Guyana Times November 11, 2018

LOOK INSIDE !

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

Issue No. 3743

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Sunday, November 11, 2018

Oil and gas sector

Tax avoidance laws on the cards, Petroleum Act for review Page 11

Employers must allow workers to go vote in LGE – Opposition Leader Page 9

SWF must not be used as a “cash cow” – former Page 7 …recommends legislative T&T PM framework to protect reserve

PRICE

$120 vat included

WHAT'S INSIDE:

$513.3M in seized cocaine, ganja P15 destroyed

Filaria pills distribution campaign ends P17

…as persons complain of not receiving medication

2 arrested with ammo, ganja P8

Eddy Grant receives honorary doctorate

Wakenaam, Leguan stellings

See stories on pages 3, 12 & 18

1739 students graduate from UG

Contractors mobilising equipment to begin P17 rehabilitation – Patterson

– valedictorian calls for improved services

Fly Jamaica crash landing

Page 2

Black box yet to be sent off for decoding – GCAA head …says no disruption to CJIA’s operations

Audit report

AG unable to verify if regions received full value of medical supply

– regions get P12 supplies with no documentation of costs

2

news

SUnDAY, november 11, 2018 | guyanatimesGY.com

Fly Jamaica’s crash landing

Black box yet to be sent off for decoding – GCAA head …says no disruption to CJIA’s operations

T

GCAA Head, Egbert Field

The Fly Jamaica aircraft at the CJIA

he Boeing 757 aircraft’s black box containing all the information about Fly Jamaica’s Flight OJ256 has been retrieved but is yet to be sent off to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for investigation, according to the Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Colonel (ret’d) Egbert Field.

Flight OJ256, destined

for Toronto Canada, carrying 118 adults, two infants and an 8-member crew, took off from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport at about 02:10h on Friday, but after some time, the aircraft encountered hydraulic problems, and as such returned to Timehri where it crash-landed. The incident has left the passengers and crew traumatized, with five of those passengers sustain-

ing minor injuries.

On Saturday, Col Field told Guyana Times that because the incident occurred during the weekend period, things are not moving along as fast as would be desired, hence the reason the black box is yet to be sent off. He added that there are no new developments, as the investigations are still ongoing and are in the preliminary stages.

These two pieces of equipment, he added, are important to determine what transpired on the morning of November 9, 2018.

Col Field assured that the airport’s operations have not been affected, as flights have been taking off and landing as per normal. He stated that the scene of the crash is still being processed.

Meanwhile, Fly Jamaica is yet to issue an official

statement about the details surrounding the incident, but did confirm the accident. The Airline have said that they have opened their call centers around the clock, and are contacting passengers with flight reservations through November 14. Arrangements have been made with Caribbean Airlines to have the passengers transported to their destinations.

At a press conference on Friday, Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson explained that a preliminary investigation has been launched into the accident.

He nevertheless reiterated that all the passengers and crew are accounted for, while noting the passengers were of various nationalities, including Pakistani, Canadian, American, Trinidadian and Guyanese.

Six of the eight crew members are Guyanese, he added. He also noted that a few passengers would have received minor injuries as they were being taken off the aircraft.

The accident definitely warrants an investigation, and according to Field, a specialist has been appointed by Minister Patterson to overlook the investigation.

Larceny probe

Meanwhile, several firefighters were questioned by the Guyana Police Force after they were accused of stealing personal items from the captain and crew members of the beleaguered airline. The theft occurred while

the firemen were assisting in the evacuation of the passengers from the aircraft.

Fire Chief Marlon Gentle confirmed that some of the stolen items, such as electronic devices, were returned by one of the firemen. In addition, other items were recovered at the Timehri Fire Station. The Police are investigating that incident.

In 2016, an incoming Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) flight had struck a Fly Jamaica airplane that was parked at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.

It was later confirmed that the right wing of the CAL plane had knocked the tail cone of the Fly Jamaica aircraft, which was parked. It was reported that the CAL flight was arriving from New York, while the Fly Jamaica plane was being prepared for boarding.

Back in 2011, a Boeing 737–800 aircraft owned by Caribbean Airlines split into two after it veered off the runaway at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.

An investigation revealed that “the probable cause of the accident was that the aircraft touched down approximately 4700 feet beyond the runway threshold, some 2700 feet from the end of the runway, as a result of the captain maintaining excess power during the flare and upon touching down, failure to utilise the aircraft’s full deceleration capability resulted in the aircraft overrunning the remaining runway and fracturing the fuselage.”

Driver who advertised stolen items for sale on Facebook charged

A

29-year-old driver of a security company was last week placed before the courts for simple larceny. The man appeared before Magistrate Fabayo Azore at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

It is alleged that Alberto Defreitas, on October 28, at Carifesta Avenue, Georgetown, stole two amplifiers, a car battery, one capacitor and one bass box and speaker, all valued $183,000, property of Michael De Jesus.

Defreitas denied the allegation. Defence attorney

Paul Fung-a-Fat, in a bail application, informed the court that his client bought the items mentioned in the charge from a co-worker.

He further stated that his client advertised the items on Facebook for sale, after which the virtual complainant saw the advert and claimed ownership of the items.

No objection to bail was made by Police Prosecutor Warren Thornhill.

The father of four was released on $75,000 bail.

The case will continue on November 28.

news

3

SUnDAY, november 11, 2018 | guyanatimesGY.com

BRIDGE OPENINGS

The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Sunday, November 11 – 05:30h-07:00h and Monday, November 12 – 05:00h-06:30h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Sunday, November 11 – 06:10h-07:40h and Monday, November 12 – 06:50h-08:20h.

1739 students graduate from UG

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

WEATHER TODAY Sunny weather is expected with give way to sunny intervals that are expected to last throughout the day, while clear skies are expected in the evening.

Temperatures are expected to range between 21 degrees Celsius and 32 degrees Celsius.

Winds: Ranging from Easterly to East North-easterly and North-easterly between 1.78 metres and 5.36 metres.

High Tide: 06:21h and 18:30h reaching maximum heights of 2.51 metres and 2.59 respectively.

Low Tide: 12:06h reaching a minimum height of 0.74 metre.

Businessman Yesu Persaud being robed by Vice Chancellor of UG, Professor Ivelaw Griffith before being conferred his Doctor of Letters from Chancellor of UG, Professor Eon Harris

S

saturDAY, novemBER 10, 2018

LOTTERY NUMBERS K

01 08 13

14 15 20

FREE TICKET

02

eventeen hundred and thirty-nine students graduated from the University of Guyana on Saturday, when the institution hosted its 52nd convocation ceremony at the National Cultural Centre in Georgetown.

At the event, Edmond (Eddy) Grant was conferred with an honorary doctorate for excellence in music and civic engagement; Yesu Persaud was similarly conferred for iconic leadership in business and banking; Jairaj Sobhraj was likewise conferred for excellence in entrepreneurship and philanthropy; and Laura George for outstanding community development and advocacy.

Recipient of an honorary doctorate, Jairaj Sobhraj, takes a knee to allow Registrar of the University of Guyana, Nigel Gravesande, to complete his robing as Vice Chancellor

rights of indigenous peoples, I call for an equitable and accessible scholarship funding for indigenous persons who wish to pursue career opportunities and achieve their dreams,” George said.

For the past years, George has been working to ensure that policies and legislation are in place to protect indigenous rights, primarily in areas that have been crowded by mining activities. Her current projects include the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, the European Union’s Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade, and works for the Guyana Forestry Commission, among other things.

Bonus Ball

DAILY MILLIONS

08 14 16 20 24 LUCKY 3

5

4

7

6

Afternoon Draw

6

4

Evening Draw

DRAW DE LINE

01

02

08

12

PAY DAY

07 10 14 15 16

18 20 21 SUPER PAY DAY

04 07 08 19 20

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

In presence of the Members of Parliament (MPs), members of the diplomatic corps, the university’s executive body and the graduates, George, in her remarks sparked with gratitude and commitment, renewed promises to assist in these areas to ensure that the rights of the Amerindian people are exercised. Her promise came with a condition that “the University of Guyana commit to strategically and significantly undertake its role as the independent academia to produce correct information on the history of Guyana".

She went on to say that interventions should be made for indigenous persons who wish to pursue their tertiary education at the University.

“As an advocate for the

Some of the graduating students of the Class of 2018

turn to page 9

4

guyanatimesgy.com

SUnDAY, november 11, 2018

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

Editorial

LGE and change

T

omorrow Guyana goes to the polls in Local Government Elections (LGE). It is the first time in a quarter of a century that this is being done within the scheduled three-year interval. After a gap of 20 years, LGE was finally held in 1994, but the political parties agreed that new circumstances demanded extensive amendments to the Local Government Act before the next LGE was held.

However, it took another 17 years for the necessary bills to be passed by the National Assembly and assented to by the President. During that time, there were annual motions routinely passed in Parliament by all the parties for the LGE to be deferred for another year. Finally, in 2013, four bills were passed – the Local Government Commission Bill, the Fiscal Transfers Bill, the Municipal and District Councils Bill, and the Local Government (Amendment) Bill. The last one was not signed until the administration changed in 2015. The LGE of the following year and its aftermath, unfortunately, turned out to be a case of the mountain having laboured, produced only a mouse.

Even as the second LGE is nigh upon the nation, most of the changes which were 20 years in the making, still have not been implemented. The Fiscal Transfer Bill, for instance, has proven to be toothless in securing autonomy of spending by the Local Authorities, since the transfers have invariably been inexplicably delayed. The Local Government Commission, which was supposed to assume many of the powers exercised previously by the Communities Minister, is still not functional.

The Minister, for instance, continues to make crucial appointments, even though the Commission is “responsible for employment, transfer, discipline and dismissal of staff and approval of remuneration, superannuation, training, leave and promotion of staff.”

Under cover of the old order still dominating the Local Government scene, the People’s National Congress (PNC)-led Government worked assiduously to counter the showing by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) at the 2016 LGE, where the latter had dominated by winning the popular vote over the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/ AFC) and 43 of 55 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils. The latter, however, won six of the nine municipalities, compared to the PPP’s three. Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan spearheaded legislation which removed 16 constituencies from 14 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and created nine new LGAs and a new town, Mahdia.

The Opposition immediately declared that the moves were clearly intended to “gerrymander” the constituencies – all of which APNU had lost, tied, or not contested. For instance, in the municipality of Rose Hall, which the PPP won by one seat, the Government increased the number of constituencies from seven to eight. The Opposition took the matter to the court, but conceding that the Minister had the power to alter the boundaries of constituencies, were forced to contend that there were procedural defects in the implementation. This contention was rejected by the Judge.

So Guyana will enter the LGE in a highly polarised atmosphere. But if one were to go by the participation of the Disciplined Services, which voted last week, it appears the 2018 vote will not exceed the 47 per cent of the 2016 outing.

Much of the ennui leading to this result – in the face of heavy mobilisation, since the face-off is clearly between the PNC and PPP, with the seeming demise of the AFC – stems from the promises of change at the Local Government level with the passage of the 2014 raft of legislation, but have never being fulfilled.

While the concept of “decentralised” development at the local level is theoretically sound, the actions by the Central Government to extend its political fight downwards and stymie the PPP-controlled LAAs through control of the purse strings and gerrymandering has made the locals cynical of the hype.

The manoeuvrings by the PNC-Government at the centre – and its peripheralisation of even its coalition partners – does nothing to lessen that cynicism. Sadly, with both the demography and geography of Guyana demanding decentralised Government, such political short-sightedness will only end up retarding our development and exacerbating our divisions.

It is up to the citizens of this country to demand better.

Class of 2018: From left: Davendra Karran, Devanan Carl Dookram and Ravendra Rene Persaud poses for a photo after graduating with their Bachelors of Science (Pharmacy) from the University of Guyana on Saturday

Erdogan: Turkey shared Khashoggi tapes with Saudi, US and others …Saudi Arabia, US, Germany, France and UK given recordings related to Journalist’s killing, Turkish President says

T

urkey has shared recordings related to the killing of Jamal Khashoggi with Saudi Arabia, the United States, Germany, France and Britain, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday.

Turkish sources have said previously that authorities have an audio recording purportedly documenting the murder of the Saudi Journalist.

The existence of such a recording has never been officially confirmed.

Speaking before his departure for France to attend commemorations to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, Erdogan said Saudi Arabia knows Khashoggi’s killer is among a group of 15 people who flew into Istanbul hours before the October 2 killing.

“We gave the tapes. We gave them to Saudi Arabia, to the United States, Germans, French and British, all of them. They have listened to all the conversations in them,” Erdogan said.

“They know.”

Sources told Al Jazeera on Saturday that Turkish Police ended the search for Khashoggi’s body, but that the criminal investigation into the 59-year-old’s murder would continue.

Al Jazeera learnt on Friday that traces of acid were found at the Saudi Consul-General’s residence in Istanbul, where the body was believed to have been disposed of with the use of chemicals.

The residence is walking distance from the Saudi Consulate, where Khashoggi

Joint investigations

Jamal Khashoggi

– a Washington Post columnist critical of the Saudi Government and the all-powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – was killed by a team of Saudi officers and officials.

Saudi Arabia has changed its narrative about the murder several times amid international outcry and intensifying scepticism over its account.

After insisting for more than two weeks that Khashoggi had left the Consulate, it then admitted the Journalist had died in a fistfight inside the building. Later, Riyadh conceded Khashoggi was killed in a premeditated murder, but that the murder was an unplanned “rogue operation”.

However, Erdogan has accused the “highest levels” of the Saudi Government of ordering the hit, while some officials have pointed the finger at the crown prince – a charge Riyadh denies.

Meeting with Trump

Speaking before his departure, Erdogan also said he might meet with US President Donald Trump in Paris during the commemorations.

“When we go to Paris, we will try to secure an opportunity and we will realise a bilateral meeting,” Erdogan said.

Al Jazeera’s Jamal Elshayyal, reporting from Istanbul, said the timing of Erdogan’s comments was “very significant”.

“It happened as he was getting on the plane to go to Paris to meet with Trump.

Erdogan is making it very clear that everyone knows what has happened, everyone who is a significant player in the region has the evidence.”

Osman Sert, research director at Ankara Institute, said that Ankara would now attempt to “put pressure” on Washington, a major Saudi ally, but added that “there is a good atmosphere for the Turkish-American relations to go forward during this case”.

“The public’s priority should be to find out who committed this crime and who ordered this crime,” he said.

“What should be done right now is Turkey shouldn’t be left alone against the Saudis. The Europeans and Americans should stand with Turkey.”

Elshayyal also said that Erdogan’s remarks marked the first time Turkey’s President “had spoken directly about those audio recordings”, adding that the move raised doubts on claims that the tapes might have been obtained “in some kind of clandestine tapping by the Turkish authorities”.

Turkish and Saudi officials have carried out joint inspections of the Consulate and the Consul-General’s residence, but Erdogan said some Saudi officials were still trying to cover up the crime.

Elshayyal said that Saudi officials, despite officially claiming that they would cooperate with their Turkish counterparts, so far have not only refused to do that, but possibly tried to tamper with the ongoing investigation.

“They namely did this by sending in chemical experts [in the Consulate and ConsulGeneral’s home] to destroy evidence,” he said.

“They also denied Turkish requests to once again search the Consul-General’s home, after Turks found samples of chemicals in the garden of the residence.”

Istanbul’s Chief Prosecutor said on October 31 that Khashoggi was strangled as soon as he entered the Consulate and that his body was dismembered, in the first official comments on the case.

Saudi Arabia has said it arrested 18 people and dismissed five senior Government officials as part of an investigation into Khashoggi’s killing Ankara also seeks extradition of the suspects. (Al Jazeera)

guyanatimesgy.com

SunDAY, november 11, 2018

5

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

PNC officials now accusing The each other of corruption hypocrisy Dear Editor, The fight within the People’s National Congress (PNC) to succeed David Granger as party leader has begun, even as he is receiving medical treatment overseas. From what is going on, the fight is nasty to say the least.

Since coming to Government in May 2015, many allegations of corruption were levelled at various Government officials from sections of society. The many financial improprieties as revealed through the Auditor General reports are shocking.

The Sussex Street bond fiasco, the D’Urban Park Project and the sole sourc-

ing of hundreds of millions of dollars in drugs from both a leading Private Sector establishment and a shell company from overseas, are a mere few instances of wanton corruption. All were publicly denied by Government officials.

As the President takes ill, the opportunists within are now pointing fingers at each other with accusations of corruption. Suddenly, it is a fight to show who is more corrupt. The infighting and the jostle for the position in the hierarchy of the leadership, has reached a point where it places the PNC on the path of breaking up and many stalwarts are worried.

The battle to expose who has accumulated and sucked the most wealth from taxpayers since May 2015 has reached boiling point and now explains why they refused to submit their declarations to the Integrity Commission.

The situation is such that the few who have the party at heart and who have expressed their concerns over the ongoing and unbridled corruption by party officials bleeding the country in the process, are being quickly pushed aside.

What was always known by many regarding corruption by the PNC and which was denied, is coming to light from their own

mouths as they trample on each other for the ultimately leadership position.

If the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) and State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) are really concerned about curbing corruption, it can easily gather confessions from those who are now fighting openly within the PNC. As they fight and the stories of corruption unfold, the impact could not only lead to the breakup of the PNC, but would bring further economic hardships to the country as a whole.

Sincerely, Alvin Hamilton

Low turnout of Disciplined Services’ voters not unexpected Dear Editor, The very low turnout of Disciplined Services’ voters on D-Day was neither surprising nor unexpected. In fact, it bears a direct relationship with sub-optimally blind-sided and unfocused public education programmes, of which there seems to be no evaluation of the impact on the intended target audience.

It is observed that while 7,917 Disciplined Services’ members were eligible to vote, only 3,147 is said to have voted on D-Day. Recently, Chair of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice (Retired) James Patterson, in commenting on the low turnout, stated that GECOM did as much as it possibly could to advance meaningful public awareness. To such assertion, one would ask, ‘Have they really?’

Only recently, the Secretariat’s CEO, Keith Lowenfield, in being hesitant to provide answers regarding non-compliance with the procurement procedures for awarding GECOM’s public relations contracts, signalled otherwise. Although GECOM claims to have expended hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ dollars for the public education, the results have been lacklustre at best, with the majority of voters being more confused as to the requirements, which now seem new.

Apart from the less-than-acceptable public relations stunts, the GECOM Secretariat continues the bungling, thereby creating great suspicion and total mistrust in the process. Regarding the Disciplined Services’ voting, the law clearly states that at least fifteen days before E-Day, officers must

indicate their willingness to vote on advance balloting. On this occasion, the List of Voters for D-Day was prepared long before the 15 days’ allowance period, thereby contributing to the low voter turnout.

Further, many of the Returning Officers (ROs) seemed to have come up with their own rules and procedures, making the urgent need for clarification on the many elections-related issues difficult.

The situation at EcclesRamsburg Local Authority Area (LAA) recently sprung another first time surprise, which reflects on the level of GECOM training for its staff and calls for unnecessary time wasting meetings to resolve new apparently created rules.

In this instance, the RO, Ms Denise Babb, informed the PPP/C Leader of the List that a list of candidates had to be provided for each polling station, because the notified and approved counting agents for political parties would not be able to raise any objections at the counting of the votes cast. Such circumstances reek of inefficiency, and are designed to cause confusion, since they reflect a lack of standardisation of procedures to be applied.

According to the legal and notified procedural guidelines, stakeholders, including political parties in particular, were supposed to appoint three scrutineers to monitor and participate fully in the preparation of the Disciplined Services’ list of voters.

One scrutineer was supposed to be with the GECOM staff and army representative to produce and verify the list of electors from the army. Another

scrutineer was supposed to be with the team overlooking the preparation of the list of electors for the Police, while the third scrutineer was to work along with the GECOM personnel to prepare the Prison Service List. None of this was done, and there are now serious questions regarding the extraction and preparation of the Voters’ List for D-Day. The Stakeholders must demand the full list of members of the army, Police Force and the Prison Officers; this nation deserves and must be told why the process by law was flouted by GECOM.

The voting on D-Day was reduced to a mockery, as the planes arrived at the various polling places in the hinterland and officers were not on the locations for various reasons. Some were apparently not present due to transfers, while others were on leave and out of the area.

Worst of all, many senior Police officers openly remarked that they know nothing of the process, since no communication with the Disciplined Services regarding voter Education was done.

Sincerely, Neil Kumar, MP

of the AFC Dear Editor, It is no secret that the Alliance For Change (AFC) continues to suffer political losses across the country, especially in the Berbice area.

The Whim fiasco was just the tip of the iceberg which demonstrated the party’s desperation to unearth any semblance of relevance.

During the 2015 election campaign, the AFC boasted of its support in Berbice and which it probably had to an extent. Capitalising on that, it used those opportunities to make numerous promises, particularly to sugar workers and rice farmers.

They were relentless in their efforts to convince of tripling the price for paddy and denied that it would collude with the People’s National Congress – disguised as the A Partnership for National Unity – to close some sugar estates there. They made it appear that they possessed all the answers to what many Berbicians might have been facing.

Some fell for the trap and voted for the AFC with the expectation of the promises made being fulfilled. Three and a half years after, not one of those promises has been fulfilled and the AFC itself is fast slipping into oblivion.

The reality is that rice farmers never got any of the increases promised and sugar estates were closed putting thousands out of jobs

making it extremely difficult for them to provide for their families.

As a matter of fact, many sugar workers are still to receive their entitled severance despite numerous protest actions. It is only because of those actions, which brought shame, that the Government was forced recently to allocate money for the payments which, by the way, are still to be made. The fact is, the AFC is largely responsible for the economic hardships and sufferings that were inflicted on Berbicians since May 2015.

The AFC, without shame and any regard to the falsehoods it peddled especially in Berbice during 2015, came back to campaign for the 2018 Local Government Elections. That is not only blatant hypocrisy on the part of the AFC, but complete disregard and wanton disrespect for Berbicians.

All of their meetings suffered from extremely poor turnouts as people show that they will not be taken for granted by the AFC that not only failed to deliver any of its promises, but one which has no semblance of authority within the Government and which has now become irrelevant. That is why they resorted to actions like they did in Whim having realised that they have been rejected.

All for your consideration, Baldeo Mathura

6

SUnDAY, november 11, 2018

Page

guyanatimesgy.com

Foundation

Steps to positivity How to stop complaining O Find the optimistic viewpoint in a negative situation

ne of the simplest but most effective ways to build a more positive outlook has, in my experience, been to ask more helpful questions as often as possible.

When I am in what seems like a negative situation – maybe I have been lazy, made a mistake, failed or stumbled in some kind of way – then I like to ask myself questions like: What is one thing that is positive or good about this situation?

What is one opportunity within this situation?

Doing so is a whole lot better than what I used to do in such situations.

Because back then I usually asked myself how much I sucked and how things could get even worse now.

I do, however not always use these questions right away. Oftentimes I need a bit of time to process the thoughts and feelings that arise in situation before I can do that. Trying to force optimistic thinking when you are still in an emotional turmoil or a bit shocked usually don’t work that well.

Cultivate and live in a positive environment

Who you choose to spend your time with and the input you get from further away like the TV, the Internet and magazines will have a huge effect on your outlook.

To be able to stay positive it is essential to have

– dos and don'ts for coping with and helping the chronic complainer

By Robert Taibbi

influences in your life that support you and lift you up instead of dragging you down.

Go slowly

I have found that when I go too fast, when I try to think, talk, eat and move around in my world really quickly then things don’t go too well.

Stress builds up.

Negative thoughts about just about anything start to well up and I feel like my own personal power decreases.

But if I slow down just for a few minutes – even if I have to force it by walking, talking and eating slower – then my mind and body calms down too. It becomes easier to think things through clearly again and easier to find the optimistic and constructive perspective.

Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill

It’s very easy to lose perspective, especially if you are stressed and you are going too fast.

And so a molehill can become a big and terrifying mountain in your mind.

A simple three-step way to handle these situations so they don’t get out of hand is to: Say stop. In your mind, shout “STOP!” or “NOPE, we are not going down that path again!” as soon as thoughts of this kind starts to spin in your head.

Breathe. After you have disrupted the thoughts by shouting stop sit down and just be still. Breathe with your belly and focus on just your in-breaths and outbreaths for a minute or two to calm your mind and body down.

Refocus. Question your mountain building thoughts by talking to someone close to you and getting a more grounded perspective on the situation by just venting or by getting his or her input. Or simply ask yourself this to widen your perspective and to chill out: Will this matter in five years?

Or even five weeks? (thepositivityblog.com)

We complain because of secondary gains: it's our primary way of getting attention The child who is not as smart as his brother, not as athletic as his sister has to find other ways of gaining attention in the family. Complaining, being the family Eeyore may turn out to be one of the few ways the child feels he gets attention, sympathy, support. It can work for the child; it can work in an adult relationship.

Don’ts: What not to do Because others complaining can feel so emotionally toxic, especially when we ourselves are stressed, it doesn't take much for their complaining and our negative response to set off a negative cycle that just makes it all worse. Here’s what not to do:

about lunch makes you roll your eyes and want to say stop already it was only lunch. Try not to do this. The person who is complaining generally has tunnel-vision at the moment.

While you want push them to see that they are losing perspective, that this is truly a first-world problem, they can’t do that then. Your complaints about their complaining are likely to just further fuel their own distress, make them feel judged and hurt, resulting in more irritation or negativity.

If you can’t be supportive in the moment because of your own stress, say so, then follow your own advice and find ways to chill.

Don’t complain about complaining

Here’s where you want to tell your partner to just stop talking about the work schedule and take a chill pill, where your daughter's whining

Don’t offer the same advice over and over Yes, you want to help; you think you can see the solution to the problem that they can’t.

That’s fine. But if you already offered your advice – to talk to the boss, the friend – and it goes nowhere, don’t keep going down that road. It obviously isn’t working; you and they are just getting frustrated by having the same unhelpful conversation.

Don’t make too big deal about it You want to be supportive and sympathetic when your child, partner, or friend complains, but don’t turn it into a three-hour drama complete with heavy sighs and coddling, especially if this happens on a regular basis. If you do, there is a danger of fuelling that secondary gain where this is what we do best. It can quickly fall into a behavioural and emotional pattern that is hard to break and keeps the complaining going.

Dos Do listen The first-aid for complaining is simple yet focused listening.

Let the person vent, tell their story. Resist the urge to give advice and solve the problem.

(This is the classic male/female split and source of frustration where guys want to jump in

and fix the problem while their partners want them to just listen: both wind up feeling frustrated.)

Once they've calmed down, your job for the moment is done.

Do circle back about talk about the problem When the emotional climate has changed and the other person is less grumpy, this is the time to circle back and try and have a sane and rational conversation about the problem.

Here you talk to your child the next day about how to tackle the science project or deal with the friend; here you talk to your partner about possible ways of approaching the boss, or about her talking to HR, or you both working together to help him find a different job. The key is to keep this conversation separate from the initial venting.

Do talk about the larger pattern, Here you are trying to resolve the meta-problem, the steady complaining itself. You're not going to be talking about the science project or the job, but your concern that the other person always seems to be unhappy. Your goal is to help them drill down and find out what might be driving it; are they depressed, are there bigger problems in the family or the relationship that are not being addressed, is there something that they need most when they feel this way that you can do that will make a real difference? Ask. Do focus on the positive When your child is not complaining about the teacher or friend, your partner about the job, they take active steps to fix the problem, take note and now make a big deal about it. And be a role model yourself for positiveness. By proactively trying to change the climate in the house and the relationship, you can avoid or break that secondary gain and negative patterns.

And if you are a complainer who wants to stop If you realise that yes, you do complain a lot and see that it is bringing down those close to you, it may be time for you to drill into the source of your own state of affairs. Are you depressed, feeling trapped, not sure how to solve the problems or have given up, are not getting enough positive feedback and support in your relationships?

If so, work on these underlying problems. Get some therapy and /or check into medication; have those difficult but important conversations that you have been avoiding.

Take action to begin to put these problems to rest. (psychologytoday. com)

news

7

SUnDAY, november 11, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

SWF must not be used as a “cash cow” – former T&T PM

…recommends legislative framework to protect reserve

T

Former T&T Prime Minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar

he Government of Guyana is giving great consideration towards the establishment of a Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), which is an investment reserve that is expected to benefit the country’s economy and people.

However, former Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla PersadBissessar, is strongly warning that this accumulation of money, once in place, should not be used as a “cash cow” for whenever there is a deficit in financial budgeting.

Funding for the SWF comes from Central Bank reserves that are set aside as a result of budget and trade surpluses, and from revenue generated from the export of natural resources. In Trinidad, a similar fund exists and is termed the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund (HSF), but according to PersadBissessar, the Government has been burrowing into the reserve to support any financial imbalance. This, she said, brings no development, and Guyana should

put legislation in place to protect against unnecessary withdrawals.

“I do not recommend the SWF being used to supplement recurring expenditure, as has been happening recently in Trinidad and Tobago. Recurrent expenditure brings no return, it beings no development; and therefore, whatever legislation you make, I suggest you put within it a prohibition for drawdowns not to be utilised for recurrent expenditure,” she admonished.

“Your SWF is an insurance policy. It is not -- nor should it be seen as -- a “cash cow,” that anytime you have a financing deficit that you will dip into it.

It doesn’t work like that; it is only to be used in specific circumstances,” she explained.

When looking at ways in which excess resources can be channelled into the SWF, the former Prime Minister asserted that the emerging oil and gas industry is positively identified as a source. It can also cushion the sector when

prices are low.

“SWFs are often linked to oil prices, or can be a legal clause in a petroleum licence or petroleum production contract. In fact, there are many economic tools which can be used to channel resources into such a fund. These funds act as buffers, given the volatile pricing and political issues involved in the hydrocarbon industry,” PersaudBissessar said.

She further stated, “Other supplemental tools -- such as petroleum production taxes, supplemental petroleum taxes, a petroleum impost, and clauses for increased scales of taxation for supernormal finds -- may be worthy of consideration as adjunct strategies to enable equity in profit sharing across the board, and sustainability during low price periods.”

The Green Paper for the establishment of the SWF was laid in early August of this year. At that time, Finance Minister Winston Jordan told the National Assembly that this sets out preliminary proposals to stimulate discussion, and also points to possible courses of action open to the SWF legislation.

Given that the establishment of the SWF is relatively complex and there can be substantial administrative costs, the paper noted that if two completely separate funds are established, this infers that there are two investment policies, two governance structures, and two external audits. The Government is hyping the Natural Resources Fund,

which is focused on the management of the oil resources.

For the management of the Fund, the Green Paper has recommended that Parliament be responsible for passing the Natural Resource Fund Act, reviewing the Annual Report, and approving the Annual

Budget, which would include the annual withdrawal from the Natural Resource Fund.

Guyana’s reserves have been depleted significantly over the past three years, and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo announced recently that the SWF may be used as a bank to re-

stock the country’s assets.

According to him, State reserves have been “run down” by the present coalition Administration, and he maintained that once the resources are paid into the revenue stream of the Government, they must go through the required parliamentary procedure.

8 news

SUnDAY, november 11, 2018

| guyanatimesGY.com

2 arrested with ammo, ganja

T

wo persons are now in Police custody after they were found in possession of a quantity of ammunition and marijuana during separate searches on Saturday morning during a roadblock operation at Bamia, Linden/ Soesdyke Highway.

In the first instance, a 45-year-old logger of Alliance, Timehri, East Bank Demerara (EBD) and Kuru-Kuru College Road, was found to be in possession of 10 live 12-gauge cartridges. At the time, he was a passenger in a public transportation vehicle destined for Mahdia.

The logger was previously charged with possession of a firearm and ammunition in A Division (East Bank Demerara-Georgetown), and possession of ammunition in E Division (Linden-Kwakwani).

Meanwhile, shortly after, a 26-year-old operator residing at Laluni Creek, Soesdyke/ Linden Highway, who was also a passenger in another public transportation vehicle, was found in possession of 16 grams of cannabis at the said location.

Both men are in custody pending charges.

Unfit and improppa…

The ammunition that was found during the Police roadblock

Carpenter who “found gun while digging yard” bailed

T

hirty-two-year-old Paul Bishop, who was slapped with a gun-possession charge in the Magistrates’ Courts earlier last month, was released on by Magistrate Fabayo Azore on Friday.

Bishop, who plies his trade as a carpenter, was granted bail in the sum of $150,000.

The charge against him stated that the Freeman Street, La Penitence resident had, on October

9, 2018, a .32 pistol in his possession without being the holder of a firearm licence. He had denied the charge when he made his first court appearance.

However, facts presented by the prosecution revealed that on October 9, Police, acting on information, carried out a search on Bishop while he was in the Freeman Street, La Penitence area, and the unlicensed weapon was found on his person.

According to reports, Bishop was on a pedal cycle when he was confronted by the lawmen, and confessed in an oral statement that he had found the revolver while he was “digging in the front yard”.

Further, Police Prosecutor Richard Harris had objected to bail being granted on ground of the serious nature of the charge, but Bishop was nonetheless released on bail.

I

…in the LGE

f the Chairman of the AFC, Khemraj Ramjattan, isn’t whistling in the dark and really believes his party will do “as good as 2005” in Monday’s LGE, then he’s just confirming what his outburst about not being able to handle his security mandate suggested: he’s cracking up!!

Is he oblivious to the changes since 2005? Let’s count some of the ways for him.

First of all, the US ain’t backing him and Trotman anymore. With Exxon’s oil find, they want stability for the company to recoup its investment – and then some! They don’t want the AFC rocking the boat – and it’s why they haven’t uttered a squeak even though the PNC’s thrown their former blue-eyed boys under the bus!!

Secondly, Trotman’s doing everything he can to weasel back into the bosom of the PNC. And even though the old PNCites haven’t forgotten (and certainly haven’t forgiven) how he quit the party when he demanded “leader or nothing” after Hoyte passed away. Trotman knows which side the butter’s coming from! Didn’t Ramjattan and company have to twist Trotman’s arms (and legs) for him to permit the LGE ad with his pic be released?

Then, of course, there’s all the nastiness the PNC has committed since they slid into office – with the full connivance and even encouragement of the AFC. Unilateral appointment of GECOM Chair? Ramjattan actually BOASTED about advising Granger to do the dirty!!

Shutting down four sugar estates and firing 7000 sugar workers? Nagamootoo’s now boasting about how “kind” this government’s been to sugar workers!! God forbid they be “unkind”!!

The racial appointment of Cabinet members, heads of departments and other officials of the government?

Not a squeak from the AFC! And your Eyewitness won’t even mention the gratuitous salary-increases, perks and benefits the AFC gleefully accepted while the working people were being shafted. But frankly, the inanity and fatuousness of the AFC in the eyes of the average voter is summarised by the slogan the party chose for their LGE tryst: Fit and Proppa!!

Are they so removed from reality that they don’t know this is a term of derision across the country? Ever since David Granger insisted that an 84-year old fella, who claimed his claim that he was once Chief Justice of Grenada was a “slip of the pen”, folks just burst out in laughter when someone mentions “fit and proper”. Don’t they realise it’s a kiss of death to whoever they put up as LGE candidates, even if they didn’t have such a sordid record?

Very frankly, your Eyewitness testifies that Ramjattan’s own prediction that the AFC will become “Dead Meat” if it joins the PNC – was prophetic!!

…and thiefin’!

If nothing else epitomises how far we as a country have fallen under this government, it’s the report of firemen responding to the crash of the Fly Jamaica jet at CJIA – and filling their pockets (and other crevices such as crotches!) with loot rifled from the stricken crew and passengers!!

Your Eyewitness has read of civilians rushing to vehicular crashes and looting the victims – but FIREMEN? These are members of the DISCIPLNED FORCES, whose virtues and discipline this administration never tires of extolling – and rewarding. But the Firemen are just following in the footsteps of their colleagues in the Police Force; the Army and Prison Services, aren’t they? Hustling motorists for a raise; inflating gas bills to stupendous levels and facilitating contraband into prisons are only some of the misfeasance that have been in the news recently! Why shouldn’t the Fire Service also stick their hands out?

As your eyewitness has been stressing, the staffing of the Disciplined begins with a lie and a shedding of scruples.

The actions simply flow from that!

…sterilisations

Your Eyewitness learnt two new words from a report on Health Minister Lawrence responding to a question on that vexed problem of infections in the Neo-natal ICU – Nosocomial (disease originating in hospital) and “latrogenesis” – diseases caused by the doctor.

Has she considered there are just too few doctors who’re forced to abandon SOP’s??

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

news

9

SUnDAY, november 11, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

LGE 2018

Employers must allow workers to go vote in LGE – Opposition Leader

A

s the final countdown to the 2018 Local Government Elections (LGE) approaches, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) is encouraging employers to avoid preventing staff from exercising their democratic right to vote.

This call was recently made by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, and it came as candidates from the various parities make their final pitch to convince the electorate to cast votes in their favour.

“I think they should allow employees to go and vote. People have a civic responsibility to vote. On a few places on the campaign trail, I’ve sought to reinforce the need of people to come out and vote ... this is not for PPP supporters alone; this is for Guyanese as it is essentially part of our freedoms as people, that now we

have this right, we must exercise it,” Jagdeo detailed.

Jagdeo’s comments came in light of questions from media operatives which sought to ascertain his position on the possibility of reduced working hours to facilitate the 2018 LGE. The Opposition Leader, in emphasising the value of casting one’s vote, spoke on historical gains received after his party contributed to Guyana gaining full adult suffrage 65 years ago. This meant that all persons, then over the age of 21, were allowed to vote in national elections, even though the country was still under the rule of the United Kingdom, a colonial power which retains certain overseas territories to the present day.

“You had to own property or be literate and at that time, not many people were literate, because the colonial authorities did not

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

build schools in all of our communities and not many [persons] owned property. I am really proud of that history of the PPP – that we fought for universal adult suffrage,” the PPP General Secretary reminded.

Hundreds of candidates from the major political parties, smaller groups and individual candidates are

vying for places as constituency representatives across 80 Local Authority Areas (LAAs) across the country’s 10 administrative districts.

The elections are being held in 10 municipalities and 70 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) using a mixed electoral system of Proportional Representation (PR) and First Past the Post

(FPTP).

Under the PR electoral system, parties gain seats in proportion to the number of votes cast for them in a municipality or NDC. For someone to be elected under the PR system, they must be on a party list or voluntary group list. Individuals cannot contest under the PR system.

Meanwhile, the FPTP system is one in which an individual gains victory by garnering the greatest number of votes. These candidates can come from a party, voluntary group or run as an independent.

Fifty per cent of Councillors for each municipality and NDC are elected through the PR system, while the other half comes from the FPTP component of the electoral system. Under the FPTP system, an individual candidate can contest for only one seat in a sin-

gle constituency in which he or she is registered and resides. Candidates can only be nominated for one group for the PR and FPTP lists.

On Saturday, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) published the names of each NDC, municipality, the various constituencies and the corresponding polling stations enabling voters to be aware of where they will have to cast their ballots. GECOM has, however, been criticised for not doing enough in terms of voter education, but the elections body has expressed confidence that mechanisms were in place for a smooth flow during Monday’s election process.

The last Local Government polls were held in 2016 and over 500,000 Guyanese were registered to vote. However, voter turnout was recorded at 47 per cent.

1739 students...

At the three-fold event, the graduating class was also addressed by one of the keynote speakers, Kamal Ramkarran, who graduated in the class of 1997.

His advice to the newly graduated students was to follow their career paths wherever those take them, and never to limit themselves to Guyana only.

Additionally, he urged them to take note of

what they would’ve learnt through experiences at the University.

“Take all of your opportunities from tomorrow, even the ones we don’t really think are opportunities…Some of you want to do post-graduate studies out of Guyana, and when you finish you studies, the jobs you need will also be there; while some of you just want to see the world.”

Throughout the day, stu-

from page 3

dents from the Faculties of Agriculture and Forestry, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Education and Humanities, Engineering and Technology, Health Sciences, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, and the School of Entrepreneurship were awarded by their respective deans.

This is the first time the graduation exercise of UG was held in three parts.

10 news

SUnDAY, november 11, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Wisroc community gets ICT hub

T

he Wisroc community at Wismar, Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) is one of the most recent to benefit from an Information Communication Technology hub. Located at the Stacy Walters Library, this newest hub is equipped with 10 laptop computers and Internet access.

According to Senior Social Management Officer of the National Data Management Authority, Jasmaine Payne, the main aim of the initiative is to ensure online access to Government services.

“One of our main missions is to ensure that we bring Government services online; and so the ITC hubs that we have across the country -- this will be the 128th across the country -will help to first give access

Easy pickings

The new ICT hub at Wisroc, Linden

to poor, hinterland and remote communities...

“We have been working over the last several years to ensure that we bring these services to the communities, so that when we bring Government services online, they already have access,” she explained.

While such hubs are usually placed in Government-

owned buildings, calls have been made for collaboration with non-governmental organisations so as to take the service to more communities. Owner of the library, overseas-based Guyanese Ingrid Walters, has said she is pleased to have the hub situated at the location. The library is utilised mainly by residents of Wisroc.

“I’m very pleased that the Government has stepped up and decided that they are going to do something with this building, like utilising some of the space we have here. It’s very expensive for me to keep filling this place with books. I’m overwhelmed”, she said. The hub will be managed by a committee which is expected to ensure smooth operation.

S

atiricus was still shaken up. He’d been awakened early in the morning by his editor and ordered to rush over to CJIA to get a fix on the Air Jamaica Flight that was forced to make a crash landing. He feared the worse. Wasn’t it just last week that Indonesian jet had crashed killing all 189 passengers and crew aboard? He hurried over to the Back-Street Bar now that a very stressful day was over.

“Tek wan ‘nadda beer, pa’dna,” said Cappo solicitously to Satiricus, after he’d explained his anxious state.

“T’ank Gad nobady na dead,” said Bungi, as he nodded his head contemplatively.

“That’s right,” said Hari. “But Sato, what’s this I hear about our Firemen stealing passengers’ phones and money and all kinds of stuff?”

“What can I tell you?” said Satiricus morosely. “It’s true! It’s so shameful!”

“Shame face does feel like cent ice,” said Bungi.

“But nowadays nobady na gat shame.”

“Yuh mean fuh tell me when dem people run fuh dem life,” said Cappo in disbelief, “de Fi’ah-man who suppose fuh save dem, t’ief dem stuff?”

“Why are you surprised?” asked Hari. “Don’t the fellas who’re supposed to ‘serve and protect’ us always ripping us off!!”

“Now I know you fellas will now get on Rum Jhaat’s case,” said Satiricus. “Because he’s in charge of Firemen and Policemen. But that’s not fair!!”

“Fair? Fair? Na only dem!” said Cappo. “Yuh na hear ‘bout dat big Army affisa who charge fuh ha’f a millian gas ev’ry month?”

“Whe’h ‘e a drive to wuk fram ev’ry day?” asked Bungi. “Columbia?”

“Well, the fish always start to stink from the head,” said Hari, looking at Satiricus. “And the head is Rum Jhaat, you know.”

“C’mon fellas,” pleaded Satiricus. “You really don’t think these people listen to Rum Jhaat, do you?”

“Suh yuh accept Rum Jhaat a just wan Chrismuss blow-blow?” asked Cappo.

“Like my father used to say,” said Satiricus. “When yuh haan in tigah mout’ yuh gat fuh pat ‘e head!”

“But who tell am fuh put ‘e haan deh?” asked Bungi.

news

11

SUnDAY, november 11, 2018 | guyanatimesGY.com

Oil and gas sector

Tax avoidance laws on the cards, Petroleum Act for review

A

s multinational oil companies gear up to capitalise on some of the largest oil finds ever, the Government is looking to have a strong legislative framework to guide the sector, which follows the billions of barrels expected to be pumped out by US oil giant ExxonMobil and Canada-based company, Eco Atlantic. This was posited by Head of the Ministry of the Presidency’s Energy Department, Dr Mark Bynoe at a press conference

late last week.

“The Department is reviewing the current legal and regulatory framework for the petroleum sector inclusive of the 1986 Petroleum Act to shape proposal for revision and possible replacement of some existing legislation,” he noted.

The Petroleum Act, among its many stipulations, speaks to licensing, cancellation of blocks and to the conditions subject to which the licence is granted.

Although the Government

4 UK Ministers on verge of quitting, EU rejects latest plan

F

our British Ministers who back remaining in the European Union are on the verge of quitting Theresa May’s Government over Brexit, the Sunday Times reported, as pressures built on the Prime Minister From all sides.

The newspaper also said that the European Union had rejected May’s plan for an independent mechanism to oversee Britain’s departure from any temporary customs arrangement to which it agrees. The newspaper sourced the development to British sources, and not sources in the EU team.

May is trying to hammer out the final details of the British divorce deal, but the talks have become stuck over how the two sides can prevent a hard border from being required in Ireland.

Britain has proposed a UK-wide temporary customs arrangement with the EU to resolve the issue, but Brexiteers in her party want London to have the final say on when that arrangement would end, to prevent it from being tied indefinitely to the bloc.

A senior Cabinet Minister was quoted in the paper as saying: “This is the moment she has to face down Brussels and make it clear to them that they need to compromise, or we will leave without a deal.”

An EU diplomat told Reuters earlier on Saturday that they were cautiously hopeful that an EU summit could happen in November to endorse the deal, but that the volatile situation

in Britain made it very difficult to predict.

Other EU diplomats said several issues remained unresolved.

May is expected to meet with her Cabinet this week to set out her plans for the divorce deal. She was dealt a blow on Friday when Junior Minister Jo Johnston, who voted to remain in the EU in the 2016 referendum, quit over her plan.

To add to the pressure, a leading member of a group of Brexiteer lawmakers in Parliament joined with the Brexit spokesman for the small Northern Irish party that props up May’s party in Government to warn that they could not vote for the deal as it currently stands.

Steve Baker, a former Junior Brexit Minister who resigned over May’s socalled Chequers proposals on Brexit, and Sammy Wilson of the DUP wrote in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper that they could not back a deal if it treated Northern Ireland differently from the rest of the country.

May had been expected to hold a vote in Parliament on her deal before the end of the year. A spokeswoman for May’s Downing Street office said the talks were going down to the wire. “The Prime Minister has always said these negotiations are tough and toughest in the final stages.

“The Prime Minister has told colleagues this week we should aim to conclude the withdrawal agreement as soon as possible, but we will not do that at any cost.”

(Reuters)

Energy Department Head, Dr Mark Bynoe

is looking to negotiate with new oil and gas investors from the latter part of next year, questions are, however, surfacing over Guyana’s lack of sound tax avoidance legislation. As such, Energy Department Oil & Gas Advisor Matthew Wilks gave all assurances that the matter would be looked into with the aim of review-

ing legislation. At the same time, members of the media were told the Department wanted more support for its collaborative work with sister agencies, including the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).

“Yes, because if you’re looking to increase and protect State revenues going forward in new licences; you

have to look at surrounding legislation and that includes fiscal legislation and tax schemes, so that will be an area of focus,” the Government Advisor outlined.

Apart from tax avoidance schemes, the Department indicated that it would have to consider a depletion policy to guide how the country deals with the reduction of oil over time. It has been recommended that a depletion policy be implemented after the commencement of oil production.

A depletion policy is found in many oil-exporting countries, since reserves in oil wells and oil fields reduce over time as in the case of regional neighbour Trinidad and Tobago’s current situation.

Dr Bynoe has already disclosed that a white paper on a Local Content Policy would be presented to the National Assembly for debate, saying that the final policy would be ready

by 2020. Business Minister Dominic Gaskin has said a “too strongly national” local content policy could jeopardise the efficiency or the viability of the company being relied on to extract the resource.

The draft Local Content Framework document outlines the opportunities that may arise and the approaches to be taken in selecting and developing opportunities related to enhancing the capabilities of Guyanese nationals and businesses through training and well-tailored social contributions for greater impact and benefits among others.

The draft Local Content Policy has, however, been criticised for lacking provisions, which would safeguard against exploitation by companies.

It had been reported that the document does not cater for issues such as how to avoid procurement fraud, conflict of interest and favouritism, among others.

12 news

SUnDAY, november 11, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

52nd Convocation

Valedictorian calls for improved services at UG T

he Best Graduating Student of the University of Guyana (UG), Shakti Persaud, during her valedictorian speech said she hopes the services the University offers can be improved.

Her remarks were made during the second round of the 52nd Convocation ceremony hosted at the National Cultural Centre, Georgetown on Saturday.

Persaud was among

more than 1700 other graduates from the faculties of Health Science, Natural Sciences and Engineering and Technology.

“I am leaving this university with all sorts of skills, including running in the dark in the faculty of Technology in four-inch heels when we once though that there was a dangerous animal in the grass. But aside from the wealth that I am taking, I wish to see the University of

Guyana improve in some areas of the system,” she said.

Nonetheless, the hard worker sought to motivate the gathering while sharing her success story. According to her, she left high school and immediately began working and never imagined that she could have gotten the opportunity to further her studies.

Persaud therefore noted that success has nothing to do with one’s age and en-

Valedictorian Shakti Persaud during her speech

couraged everyone to run towards their educational goals.

Meanwhile the conferral of the honorary doctorate degree was given to the Senior Vice President of Zara Realty, Jairaj Sobhraj – an American-based company – who recently donated US$475,000 to the University to go towards the training of mental health and community wellness practitioners in the Health Sciences Building, Behavioural Sciences Department.

Sobhraj, who is a wellknown businessman in Guyana, told the gathering

that he is very pleased with the honorary doctorate being conferred onto him; in fact so pleased that he will be funding five annual scholarships along with 10 years of student support totalling US$200,000.

The engineer shared that he is very passionate about education as he believes the only way out of poverty is through education. Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Ivelaw Griffith told the gathering that he was very pleased with this batch of graduates as this year happens to be the first year that the University is producing persons equipped

with Master’s in social work and even diplomas in physiology, among other firsts.

He said he was particularly pleased that this year’s batch also includes a mother and daughter graduating together, as well as a brother and sister twin.

The key speaker at the event, Professor Norman Monroe told the graduates that they will end up going towards careers they never expected to and encouraged them that failures will come, and they must never be afraid to fail.

In fact, he said they should find their “North star” or something that they are passionate about and chase it. In attendance at the graduation ceremony was the acting Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister, Carl Greenidge who handed over the Prime Minister’s award to 23year old Mohameed Safraz Baksh, a former student of the Health Sciences Faculty.

Baksh told Guyana Times that his five years of study at the University was pleasurable as he was able to achieve his goals and meet new people.

He noted that the challenges he faced were often cushioned by the warm support of his family, friends and even lecturers at the University.

news

13

SUnDAY, november 11, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Audit report

Auditor General unable to verify if regions received full value of medical supplies

The dynamics of Guyanese politics

A

s we head into the Local Government Elections, the dynamics of our politics have been manifesting themselves. Groups placed in the same environment share a universal tendency to compare themselves against each other. Even uniethnic or other homogenous societies will subdivide themselves using such “neutral” criteria as domicile – “rural-urban”, coastlanders/hinterlanders - and carry out this comparison process.

When, as in Guyana, groups with reinforcing cleavages of culture, attitudes, race, religion, etc., are thrown into the same society, comparison is inevitable and inescapable.

The intractability of ethnicity lies in this fact: social groups can only be evaluated comparatively.

Each category of individuals with similar traits evaluates itself positively and others with dissimilar traits, negatively.

Over the course of time, the process results in stereotypical attitudes being Ravi Dev formed, as the cultural or physical or other trait is given a social meaning, which is applied to the whole group. This group comparison is of great significance because of its stress on the “worth” of its members to whom this evaluation becomes an integral part of his/her identity and self-esteem. Some individuals may be impoverished but as members of a powerful group, they still have some pride of self-worth Vis a Vis members of less “powerful” groups.

At the abolition of slavery, the society was culturally uniform in the anthropological sense, but culturally diverse in the sociological sense, with the Whites, Coloureds and Africans forming distinct social strata in descending order of status, power and economic worth. While, for instance, all accepted the values of Creole culture, the Coloureds had different speech patterns, foods habits, dress, etc. from the African masses and considered the latter their social inferiors. The introduction of Indians into Guyana - with their acceptance of “slave work”, “heathen” religion, unfamiliarity with Creole culture and values - gave the society and especially the Africans, the opportunity to further compare, and afterwards designate a new low man on the totem pole. He was the ‘coolie’, whose typical immigrant’s focus on economic advancement was labelled as “mean and stingy”, and stoic acceptance of hardships in fulfilling his indentured contract, “docile”.

The Indian on the other hand, sequestered in the rural plantations came primarily into contact only with rural Africans.

The Indians, defensively valuing their culture and heritage highly rejected the “coolie” categorization, and when in social comparison, utilized criteria fostered by the British to stereotype the African. They were lazy (for rejecting their despised “slave’s” work), hedonistic (for his emphasis on fancy clothes and weekend revelry), licentious (for their serial polygamy) and lacking their own culture (for imitating the British).

One armament used by some groups in the competition over relative group worth, is the notion of ‘legitimacy’ where one group is convinced that it has a greater right than other groups to the national patrimony. In Guyana, or West Indies as a whole, because of their prior arrival, greater acculturation to White values, earlier entry into governmental services and politics, Africans and Coloureds viewed themselves as having greater claims to legitimacy than Indians, Amerindians and other groups.

The latter groups however rejected this claim and countered that their contribution to the development of the country, and the international norms of equality, conferred on them as much rights as other groups to all that the country offered.

Africans and Indians had co-existed in Guyana for over one hundred and twenty-four years (1838-1962) without any major confrontation. Groups resorted to violence either when they sought to conquer other groups or they felt threatened by other groups. The British policy of segregating the groups in different ecological and economic niches mitigated competition.

In addition, the Indians’ late entry into Creole society until they were in a position of strength economically, when they could compete without being overwhelmed. It was in the latter phase that conflict was engendered.

The potential for ethnic conflict in Guyana, or elsewhere, is stimulated therefore, when there are changes that cause one or more ethnic groups in a given society to feel threatened by other groups. Changes that affect the groups’ self-worth, especially if they are structural and thus self-perpetuating and widespread, create the greatest potential for conflict. As in all group activities, the strategies employed by the leaders are key elements in determining the course of the conflict and these should also be examined.

Political groups become politically functional only when individuals make them so. Hopefully, the political leaders will keep the temperature down.

…regions get supplies with no documentation of costs

W

hen it comes to oversight over the distribution of medical supplies throughout the 10 administrative regions, the Audit Office of Guyana (AOG) faced major hurdles in verifying that the value of drugs sent to the various regions corresponded with Inter Department Warrants (IDW’s).

A total of $2.1 billion was budgeted for procuring drugs and medical supplies under the Health Services Programme. According to Auditor General Deodat Sharma in his 2017 report, 14 IDWs or requests for drugs, were sent to the Public Health Ministry by the regions to pro-

cure drugs and medical supplies. The total value of these warrants was $1.7 billion.

Drugs and medical supplies were indeed received by the regions. Where things went wrong, according to the Auditor General, was the fact that there was no documentation accompanying the medical supplies received, indicating the value of the units. As a consequence, the Auditor General noted that he was unable to account for the cost of medical supplies received by the 10 administrative regions.

“The difference of $42 million was retained in the Consolidated Fund, which included 51 per cent of the warranted amounts for Region

Auditor General Deodat Sharma

Seven and 46 per cent for Region Eight. In addition, the Ministry issued financial returns indicating that it expended the full amounts

from seven of the 10 regions, which includes Regions Two, Three and Nine,” the Auditor General report stated.

“However, shown in the Appropriation Accounts were three cheques totalling $144 million that were refunded to the Consolidated Fund in January and March 2018, for Regions Two, Three and Nine.” of accountabiliLack ty when regions use Inter Department Warrants to acquire drugs is a sore issue for the Auditor General, who has to unearth these cases and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which has to interrogate officials. turn to page 18

14 news

SUnDAY, november 11, 2018| guyanatimesgy.com

Chile's Caravan of Death: Ex-army chief Cheyre convicted for Pinochet-era crimes

A

Chilean court has convicted the former army commander-in-chief of complicity in the deaths of 15 people following the 1973 military coup.

General Juan Emilio Cheyre was sentenced to three years and a day under house arrest.

He is the most senior figure to be held accountable so far for abuses carried out during the regime of General Augusto Pinochet.

The killings were carried out by the notorious "Caravan of Death".

The Caravan of Death was a military unit sent by General Pinochet to remote Chilean areas to hunt down opposition activists.

Speaking outside the court on Friday, investigating judge Mario Carroza said the conviction of Cheyre - who was chief of the army between 2002 and 2006 - demonstrated the "egalitarian" justice system that Chile now enjoys.

The incident for which Cheyre was convicted took place in the northern city of La Serena a month after the coup in September 1973.

He was a young officer in a regiment stationed at La Serena when the Caravan of Death arrived in the city and killed 15 left-wing activists.

The same court on Friday sentenced his then superior officer, Ariosto Lapostol, to 15 years in pris-

Developing and Promoting Ecotourism in Guyana

W

Juan Emilio Cheyre was chief of the army between 2002 and 2006

on for the killings. relatives of those who disappeared under the Pinochet regime are still awaiting answers The Caravan of Death landed by helicopter in 16 towns and cities and killed 97 people between 30 September and 22 October 1973, according to figures compiled by the NGO Memory and Justice.

Gen Pinochet said there would be no mercy for "extremists", and was reportedly annoyed by news that some commanders in provincial towns had been "soft" on political opponents.

General Pinochet had seized power from the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende.

He stepped down in 1990 but retained the post of commander-in-chief of the army for another eight years.

An estimated 3,200 people were murdered and 28,000 tortured by agents of the state during his dictatorship. More than 1,000 people are still listed as missing.

General Pinochet died in 2006, aged 91, without ever standing trial. (BBC)

hat comes to mind when you think of tourism? I bet you visualized blue waters, white sandy beaches massaging your feet, palm trees, and massive hotels towering towards the sky. What if I told you there’s scenery even more breathtaking?

Think about connecting with nature, cooling down under a soothing waterfall, a walk in the forest canopy or just some time to connect with nature, watching in amazement as the lush rainforest comes alive. These are just a few elements to Eco-tourism.

A term being used more and more these days, we are hearing it being mentioned on TV and in conversations; reading about it in the newspapers and even on social media. But what really does ‘eco-tourism’ mean and more importantly, why is it so important for Guyana’s development?

Eco-tourism and a Green State

The term ‘Eco-tourism’ is defined as “responsible travel to natural areas that conserve the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people and involves interpretation and education” (The International Ecotourism Society, 2015). Therefore, it does not only enable for the protection and conservation of our natural resources, but it also creates jobs and training for local people, especially in the indigenous communities. It is noteworthy to mention that ecotourism includes education for both the persons working within this field and the tourists. People are able to connect to nature while developing an understanding and appreciation for the local culture.

Additionally, this form of tourism allows persons to move away from our traditional means of earning an income by diversifying Guyana’s economy.

In fact, Guyana is in the process of becoming more environmentally conscious and the Green State Development Strategy (GSDS) will guide this transition. Developing and promoting eco-tourism as one our main economic activities directly ties into more than one of the GSDS principles, particularly, Well-being, Education and Good Life, Sustainable use of Biodiversity and Resource Efficiency and Sustainable Finances and Investment.

Currently, in Guyana…

Many indigenous persons are already being trained and are working in this field. Let’s take as an example, the Iwokrama International Center. It is one of the main eco-tourism destinations in Guyana which allows tourists to experience the serenity of the country’s rainforest. The visitors, who stay at the Iwokrama River Lodge, are able to enjoy the scenery through hikes, camping activities and water sports. Most of the persons employed at the center are the local indigenous people, who are trained to accomplish the jobs they are hired for. It is noteworthy to mention that the Center also allocated areas for sustainable logging, forest management training and research, encouraging a variety of job opportunities for the locals.

Through eco-tourism, indigenous communities are able to be more economically independent. Many of these communities in Guyana are developing their capacities to come on board this journey.

For example, Surama Eco-Lodge is a community-based ecotourism which allows visitors to experience nature and the indigenous culture. The project is managed by the local people who also make up the entire staff body. Locals make use of their natural and traditional culture to develop an ecotourism experience for tourists to enjoy.

There is even a two-week jungle survival course that guests can take part in. In addition, the lodge is committed to reducing its carbon footprint and the entire operation relies on solar energy.

Traveling to Guyana is an experience like no other, many tourists flock Kaieteur National Park, Shell Beach, and Arrow Point Nature Resort.

Approaching with Caution

Indeed, Guyana is already benefiting from ecotourism, and we should continue developing this sector. However, if areas are not properly managed, it can have a significant effect on wildlife and can lead to environmental degradation The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) authorizes ecotourism lodges particularly those that are in sensitive areas and/or have ten or more rooms to be cautious, since it is likely that a large number of visitors would result in environmental impacts. If this happens, it defeats the purpose of promoting ecotourism, as the conservation aspect, which is a crucial part of it, will be removed. Further, the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) is working with Swiss contact to strengthen the capacities of leaders in the travel and tourism sector to move towards a demandbased approach to guide tourism product and infrastructure development.

If you wish to know more about the state and trends of Land Resources in Guyana, you can download the State of the Environment Report 2016 from the EPA’s website, www.epaguyana.org

You can share your ideas and questions by sending letters to: “Our Earth, Our Environment”, C/O ECEA Programme, Environmental Protection Agency, Ganges Street, Sophia, GEORGETOWN, or email us at: eit.epaguyana@ gmail.com or follow us on Facebook and Instagram

news

15

SUnDAY, november 11, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

$513.3M in seized cocaine, ganja destroyed Understanding absorptive capacity

I

t was reported in sections of the media sometime last week that Guyana’s absorptive capacity is too low for significant spending of oil money–according to an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) expert. This notion was also put forward some time ago by the Finance Minister. However, this assertion was never fully justified in an empirical manner by the proponents. This article therefore seeks to address this issue in terms of an understanding of absorptive capacity, and how a country effectively measure its absorptive capacity.

Essentially, absorptive capacity has been defined as a firm’s ability to recognize the value of new information, assimilate it and apply it to commercial ends–and it is studied in individuals, groups, firm and national levels. In other words, it involves the ability to recognize the value of information and knowledge deemed necessary for firms’ innovation process, to be able to acquire it, assimilate it, transform it and exploit it. Therefore, absorptive capacity increases a firm’s access, as well as usage of knowledge and information through collaboration with other actors. Thus, the absorptive capacity is a function of the firm’s skill base, its internal technological effort and its linkages with external sources of knowledge (Lall, 1992).

Research has shown that in order to identify, assimilate and adapt knowledge which is needed for innovation and to engage in interactive learning, accumulating qualified human capital is crucial. As indigenous firms in developing countries generally have only limited access to human capital, management skills and competences, it is deducible that their available absorptive capacity is insufficient. As such, owing to limited absorptive capacity, other firms in the system may find little incentives to interact with such perceivably low absorptive capacity firms (Tidd et.al, 2005). This in turn, may reduce chances of domestic firms to participate in interactive learning processes (Giuliani and Bell, 2005). Therefore, building human capital and training in specific industry needs, is the cornerstone of interactive learning.

It is important to note that in order to identify, select and acquire the external technological knowledge that might be relevant to the firm, the firm’s own technological effort is essential (Lall and Pietrobelli, 2005). In this regard, there are important differences between developed and developing countries: First, the intensity and nature of technological effort is different if the purpose is to be a technological leader–that is, to create innovations - than if the purpose is to monitor and absorb technology that has been developed elsewhere as in the case of developing countries.

Secondly, there is the importance to distinguish between product-related technological capabilities and process-related technologies. In developing countries, technological effort is usually oriented towards the absorption of technologies developed elsewhere, rather than the development of own innovation. To this end, if the purpose is to absorb, it can be assumed that process-related technological efforts are more important.

While it is acknowledged in academic literature that facilitating the access to external sources of knowledge in developing countries have limited or no effect on development and economic growth prior to absorptive capacity building, the literature is limited when it comes to analyzing how the absorptive capacity can be built. This becomes especially crucial for developing countries. Owing to weaknesses in the institutional and organisational framework, indigenous firms face the challenge of building an adequate level of absorptive capacity to benefit from potential knowledge spillovers (Astrid et.al, 2008).

Against these backgrounds, it is disappointing when experts from notable international organisations make careless assertions about such subject matters that are largely unsupported by any sound evidentiary basis. In other words, these assertions are at best opinionated, in light of the fact that there is no study that the analyst is aware of that comprehensively seeks to measure the level of absorptive capacity in Guyana’s context.

On another note, relevant to today’s discussion, it was also recently reported in sections of the media, that another international oil expert, Andrew Bauer, asserted that saving oil money, but borrowing more for development makes no sense.

This view is rather consistent with previous writings by this analyst’s Sovereign Wealth Fund series of articles featured earlier this year.

In this respect, Bauer put forward the argument that a SWF is a savings fund for a country that has large surplus funds, and it is used to invest in various financial instruments in the global capital markets. In other words: if Guyana earns $100 billion in oil revenues, and it is then locked away for investment in an SWF, in which those investments are going to earn, say, 5 or 10 % returns on investment, would this model be of any direct economic benefit to the people of Guyana? The answer is no.

In the final analysis this analyst argued that Guyana does not need a SWF at the onset of oil production. Instead, a Stabilization Fund would be more appropriate–such that a greater portion of the oil revenues could or should be utilized to advance massive infrastructural developments among other crucial aspects of national development, which the country badly needs.

(For comments, questions and responses on articles featured in this column, readers can reach the author at jbinsights@outlook.com).

A

“joint drug-destruction” operation was carried out by the Guyana Police Force and the Customs Anti- Narcotics Unit (CANU) at Yarrowkabra, Linden-Soesdyke Highway.

The exercise was carried out on Saturday, November 10, 2018 between 08:30h and 11:30h.

During the operation, representatives from the Public Security Ministry, the National Anti-Narcotics Agency (NANA) and the Guyana Forensic Science Laboratory (GFSL) were present to witness the destruction.

A total of 132 kilograms of cocaine and 440 kilograms of cannabis were destroyed by the Police, and 345 kilograms of cocaine and 554 kilograms of cannabis were destroyed by CANU. Overall, the agencies destroyed 477 kilograms of cocaine and 994 kilograms of cannabis, with a combined street value of $513,310,940.

The drugs that were destroyed were tested by members of the GFSL before being burnt by fire.

The drugs that were destroyed

16 news

SUnDAY, november 11, 2018 | guyanatimesGY.com

Rosignol Secondary breaks regional record at CSEC

R

osignol Secondary School on Friday hosted its annual graduation ceremony which celebrated the remarkable performance of its students at the last Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams.

This year, the school

produced the top student for Region Five (MahaicaBerbice), Savitree Ramlochan as well as five other students who each attained eight or more Grade Ones. This is the most the region has ever attained.

Head Teacher of the institution, Janice Britton De

Aubreu, who leads 38 other teachers, revealed in her annual report that more than 10 subjects recorded 100 per cent passes and that the overall pass rate was 90.5 per cent.

Feature speaker, former Education Minister Priya Manickchand congratulated the students, parents

and teachers, as she gave an overview of how Rosignol Secondary became one of the best schools in the region.

Upon assuming office as Education Minister, she stated that she learnt there were no A-List Schools in Region Five and all the children who did well were forced to travel

Former Education Minister Priya Manickchand with the top performing students

to other neighbouring regions to further their education.

With much thought and aggressive action through investments, the Rosignol and Bygeval Secondary Schools were brought up to A-List standard. New labs were built and old ones refurbished.

Additionally, all materials for the laboratories were procured. Enough text books for individual children were provided and adequate furniture delivered. A full and trained staff complement and heavy monitoring and evaluation were built into the programme, and much more was done to make the school one that could positively impact the lives of the children who would be placed there after their National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) examination.

In 2013, the school’s matriculation rate was 19 per cent; this year, that figure increased to 71 per cent.

Manickchand said this remarkable outcome was the direct result of vision and innovation with commitment that were all driven for the children who the school was meant to serve.

She said the good results were predicted as it was a certainty that investment in education always paid off once it was accompanied by political will, dedicated teachers, and interested parents.

However, the former Education Minister cautioned that those gains could easily slip away with the students being victims if there was not constant attention and effort to meet the challenges that they faced.

“Don’t let this be another training”– business training graduates advised

Graduates pose with members of the Youth Empowerment Unit and Basic Need Trust Fund Project Manager Dikedemma O Utoh

T

he Youth Empowerment Unit within the Social Cohesion, Culture, Youth and Sport Department of the Ministry of the Presidency, on Saturday held another graduation as the seventh batch of participants graduated from the Ministry’s financial literacy and small business training programme.

The programme lasted for six weeks and covered budgeting, marketing, financial literacy and preparation of business proposals.

According to the Senior Economic Empowerment Officer of the Youth Empowerment Unit, Samuel Saul, a total of 27 persons were registered on commencement of the programme, but only 17 participants successfully completed the programme.

Saul, in his remarks, urged the future business leaders to put what they have learnt into practice, noting that the programme was conceptionalised and embarked upon back in 2016.

“Don’t let this be another training; don’t let this be another certificate that you are receiving, make use of your training, launch out into your trades, it only takes one step,

the Government of Guyana has the task of being committed to empowering our youths and will continue to do so …. and may you put what you have learnt into practice,” he advised the graduates.

Meanwhile, the guest speaker, Basic Needs Trust Fund Office (Guyana) Project Manager Dikedemma O Utoh, in brief remarks, admonished the students to keep moving forward and to be an inspiration. He also shared the five simple steps that most people follow to be successful.

“As you prepare to go off into a new chapter of your respective lives, remember these five rules: trust yourself, don’t be afraid to fail, don’t listen to the naysayers, work hard and remember give back to something, by graduating this afternoon you have shown others that achievement is not out of reach …. You are inspirations to your family, to your family and other loved ones. I will leave you with this quote

by Eddie Robinson “the will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential; these are the keys that will unlock personal excellence”,” he said.

news

17

SUnDAY, november 11, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Filaria pills distribution campaign ends …as persons complain of not receiving medication

A

large number of Guyanese across the country have over the past few days complained of their homes and even businesses not being visited by the Public Health Ministry officials who are responsible for the distribution of filaria prevention pills.

This was related to Guyana Times by persons who reached out to this publication to enquire about the distribution.

The filaria campaign was launched earlier this year, and a host of sensitisation messages were aired on local television and even radio in a bid to get Guyanese more informed of the benefits of drinking their pills.

However, as persons were gearing up to take their tablets to prevent themselves from being affected by Lymphatic filariasis, also called filaria, which is a mosquito-borne disease that shows no signs during the first 10 years of infection, some are complaining that they had no access to the pills.

A number of persons have complained of being afraid of becoming infected by the disease which works by affecting an individual’s lymphat-

ic glands, causing the legs, breasts and even scrotum to swell, creating the symptom that give rise to the disease’s common name – “big foot”.

It was related to this newspaper on Friday afternoon by the National Coordinator for Neglected Infectious Diseases, Fabu Moses-Stuart that this year’s Mass Drug Administration (MDA) campaign has already wrapped up.

In fact, she said that the other campaign would not be until next year.

Further questions posted by this publication were dodged by the officer as a large number of persons remain uncertain about how they can access the pills.

Complaints

A number of persons have since come forward saying that their homes and even businesses were not visited by the officials who were supposed to be distributing the pills in four administrative regions: Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara); Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica); Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) and Region 10 (Upper DemeraraBerbice) as these happen to be the most affected regions,

Wakenaam, Leguan Stellings

Contractors mobilising equipment to begin rehabilitation – Patterson …Parika, Vreed-en-Hoop to follow in 2019

P

ublic Infrastructure Minister David Patterson has announced that contractors are now in the process of mobilising their equipment and materials as works are soon to begin on the Wakenaam and Leguan Stellings in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara).

Speaking with Guyana Times last week, Patterson explained that emergency intervention was undertaken a few weeks ago at Wakenaam and Leguan, so to ensure that the structures were secure until works commence.

“The contract has been awarded and the contractor is mobilising, but in the interim, we did some emergency works on the stelling to ensure that it is safe. That was done about three weeks ago when we had that small emergency contract to stabilise the wharf until the bigger works.”

As it relates to the Parika and Vreed-en-Hoop Stellings, the rehabilitation project will begin in 2019 since the design and tendering process have not been finalised as yet.

“The tendering and design for Vreed-en-Hoop will most likely be done next year and for Parika as well.”’

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon had announced at a press briefing in July that the rehabilitation of the Leguan Stelling was pegged at some $455.3 million. This engineer’s estimate was presented before the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) and 10 companies bid for the works under the Transport and Harbours Department.

However, Maraj Contracting Services was awarded with the project in September at a cost of $413.2 million.

This publication had visited the Leguan Stelling earlier this year and residents expressed disgust at the deplorable state of the structure.

The timber planks supporting the Stelling are rotted, causing residents to be fearful since heavy vehicles traverse the structure. In addition, the decking is loose and uneven, with rails hanging on to nothing at certain sections on the ramp.

According to them, the construction method of using concrete posts and wood decking serves no purpose; hence, they are calling for a fully concrete stelling, noting that it would last longer with little to no repairs.

One of the first persons to take their filaria pills at the launch of the MDA exercise

as was found in a survey conducted by the Public Health Ministry a few years ago.

During this year’s campaign, persons from those four regions were supposed to receive the two free pills, the albendazole and diethylcarbamazine citrate (DEC).

The number of tablets administered varied as per age, and the tablets were not supposed to be given to pregnant women and children below two years old. It is said that a person requires five annual doses of the pills before they become immune to the mos-

quito-borne disease.

Most of the complaints received are from residents of the West Coast of Demerara.

One resident of Pouderoyen, West Bank Demerara stated that during last year’s MDA exercise the pill distributors visited her home and ensured that they left tablets for everyone in the home; however, this year the home was not even visited.

Another resident over at De Kinderen, West Coast Demerara said her entire family was afraid of contracting the disease and were in fact anxiously waiting for their area to be visited, but to her knowledge this was not done.

Among the complaints were several that even some persons in the city did not receive the pills.

A few businesses who requested not to be named in

Georgetown also complained that their employees could not take their pills as those businesses were not visited by the pill distributors.

Financing

Over US$1 million was used on this year’s campaign.

Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence had earlier this year said that more money was being spent to ensure better coverage.

“This year, we’re on that push to ensure that we can eradicate filaria from Guyana. It’s a big project for the Ministry of Public Health; we believe that we can do it and we have invested more money with the help of our partners PAHO/WHO (Pan American Organisation/World Health Organisation),” the Minister had said in a previous interview.

18 news UG Council endorses honorary doctorates for outstanding Guyanese SUnDAY, november 11, 2018 | guyanatimesGY.com

H

istory was created on Saturday last at the hosting of the 52nd Convocation of the Turkeyen campus, when the University of Guyana Academic Board unanimously adopted the proposal to confer the university’s honorary doctorate degrees upon four outstanding Guyanese.

Chancellor of the University, Professor Eon Nigel Harris, said that recognition of individuals with the award of honorary degrees for having distinguished themselves through their diverse accomplishments and exemplary service is a university tradition that dates back to the

Yesu Persaud

Middle Ages.

“I share the delight of our University of Guyana in initiating these awards.

It represents yet another step in the transformative growth of our University,”

Edmond (Eddy) Grant

Harris underscored.

The honorary degree recipients that were conferred with the Doctor of Letters (DLitt) have all made their mark in their respective fields of music,

Jairaj Sobhraj

business, philanthropy and Indigenous rights respectively.

At the ceremony, Edmond (Eddy) Grant was conferred for excellence in music and civic engagement;

Laura George

Yesu Persaud for iconic leadership in business and banking; Jairaj Sobhraj for excellence in entrepreneurship and philanthropy; and Laura George for outstanding community development and advocacy.

The honorary doctorates are being bestowed in accordance with the University of Guyana Act, which dates back to 1963, and grants the University the legal authority to confer honorary degrees and other distinctions, provided that all degrees and other distinctions so conferred shall be conferred and held subject to any provision which are or may be made in reference thereto by the university.

Moreover, one of the powers of the Academic Board is to make recommendation to the Council with respect to the award to any person of an Honorary Fellowship or Honorary Degree or title of Professor Emeritus. The current proposal had suc-

cessfully passed through all previous vetting procedures.

University Vice Chancellor Professor Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith noted that this historic conferral is part of the Renaissance pursuits of the University, which entails rebuilding and rebranding the University, central to which is celebrating exemplars of excellence in order to inspire young and not-so-young citizens.

“I am honoured to have the opportunity to place the spotlight on these four outstanding citizens,” he said.

The honorees’ joined the more than 1,700 students from Faculties of Agriculture and Forestry, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Education and Humanities, Engineering and Technology, Health Sciences, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, and the School of Entrepreneurship, who will be conferred with degrees, diplomas and certificates.

AG unable to verify if regions received... from page 13

In April of this year, the inability of Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) officials to answer PAC questions regarding drug procurement issues caused them to ultimately be asked to leave the chambers.

At the sitting chaired

by Member of Parliament Pauline Sukhai, in the absence of Chairman Irfaan Ali, Regional Executive Officer (REO) Kerwin Warde was questioned on the region’s procurement of drugs through IDWs. At the time, Warde could not provide definitive details on the reconciliation from the Materials Management Unit of the Public Health Ministry, as recommended by Auditor General Sharma in his previous year’s report.

“Although drugs and medical supplies were received by the Regional Administration, the cost was not stated on the documentation that accompanied the deliveries”, the report had detailed.

“As a result, it could not

be determined whether the full value was received for the sum warranted to the Public Health Ministry.

With respect to the warrant of $10 million, the regional administration received a ‘nil’ financial return indicating that the amount was unexpended; as such, the Appropriation Account was credited with the unspent amount of $10 million.”

The Audit Office had recommended that the regional administration put systems in place to reconcile supplies received by the respective health facilities with the drugs’ list initially submitted.

It had also advised that the region obtain the cost of the drugs and medical supplies from the Public Health Ministry so as to reconcile the value of the drugs and medical supplies received with that of the sum warranted to the Ministry. This time around, the 2017 report quotes the budget agency as saying that efforts are being made to reconcile the amounts.

sunDAY, november 11, 2018

19

Hamilton takes Brazilian F1 GP Azeez wants to pole as he bids for 10th race win make CGI

L

ewis Hamilton followed his title-sealing win in Mexico with a further statement of authority by taking pole for the Brazilian Grand Prix thanks to a peerless lap at Interlagos. Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari was in second, keeping his place after a two-hour delay as stewards investigated him for a breach of regulations. Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas was in third.

Hamilton put in two sparkling laps in the final session, neither of which could be matched, and he took pole with a new track record of 1min 7.281sec. He was a tenth clear of Vettel and rightly proud of a performance that reflects a superlative season.

“It was so close between us, we needed 100% today, not 99,” he said. “I was really happy with my lap and I think that we did a great job collectively as a team to get pole today. We had to do a lot of work overnight and the team was faultless with their efforts.”

Vettel, whose temperament has been questioned after his championship challenge was stymied by a series of errors, almost proved too impetuous during the session. The German was referred to the

By Timothy Jaikarran

A Sebastian Vettel avoided a grid penalty for not turning off his engine before boarding the weighbridge

stewards after he did not turn off his engine when boarding the weighbridge during Q2, damaging the device.

Vettel was keen to finish the process as quickly as possible in order to put in a lap before the rain got any heavier and could have been disqualified. “They shouldn’t call us when the conditions are changing like that, it is unfair to call us in,” he said.

The Ferarri driver endured a tense wait for the steward’s decision before receiving a reprimand and a €25,000 (£21,843) fine, for failing to follow the instructions of officials. The drivers’ title is already gone but continual misjudgments when under pressure is something he must address if he is to challenge for the championship next season.

There was better news at McLaren. The team, who are enduring a terrible season, at least gave Fernando Alonso a reason to feel optimistic when they announced on Saturday that he will drive for them at next year’s Indy 500. Alonso, who finished 18th and who leaves F1 at the end of this year, competed at Indy in 2017.

With wins at Monaco and Le Mans he is attempting to add the final part of motor racing’s triple crown by securing a victory at the Brickyard.

With Hamilton having secured his fifth title in Mexico, at a race where Mercedes were off the pace, his 10th pole of the season is a strong return to form.

He secured a 100th pole for Mercedes and there remains unfinished business for the

Who will make it to the business end today?

T

he venue is the Den Amstel Community Centre ground, and the event is the Hamilton Green 9-a-side Inter-Ward/Village KO Cup, which is set to resume today with twelve riveting matches anticipated to commence from 15:00hrs.

According to tournament coordinator Lennox Arthur, a former national player/ head coach, because it is the penultimate round, the battle for prize monies in excess of $700,000 is expected to definitely provide fans with some exciting encounters, as teams try to position themselves for final day action, scheduled for November 24.

At 15:00hrs, Sophia ‘A’, led

by Joshua Kamal and Shemroy Arthur, take on Stewartville, who will have in their line-up the likes of Gary Mingo, Stephon Gibson and Leon Whyte.

This encounter will be followed by the clash between Charlestown and Vergenoegen, with the skilful Jamal Cozier and Keiron Solomon expected to lead the attack for Charlestown, with support from William Europe; while Ve r g e n o e g e n ’s quest for victory w i l l depend on the services

of Horace and Kerron Caines.

The Mahaica-versus-Agricola matchup should be another enthralling encounter, with Kurt Roberts, Dellon Charles and Eion Abel expected to lead the charge for Mahaica, while Gordon Grant, Leon Moore and Collis Samuels would be looking to secure Agricola’s chances of advancing.

Lucian Hercules, Seon Barron and Kevin Crawford will then look to lock up Central Mackenzie’s berth in the final round, while Quacy Blue, Curwin Williams and Traif Moses will aim to do the same for Liliendaal.

The next game would pit Sophia ‘B’ against Plaisance, and this encounter has all the ingredients needed to produce fireworks, with Ernie and Peter Smith and Jermaine N e d d expected to lead the fo r m e r ’s pursuit of victory; while Kevin Liverpool, Keon Kyte and Travis Simon are the key to the latter’s search for a win.

In the feature game, hosts Den Amstel will rely

heavily on the display of Keswin Fraser, Malcolm Miggins and Anthony Benn to engineer a win, while the opposition De Kinderen’s hunt for an upset will depend on how well Colin Henry, Jalleel Samuels and Darrel Alexis plays.

The first prize of $400,000 and the Championship Trophy comes with the compliments of the Ministry of Citizenship, while the runner-up will be awarded $200,000 and a trophy, thanks to John Fernandes Ltd. The third and fourth place finishers will receive $60,000 and $40,000 respectively, along with the Techno Mills and Courtney Benn Construction Services trophies in that order.

Top finishers will receive hampers compliments of Ricks & Sari Industries, while the Highest Goal-scorer walks away with a Lazy Boy Chair courtesy of A.H&L Kissoon and a dinette set compliment of China Trading.

The Most Valuable Player will be awarded a special prize from Techno Mills.

Among the other sponsors on board are: IPA, Alfro Alphonso, Sattaur Gafoor, ANSA McAL, Top Brandz Distributors, MACORP, Starr Computers, Cummings Electrical, Ready Mix, BK International and the New Thriving Restaurant.

British driver and his team in Brazil.

Mercedes have yet to clinch the constructors’ championship and Hamilton has been clear he wants to ensure they do so. Currently 55 points in front of Ferrari with 86 available from the last two races, Ferrari must outscore Mercedes by 13 points to take the fight to the final round in Abu Dhabi.

Should Mercedes secure the title, they will have equalled Ferrari’s record of five consecutive drivers’ and constructors’ championships, which they achieved with Michael Schumacher between 2000 and 2004.

It may not be straightforward however.

Vettel and his teammate Kimi Räikkönen, who was fourth, set their times on the soft tyre in Q2, giving them more strategic options over their rivals who will all start on the supersoft rubber. It was a perfectly timed, bold and tactical decision by Ferrari that may yet prove to be inspired.

(The Guardian)

zim Azeez has always been a lover of cricket. At a very tender age, he began playing cricket in the backyard of the Grove Masjid. With the passage of time, he began to emulate Shahid Afridi, having always been obsessed with Afridi’s aggressive style of batting and attacking legspin bowling.

Guyana Times Sport recently caught up with Azzez and asked what made him want to play cricket. Azeez responded that he has always been a lover of the sport, though he couldn’t explain why his passion was so great.

He said he always knew in his heart that he was destined to accomplish great feats in the sport, so he pursued his dreams. As he progressed in life, he would always describe himself as a player who can do a bit of batting and bowling. Thus, in 2010, he was introduced

by Mr Baksh from the Third Class Cricket Club to Mr Shawn Messiah of Transport Sports Club (TSC), where he started his long tenure.

The 29-year-old off-spinner said one of the things he enjoys doing is attacking the ball when at the crease.

Because of this, he has thus far scored five hundreds batting for TSC, with 115 being his highest score.

Since being with TSC,

Azim Azeez

Azim has accomplished many feats, such as the time he batted at number eight, in August, 2017, in a second division two- day match and got a miraculous hundred holding the innings of the team together.

He went on to take his best bowling figures of 8-26 against the University of Guyana cricket team. In his most recent achievement in the New Building Society (NBS) 40-Overs second division tournament, Azeez made and attacking 33 notout in an innings filled with two scintillating sixes and three fours. And he also bagged 4-3.

With his consistent performances, Azeez hopes that he will catch the eyes of the selectors, and one day be selected for Cricket Guyana Inc (CGI) and from there on make the national side.

On the eve of the GMR&SC’s Ignite race meet, Chairman of the Private Sector Commission of Guyana, Desmond Sears; Executive Member of the Guyana Motor Racing & Sports Club, Kamal Seebarran; Silbourne Clarke from Jamaica; Managing Director of Palm Court, Ravin Prashad; and Simon Gilmore from Barbados posed for a photo opportunity at a cocktail mixer for the Ignite racers

20 Jay and Sylvia Sobhraj Foundation Guyana rises in badminton donates to the sport fraternity world rankings – valued over US$1M A guyanatimesGY.com

sunDAY, november 11, 2018

Jay Sobhraj; his daughter-in-law, son and wife, Sylvia Sobhraj; Malcolm Ferreira of Ambitious Future Leaders of Albouystown/Charlestown; Anil Persaud, President of East Coast Cricket Association; Chairman of the NSC, Dr Colin Roach; Vice Chairman of NSC, Trevor Williams; and Secretary of the East Bank Football Association, Wayne Francois

O

n Saturday, November 10, at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, the Jay and Sylvia Sobhraj Foundation, also known as the Zara Donor Team, donated several pieces of sports equipment to the National Sports Commission, the East Bank Football Association, the East Coast Cricket Association, and the Ambitious Future Leaders of Albouystown/ Charlestown.

The items donated consisted of cricket gears, basketballs, soccer balls and badminton gear valued at approximately one million USD. At the simple handing over ceremony, Founder and philanthropist Jay Sobhraj, in brief remarks, said the foundation is pleased to assist Guyanese within the sporting fraternity, and will continue to support them. Sobhraj believes that a healthy mind is important, but having an active and fit lifestyle should be priority.

This is the second sport

donation made to the Guyanese community. The first was made in April 2018 to the Guyana Police Force.

Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Dr. Colin Roach, not only thanked the Foundation for its generous contribution, but said the donations will enhance the sporting community throughout Guyana. He has wished the organisation success in the years ahead.

Vice Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Trevor Williams, stressed that the equipment is a necessary resource for Guyana’s development. He said huge donations like this presentation make groups more prepared for international competitions.

“These tools will bring out the unknown talents you would not have known or otherwise seen”, Williams said.

Secretary of the East Bank Football Association, Wayne Francois, expressed gratitude to the foundation and noted that a large or small donation

would always make a difference in a person’s life.

The Jay and Sylvia Sobhraj Foundation, also known as the Zara Donor Team, comprises of four overseas-based Guyanese: Founders Jay and Sylvia Sobhraj, Information Technologist Nardeo Singh, and businessman Sarvan Budhu.

Known for their work within the Information Communications Technology sector, the foundation has established three state-ofthe-art computer centres in partnership with the Guyana Police Force, to offer free computer classes to the Guyanese public; and one state-of-the-art Cyber Security Centre.

Also, in April this year, the foundation signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Guyana, valued at $80 million Guyana dollars, to establish the Jay and Sylvia Sobhraj Centre for Behavioural Studies and Research at the University of Guyana.

fairly young Guyanese badminton team ventured to Markham, Canada last weekend to participate in the Li Ning BWF World Juniors Mixed Team Championships; and at completion of that tournament, the players received one of the best rewards yet.

After an impressive showing by the Guyanese contingent, comprising of Priyanna Ramdhani (captain), Akili Haynes (vice-captain), Tyrese Jeffery and Jayde DaSilva, Guyana jumped to the 32nd spot in the Badminton world raking in a pool of some 175 countries.

Guyana’s achievement was made even more remarkable when it was taken into account that Guyana is now ranked higher than much more developed countries, such as New Zealand, Poland, Mongolia, Uganda, Australia, Macau China & Slovakia, who are ranked between 33 and 40.

Regarding this stellar achievement, a statement from the Guyana Badminton Association noted: “This is a very good achievement for us, and we showed that we can stand up to the competition of the international players from around the world, although our team is quite young.”

On the last day of competition, the Guyana team maximised their successes with several outstanding performances.

One such performance came from team captain Priyanna Ramdhani, when she came up against Krisha Ghia in the women’s singles division. Ramdhani won the encounter 21-13, 21-13.

Guyana’s boys doubles team, Tyrese Jeffrey and Akili Haynes

Another riveting win for Guyana came in the Boys’ doubles, where Tyrese Jeffrey & Akili Haynes came up against Kenya’s Urjan Omit Shah & Ujval Omit Shah. The mixed doubles team final stage 253 2 fourth place play-off showdown ended i n

Guyana’s favour, 21-19, 21-16.

I n other outstanding matches of the mixed

tournament, Priyanna Ramdhani proved to be a tough and equally skilled opponent for Singapore’s Lee Xin Yi Megan in their 18-21 encounter. Priyanna showed similar grit in her second game, this time against Raphaela Winkler of Austria, in their matchup which finished 16-21, 13-21.

The 16-yearold continued her show of grit and determination against Megan De Beer of South Africa with scores of 22-24, 14-21.

Tyrese Jeffery also contested fiercely against Kilian Meusburger of Austria, their encounter ending 1121.

The four-member Guyanese contingent will now shift their focus to the upcoming Li Ning BWF Individual Championships, which are scheduled to begin tomorrow, Monday November 12, 2018.

Team captain Priyanna Ramdhani is locked in a fierce battle

CLASSIFIED ADS

SUNdAY, november 11, 2018 | www.guyanatimesgy.com

ACCOMMODATIONS Conferences and retreats – full service: Hotel, Catering & Facilities.

Aracari Resort WBD – 264-2946 Alex Wayne.

Weddings and anniversaries: Rental or full service: Banquet Hall & Catering.

Aracari Resort 264-2946 Alex Wayne.

Aracari Hotel, WBD (Near Harbour Bridge) – All modern amenities, rates from $25. Phone 264-2946-8 Salon/Spa. Cosmetology – full course $100,000, technician $40,000. Aracari Salon and Spa, WBD 264-3312

Driving School Enroll at Shalom Enterprise at Lot 2 Croal Street, Stabroek and obtain an international driver’s permit covering 132 countries. Tel# 619-0106, 622-8162, 227-3869, 227-3835.

FOR SALE SKUTT AUTOMATIC KILN, MODEL 1227, AND MOVABLE STAGE PIECES FOR SALE. 650-1713 Dyna Canter GSS9669, 2 tons, 2005 model 1.2 M Whats app:680-3863

HERBAL TREATMENT MIRACLE HERB PRODUCTS - HAVE ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE HERBAL CANCER TREATMENT. RESULTS IN 3 DAYS. CALL 612-8944, 688-3663 MIRACLE HERB PRODUCTS - HAVE THE CURE FOR DIABETIC FOOT AND OTHER WOUNDS. NO AMPUTATION NO MATTER HOW HARD. CALL 6128944, 688-3663 MIRACLE HERB PRODUCTS HAVE TREATMENTS FOR THE FOLLOWING: CANCER, DIABETIC FOOT, GALL STONES, ASTHMA, HORMONE IMBALANCE, PROSTATE, THYROID, COUGH AND COLD, HEART BLOCKAGES, CIRCULATION PROBLEM, PAIN IN JOINTS AND MUSCLE, CUTS/ BRUISES, SNAKE BITE, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, KIDNEY STONES AND MANY OTHER HEALTH ISSUES. CONTACT MAHADEO LALL ON TEL# 612-8944 OR 688-3663.

LAND for sale One transported land for sale 100x50ft at Hope Town village West Coast Berbice Price 1.2M Contact # 680-1009

AND WIFE, LOVE, PROMOTION, REUNITE LOVERS, BUSINESS, PROPERTY, STOP DIVORCE, SEXUAL PROBLEM, JEALOUSY PROBLEM, FINANCIAL PROBLEM ETC. PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL. CONTACT: 6928449, 693-8655 Spiritual healing: remove blockages, voodoo, excurse, black magic, spell, business, upliftment, pregnancy, love & marriage problems, clearance, etc. Contact: 694-9569 or 6835228 Sri Guru Raghavendra Astrology.

Master: VEERA BHADRA. Specialized in: PALM, FACE, PATRA READING & HOROSCOPE BOOK OPENING. An expert in clearing negativity in life by using ancient prayer methods. Gives complete solution to your problems like: love, children, finance, job, marriage, finance and education.

Meet him once to get guidance. All religions are welcome. Private and confidential. Tel: 695-9805 & 6526427.

INDIAN FAMOUS ASTROLOGER MASTER VENKATESH ALL RELIGIONS WELCOME SPECIALISED IN BRINGING LOVED ONES BACK, EXPERT IN READING PALM & FACE READING. GET ADVISE AND SOLUTIONS FOR LOVE, MARRIAGE, DIVORCE, FAMILY PROBLEMS, SEXUAL PROBLEMS, FINANCE PROBLEMS, STOP ALCOHOL ADDICTION, SICKNESS, BUSINESS/ JOB CAREERS, VISA ETC. PANDIT CAN REMOVE ANY KIND OF BLACK MAGIC, VOODOO, AND GIVE PROTECTION. CONTACT- 600-8222 WWW.ASTROVENKATESH.COM

taxi services GR Taxi, 24 hours. Phone: 2257878, 219-5000 or 227-2100

TO LET ONE, 1-BEDROOM, SEMIFURNISHED CONCRETE STUDIO APARTMENT WITH LIGHT AND WATER, FULLY GRILLED ALL AROUND WITH GARAGE. WORKING COUPLE PREFERRED. NO CHILDREN, NO PETS. TEL: 615-7129 ONE BRAND NEW APARTMENTPARKING AVAILABLE. ONE 2-BEDROOM BOTTOM FLAT $50,000 PER MONTH. TEL: 226-3430 One-bedroom apartment at Parfaite Harmonie (Dairy) Call: 670-2653, 638-8499

MASSAGE

VACANCIES

Visit Cloud 9 spa located at Lenora W.C.D for massage, manicure, pedicure, facial and nails. Book appointment with Renisa on 625-1323.

Pump Attendant- Rubis BelAirWhats app: 680-3863/6240033 House Keeper/ Cook Whats app: 624-0033 Accounts Assistant Whats app: 680-3863 Bill Payment Clerk Whats app: 680-3863 Supervisor for Water Company Whats app: 680-3863

property for sale Transported Land. 11.6 Acres. Lot 15 Public Road. #2 Village. West Coast Berbice. Price $18M. Contract # 6864818, 648-7109

VEHICLES FOR SALE

Property for Sale: Friendship, EBD Interested persons contact Manjarie on 668-1092

ONE TOYOTA MARK 2 (GX 100) $1,500,000. CONTACT # 615-5646

TRANSPORTED LAND WITH COMMERCIAL BUILDING 33X40 LAND(108X200) LOCATED AT LOWER MAHAICONY, ECD. PRICE: 38 MILLION NON NEGOTIABLE. CONTACT: 642-0336, 258-0280, 6556643

WANTED WANTED. Drivers and Security Personnel. Apply to North West Mining Investment Inc. 344 Middle and East Streets, N/Cummingsburg

LOT 15 PUBLIC ROAD #2 VILLAGE WEST COAST BERBICE. 3 HOUSE LOTS. COCONUT AND MANGO TREES. RICE CULTIVATION. RED SAND. 49FT BY 10,314 FT LENGTH. PRICE $18M. CONTACT: 648-7109, 686-4818

services

spirituality & ASTROLOGY INDIAN ASTROLOGER AND SPIRITUAL CENTER. INTERNATIONAL FAMOUS ASTROLOGER. MASTER RAJARAM. ALL RELIGIONS ARE WELCOME. RISE, AWAKE AND STOP NOT TILL THE GOAL IS REACHED. SPECIALISED IN READING PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE, FACE READING, PALM READING, BOOK OPENING, SHELLS READING. GIVE SOLUTIONS FOR: HUSBAND

Classified Ads $5+VAT per word

Call:

223-7230 Ext 50

21

2018 West Indies tour of India 3rd T20

Windies’ last shot at revenge in final dead-rubber T20 I

t has been a horrid tour of India for the West Indies, who will have their final chance to walk away with a win under their belts against the red-hot Indians in tomorrow night’s showdown at Chennai.

The Windies, minus the likes of T20 veterans and specialists in ‘Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, all-rounder Andre Russell, spinning all-rounder Sunil Narine, and the flashy Lendl Simmons, have been under the pump all tour, despite some here-and-there performances from the likes of Guyanese star batsman Shimron Hetmyer and Barbados right-hander Shai Hope.

Both Hope and Hetmyer have found a new makeshift partnership at the top of the order, but have so far failed to convert their ODI magic into the T20s. This, however, could sign off in auspicious

Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer will have one more chance to fire

manner should they fire.

Windies fast-bowler Oshane Thomas has been among the stars on tour, roughing up the likes of Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan, who was bowled thrice during the ODIs. Another senior player

who could miss out is keeper Denesh Ramdin, whose form has been average; but Windies could easily swap the struggling right-hander for possibly Rovman Powell.

India have opted to rest their pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav, along

with star spinner Kuldeep Yadav, on a popular spin surface which could result in a few bench men getting a run against the under-pressure visitors. The return to Chennai breaks a hiatus of cricket after a number of years, as both sides will look to entertain the loyal sea of Indian cricket supports as an exciting tour culminates.

India (possible): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 KL Rahul, 4 Manish Pandey, 5 Rishabh Pant, 6 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Yuzvendra Chahal, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Washington Sundar, 11 Khaleel Ahmed West Indies (possible): 1 Shai Hope, Nicholas Pooran (wk), 3 Shimron Hetmyer, 4 Darren Bravo, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Carlos Brathwaite (capt), 7 Rovman Powell, 8 Keemo Paul, 9 Fabian Allen, 10 Khary Pierre, 11 Oshane Thomas

GABA Rainforest Waters/Malta Supreme…

Sherland Gillis: Rise to the top

A

s action in the Rainforest Waters/ Malta Supreme/ Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) League continues at the Burnham Hard Court, an Eagles’ U-23 player, the ever consistent Sherland Gillis, is confident that while being cautious when competing, his side can still become a force in basketball to be reckoned with.

Speaking with Guyana Times Sport, he was asked what has made him so successful in the league; and Gillis responded by saying, “Well, my experience came from being exposed to different levels of basketball.

That was as a by-product of my high school basketball coach, Willon Cameron, who insisted that we must under-

Eagles U-23 player Sherland Gillis

stand the fundamentals of basketball if we want to excel in the sport. Hence he insisted that we must take responsibility for our actions; making everyone around his programme more cognisant of their role, and doing it to the best of their abilities.

“Further, playing in Berbice is more aggressive, due to the fact that it is mostly recreational here. So it strengthened me as a player. In totality, I'd say (that) through the instillation of principles and the basketball I was exposed to, my experience was obtained”.

Gillis also said exercise plays an important role in his form, as he generally focuses on cardio, and places emphasis on his free throws, since he is genuinely called a lot to the line.

He also said he is not worried about where the league would take him, as he plays the game for the love of the sport.

Gillis averages 20 points and 15 rebounds per game.

In his last eight games, he has scored a whopping accu-

mulative 125 points, which is by any standard extraordinary. Asked what role his coach plays in his form, Gillis said, “Generally, respect is the focal point....

Despite what the decision made is, it is upon me to respect decisions. Secondly, responsibility is further highlighted from him.”

Gillis has warned that the team would be focused on the game ahead, as they are looking to win the tournament; but in order to do so, the team must become as one.

He is thanking Youth Basketball Guyana (YBG) organisation for playing a vital role in his development as a player, and thus his vision is now set on what the future holds for him.

(Timothy Jaikarran)

Players cannot be forced to play for country over franchise – Ramdin

A

Lot 15 Public Road, #2 Village, West Coast Berbice. 49ft x 10,314ft Length. $18M. Contact: 648-7109 or 686-4818

SPECIALIZE IN ROTI AND PURI. PLACE YOUR ORDER FOR ANY AMOUNT. CONTACT JENNIFER OR SON ON 693-4975 OR 672-0960.

sports

s a senior West Indian cricketer himself, Denesh Ramdin believes that absence of the other seniors -- like Chris Gayle and Andre Russell, and regular opener Evin Lewis -- has contributed immensely to the mismatch between India and West Indies in the T20I series so far. The hosts have already wrapped up the three-match series, having taken a 2-0 lead in Lucknow.

Speaking in Chennai on the eve of the final T20I, Ramdin remained resolute in the belief that players cannot be forced to play for country over franchise, especially since the reasoning behind these players' choices is to earn more money. Nevertheless, Ramdin felt that with availability of the seniors, West Indies would have put up a much better show in India.

"It's all about putting food on your table," Ramdin said. "The players are good enough to be taken by a team in another

Denesh Ramdin

part of the world, then I can't stop a player who's out there to improve.

"But yes, it's difficult to build a team, given the current scenario when you look at our World T20 players. They're in demand all over the world; so yes, we're suffering in that respect. Our senior players did not turn up for the tour, and that's one of the reasons why we're 2-0 down in this series."

West Indies returned to India for

the first time since their 2016 World T20 triumph, unforgettable for Carlos Brathwaite's magnificent hitting of sixes off Ben Stokes’ bowling as he plundered 19 off the final over. With the first T20I having taken place at Eden Gardens last week - the very venue where the West Indies lifted the World T20 Trophy in 2016 Ramdin had expected his side to do better.

But that didn't happen; and following two heavy ODI defeats in the previous week, India's bowling attack was too strong, according to Ramdin.

"We're disappointed. We're the T20 champs, and we played our first game at Eden Gardens, where we were expecting to do well," Ramdin said. "But we didn't adapt as well as we should. We didn't string any partnerships either. T20 banks on momentum and partnerships, and we couldn't do that. A lot of T20 cricket is about momentum, and we haven't been able to build on it." (Excerpt from ESPNcricinfo)

22

guyanatimesgy.com

SUnDAY, NOVEMber 11, 2018

Aussies, India seek to keep winning streak alive A

ustralia will be looking to extend their winning streak, while India will be seeking another win, when action in the second round of games in the Women’s World T20 Cup continues at the

Providence Stadium in Demerara, Guyana today.

The Aussies have shown their class in both departments during the match against Pakistan, which they won handsomely by 52 runs. Coming up against the Irish, Meg Lanning and her ladies would want to replicate their feat of Friday night, wherein they surged to a huge win in their first game.

Australia

are seemingly banking on their star- studded batting order, as openers Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney got their campaign underway with good knocks of 48 each, while Lanning scored 41 as the tree-time champs found their groove.

W i t h a strong batting o r d e r , Lanning would feel confident going up against the Irish, especially with the form she has been showing, which is likewise being seen in the premier top order.

Ireland will be playing their first game of the cup today, and should have been able to scout their competition, having seen their last game as well as the practice games.

Harmanpreet Kaur

Alyssa Healy

Skipper Laura Delany and the spinner Celeste Raack will have tons of responsibility to shoulder against a seasoned Australia team, as the Irish also seek to get their quest off to a good start. With the encounter being the second of the day, both sides will have a chance to assess the playing quality of the pitch as the in-form Indians battle rivals Pakistan in the opening round.

India made their intentions known from the start by whipping New Zealand on the back of Harmanpreet Kaur’s epic 103, which set up the win for India. The Indians looked a good unit, but with the first game gone, it will be left to see if they can continue their momentum and rampaging form as they run into other opposition.

Pakistan will be seeking

revenge, having suffered a loss at the hands of Australia in their first game. Bismah Mahroof was the top-scorer in that last game, while the likes of Anam Amim, Aliya Riza, Nashra Sandhu and others have shown glimpses of form in their previous round, and could replicate their performances today. Australia currently lead Group B, with Pakistan trailing in 4th place; while the Windies, defending T20 champs, sit pretty at the top of Group A. the first match bowls off at 11:00h, with the

Beth Mooney

final game of the day bowling off at 16:00h. (Clifton Ross)

Hand-in-Hand Insurance on board lucrative tapeball tournament

A

s the month of December quickly approaches and the end of the year draws near, tapeball fans will witness the first ever “Pure Entertainment” seven-a-side tapeball tournament, which will be held on December 2 and 9 at the Cultural Centre Tarmac.

The Hand-in-Hand Group of Insurance Companies has pledged support for this tournament, which will be contested on a six-over-per-side basis, with the winning team carting off the grand prize of $120,000 while the runners-up would receive $60,000.

Apart from the team winnings, individual performances with the bat will also be rewarded with cash prizes. The man-of-the series would, moreover, be pocketing $5,000 plus a bat; scorer of the “fastest 40 of the tournament” will receive $5,000 plus a bat; while the “Smash of the Match” would enable batsmen to win $1,000 every time they hit the “HIT ME” target.

But the giveaways are not confined to only the players, as spectators will also be given a chance to participate in a bowl-off for the chance to win cash prizes.

Former national youth player and now organiser, Dexter George, in a statement said, “Our objective

Organiser Dexter George collecting trophies from Hand-inHand’s Business Development Officer Savita Singh

is not just to bring together tapeball cricket teams, but fans and spectators, to have fun and to be a part of the excitement; as we want to use this tournament to give back to those loyal patrons of the sport”.

Some of the teams participating in the tournament are Eccles All-Stars, Village Rams, Tarmac All-Stars, Young Guns, and Rising

Stars. BV and Providence SC have also signalled their interest in participating in the competition.

Apart from the on-field action, there will be barbeque on sale.

Teams are kindly asked to contact George on 6710458 to register on or before November 30. The registration fee has been set at $10,000 per team.

guyanatimesgy.com

sunDAY, november 11, 2018

23

GMR&SC Ignite race meet…

Maloney on pole as Radicals impress – Jeffrey, Truelove dominate

O

n Saturday, the Radical SR3 Caribbean Cup made

championship leader Stuart Maloney, also of Barbados, was third with 33.157 sec-

Barbadian Mark Maloney set the fastest time of the day

Kristian Jeffrey was noticeably aggressive

its maiden run in the time trials, as the GMR&SC Ignite race meet got underway at the South Dakota Circuit.

The track’s record is in jeopardy after the Barbadian Mark Maloney, with his SR3, turned in a blistering unofficial time of 32.978s to secure the pole position and eclipse the record of 33.3s.

Guyana's Calvin Ming was second fastest, with 32.986 seconds. Current

onds, while Kristian Jeffrey (GUY) was fourth with 33.200 seconds.

However, the performances of Jeffrey and Team Mohamed’s Harry Truelove could not be overshadowed, as they both acquired the pole position in the Caribbean Motor Racing Championship (CMRC) Group 4 and Superstock categories.

Jeffrey, with a time of 33.3s, claimed the pole

Zalim Mohamed won the Street Cross class, while Rene Tucker and Shem Cattergoon were second and third respectively

Group Two has Marc Gill of Trinidad (38.271) starting on pole today, with Shan Seejattan second by just

ahead of Mark Maloney (35.259s) and Guyana’s Noel ‘Rupie’ Sewjattan (35.767s).

Meanwhile, Truelove, who rides under Team Mohamed’s Enterprise, overshadowed the performance of his brother and current CMRC superstock leader, Matt Truelove.

Harry’s 33.997s was not the fastest bike time of the day, but with Richard Cooper riding for Team Mohamed’s Enterprise, the superstock bike posted an impressive 33.592 time.

Matt clocked a 34.050s for second, with Steven

one-tenth of a second, and Chet Singh being third.

Group Three has

Raymond Seebarran was a force in his category, but fell short when he stepped up in category

Vieira stopping the clock at 34.866s and Matthew Vieira being fourth with 35.665s.

Kristian Boodoosingh out of Trinidad (35.665) on pole, ahead of countryman Ronald Wortman and Rameez Mohamed.

Annand Ramchand has pole in the Choke Starlet Cup. In the first of three races yesterday, Zalim Mohamed took the Street Cross class ahead of Rene Tucker and Shem Cattergoon, while the Street Tuner Class was won by Raymond Seebarran ahead of Narine Dasrat and Vickey Persaud.

In the final race of the afternoon, Mohamed Ahmed took the street tuner class ahead of Adrian Persaud and Seebarran.

Race time today is 08:00hrs.

Pee Wee Under-11 Football

St Pius dethrone West Ruimveldt I

t was a contest truly fitting for a final at the Ministry of Education Ground, Carifesta Avenue on Saturday afternoon as West Ruimveldt and St. Pius Primary battled it out for the 2018 Under 11 Pee Wee Championship.

West Ruimveldt, a usually unbeatable team, had the opportunity of defending their title in the final match but St. Pius brought resilience and smart plays to the drawing table of the contest. Both

From the sound of the first whistle, both teams were on the attack but St. Pius was the more successful of the two, controlling possession with lightning speed passes. St. Pius striking was nothing West Ruimveldt had met before in the 2018 tournament. A clinical string of passes by the young team put St. Pius’ striker in the right position to sink the team’s first goal. Soon after the teams retreated to their respective benches, signaling the half time.

The Pee Wee 2018 Champions St Pius Primary

St Pius’ trio of goal scorers in their 4-1 final

teams had an outstanding run in the tournament, but West Ruimveldt seemed a little more stable going into the final with a commanding 2-1 win over Mocha Arcadia whilst St. Pius edged past Tucville with a goal in the final minute of regulation time for the final spot.

Nevertheless, both sides were deserving of the top two clash and they indeed delivered a riveting game for the densely packed and vibrant crowd.

With West Ruimveldt being known for returning with a vengeance the electric crowd was expectant of a miracle from the defending champions but all they got was a greater show of skill from St. Pius.

Kaden Wellington, St Pius’ star player got amongst the goals as he netted his team’s second goal early in the half. They continued with their dribbles and try as West Ruimveldt did, the challengers were too much

to contain. Minutes later St. Pius added another to their tally and Kaden Wellington returned for his second of the game. Almost in a flash, West Ruimveldt were hunting the goal and managed to volley one inside the nets, the first time of the evening that they had been accurate. The three goal lead was too much for West Ruimvedlt to catch up to with under a minute of play remaining, as such the 2017 champions conceded victory to St Pius in a sea of tears.

While noting that the team’s ‘knocking’ was not on par in their final game, West

Ruimveldt’s captain Johnathan Andries was positive about the team’s future. “We tried our best but in football you lose some and you win some. We think we can come back strong,” Andries said.

On the other hand, St Pius’ Kaden Wellington had one word for the Guyana Times Sport when questioned about his team’s performance. “Great,” the youngster said in all smiles.

The third place playoff between Mocha Arcadia and Tucville Primary was a fierce battle as expected. Although both sides had their fair share

of opportunities, neither side could get past their opponents’ goalkeeper, plunging the game into extra time and then minutes later, a penalty shootout. On this front, Tucville Primary proved that they were the better of the two teams as their defender John Harry opted for the gloves whilst their usual goalkeeper Joshua Augustin took a shot at the goal. First up, Mocha squandered their first attempt and others that followed, as Harry showed that his skill in the net. Meanwhile, Augustin and Carlos Negus’ accurate shots were enough for Tucville’s third

place win.

In the individual awards, Tucville’s John Harry was recognized as the most promising player and Joshua Sharples of St. Pius Primary was adjudged the best goalkeeper. However, the fiercest battle came for the highest goal scorer award. Justin Alcindor of St. Agnes finished the tournament on 14 goals and was awarded with a pair of cleats for his efforts, but the man of the moment was St. Pius Kaden Wellington who ended on 15. The young man also walked away with the MVP award for the 2018 tournament.

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

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2018

guyanatimesgy.com

GMR&SC Ignite race meet…

Maloney on pole as Radicals impress

Pg 23

– Jeffrey, Truelove dominate Barbadian Mark Maloney and Guyanese Mark Vieira attack turn one at South Dakota

Pee Wee Under-11 Football

St Pius dethrone West Ruimveldt

Pg 23

Aussies, India seek to keep winning streak alive

Pg 22

GUYANA TIMES - www.guyanatimesgy.com, email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, NEWS HOTLINE: 231-8063 EDITORIAL: 223-7230, 223-7231, 231-0544, 225-7761 SPORT: sport@guyanatimesgy.com SALES AND MARKETING: 231-8064 - lezas@guyanatimesgy.com - PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY GUYANA TIMES INC.

November 11, 2018

Page 14

FREE DISTRIBUTION

2 Sunday Times Magazine

NOVEMBER 11, 2018

Feature

T

hroughout our school lives, we were told that Remembrance Day, or Poppy Day as it is commonly known, is observed on the second Sunday of November to pay homage to the lives lost during World Wars I and II. Today, November 11, is the second Sunday and it is also a very special day since it marks the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. In Guyana, the day is observed with a whole host of activities organised by the Guyana Veterans Legion as well as the annual wreathlaying ceremony at the various cenotaphs around the country. In Georgetown, officials and relatives of the slain warriors would lay wreaths at the Cenotaph honouring those who fought diligently.

Following a tradition inaugurated by King George V in 1919, the day is also marked by war remembrances in many nonCommonwealth countries.

Remembrance Day is observed on November 11 in most countries to commemorate the end of hostilities of World War I on that date in 1918. Hostilities formally ended "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month", in accordance with the armistice signed by representatives of Germany and the Entente between 5:12 and 5:20 that morning. The First World War officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919.

The first Remembrance Day was observed when King George V hosted a banquet in honour of the President of the French Republic on the grounds of

the Buckingham Palace. The Service of Remembrance in many Commonwealth countries generally includes the sounding of the "Last Post", followed by the period of silence, followed by the sounding of "Reveille" or sometimes just "The Rouse" (often confused for each other), and finishes with a recitation of the "Ode of Remembrance".

The "Flowers of the Forest", "O Valiant Hearts", "I Vow to Thee, My Country" and "Jerusalem" are often played during the Service. The Service also includes wreaths being laid to honour the fallen, a blessing, and national anthems.

A two-minute silence is observed at 11 am to remember the people who have died in wars. The first two-minute silence in Britain was held on November 11, 1919, when King George V asked the public to observe a period of silence at 11 am. This was one year after the end of World War I. He made the request so "the thoughts of everyone may be concentrated on reverent remembrance of the glorious dead".

Guyana, then British Guiana, became a part of the Second World War in 1939 after the United Kingdom’s declaration of war on Nazi Germany. Like all the other British colonies in the West Indies, British Guiana gave full support to the Allied war effort by providing personnel for the British Armed Forces, land for an American military base, and raw materials for war production.

Although the Guyanese economy initially suffered as a result of the war, largescale infrastructural projects were undertaken, in order to optimise the production of

goods for the war effort, and by the war's end in 1945, the economy had more than recovered. There were also significant changes in the country's political system during the same period, such as the legalisation of political parties and the enfranchisement of women.

Today, Guyanese still remember those fallen heroes who helped to end the war.

There are about 15 World War II veterans still alive.

guyanatimesgy.com

guyanatimesgy.com

NOVEMBER 11, 2018

Sunday Times Magazine

3

Feature

By Lakhram Bhagirat

“I

was young back then and I was very vibrant. I would have done anything for my country and that is what made me go to join the Army and then went to enlist to fight in World War II. But when we were at the airport, them call and said to go back to Base, that the war is off. I was willing to lay down my life for my country because that is what was expected of me,” Benjamin Durant tells me.

Although he never made it to the battlefield, Durant is considered one of Guyana’s World War II veterans because he was enlisted at the time, guided by his willingness to head into battle. Durant will celebrate his 100th birthday on Thursday and tells me he considers himself lucky to be born a few days after the First World War ended on November 11, 1918.

He said this year’s celebration was going to be extra special, since it was also the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War. Despite the century milestone looming ahead of him, Durant is quite active although he has cataracts, which have impaired his vision and hence affected his mobility. Apart from that, he says, all his other faculties are intact, as our chat a few days ago demonstrated.

“After I left the Army

and went back to carpentry, I was working on the Salvation Army Church and we were putting on a door, but we had to chip it a bit and one of the greenheart chips went into my eyes. It was the

same day that (former President Linden Forbes Sampson) Burnham died and I didn’t pay no attention to it, because we were crying for the President. But after a week the chip come out my eyes and then when I went to the doctor they said I have infant stage cataract, but they can’t operate and slowly I lost my sight,” he tells me.

Going back to his earlier days, Durant said

that he was just 22 when he decided to enlist and was immediately thrown into combat training. He received his training at a location in the Upper Berbice River area where he was exposed to various levels of battle training preparing him to join his colleagues in the Second World War. “I was just married when I went to join the Army and before that I was a joiner, but I wanted to be a carpenter,” he said.

So, I asked him why did he choose the Army when he had already been making a career as a joiner to which he responded: “I was young

and we had the energy to do that. We were not going to skylark and wait for something to happen.

I wanted to be a part of it, because I had an uncle name Joseph Durant and he was a part of the First World War and when he came back in his uniform and all his medals, it was then as a little boy I know I wanted to go and be like him.”

He said as he was

preparing himself to go to war, he could have only thought about the three children that he had because they would have been fatherless had he not returned. Durant separated from his first wife and remarried, fathering another 11 children in that union. But he tells me that he has several other children with different women.

When I asked him how many children he has, he could not have confined it to a specific number, but said about 16 to 20.

“They will all come next week for my birthday party. Most of them outside and they will come in for the party.

You should come to the party too, so you can meet then,” he said, extending an impromptu invitation to join his celebration. One year after the end of the Second World War, Durant would leave the military and follow his dream of becoming a carpenter.

He explained that he

would have stayed on in the Army, but they were offering a place as a Customs Officer with the Police Force, a job which he knew nothing of. So, he went back to carpentry where he made a name for himself.

Now he resides with one of his daughters in Goedverwagting on the East Coast of Demerara.

“Now I take everything easy and one day at a time. I am living

comfortably now and life is going on,” he says.

I then concluded our chat by asking Durant for a little advice for the young people, and this is what he had to say “To live long you have to enjoy every day and be active. Put your country above anything else and always fight for it.

Respect it and always be proud of Guyana, because without Guyana, we are nothing.”

4

Sunday Times Magazine

NOVEMBER 11, 2018

guyanatimesgy.com

Feature

By Lakhram Bhagirat

A

s a child, I remember the month of October bringing a different kind of competition.

It was not the typical competition to see who was more academically inclined or who would perform the best at the annual Inter-House Sports competition but who could buy the most poppies and arrange them in the most intricate designs on their uniforms.

It was a competition that both male and female students tried to dominate, but more often than not, it was dominated by the females since they had more space on their kimonos to create more intricate patterns. As a student, I would spend a whole lot of money to make sure that I was decked out in the most poppies since it meant bragging rights for the entire month. The competition would see our trousers transformed into a sea of poppies before we went to classes in the morning and after school in the afternoons, since the teachers would “fret� if we covered our trousers with poppies.

The story behind the poppy is one that we were taught from a young age. I distinctly remember my nursery school teacher, Miss Leelawattie, telling us that the red poppy symbolises all the blood of the slain soldiers. She told us that during the wars the fallen soldiers were buried in a field of poppies and by sporting a single poppy, we would honour all those fallen soldiers.

I remember with her bright red canister in one hand with a transparent bag of red poppies, she would walk around collecting our shiny $10 coins and pinning our purchase to our chests.

At that age, I was proud to wear it and proudly displayed my poppy every time I saw someone without one.

As time progressed, my pride increased and to date, I would still buy a poppy since we were always told that the proceeds would go to helping those war veterans. As I did some research on the poppy, I found out that the red poppy became familiar because of a poem titled “In Flanders Fields" written by Canadian physician Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae. After reading the poem, Moina Michael, a professor at the University of Georgia, wrote the poem "We Shall Keep the Faith", and swore to wear a red poppy on the anniversary.

As the years went by, the custom spread throughout the world, particularly Europe and the countries that were a part of the British Empire and the Commonwealth within a short time. Poppies were worn for the first time at the 1921 anniversary ceremony.

At first, real poppies were worn. These poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I; their brilliant red colour became a symbol of the blood spilled in the war.

Today, the Guyana Veterans Legion still dispatches their bright red canisters with bags of poppies to the schools and the competition is still going strong. Only the price for the poppy has changed; this year, I paid $20 for mine at the La Grange Primary School.

guyanatimesgy.com

NOVEMBER 11, 2018

Sunday Times Magazine 5

Feature

T

he Guyana Veteran’s Legion has been recognized as the mother of all veterans organisations because of its exclusive membership to veterans of the two world wars but over the years that had changed when the Guyana Veterans Foundation was formed in 1995.

The Legion (then British Guiana Legion) was registered under the Friendly Societies Ordinance as a friendly society on April 26, 1926, according to its current General Secretary, Arno Solomon.

He said that the aim of the Legion is to make sure that the memories of the men and women who lost their lives in battle are forever preserved. He added that they also host fundraising activities to make the lives of the veterans easier since their sacrifices for the Commonwealth is immeasurable.

“We have a membership of ex-GDF, GPM (Guyana People’s Militia), National Service and we have the 15 World War 2 veterans. We get money by having our monthly contributions from the members as well as several fundraising activities over the year. Like we would have our annual barbeque and so on. We also get a grant from the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League that goes to the 15 veterans. They get that grant once per year and we also have another fund so if one of our members die we can be able to bury them or help with the funeral expenses,” Solomon explained.

He said that the Legion is a member of the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League which was founded in 1921. He told the Sunday Magazine that the aim of the League is to ensure that every pre-independence Commonwealth military veteran is afforded they help they needed since their sacrifices are one that befits that treatment.

During the two world wars, over 7.5 million Commonwealth Soldiers entered the battlefield.

The casualties were far too many over 760,000 of them losing their lives.

According to Solomon the League Commonwealth charity with 56 member organisations in 48 Commonwealth countries. He said that the Legion has always been plagued by its small income and expenses in taking care of their veterans.

“Our membership fee, which I won’t disclose, does not amount to much. We have to have constant fundraisers to ensure that we get the money we need to function and meet our expenses. It can be tough but we does get through it,” Solomon said.

Going back to the construction of the present Headquarters at Carifesta Avenue, Solomon said that Irish-born Captain John Coghlan was very instrumental in getting the present location. He would have served as Legion President in 194243 and 1948-52 and was also a World War One veteran.

Coghlan was given a mandate by his colleagues to acquire suitable premises for meetings and to be used at the Legion’s main base of administrative operations since at that time the Legion occupied rented premises at South Road, Bourda. Coghlan, a Barrister at Law, was able to interest local business firms and others in contributing towards the headquarters project and with the Government’s assistance the Legion’s Headquarters was completed in 1948. The building was named

Coghlan House following a motion at the half-yearly General Meeting in August of 2009. Coghlan was also instrumental in getting the Demerara Harbour Bridge since he was the first person to move a motion calling for the bridge after he retired from the Public Service. The most important activity on the Legion’s calendar is Remembrance Day. The day’s activities include a ceremony at the War Memorial in Georgetown. They would also have a march past followed by a recognition ceremony at the Legion’s Hall.

The Legion is also urging everyone to wear a poppy today to honour those who have given their lives for a free world.

6 Sunday Times Magazine

NOVEMBER 11, 2018

guyanatimesgy.com

Preserving our literary heritage

by Petamber Persaud

W

ith the publication of her singular book, Aftermath of Empire: The Novels of A. K. Heath, Ameena Gafoor has sort of brought Roy Heath back home to his birthplace to be re-discovered, to be reappraised and to be re-appreciated, in a way rescuing him from self-imposed exile and also rescuing his work from obscurity (limited critical response) because Gafoor in this seminal publication was able to place Heath among the forefront of Guyanese Literature (his oeuvre of nine novels is only surpassed by Edgar Mittelholzer and Wilson Harris) by painstakingly revealing to us how ‘Heath has practically refined the introspective Guyanese antihero’ while finding occasion to ‘celebrate every one of his flawed fictional creatures: their humaneness, their eccentricities, their weaknesses, and their strengths, even if they are social misfits and psychological wrecks’.

Numbers (of books published) matter in context but in this instance the quality of content of Heath’s work far outweighs quantity. And it would be shown how his work was influenced and had evolved as he sojourned through life mainly those formative years in urban Guyana.

Gafoor also gives Heath his rightful place in the canon of Caribbean Literature by showing how he has ‘revolutionized the form of the regional novel…[n]o non-Indian writer has displayed such remarkable cultural knowledge and such psychological depth in depicting East Indian experience in the West Indian novel’. Heath’s The Shadow Bride would be essential reading here.

That is saying a lot but who is Roy Heath? Roy A. K. Heath was born in 1926 in Georgetown, the capital city of British Guiana. His father was a head teacher and his mother a teacher at St. Andrew’s Primary School. Heath’s father was born in St. Kitts and his maternal linage comes from the Dutch possession of St. Marteen and from Barbados.

His formative years were replete with house moving. When he was two years of age, his father died, leaving four children: two sisters and an older brother. When Heath was four, the family resettled in Agricola, on the East Bank of Demerara, a few miles from the city. At eight, he was sent to live with an aunt in the heart of Georgetown.

The next house move found him in Charlestown where he lived for fifteen years.

Heath attended Central High School.

In 1950, he went to England where he was trained as a teacher and a lawyer. He taught French and German in a variety of London secondary schools.

He was a member of the Princeton University class and later served as professor of psychology.

Heath’s first novel was published when he was almost fifty years of age. That novel, ‘A Man Come Home’, was published in 1974. He was in his 70s when his last novel, ‘The Ministry of Hope’, was published. Although Heath turned to novel writing late, he was able to produced nine well-written, well-received books in a period of two decades.

Here is a list of Heath’s novels: A Man Come Home, 1974 The Murderer, 1978 From the Heat of the Day, 1979 One Generation, 1981 Genetha, 1981 Kwaku, 1982 Orealla, 1984 The Shadow Bride, 1988 –winner of the Guyana Prize 1989 The Ministry of Hope, 1997 Heath is better known for his magisterial novel The Shadow Bride followed by the Georgetown Trilogy consisting of ‘From the Heat of the Day’, ‘One Generation’ and ‘Genetha’; these three books were also published in an omnibus volume, The Armstrong Trilogy, 1994.

A lot of attention is now on The Murderer with a hint of making it into a movie.

In 1978, his novel, ‘The Murderer’, won the Guardian Fiction Prize. In 1989, his novel, ‘The Shadow Bride’, won the Guyana Prize for Literature.

Heath has written a number of short stories, some of which were aired on the BBC. The story, ‘Miss Mabel’s Burial’ was aired on the Guyana Broadcasting Service in 1973 and included in Seymour’s ‘New Writing in the Caribbean’, 1972.

He has written one play, ‘Inez Combray’, which was staged at the Theatre Guild in Georgetown. Poems like ‘The Peasants’ found its way

into Kyk-over-Al as early as 1953 and ‘The Wind and the Sun’ was published in Savacou.

‘Shadows Round the Moon’ is an incomplete autobiography giving access to the first part of his life. He could not bring himself to write the other part which would include England - a place of perpetual exile for him.

What’s happening:

Sasenarine Persaud has just released his fourteenth book, Monsoon on the Fingers of God, and was honoured with HAF Award (https://www.hafsite.org/) for the Advancement of Dharmic Arts and Humanities. Part of the citation reads: ‘to recognize your significant yet humble contributions towards enlightening and educating others through your many inspiring literary works of dharmic values and traditions’.

The Soldier If I should die, think only this of me: That there’s some corner of a foreign field That is forever England. There shall be In that rich earth a richer dust concealed; A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware, Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam, A body of England’s, breathing English air, Washed by the rivers, blest by the suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away, A pulse in the eternal mind, no less Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given; Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day; And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness, In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

By Rupert Brooke

guyanatimesgy.com

NOVEMBER 11 , 2018

Sunday Times Magazine 7

Feature

Bonasika Creek, Essequibo River

A

t some point in our lives we all would have wondered what Guyana looked like from the sky. We would have wondered if the confusion we see on the ground is visible from over 3000ft above or if our prized architecture would stand out. Well, Photographer Deopaul Somwaru recently took a tour of certain parts of the Coastland from up above. He decided to share some of those images with the Sunday Magazine. Here are some of those images.

(Photos by Deopaul Somwaru)

Leguan Island

Rice fields on the West Coast of Demerara

Kingston, Georgetown with the setting sun over the Demerara River

A section of Parika, East Bank Essequibo during the night

The West Demerara Water Conservancy aback Canal Number One.

8 Sunday Times Magazine

NOVEMBER 11, 2018

guyanatimesgy.com

guyanatimesgy.com

NOVEMBER 11, 2018

Sunday Times Magazine 9

10 Sunday Times Magazine

NOVEMBER 11, 2018

guyanatimesgy.com

Beauty

I

f you are on a budget or if you just love a good old DIY project you’ve come to the right place! We at the Sunday Magazine absolutely love good homemade beauty products. They are inexpensive and most of the items required to make them are already in our cabinets at home. So here are a few of our favourite products.

LEMON COCONUT SHAMPOO

All-Natural DIY Teeth Whitening Paste

Lip Scrub

Lip scrubs are a way to exfoliate our lips, they are quick and easy to use, not to mention how delicious they could be.

We have a simple lip scrub that works wonders for your lips.

All you need to do is mix a tablespoon of coconut oil and a tablespoon of honey. Stir until they form a homogenous mixture and then add two teaspoons of brown sugar. Mix everything together and if you need to you can add some more coconut oil to smooth out and blend the mixture better. Now you’ve done that you just need to transfer the mixture into a clean jar and voila – your organic scrub is ready to use. The honey and the coconut oil are well known for their moisturizing properties and the brown sugar helps gently remove the dead skin.

Ingredients: 1 tsp aluminum-free baking soda 2 tsp 3% food grade hydrogen peroxide 1 drop peppermint essential oil *Food grade hydrogen peroxide differs greatly from the run-of-the-mill hydrogen peroxide found in the drugstore, which is not safe to ingest as it contains many heavy metals.

Directions: Mix the baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, and essential oil into a smooth paste.

Dip your toothbrush in the paste and brush *gently* for about 2 minutes before brushing with regular toothpaste.

Use no more than once a week, since baking soda is an abrasive and you don’t want to damage that enamel!

All you need is three ingredients: Organic Shampoo Base, organic coconut oil, and lemon essential oil. Use about one cup of the shampoo base and add one tablespoon coconut oil followed by about 20 drops of the essential oil. Mixed until all the ingredients come together and put in an airtight jar.

Facial wipes

Ingredients 2 cups distilled water 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil 5 drops Malealuca essential oil 5 drops Grapefruit essential oil Optional: Few drops of vitamin e or aloe* Old, clean t shirt or towel Directions for making Cleansing Facial Wipes Cut up an old clean t shirt or towel into small squares. Set aside. Pour the melted or fractionated coconut oil in a large bowl. Add essential oils and vitamin e/ aloe if using, and stir to combine. Add distilled water and mix again.

Lay your cut squares in the bowl to soak up the solution and then transfer to a jar of choice to store. Pour any remaining solution over towels. Store at room temperature or in the refrigerator if you’d like a nice and cool little experience removing your makeup. Use like any other regular facial cleansing wipes.

Coffee Face Wash

1/2 cup brewed coffee 1/2 cup liquid castile soap In a bowl, add brewed and cooled coffee. Add in castile soap and give it a quick stir. Pour the mixture in a pump bottle and use it as a regular shampoo.

You can use it all over the face and body while in shower for a soft, smooth skin. It exfoliates, moisturizes and gives your skin a radiant glow.

Zit Zapper

Uplifting Oil Cream

Ingredients 4 teaspoons avocado oil 2 teaspoons calendula oil 2 teaspoons rosehip oil ½ teaspoon cornstarch or corn flour (the white one) 2 teaspoons melted beeswax (or 10g/0.3oz) 1 vitamin E capsule 3 drops lemon essential oil Instructions Using a double boiler or a stainless steel bowl sitting in a pan. Allow the water in the saucepan or base of the double to boil gently.

Add all the ingredients, except for vitamin E and essential, to the stainless steel bowl (or top of the double boiler) and stir gently, ideally with a whisk, until well and truly melted.

Take off the heat and off the water.

Stir in essential oil and vitamin E. Pour into sterile jars.

Put the lids on once the cream is set and cool.

Ingredients C o c o n u t Oil Tea Tree Essential Oil Lip Balm Tubes Directions On the stove top, melt 1/8 cup of coconut oil. Add in just a few drops of tea tree oil (no more than 5). Mix to blend and then use an eye drop dropper to add the mixture into the lip balm tubes. It should only take a few minutes for the coconut oil to set up. Store the tubes in the fridge so they don’t melt and use as needed as a homemade zit zapper spot targeting treatment.

Olive Oil and Honey Conditioner

WHAT YOU’LL NEED 1 Tbsp honey 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil DIRECTIONS Mix the ingredients into a bowl until they make a paste Lightly shampoo and use a light condition if you need to detangle knots Work the paste though your hair from roots to tips Wrap up in plastic and leave it for 10-15 minutes Rinse in the shower

guyanatimesgy.com

NOVEMBER 11 , 2018

Sunday Times Magazine 11

Home & Cooking

W

e went hunting for some new, cool and super awesome DIY room decor ideas, ones you can actually make and want to proudly display in your room. From wall art to fun accessories, rugs, lighting and bedding ideas, you are sure to find the perfect creative craft for your room. Try out the easy to follow step by step tutorials for simple room decor and make your room different.

FRINGE PHOTO GARLAND

Materials photos fringe trim scissors washi tape yarn clothespins Step 1: Cut the fringe trim to the exact width of each photo.

Step 2: Use Washi tape to attach the fringe to the bottom of each photo.

Step 3: Attach the photos with clothespins to a long strand of yarn.

STEWED CHICKEN PASTA

Shabby Chic Lampshade

- glue gun & glue sticks - 3 yards of PINK MUSLIN GAUZE - LAMPSHADE - Lamp Base

How to make fabric roses:

1. Cut a small slit into the fabric in the same direction as the seams in the fabric run 2. Tear the fabric into 1 inch strips, this allows the fabric to have a frayed edge on both sides 3. Twist the fabric strips as if you would do when you twirl your hair 4. After you have twisted the strip of fabric, place it on a table, with your hands on either end of the strip. With your left finger, hold the end of the left side of the strip down. With your right hand, wrap the remainder of the strip of fabric around the center starting point (while keeping it twisted).

This should create a cinnamon bun effect. To hold the flower securely together, place dots of glue using a hot glue gun every so often while assembling it together.

5. Once you come to the end of the fabric, glue the excess amount onto the back of the rose, holding it all together & giving it a more finished look

POUF SEATING

1 yard of fabric Scissors Cube footstool Instructions Measure faces of cube. Cut 6 pieces of fabric measuring 1” larger in length and width than each face of the cube.

With fabric inside out, sew fabric pieces together leaving 1/2” seams. Next, sew one end of the top piece of fabric to the base.

Remove zipper from cube cover. Sew zipper on new fabric.

Turn fabric right side out. Place cube without cover into your new and improved cube cover, and pouf you have a stylish pouf for about 1/4 of the price!

Ingredients 1 ½ lbs boneless chicken thighs cut into bite sized pieces 1 medium onion, chopped 1 red pepper, sliced 1 green pepper, sliced 1 orange pepper, sliced 2 tsp salt 2 tbsp chopped parsley 1 tsp oregano 1 tsp basil ½ tsp black pepper 1 tbsp crushed garlic 1 tsp oil 2 tbsp tomato paste 3 tbsp ketchup ¾ cup water 1 tbsp sugar 3 cups pasta Fresh basil to garnish(optional) Instructions Cook pasta making sure it’s just a bit undercooked; the pasta will cook until done in the sauce. While pasta cooks, mix chicken pieces with salt, black pepper, oregano, basil and parsley. Heat oil over medium heat, in a pot large enough to hold pasta. Add seasoned chicken and cook until the pieces are brown. Next add onion, peppers, and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add tomato paste, ketchup, sugar and water and cook until the sauce reduces and thickens. Add strained pasta to the pot with the chicken and stir to combine. Cook for an additional 3-5 minutes until the pasta soaks up the sauce. Add fresh basil to garnish.

PINEAPPLE ADE

Ingredients skin of 1 pineapple 6 cups hot water 1/2 cup sugar 6 cloves 1 stick cinnamon

Place all ingredients in a pitcher. Allow to sit for 24 hours. Strain, add more sugar if need. Chill before serving.

SOURSOP ICE CREAM

Ingredients 2 cups half and half 2/3 cup sugar 1/8 tsp salt 6 egg yolks 1 cup soursop pulp(if frozen, defrost) pureed 1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk Pinch of nutmeg Directions In a small pot over low heat, add half and half, sugar and salt and simmer until the sugar dissolves.

In a heat safe bowl whisk egg yolk then slowly pour the milk into the egg yolk mixture while vigorously stirring. Pour slowly to raise the temperature of the eggs; if you pour too quickly the eggs will scramble from the heat.

Return to the stove and cook over medium low heat until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and mix in pureed soursop pulp, sweetened condensed milk and nutmeg. Allow it to cool completely to room temperature then place in the fridge and let it chill for at least 4 hour or overnight. Churn in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions.

12 Sunday Times Magazine

NOVEMBER 11, 2018

guyanatimesgy.com

Puzzles

ACROSS

118 Drama section

1 Beach residue

120 "Fancy" singer

5 Conductor Zubin - 122 Loaded with cash

10 Sandpaper grade

123 Stained-glass art 16 Descendant

124 Metal-cutting tool

21 -- Ness monster

128 Half-star movie

22 Of the hipbone

129 Giants hero of yore

23 Neighbor of Zambia

130 Bump hard

24 Dance band

131 Stir-fry pan

25 Tech-support caller

132 Knuckle under

26 Activist Ralph - 133 Motor City org.

27 Nixes

135 Like blue moons

28 Whitish gemstones

137 Ballroom dance

29 Luke Skywalker's home planet 139 Lingerie buy

31 Just scrape by

140 Windows precursor (hyph.)

33 Wielded a broom

142 Hearth residue

35 Moo goo -- pan

144 Got hold of 36 Aves.

148 Deep-voiced singer

37 Legal document 150 Summoned

40 "Crocodile" Dundee's girl

153 Mud brick 41 Allot

155 Old Italian coins

42 Like a bairn 156 Flawless

45 Gov. prosecutors

157 Eye layer

46 Give -- -- break 158 Liberates

48 Modern, in Munich

159 Keep time Contract examiner

50 160 Stuffed animal

52 Speed up

161 Barracks bane 54 Fomented

162 -- Haute

55 Puts up food

163 Chip in 57 Purview

58 Lab slide dye DOWN

59 Exploding star 1 Huge excess

60 Pet lovers' gp.

2 Sub -- (secretly)

62 Ancient seeress

3 Cool rapper? (hyph.)

66 Rust component 4 Vibrate

67 Aden denizen

5 Roomy vehicle 69 Tell

6 Veld grazers

71 Two-wheeled carriage

7 Trapper's quest

72 Van Damme film

8 -- kwon do

74 Wall Street deg.

9 North-forty unit

76 Archangel of light 10 Spelunker

78 Barley bristle

11 Four quarters

79 Dryer fuzz

12 FBI man

51

80 Young tree

13 Aussie jumpers 53

83 Fake it 14 Gobs

54

85 Young screecher

15 Abate (2 wds.)

56

88 Best strategy (2 wds.)

16 Kilt sporter

59

89 Vice - 17 Steal

61

90 Pinata occasions 18 Reflections

63

93 Adieu (hyph.)

19 Earth-shaped

64

95 Ess molding

20 More curious

65

97 -- -la-la

30 Of yore

67

98 Premier Zhou - 32 Michelle on the ice 68

100 Vintage auto

34 Sneak a look

69

101 Volcanic vents

38 Business mag

70

106 Blondie's shrieks

39 Pester playfully

73 108 Spry

41 Many bonds

75

110 Blew gently

42 Harem owner 77

112 Not work out

43 Kiwi language

81

113 "Bye Bye Bye" band

44 Type of prof

82

115 Oompah horn

46 -- and shakers

84

116 Hit on the head

47 Actor -- McGregor 85

117 Wouldn't hurt -- - 49 Disconnect 86

KATHLEEN SAXE

WORD GAME TODAY'S WORD -- CATHOLIC (CATHOLIC: KATH-uh-lik: Of broad or liberal scope; comprehensive.)

Average mark 30 words Time limit 40 minutes Can you find 41 or more words in CATHOLIC? calico catch chaotic chat chic chit clot cloth coach coal coat

coati coca coil cola colic colt aitch alit alto taco tail

talc toil hail halo halt hilt oath otic lactic laic latch

lath litho loach loath loth lotic iota itch

RULES OF THE GAME: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of "s," such as "bats" or "dies," are not allowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a "d" or an "s" may not be used. For example, if "bake" is used, "baked" or "bakes" are not allowed, but "bake" and "baking" are admissible. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

Matter, in law Chimes Vague amount Injury memento Right after Take -- -- from me Jo March's spouse Opens wide Actress -- Carter Thither and -Beg Prism display Always, to Keats Please, in Vienna Skate part Crowbar GI address Neigh homophone Golf starts (hyph.)

Repeatedly Cables

124 Tolkien creature

87 Full of holes 125 Rub against

91 Dear Abby's sister 126 Quit

92 Mask feature

127 Angler's footwear

93 Fastened, in carpentry

130 Talk nonsense

94 Aftermath 134 Made on a loom

95 Warning, perhaps

136 Tornado finder

96 Roam around 137 Swain

99 Chinese river 138 Zip

102 Provo's state "Holy --!"

103 Dey-time drama? (2 wds.) 140 141 "And -- -- bed"

104 Kids' song refrain

143 Tool handle

105 Not taut

145 Giza's river 107 Winding

146 Of an epoch

109 Repair-bill item 147 "Ed Wood" star

111 Somewhat (2 wds.)

149 Crestfallen

114 Vaccine amts.

151 White wine aperitif

117 Major artery

152 Hydrocarbon suffix

119 Frat letters 154 Eminem's mentor, Dr. - 121 Turkish honorific

122 Fish eggs and deer

123 "The -- Falcon"

See Solution on Pg 14

guyanatimesgy.com

NOVEMBER 11, 2018

Sunday Times Magazine 13

F

irst launched back in March, Pinterest’s friend feed provided a dedicated section of the service where you could follow posts from other users.

Now, this feed is getting a redesign, removing the tiled images in favor of a simpler single column of posts, Instagram-style. There are even horizontal rows of Pinterest-recommended accounts that you can follow.

Aside from the change in layout, the chronological feed still works more or less the same way as it did before. You can tap on a red “Save” button below an image to save it to a board, or tap on the image directly to

S

amsung has been teasing its foldable smartphone for weeks, and now the company unveiled it for the first time on Thursday.

Samsung calls its foldable phone technology the Infinity Flex Display, and the phone itself has a tablet-sized screen that can be folded up to fit into a pocket.

Samsung demonstrated a “disguised” device during its developer conference today, and dimmed the lights to protect elements of the design. “There’s a device inside here,” said Justin Denison, SVP of mobile product marketing. “And it is stunning.” Denison then showed a device that folded out into a tablet and back up into a candybar-like form factor. The device includes a cover display that acts as a phone, and a main 7.3-inch tablet display.

Up to three apps will be able to run simultaneously, using something Samsung calls multi active window. Samsung says it will be able to start mass production of the Infinity Flex Display in a “matter of months,” according to Denison. Samsung isn’t saying exactly when we can expect to see more than

S be linked out to a piece of content.

It would be easy to look at this and see it as evidence that Pinterest is losing its distinctly Pinterest-y style, but giving each individual

just this concept device.

Google is also officially supporting these new foldable devices with Android, and it’s working closely with Samsung for the launch of this phone next year. Google is providing guidance for developers to start using existing features that are built into Android to support these foldable displays.

Samsung isn’t the only phone maker working on foldable devices, though.

Huawei reportedly plans to release a foldable handset next year. Lenovo and Xiaomi have also started teased their own prototypes, and LG is also working on flexible OLED displays and TVs that roll up into a box.

Microsoft is even working on a multiscreen device, which could be a modern take on the old Courier concept. Microsoft Surface chief Panos Panay previously revealed that a pocketable Surface device is “absolutely my baby.”

Phone makers you’ve probably never heard of are also experimenting with tabletlike devices that fold into a phone form factor, so expect to see a lot more of these handsets in 2019. (The

Verge)

post more real estate seems like a sensible move, especially when you’re browsing an image-based service on a smartphone screen. The redesign was launched on Friday. (The Verge)

tarting with the release of Chrome 71 in December, your browser will warn you about sites that might try and bill you without your full knowledge or consent. Specifically, the measures are targeting mobile billing services, where little more than your phone number is needed to place additional charges on your monthly bill. According to Google, millions of Chrome users encounter pages with unclear or insufficient mobile subscription information every month.

In order to not get flagged, sites will have to make sure they’re being upfront about any charges that may hit Chrome users. That means making billing information obvious, not trying

to obscure it by placing gray text on a white background, for example, and not using a fee structure that obscures the true cost. Chrome 71 users will receive a warning when visiting unclear billing pages on sites that don’t comply.

These all seem like sensible, common sense measures.

Combined with Chrome 71’s stricter handling of abusive ads they should make the web a more pleasant and safe place to browse. (The Verge)

14 Sunday Times Magazine

guyanatimesgy.com

NOVEMBER 11, 2018

Bollywood/Hollywood

T

hey make an entire nation of fans jealous of their love but Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli still do not get to spend enough time together.

The actor and her cricketer husband have been married for almost a year but she says that it doesn’t feel any different.

Anushka appeared on the cover of Elle magazine’s November issue and said in an interview that even staying together in their home feels like a vacation to her.

“Marriage doesn’t feel different. Virat and I have been working around the clock, we hardly spend time together, we both have very hectic lives. So, we are living in a house and we have spent barely any time in it.

For us, home is, like, wow!

It’s a vacation,” she said.

Anushka wished Virat on his birthday through an Instagram post on Monday.

“Thank God for his birth,” she captioned two pictures in which she is seen hugging

A

ctor Sara Ali Khan is waiting to make a debut in Bollywood

A Virat at his midnight birthday celebrations.

She was asked about her married life on promotional tours of her recent movie Sui Dhaaga. She said they are two simple people who don’t see themselves as a ‘power couple.’ “I think we are both not so attached to what we do. The other day someone asked me a question you know ‘power couple and two powerful people from your own industry. You know when you are together, how do you manage this and all’.

And I thought to myself and I told them also, we don’t see

and is currently working on two projects - Kedarnath and Simmba. Simmba, a re-

Crossword Solution

ourselves like that. We start to see ourselves that way then there is something really wrong in the nature of our relationship. If someone really wants to have an insight into our lives, we are very simple people, wanting to do normal, very simple things,” she told film critic Anupama Chopra in an interview.

Anushka will soon be seen with Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif in Aanand L Rai’s Zero. She will play a scientist with cerebral palsy in the film. (Hindustan Times)

make of Telugu hit film, Temper staring Jr NTR will see Ranveer Singh don the khakhi for his role.

Sara wrapped up shoot for the film and she took to Instagram to confirm the same She wrote, “And that’s a picture wrap. Thank you so much @itsrohitshetty sir for all your warmth, patience, advice, direction, concern, compassion and lots more.

Working with you has been a total blast!

And @ranveersingh you truly are a star. Your energy is contagious, your passion is palpable and your positivity is incomparable.

Seeing you two work with this laser sharp focus and undying dedication made me realise why and how you both are where you both are. I really thank my lucky stars that I could work with both of you! #simmba #gratitude #boss.”

Simmba will see Ranveer play the role of a rowdy cop, Sangram Bhalerao and Sara would play his lady love. The film is slated to release on December 28. In the meanwhile, Kedarnath’s teaser was released recently and the film is expected to release on December 7 and will mark Sara’s debut.

Saif Ali Khan’s daughter Sara was set to make her debut with Sushant Singh Rajput starrer Kedarnath earlier this year, however, there were delays due to conflict on the production side.

It was after this that she signed Dharma Production’s project Simmba, directed by Rohit Shetty. (Hindustan Times)

amir Khan said Sunday that he suggested Shah Rukh Khan's name for the biopic on astronaut Rakesh Sharma as he thought his contemporary would be an apt choice for the project.

Reportedly titled Saare Jahaan Se Achcha, the film was first offered to Aamir and Priyanka Chopra. It was Priyanka who had confirmed Aamir's name for the biopic earlier. When asked the reason why he dropped out of the project, Aamir said he had his reasons.

"It is a great script. I loved the script and the story of Mr Sharma is fascinating. It is true that I called up Shah (Shah Rukh). I said, 'Shah you should hear the

J

script, it is fantastic. It will be right for you, if you like it'. I am glad he liked the script and he is doing it," he said in an interview.

Mahesh Mathai will direct the film from Anjum Rajabali's script.

The film will be produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur and Ronnie Screwvala under

.K. Rowling has sued her former personal assistant for allegedly stealing cash and Harry Potter memorabilia

their banners Roy Kapur Films and RSVP Films, respectively. There were reports that Bhumi Pednekar has been signed opposite Shah Rukh in the film, but Screwvala recently told PTI that an official announcement on casting will be made soon. (Hindustan Times)

and also using the author's funds to buy thousands of pounds worth of gifts.

The ex-employee, Amanda Donaldson, has denied the claims in the writer's £24,000 ($31,450) lawsuit, and says Rowling has "not suffered any loss and is not entitled to damages" from her, the BBC reported on Wednesday.

In the documents, Rowling, 53, says that Donaldson, 35, was fired in 2017 for gross misconduct after working for her for three years.

She claims that Donaldson used a business credit card to make more than £10,000 ($17,000) in unauthorized payments, including £1,636 ($2,145) at Starbucks, £3,629 ($4,758) at the cosmetic firm Molton Brown, and £1,200 ($1,573) to buy two cats, the report said.

Rowling also claims in her lawsuit that Donaldson, who controlled Harry Potter memorabilia requests from fans, used her position to steal a motorized Hogwarts Express worth about £467 ($613), a wizard collection worth £2231 ($2,926) and a Tales of Beedle The Bard set worth £395 ($518). Rowling also accuses Donaldson of stealing £7,742 ($10,156)-worth of foreign money from a safe. (EOnline)

G

abrielle Union and Dwyane Wade have welcomed a healthy baby girl. The actress revealed she and the Miami Heat basketball player welcomed their first child together via surrogate on Instagram on Thursday.

Union made the announcement by sharing a candid picture of the duo holding the newborn at the hospital.

Alongside the photo, she wrote, "We are sleepless and delirious but so excited to share that our miracle baby arrived last night via surrogate and 11/7 will forever be etched in our hearts as the most loveliest of all the lovely days. Welcome to the party sweet girl!"

She also captioned the sweet moment with the song

lyrics for "Lovely Day" by Bill Withers. This is Gabrielle's first child and Dwyane's fourth. Their sweet little girl will join half-brothers Zaire, Xavier and Zion, two of which Dwyane shares with ex-wife Siohvaughn Funches. The happy news

comes after the pair struggled to conceive for many years. Last year, Union candidly revealed in her book that she suffered over eight miscarriages in recent years as she and Dwyane attempted to welcome a child with the help of IVF. (EOnline)

guyanatimesgy.com

NOVEMBER 11, 2018

Sunday Times Magazine 15

16 Sunday Times Magazine

guyanatimesgy.com

NOVEMBER 11, 2018

Fun Times

Archie

Look for the positive in ev-

ARIES erything and everyone. Your

(March 21- cheerful attitude will ward April 19) off negativity and people who tend to put demands on others. Personal improvements and romantic encounters are encouraged.

Learn all you can beTAURUS fore you make a decision that (April 20could affect an important reMay 20) lationship or your reputation.

It's up to you to stand up for your rights and beliefs.

Don't share too much inforGEMINI mation with people you don't (MAY 28- know. Concentrate on the perJune 20) sonal changes you want to make. A physical outlet will help ease stress. Do things that help build confidence.

Share your thoughts and plans, and discuss your feel(June 21- ings and ideas with a loved July 22) one. Positive change will begin only when you are ready to let go of the past.

CANCER

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

Dilbert

Listen to others and reVIRGO spond with common sense.

(Aug. 23Don't offer anything that isn't Sept. 22) reasonable or within your means. Emotional manipulation and false information will be used to sway your opinion.

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

Peanuts

Socialize with others and take part in activities that challenge you mentally and physically. The stimulation you get from a competitive event will exhilarate you. Romance will enhance your life.

Visiting old friends and talking about the old days will bring back fond memories that prompt you to reconnect with someone from your past. Romance is on the rise.

SCORPIO A slight change will make (Oct. 24- a big difference. Handle your Nov. 22) personal affairs yourself. The less you let others interfere, the easier it will be to excel.

Be smart, think matters SAGITTARIUS through and decide for your(Nov. 23self if someone is being honest Dec. 21) with you. When in doubt, ask questions and take appropriate action. Romance is highlighted.

Calvin and Hobbes

Consider how to best deal CAPRICORN with the changes that are hap(Dec. 22- pening around you. Take your Jan. 19) time and be discreet. Keep your personal information a secret. Trust must be earned.

Look for the best way to AQUARIUS use what you have and what (Jan. 20- you know to your advantage.

Feb. 19) A chance to make personal improvements should not be ignored. A change will do you good.

Rely on people you have PISCES (Feb. 20- helped or confided to in the Mar. 20) past to help you get things done. A financial gain or gift will unexpectedly come your way.