may not walk until late childhood or adolescence, and some never can walk independently.

Children with Rett syndrome experience apraxia, seizures and scoliosis, - ranging from non-existent to severe. This disability mostly affects girls.

Rett syndrome is caused by a gene mutation in the MECP2 gene located on the X chromosome. The MECP2 gene contains instructions for producing (encoding) a protein called MeCP2. This protein is essential for normal brain function and other functions in the body.

Rett syndrome is marked by repetitive hand movements. Other signs and symptoms are: wringing and washing of the hands, difficulty breathing and eating, slowed head growth, loss of eye contact, grinding of the teeth, loss of speech, loss of motor skills, apraxia, silent seizures and gradual losses of the individual’s basic skills.

According to the International Rett Syndrome Association (IRSA), Viennese physician; Andreas Rett first discovered Rett syndrome in 1954, when he noticed two girls making the same repetitive hand-writing motions.

This disorder is diagnosed based on the symptoms the child depicts. A genetic-based blood test is done to find out whether the con-

dition is caused by a genetic mutation. The disorder is confirmed by the presence of a change in the gene and general observations. There is no known cure and managing its symptoms can be very difficult. Improvements in the diagnosis of Rett syndrome has, as yet, no parallels in treatment. Medicine can only offer supportive measures; feeding tubes, orthopaedic braces and surgeries, and trials of standard seizure medications, which are often ineffective in Rett syndrome. Treatment for the disorder is symptomatic, focusing on the management of symptoms, and supportive. Medication may be needed for breathing irregularities and motor difficulties, and antiepileptic drugs may be used to control seizures.

Occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and hydrotherapy may prolong mobility.

Some children may require special equipment and aids such as braces to arrest scoliosis, splints to modify hand movements, and nutritional programmes. As of 2021, the tunnel is beginning to look shorter and brighter; as clinical treatments are being assessed and researched for gene reversal. “Traditional gene-replacement therapy which involves swapping out the mutated copy of MECP2 for a functional one has been successful in mice, but it’s not obvious how to safely translate that approach for people,” said Matthew Lyst - a researcher in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

In Guyana, due to the unfamiliarity and rarity of this

disability, many people are misdiagnosed or unable to obtain a diagnosis. Apart from financial reasons, diagnosis and treatment are limited and somewhat non-existent in healthcare facilities. To obtain medical aid for a suspected Rett individual, one must be financially capable to be referred to another country’s medical care. I was inspired by my niece, a victim of this disorder. I, along with family members and friends, initiated a non-profitable organisation called Precious Angels Charity. It is our mission to inform and empower all Guyanese through awareness campaigns and activities. We have successfully carried out an awareness walk in 2019 but have been unable to execute walks or fundraising events since the pandemic continues to rage. We aim to assist those affected by this disorder and raise funds that will go towards the development and improvement of research. We aim to provide services; financial aid but also include advocacy, intervention and referrals. We, therefore, rely on the generosity of our community members and businesses.

We hope to receive your support for the sake of the precious angels who are afflicted by this stifling disorder. With your help, we will achieve the financial ability to construct the first Rett Syndrome Clinic in Guyana.

October is Rett Syndrome Awareness Month. Purple is the colour and a butterfly is the symbol.

Sincerely, Hadiyyah S Mohamed

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Surveillance cameras project to be extended to other regions – Benn …as Road Safety Awareness Month launched

R

oad Safety Awareness Month was launched at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre located at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara (ECD), on Sunday in a joint collaboration with the Guyana Police Force (GPF) Traffic Department, Home Affairs Ministry and the Public Works Ministry.

In an effort to curb the increasing carnage on Guyana’s roadways, the Police Force along with the Ministries have announced several plans afoot to boost road safety locally; one of which is to extend the “Safe City” project to other regions.

Even with more punitive measures being introduced by the Police Force to ensure drivers are attentive, and do not drive under the influence of alcohol on the roadways, some drivers have been defiant of the law.

Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn during his ad-

dress at the launching ceremony, said that the project will now be a “safe country configuration” where the project will be extended to other regions to guarantee road safety countrywide.

“Additional cameras will be established in other towns and other highway areas and there will be subordinate regional places too where there will also be people watching, where we will put in number plate recognition and other issues in respect of stolen vehicles…”, he explained.

In relation to other issues of infractions on the roadway, the Home Affairs Minister said that

the system will be able to “remotely tag” persons to those infractions.

“Those are some of the interventions we are undertaking.

Person are still being trained and some hiring is still being done, but the critical initial training is being undertaken and that is one of the principal interventions we are working on at the moment,” Minister Benn said.

The Minister in his address also made mention of cases that are failing in the local courts because of Police equipment, especially speed guns that are malfunctioning. He added that there

needs to be a paradigm shift in such situations, and it should be addressed soon. “…there is the infamous case of former national cyclist who was killed on the road and the case failed because it was said that our speed gun was not collaborating… I want to remind the Police and others that there is still in the laws and perhaps in the standing orders other ways of doing field sobriety test.”

“We don’t have to necessarily to wait to take a blood sample or check the collaboration itself of an instrument…”, the Minister added.

In July 2019 the Safe City Project saw the installation of cameras around Georgetown and the country’s main ports of entry.

It is said that the cameras were set up in public spaces and are “of extremely high quality”.

The centre, which is being controlled near the Arthur Chung

Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn

Conference Centre, has been dubbed the National Emergency and Response Command Centre.

The command centre is a part of the country’s broadband strategy and is in keeping with a smart city direction that will prompt efficient public security services in Guyana. (G9)

PPP/C would not be Harmon’s PR

Dear Editor, Deputy Speaker, Mr Shuman is calling on Dr Irfaan Alli to meet with the Opposition Leader, to make substantive the positions of Chief Justice, the Commissioner of Police as well as the Chancellor of the Judiciary. Mr Shuman is here standing in the position of a statesman and as a go between for the President and the Opposition, to make these longstanding acting positions permanent. Now, immediately the pro PNC press is trumpeting this latest move as a first for the Opposition and something that puts President Ali as the one reneging on one of his constitutional duties as President.

But this can be furthest from the truth, because anyone with a relatively fair knowledge of Guyana’s political history

would be aware that it is the PPP/C party who instituted this confirmation process and not the PNC. In fact, that party was firmly against it, to the extent that we had to get foreign intervention to help tide them over into agreement.

Government in consultation with Opposition for those top positions is all due to the tireless effort of the PPP/C, and not that of the PNC. So, Harmon’s attempt to put up a façade or appearing to be concerned is simply a duplicitous act on his part.

Another look at this matter would show a PPP/C Administration summoning the Opposition to a meeting to discuss issues of governance, which they bluntly refused. So, Mr Harmon is coming out to be more and more the foolish one, in that he has squandered a great

opportunity to redeem himself in the eyes of his supporters and the nation on a whole.

But Harmon is not telling his supporters the real story behind this conciliatory position of his, the true fact is he is down on the ropes, if not on his knees, in this contest for leadership of his party. He is unsure of what his fate might be and as such anything that would make him look good in the eyes of his party he would clutch on to.

So, pretend to be a “good Opposition” and agree to the appointment of those top officials, this is his ob-

jective, this is his campaign call. By so doing he is hoping to get the Government’s support on his public relations stunt.

However, I must assure him that the PPP/C Administration would not be a PRO for Harmon - it is not going to happen - that is something he would have to work out all by himself. So, the beat goes on for party leadership. It would be an interesting contest, if not combative, as is the usual occurrence when it comes to the PNC. Respectfully, Neil Adams

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2021

Page

Foundation

Materials:

Water Oil Food colouring (any colour of your choosing) 16 oz clear glass Another 16 oz clear glass A fork

Instructions:

Fill the tall glass almost to the top with room-temperature water.

Pour 2 tablespoons of oil into the other glass.

Add 2 drops of food colouring to the glass with the oil.

Stir the oil into the food colouring using a fork. Stop once you break the food colouring into smaller drops.

Pour the oil and colouring mixture into the tall glass.

Now watch! The food colouring will slowly sink in the glass, with each droplet expanding outwards as it falls. Looks like fireworks! Right?

How it works:

Food colouring dissolves in water, but not in oil. So when you pour in your food colouring/oil mixture the oil will float at the top of the water because it is less dense, and the food colouring will begin to dissolve once they sink through the oil and into the water.

Extra experiments:

Try using red and blue as your food colouring, and do one drop of blue and one drop of red when you start to mix the oil and food colouring together.

Try doing it without the oil and observe and record how the results are different.

Try using a larger glass, does it change the results? (scienceisfun.org)

By Christina Rossetti

Who has seen the wind?

Neither I nor you: But when the leaves hang trembling, The wind is passing through.

Who has seen the wind?

Neither you nor I: But when the trees bow down their heads, The wind is passing by.

Source: The Golden Book of Poetry (1947)

WORD SEARCH

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Young mother, newborn die at NA Hospital “Me child dead, me wife dead, me and me daughter alone left” – grieving husband According to Partab, after being informed of the second death, he was allowed to see his wife’s body, which was still in the ward.

He explained that it was covered with a sheet and when he lifted the sheet, his wife was naked.

“They did not put on clothes on her,” he said in a low tone.

“Me child dead, me wife dead, me and me daughter alone left. Fuh grow up without a mother now is very hard,” the young widower

Dead: Devi Samaroo

By Andrew Carmichael

A

newborn baby and her mother died hours apart at the New Amsterdam Hospital.

Dead is Devi Samaroo, 24, of Bloomfield, Corentyne, Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne), and her baby.

The woman was admitted as a patient at the region’s premier health facility on Friday, gave birth on Saturday and was told that the baby died. However much to the family’s shock when they went to visit on Sunday morning, they were informed that the mother also died.

Samaroo’s husband, Sunil Partab, 28, a barber from Bloomfield village, said that he is awaiting answers from the hospital as information has been piecemeal.

A release from the Regional Health Services

Grieving husband Sunil Partab

on Sunday said Samaroo received her antenatal care at the Whim Health Centre and was admitted as a patient at the New Amsterdam Hospital on October 29.

The release stated that on Saturday morning, Samaroo delivered a preterm infant.

According to the release, an investigation has commenced and health officials in the region are awaiting the post-mortem results.

“The management and staff of the New Amsterdam Regional Hospital are deeply saddened by this event and express our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the deceased,” the release said.

Speaking with the media on Sunday, the woman’s husband said that her tentative due date was November 2.

Recounting the sequence of events following the birth of the couple’s second child,

Grieving grandmother Saynauth

Partab said he and his mother-in-law visited the hospital on Saturday morning to see the newborn but were told that they could not see the infant at that time.

“When me go me ask them if me can talk to Devi Samaroo, them say no me cannot talk to her, a nurse told me that. So we deh deh because them not allowing me nor me mother-in-law to go in. Whilst we deh outside them come and tell we say the child dead. So me ask them if we can see the child them say no, say the child already in mortuary. So me ask them if me can see the girl them say no,” the grieving father said.

He said there was no information forthcoming and when they tried to inquire and have a doctor provide them with information about what was happening, they were told by nurses that they

ing that she was numb when she heard her daughter also died.

Meanwhile, family members are calling for a thorough investigation into the deaths.

On September 2, Jacinth Muhummed Osborne, a 22-year-old teacher of St Lust Primary School, Waruni, Berbice River, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), died at the New Amsterdam Hospital moments after giving birth to her first child.

The woman reportedly

Mahindrawattie

were instructed not to give any information.

Not getting any assistance from the nurses, the barber said he and his mother-in-law turned to the porters and security guards on duty for assistance and were allowed to see the infant, who was at the time in the mortuary.

Upon an examination of the body, Partab claimed that he saw a spot of faeces on the napkin, which confirmed his suspicions that his daughter was born alive.

Meanwhile, when the dead baby’s father and grandmother along with other relatives went to the hospital on Sunday morning, they were told that Samaroo had also passed away earlier in the morning.

He told this publication that there was again no information forthcoming from medical personnel.

Other maternal deaths at NA Hospital this year: Jacinth Muhummed Osborne and Vanessa Lewis-Sahadeo

added.

Meanwhile, Samaroo’s mother, Mahindrawattie Saynauth, could not hold back her tears as she recounted the difficulty she experienced trying to get information on the two deaths.

The mother of four said she was eagerly looking forward to the birth of her third grandchild.

“When me hear that me grandchild died, me feel very bad, me can’t move,” the tearful woman said, add-

died in the operating theatre moments after giving birth.

On March 3, Shanti Devi Suku of Letter Kenny, Corentyne, delivered her baby at the New Amsterdam Hospital at about noon and hours later she was told that she had a stillbirth.

It was on February 27 that 31-year-old Vanessa LewisSahadeo of Williamsburg died hours after her newborn. She had also given birth at the New Amsterdam Hospital.

8 NEWS

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Crime prevention strategy a work in progress – Benn …integrity in policing symposium a step in the journey

Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn

P

rior to taking office, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) had promised to implement a crime prevention strategy. According to Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn, the now governing party will keep its promise and this strategy is a work in progress.

On the sidelines of the inaugural Integrity in Policing Symposium at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), the Home Affairs Minister was asked

about the strategy. He explained that even before it is released, it will go through various layers of review.

“The work in respect of the security reform for the Guyana Police Force, or issues in relation to the national security strategy, those are being worked at and in due course you will get information on when it will be released,” Benn explained.

“There are several levels of reviews in relation to our plans, but particularly here in setting the basis for how we move forward, getting consensus and agreement in principal approaches and resorts in respect of those plans, begin with these kinds of engagements.

So, we’ll get to that point.”

According to Benn, the review of this strategy will involve various facets of society, from the communities to the businesses and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). The strategy, he further explained, will not be restricted to the Police.

“I did say we’re having the integrity symposium today and just now we’re moving out further, to stake-

holders. Community people, business organisations, NGOs and we’re going to be discussing the overall question of how do we increase the peace in Guyana.”

“Increasing the peace in Guyana doesn’t only have to do with the Police in itself, but with the communities, the towns, the stakeholders, the regions, business people. This is all part of the approach towards a given approach, an outcome,” Benn said.

Back in August, Minister Benn had revealed that there was a 19.3 per cent decrease in serious crime.

This percentage represents a year-to-day comparison of statistics from January 1 to July 30, 2020, and January 1 to July 30, 2021. These are not stats that social media was very accepting of and the Minister addressed this.

“In spite of what you are hearing on social media, in spite of the fact that we may not have been paying attention to what was happening in relation to serious crime in 2020… now we can focus and pay attention to issues of crime and to deal and ramp up on those issues so that we can make our coun-

try safer,” he had said.

Of the 516 incidences of robbery under arms in 2021, 333 were committed in 2021 which indicates a 35 per cent decrease. A 55.6 per cent decrease has been recorded in robbery with aggravation with 36 incidences in 2020 and 16 in 2021. Break and enter and larceny also saw a decrease of 10.7 per cent with 457 in 2020 and 408 in 2021.

As it relates to larceny from the person, there has been a notable decrease of 46.4 per cent with 69 in 2020 and 37 in 2021. There were 51 cases of robbery with violence compared to 42 in 2021, which represents a decrease by 17.6 per cent.

With 18 robberies in 2020 and 13 in 2021, there has been a 27.8 per cent decrease in this crime. There has also been a steep decrease in burglary of 41.9 per cent with 93 incidences in 2020 and 54 in 2021.

One instance of kidnapping was recorded in 2021 and none in 2020. However, there has been an increase in rape cases with 104 incidences in 2020 and 177 in 2021, reflecting a 70.2 per cent increase. (G3)

New lawyer sets eyes on becoming Judge

“M

y legal education is not complete; I aspire to become a Judge and to be admitted to the Bar in several Caribbean jurisdictions. As I enter this noble profession, I pledge to uphold its honour and dignity with honestly, foresight, industry, and courage…to contribute to the economic process and social cohesion of this nation and to assist the court to do justice according to the law.”

That was the assertion of 25-year-old Shercola Exeter, the newest member of the Guyana Bar. Her petition to practise law in and around the courts of Guyana was presented by Attorney-at-Law Dexter Todd before High Court Judge Simone MorrisRamlall on Thursday. In presenting her petition, Todd described the former St Rose’s High School student as an extraordinary young woman of outstanding persona.

The lawyer said he has known Exeter since she was a child, and she has always been a marker for success. In her quest to pursue higher learning, Exeter attended the University of Guyana (UG) where she read for and obtained her Bachelor of Laws. While reading for her law degree, she completed several certificate courses, one in international criminal law and another in gas industry operations and markets.

On completion of the law programme in 2019, she was offered a place at

New Attorney-at-Law Shercola Exeter

the Hugh Wooding Law School (HWLS) in Trinidad and Tobago from where she graduated in 2021 with her Legal Education Certificate (LEC) - a prerequisite to practise law in Guyana and the Commonwealth Caribbean.

“During her time at law school, she has been a member of a number of committees including the welfare, public relation, mentorship and she was also involved in active volunteer work with various organisations in Trinidad and Tobago,” Todd told the court. He disclosed that Exeter joined his law firm in 2016 as a paralegal, and in 2021, she became one of the firm’s legal consultants.

He said that the new lawyer worked on many cases, including sensitive matters “in which her research and delivery were

quite sound…” Besides her passion for criminal and family law, Exeter, who operates a small business, has a zeal for fashion and travelling.

Todd added that for the justice system to work, there must be delivery and execution. To this end, he noted that Exeter has the ability and training to make the profession proud.

“She joins this very ancient profession, and she is here to make essential contributions. I believe that she will continue to maintain the overriding duties of justice which hinge on the public interest principle, and she will be able to assist the court to do just that in accordance with the law.

Reputation

Justice Morris-Ramlall, in brief remarks, welcomed the young lawyer to the profession. The Judge advised her, “I encourage you to be mindful of the importance of your reputation as an attorney. As you embark on this journey, you have to decide what is reputation that you want to craft for yourself. Once you decide what that reputation is, then you have to work to develop it. Be mindful that if you do not have a good reputation, you are very likely to be ineffective in your practise and in representation of your clients”.

The Judge told her to ensure that she upholds the ethics of the profession and encouraged her to find a mentor. The High Court

Judge also encouraged her to learn the value of networking as it is very important in the legal profession.

Importantly, she urged her to engage in continuing legal education since the law is constantly evolving. Although the Judge applauded her venturing into business, she reminded her that the law is a “jealous master” and told her that she must ensure that she can balance them adequately.

In response, Exeter firstly thanked God for his goodness and mercy.

“I stand confidently before you, not because of any labour of my hand, but because of the goodness and grace of the Lord.” She extended gratitude to her parents for the important values they have instilled in her and for the great sacrifices they made to meet her educational needs despite their budget constraints.

“Without you [her parents], I would not have made it through law school,” said the new lawyer.

Further, she thanked Todd for “taking me under your wings at your chambers during in-service training and as an associate at his law firm Dexter Todd and Associates.” She said that Todd was a constant source of encouragement to her as he believed in her abilities. The newly admitted lawyer said she is always reminded by the words of her father: “Pursue a career and not a job.” (G1)

Revolution…

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…in the Police ranks? f the Commissioner of Police has his way, there might well be a revolution in our much-maligned (and rightfully so!) Police Force! The man wants to stop the practice -- which evidently has been in place from God knows when – that GPF recruits must just have a “sound” primary school education!! Well, this explains a lot! Your Eyewitness didn’t think that you had to get five CSECs with Maths and English to be accepted. Even UG can’t get that – and has resorted to all sorts of made-up entrance free passes. But just “sound primary school” for the Police?

First of all, what’s a “sound” Primary School Education? Is it a cut-off mark from the NGSA? But if a student got a decent mark, one would’ve expected him/her to enter Secondary School! Guyanese always knew that Policemen weren’t the brightest bulbs in the room –- any room!! But we can now understand why the old joke about Policemen has survived for so long.

You know…the Policeman nabs the miscreant in the act on Vlissengen St, but hauls him over to Church to charge him since there was no way in Hell (or Earth!) he could spell “Vlissengen”!!

But seriously, folks, this is a revelation we can’t allow to now just blow away in the wind. For the longest while, there have been complaints about the low salaries in the GPF being a disincentive to recruit new cops. Well, let’s now raise the salaries to those in the Private Sector – but require at least 3 subjects at CSEC with English Language. Then there’s no question, there will be a whole new cohort lining up to sign on the dotted line.

And this will be the Revolution. We’ll get Policemen (and women) who’ll actually be able to have a discussion with a civilian they nabbed in one suspected infraction or another – without resorting to profanities! Up to now, the poor cop probably just didn’t have the vocabulary to express himself and in frustration, lets off a few scatological exclamations!

Did you ever think the reason traffic Police drag you to the station for just crossing an unbroken yellow line might be that they just can’t fill out the traffic ticket violation?

Now, before you think this suggestion is unrealistic…let’s appreciate the PPP’s push for raising the educational level of all Guyanese. Those 20,000 scholarship graduates from their Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) will soon be looking for jobs…and why not the Police Force if the pay is competitive?? In New York, you need at least 60 college credits to apply.

All in all, your Eyewitness is really excited by this development. He’s obviously had too many unfortunate interactions with (uneducated) Police! …with Bajans Well, how times have changed!! Bajans are actually being polite to Guyanese – which isn’t a curse word to them any longer. At least, not in front of us!! And this just shows you that money makes the world go round! Forget all those fine-sounding platitudes about us all passing through the same sugar plantations and slavery which made us into “one people”. Not so…as all of us who were subjected to the “Guyanese Bench” at Grantley Adams Airport know to our cost!

Anyhow, now that our oil’s starting to flow, it’s clear that the centre of gravity of the new Caribbean will be Guyana and Suriname and we should collaborate.

Now, there’s absolutely nothing wrong about this. For sure, we’ll need all sorts of expertise to develop this new economy – and if they can be sourced from our Caricom neighbours – why not?

Trinidad and Barbados along with Guyana and Suriname can now form a SouthCarib Hub. There’s strength in numbers, no? …in PNC Something is not right with the PNC leadership race.

After being such a live wire in Georgetown, will Volda Lawrence not even contest for the Chairmanship?

Her WCB role did blunt the “only PNC friends” exclamation for crossover votes.

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

NEWS

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Guyana likely to start accessing climate financing by next year …15% of climate service revenues could go to Indigenous communities international community to pursue the enshrinement of a workable market mechanism within the UNFCCC,” the document states, adding that no binding agreement will be entered into until all safeguards are met.

“Specifically, Guyana’s significant progress on building a world-leading MRVS, coupled with the recent emergence of a large voluntary market with demand supported by sovereign governments, means that from

President Irfaan Ali was received by a representative of the Queen of England upon his arrival in Glasgow on Sunday for COP26

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here is a strong possibility that from 2022, Guyana can begin accessing climate financing from international private and public sector sources, an arrangement similar to the REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) agreement that allowed Guyana to earn US$250 million from 2010.

This is according to the draft Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030 document which was recently released by the Government for stakeholder input. The document states that the new LCDS will build on the objectives of the old and capitalise on various opportunities for the country to earn money and grow its economy. Among them is climate financing.

“From early 2022, there is a strong possibility that Guyana can access market-based mechanisms for forest climate services that includes private, as well as international public sector financing,” the LCDS draft states.

“This will enable a pathway to transition from the existing Guyana-Norway partnership and increase the value of sustainably managing Guyana’s forests. The MRVS system, built since 2009, will also act as a platform for integration with other ecosystem services markets.”

Another opportunity open to Guyana from the strategy is to stimulate future growth through clean energy and sustainable economic activity. It theorises that Guyana can undergo a revolutionary energy transition while growing its economy and keeping greenhouse gas emissions from energy use at around 2019 levels.

“This can be done through the replacement of expensive, polluting heavy fuel oil with natural gas as a bridge to an energy system built mainly from hydropower, solar and wind power. Alongside the national low-carbon energy transition, targeted investments can be made in the underlying infrastructure of a broader, low carbon economy to create jobs all over the country and enhance liveli-

hoods.”

“This includes investments to enhance digital connectivity in under-served communities, to improve transportation, improve access to finance, and create micro and small, low-carbon enterprises,” the LCDS states.

Additionally, the document talks of targeted support for Amerindian and other communities who depend on industries such as logging and who would likely be affected by restrictions on logging activities. According to the LCDS, 15 per cent of revenues from these forest climate services will go to Amerindian communities.

“The development of the Ocean Economy is a further priority - to bridge the landocean nexus via low-carbon growth. This will include areas such as fishing, ocean biodiversity and mangroves, and shipping and transport,” the strategy states.

Monitoring, reporting, verification

For Guyana to receive payments, however, there needs to be a monitoring system in place to ensure deforestation rates are at the agreed level. This is where the Monitoring, Reporting and Verification System (MRVS) comes in, with the LCDS assuring that monitoring will be done in compliance with international standards.

It was explained that building on the GuyanaNorway REDD+ partnership of 2009 and the world class MRVS that was established, Guyana is now well positioned to move on to the second phase of the project - selling forest climate services through the voluntary markets.

Between now and 2025, the Government aims for the country to generate credits to be traded on these markets and from 2025, for a national carbon registry linked to the international markets to be established.

“In 2021, at the Glasgow Conference of the Parties (COP26) of the UNFCCC, Guyana will join with other forest countries and the

early 2022, there is a strong possibility that Guyana’s sale of forest climate services can be structured around high-quality voluntary markets that include private, as well as international public sector financing.”

COP26 is slated to run from Sunday to November 12 and will see the attendance of many Heads of State.

President Dr Irfaan Ali arrived in Scotland to participate in the convention on Sunday. The President, who

left Guyana on Saturday morning, was received by a representative of the Queen upon his arrival in Glasgow, Scotland.

President Ali’s schedule includes delivering several addresses at key high-level climate summits, participating in several international roundtable discussions and partaking in bilateral meetings with other Heads of State and Government officials.

Already, he has met and

engaged with Jamaica’s Prime Minister, Andrew Holness; St Lucia’s Prime Minister, Phillip J Pierre and the Bahamas’ Prime Minister, Philip Davis, on their way to Scotland.

The President is coming off weeks of activism in favour of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and climate change and it was he who launched the national consultation process for the expanded LCDS 2030 last week. (G3)

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14 NEWS Local Govt Ministry again warns M&CC against “nefarious plans” to sell city properties MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2021|| GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Georgetown Mayor Ubraj Narine

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escribing it as a “nefarious plan” to undervalue and rapidly sell off city properties, the Local Government and Regional Development Ministry on Sunday said it continues to monitor very closely, actions by some members of the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) of Georgetown.

“These plans must stop forthwith,” the Ministry said in a statement on Sunday. The Ministry noted that notwithstanding the significance of these prop-

erties in the historical and other structural aspects of the city’s landscape, some of which form part and parcel of its recorded cultural heritage inventory, new reports indicate that the M&CC is continuing with its clandestine pursuits unabated to dispose of them.

“The Ministry of Local Government, therefore, wishes to reiterate its position with clear unambiguous warnings to the City Council, that it will not condone nor stand idly by while they continue to pursue actions for negotiated disposal of the city’s assets in a manner that contravenes the high standards of accountability, transparency, and adherence to the rule of law that has been established within the national governance frameworks for Guyana,” the Ministry warned.

According to the Ministry, these reports are being taken with the utmost levels of seriousness, with the relevant authorities being placed on high alert to prevent these actions from being carried out.

The Local Government

well advised to take careful note of the resolve of the Government on this crucial matter and avoid the swift and decisive consequences that would be accorded to all parties to any of these nefarious and dubious deals being contemplated, should they choose to follow through on them, despite the many warnings.”

Previous warning

Local Government and Regional Development Minister Nigel Dharamlall

and Regional Development Ministry asserted that the M&CC must understand that Georgetown and its assets, though within the management ambit of the Council, do not constitute personal property in part or whole. As such, the Ministry said that the properties cannot be sold off based on personal interests nor based on the whims and fancies of its members.

The Ministry added, “The City Council would be

Earlier this month, the Ministry had warned the M&CC about the consequences attached to undervaluing and disposing of the city’s assets in a shady manner. It was reported that several reports suggest that several properties owned by the M&CC have been undervalued and are being negotiated for sale “through very questionable processes and highly-suspicious shady transactions”.

After taking office last year, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government had launched an audit into City Hall, targeting both the financial and operational makeup of the municipality.

Last month, it was pointed out by Auditor General Deodat Sharma that City Hall’s last audit dates back several years ago. For that audit, he noted, all they did was submit financial statements for 2019 and 2020, and even those were not properly prepared.

When it comes to the years of unreconciled City Hall accounts, Sharma noted, the best option may be to start over. “What I’ve advised several entities, including them, let’s close the books, open new books, take an asset that was there, and start fresh. Get new bank accounts and everything. Because it doesn’t make sense to go back to 2005, 2006. Let’s sit down, list all the assets and cash positions, and start a new balance sheet,” the Auditor General has been quoted as saying.

In February, the Council was placed in a conundrum as it relates to leased properties in the city and the possession of relevant documents for those lands.

Georgetown Mayor Ubraj Narine had explained that the then Communities

Ministry had sent 54 leases for the Council to examine.

However, they were battling with cases where multiple leases exist for the same plot of land. According to Narine, properties that were leased for less than the actual worth had cost the Council millions of dollars.

Throughout recent years, there have been many issues at the Council surrounding leased properties. One month prior, the quorum was at odds over the Water Street, Georgetown training complex, which remains unused since 2014.

While some Councillors believed that the building should be leased to garner much-needed revenue, others disapproved of the price offered. City Hall had received a proposal of $1.5 million per month for the said spot. In 2018, during the Commission of Inquiry, it was heard that former Town Clerk Royston King had leased lands to Quick Shipping Incorporated. This plot of land was not owned by the Council, but rather the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL).

NEWS

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Guyana looking at projects for funding from UAE investment company

President Dr Irfaan Ali

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he Guyana Government is currently sifting through various projects under its national development agenda to submit to Mubadala –

the sovereign wealth investment company in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – for possible funding.

Mubadala is a $243 billion investment company with businesses in six continents that have interests across multiple sectors and asset classes. It invests in world-class infrastructure globally, supports industrial and commercial clusters and also partners with entities to support national development around the world.

During a recent press conference to update the country on bilateral engagements from his overseas visits including in Dubai last month, President Dr Irfaan Ali disclosed that in the meeting with officials from Mubadala, it was agreed

that Guyana will share project proposals with the investment company for funding considerations.

“As we speak, the Ministry of Finance is working on a portfolio of projects to be discussed with Mubadala,” he posited.

The Head of State, when asked by <<<Guyana Times>>> about priority projects for funding, indicated that focus will be on his Government’s transformative agenda in the areas of infrastructure, healthcare, education, housing, and the silica city initiative, among others.

“In this Fund, you have the opportunity to address projects too. Projects that have severe and important economic impact, for exam-

EU-funded agency sees great potential on int’l markets for Guyana agro products …local firms eligible for grants to help rebound from COVID-19

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aribbean Exports Development Agency, an organisation funded by the European Union (EU) through the 11th development fund, is in Guyana to assist local businesses. It believes that there is great potential for products unique to Guyana, including agro-processed products, on the international market.

Caribbean Export’s Competitiveness Manager, Dr Damie Sinanan, recently sat down with this publication to discuss his organisation. He explained that Caribbean Export, which has been in existence since 1997 and is a Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) organisation, is in Guyana to form partnerships with the Private Sector and other stakeholders.

“Right now, I’m here to promote our grants programme, which is called the direct support programme. The grants programme provides grant funding to Private Sector firms, where they can access up to €30,000 to execute any project to help design and build their business and help them rebound from the impact of the pandemic.”

“So, I’m here to work with the different stakeholders in Guyana to make sure that more Guyanese firms can apply and access grant funding under this programme,” Dr Sinanan explained to this publication.

He explained that he has been attending meetings and that further meetings are planned throughout the week. According to Sinanan, Guyana possesses bountiful resources that could prove lucrative as exports for the international market.

“Actually agro-processing is a wonderful industry in Guyana. You guys have the competitive advantage in that you have the land space, excellent farming techniques. So I see the grant funding really benefitting the agro businesses and agro-processing.

So to help these businesses who are doing for example the pepper sauces and the sauces and condiments, to really look at the export market and to really go out there and sell the Guyanese products to the world.”

“The craft sector is also really good in Guyana. We worked with a number of firms in the craft sector who do excellent work. And these are the kind of products you find in demand on the international market, because it is unique and a niche product for Guyana,” Dr Sinanan also said.

Caribbean Export also works with other creative sectors such as fashion designers and musicians. He also noted that there are opportunities for those in the services sector to benefit from the grants.

Dr Sinanan went on to explain the process of accessing the grants, urging businesses to reach out and

Caribbean Exports Competitiveness Manager, Dr Damie Sinanan

benefit from the initiative.

“What I would encourage everybody to do is to log onto the website, www.carib-export.com. You will see the information about the direct support grants programme. There are tutorials to walk you through the application process.”

“The application process is very simple. You have to fill out an application form, develop a project budget and submit supporting documents, such as two years financial statements. And if you need support, you can contact us directly or your local business support organisations,” he further explained.

These business support organisations which Sinanan has been arranging meetings with during his visit to Guyana, include the Private Sector Commission (PSC) and the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA). (G3)

ple, development of a commercial and industrial zone.

These are key projects in a new economy beyond oil and gas that will enhance our capacity and create new jobs.

The innovative industry – all these are things that they are good at. That is why the Ministry of Finance is looking at our entire programme portfolio to submit to the UAE,” the President stated.

During the meeting with Mubadala nearly two weeks ago, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh had led a group of Guyanese Private Sector representatives to engage the UAE team, which included Chief Executive Officer of UAE Investments, Musabbeh Al Kaabi.

In a missive following the meeting, the Finance Ministry said the Guyanese delegation reiterated the rapid economic transformation that is currently underway in Guyana, and highlighted a number of sectors that are poised for immediate growth and that are therefore ripe with investment opportunities. These include: the oil and gas sec-

tor which is poised to exceed one million barrels a day before the end of the decade; non-oil extractives such as gold, bauxite, manganese, and other minerals, with a number of international large-scale operations already set to ramp up their production plans in the near term; tourism and hospitality including new and emerging sub-sectors such as the development of cruise ship facilities as well as yachting marinas; world class medical and educational facilities, including to provide medical care and education as services for export; as well as information and communications technology and others.

According to the missive, Minister Singh had also alluded to the several characteristics that make Guyana one of the most rapidly growing economies of the world and one of the most attractive destinations for investment globally under the leadership of President Ali. The Mubadala team had welcomed the information shared by Minister Singh and the delegation on the

Guyanese economy and associated investment opportunities in Guyana. They also sought various clarifications which were addressed by the Guyanese team, and signalled interest in advancing discussions in a number of specific areas.

Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, Mubadala also has offices in London, Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, New York, San Francisco and Beijing.

The UAE Investments platform within Mubadala contributes to the acceleration of the UAE’s economic transformation, and investing in national world class champions, fostering vibrant industrial and commercial clusters, and partnering with world-class global entities.

Last month’s visit to the UAE has resulted in Guyana receiving commitments from various Private Sector and State-owned entities such as Al Habtoor Group LLC and Abu Dhabi Ports, respectively, as well as Middle Eastern States including Kuwait. (G8)

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Tourism Awareness Month

Guyana cannot advance sector with archaic approaches, non-adaptive strategies – Minister …to advertise for developers of new eco-lodges, resorts

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ith the global tourism industry beginning to emerge from the devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Tourism, Industry, and Commerce Minister Oneidge Walrond has assured that the Government will do all that is possible to ensure the re-emergence of the sector.

She said so in a message to mark Tourism Awareness Month which is being observed this month under the theme, "Preparing for a New Frontier - Stimulating innovation within the tourism sector".

The Minister said that although international travel has resumed under strict protocols and hotels reporting improved occupancy, the world continues to battle the pandemic, and this speaks volumes to the challenges being faced in managing the resurgence of the sector.

Against this backdrop, Walrond said that while the world is in unchartered territory, the tourism sector must continue to rebound as many individuals, families, businesses, and communities depend on it for survival. But according to her, this new frontier requires innovation.

“We cannot advance the sector with archaic approaches and non-adaptive strategies and services. As policy makers and stakeholders, we must refine our tourism offerings. Our approach now leans towards the kinds of interventions needed to reinvigorate the industry and appeal to visitors whose expectations have evolved. These are adjustments we must make as we move forward in this new frontier,” she said.

To this end, she noted that the Ministry is approaching innovation from three fronts “our product, processes, and marketing.” According to her, the Government has been offering incentives to those willing to invest in the sector.

This, she added, has resulted in four internationally-branded hotels currently

Tourism, Industry, and Commerce Minister Oneidge Walrond

under construction, while another one will begin in a matter of weeks.

Walrond pointed out that the introduction of these hotels will significantly enhance the quality room stock and improve Guyana’s capacity to host large events. She said that the facilities at the Cheddi Jagan international Airport (CJIA) have also been enhanced thereby adding the capacity to board larger aircraft, which means the capacity for more passengers.

She added that these infrastructural developments lay the groundwork for modern approaches to the sector.

New eco-lodges, resorts

The Minister explained that Guyana is uniquely positioned as a premier destination for eco-tourism with numerous eco-lodges and camping sites, especially throughout the interior regions. And with an understanding of the still untapped potential, she pointed out that the Government will soon publish expressions of interest for the development of new eco-lodges and resorts offering attractive incentives.

Moreover, she said that under the recently launched expanded Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), there will be a focus on stimulating future low-carbon growth through further development of the country’s tourism potential utilising waterways for niche options such as angling tourism.

The Minister added, “The Government remains cognisant that beyond infrastructural advances, there must be improvement of the product itself. That is why the Ministry continues to invest heavily in training across the sector. We are engaging foreign partners to train 6000 locals with the tourism industry.

We also remain resolute in the development of tourism offerings in every region of Guyana.”

She disclosed that the Ministry, through the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), continues to roll out new attractions. This month, there will be the launch of seven new experimental products; this will take the total to 10 new products launched within a year.

She added that the vision is to continue to aggressively diversify tourism options to make the industry more appealing to local and international visitors.

Finally, the Minister said that new approaches will also see greater attention placed on the intertwining relationships between tourism and culture, sport, religion, art, and food.

“As such, the Ministry will be deepening our collaboration with other Government agencies, cultural and religious groups to exploit the possible benefits of synergistic relationships.” In closing, she said that everyone is optimistic about the return of the tourism sector, but this will only happen if we remain safe.

New app

Meanwhile, the Director (ag) of GTA, Karnrul Baksh, announced the launch of the agency’s Tourist and Tourist Service Provider App which will allow travellers to be updated on the travel protocols and key information as well as a tracking feature.

In the same vein of innovation, he said that the GTA has collaborated with the Bureau of Statistics to

launch the digitised visitor exit motivation survey, which will be piloted at the Eugene F Correia International Airport. “l believe these will be excellent additions to our efforts to provide safe tourism experiences and reinvent the way travellers' experiences are handled,” he noted.

Also, he said that the GTA has collaborated with conditionally approved tour operators and lodges and resorts to provide special tour packages during this month. In urging Guyanese to check out the packages, he added, “Guyana's tourism sector has immense po-

tential, which is only just being realised”.

He nevertheless expressed confidence that through a consistent level of multi-sectoral and highly integrated stakeholder collaboration, the country’s tourism sector will reach new heights.

Baksh added that through the Government’s robust COVID-19 vaccination campaign, Guyana will certainly solidify efforts to offer safe tourism experiences to travellers.

The GTA Director noted too that during this month, stakeholders will recognise the growth of the sec-

GTA Director (ag) Karnrul Baksh

tor amidst the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the remarkable resilience and leadership that have been demonstrated and just how much of a stringent, yet coordinated approach, was necessary for recovery. (G1)

“Child Safety” short story competition launched

Dr Vindhya Persaud chats with some children from the age group being targeted which is 12 years old and under

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he Human Services and Social Security Minister has announced the launch of its Short Story Writing Competition for young writers on the topic of “Child Safety”.

This new initiative forms part of the “Every Child Safe” campaign that was launched by Minister, Dr Vindhya Persaud in September, which seeks to tighten the grip on issues surrounding child abuse in Guyana.

In a release on Sunday, the Ministry stated that the age group being targeted in the competition is 12 years old and under, with the word limit being 250, adding that entries being sent to the Ministry must be completed with the participant’s name, address, age and contact numbers.

The 10 best stories will be published in a special book produced by the Human Services Ministry and young authors with winning entries receiving prizes.

Submissions, the release stated, can be made at the Ministry’s East and Lamaha Streets, Georgetown location, or emailed to prmohsss@gmail.com.

The deadline is November 11.

Under “Every Child Safe”, a personal and consistent check-in with members of communities all across Guyana is carried out to help in identifying perpetrators and bring relief to sufferers, the release stated.

“These communities become essential partners of ours, so that wherever child abuse rears its ugly head, we will be able to know be-

cause there are people out there as our eyes and ears.

Perpetrators will have the eyes of an entire community on them, so no one can escape that kind of scrutiny,” Dr Persaud has said.

This partnership will see heightened vigilance on child abuse in communities and people will now be aware of crimes that they should look out for and how they should report cases of child abuse utilising the 914 hotline and all the other avenues available to them.

Meanwhile, just recently, 25 girls who are members of vulnerable groups across Guyana were given the opportunity to write their stories and get them published under another project by the Ministry called, “The Storyboard Initiative.”

NEWS

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6 males, 1 female among new COVID-19 deaths GUYANA COVID-19 DASHBOARD OCTOBER 31, 2021 UPDATE

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

These latest fatalities include an 85-year-old man, who died on October 24; a 74-year-old man, who died on October 19, and an 81-year-old male, who died on October 26 – all of whom are from Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara).

Additionally, two other males, aged 79 and 80, both from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) along with another 79-year-old male from Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) and the lone female, a 57-yearold from Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), all died on October 30.

With the exception of the 81-year-old man, who was partially vaccinated, all the other victims were unvaccinated.

According to the Health Ministry, these patients were admitted with COVID-19 like symptoms but died while receiving care at medical institutions across the country. Samples were taken at the time of their admission which subsequently returned positive tests.

These seven fatalities have taken the total number of deaths from the pandemic in Guyana to 920.

The COVID-19 death toll

73

NUMBER OF PERSONS IN INSTITUTIONAL ISOLATION

60

NUMBER OF PERSONS IN HOME ISOLATION for the month of October has now increased to 121.

Meanwhile, 73 new COVID-19 cases have been detected within a 24-hour period from 899 tests conducted.

This now takes total number of confirmed cases in the country to 35,621.

However, only 2894 of these are currently active cases including 15 patients in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the remaining 2879 persons in isolation, that is, 60 in institutional isolation and the other 2819 in home isolation.

There are also five other persons in institutional quarantine.

To date, some 31,807 persons have recovered from the life-threatening disease – 12 more recoveries than the figure previously reported.

Moreover, 355,129 persons have been tested for the novel coronavirus thus far and of this, 16,840 males and 18,781 females were found to be positive.

Of the 73 new cases detected on Sunday, 11 are from Region Three, 24 cases from the DemeraraMahaica region, one from Region Five, 17 cases from the East Berbice-Corentyne region, five from Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), another three cases from Region Eight (PotaroSiparuni) and the remaining 12 cases from Region 10

(Upper Demerara-Berbice).

There were no new cases recorded in Regions One (Barima-Waini), Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) and Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) on Sunday.

The Guyana Government launched its COVID-19 vaccination exercise back in February and continues to roll it out across the various regions in order to achieve herd immunity and reduce the number of COVID-19 infections.

So far, over 381,000 persons or 74.3 per cent of the adult population have received their first dose of the vaccine and approximately 47.2 per cent or more than 242,300 persons who are 18 years and older are fully immunised.

As it relates to adolescents, some 27,276 children between the ages of 12 to 17 have been administered first doses, of which 18,058 are fully vaccinated.

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

Miner nabbed after dropping ganja upon seeing cops

P

olice have arrested a miner after he allegedly dropped a quantity of ganja upon seeing law enforcement officers.

The incident occurred at about 20:30h, along the Ogle Public Road, East Coast of Demerara (ECD), on Thursday while a party of policemen was on mobile patrol in the area.

It was reported that a Guyana Police Force rank observed two men at the entrance of a gas station located at Ogle on the East Coast of Demerara, and according to the ranks, the men were “looking suspicious”.

Upon questioning the men, they were identified as a 27-year-old gold miner of West Ruimveldt, Georgetown, and an

NUMBER OF NEW CASES

18-year-old a fish cleaner of James and Barr Streets, Georgetown.

In a report from Police, it was indicated that upon seeing the officers, the 27-year-old suspect dropped a transparent plastic bag that had red writing on it.

The patrol immediately stopped and the Police rank checked the bag and found

a quantity of leaves, seeds and stems suspected to be cannabis.

The 27-year-old was arrested and taken to the Sparendaam Police Station, ECD, where the narcotic was weighted in his presence and amounted to 4.8 grams. He was placed into custody pending investigations.

NUMBER OF PERSONS IN COVID-19 ICU

2819 15

NUMBER OF PERSONS IN INSTITUTIONAL QUARANTINE

5

TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES BY GENDER (FEMALES)

18,781

TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES BY GENDER (MALES)

16,840

TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES IN GUYANA SINCE 2020

35,621

NUMBER OF RECOVERED CASES

31,807

TOTAL 1st DOSE VACCINATED

380,257

FULLY IMMUNISED

241,211

TOTAL NUMBER OF DEATHS

920

DISTRIBUTION OF TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES SINCE MARCH 2020 REGION 1

1616

REGION 2

1430

REGION 3

4833

REGION 4

16,935

REGION 5

1283

REGION 6

2653

REGION 7

1743

REGION 8

589

REGION 9

2445

REGION 10

2094

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

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.

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), as of Sunday, some 245,373,039 confirmed cases were reported globally along with 4,979,421 deaths.

The WHO also reported on Sunday that in the

Region of the Americas, that is, Latin America and the Caribbean, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has increased to 93,368,055 while the death toll in the region has gone up to 2,289,336. (G8)

Row over women ends in murder of Venezuelan man

P

olice are investigating the fatal stabbing of a Venezuelan man which occurred during a row over two females.

Dead is 24-year-old Tony Birza, called “Bush”.

The incident occurred sometime around 00:45h on Sunday at Ruby Backdam, East Bank Essequibo.

Police said the 24-yearold man and his brother were imbibing at a shop in Ruby Backdam on Saturday night, however, at about 21:35h, they both left the shop and proceeded on Ruby Backdam Road on a bicycle, heading home.

On their journey home, the now deceased young man stopped at a shed which is situated on the eastern end of the road to speak to two Spanish women and in the process, the suspect, who is known to them, approached Tony and a heated argument ensued.

This escalated quickly, resulting in the suspect reaching into the waist of his pants, retrieving a long shiny object and dealing the victim one stab to his left abdomen area causing him to receive an in-

jury.

The suspect then made good his escape on foot.

An alarm was raised by the victim’s brother, which resulted in several persons in the area going to their assistance. Checks were made for the suspect but this proved futile.

The Police were later

summoned and the body was examined and a single stab wound to the left abdomen area of the victim was observed.

The body was escorted to the Leonora Cottage Hospital where the victim was pronounced dead on arrival.

Investigations are ongoing.

18

guyanatimesgy.com

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2021

Regional

Haiti’s PM requests transfer of Bolsonaro’s security in press altercation suspect in assassination of Moïse as Brazil leader isolated at G20

H

aiti’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Claude Joseph has written to Jamaica and Colombia to request the transfer of Mario Palacios – the suspect in the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.

Joseph formally wrote to both countries on October 28 and requested that Palacios be sent to Haiti.

Palacios, a Colombian who was also a military officer, was arrested during an operation in the central Jamaican parish of Manchester earlier this month.

He was the subject of an

Mario Antonio Palacios (GP)

international arrest warrant.

In his letter to Jamaican Foreign Affairs Minister Kamina Johnson-Smith, Joseph requested mutual

legal assistance to advance the probe into the assassination of the President at his private residence on July 7.

Moïse was tortured and shot multiple times, while his wife, Martine, was seriously injured.

According to the investigation, Palacios was part of the commando team of four men who entered the President’s room to assassinate him.

Two of the members of this commando team were later killed by the Haitian Police in a clash. The other two, including Palacios, escaped. (CMC)

B

razilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s security detail allegedly used violence against Brazilian reporters covering his trip to Rome for the Group of 20 major economies meeting, local media reported on Sunday.

The alleged attacks against Brazilian reporters, who Bolsonaro has long accused of treating him unfairly and publishing fake news, capped a grim weekend for the far-right President.

Videos from G20 events showed him as an isolated figure, who was not part of the photo taken at the Trevi fountain with world leaders.

Out on the streets of Rome, he was loudly criticised for his handling of the country’s

brutal pandemic, with critics calling him “genocidal”.

More than 600,000 people have died from COVID-19 in Brazil, the second highest tally in the world after the United States. Bolsonaro has questioned the severity of the virus, shunned lockdowns, sowed vaccine doubts, and pushed unproven cures. A Senate panel has recommended he be indicted for nine crimes related to his handling of the pandemic, including crimes against humanity.

Newspaper O Globo reported that broadcast Journalist Leonardo Monteiro of TV Globo was punched in the stomach and pushed by Bolsonaro’s security after asking the

President why he didn’t attend any G20 events on Sunday. A video taken

by UOL Journalist Jamil Chade shows chaotic scenes with security staff jostling the press and Bolsonaro supporters chanting abuse at reporters.

It was not clear if the security officers were Brazilian or Italian. O Globo reported that Italians had been given the job of providing security to Bolsonaro.

The President’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the attacks or why he was missing from the leaders’ photo. The G20 press team also did not immediately respond to requests. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Former LIAT workers Dr Angela Brown Burke elected still waiting on severance Chairman of Jamaica’s PNP

F

ormer LIAT workers still waiting on severance Eighteen months after being severed, 94 former LIAT workers are still awaiting their severance.

And in an effort to get some form of relief, the pilots, flight attendants, engineers and other former employees are calling once more on the Barbados Government to make a case on their behalf.

On Saturday, shop steward for LIAT workers with the National Union of Public Workers, Neil Cave, told the Saturday Sun the ex-employees were having a hard time managing their household needs, but were optimistic about an arrangement that could soon be realised.

“We have requested some additional attention with respect to the severance. We have asked for some assistance in terms of getting a final settle-

N

Former LIAT workers in a huddle after speaking to the media at the Office of Opposition Leader Bishop Joseph Atherley

ment. It has been over 18 months and we haven’t received a penny and we have received very little communication from LIAT. “We are relying on the Barbados-based Government to assist us, because we do not feel that we can count on anyone else in settling the matter, particularly given the treatment we received with respect to the

administration process. It has been very difficult for us to deal with the administrators in Antigua and Barbuda [where LIAT is based].

“We do believe there would be a positive outcome, but time is of the essence; it has been a very long time and we believe that the right thing would be done.” (Excerpt from Nation News)

ewly-elected Chairman of the 83-year-old People’s National Party (PNP), Dr Angela Brown Burke is insisting that Saturday’s chairmanship election was a show of comradeship.

Dr Brown Burke, the first woman to chair the party, amassed 147 votes to 121 received by Horace Dalley, a former Deputy Chairman, in the election which had a turnout of around 85 per cent of the members of the National Executive Council, the Party’s highest decision-making body outside of annual conference.

“Today, for me is a really humbling moment, because I look at where this campaign started where the comrades really asked me to offer myself as Chairman for the PNP. We went on an islandwide tour meeting [National Executive Council] members, talking with them, hearing their concerns, and sharing some ideas I had about the party,” she told Journalists at the Kendal Camp and Conference Centre near this

New People’s National Party (PNP) Chairman Angela Brown Burke joins Horace Dalley, whom she defeated for the post, in a show of unity at the end of the election held Saturday at Kendal Camp and Conference Centre in Manchester

south-central Jamaica town.

Senator Floyd Morris has been appointed as the new Deputy Chairman, while 11 members were elected to the Party’s executive.

Dr Brown Burke said the internal election showed that the PNP was working towards unity. “…[M]aking sure that we are not just talking about unity, but we are doing unity. We are doing it, because we are socialising together, we [are] talking to one another. We are discussing issues and representing the

interest of the Jamaican people as one single party,” she said.

“People were concerned about what this would mean for mashing up the party and for disunity, and we thought that we had an opportunity to show Jamaicans and to prove to ourselves, that as a democratic party, we could have an internal election that is just under 300 people going to vote and we can do it without tearing down one another,” she added. (Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

Barbadian roots.

As Mottley prepared to join world leaders who were gathering in Glasgow over the weekend for the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), she emphasised the need to limit global warming.

She said that if the 1.5 degrees’ Celsius limit could not be met, then Small Island Developing States would need money and technical assistance to help with adaptation, which must be done over the next 10 to 12 years.

Unplanned development, she pointed out, was being seen, and it had to be addressed before lives were lost.

Mottley said that in fighting the accumulating debt from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and climate change, “out of the box thinking” was required.

Lendon said he was pleased that Barbados was interested in furthering its cooperation with Australia in the areas identified by Mottley, and suggested that they should work to ensure they became a reality.

With regard to climate change, he noted that people were recognising that it was a real phenomenon, as they were seeing its risks and dangers.

(Excerpt from Nation News)

14 more die of COVID-19, Mottley wants to increase 208 new cases in T&T cooperation with Australia

T

he Health Ministry has reported that 14 more people have died of COVID-19 in the previous 24 hours.

In its update on Sunday, the Ministry also said that 208 more people have tested positive for the virus.

The total number of active cases is now 4901 and the death toll is 1696.

It said the 208 new cases reflect samples collected from October 27-30.

To date, there have been 57,329 COVID-19 cases in Trinidad and Tobago and 50,732 persons have recovered.

A total of 336 patients are in hospital, 30 are in

D

step-down facilities, 68 are in State quarantine, and 4327 are in self-isolation.

A total of 623,164 people have received one dose of a two-dose vaccine and 566,848 are fully vaccinat-

ed.

The Ministry said 93.7 per cent of the patients in the parallel healthcare system are not fully vaccinated.

(Trinidad Newsday)

uring a courtesy call from Australia’s High Commissioner to Barbados, Bruce Lendon, at Ilaro Court on Friday, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley said she wants to deepen cooperation, especially in the area of the blue economy, with emphasis on coral reefs.

Mottley underscored the importance of protecting the coral reefs, and the work being done in that area.

Additionally, she said cooperation in education would give young people an opportunity to interact and have exchanges. She reiterated her view that our young people must be empowered to become global citizens, with

guyanatimesgy.com

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2021

19

Around the World

OILNEWS OIL NEWS COP26: World gathers amid

calls to avert climate disaster T Oil majors are eyeing big payouts in Africa

T

he optimistic response to a recent discovery in the Ivory Coast by Italian oil giant Eni, the first big find in the country in two decades, suggests that many African states are not yet ready to give up on fossil fuels and make the shift to renewables.

In September, Côte d’Ivoire announced a major offshore oil and gas discovery, following initial exploration success in 2014. The positive outlook led several international oil firms to battle over the country’s oil reserves. A 2019 licensing round saw the government sell exploration blocks for a total of US$185 million, with Italy’s Eni taking a major stake, with two exploration blocks - CI-501 and CI-504, as well as France’s Total taking on exploration and production activities in the country. Britain’s Tullow Oil had previously won licenses in the region in 2017.

Oil major Eni stated last month that it had discovered up to 2 billion barrels of oil and an additional 2.4 trillion cubic feet of associated gas from the Baleine well, located about 60km off the coast. The well offers the first deepwater commercial discovery in over 20 years.

The discovery adds to the Ivory Coast’s proven reserves, which previously stood at around just 100 million barrels. Eni shares the newfound reserves with the state government, which holds a 10 percent stake.

While the country’s output is significantly lower than Africa’s biggest oil producers, at just 50,000 bpd, the discovery offers optimism around potential new finds in unexplored areas.

Several major international players have shown interest in the West African region, hoping to develop the region’s oil industry before the global demand for oil decreases.

West Africa’s upstream oil and gas market is expected to achieve a CAGR of around 6.7 per cent between 2020 and 2025. Underexplored oilfields and low production costs are two of the main drivers for oil firms investing in the region.

It’s not just the Ivory Coast that we’re seeing develop its oil and gas industry, as several countries across the continent are going full steam ahead with oil projects this year, attempting to strike while the iron is still hot.

Another West African country looking to luck out on recent discoveries in Senegal. Between 2014 and 2017, several major oil and gas finds were made in region, with discoveries of 1 billion barrels of oil and over 40,000 billion cubic feet of gas.

Within the same region, BP is expected to commence drilling operations in the Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Guinea-Conakry (MSGBC) basin at the beginning of 2022. BP hopes to develop its Greater Tortue Ahmeyim LNG gas project, expecting to produce 2.5 million tonnes of LNG annually. Australian firm Woodside Energy will commence output of both oil and gas in the region’s Sangomar oilfield by 2023.

This month, Norwegian firm BW Energy also announced ventures in West Africa, gaining two blocks near its Dussafu asset in Gabon's 12th licensing round, which has been repeatedly delayed since 2019 due to the pandemic.

BW will work in partnership with Vaalco Energy and Panoro Energy as the operator of the G12-13 and H12-13 blocks for an exploration period of eight years. At present, Gabon is thought to have 2 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, but once again, there is significant potential in the exploration of underdeveloped oilfields.

Beyond West Africa, Tanzania in the east of the continent is racing to develop its natural gas reserves.

Following the halting of talks with international companies in 2019, President Samia Suluhu Hassan aims to start development on the country’s LNG industry by 2023. With an estimated 57 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves, Tanzania is eager to commence operations before the global demand for oil and gas begins to wane as the energy transition picks up momentum. (Excerpt from Oilprice.com)

he United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) has begun in the Scottish city of Glasgow, accompanied by drastic warnings from the scientific community of an escalating climate crisis.

Delayed by a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, COP26 aims to keep alive a target of capping global warming at 1.5C above pre-industrial levels – the limit scientists say would avoid its most destructive consequences.

Meeting that goal, agreed in Paris to much fanfare in 2015, will require a surge in political momentum and diplomatic heavy-lifting to make up for the insufficient action and empty pledg-

Climate activists have descended on Glasgow for the COP26 summit [Dylan Martinez/Reuters]

es that have characterised much of global climate politics.

The conference, which began on Sunday, needs to secure more ambitious pledg-

es to further cut emissions, lock in billions in climate finance, and finish the rules to implement the Paris Agreement with the unanimous consent of the nearly

200 countries that signed it.

COP26 President Alok Sharma opened the twoweek summit saying the talks were “last, best hope” to keep the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C alive.

“We know that our shared planet is changing for the worse,” Sharma said at the opening ceremony.

The summit comes as an accelerating onslaught of extreme weather events across the world underscores the devastating impacts of climate change from 150 years of burning fossil fuels.

Experts warn that only transformative action in the next 10 years will help stave off far more cataclysmic impacts. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Yemen: 9 killed in Aden airport car bomb

A

t least nine people have been killed in a car bombing near an airport in Yemen's temporary capital, Aden.

Another 12 people are believed to have been injured in Saturday's explosion - described as a "terrorist bombing" by Prime Minister Mueen Abdulmalek Saeed.

Eyewitnesses say women and children are among the casualties. So far, no one has claimed responsibility.

Local media note the attack coincided with the arrival of Aden's former Governor at the airport. He

is unhurt.

The current Governor was himself a target of a car bombing three weeks ago which left another six people dead, news agency AFP reports.

Saturday's bombing is the deadliest attack in the city since at least 22 people were killed at the same airport last December.

The country's internationally recognised government have been based in Aden since 2014, when Houthi rebels forced them from the capital, Sanaa.

The conflict escalated in 2015, when a Saudi-

Australia eases international border ban for 1st time since March 2020

A

ustralia eased its international borders restrictions on Monday, allowing some of its vaccinated public to travel freely and many families to reunite for the first time since March last year.

After 18 months of some of the world's strictest coronavirus border policies that banned citizens from coming back into the country, and leaving it, unless granted an exemption, some 14 million Australians in Victoria, New South Wales and Canberra are now free to travel.

More than 80 per cent of people 16 and older in those two states and the capital territory are fully vaccinated - a condition for the resumption of international travel.

Australians and permanent residents living abroad may also return, with Foreign Ministry data show-

ing about 47,000 people are hoping to do so.

Most tourists - even vaccinated ones - have to wait, although vaccinated tourists from New Zealand will be allowed in from Monday.

Unvaccinated travellers will still face quarantine restrictions and all travellers need proof of a negative COVID-19 test prior to boarding.

Australia closed its borders at the start of the pandemic and let only a limited number of citizens and permanent residents return from abroad, subject to an exemption and a mandatory 14-day quarantine period in a hotel at their own expense.

But as it switched a COVID-zero pandemic management strategy towards living with the virus through extensive vaccinations, borders are gradually reopening. (Excerpt from Reuters)

led coalition of Arab states launched a military operation to defeat the Houthis and restore President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi's rule.

The fighting has reportedly left more than 110,000

people dead; triggered the world's worst humanitarian disaster, with millions on the brink of famine; and left the country even more vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

Man dressed as Joker injures 17 on Tokyo train

People escape through windows of a Tokyo train line following a knife, arson and acid attack, in Tokyo, Japan October 31, 2021 in this still image obtained from a social media video

A

24-year-old man dressed in Batman's Joker costume attacked passengers on a Tokyo train line on Sunday evening, injuring 17 people as many party-goers headed into the city centre for Halloween gatherings, media reported.

Police arrested the suspected attacker on the spot, media reported. A man believed to be in his 60s was unconscious and in critical condition after being stabbed, while witnesses also said the attacker had spread fluid around the train and started a fire, according to media.

One video uploaded on Twitter showed a steady stream of people running away from a train car where, seconds later, a blaze lit up.

Another video showed passengers rushing to squeeze out of the train's windows and onto the platform where

the train had made an emergency stop.

"I thought it was a Halloween stunt," one witness told the Yomiuri newspaper, recalling the moment he saw other passengers running in a panic towards his train car. "Then, I saw a man walking this way, slowly waving a long knife."

There was blood on the knife, he said.

Local media reported later that the suspect told authorities he "wanted to kill people so he could be sentenced to death".

The attack occurred on the Keio express line bound for Shinjuku, the world's busiest rail station, at around 8 pm (1100 GMT), media said.

Partial service on the Keio line remained suspended late on Sunday, when Japanese voters went to the polls in a lower house election. (Excerpt from Reuters)

20

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 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

SOLUTION FOR LAST PUBLISHED PUZZLE

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

Pay closer attention to how you present yourself to others. Knowledge and qualifications are essential, but fitting in can be important too.

Do whatever it takes to promote yourself.

Live and learn. When you see something you want, don't hesitate. Take matters into your own hands and figure out a cost-efficient way to reach your goal. Change is part of life; don't fear it.

Size up what something will cost before you get started. Taking control, setting a budget and organizing your time will help you ensure that you manage your time responsibly. Romance is in the stars.

Follow a path that allows you to use your skills uniquely. It's OK to do things differently or to venture off in your own direction. Expand your circle of friends and seek out new ideas.

Put more thought into the best way to proceed. The troubles you face are best dealt with smartly and efficiently; mistakes are likely if you let your emotions take the reins.

Compromise wisely.

Keep an open mind, but don't jeopardize your physical well-being. Stick to what and who you know and trust, and don't venture into restrictive situations. Seize an opportunity while you can.

Adjust your schedule and arrangements to spend time with someone you enjoy being around. A deep conversation will offer mental stimulation that pushes you in an unexpected direction.

Rethink your current attitude. Take better care of yourself before you offer to take care of others. A reality check is overdue. It's up to you to take the first step and put your mind at ease.

You'll receive mixed mesSAGITTARIUS sages; ask direct questions (Nov. 23and use your intelligence to Dec. 21) figure out what's best for you.

Charm will work wonders when you are trying to get to the bottom of a situation.

Treat money, legal and CAPRICORN health issues realistically.

Mull over your options care(Dec. 22fully. A change at home will Jan. 19) make it easier to get things done on time. Fix up your space.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 19)

Don't take what others say or do to heart. Take care of responsibilities and lend a helping hand to someone who is struggling. Change begins with you, and you must begin to make it.

PISCES

Tie up unfinished business, and sort through mixed emotions that surface regarding someone close to you.

Assess things thoroughly before you make a big move.

(Feb. 20March 20)

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2021

21

Afghanistan in dominant win to keep semi-final hopes alive SCOREBOARD T wo nights after running Pakistan close, Afghanistan proved their experience on the big stage was a bridge too far for Namibia. Asghar Afghan, Afghanistan's most successful T20 International Captain, was given a winning send-off into retirement as the team notched up their second win in three games to stay second on the Group 2 table.

Afghanistan swear by the runs-on-the-board template.

And their approach so far has been to go hard in the powerplay.

That didn't change on Sunday as they raced to 50 for 0 in the first six. Denied much of the strike early on, Mohammad Shahzad played second fiddle to the burly left-handed Hazratullah Zazai.

Namibia were in dire need of wickets as Ruben Trumpelmann, who took three wickets in his very first over in their last game, came in for some tap from the openers.

Overs 7-10 brought just one boundary as legspinner Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton cleverly used angles and deception in flight to spin a web. He troubled Rahmanullah Gurbaz with sharp legbreaks and then snuffed him out lbw with a full ball at the stroke of the 10th over. Shahzad fell soon after for 45, consumed by his own shot selection and heat as a strategically-placed fly slip accounted for him in the 13th

Asghar Afghan is carried by Gulbadin Naib as the Afghanistan team bid him a farewell ICC/Getty Images

over.

An emotional Asghar walked out to a guard of honour from the Namibians, and aware of the need to take the innings deep, like they did the other night, nudged the ball around until Mohammad Nabi came out to bat in the 16th over. While he looked comfortable to pick runs, Asghar couldn't bring out the big hits, eventually falling to a failed scoop for 31 off 23. Afghanistan managed three fours and a six in the last two overs – all from Nabi – to eventually finish with 160 for 5, Nabi making 32 not out off 17 balls.

Craig Williams was out fourth

ball of the chase, toe-ending a lofted hit to mid-on. Then Michael van Lingen was deceived by a well-disguised back-of-thehand slower one from Naveen ul-Haq that he top-edged while attempting a half-hearted pull to short fine. They were 16 for 2 in the third over.

Ravaged by injuries to his shoulder, back, ankle, knees, Hamid Hassan, at 34, is significantly slower in pace, but tries and makes up for it with his control. Five years after last featuring in a T20I, he returned to pick up the big wickets of Gerhard Erasmus and JJ Smit, who were instrumental in

Rodrigo lands Leeds winner to heap more misery on Norwich

B

ottom club Norwich City remain without a Premier League win 10 games into the season after slumping to defeat against fellow strugglers Leeds United at Carrow Road.

After a dour first half, the match burst into life when Raphinha dribbled past three players to fire the visitors into a 56th-minute lead after being picked out by Dan James.

Norwich were level inside two minutes when 19-year-old defender Andrew Omobamidele headed home from a corner needlessly

conceded by keeper Illan Meslier. But Leeds restored their advantage on the hour through Rodrigo's long-range effort after Norwich had lost possession outside their own box.

It was an improved performance by the Canaries after their humiliating 7-0 defeat at Chelsea last week, but Daniel Farke's side have now lost eight of their 10 matches since winning the Championship with 97 points last season.

James went closest to scoring in the first half after

rounding Tim Krul, but Grant Hanley was in the right place to clear his attempt off the line.

The hosts at least showed more desire than they did at Stamford Bridge, but once again they lacked any real attacking threat.

Teemu Pukki and Mathias Normann both went close with first-time attempts and Milot Rashica forced a save from a free-kick. Norwich also felt they should have had a penalty in the early stages when the ball struck James but referee Anthony Taylor waved away their appeals. (BBC Sport)

finishing off their chase against Scotland. The chase had well and truly derailed at the halfway mark.

Then Rashid Khan, who came in to bowl in the eighth over, finished a spell in one go, for once not leaving his captain to worry about juggling his trump card, to finish with 4-0-14-1 to leave him one short of 400 T20 wickets.

Barring David Wiese, none of the other Namibian batters offered any kind of assuredness.

Eventually, he was taken out by Hassan with a superb yorker for a third wicket, by which time the Afghan party had well and truly begun. (ESPNcricinfo)

Afghanistan Innings Hazratullah Zazai c van Lingen b Smit 33 Mohammad Shahzad †c Scholtz b Trumpelmann 45 Rahmanullah Gurbaz lbw b Loftie-Eaton 4 Asghar Afghan c van Lingen b Trumpelmann 31 Najibullah Zadran lbw b Loftie-Eaton 7 Mohammad Nabi (c) not out 32 Gulbadin Naib not out 1 Extras (lb 1, w 6) 7 TOTAL (20 Ov, RR: 8.00) 160/5 Did not bat: Karim Janat, Rashid Khan, Naveen-ul-Haq, Hamid Hassan Fall of wickets: 1-53 (Hazratullah Zazai, 6.4 ov), 2-68 (Rahmanullah Gurbaz, 9.5 ov), 3-89 (Mohammad Shahzad, 12.4 ov), 4-113 (Najibullah Zadran, 15.4 ov), 5-148 (Asghar Afghan, 18.6 ov) BOWLING O-M-R-W Ruben Trumpelmann 4-0-34-2 JJ Smit 3-0-22-1 David Wiese 4-0-33-0 Jan Frylinck 3-0-34-0 Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton 4-0-21-2 Bernard Scholtz 1-0-8-0 Gerhard Erasmus 1-0-7-0

NAMIBIA INNINGS (TARGET: 161 RUNS FROM 20 OVERS) Craig Williams c sub (Usman Ghani) b Naveen-ul-Haq 1 Michael van Lingen c Hamid Hassan b Naveen-ul-Haq 11 Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton b Gulbadin Naib 14 Gerhard Erasmus (c) b Hamid Hassan 12 Zane Green †b Rashid Khan 1 David Wiese b Hamid Hassan 26 JJ Smit c † Mohammad Shahzad b Hamid Hassan 0 Jan Frylinck c Mohammad Nabi b Naveen-ul-Haq 6 Pikky Ya France c & b Gulbadin Naib 3 Ruben Trumpelmann not out 12 Bernard Scholtz not out 6 Extras (lb 2, w 4) 6 TOTAL (20 Ov, RR: 4.90) 98/9 Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Craig Williams, 0.4 ov), 2-16 (Michael van Lingen, 2.4 ov), 3-29 (Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, 5.2 ov), 4-36 (Zane Green, 7.1 ov), 5-56 (Gerhard Erasmus, 10.3 ov), 6-56 (JJ Smit, 10.6 ov), 7-69 (Jan Frylinck, 14.5 ov), 8-77 (Pikky Ya France, 15.6 ov), 9-80 (David Wiese, 16.5 ov) BOWLING O-M-R-W Naveen-ul-Haq 4-0-26-3 Mohammad Nabi 2-0-17-0 Hamid Hassan 4-0-9-3 Gulbadin Naib 4-1-19-2 Karim Janat 2-0-11-0 Rashid Khan 4-0-14-1

Zaha suffers racist abuse online after Palace stun Man City

C

rystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha has been subjected to racist abuse online, and the 28-year-old shared screenshots of some of the comments after Saturday's 2-0 Premier League win over Manchester City.

Zaha, who scored the opening goal of the game at the Etihad Stadium, was brought down by Aymeric Laporte which resulted in the City defender receiving a straight red card in firsthalf stoppage time.

The Ivory Coast international, who has previously been targeted online, posted images of the racist messages that he received on Instagram after the game and asked social media companies to take the problem seriously.

"This message isn't for me to get a million messages saying 'we stand with you' and 'it's disgusting' or about me getting sympathy," Zaha wrote on Instagram. "I'm not here for all the nonsense

that's being done instead of fixing the actual problem.

"I don't mind abuse, because nowadays it comes with doing the job I do even though it's not an excuse, but my colour will always b e t h e real problem, b u t it's

fine because I'll always be BLACK AND PROUD. "Speak to me when you actually take this issue seriously."

Facebook, which owns Instagram, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Several players have been subjected to racial abuse online in recent months, especially in the Premier League, and English soccer has been urging social media firms to do more to tackle the problem.

Instagram had previously announced new measures, and Twitter vowed to continue its efforts after taking action on cases of abuse related to soccer in Britain.

Earlier this year, Zaha said he would stop "taking a knee" before games as part of English football's antiracism campaign, because he believed the meaning of the "degrading" gesture had been lost. (Reuters)

22

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2021

India suffer back-to-back defeats as New Zealand rise I

ndia's chances of making the semi-finals of the 2021 T20 World Cup is in complicated territory after their comprehensive defeat at the hands of New Zealand on Sunday.

Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner take responsibility for this stunning turn of events – geddit? – their eight overs costing a mere 32 runs while also securing the wickets of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. With Pakistan all but assured of one semi-final spot and New Zealand joining Afghanistan for the other one, India's campaign is now at risk of coming to an earlier close than expected.

The plan that backfired India used to play T20s like ODIs, focusing on singles and twos and believing that boundaries are just bonuses.

A consequence of time spent in the middle. Then they were beaten by a six-happy West Indies in the 2016 World Cup and had to wake up.

This format demands an experiment or three. A change or five. So they invested in a different kind of player. The kind who could hit sixes from ball one. Like Ishan Kishan.

He opened the batting here ahead of the established Rohit Sharma and fell in the third over.

Early wickets are crucial against this Indian team. A lot

Take Kohli's wicket, for example. India were 48 for 3 in the 11th over and he'd made only 9 off 16 balls. Dire.

Yes, but he needed to forget about all that and just bat the 20 overs. He needed to be like the lead in that meme that

New Zealand continue to beat India at ICC events

of their limited-overs success is built on having one of the top three going deep into an innings. New Zealand did well to deny that luxury as Tim Southee and Trent Boult took out the openers within the powerplay and set the stage for the headline act.

The spin strangle India went 71 balls between the sixth and the 17th overs without hitting a single boundary. Such was the control that Santner and Sodhi had over this game.

The trick was in the lengths they bowled. Both spinners were careful not to stray so full that a batter could plant his front foot down and launch them out of the park. They were equally cautious about never giving them the room to free the arms as well.

Hitting that in-between spot repeatedly – while also targeting the stumps –

Virat Kohli congratulates Kane Williamson

enabled Santner and Sodhi to put so much pressure on India that they eventually crumbled to their second-lowest total in T20I history – 110 for 7.

The adaptation malfunction Dubai is a tough place to set a total. Conditions are at their hardest at the start of the game before dew comes in during the second innings and helps the ball come onto the bat. Both teams were well aware of this vagary, but only one of them could properly adapt to it.

goes "this is fine" while the whole building burns. But he panicked.

Instead of playing for the back end of the innings, when it becomes noticeably easier to score runs, he succumbed to the pressure and played a lowpercentage shot. Sodhi had bowled that ball – a tossedup legbreak that dipped at the last second – looking for that shot and had the Indian Captain caught at long-on.

With New Zealand's bowlers having done the

lion's share of the work, their batters were able to go out and chase the target down with zero pressure on them.

Daryl Mitchell then made

things even easier, top-scoring with 49 off 35 balls, as his team raced to the finish line with eight wickets and 33 balls to spare. (ESPNcricinfo)

SCOREBOARD India Innings KL Rahul c Mitchell b Southee 18 Ishan Kishan c Mitchell b Boult 4 Rohit Sharma c Guptill b Sodhi 14 Virat Kohli (c)c Boult b Sodhi 9 Rishabh Pant † b Milne 12 Hardik Pandya c Guptill b Boult 23 Ravindra Jadeja not out 26 Shardul Thakur c Guptill b Boult 0 Mohammed Shami not out 0 Extras (lb 2, w 2) 4 TOTAL(20 Ov, RR: 5.50) 110/7 Did not bat: Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Ishan Kishan, 2.5 ov), 2-35 (KL Rahul, 5.5 ov), 3-40 (Rohit Sharma, 7.4 ov), 4-48 (Virat Kohli, 10.1 ov), 5-70 (Rishabh Pant, 14.3 ov), 6-94 (Hardik Pandya, 18.1 ov), 7-94 (Shardul Thakur, 18.4 ov) BOWLING O-M-R-W Trent Boult 4-0-20-3 Tim Southee 4-0-26-1 Mitchell Santner 4-0-15-0 Adam Milne 4-0-30-1 Ish Sodhi 4-0-17-2

NEW ZEALAND INNINGS (TARGET: 111 RUNS FROM 20 OVERS) Martin Guptill c Thakur b Bumrah 20 Daryl Mitchell c Rahul b Bumrah 49 Kane Williamson (c)not out 33 Devon Conway † not out 2 Extras (lb 1, w 6) 7 TOTAL (14.3 Ov, RR: 7.65) 111/2 Did not bat: Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult Fall of wickets: 1-24 (Martin Guptill, 3.4 ov), 2-96 (Daryl Mitchell, 12.4 ov) BOWLING O-M-R-W Varun Chakravarthy 4-0-23-0 Jasprit Bumrah 4-0-19-2 Ravindra Jadeja 2-0-23-0 Mohammed Shami 1-0-11-0 Shardul Thakur 1.3-0-17-0 Hardik Pandya 2-0-17-0

Rose Hall Canje CCCC benefits from West Indies Test boys up for Sri Lanka Project Cricket Gear for Young and challenge, says Captain Brathwaite – revised squads named for today's Best v Best practice Promising Cricketers in Guyana he West Indies T20 team are in the United

T

T

he rapidly-rising Rose Hall Estate Community Centre Cricket Club was recently presented with a pair of cricket stumps and bails compliments of Project Cricket Gear for Young and Promising Cricketers in Guyana.

The gift to the club was made possible through Anil Beharry, who visited the area recently and saw the need for it. This initiative is a joint effort by Kishan Das of the USA and Beharry. In presenting the donation, Beharry said he was pleased with the work of the club mainly through their leaders, Dr Cecil Beharry and Ameer Rahaman.

He further commended the club for a strong youth programme and praised it r producing arguably the fastest young pacer in the Caribbean, Isiah Thorne. He added that more help would be made available to young and promising players.

In response, Rahaman thanked Beharry and he praised the initiative which supports cricket and cricketers across Guyana.

The aim of the project is to provide cricket gear free of cost for young and talented cricketers in Guyana. The project is seeking new and used cricket gear, which will then be distributed across the length and breadth of Guyana.

Total items collected so far: $40,000 in cash, two cricket boots, 12 pairs of batting pads, 12 bats, nine pairs of batting gloves, and four cricket bags.

Sixteen young players from Essequibo Coast, Pomeroon and the East Canje area have already benefited from a junior gear bag, five bats, six pairs of batting pads and four pairs of batting gloves. Two clubs in Pomeroon will also benefit from two used bats.

Talent spotting is being done across Guyana

Adrian Hetmyer showcases the donation

with guidance from club leaders to identify the players. Players must be in school and disciplined.

Players above school age will also be considered.

Das and Beharry would like to thank Imran and Javed Khan of West Indian Sports Complex, Option Group, Bish Panday of P and P Insurance Brokers, Sean Devers, Travis Simon, Hilbert Foster of Rose Hall Town Youth and Sport Club, Ariel Tilku, Aaron Beharry, Devon Ramnauth, Sherman Austin, Teddy Singh, Leana Bachan and Imran Saccoor, Romash Munna, Ravi Etwaroo, Ravin Harkishun, Surendra Harkishun, Allan Mangru, and Vishal Mahabir. More distribution will be done as soon as gear arrives from the USA and the COVID-19 pandemic is under control.

Anyone who is interested in contributing can contact Anil Beharry on 623-6875 or Kishan Das on 1-718-664-0896.

Arab Emirates (UAE) battling it out in the T20 World Cup while most of the Test players are in Antigua preparing for the Sri Lanka Test series, which will commence on November 21, with both Tests being hosted in Galle. In the first three-day Best v Best practice match, Test batsmen Nkrumah Bonner and Shai Hope scored centuries while Captain Kraigg Brathwaite and Raymon Reifer scored half-centuries.

Speaking to Cricket West Indies (CWI) media after the first Best v Best match, skipper Brathwaite said his men were looking forward to the upcoming Test challenge.

"Sri Lanka is a very strong team, especially at home. As a team, we look forward to the challenge.

The last time we went down (to Sri Lanka), we did well as a team, so we look forward to the challenge," he said.

Brathwaite, who is slated to open the batting, will be looking to set the foundation in the batting department.

He also said the batsmen in the practice match looked good ahead of the Test series. With World Test Championship points up for grabs, Brathwaite and his Test side will be looking to capitalise.

CWI also announced the two teams for the second and final Best v Best three-day match at the Coolidge Cricket Ground that bowls off today, Monday, November 1 and runs until Wednesday, November 3. The teams will again be led by Brathwaite and Jermaine Blackwood.

The selection panel has made several changes, with most of the bowlers switching sides to offer the batters preparation against different types of bowling and vice versa. Fast bowlers Kemar Roach, Alzarri Joseph, Preston McSween and Chemar Holder, along with spinners Imran Khan and Jomel Warrican are now on the Brathwaite Team. Fast bowlers Shannon Gabriel, Nial Smith and Jayden

WI Test Captain Kraigg Brathwaite (right) and Sri Lanka Captain Dimuth Karunaratne

Seales, along with spinners Rahkeem Cornwall and Veerasammy Permaul are now on the Blackwood Team.

West Indies players are using the Best v Best series as part of their preparations for the twomatch Test series in Sri Lanka next month. Both matches will be played at the Galle International Stadium. West Indies will have a four-day warm-up match in Colombo from November 14 to 17. The Test matches will follow on November 21 to 25 and November 29 to December 3.

The series is the second of six series – three at home and three away – that West Indies will play in the 2021-2023 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Test Championship.

Brathwaite Team: Kraigg Brathwaite (Captain); Shamarh Brooks; Joshua Da Silva; Chemar Holder; Shai Hope; Alzarri Joseph; Imran Khan; Kyle Mayers, Preston McSween; Kemar Roach; Jeremy Solozano and Jomel Warrican.

Blackwood Team: Jermaine Blackwood (Captain); Nkrumah Bonner; Rahkeem Cornwall; Shannon Gabriel; Jahmar Hamilton; Kavem Hodge; Shayne Moseley; Veerasammy Permaul; Kieran Powell; Raymon Reifer; Jayden Seales and Nial Smith.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2021

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

23

By Timothy Jaikarran

I

t was a day filled with lots of thrills, ups and downs, emotions and drama as the curtains finally closed on the GTT Guyana Open.

The tournament saw a total of 75 players from all around the world battle for top honours over a two-day period. In the end, it was Aavinda Kishore, who defeated his brother Avinash Persaud (10-time Guyana Open winner) and Shenella London, who edged past Christine Sukhram to walk

The competition was tight between Kishore and Persaud

a gross 79 while Christine

* Christine Sukhram – 160 Gross * Joaan Deo – 165 Gross

Best Net Female

* Christine Sukhram 136 * Anasha Ally 140

Male

0-9 Flight * Aavinda Kishore – 137 Gross

Aavinda Kishore shares a moment with Avinash Persaud after winning the tournament

away with top honours in the men’s and ladies categories respectively. This means that both Kishore and London are two-time champions.

The results for the tournament are as follow:

Female

* Shenella London – 160 Gross (won on a countback; had a better second day with

Kishore goes down the ground, showing his dominance

Sukhram had 81)

* Avinash Persaud – 145

The winners’ row

Gross * Kassim Khan – 150 Gross 10-18 Flight * Rakesh Harry – 155 Gross, Best Net 136 19-28 Flight * Videsh Persaud – 172 Gross, 130 Net At the end of the tournament, both brothers had a chat with Guyana Times Sport.

Kishore said, “ I feel good, I feel nice, I know that I am the only guy that can beat him here. I was nervous all the time, from the beginning to the end, but I just kept it calm and the game plan was to just do whatever he does as I was one stroke ahead.”

Sharing the moment with his brother, Persaud said, “I

London collects her prize after beating her competitors to take the crown

feel great for him ,as I know the only person that can beat me is him and next year is simple: just to go back and practise hard and beat him.”

Female champion London, in her statement to this publication, said: “I am excited, I give all honour to My Lord Jesus Christ and all honour to pope Emmanuel London who put in that ex-

tra work. I was nervous and I was tired, it wasn’t easy, but, at the end, I came out successful.”

The tournament was sponsored by GTT (the title sponsor); the Bank of Baroda; ANSA McAL; Banks DIH; Inter Caribbean; and Montra Restaurant and Lounge.

Guyanese duo named Honorary Life Members of MCC

T

he Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has awarded Honorary Life Membership (HLM) of the Club to some of the world’s finest cricketers and

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Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul

is delighted to announce the names of the latest men and women bestowed with this privilege.

Guyanese duo Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan are among the latest players added. Eight of the 12 Test-playing nations are represented within this year’s list, which includes some of the most recognisable names in the modern game.

Ian Bishop, Chanderpaul and Sarwan all represent West Indies.

Bishop took 161 wickets in just 43 matches, while Chanderpaul is West Indies’ most capped Test player (164) and only seven players have scored more than his 11,867 runs.

Sarwan racked up 15 Test centuries, and his 291 against

England in 2009 equalled the highest individual score by a West Indian.

England’s leading Test runscorer, Sir Alastair Cook, is joined by fellow countrymen Ian Bell and Marcus Trescothick, totalling more than 39,000 international runs between them.

A fourth England star, Sarah Taylor returned to the field this year, appearing in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, Charlotte Edwards Cup and The Hundred, and is recognised as one of the finest wicket-keepers of her generation.

Four South African legends have been awarded Honorary Life Membership, with Hashim Amla, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, and Morne Morkel all receiving the honour. Kallis’s

13,289 Test runs puts him third on the all-time run-scoring list.

Alex Blackwell and Damien Martyn of Australia are also included. All-rounder Blackwell won over 250 caps for her country across all formats of the games, and batter Martyn scored almost 10,000 international runs.

Indian duo Harbhajan Singh and Javagal Srinath both enjoyed fine international careers.

Harbhajan is India’s third-highest wicket-taker in Tests, with 417 dismissals in 103 Tests, while Srinath is one of the country’s greatest One-Day International (ODI) players, taking 315 wickets to end his career as India’s second-highest wicket-taker in ODIs. Rangana Herath of Sri Lanka took 433 Test wickets in a career

spanning almost two decades, and features in the top ten of alltime Test wicket-takers.

Sara McGlashan is the sole New Zealander on the list, appearing over 200 times for the White Ferns over the course of a 14-year career and Zimbabwean all-rounder Grant Flower has been recognised for his 10,000 international runs in 288 matches, completing a list that celebrates some of the greatest cricketing talent to grace the international arena.

Guy Lavender, Chief Executive and Secretary of MCC, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be able to welcome our newest Honorary Life Members of MCC. The cricketers announced today are among the greatest international players of their generation.

“We are privileged to now count them as valued Members of our Club.”

MCC’s Cricket Committee considers the nomination of cricketers for Honorary Life Membership, recognising the outstanding international careers of some of the greats of the game.

Honorary Life Membership is also awarded to individuals who have made an exceptional contribution to MCC or to the game in general.

Once approved by the MCC Committee, letters of invitation are sent to the individual to

accept. There is no set number per year. Nominees can accept and be granted the honour at any time. (MCC) West Indian Life Members S Ramadhin (1969) Rev Sir Wesley Hall, GCM, HBM, JP (1971) JS Solomon (1973) CC Griffith (1981) RB Kanhai (1981) VA Holder (1982) Sir Garfield Sobers (1982) LR Gibbs (1983) Sir Anderson Roberts, CBE (1986) Sir Clive Lloyd, CBE (1988) DL Murray (1990) J Garner, MBE (1990) MA Holding (1992) AI Kallicharran (1992) Sir Gordon Greenidge, MBE (1993) PJL Dujon (1994) Sir Vivian Richards, KGN, OBE (1998) HA Gomes (1998) DL Haynes (1998) Sir Curtly Ambrose (2002) CA Walsh (2002) JC Adams (2006) Sir Richard Richardson (2008) Hon. SA Bucknor, OJ, OD (2010) BC Lara (2013) CL Hooper (2018) IR Bishop (2019) RR Sarwan (2021) S Chanderpaul (2021)

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2021

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

Pg 23

Pg 23

Guyanese duo named Honorary Life Members of MCC

West Indies Test boys up for Sri Lanka challenge, says Captain Brathwaite – revised squads named for today's Best v Best practice

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