Guyana Times - Monday, October 3, 2022

Former cop awaits sentencing for killing reputed wife

…as farmer who admits to brutally chopping partner also awaits sentencing

A38-year-old former po liceman now awaits sentencing after he pleaded guilty last Friday to murdering his reputed wife. Appearing before Demerara High Court Judge Sandil Kissoon was Jermaine Bristol of Freeman Street, East La Penitence, Georgetown. He pleaded guilty to the charge which stated that he mur dered 24-year-old Shanece

Lawrence on August 22, 2018.

Sentencing for Bristol, who was represented by defence counsel Everton Lammy-Singh, will take place on October 27. State Counsel Muntaz Ali appeared on be half of the prosecution.

It was reported that af ter killing Lawrence, Bristol walked into the East La Penitence Police Station and

confessed to the crime. He then led the Police to his East La Penitence dwelling where the woman’s body was discov ered with a knife stuck in the neck.

An autopsy revealed that Lawrence sustained 10 stab wounds about her body. It was reported that the couple shared a rocky relationship spanning over half a decade.

Attempted murder

Meanwhile, in a sepa rate matter, Fazil Osman, 42, a Mahaica, East Coast Demerara (ECD) farmer who is accused of brutally chop ping his reputed wife, has pleaded guilty to attempted murder.

Osman appeared on Friday before Justice Jo Ann

Barlow at the Demerara High Court.

He admitted that he un lawfully and malicious ly wounded the woman on

February 24, 2019, at Handen-Veldt, Mahaica, with the intent to commit murder.

The mother of two was attacked and chopped on February 24, 2019, after she had reported Osman to the Mahaica Police Station for beating her. According to re ports, the abused woman was instructed by the investigat ing rank that she should re turn home to Osman, who had accused her of stealing his money when she went to their home to uplift her clothes.

On the day in question, she went back home in the company of a female Rural Constable (RC) to identify the man to serve him with a restraining order. It was then that Osman attacked

her, chopping her with a cut lass and causing the Rural Constable to flee for her safe ty. (G1)

Dead: Shanece Lawrence

Confessed killer: Jermaine Bristol

BRIDGE OPENINGS

The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Monday, Oct 3 – 11:00 –12:30h and Tuesday, Oct 4 – 23:00 – 00:30h.

Monday, Oct 3 – 09:50h –11:20h and Tuesday, Oct 4 – 11:40h – 13:10h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Parika and Supenaam departure times – 05:00h, 10:00h-12:00h, 16:00h, 18:30h daily

WEATHER TODAY

There will be thundery showers and sunshine during the day. Expect partly cloudy skies and thundery showers at night. Temperatures should range between 22 degrees Celsius and 30 degrees Celsius.

Winds: West South-Westerly to North-Easterly between 1.34 metres and 3.57 metres.

High Tide: 10:12h and 22:37h reaching maximum heights of 2.11 metres and 2.19 metres.

Low Tide: 16:02h reaching a minimum height of 1.17 metre.

IMF lauds Guyana’s progress in climate change mitigation …cites efforts under Low Carbon Development Strategy

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has com mended Guyana’s cli mate change mitigation ef forts, which the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has been addressing on multi ple fronts.

According to the IMF in its statement on the conclu sion of its Article IV consul tation with Guyana, which was released last week, the Government has been mak ing efforts to build climate change resilience.

“Directors commend ed the authorities’ efforts to build resilience to cli mate change as envisioned under their Low Carbon Development Strategy,” the statement, which con tains the assessment of the IMF Executive Directors, states.

Guyana’s climate miti gation efforts have includ ed plans for building a sec ondary city, Silica City, away from the Low Coastal Plain which is flood prone.

The establishment of Silica City was pro posed in 2013 by Dr Irfaan Ali during his ten ure as Minister of Housing and Water. It is in keep ing with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the New Urban Agenda, the Housing Act 36:20, and other guidelines.

In his first year in office in 2020, President Ali had revealed that Government had begun discussions on Silica City as a second ary city. He had explained that the Government was looking at an area on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway that would be connected to the new four-lane bypass road.

It has previously been explained that the city will initially cater to just over 3000 households in the first five years and even tually grow to house more than 12,500 households.

The Low Carbon Development Strategy

(LCDS) is also being ex panded to include the pro vision of environmental services, the protection of biodiversity and water re sources, the development of marine economy, and the promotion of climate resil ience. The enhanced LCDS would allow Guyana to fur ther decarbonise onshore economic activities.

The LCDS was first launched on June 8, 2009, with the revised version being published in May 2010. This version was subsequently launched in March 2013. The new draft is intended to continue and build upon the work start ed in 2008.

Money from the LCDS has since created low-carbon jobs; enabled Amerindian villages to re ceive legal titles for com munal lands; rehabilitated the Cunha Canal to protect against flooding; and start

ed to equip Amerindian and hinterland communi ties with renewable ener gy, digital infrastructure, and sustainable livelihood opportunities.

A new LCDS 2030 has already been ratified in the National Assembly. It seeks to create a new low-carbon economy in Guyana by establishing in centives which value the world’s ecosystem services, and promote these as an es sential component of a new model of global develop ment with sustainability at its core.

In Guyana’s case, it is about harnessing the value of the country’s ecosystem services to build a longterm, low-carbon diversifi cation opportunity.

The United Nations (UN) Global Roadmap sets out the target that the world must achieve to at tain net-zero emissions by

2050. It involves balanc ing the amount of green house gas produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere.

At the 26th session of the Conference of Parties (COP26) last November, Guyana had committed to reducing carbon emissions by 70 per cent by 2030.

The cleaner energy mix to be undertaken involves the use of natural gas through a 250-megawatt plant, re ducing the use of fossil fuel.

This is in combina tion with the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP) and solar farms.

In January, President Dr Irfaan Ali had said that Guyana is poised to lead the Net Zero by 2050 Agenda through its robust plans for energy securi ty and renewable genera tion, while continuously re cording increased economic prosperity. (G3)

The International Monetary Fund

Editor: Tusika Martin

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21st Century Agriculture

We were the supposed location of Manoa, the City of Gold, where Walter Raleigh led an expedition in 1595 to find El Dorado (the Gilded One) who covered his body in gold. But it was not until the 1890s that gold was discovered and exploited in commercial quantities. From the 1620s, agriculture – primarily sugar but also cotton and coffee – was the raison d'être for our existence as colonies of first, the Dutch and then the British. As with most colonial powers, Guyana was a producer of primary products in agriculture; for instance, brown sugar. This was shipped to Britain where its refining into value-added white sugar helped kick off their Industrial Revolution. To this day, Guyana does not have a sugar refinery – epitomising our deliberate “underdevelopment”.

The production of sugar for consumption in Europe, however, created the first agri-business: large acreage dedicated to producing a crop with organised labour –first slave, then indentured – under a centrally-directed administration that also owned factories to process the product for export. Towards the end of the 19th century, Indian Indentured labourers – brought in to replace African slaves on the sugar plantations – introduced a second commercial crop – rice. With Independence, the PNC Government took control of the rice industry in the 1960s by mandating it purchase all production. It nationalised the sugar industry in 1976 after imposing a levy on all exports. These actions ruined both industries by the 1980s.

The return of a free market economy in 1989, via an IMF Structural Adjustment Program, allowed these two mainstays of the economy to readjust. But the long years of undercapitalisation of the sugar factories took their toll. Coupled with the loss of preferential European markets after 2006 and the failure of the Skeldon Modernisation Project, sugar continued its nosedive. The PNC’s 2015 unilateral decision to ignore its CoI’s recommendation to inject funds into the industry to bring it to a point of sale in three years and close four estates, was the death blow. The PPP Government that assumed office in August 2020 has done yeoman labour to salvage it, but sugar will never occupy the place it once did on the agricultural charts.

The Government has meanwhile taken the bold step to take the lead in Caricom to make the region self-sufficient in food by 2025. The global crisis in the food supply chain has finally convinced regional leaders that they must address their US$6 billion annual food import bill. This will be a Herculean task, but the Government has launched a plethora of initiatives funded by $95 billion in the last two years to achieve this goal. It hosted a Regional Agri-Investment Forum where four areas were identified for priority action: food insecurity, transportation, trade barriers, and women and youth in agriculture. This attracted regional and extra-regional interest not only in our primary production potential of soya, corn, and other crops in our intermediate savannahs, but also the vibrant local value-added agro-processing capabilities. The central thrust of the agricultural drive is to diversify production away from the colonial mono-crop model through greater use of innovations in the agricultural sector.

The war in Ukraine disrupted the supply of wheat – and as such flour – and this has spurred efforts to introduce new varieties that can be successfully cultivated under our tropical conditions. The first trials have been successful and all efforts will now be made to produce the grain commercially. The privately-run rice industry has been exporting around 600,000 tonnes of rice annually and the Government has challenged them to reach 800,000 tonnes by 2025. They have assured that higher-yielding and more climate-and-pest-resilient crop varieties will be supplied, along with the infrastructural D&I and farm-to-market roads.

Guyana always had the potential not only to be selfsufficient in beef and milk production, but to also supply the Region and new breeds are being introduced to realise this potential. The introduction of Black Belly Sheep from Barbados illustrates the drive for diversification in all facets of agriculture.

Forward to 21st Century Agriculture!!

The world needs a new solution to its landmine problem

By Sultan Hajiyev and vugar Suleymanov

Eight

years after war started in east ern Ukraine and six months after Russia launched a full-scale inva sion, Kyiv is facing a major mining problem. With an estimated 160,000 square kilometres contaminat ed by landmines, Ukraine is now one of the world’s most-heavily mined coun tries. To put that in perspec tive, that is an area almost double the size of Ireland.

The United States has led the effort to tackle this leviathan issue, pledg ing US$89 million to fund 100 anti-mining teams in Ukraine for the next year. This is a concrete move that will see some results. But it will not be enough. A mere US$2 to plant, each mine costs up to US$1000 to re move.

To gauge the scale of the problem, look to the Karabakh region in the South Caucasus. In the ear ly 1990s, it became one of the most intensely-mined areas on Earth after the first Nagorno-Karabakh War between Azerbaijan and Armenia. A conflict in late 2020 reversed much of the territory the former had lost in the first conflict – and granted it access to minestrewn lands. Azerbaijan has since begun making the liberated territories safe for post-conflict reconstruction. To date, 514sq km have been cleared. For those in volved in the industry, this may sound impressive, but 11,270sq km still remain uninhabitable.

The problem with mine clearance is the cost. Azerbaijan is better eco

nomically placed than most to fund activities and still, it could only clear 514sq km in two years. In general, the countries that need demin ing the most are those least able to afford it, as conflicts that contaminate territories with landmines also shat ter economies. To ensure funding, a landmine-free world should be made a United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), alongside the 17 interlinked global goals to be achieved by 2030.

This idea was put for ward and discussed at the Humanitarian Conference on Mine Action, organ ised by the Azerbaijan Mine Action Agency and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Baku earlier this year. Current international treaties are not enough, nor are national programmes.

According to a report by the demining monitor Mine Action Review, only 153.4sq km were cleared across the world in 2020. It also rat ed less than a quarter of national demining pro grammes as “good” or “very good”; the rest were too un derfunded to make any sig nificant progress. That does not bode well for Ukraine. However, if demining is giv

en SDG status, the benefits would be felt immediate ly. First, this designation would help coordinate glob al efforts, bring access to in ternational financial mecha nisms and ease the burden on underfunded national programmes.

Second, SDG status would help to ring-fence that funding, putting bud gets for demining on the same footing as, for in stance, education devel opment programmes. In a post-war, post-COVID set ting where funds are limit ed, this is critical.

Third, SDGs attract more funding for research and de velopment, as we have seen with efforts to promote clean energy and sustainable cit ies. Simply throwing money at demining is not enough: the cost per unit for removal needs to come down.

However, perhaps the strongest argument for making a mine-free world an SDG is the simplest: it should be. In areas contam inated with mines, develop ment, let alone sustainable development, is impossible.

According to a 2017 joint study by the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining and the UNDP, mine action is of direct relevance to 12

of the UN’s existing SDGs, while indirectly support ing another four. Take SDG number two: to end hunger, achieve food security, and achieve sustainable agri culture. Where mines cov er large swathes of farm land – as they do in Ukraine – they directly impact a country’s ability to produce its own food. Or take SDG number four: to ensure eq uitable and inclusive educa tion. Mined areas can make it much more difficult for children to reach school and even educational facilities themselves may be mined during a conflict. This inev itably impacts school enrol ment and access to educa tion.

Landmine-strewn lands are not a new problem. But a new solution is needed. If we are to ever see a world free of them, we need to see them as a social develop ment issue, rather than a technical or military one.

If it can be said that there is a silver lining to the horror we are witnessing in Ukraine, it has thrust the world’s attention back to the critical efforts of demining in conflict and post-conflict zones. That attention should be harnessed to ensure we make it an SDG. After all, SDGs are all interlocking. Without widely- support ed global demining efforts, there is no hope of achieving the other goals. (Al Jazeera)

(Sultan Hajiyev is the Deputy Head of the Secretariat, Coordination Unit for Reconstruction and Rehabilitation of the liberated territories of the Azerbaijan Republic. Vugar Suleymanov is the Chairman of the Board of the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (AMANA))

President Dr Irfaan Ali and international Soca star Machel Montano on Sunday morning made an impromptu visit to Coomacka, Region Ten (Upper Demerara-Berbice), where they engaged residents. During the visit the president committed to rehabilitating the Community Centre and addressed several other issues raised by the residents (OP photo)

New Fire Service Headquarters ahead of schedule – contractor

Construction works on the new headquarters for the Guyana Fire Service along Homestretch Avenue, in Georgetown, is ahead of schedule, accord ing to the contractor, Nazar Mohamed – Managing Director of Mohamed’s Enterprise.

On Saturday, Mohamed joined Commissioner of Information, Ret’d Justice Charles Ramson (Snr), for a visit at the construction site to inspect the works.

The contract for the new headquarters for the Guyana Fire Service, which is pegged at $614 million, was awarded to Mohamed’s Enterprise last November. The expected time of com pletion was set at 14 months from the commencement date.

However, during Saturday’s visit, Mohamed briefed Ramson Snr on the progress of the construction and indicated that the works are ahead of the February 2023 deadline. The state-ofthe-art building is already more than 70 per cent com pleted.

In fact, Mohamed related that all of the public projects undertaken by his company have been completed before the contracted deadlines.

As a matter of fact, it was noted that Chief Engineer, Narendra Guyadin, has complimented Mohamed’s Enterprise on their excel lent standard, quality and efficiency of work and the timely delivery of the proj ects.

Ramson Snr, who is a former Attorney General and Appeal Court Judge, was highly impressed with the progress and status of the work. He lauded the con tractor for striving to have the work completed long be fore the scheduled deadline.

On this note, Mohamed recalled that his compa ny came under heavy crit icisms by the Opposition A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) parliamen tarians when the new Fire Station Headquarters proj ect was awarded to him. But at the time, Mohamed had maintained that he “will de liver all of his projects in a timely manner and to the

highest quality and stan dard”.

To date, Mohamed’s Enterprise completed a number of State projects across various sectors. The company has already hand ed over the 20 elevated two-bedroom houses that were built at Cummings Lodge, Greater Georgetown, for the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA). It was noted by the Housing and Water Ministry that all the home owners are asking for the houses built by Mohamed’s Enterprise, given their high quality of work.

Additionally, the compa ny has also handed over a newly constructed building

at the Lusignan Prison on the East Coast of Demerara to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The businessman ex plained that Mohamed’s Enterprise has recently won a few other contracts for State projects but has cho sen to decline the awards. Mohamed revealed that he wrote to the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) and thanked them for their evaluation process and for choosing his compa ny as the best suitable con tractor, but indicated that they are unable to accept any other contracts because of pressing issues with his personal projects.

Mohamed’s Enterprise and its subsidiaries –Hadi’s World Incorporated and Sunshine Gardens Incorporated – stand com mitted to nation build ing and the development of Guyana, according to Mohamed.

“In all these awarded projects, we stick to the con tract sum,” he stated.

This new headquar ters for the Guyana Fire Service will replace the ageold Central Fire Station at Water Street in the vicini ty of the Stabroek Market, a high-traffic area that has posed challenges in the past, thus allowing for en hanced and faster response from the Fire Service.

The new facility is being

constructed on approximate ly 3.5 acres of land between the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall and the D’Urban Park Stadium. A portion of the land at the immediate east of the stadium has been ear marked for the construction of a sports facility.

This is significantly larger than the cramped Stabroek layout, which pos es difficulties for tenders to navigate during peak hours, as both human and vehicle traffic is hiked, thus affect ing response time.

While the contract sum is $614 million, the new Headquarters for the Guyana Fire Service is ex pected to cost some $648 million upon full comple tion. (G8)

Managing Director of Mohamed’s Enterprise Nazar Mohamed and Commissioner of Information Charles Ramson Sr at the construction site of the new Guyana Fire Service Headquarters on Saturday

Types of angles

Sometimes, two angles can be defined by their relationship to each other.

Supplementary angle are two angles that form a line. Their sum will be 180o, so if you know the measure of one, you can figure out the other. Note that angles can sometimes be called by one letter, placed near the vertex.

Exercises:

By

BroThers

Venezuela border controversy

Guyana Govt stays committed to peaceful settlement at ICJ

…as Venezuela repeats spurious claims over President Ali's speech at UNGA

President Dr Irfaan Ali’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) ruffled feathers in Caracas, but according to Guyana’s Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ministry, the Government remains committed to this path of peaceful settlement of its border controversy with Venezuela.

While in New York last month for the UNGA, President Ali in his address to those gathered at the 6th plenary session had made reference to the border con troversy with Venezuela. At the time, President Ali quot ed UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, when he said that they were “com mitted to make the most of every diplomatic tool for the pacific settlement of disputes, as set out in the Charter of the United Nations”.

Those tools include ne gotiation, enquiry, media tion, conciliation, arbitra tion and judicial settlement - relevant tools in the mat ter of Guyana’s sovereign ty and territorial integrity - challenged and threatened by Venezuela.

“In this case, ‘judicial settlement’ as determined by the Secretary General himself. The world’s nations can be assured that Guyana

shall remain true to those peaceful processes and deny every effort to depart from them. The International Court of Justice has already affirmed its jurisdiction in the matter,” President Ali had informed the General Assembly.

These words seem to have cause some unease in Caracas, Venezuela, how ever, with the Spanishspeaking republic issuing a statement on September 30 in which they repeat ed many of their spurious claims regarding the border controversy.

In a communique, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stood behind President Ali’s words. The Ministry also held up the words of the UN Secretary General and pointed out that the judi cial settlement route to set tle the controversy was de termined by the Secretary General himself.

“The world’s nations can be assured that Guyana shall remain true to those peaceful processes and deny every effort to depart from them. The international court of justice has already affirmed its jurisdiction in the matter,” the Ministry said.

Venezuela has laid spu rious claims to more than two-thirds of Guyana’s land mass in Essequibo and a

portion of its exclusive eco nomic zone (EEZ) in which almost 11 billion barrels of oil have been discovered over the past seven years.

Guyana approached the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2018 seek ing a final and binding judgement to reinforce that the 1899 Arbitral Award re mains valid and binding on all parties as well as legal affirmation that Guyana’s Essequibo region, which contains much of the coun try’s natural resources, be longs to Guyana and not Venezuela.

Guyana moved to the World Court after exhaust ing all means of negotia tion with Venezuela and the failed good offices pro cess between the two South American neighbours. The Spanish-speaking nation had initially refused to par ticipate in the proceedings and had even challenged the court’s jurisdiction to hear the matter. But in December 2020, the ICJ established that it has jurisdiction to hear the substantive case –something which Venezuela did not accept.

Back in March of this year, Guyana had submitted its written arguments for its memorial to the ICJ, which was a requirement by the court following its December 18, 2020, decision that it

had the jurisdiction to hear the case against Venezuela.

Venezuela has since filed an objection, which, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, is nothing more than a bid to delay the substantial hearing of the 1899 Arbitral award case before the ICJ, after refusing to join the proceedings since 2018.

Various countries and organisations have already thrown their support behind the judicial settlement of the case. In March, the United States (US) had expressed support for Guyana’s ter ritorial border controver sy case, and its stance was reiterated during a meet ing between US Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) for Caribbean Affairs and Haiti, Barbara A Feinstein, and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo.

The Caribbean Community (Caricom), has also reaffirmed support for Guyana in its border contro versy with Venezuela, urg ing the Spanish-speaking country to participate in the judicial process before the ICJ.

Support also came in June of this year from the Commonwealth. In a ma jor decision coming out of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2022 in Kigali, Rwanda, the Commonwealth Heads all threw their support behind the judicial process.

The ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the United

Nations. It was established by the United Nations Charter in June 1945, and began its activities in April 1946. The Court is com posed of 15 Judges, elect ed for a nine-year term by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations. The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands. (G3)

President Dr Irfaan Ali during his UNGA speech

Guns, knives, ganja seized at events over weekend

Fighting…

Venezuelan bullyism

Here we go again!!! Venezuela’s kvetching that Pres Ali declared before the General Assembly last month: “In the matter of Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity – challenged and threatened by Venezuela as it is, we remain – to quote the Secretary General at the opening of the General Debate yesterday – “committed to make the most of every diplomatic tool for the pacific settlement of disputes, as set out in the Charter of the United Nations.” The tool, of course, was “judicial settlement” – as recommended by the Secretary General!!

The Guyana Police Force (GPF) man aged to seize sever al weapons and marijuana during the series of enter tainment events over the weekend. It was also report ed that a male was arrested.

The haul included knives, scissors, lighters, and a gun, which were taken by officers patrolling the en tertainment events. While much information was not released by the Police Force on the finds, it was reported that most of the items were found at the “Stink and Dutty" J’ouvert held at the National Park, Georgetown.

Police reported that at about 03:45h on Saturday morning, a policeman on duty at the National Park

in plain clothes observed an object protruding from the pants waist of a patron at the “Stink and Dutty” J’ouvert.

The man was approached and searched. During the process, a .22 revolver with its serial number intact was found on him with three live matching rounds and one spent shell.

He was told of the of fence committed, cautioned, arrested, and escorted to Alberttown Police Station.

Meanwhile, at the Guyana National Stadium on Saturday night, Police said that ranks seized a number of illegal weap

ons and items including a firearm and machete, from various patrons seeking to make their way into the concert.

Two months ago, ranks

of the Guyana Police Force confiscated several items from patrons entering the Emancipation J’ouvert held at the National Park in Georgetown.

According to the Police Force, there were about 2500 persons in attendance at the event.

It was noted that full Police coverage was provid ed for the event and during routine searches conduct ed at the gate, ranks found and confiscated improvised weapons, scissors, lighters, and a toy gun.

These heightened securi ties at events comes on the heels of an incident there during an event back in May.

Chaos had erupted in the National Park during the “Baderation” concert back in May after gunshots were fired while dancehall artiste Skeng was performing.

Videos that circulated on social media showed that in the midst of the artiste’s performance, gunshots were fired by patrons attending the concert. There were no reports of anyone being in jured by the gunshots, but some persons sustained mi nor injuries after glass bot tles were thrown into the crowd.

There were also reports of the Banks DIH bar at the event being robbed. Additionally, the Police also arrested one person who was found with an illegal gun.

Following that inci dent, Police Commissioner Clifton Hicken met with the promoters of the event and had ordered that height ened security be in place for future events. (G9)

Can you imagine that?? Venezuela’s Maduro’s bitching that we used the forum – the UN system of which it’s a member along with some TWO HUNDRED OTHER COUNTRIES – to settle the controversy they precipitated back in 1962!! Payback’s a bitch!! At that time, ironically, it was conniving with the US that wanted to get rid of the PPP Government under Cheddi Jagan. It was another prong to the CIA-inspired riots unleashed in the country on Black Friday, Feb 16 1962!! Now the shoe’s on the other foot!! On our own, we’d taken refuge to the World Court back in March 2018 and it confirmed in 2020 that it had the jurisdiction! Now Venezuela had already officially complained that it doesn’t recognise the World Court’s jurisdiction…so what’s their point now??

The bottom line in 1962…and the bottom line now… is that it doesn’t matter who’s in power in Venezuela, it’s an article of faith to every man jack in that country that Essequibo is theirs!! It’s taught to every schoolchild… it’s in every book…on every map that Essequibo is their Zona Reclamacion…the zone to be reclaimed because they wuz robbed by the big, bad British back in 1899!! In the twists and turns of history, the Americans were then wary of British expansionism and they were the ones that arranged the Tribunal to begin with!! As the golden rule of International Affairs declares – there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies – just permanent interests.

So while we’re condemning Maduro for not holding elections and keeping their Opposition out, let’s be reminded that it doesn’t matter who heads that opposition – capitalist Guido or communist Maduro!! If either gets into power, they’ll use that power to try annexing Essequibo!! And let’s not forget that they have the largest oil reserves in the WORLD – THREE HUNDRED BILLION compared to our 11 billion. If an Americanfriendly Government takes over, who’d you think the US is gonna back if push comes to shove?? Interests baby, interests!!

Anyhow, our Opposition should be issuing very strong statements condemning Venezuelan bullyism. Jagan did back in the day – even though Burnham had just pulled off one of his several election riggings!!

Let’s hear it Aubrey…all for one (Guyana) and one (Guyana) for all!!

…the outside provocateurs

Let’s face it…while your Eyewitness thinks overseas Guyanese also want what’s best for Guyana, because they’re not here to live with the consequences of some of their suggestions, you’d hope they’d be a bit more circumspect in their advice. Why would some push for a return to “slow fyaah; mo’ fyaah”?? Even a return of the “freedom fighters”?!! Did those strategies fix whatever it was the PNC was complaining about back then?? Aren’t those the identical complaints being ventilated now?

“Discrimination”…”marginalization”…”ethnic cleansing”… ”elections rigging””??

But in addition to not fixing the problems, have our outside peeps considered the EFFECTS of those strategies on the PPP’s AND PNC’s constituencies?? Hasn’t Guyana lost a whole generation on the killing fields of Georgetown and the East Coast – from both sides of the divide??

Does the “satisfaction” of saying “me gie dem good!!” justify the callusing of the moral fibre of those who were recruited to do the killing – on both sides of the divide??

Some said, “Not in my name”.

…corruption

Surely the PPP Government can’t be surprised at the crescendo of corruption complaints. With more money flooding the system – and human nature remaining the same mixture of the sacred and the profane – what else can be expected.

But forewarned should’ve been “forearmed”!!

The

Readers

The gun that was found at the “Stink and Dutty" J’ouvert

The items confiscated by Police over the weekend

The gun that was found on a patron attempting to enter the Guyana National Stadium

5 schools affected by fires in 2 years, GFS training persons to lend support

learning intuitions.

The Fire Chief added that they have also reached out to members of various policing groups in which they have trained all the members of those groups.

“We are educating them so that they will be able to partner with the Guyana Fire Service so as to build capacity and to lend support in the time of need,” he said.

With the recent rise in fires at schools over the past two years, the Guyana Fire Service has been making moves to curb such occur rences in the future. Fire Chief Gregory Wickham said during a recent event that the Guyana Fire Service has observed the rise in fires, es pecially at schools, and has begun training persons to curb these incidents.

“We have reached out to our intelligence field, recog nising that there were many fires within school…and so over that period we would have trained no less than 250 security personnel from the Ministry of Education,” the Fire Chief said.

He said these persons are now equipped and ed ucated on how to deal with fires in the incipient stage so that fires can be avoided at

Over the past two years, at least five schools have been affected by fire. These include North Ruimveldt Multilateral School and St George’s High School in Georgetown; Essequibo Technical Institute (ETI); Amelia’s Ward Primary School in Region 10; and North-West Secondary School.

The fire at North Ruimveldt Multilateral School occurred in June last year, leaving 512 stu dents and 39 teachers dis placed during the time when 65 of those students were scheduled to write the 2021 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination.

The North-West Secondary School fire, on the other hand, occurred in September last year.

Inquiries disclosed that a security guard of Baranobo Hill, Mabaruma, was in his guard hut on his cellular phone when he heard three

loud explosions. The sounds emanated from a room on the second floor of the east ern side of the building.

Checks were made and he observed the room en gulfed in flames. On the Fire Service’s arrival on the scene, the fire was ex tinguished – but most of the building was damaged. That fire was ruled out as arson.

In July of this year, a massive fire destroyed St George’s High School in Georgetown. That was “electrical in nature”, the Guyana Fire and Rescue Service said.

Following the blaze, the Education Ministry com menced a registration pro cess for displaced students to ensure that they are placed in a school for the new academic year.

Earlier this month, a ma jor catastrophe was avert ed when a fire, electrical

in nature, was averted at the Amelia’s Ward Primary School in Region 10.

Reports are that a staff member observed flames in one of the classrooms and immediately sounded an alarm for students to evacu ate the area. Staffers at the school managed to contain the fire.

Fire responders were called to the school and an investigation was conduct ed. That fire was electrical in nature.

Meanwhile on Monday last, a major fire was averted at the Essequibo Technical Institute (ETI) after a fast response by the Guyana Fire and Rescue Service led to its quick extinguishing.

The Guyana Fire and Rescue Service in a release the following day said that the incident may have oc curred as a result of a break down in electrical installa tion. (G9)

Teen kills drinking buddy in drunken brawl

A17-year-old and his father are now in Police custody after he brutally chopped a man to death who tried to pre vent him from claiming his own life.

Dead is 29-year-old Deonarine Ramachandran of Conservancy Dam, Canal Number One Polder, West Bank Demerara.

The tragic incident occurred on Saturday at about 22:30h at the Conservancy Dam in Canal Number One.

Reports revealed that Ramachandran and the 17-year-old suspect were consuming alcohol at the now deceased man’s house when the teenager became intoxicated and began to behave in a disorderly man ner. It is alleged that subse quently, the 17-year-old re portedly picked up a knife and made several attempts to take his own life. This prompted the 29-year-old man to intervene by taking the knife. Ramachandran also dealt the accused sev eral slaps in an effort to ‘calm him down.’

Police said that the 17-year-old then ran out of the house in a furious manner, using abusive language and a series of threats as he made his way home.

He subsequent ly armed himself with a

cutlass and returned to Ramachandran’s home, where the now dead man also armed himself with a cutlass, approached the teenager, and attempted to chop him but failed.

As a result, the sus pect ran away to the Conservancy Dam, where he continued to use a se ries of expletives and threats directed toward Ramachandran.

The 29-year-old man re portedly became annoyed and again confronted the suspect. During the con frontation, the teenager ran away and went home where his 58-year-old fa ther got involved.

A scuffle then ensued between Ramachandran and the 58-year-old man, during which the 17-yearold suspect armed him self with a knife and dealt Ramachandran a stab to his abdomen.

Ramachandran was picked up by relatives who escorted him to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he died whilst receiving treatment.

The body is presently at the Georgetown Public Hospital’s mortuary await ing a post-mortem exam ination.

Both suspects were sub sequently apprehended by Police ranks as investiga tions continue. (G9)

Fire Chief Gregory Wickham

The massive fire that destroyed St George’s High School

Appeal Court to hear motion for expedited election petition today

Amotion by the APNU/AFC request ing an expedited hearing of the party’s ap peal challenging the dis missal of its second elec tion petition will be heard this morning by the Appeal Court.

In June 2021, Senior Counsel Roysdale Forde filed an appeal against Chief Justice Roxane George, SC's April 26, 2021 decision dismissing the co alition’s second election petition which challenged the results of the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections.

But more than a year after the appeal was filed, and with no hearing on the

substantive matter, Forde, who is also the Shadow Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, in August, filed the motion in which he requested for the case to be heard swiftly.

Filed by Claudette Thorne and Heston Bostwick, the petition sought to have the results of the national election in validated on the ground of serious non-compliance with the Constitution and electoral laws as it relates to the Guyana Elections Commission’s (GECOM) conduct over those elec tions.

The petitioners had contended that Section 22 of the Elections Law

(Amendment) Act and Order No 60, also known as the Recount Order, were in violation of the Constitution.

But, in dismissing the petition, the Chief Justice held that the petitioners failed to present evidence to support that the con duct of the elections contra vened the Constitution and electoral laws. She ruled that neither Section 22 nor the Recount Order was ul tra vires the Constitution, adding that Article 162 of the Constitution em powered GECOM to take whatever actions were nec essary to conclude the elec tions, including embarking on a recount of all ballots.

5 injured in Linden accident

southern side of Half Mile Public Road, while the car was proceeding east along the northern side of the said road. According to reports, while in the vi cinity of New Silvercity Secondary School, the lor ry drove into the lane of the car to avoid an electric wire that was on the road. This resulted in the left front part of the motor car colliding with the front of the motor lorry.

Five persons were injured in an acci dent that occurred on Saturday morning at about 03:54h on the Wilfred Gaskin Public Road, Half Mile Wismar, Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).

The accident involved motor car PMM 2777 driv en at the time by Michael

It was reported that lorry GZZ 1667 was pro ceeding west along the

As a result of the colli sion, the driver and four other occupants of the mo tor car received injuries. They were picked up by public-spirited citizens and taken to the Linden Hospital Complex where they were treated for var ious injuries and admitted for observation.

The lorry driver is presently in Police custo dy assisting with the in vestigations.

Alluding to the events that occurred after the close of polls, Justice George noted, “Given the difficulties, it does appear that it would not have been prudent for GECOM to de clare the results in the pe culiar circumstances that accompanied the comple tion of the process of the March 2 Elections. A com bination of Article 162 (1) (b) of the Constitution and Section 22 confer the power upon GECOM to issue this [Recount] Order if GECOM considered it necessary or expedient to ensure impar tiality, fairness, and com pliance… as regards the election process.”

Erred However, coalition lawyers in their appeal contended that Justice George erred in law when she ruled that Section 22 of the Elections Law (Amendment) Act 2000 and Order No 60 made thereun der were not in violation of the Constitution.

According to them, by virtue of their application for the election results to be declared invalid, both Section 22 and Order No 60 which flowed directly from Article 162 were in conflict with and or con travened Article 177 of the Constitution.

In court documents seen by this publication, they further contended that Justice George again erred in law when she found that Order No 60 was a mecha

nism to allow for the recount to be conducted by expand ing the recount provisions in the Representation of the People Act (RoPA).

The petitioners submit ted that Justice George erred in law when she failed to find that the mechanisms set out in Order No 60 amounted to a substantial variation from the RoPA and consequent ly could not be said to have “merely modified” the said Act.

Besides that, they com plained that she erred in law when she ruled that they did not produce evi dence that claimed that the elections were not lawfully conducted. Like before the High Court, they have gone to the appellate court argu ing that there was no need for the production of any evidence except the decla rations by the Returning Officers and the recount figures.

Thorne and Bostwick, among other things, ar gued that the Chief Justice erred in law when she re jected the evidence before the court which established that there was a differ ence in the recorded fig ures for the political par ties in the Official Gazette dated August 20, 2020, in which results were de clared pursuant to Order No 60 from a letter by for mer Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield to GECOM’s Chairperson, Retired Justice Claudette Singh.

Both of APNU/AFC’s elections petitions have now been dismissed by the Chief Justice. In January 2021, she dismissed APNU/ AFC’s election petition which was filed by Brennan Nurse and Monica Thomas owing to their non-com pliance with effecting ser vice on President David Granger.

The party appealed her ruling to the Court of Appeal, which by a major ity decision on December 21, 2021, held that it had jurisdiction to hear an ap peal against a ruling of the High Court to dismiss an election petition on the ba sis of procedural impropri ety.

In so doing, the Court of Appeal rejected argu ments by Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall, SC, that the court had no jurisdiction to hear and determine the ap peal; neither from statute, the Constitution nor does it have an inherent jurisdic tion.

Meanwhile, in a con solidated appeal at the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) which was heard on July 19, Nandlall, and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, in his capacity as General Secretary of the PPP/C, argued that the Court of Appeal erred and therefore its decision should be over turned.

The CCJ has reserved its ruling. (G1)

Thrown out

Bodson, a 27-year-old of Blueberry Hill, with occu pants Marney Major, 35; Oswel Marks, 31; Aseka Smith, 22; Ojay Albert, 26; and Motor Lorry GZZ 1667 driven by Andrew Ramsammy, 28, of Central Amelia’s Ward, Linden.

Vibrant, colourful road parade closes inaugural Cricket Carnival

friends were followed by the heavily-touted Genesis band. Their revellers were clad in a kaleidoscope of colours, ac companied by eye-catching neon yellow leotards.

Last, but by no measure the least, it was Pulse’s time to take to the streets with their “Pulse Warriors” band.

Also sporting various co lours, Pulse ignited the ant sy crowd of Guyanese who longed to see what was prob ably the most anticipated band.

group was to venture into the Carnival aspect of the entertainment industry.

When <<<Guyana Times>>> caught up with the band, Kevin excitedly said, “We decided to take in a new challenge, tap into the road march and it worked out really good for us. Nice vibes, nice energy,”

“Well, we’re from the West side, which is coun try, so, you know, cowboy style,” Kevin said, justifying Slingerz’s choice of theme and outfit.

By Jemima Holmes

With brilliant sun shine beaming down, Church Street, Irving Street and Vlissengen Road enjoyed the peace and tranquillity that a Sunday morning usu ally brings.

Little to no traffic, good weather and a quiet aura prevailed until an explosion of colours, creativity, cul ture, music and the unity of the Guyanese people forced a transformation.

Although few patrons braved the infamously ‘hot’ Guyanese sunshine to catch a glimpse of what would be the culmination of Guyana’s Cricket Carnival; they came out in droves later in the af ternoon, lavishly decked out and by the time the sun had set, a sea of Guyanese envel oped the Kitty Roundabout and Seawall to finish off the Road Parade with a bang.

On lower Church Street, the Orlando Carnival

Downtown band was the first to take flight and the route that flowed East onto Irving street, with their destination being the Kitty Roundabout.

Picnicking families were among the first to get a glimpse of their signature costumes, which comprised a fusion of turquoise, green, yellow and blues.

But the spectacle did not stop with the Orlando, Florida-based band. Next, it was Slingerz Entertainment who displayed a certain homage to the slogan ‘West side is the best side’; often uttered by those residing on the West Coast of Demerara, where Slingerz originated.

It was Slingerz’s first time producing a Carnival Band, and they took the theme “Wild West”, and in corporated cowboy and coun try western themes with their choices of blue, pink, and white.

Surely, the first two bands presented were only a mouth-watering drop of

what more was in store for those who thirsted to wit ness a carnival, following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The “Amazonas” Band, organised by Palm Court, took to the route approx imately an hour later. Sporting an eyecatching red, their costumed girls enticed and excited those who lined the streets of the Carnival

route.

Next, it was a band that most did not expect but wel comed with cheers and words of adoration. Poised on top of a double decker truck was the First Lady of Guyana, Arya Ali, who was more than elated to wave continuously at the Guyanese and foreign ers present.

The First Lady and

They employed several trucks, that would accompa ny their fete-ers to their des tination, making for the larg est Band on Carnival Day.

Getting to know the band

“As you all know, Pulse is the number 1 band in the road, all the time,” Pulse’s proprietor, Robbie Singh told Guyana Times on Church street.

“We’re having a great time and we’re ready for more road all day,” Singh added with a bright smile.

“We’re just about 400 persons in the band. Cricket was great, Tribe is great and definitely Pulse Warriors on the road Carnival Day is fan tastic,” Singh later shared, justifying their ‘biggest band’ title.

“It’s about the people. It’s about making a great expe rience for everybody and I think we made it very well. So, everybody’s happy,” Singh’s wife, Sandra, chimed in.

Earlier in the day, Slingerz’s representative, Kevin shared how elated the

“Washdown”

Right alongside the ma jor advertisement opportuni ties that Sunday’s Carnival Road parade offered, the closing event was equally publicised.

As such, it came as no surprise when thousands of Guyanese flocked the Kitty Roundabout and surround ing environs to join in on the fun to be had.

The washdown concert, for which a brand-new deck on the Kitty Seawall was built, was a massive hit among the Guyanese patrons who crooned and harmon ised with the variety of ar tistes who took to the stage, inclusive of Trinidad and Tobago’s Machel Montano.

Montano had, the night before, entertained thou sands of Guyanese at the National Stadium, for Cricket Carnival’s second super concert. Additionally, the international Soca ar tiste was one of those accom panying First Lady Arya Ali on the road parade.

Persons lined the streets to catch a glimpse of the Cricket Carnival Road parade

Revelers decked out in their colours and enjoying Sunday’s Road parade

12

Scenes from Cricket

First Lady Arya Ali got in on the Carnival atmosphere from atop a two decker truck

Cricket Carnival Mascot Stumpy was out and about and took a photo opportunity with young fans

Photos by Ministry of Tourism,

Cricket Carnival Parade

Tourism,

Commerce and Jemima Holmes

Slashing of fuel prices

Govt has taken a “hands-on” approach – GOGEC

Calling the Government’s ap proach “hands on and proactive”, the Guyana Oil and Gas Energy Chamber (GOGEG) on Sunday com mended the Government for the decision to slash fuel prices at the Guyana Oil Company (GuyOil).

GOGEC President Manniram Prashad on Sunday lauded the reduc tion, through GuyOil, of gasoline by 20 per cent and diesel by 15 per cent, while recalling the various other measures the Government took to address cost of living leading up to this.

“Since the outset of the rising cost of living phenom enon followed by the glob al supply chain disruptions, the devastating econom ic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and geopolitical tensions in other parts of the world, His Excellency, President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali has taken a hands-on and proactive ap proach in confronting the ef fects of these developments on the domestic economy,” GOGEC President said in a statement.

“Cognisant of the fact that fuel is a major source of energy across all sectors and households, it’s an input cost for almost [all of] the production of all goods and services, the Government, as part of its menu of costof-living measures to help cushion the impact, reduced the Excise Tax on fuel from 50 per cent to 0 per cent in less than two years.”

According to GOGEC, this reduction translated to approximately $20 billion in annual revenues for the Government… revenues it had to forgo. With this ad ditional measure, GOGEC said it estimates this will cost the Government be tween $5 billion and $10 bil lion in foregone annual rev enues.

“Notwithstanding, these are bold and commendable measures implemented by the Government in an ef fort to bring further relief to consumers in the short term. GOGEC is also con fident that these measures will be sustainable through the medium term until the materialisation of a few ma jor transformational devel opment projects that will seek to safeguard Guyana and the region from exter nal shocks – such as the re gional energy and food secu rity agenda,” GOGEC said.

In the announcement on Saturday, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, had said that gas pric es at the pump charged by GuyOil would be reduced from $269 per litre to $215 per litre.

Additionally, diesel prices were reduced by 15 per cent from $265 per li tre to $225 per litre. These changes, according to the Minister, are expected to start taking effect as early as 2 October 2022.

Dr Singh explained that during the first half of 2022,

global oil prices surged more than 50 per cent, in creasing from US$77 per barrel at the end December 2021 to US$120 in June of this year. In fact, oil prices rose as high as US$137 per barrel primarily as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

GOGEC President Manniram Prashad the Government lowered the Excise Tax on both gas oline and diesel from 20 per cent to 10 per cent so as to minimise the impact of ris ing global oil prices,” the Minister further explained.

“The impact of the dra matic increases in oil prices were significant and given the interconnected nature of the global economy, trans lated into higher cost of landing fuel in Guyana. In order to mitigate the impact of rising global fuel pric es on domestic consumers and the productive sectors to which fuel is a key input, the Government lowered the Excise Tax rate on both gasoline and diesel from 10 per cent to 0 per cent in March of this year.”

“It would be recalled that, previously, during the Budget 2022 presentation,

Over a period of time, the Government has been progressively lowering the Excise Tax rate on both gas oline and diesel, from 50 per cent to 35 per cent in February 2021, then from

35 per cent to 20 per cent in October 2021. This is in keeping with Government’s policy to adjust the taxes on fuel, to mitigate the impact of rising fuel prices on the world market.

2 men jailed for theft of cattle

Davon Grenion, 33, a farm er also of Dochfour, were charged with the offence of larceny of cattle contrary to Section 176 of the Criminal Law (Offences) Act.

They appeared be fore Magistrate Marisa Mittleholzer before whom they pleaded guilty to the charge when they appeared at the aforementioned court.

It was reported that the owner of the two pregnant animals was able to cap ture the rustlers by a trail of blood that was left behind. The farmer had reported ly rounded up his animals before retiring to bed. But when he woke up the follow ing morning, two of them were missing. (G1)

The Guyana Oil Company

The Mahaica Magistrate’s Court has sentenced two men to three years’ impris onment each over the theft

of two heads of cattle.

Mustak Mohamed called “Ishmael”, 40, a farm er of Dochfour, East Coast Demerara (ECD), and

Jailed: Mustak Mohamed Jailed: Davon Grenion

Active COVID-19 cases at

Only one new nov el coronavirus case was detected from 128 tests conducted within a 24-hour period, according to the Health Ministry on Sunday.

This now takes active COVID-19 cases in Guyana up to 67 including 63 per sons in home isolation and the remaining four persons in institutional isolation.

Additionally, there are two other persons current ly in institutional quar antine, while there are no patients in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Meanwhile, Guyana’s COVID-19 death toll re mains at 1281 with the latest fatality record ed on September 15 after an 88-year-old male from Region Four (DemeraraMahaica) died as a result of the virus. This is one of three COVID-19 fatali ties recorded thus far this month.

In addition, some 70,001 persons have recovered from the life-threatening virus to date – one more re covery than the figure re corded the previous day.

Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Guyana over two years

ago, a total 696,260 tests have been conducted coun trywide and of this, some 32,700 males and 38,649 females were found to be positive.

The one new case re corded on Sunday was from Region Four (DemeraraMahaica).

There were no new cas es recorded in the oth er nine regions across the country within the report ing 24-hour period.

Back in March, the Guyana Government had removed most restrictions as the country recovers from the pandemic and re turns to normalcy.

Nevertheless, health authorities continue to urge persons to get vacci nated and for those qual ified to get their booster shots as an added layer of protection against the vi rus.

The latest vaccination figures show that so far, more than 446,000 adults or 81.1 per cent have tak en a first dose while over 346,000 or 67.6 per cent of persons 18 years and older are fully vaccinated.

For adolescents be tween the ages of 12 and 17, about 35,000 or 49 per

cent of them have received first doses and of that amount, some 26,000 or 36 per cent received a second dose.

Vaccines are also being administered to children in the five to 11 category and so far, over 8000 or 8.2 per cent have gotten a first dose, while only about 4000 or 4.2 per cent of this co hort have returned for the second dose.

Moreover, in excess of 74,000 booster shots were taken to date by the vari ous age groups.

According to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recent figures, some 614,385,693 confirmed cas es were reported global ly along with 6,522,600 deaths.

In the Region of the Americas, that is, Latin America and the Caribbean, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has increased to 178,234,180 while the death toll in the region has gone up to 2,837,162.

As it relates to vaccina tion against COVID-19, the WHO also reported that a total of 12,677,499,928 dos es have been administered worldwide. (G8)

14-year-old BHS student crowned Region 6 Teen Queen

her.

Peters won the best smile, best sportswear, most talented, most disciplined, and the best cultural perfor mance prizes.

Willie was judged Miss Intelligent; she was also awarded for being the youngest participant. She also won the award for the best introduction.

The Miss Congeniality award went to Crandon.

The other participants were Alliyah Busgith, who represented Number 51 Police Station under the platform “domestic vio lence”; Lisa Boyce, who represented Sisters Police Station under the platform “Trafficking In Persons”; Natasha Giddings, who rep resented Mibicuri Police

Station with teenage preg nancy as her platform; Natasha Mandakin, who represented Reliance Police Station with suicide being her platform and Cassandra Carrington, who represent ed Central Police Station. Her platform was youth em powerment.

After being crowned at 02:05h on Sunday, Willie thanked all those who sup ported her.

“I intend to represent Region Six and make my region proud,” she said, as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Similar pageants are be ing held in other admin istrative Regions. The na tional finals will be held on November 5, in the capital city. (G4)

Fourteen-year-old

Saskie Willie, a stu dent of Berbice High School (BHS), was on Sunday morning crowned Region Six Teen Queen.

The event, which was organised by the Guyana Police Force at the region al level, saw eight girls par ticipating; each represent ing one of the eight Police Stations in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).

Willie, representing the Rose Hall Outpost, spoke on the issue of child abuse.

The first runner-up is

Aniesha Crandon, who rep resented Albion Police Station and addressed mat ters of substance abuse.

Meanwhile, Auriel Peters, who represented Whim Police Station, was the second runner-up and she discussed the matter of juvenile delinquency.

The three got the judges' nod from the field of eight and their final places were adjudged by their responses to a final question.

“Your mother is termi nally ill and needs care, you are a student at school

and faced with a decision whether to leave school and get a job so as to be able to take care of your mother or place her in a home that offers care for the elderly; which will you chose and why?” Chief Judge Shondel Phillips asked the three fi nalists individually.

Both Peters and Crandon said they were going to leave school in that sce nario. However, Willie said she was going to remain in school – as education is the key to success.

“If I drop out of school,

I would not have that ed ucation I need to fulfil my dreams…I will take my mother into a home where she is treated properly and well,” Willie continued.

The contestants partici pated in four categories: cul tural wear, sportswear, tal ent, and evening gown.

Before the final three were selected, Peters had pushed herself out as a front runner having dominated in the earlier stages of the pag eant, but stumbled when the final question, which was worth 200 points, was put to

From left: Miss Berbice Teen Saskie Willie, first runner-up Auriel Peters and second runner-up Aniesha Crandon

Philomena “Fireball” Sahoye-Shury passes

Former Member of Parliament and Central Committee member of the People’s Progressive Party, Philomena Sahoye-Shury has died.

Sahoye-Shury, popularly known as “Fireball”, was 90 years old.

On Sunday evening, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo extended his condolences to the relatives and friends of Sahoye-Shury.

The People’s Progressive Party on its Facebook page posted: “…deepest condo lences to the relatives and friends of Cde Philomena Sahoye-Shury following her passing. Cde Phil served in many capacities, including as a Member of Parliament and in the Central Committee of the party.”

Here is an article published by Guyana Times on Sahoye-Shury on March 8, 2014 in celebration of International Women’s Day

The “Fireball” still lives “I would do it all over again” – Philomena SahoyeShury

At age 83, Philomena Sahoye-Shury, who is re garded as Guyana's "Fireball", is still playing an integral role in the devel opment of women and com munities across the country.

Sahoye-Shury is present ly the National Director of Community Development Councils in Guyana, and remains very active in the realm of local politics. She is enjoying her new role, which she described as "satisfying", explaining that she feels honoured to serve the peo ple of Guyana because of the 'joy" derived from seeing im provements in their overall lives. As Guyana observes International Women's Day this year, this iconic wom an said she was proud of the gains made by women and the zeal they have shown thus far. Sahoye-Shury said women today have much to celebrate when one con siders the hardships that they have endured during the pre-independence and post-independence eras. She recalled the role Janet Jagan played in the colonial days in motivating young girls and women like herself to get in volved in the decision-mak ing processes, as the pa triarchal society back then discriminated against wom enfolk. The "Fireball" said the former President was the reason women could cel ebrate the freedoms they en joy today.

Proud to be a woman "Women have gained a mighty lot. We are now ex periencing equality, because

Philomena Sahoye-Shury

we could hold lots of posi tions across the country. In all spheres of life in Guyana, they are doing all that they should do and much more. I am proud to be a woman in Guyana today," SahoyeShury declared. She said women must celebrate the fact that today they are more empowered and re spected. "They can vote... they can get married (civil servants)... they can partici pate freely in poli-tics...they can speak frankly. We could not do these things back then," Sahoye-Shury stated. Her life was not made easy when she made the decision to enter the world of work

and the realm of politics. A registered nurse at the time, Sahoye-Shury stated that she and other female civil servants were made to work as many as 12 hours per day and were debarred from be coming formally educated in various subject matters.

Inspired She said while in her twenties, she ventured to a public meeting where she heard Janet Jagan speak for the first time. Sahoye-3hury remembered Jagan's brav ery and how she genuinely addressed the issues affect ing women at that time. "I entered politics because of

Fatal WCB accident

Janet and Cheddi Jagan... those times, women did not have any initiatives and they felt inferior. She in spired me... after hearing her speak, I told my mother I have to become like Janet Jagan," she said during the interview with Guyana Times.

She immediately started to work with Mrs Jagan on a campaign around the coun try aimed at getting fami lies to start investing in the education of girls. "We went from door to door and from com-munity to community," she noted while underscor ing that the fight then was for equal rights. Asked what were some of the major chal lenges she faced when she entered the political envi ronment, the "Fireball" re marked "resistance from men" and non-acceptance from the colonial elites. Sahoye-Shury later went on to become the General Secretary of the Guyana Sugar Workers Union and worked feverishly to change the name to the Guyana Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU). She faced severe hardships, along with her colleagues, back in 1964 as they attempted to bargain for recognition of GAWU. According to Sahoye-Shury, her next struggle was to fight alongside her comrades for the independence of Guyana.

She later be-came President of the Women's Progressive Organisation of Guyana. Sahoye-Shury, who enjoys reading and giving inspira tional talks, was appointed as a Member of Parliament for the People's Progressive Party/Civic during the peri-od 1968 to 1971. She was later appointed the Parliamentary Secretary for the Local Government and Regional Development Ministry and the Housing and Water Ministry. "I am hoping that we will have an other female as President of this country before I die," she said passionately, not ing that the future of women looks even brighter. "I don't have disappointments," she responded when asked about the criticisms women face today in their quest for gender equality and recogni tion. "Women have handled it superbly so far", and can not afford to stop the journey just yet, Sahoye-Shury stat ed. The only woman charged and jailed for sedition in Guyana, Sahoye-Shury said: "I have no regrets and if I have to do it, I will do it all over again, because I am a woman." She also paid trib ute to all of the other ster ling women who have played fascinating roles in shaping Guyana today, while paving the way for younger girls to take over the mantle.

Family, friends hold vigil and call for justice

Family members and friends of taxi driv er Salim Yusuf, who was killed when a driver lost control of a speeding car and slammed into his taxi are calling for justice.

On Saturday evening, Yusuf’s family and friends held a candlelight vigil at the scene of the accident and used the opportunity to reflect on his life.

The 30-year-old man, of Cotton Tree, West Coast Berbice (WCB), Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), was killed on September 24, a short distance away from his home. He was at the time heading home when the accident oc curred.

Police have since said that about 04:30h on September 24, mo

tor car PYY 3603, driven by a teacher of Kildonan Village, Corentyne, Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne), was proceed ing east along the northern drive lane at a fast rate of speed while motor car PTT 9357, driven by Yusuf, was

proceeding west along the southern drive lane at a fast rate of speed on the “D” Edward Public Road, WCB.

The Police said that the 33-year-old teacher lost control of his vehicle and collided with the right side

of Yusuf’s car in the south ern drive lane.

As a result of the colli sion, both vehicles received extensive damage.

Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) footage of the incident showed the teacher’s car veering out of

his lane and into the lane of oncoming traffic forcing one driver to take evasive action to avoid a collision

was still being investigat ed. He noted that the ac cused driver has been re leased on station bail.

The commander added that the traffic department is still waiting on some ad ditional information before a file is prepared and sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for ad vice on the way forward.

Family members of the now-dead taxi driver have expressed concern that the driver has been placed on station bail without charges.

before the teacher’s car slammed into Yusuf’s car.

Acting Regional Commander Lonsdale Withrite said the matter

However, under the law, the Police can only detain a person for up to 72 hours without charging them un less granted permission by the High Court to extend the period of detention be yond 72 hours. (G4)

Dead: Salim Yusuf

Family and friends of taxi driver Salim Yusuf at the vigil on Saturday evening

The vehicles that were involved in the accident

Dr. Tariq Jagnarine Family meDicine/enDocrinology

Lightheadedness is a feeling of faint ness, dizziness, or being close to passing out.

It can occur alongside ver tigo, which affects balance and makes a person feel as though they or their sur roundings are spinning. Although lightheadedness and vertigo can have similar feelings, they have different causes.

Experiencing some epi sodes of lighthead- edness is normal. In most cases, those episodes would pass quickly, especially if a person sits or lies down to rest.

CAUSES

Causes of lightheaded ness can include illnesses, anxiety, and dehydration.

• The most common cause of lightheadedness

is orthostatic hypotension, which is a sudden drop in blood pressure when a per son stands up.

Positional changes, especially quick ones, divert blood flow temporarily from the brain to the body. It is more likely that this would result in lightheadedness when a person is dehydrat ed or ill.

The feeling usually passes quickly, especially if a person sits down again.

Other common causes of lightheadedness include:

o Allergies

o Illnesses, such as the cold or flu

o Altitude sickness

o Hyperventilating

o Anxiety o Stress o Dehydration

o Prolonged exposure to hot weather

o Low blood sugar o Alcohol, tobacco, or drug use

o Certain medications

Sometimes lightheaded ness may have a more se vere underlying cause, such as:

• Arrhythmia

• Heart attack

• Stroke

• Shock

• Inner ear disorders

• Internal bleeding

• Blood loss

• Neurological condi

HEALTH TIPS

LIGHTHEADEDNESS

TREATMENT

Feature

tions, such as Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclero sis

• Anaemia

• Conditions that af fect blood flow

• Head injuries

• Eating disorders

If lightheadedness is due to a more serious underlying condition, a person would usually experience addition al symptoms.

HOME REMEDIES

A person should drink lots of water in hot weath er, in order to reduce the risk of falling or fainting. Most of the time, a person experiencing an episode of lightheadedness can man age their symptoms with home remedies and lifestyle changes.

A person who is prone to experiencing dizziness or

lightheadedness should use the following tips to reduce their risk of falling or faint ing:

• Getting up slowly after sitting or lying down.

• Drinking lots of wa ter, especially in hot weath er or during exercise.

• Eating or drinking something sugary or with simple carbohydrates when feeling faint.

• Lying or sitting down until the episode pass es.

• Getting enough sleep.

• Avoid caffeine, to bacco, and alcohol. Limiting salt in take.

Anyone who thinks that their medication may be causing lightheadedness should speak to a doctor.

While lightheadedness does not usually require medical care, a doctor may sometimes recommend one of the following treatments, depending on the underly ing cause:

• Medications

• Physical therapy

• Psychotherapy

• Compression stock ings to keep blood from pool ing in the legs

Medications could in clude:

• Diuretics

• Anti-anxiety medi cations

• Anti-nausea medi cations

• Medications for mi graines

If a doctor recommends physical therapy for light headedness, a physical ther apist is likely to teach a per son exercises that improve their balance.

In people who have light headedness due to anxiety, a doctor may recommend psychotherapy or cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to help them manage this condition. A therapist may provide other coping mech anisms to reduce a person’s stress levels.

In very rare cases, a doc tor may advise surgery for repeated episodes of light headedness and vertigo. A

surgeon would perform a labyrinthectomy, which is the removal of part or all of the inner ear.

A person should seek emergency medical atten tion if chest pain accompa nies lightheadedness or diz ziness. Most people do not need to seek medical atten tion for an occasional ep isode of lightheadedness. However, it is essential to seek emergency medical at tention for lightheadedness or dizziness when one or more of the following symp toms accompany it:

Weakness on one side of the body

Facial drooping or numbness

Slurred speech

Chest pain

Pain in the arm, neck, or jaw

Sudden severe headache

Fainting Numbness or inabil ity to move the arms or legs

Vision changes, such as double vision

Rapid or irregular heartbeat

Seizures

• Vomiting

A person should also see a doctor immediately if light headedness occurs following a head injury. Anyone who has concerns about light headedness should speak to a doctor.

Regional

Brazil’s election goes to runoff

Brazil's presiden tial election is head ed for a run-off vote, electoral authorities said on Sunday, after President Jair Bolsonaro's surpris ing strength in a first-round vote spoiled rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's hopes of win ning outright.

With 95 per cent of elec tronic votes counted, Lula was ahead with 47.6 per cent of votes versus 43.9 per cent for Bolsonaro, the na tional electoral authority re ported. As neither got a ma jority of support, the race will go to a second-round vote on October 30.

Several opinion surveys had shown Lula leading Bolsonaro by 10-15 percent age points ahead of Sunday's vote. The much tighter re sult dashed expectations of a quick resolution to a deep ly-polarised election in the world's fourth-largest de mocracy.

Bolsonaro had ques tioned polls that showed him losing to Lula in the first round, saying they did not capture enthusiasm he

saw on the campaign trail. He has also attacked the in tegrity of Brazil's electronic voting system without ev idence, and suggested he

Cholera kills at least 7 in Haiti as disease returns

Haiti on Sunday said at least seven peo ple have died of cholera in a surprise return of the disease that comes as the nation is paralysed by a gang blockade that has triggered shortages of fuel and clean drinking water.

The disease killed some 10,000 people through a 2010 outbreak that has been blamed on a United Nations peacekeeping force.

The Pan American Health Organisation in 2020 said Haiti had gone a year with

no confirmed cholera cases.

"According to the infor mation we have, the num ber of deaths is about sev en to eight," said Health Ministry General Director Laure Adrien during a press conference, adding that officials were strug gling to get information from hospitals.

"There was one death during the day today."

The Health Ministry earlier confirmed one case in the Port-au-Prince area and that there were sus

pect cases in the town of Cite Soleil outside the cap ital, which was the site of vicious gang turf wars in July.

Gangs have since last month been blocking the country's main fuel port in protest over last month's announcement of a fuel price hike. Many hospitals have shut down or scaled back operations for lack of fuel to power generators.

Basic transit is now im possible for most citizens.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

might not concede if he lost.

Political observers had said a wide margin of victory for Lula could sap Bolsonaro of support to challenge

the electoral results. But Sunday's vote, extending a tense and violent election by another four weeks, revital ised his campaign.

"The extreme right is very strong across Brazil," said Carlos Melo, a politi cal scientist at the Insper business school. "Lula's sec ond-round victory is now less likely. Bolsonaro will arrive with a lot of strength for re-election."

Some polls had suggest ed Lula could win over 50 per cent of valid votes, al lowing him to avoid the runoff against his fierce rival. But as results trickled in, that looked unlikely.

Outside Bolsonaro's fam ily home in Rio de Janeiro's Barra da Tijuca neigh bourhood, the scene of ju bilant celebrations when Bolsonaro was elected in 2018, the mood was increas ingly upbeat.

Although he ended his

2003-2010 Government with record populari ty, Lula is now loathed by many Brazilians after he was convicted of accept ing bribes and jailed during the last election. His convic tion was later overturned by the Supreme Court, al lowing him to face his rival Bolsonaro this year, along with nine other candidates from an array of smaller parties.

A career lawmaker turned self-styled outsid er, Bolsonaro rode a back lash against Lula's Workers Party to victory in 2018. He has dismantled environmen tal and Indigenous protec tions to the delight of com mercial farmers and wildcat miners, while pushing an anti-gay and anti-abortion agenda. His popularity has suffered since the corona virus pandemic, which he dismissed as a "little flu". (Excerpt from Reuters)

Stranded sperm whale rescued off coast of Negril

Amajor multi-agency operation, with the expertise of local in dependent water sport op erators, successfully res cued a sperm whale that had stranded itself in the vicinity of the Azul Beach Resort in Negril. Jamaica Sunday morning.

"Marine mammal strandings are rare in Jamaica. The cause of the stranding may have been due to a storm last night,

causing the whale to be dis oriented and venturing into shallow waters where it got trapped," a release from the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) , said.

After receiving a report of the mammal strand ing, a team was quickly as sembled comprising rep resentatives from NEPA, Jamaica Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Veterinary

Services Division, Jamaica Defence Force coastguard, Negril Area Environmental Protection Trust, Jamaica Constabulary Marine Police, Negril community stakeholders, veterinary experts from Dolphin Cove and Christine O'Sullivan, a local marine mam mal expert affiliated with UTECH.

The animal was rescued two hours later around 10:30h. (Jamaica Observer)

People stand in line to cast their votes outside a polling station, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, October 2, 2022 [Reuters/Lucas Landau]

Brazil's President and presidential candidate, Jair Bolsonaro greets supporters after casting his vote during the presidential election, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, October 2, 2022 [Reuters/Pilar Olivares]

Brazil's former President and presidential candidate, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is greeted after casting his vote during the presidential election, in Sao Bernardo do Campo, on the outskirts of São Paulo, Brazil [Reuters/ Mariana Greif]

Around the World

OIL NEWS

OPEC+ to consider oil cut of over than 1 million barrels per day

Ukraine reclaims full control from Russia of logistics hub, expects more gains

number of Ukrainian flags in Donbas has increased. There will be even more in a week's time," Zelenskiy said in an earlier address, using the name for the combined Donetsk and Luhansk re gions.

OPEC+

will consider an oil output cut of more than a million barrels per day (bpd) next week, OPEC sources said on Sunday, in what would be the biggest move yet since the COVID-19 pandemic to address oil market weakness.

The meeting will take place on Oct 5 against the backdrop of falling oil prices and months of severe market volatility which prompted top OPEC+ producer, Saudi Arabia, to say the group could cut production.

OPEC+, which combines OPEC countries and allies such as Russia, has refused to raise output to lower oil prices despite pressure from major consumers, including the United States, to help the global economy.

Prices have nevertheless fallen sharply in the last month due to fears about the global economy and a rally in the US dollar after the Federal Reserves raised rates.

A significant production cut is poised to anger the United States, which has been putting pressure on Saudi Arabia to continue pumping more to help oil prices soften further and reduce revenues for Russia as the West seeks to punish Moscow for sending troops to Ukraine.

The West accuses Russia of invading Ukraine, but the Kremlin calls it a special military operation.

Saudi Arabia has not condemned Moscow's actions amid difficult relations with the Administration of US President Joe Biden.

Last week, a source familiar with the Russian thinking said Moscow would like to see OPEC+ cutting 1 million bpd or one per cent of global supply.

That would be the biggest cut since 2020 when OPEC+ reduced output by a record 10 million bpd as demand crashed due to the COVID pandemic. The group spent the next two years unwinding those record cuts.

On Sunday, the sources said the cut could exceed 1 million bpd. One of the sources suggested cuts could also include a voluntary additional reduction of production by Saudi Arabia.

OPEC+ will meet in person in Vienna for the first time since March 2020.

Analysts and OPEC watchers such as UBS and JP Morgan have suggested in recent days a cut of around 1 million bpd was on the cards and could help arrest the price decline.

"$90 oil is non-negotiable for the OPEC+ leadership, hence they will act to safeguard this price floor," said Stephen Brennock of oil broker PVM. (Reuters)

Tractor trailer carrying Hindu devotees crashes, killing dozens

Ukraine on Sunday claimed full con trol of the eastern logistics hub of Lyman, its most significant battlefield gain from Russia in weeks, providing a potential stag ing post for further attacks to the east while heap ing further pressure on the Kremlin.

The stinging setback for Russian President Vladimir Putin was delivered after he proclaimed the annex ation of four regions cover ing nearly a fifth of Ukraine on Friday, an area that in cludes Lyman. Kyiv and the West have condemned the proclamation as an illegiti mate farce.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the capture of the town, where Ukrainian flags were raised over civic buildings

on Saturday, demonstrat ed that Ukraine is capable of dislodging Russian forc es and showed the impact Ukraine's deployment of ad vanced Western weapons was having on the conflict.

"As of 1230 (0930 GMT),

Lyman is fully cleared," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a short video clip on his Telegram channel. "Thank you to our troops ... Glory to Ukraine!"

"Over the past week, the

Russia's Defence Ministry said on Saturday that it was pulling troops out of the Lyman area "in connection with the creation of a threat of encirclement".

Russian forces captured Lyman from Ukraine in May and had used it as a logistics and transport hub for its op erations in the north of the Donetsk region. Its recap ture by Ukrainian troops is Russia's largest battlefield loss since Ukraine's light ning counteroffensive in the north-eastern Kharkiv re gion in September. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Burkina Faso President resigns on condition coup leader guarantees his safety

Burkina Faso's self-declared mili tary leader Captain Ibrahim Traore has accept ed a conditional resignation offered by President PaulHenri Damiba to avoid fur ther violence after Friday's coup, religious and tra ditional leaders said on Sunday.

According to the deal, announced at a press con ference, Traore had agreed to seven conditions, includ ing a guarantee of Damiba's safety and the securi ty of soldiers who backed him, and the honouring of

promises made to the West Africa regional bloc to re turn to constitutional rule by July 2024.

Damiba could not be reached for comment. A close family member told Reuters he left the country on Sunday.

Traore said earlier that order was being restored af ter violent protests against the French embassy and days of fighting as his fac tion moved to topple the Government.

Splits have emerged within the army, with many soldiers appearing

to seek Russian support as the influence of former co lonial power France wanes.

At least three separate videos shared on online on Saturday and Sunday showed soldiers atop ar moured personnel carriers, waving Russian flags, while the crowd around chanted "Russia! Russia!". Reuters has not verified the videos.

Traore's team urged peo ple to halt attacks on the French embassy, targeted by protesters after an offi cer said France had shel tered Damiba at a French military base in the West

African country and that he was planning a counter-of fensive.

The French Foreign Ministry denied the base had hosted Damiba af ter his ouster on Friday. Damiba also denied he was at the base, saying the re ports were a deliberate ma nipulation of public opin ion.

Ouagadougou was most ly calm on Sunday after sporadic gunfire across the capital throughout Saturday between oppos ing army factions. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Afarm

tractor trailer carrying Hindu pil grims has overturned and fallen into a pond in Ghatampur in northern India’s Kanpur city, kill ing 26 people, most of them women and children, offi cials said on Sunday.

Superintendent of Police Tej Swaroop Singh of Kanpur said the wagon was carrying about 40 people re turning from a ceremony at a nearby Hindu temple on Saturday night. He said most of the deaths were due to drowning.

At least 10 people were injured in the accident in Kanpur, about 100km (60 miles) southwest of Uttar Pradesh state’s capital, Lucknow. The injured have been taken to hospital.

The cause of the accident is still under investigation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolenc es.

“Distressed by the trac tor-trolley mishap took place in Kanpur. My thoughts are with all those who have lost their near and dear ones and prayers with the injured,” Modi tweeted.

It is the second incident in the last week in Uttar Pradesh – a tractor carry ing people overturned on Monday, killing at least 10 people.

Uttar Pradesh’s top elect ed official Yogi Adityanath discouraged the use of farm tractors for passenger trans port.

“A tractor-trolley should be used for agricultural work and to transfer goods, not to ferry people,” he said in a statement.

Traffic accidents are fre quent in India with more than 150,000 people killed last year, or more than 400 per day, according to official statistics which are likely an underestimate. (Al Jazeera)

Neglected underground coal fires threaten lives of Zimbabweans

Coal fires have become a major issue over the past five years in Hwange, occurring regularly in various areas of the min ing town. One blaze has been burning underground for 15 years.

In late 2021, an eightyear-old girl who was reliev ing herself in a nearby bush area was swallowed by the ground and fell into a coal seam fire. She later died from her wounds at a hospital.

Hwange Colliery Company Limited (HCCL) is based in Hwange in southwestern Zimbabwe. Residents of the town, with a population of about 40,000, are living in fear as the com pany has failed to fence off coal sites and take measures to put out the blazes.

Greater Whange Residents Trust (GWRT) Coordinator Fidelis Chima said underground and sur face fires killed two children in recent years and injured more than a dozen people. He accused the company of

not taking the threat seri ously.

Across the globe, hun dreds of fires burn low and slow on dirty fuel beneath the earth, some smoulder ing for decades, according to Global Forest Watch, an

open-source monitor.

“These fires are known as coal seam fires. They occur underground when a layer of coal in the Earth’s crust is ig nited. Due to the out-of-sight nature of the fires, they are often hard to detect at first, and even harder to extin guish,” Global Forest Watch said.

Hwange residents com plain that Hwange Colliery Company has neglected their safety for years and they now live in fear, especially for their children who cannot read warning signs.

With a lack of proper security measures at coal dumping sites, children have been the majority of the vic tims, sustaining life-threat ening injuries or deformities.

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Ukrainian troops pose for a photo in Lyman, Ukraine in this picture released in social media October 1, 2022

An eight-year old girl was swallowed by the ground and later died from her wounds in 2021 [File: Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP]

DAILY HOROSCOPES

Sit tight, observe and take care of unfinished business that can help you get ahead professionally. Refuse to let emotional issues prevent you from get ting things done on time.

You need a change. Get together with people you find interesting and exchange valuable information about work-relat ed opportunities. Brush up on a service or skill.

Share your experience and informa tion with someone who offers sound ad vice, and you'll be enlightened about an idea you want to pursue. Make changes to free up time to follow your dream.

Don't get stuck in a rut. Look at the possibilities, use your imagination and forge ahead with optimism. Put your skills to work for you and concentrate on one thing at a time.

Consider what's being asked of you before you commit. Take a step back, fo cus on self-improvement and do what ever you can to update your appearance and incorporate a healthy routine.

Question everything, work through an issue and resolve any discrepancies you encounter. Stay calm and use expe rience, intelligence and the facts to make your point and win support.

23-Sept.

Don't ask others to do something you wouldn't do yourself. Pitch in, and you'll get the most out of your colleagues. Make sure you pay attention to how you present yourself to others.

23-Oct.

Listen to your heart. Don't expect others to know what's best for you. Show discipline when dealing with money matters, and refuse to let anyone talk you out of your hard-earned cash.

Pay close attention to how you look and present yourself to others. A space you create at home will encourage you to take advantage of a moneymaking op portunity. Verify facts and figures.

Discard what you don't need. Declutter your life and surroundings. You'll be surprised how free you feel if you get rid of the dead weight you've been dragging around.

Rethink your financial and domestic situations. Have a well-thought-out plan that will promote flexibility while mak ing your surroundings more comfortable and workable. Romance is on the rise.

You can play an important role in someone's life if you take the time to lis ten and offer solutions. Step up, make suggestions and work diligently to reach your goal.

DILBERT

Dazzling Suryakumar, Rahul, Kohli give India series win

–

If the first T20 International in Thiruvananthapuram was a tantalising contest between bat and ball, the second T20I in Guwahati turned out to be the polar opposite. India posted 237 against an ordinary bowl ing performance from the visitors, but in response, the hosts, too, had an in different outing with the ball and conceded 221. The difference between the two sides ended up being the solid opening partner ship that India had, one which South Africa failed to reproduce for the second game in a row.

With two of South Africa's top three falling for ducks early on, defeat was looming for South Africa early in the chase. That somewhat freed up the inform David Miller to post his highest T20I score of

utilised Rahul's brisk start to get back to his own rhythm after a blow to his finger while trying to scoop Parnell slowed him down.

At the end of six overs,

as

win first T20I series against SA at home

hammered Anrich Nortje for back-to-back fours and then Karthik, in his sev en-ball 17, played with Rabada's plans by moving across to the off side early and then dragging wide de liveries over the leg side in an 18-run final over. Kohli was left unbeaten on 49, starved for strike in the fi nal over with Karthik find ing the boundaries and India finishing on 237 for 3.

Miller makes it a contest

an unbeaten 106 with not much to lose. He nearly dragged South Africa over the line, dominating an unbeaten partnership of 174 with Quinton de Kock. However, in the end, India's bowlers had too many runs to play with.

On paper, India's win gave them an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series, but both sides would be unhap py with specific portions of their game. India's inexpe rienced bowling attack was torn apart after a prom ising start while South Africa would be worried by their seam-bowling perfor mance and the form of their top order.

Rahul leads openers' charge

The match started with a first-ball boundary, KL Rahul riding Kagiso Rabada's bouncy wide ball to cut for four. He then sur vived a chop-on onto his stumps off Wayne Parnell, but made the most of the slice of luck to race to 25 in 11 deliveries. Rohit Sharma

India were 57 for no loss. And with both openers set on a surface where they could trust the bounce, they attacked relentlessly till the end of their partner ship. Rahul was imperious in his flicks off his toes –that flew over square leg –and the square cut. Rohit's timing was on point, espe cially after his indifferent start, while meeting the ball for the drive through cover or getting down for the sweep. However, Rohit perished seven short of his fifty, trying to drag Keshav Maharaj for a slog sweep from outside off.

Seeing Maharaj's suc cess compared to the seam ers, Temba Bavuma went to Aiden Markram's off spin next over, but Rahul pounced on the part-tim er's over to get to his fifty in 24 balls with a six. Even though Maharaj had Rahul lbw the next over, the 12th, India were going at a run-rate of a shade under 10, and that meant he had done his bit in their pursuit

for 200+.

Carnage in the last eight

Both Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav were fresh at the crease, and South Africa had the op portunity to bring the scor ing rate down. However, Maharaj was done with his overs. And off the next eight overs of pace bowl ing, the two batters – and briefly Dinesh Karthik –pummelled 124. A mix of dewy conditions and bowl ers missing their york ers offered Kohli and Suryakumar plenty of full tosses, and they did not let them go to waste. Parnell, Rabada and Lungi Ngidi all finished poorly in their fi nal spells.

One of those full toss es from Parnell brought Suryakumar's half-centu ry in 18 balls, an innings that was peppered with sweeps, flicks and flat-bat ted thumps to the leg side with some occasional cuts to keep the offside busy. He even crunched Rabada for 21 runs in a 22-run over that deflated the quick bowler. Kohli, too, pep pered the leg side with his whippy flicks through mid wicket or charges down the ground.

By the end of the 18th over, the duo had post ed a partnership of 102 in only 42 deliveries, but Suryakumar was run-out after his 22-ball 61 when he ran for a single with Kohli not looking at him, forcing a mix-up that he could not recover from. At that stage, India were 209 for 2, and once more, South Africa had the chance to take some momentum with them at the break with a tidy finish. However, Kohli

For the second game in a row, both Bavuma and Rilee Rossouw were out for ducks, with Arshdeep Singh yet again taking two wickets in his first over. It was possibly the worst start South Africa could have in a chase of 238 and when play was briefly stopped due to a floodlight malfunc tion, the rest of the match –at that stage – appeared to be a mere formality.

The asking rate was al

deliveries were pulled, of ten all the way for six. In all, he clubbed eight fours and seven sixes to reach his first fifty in 25 balls and his next fifty runs came in 21 balls. The bigger his part nership with de Kock grew, the more India's seamers

ing no-balls (thrice) and the subsequent free-hits go ing for sixes twice. Harshal Patel conceded 45, Axar got hit for four sixes in his spell of 53 and Arshdeep had 62 runs to his name.

De Kock, who had to play cautiously with the two early wickets, was slow off the blocks and seemed to be stuck there for most of his innings. Even when Miller looked fluent, his timing was off, often play ing too hard at deliveries. Deepak Chahar – the pick of the India bowlers with 0 for 24 – kept him quiet, and once he realised that Miller could cause more damage, he went to play second fid dle.

most 14 when Markram was out in the seventh over to Axar Patel, and when Miller walked in alongside de Kock, he did not seem to take the pressure of the looming target in front of him. With one eye on the T20 World Cup, de Kock and Miller looked to bat as long as possible even if the match result appeared to be beyond them.

However, the lon ger they stayed, the more South Africa would feel they were hard done by their poor start. Pressure off, Miller smacked full balls in his arc in the 'V' consistently while short

He stayed unbeaten on 69 in 48 balls, a useful in nings to break his run of poor scores, but had his strokeplay been as smooth as Miller's, perhaps South Africa could've even won the game despite their hor rid start. De Kock even ac knowledged the same at the end of the game, saying "well played, I'm sorry" –as revealed by Miller postmatch – to his batting part ner. (ESPNcricinfo)

erred, with Arshdeep bowl

KL Rahul scored a blistering fifty

Virat Kohli played a classy innings

David Miller’s century went in vain

Suryakumar Yadav in full flow

ACaribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 title-winning performance to his father, who passed away earlier this year.

Allen's return of three wickets for 24 runs against Barbados Royals in Friday’s final, at the Providence Stadium in Guyana, saw him dismantle their top order and play a key role in destroying what could have been gamechanging partnerships.

The Jamaican dismissed the first three Royals’ batsmen – Rahkeem Cornwall (36), skipper Kyle Mayers (29) and Azam Khan (51), as the Barbados franchise got to 161-7 after 20 overs.

In response, the Tallawahs were indebted to the

tournament's Most Valuable Player Brandon King (83 not out) and Shamarh Brooks (47) as they reached 162-2 in 16.1 overs.

This was the Jamaica franchise’s third CPL title since the competition bowled off 10

Prior to the tournament, which began in late August, Allen made himself available for West Indies selection, after he was previously unavailable for selection for six months owing to his father’s passing.

“It’s a great feeling," said Allen. "I dedicate this one to my father who passed away a few months ago. It’s a good victory and I want to thank the fans and everyone who supported us."

Although he was not selected in the WI's 15man squad for this month's International Cricket Council (ICC) T20 World Cup in Australia, Allen pointed out, “After six-seven months without cricket, it’s tough to come back and blast into it.

Jamual John wins Fireworks/Golden Mile cycling

It’s a good finish for me and I’m grateful about that.

"I feel good personally it’s just that simple mistakes let me down, but coming next year, I’ll be working on that,” he added.

When asked what’s next in the near future, he replied, “The world.”

The Tallawahs’ win was also Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s first major title as Coach of a men's team.

Earlier this year however, “Chanders” was appointed Coach of the United States women’s cricket team, which travelled to Trinidad in July, to execute a historic defeat of the hosts at the Cricket West Indies (CWI) U19 Rising Stars Championship. USA won the tourney with Chanderpaul at the wheel.

On his first CPL victory as Tallawahs Coach, the former West Indies Captain said, “Well, this is the first big thing for me as Coach, and this is the highest (title as Coach) for me. I played cricket before, but have never done something like this, winning CPLT20, as Coach. This is fantastic and great for me.”

The legendary WI batsman credited his team’s wealth of experience and

youth as one of their assets en route to lifting this year’s trophy.

“(Mohammed Amir) was a really good addition to us and he played really well, and bowled really well in these conditions. And these are guys who have a lot of experience playing international cricket.

“And (Chris) Green played here for many years so he has a lot of experience out there. We have a good balanced team with experience and some youths and that is probably what helped us,” he added.

Tallawahs skipper Rovman Powell said the team’s dip in form, mid-season, and the “disrespect” directed to

them because of this, served as motivation for them to go harder.

“Adjectives are inadequate in describing how we feel," said Powell. "In the middle of the competition we endure some disrespect and that is something that fuelled the guys”

“Just before the play-offs started, some little backroom stuff started happening in the camp and I called the guys together and told them that all we need to do is rally and have one more good week of cricket together and the guys did fantastic.”

The Windies T20 Vice Captain credited the Tallawahs’ comprehensive approach which allowed

Indonesian authorities say 125 dead in soccer stadium stampede

different players to shine during different parts of the competition.

Powell added, “When the ship got rocky, (the players) stuck with me. When things go tight, the senior and overseas guys held their own and played a big role.

“What I’ve learnt is that you have to lead from the front as a captain with personal performances. Once you do that, it becomes easier to push the team in a particular direction. I also learnt that you cannot do it all by yourself, you need good persons around.”

In their final play-off match against Guyana Amazon Warriors at the Providence Stadium on Wednesday, the Tallawahs ensured the host franchise would have to wait another year to get their hands on the elusive CPLT20 title, courtesy of a 37-run triumph. The Tallawahs piled on a mammoth 226-4 and restricted the Amazon Warriors to 189-8 after 20 overs.

Powell thought the result would have made them targets of the Guyana crowd in the title match on Friday. However, this was not to be, particularly with Guyanese star Chanderpaul leading the Tallawahs' technical staff.

“I must make special mention of Guyana, because the pitches were pretty good. A lot of the fans, after we beat Guyana, they could have turned against us, but they didn’t. They came in their numbers today [Friday] and supported us. We feel like it was a home game,” Powell closed. (Newsday)

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One of Guyana's premier cyclists Jamual John continued to show his dominance as he clinched the Fireworks/ Golden Mile event on Saturday afternoon.

The circuit race, which pedalled off at JB Singh Road/ Vlissengen Road and returned to the point of origin for the finish, saw John clocking in at one hour and 15 minutes.

He finished ahead of Romello Crawford (second); Briton John (third); Alex Mendes and Marcus Keiler in that order.

In the junior category, Berbician Mario Washington was the top rider, while Sherwin Sampson and Aaron Newton came third. Robin Persaud won the veterans’ Under-50 followed by Segun Hubbard and Walter Grant-Stuart, who rode in third.

Talim Shaw was the top over-50 veteran followed by Lennox Jack. Linden's Clivecia Spencer was the winner of the female category. Meanwhile, in the Golden Mile road race, Cleveland Thomas defeated Winston Missinger, Devaughn Barrington, Odwin Tudor, Marion Nickerson, Jonathan Fagundes, and Kennard Hartog.

In the junior category, Jevon Roberts was the top athlete while Attoya Harvey was the top junior female athlete.

Fans invading the stadium

Astampede at a soccer stadium in Indonesia has killed at least 125 persons and injured more than 320 after Police sought to quell violence on the pitch, authorities said on Sunday, in one of the world's worst stadium disasters.

Officers fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse agitated supporters of the losing home side who had invaded the pitch after the final whistle in Malang, East Java, on Saturday night, the region's Police Chief Nico Afinta told reporters.

"It had gotten anarchic.

They started attacking officers, they damaged cars," Nico said, adding that the crush occurred when fans fled for an exit gate.

Some local officials had put the death toll at 174, but East Java Deputy Governor Emil Dardak said the number of fatalities had subsequently been revised down to 125.

The earlier figure may have included duplicate fatalities, he said. An East Java Police spokesperson said 323 persons were injured, up from the initial count of 180.

Video footage from local

news channels showed fans streaming onto the pitch after Arema FC lost 3-2 to Persebaya Surabaya around 22:00h (1500 GMT), followed by scuffles, and what appeared to be clouds of tear gas and unconscious fans being carried out of the venue.

Many victims at the nearby Kanjuruhan hospital suffered from trauma, shortness of breath, and a lack of oxygen owing to the large number of people at the scene affected by tear gas, said paramedic Boby Prabowo. (Reuters)

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Fabian Allen and Chris Green

The x-factor overseas death bowler was missing

B y B randon C orlette

The Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW) were again knocked out of the 2022 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) , and this time it was more painful for the

fans, since the finals were played in Guyana for the first time.

As it relates to runs and wickets, Shimron Hetmyer (281) and Romario Shepherd (14) were the leading players in the re spective departments, but

those performances were not impactful enough to take the Warriors to a maiden CPL title, after 10 years of “the Biggest Party in Sport”.

In the past, GAW had that overseas x-factor death bowler in Lasith Malinga and Sohail Tanvir. This season, the Warriors trust ed West Indies trio Keemo Paul, Romario Shepherd, and Odean Smith to per form that role, but on most occasions, the execution was not up to standard.

Shepherd then played the role of a bowler who bowls early in the innings, and he finished with 14 wickets this season, with an average of 18.28 and an economy rate of 8.82. Smith, who had an econo my rate of 11.78, had some

“Not many gave us a chance” –Tallawahs’ underdog status makes CPL triumph sweeter for Ambrose

good matches while claim ing 11 wickets, but he did not shine when it mattered the most. Paul, who suf fered an injury and bowled only 17.4 overs in eight in nings, claimed four wickets this season.

Imran Tahir, who is al ways in the wickets, had 13 scalps while Shakib Al Hasan, the late replace ment, had eight wick ets in the six matches he played. Tabriz Shamsi was very impactful with his eight wickets in the initial matches played. Gudakesh Motie claimed six wickets, while the promising Junior Sinclair had five wickets in the seven matches he played. He also won the El Dorado celebration.

In the batting de partment, Hetmyer had

the most runs for the Warriors. The skipper scored his 281 runs at an average of 25.54, but failed to score that half-centu ry. Shai Hope scored 252 runs after some good per formances at Providence. He had an average of 31, scoring two half-centu ries. Rahmanullah Gurbaz showed great promise with his 157 runs from six matches.

Chandrapaul Hemraj, who scored his 156 runs at an average of 15.6, failed to show his usual class as did Paul Stirling who scored only 15 runs in five matches. Paul, who played his best T20 Innings at Providence while scoring that 56, ended the season with 137 runs.

The stats are on the pa

per, and the results have shown. Warriors won five matches this season, in cluding four in a row at home. The overall season was ordinary, but come 2023 the Warriors will be aiming to improve.

Should the Warriors make adjustments to the Head Coach Rayon Griffith and Assistant Coach Ryan Hercules along with the Logistics and Public Relations Officer? Should the Warriors change the captaincy and buy differ ent players? These are all questions that will be an swered for the 2023 sea son, but some of these players and support staff had their first outing with the GAW this season. Is it too early to make changes? Time will tell.

Port Mourant Turf Club race set for November 6

West Indies bowling legend and Jamaica

Tallawahs Coach Curtly Ambrose admits to taking special pride and plea sure in lifting the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) crown on Friday because of the team's status as underdogs.

The Jamaica-based fran chise lifted the fourth ti tle in its history and first in four years following a domi nant eight-wicket win over the more-heavily favoured Barbados Royals. Heading into the final, the Royals were the league’s hottest team having lost just two of

10 games.

The Tallawahs on the other hand, who are con ditioned by Ambrose and another Windies legend Shivnarine Chanderpaul, in the meantime, finished in the final qualifying spot. At one point during the season, the Tallawahs lost five of seven games.

“This means a lot, as a group we came into the tour nament as underdogs. Not many gave us a chance to come out of the first round, let alone win it,” Ambrose said, following the team’s tri umph.

“I haven’t sprinted for years and I found myself sprinting onto the field. It was a wonderful perfor mance though and we were deserving winners,” he add ed.

“The thing about the Tallawahs is that we didn’t really rely on just one or two players. At any given time, any player can step up. We have depth in our batting; we have good bowling. We stuck together as a family and we believed from day one that we could have won this championship and we did.” (Sportsmax)

Horse

racing action will return to the Port Mourant Turf Club on Sunday, November 6, 2022.

Seven races will be on the cards and the winner of the feature race will bag one million dollars. The first race will be the L Open race running at a distance of six furlongs and the top horse will bag $200,000.

Race two will be the two years old maiden event over six furlongs and the top horse will bag $400,000 while the second-place horse will collect $200,000.

The J Class non-start er and unplaced 2022 race, which is also six furlongs

in distance, will see the top horse bag $200,000. H & Lower race, which is the fourth race of the day, will run at the same distance and the top horse will be re warded $500,000. The K & Lower race will see the top horse bag $300,000 while the J Class race will see the top horse collect $300,000.

Race seven, which is the final race of the day, will see top horses run for one mile, and in addition to the firstplace prize of $1,000,000, the second-place horse will be rewarded $500,000 and the third-place horse $250,000.

The races would be run under the rules of the Guyana Horse Racing

Authority. The club reserves the right to cancel/reframe any race mentioned above. Seven horses are required to start before the fourth prize is paid, and five horses, be fore the third prize is paid.

Horses can be entered by contacting Jingo on 618-7278, Fazal on 6577010, Dennis Deoroop 6406396, and Shazeena 3220789/322-0369. Queries are only allowed before race day and entries will be closed on October 31, 2022. Depending on entries, the organisers would be open to framing addition al races. The next race day after the November 6 meet will be on December 11.

Sir Curtly Ambrose with the Tallawahs players

Head Coach Rayon Griffith and Amazon Warriors players at a press conference

Warriors had five wins this season

Odean Smith had a season economy rate of over 11

Shimron Hetmyer