Guyana Times - Saturday, August 31, 2019

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

Issue No. 4032

THE BEACON OF TRUTH saturday, august 31, 2019

PPP lashes out at PNC for fabricating story of “fake birth certificates” in Lethem

PRICE

$80 vat included

WHAT'S INSIDE:

Page3

APNU, AFC still to discuss PM candidacy for upcoming elections

PSC makes application to be P9 election observer

Page 11 Water woes

P9

Fire truck supplies affected WCD residents with water

– despite AFC choosing Ramjattan as its PM candidate

– East Coast villages without water for days

10,000 kg P2 of mercury imported in 2018

Energy Department Director, Dr Mark Bynoe (front, centre), along with British High Commissioner to Guyana, Greg Quinn and members of the Tullow Oil management team on the helideck of the Stena Forth on Thursday during a visit where they had a firsthand look at the drillship. Also in photo are Executive Vice President (New Ventures) Ian Cloke, Tullow Oil Guyana BV Country Manager Joachim Vogt, Tullow Oil PLC Head of Operations and External Affairs (New Ventures and Exploration), Eric Bauer, along with Environmental Protection Agency Executive Director, Dr Vincent Adams

GRDB fraud case

$52M fraud charge against PPP/C executive, 2 others dismissed

20 Guyanese to study in China as 23 P12 returns

Page 7

Couple set on fire while sleeping in mining camp Page 2

Nabaclis murder

Gold miner charged for killing ex-lover

Page 8

GRA to sell over 4000 seized bottles of P10 alcohol

2 news

saturday, august 31, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Couple set on fire while sleeping in mining camp

A

35-year-old man and his reputed wife are battling for their lives after they were set on fire while sleeping at their mining camp at Toroparo Landing, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), on Thursday morning.

Lyndon Joseph and 30-year-old Maria Da Silva

are patients in the burn unit of the Georgetown Public Hospital. Based on reports received, the couple attended a birthday celebration in the area on Wednesday evening during which they received information that the suspect was in their mining camp.

The businessman and his

wife left the party in haste and upon arriving at the mining camp, they saw the suspect. Joseph reportedly picked up a cutlass and dealt the man several lashes to his body.

The suspect left the camp but according to reports, returned at about 04:00h on Thursday and proceeded to

dowse gasoline on the couple and set them alight. He has since escaped the scene, leaving the camp to burn.

The couple was rescued by public-spirited persons

and taken to the Bartica Regional Hospital where they were treated and medivacked to the GPHC. Both Joseph and his wife would have sustained about 80 per

cent burns about their body.

The businessman is formerly of Jango Town, Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara.

10,000 kg of mercury imported in 2018

At the signing ceremony: EPA Director, Dr Vincent Adams; Minister Raphael Trotman, PTCCB Registrar Trecia Davis-Garnath and GGMC Commissioner Newell Dennison

T

he Natural Resources Ministry on Friday facilitated the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to monitor the importation of

mercury in the country, as the Government pushes towards having a completely mercury-free mining sector.

The framework was signed by officials of the Pesticides

and Toxic Chemicals Control Board (PTCCB), the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Turn to page 7

news

3

saturday, august 31, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

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

Saturday, August 31 – 05:30h – 07:00h and Sunday, September 1 – 05:30h – 07:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Saturday, August 31 – 04:45h – 06:15h and Sunday, September 1 – 05:15h – 06:45h.

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

WEATHER TODAY Sunny conditions are expected throughout the day. There will be clear skies at night.

Temperatures should range between 21 degrees Celsius and 32 degrees Celsius.

Winds: North-Easterly to South-Easterly between 2.23 metres and 4.47metres.

High Tide: 05:05h and 17:28h reaching maximum heights of 2.90 metres and 2.85 metres.

Low Tide: 11:02h and 23:21h reaching minimum heights of 0.33 metre and 0.34 metre.

PPP lashes out at PNC for fabricating story of “fake birth certificates” in Lethem

T

he People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has labelled the recent claims of its Region Nine (Upper TakatuEssequibo) office issuing fake birth certificates to persons as not only false, but noted that it shows the desperation of the APNU/AFC coalition Government as elections looms.

On Friday the State’s newspaper published an article in which the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) – the leading party in the APNU fraction of the coalition – Region Nine Chairperson, Wendella Franklin alleges that the PPP Region Nine office is issuing fake birth certificates.

However, in a statement on Friday, the PPP pointed out that this “false accusation” is demonstrative of the Government’s increasing desperation since the successful passage of the December 21, 2018, No-

to fabricate scenarios to distract from its unrestrained violation of the Constitution and the rule of law,” the party contended.

It went on to say in the

Confidence Motion (NCM).

“Having failed abysmally in office through unbridled ineptitude and corruption and having failed in its sinister plan to disenfranchise thousands of Guyanese through House-to-House Registration, the caretaker Government will continue

missive that the taxpayer-funded State newspaper has been usurped as the mouthpiece of the dominant party in the coalition, the PNCR, which will spare no effort to wantonly spread misinformation to deliberately mislead and to create a sense of uneasiness as elec-

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

WEDNESday, AUGUST 28, 2019

LOTTERY NUMBERS I

08

13 14

22 24 25

FREE TICKET

26 Bonus Ball

FrIday, august 30, 2019

DAILY MILLIONS

09 15

16 19 22

LUCKY 3

5

5

6

5

Afternoon Draw

9

2

Evening Draw

DRAW DE LINE

03

04

07

09

PAY DAY

03 05 06 09 13

11

15

17 SUPER PAY DAY

03 04 09 13 15

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

tion looms. To this end, the PPP called on Guyanese not to be misled by the increasingly desperate APNU/AFC caretaker Government.

“The PPP urges that Guyanese not succumb to the deviousness of this most desperate APNU/AFC caretaker Government,” Friday’s missive stated.

Only on Thursday, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo accused the caretaker coalition Government of misleading Guyanese with the conduct of House-toHouse Registration.

According to reports, Public Relations Officer attached to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Yolanda Ward had said the matter would be looked into. However, efforts by this newspaper to solicit an update from her on the matter to ascertain whether these claims were true or not proved futile.

These new allegations come as the controversial House-to-House Registration comes to an early end today. The exercise, which the PPP had long opposed saying it would delay the hosting of early elec-

tions, was scrapped by the Justice Claudette Singh-led Elections Commission on Tuesday.

GECOM said that the information gathered thus far via the H2H exercise will be merged with the existing National Register of Registrants (NRR) database. The Commission said too that it will be moving to an extensive Claims and Objections exercise but no date was set for this.

However, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday argued that the merging of the data will not only create duplication within the database but will further delay the hosting of General and Regional elections to April 2020, which is what the PNC-led coalition wants.

Jagdeo noted that there is a much simpler way of ensuring that everyone, including new registrants, gets on the voters’ list. He explained that of the 285,000 registrations that were obtained during the H2H exercise, only approximately 2000 are new registrants.

As such, instead of adding the more than 280,000 registrations to the existing National Register of Registrants database, which would cause massive repetition, the Opposition Leader said GECOM should filter out those new registrants and have them re-register at their local divisions.

This, he added, will save some three months off the merging process.

“With this merger, the optimistic scenario is to go to Claims and Objections in November because the merger will make about three months and then elections on the 27th April, next year. So you understand this merger will not improve the database. It’s a delaying tactic once again,” Jagdeo stressed.

4

guyanatimesgy.com

saturday, august 31, 2019

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

A new wave of optimism

F

irst oil is on the horizon in Guyana and all around the country, citizens are beginning to feel a sense of renewed hope. Never before in the history of this country was there so much optimism and excitement as it relates to our development potential. It is now up to our political leaders, the business community, civil society and citizens themselves to work in harmony so as to ensure that all this talk about oil and the huge potential it has for our development could really translate into actually improving the quality of life for every Guyanese and those who decide to make this place their home.

On Thursday, the Liza Destiny, Guyana’s first oil production vessel arrived in the Stabroek Block after travelling nearly 11,000 nautical miles for 42 days from the Keppel Shipyard in Singapore. The arrival of the ship is seen as another significant step forward, as Guyana inches closer to becoming an oilproducing nation. More importantly, as stated by Energy Department Director Dr Mark Bynoe, the arrival of the Liza Destiny should stimulate a new spirit of nationalism, pride and expectation among citizens.

This Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel is a significant component of the Liza Phase 1 development, which involves four undersea drill centres with 17 production wells. The vessel has a production capacity of 120,000 barrels of oil per day and an overall storage volume of 1.6 million barrels.

Liza Phase 1 remains on track to achieve first oil by the first quarter of 2020. It will produce up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day at peak rates utilising the Liza Destiny FPSO. With 13 lucrative discoveries offshore Guyana, ExxonMobil anticipates a potential for at least five FPSO vessels producing more than 750,000 barrels of oil per day by 2025.

Phase 2 of the Liza development is expected to start up in mid-2022 and will develop approximately 600 million barrels of oil through the “Liza Unity”, the second FPSO in the series. ExxonMobil had stated that a total of six drill centres are planned, as well as approximately 30 wells, including 15 productions, nine water injection and six gas injection wells.

The fact is Guyana is now considered a country with massive opportunities and everyone must position themselves to benefit from the sector. Citizens should not allow themselves to be distracted by the constant haggling between our political leaders. In fact, they should put pressure on those in authority to ensure that the relevant mechanisms are in place that would see accountability and transparency in the management of the sector and that Guyanese are allowed to benefit from the opportunities that are available.

There are still many challenges confronting the nation; for example, quite a number of persons are living below the poverty line, public infrastructure is not up to standard, social services such as health and education need to be improved, many young people cannot afford to further their studies or acquire specialised training, high unemployment, constant power outages and so on.

Since Guyana will be heading into elections campaign mode soon, it is an opportune time to remind our politicians that citizens are wary of political instability and the negative impact it has on the economy and to national life in general.

Like many others, we hope that GECOM will get its act together and make the tough decisions that ought to be made. A date for elections should be set soon to allow citizens to elect a government of their choice. We should demonstrate to the world that we can campaign and conduct elections peacefully, and when the results are out, we can then work towards achieving our development objectives as one.

With oil almost here, we are convinced that this country has a bright future ahead, but our leaders must look beyond partisan politics and work together in the nation’s interest.

It is very unfortunate that in spite of being blessed with an abundance of natural resources, the political rancour we have experienced over the years has caused our development to be stifled. Guyana has another opportunity to become a wonderful country with unlimited opportunities; a place where young people would be happy to stay and help in its development, it is hoped that our leaders will not squander it.

An aerial view of a burned tract of Amazon jungle as it was cleared by loggers and farmers near Porto Velho, Brazil (Photo by: Reuters/Ricardo Moraes)

Brazil weighs offers from US, others to help fight Amazon fires B

razilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Friday he may have news on his request to US President Donald Trump for help fighting the Amazon rainforest fires, as the country also fields offers from Chile, Ecuador and Israel.

Speaking to reporters in Brasilia, Bolsonaro said news on this front could materialise after Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo and the President’s son Eduardo Bolsonaro meet with the US President, although it was unclear exactly when the meeting would take place.

A White House official confirmed that Araujo and Eduardo Bolsonaro would meet with “senior administration officials” on Friday but gave no further details.

The two flew to Washington on Thursday evening, with Eduardo Bolsonaro telling reporters before departing that the Amazon crisis would “certainly” be discussed.

The Brazilian President has said he will appoint his son Eduardo as the country’s Brazilian ambassador to the United States, but his name has not yet been sent to the Senate for voting and confirmation.

Separately, Brazil’s joint military chief Raul Botelho told reporters that the country was in touch with the United States, Chile, Israel and Ecuador regarding their offers to help combat the fires. Brazil will ask for help in the moment when it is necessary, he said.

Bolsonaro told reporters on Friday that he would also talk to German Chancellor Angela Merkel later in the day.

“A phone call with Angela Merkel is scheduled for today. I am ready to talk with some people, except our dear Macron, unless he apologizes about our sovereignty over the Amazon,”

A burning tract of Amazon jungle near Porto Velho, Brazil [Photo by: Reuters/Ricardo Moraes]

Bolsonaro said, referring to French President Emmanuel Macron.

Earlier this week Bolsonaro said he would not accept an offer of at least $20 million from the Group of Seven to help fight the Amazon fires announced by Macron at a G7 nations leaders’ summit unless Macron withdrew what he called “insults” against him.

The two leaders have become embroiled in a public war of words over Brazil’s handling of the Amazon fires and the international response, which has descended into a deeply personal spat.

Brazil is also facing economic pressure over its response to the surge in fires in the Amazon this year. On Friday, the asset management arm of Denmark’s Nordea (NDAFI.HE), one of the Nordic’s biggest banks, said it is suspending purchases of Brazilian government bonds in response to the Amazon fires.

Norwegian pension fund KLP, which has $80 billion in assets under management, said this week it had contacted US companies Bunge (BG.N), Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM.N) asking for “concrete action” to protect the rainforest.

In statements to Reuters on Friday, Bunge and ADM reaffirmed their commitments to keep deforestation out of their supply chains. Cargill did not immediately respond to request for comment.

On Thursday, VF Corp (VFC.N), maker of Timberland, Vans and other apparel brands, said it would stop buying leather from Brazil over environmental concerns.

Bolsonaro also said on Friday he wants to bar the creation of new Indigenous reserves in Brazil, and will review those already in place. He may travel to the Amazon region next week, he told reporters. (Reuters)

guyanatimesgy.com

saturday, august 31, 2019

5

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

The Opposition The Constitution has already won Dear Editor, I was deeply disappointed in this APNU/AFC Government from the moment they were elected to office. My initial gut fears of disaster were confirmed shortly after, when their first official act within approximately four months, was to increase their already large salaries for themselves and later on adding multiple taxes on products and services for the citizens of Guyana. The country was on an accelerated decline from the moment they were elected to date without even a pause.

Thankfully, the Opposition has not been asleep through this period and decided to take it headon and full out for the sake of our dear country. I do believe that this Government thought that they would remain in office for the rest of their lives so they wasted no time in plundering the country mercilessly. I look as these hideous creatures smile and lie on TV and in short interviews so easily it seems unreal to me, not a word uttered by these Ministers can be believed.

They only have their selfish gains in mind, absolute-

ly not even a modicum of interest or care for the people of this country.

I follow Mr Bharrat Jagdeo (a man whom I have always admired as President before) and his team very closely and I am absolutely pleased with the level of sincerity by all members of his party for the well being of this country. PPP members are all very professional and can each hold their own in their particular areas of expertise and I am confident that they will deliver when elected based on their solid track record, intelligence and logical approach to problem-solving and governing.

These people are experts in economic policies and know the fundamental and intricate details relating to governing a country. Mr Jagdeo always delivers with confidence, insight and is informative during his regular and always highly anticipated press conferences.

Without him, the citizens of this country would be lost at sea for vital and accurate information. His latest press conference to date on August 29 was particularly impressive.

When was the last time

any of these cowards in Government took time to hold a press conference? It is the least that they could do after robbing us for all those dreadfully long four years in office. Give the people a chance to ask them questions and have them face us. All that they are doing lately are “whisper outreaches” inciting racial conflict instead of solid proposals for the people and this country. Of course, open press conferences would be a disaster for them and would probably never happen because they are all guilty, ashamed and also very afraid because now they are feeling and experiencing the exact pain and hopelessness that we are! I have said it before and I’ll continue to say it; APNU/ AFC has failed the people of this country miserably and soberly committed high crimes and misdemeanours and is not eligible to be on the ballot ever again.

The Opposition has already won. The coming election (which cannot be delayed forever) is only a matter of formality now.

Sincerely, Shane Lindie

We are losing our youths Dear Editor, My heart aches for the family and country as we lose another youth, another son, Rivaldo Williams, as a result of reckless crime caused by the menaces of society. It saddens me to learn of his tragic death, and the recent deaths of others just like him. I can only imagine what the respective families are feeling. What a horrible time for our youths, their families and the country as a whole. I honestly wish I could take away the pain.

I pray that the family finds peace and comfort in the knowledge that he is now in the hands of God, and that he has received his eternal reward in Heaven.

As an ardent and concerned member of society, a matter like this is a tremendous concern, and as such, I wish to draw the attention of the people of this country towards the increasing rate of rising youth crimes. From schools to their respective workplace, the crimes involving youths are increasing at a steady rate.

This is not at all healthy for the development of our society and country, especially when the role of youths is to renew and refresh the current status of society. We need to understand that our youths are our greatest asset and as such, we as a people need to do everything possible to save them.

The decline in moral character of youths is a cause of

great concern. It is utterly disappointing to know that the crimes being committed by these youths are so horrifically cruel, barbaric and inhumane. It is really a sad state of affairs for our country.

With a plethora of job opportunities available, I refuse to accept that there is a lack of job availability causing these youths to react in such barbaric behaviour. It is sad that they prefer such inhumane routes of gaining their income, rather than working for what they want. The most common misconception is that people assume someone becomes successful overnight.

There is no fast track to success. This is not what people would want to hear but it is the truth.

I believe that families, religious institutions, and the community have a direct impact on curbing the immature minds of our youths.

They need to be taught to become more responsible in their actions, the people and environment they surround themselves in, as well as respecting the safety and protection of their fellow humankind.

To the families and society that have lost their loved ones, all that I can say at this time is that I am terribly sorry that our political leaders do not seem to grasp the reality of crimes on youths and others, and the fact that we are losing our youths. No system has been created to give first-

time offenders an opportunity to re-calibrate their lives.

I have been talking about a creation of a boot camp for first-time offenders that will teach them trades, discipline - for example the drills without firearms, to create systems by which we find their skill set or personal strength so we can, as a nation, develop them and make them positive citizens of society.

A mind is a terrible thing to waste. It’s time for our political leaders to wake up and smell the coffee of reality because if these crimes are allowed unchecked, it will destroy the fabric of social mores.

Sincerely, Roshan Khan Chairman/Founder RK’s Guyana Security Services

Dear Editor, The Constitution of our country, as in every other democracy, is a body of fundamental principles or established precedents by which we have all agreed to be governed.

It is a body of laws that set the standard for every facet of our lives and it is not to be trifled with nor be picked apart piecemeal to accommodate partisan whims and fancies.

A Constitution is the cornerstone of every principled democracy and allows for parliamentarians to vote their conscience. This ruling is fundamental to a democratic state and is considered a normal piece of business in true democracies where legislators are not threatened with compliance to party policies. If lawmakers in

Guyana have to toe the party line, the country would in essence regress to being a dictatorship as during the PNC’s previous time in office.

With regard to the current impasse following the successful passage of last December’s No-Confidence Motion, several letter writers continue to advance arguments for compromise and for interpretations of the law that favour partisan views and are clearly unconstitutional. While democratic governance encourages debate, discussion and compromise, the decisions taken at the end of the day always have to comply with the rule of law which is inviolable and assures fairness and justice for everyone involved.

The Constitution was crafted for just such conten-

tious times when the country stands divided and steadying the ship means holding fast to the rules that have been agreed to and which guarantee the rights and privileges of every single citizen without fear or favour.

It provides a clear path through the obstructions and partisan views being thrown in its way and as Guyana still awaits long-overdue elections, it is crucial that the newly appointed GECOM Chair Justice Claudette Singh acts to protect and guarantee the constitutional right of the electorate to participate in free and fair elections which will, in turn, ensure our continued status as a democracy.

Sincerely, Ryhaan Shah

Only full compliance with the Constitution of Guyana is acceptable Dear Editor, The Chairman of GECOM has finally put an end to the House-to-House Registration exercise, this is a most welcomed act and I must commend her for doing so. However, that move still falls woefully short of fulfilling the constitutional requirements of the law which states that GECOM should now move swiftly into elections mode.

That elections mode means that there must be a Claims and Objections process, which would in effect add to the List of Electors those persons who would have attained the voting age of 18 years as well as sanitise the list of those persons who would have died since the last election. This is the final stage of the electoral process which should take us no more than one month to complete, albeit to officially come to compliance with the constitutional deadline.

On the other hand, the PNC-led coalition, through its political hacks at GECOM, is trying to spin a confusing yarn that the present duplicate, and in most cases, suspect list of registrants, must be added to the National Register of Registrants database. This cannot be because here you have a House-to-House ex-

ercise that lacked the scrutiny of the main political Opposition (which makes it totally illegal) and an exercise that is wholly incomplete, this brings into focus another nonsensical issue.

So, this idiotic argument cannot be allowed to flourish even to the point of gaining any sensible attention, you cannot add an incomplete list to the NRR list, it just cannot happen. This is just another delay tactic by the PNC to confuse and delay the holding of general elections.

In the first place, the holding of House-to-House was an order issued by an illegally appointed GECOM Head, which again made

that order illegal.

Instead of getting ready for elections which should have been set in motion since December 22, the day after the successful passage of the No-Confidence Motion, that illegal Chairman began a process of political posturing all in the grand scheme to avoid election preparation. Seeing that this new Chairperson has decided to get out of that morass, the only logical thing now is to follow the Constitution to the letter.

Elections must be held, and there should be no delay.

Respectfully, Neil Adams

6

saturday, august 31, 2019

Page

Foundation

Getting your 1st day right Part 2

S

Having a brain drain?

chool seemed simple when you were younger. Everyone told you where to go, what classes to take, and how to finish your homework.

Now things are different; there are so many choices and priorities competing for your time. Stretch yourself too thin and you may find yourself feeling stressed out.

Here are some things you can do to help regain control: Plan ahead. Get a wall calendar or personal planner. Mark the dates of midterms, finals, and other tests. Note the due dates of term papers, essays, and other projects as they are assigned.

List any other time commitments you have, like basketball practice or play rehearsals. When your calendar starts to fill, learn to say no to additional activities until things calm down.

Stay ahead. Try not to fall behind.

If you feel yourself falling behind and starting to feel frustrated, let your teachers know. It’s better to get help early on than to wait and think you can ace the final if you spend a few nights cramming. Almost everyone struggles with a particular subject or class.

If you’re having trouble with a particular subject or homework project, ask your teacher for extra help after class. Taking a few minutes to address the problem right away can save time later, and if your teacher knows that you’re struggling with something, he or she is likely to be more understanding of the situation.

Listen up. Paying attention in class can actually pay off in the long run.

Sure, it’s often easier said than done, but actively listening and taking notes during lectures can make recalling in-

formation easier when it comes time to study and remember things.

Take notes. If you take notes and review them before class begins (or while studying for an exam), you can ask a teacher to go over anything you don’t understand. It can also be helpful to go over notes with a friend after class – as long as you’re confident your friend really grasps the material! Learning good note-taking skills in high school also helps put you ahead of the curve in college, when good lecture notes are key to studying and doing well.

Ahh-choo! What to do?

Nearly everyone gets sick at one time or another. If you’re out sick, ask friends to take notes and pick up your homework.

If you’re out for more than a day or two, do a little work every day if you feel up to it to keep from falling behind.

Some teachers post assignments and notes on the Internet – find out if they will accept faxed or emailed homework.

If not, have your mom or dad drop your assignments off at school. Then be prepared to make up lab time and tests when you return.

If you’re not feeling well enough to keep up with your classes, that’s OK. It’s more important that you take care of yourself. Again, establishing a good relationship with teachers helps them be more understanding and they’ll be able to help you catch up when you make it back to school.

Survival tips

Here are some more things that can help put you ahead in school: The old saying “breakfast is the

most important meal of the day” is never more true than when you’re going to school. Students are more alert and perform better in class if they eat a good breakfast.

Get enough sleep. Studies show that teens need at least eight and a half hours of sleep each night to feel rested. Sleep deprivation can lead students to fall asleep in class (embarrassing if you’re caught!) and can also make it hard to concentrate. It can be more productive to get the sleep you need than it is to stay up late cramming: A recent study found that students who got adequate sleep before a Maths test were nearly three times more likely to figure out the problem than those who stayed up all night.

Do more at school and you’ll have less to do at home. Take advantage of those times during the school day when you’re not in class: Review notes, go to the library or computer lab, get a headstart on your homework, or research that big term paper. You’ll be thankful later while you’re at the mall or a concert and your classmates are stuck at home cramming!

One of the best ways to make friends and learn your way around is by joining school clubs, sports teams, and activities. Even if you can’t kick a 30-yard goal or sing a solo, getting involved in other ways – going to a school play, helping with a bake sale, or cheering on friends at a swim meet – can help you feel like a part of things.

School is a time to make friends and try new things, but it’s also a place to learn skills like organisation and decision making that will come in handy for the rest of your life. (Excerpt from kidshealth.org)

Conserve water at home I

dentify ways you can conserve water in your home.

Consider this

It’s easy to waste water and even easier to take clean water for granted. Water pours out of our faucets as though it were endlessly available. But the truth is that the supply of good quality freshwater is limited.

Fortunately, it’s just as easy to save water as it is to waste it.

Conserve water at home

Use the following questions and tips to help you identify places where you can make changes to save water – and money, too!

Inside the house

Has your family discussed water conservation and implemented any water conservation plans?

Have all leaking faucets, toilets, and shower heads been repaired?

Is the dishwasher run only when full so you conserve water?

Is the washing machine run only when full so you conserve water?

Are silverware and dishes pre-soaked in a container instead of rinsed with running water?

Have low-flow faucets been installed?

Have toilets been installed that use 1.6 gallons/ flush or less?

Do you turn off the water while brushing teeth and soaping hands?

Do you turn off the faucet when scrubbing dishes and pots?

Outside the house

Are driveways and sidewalks swept rather than cleaned with water?

Has native vegetation been planted that is adapted to local rainfall amounts and climate?

Has mulch been placed around plants and trees to retain moisture?

If the lawn and plants need to be watered, is this done during the cooler parts of the day to minimize evaporation loss?

Are sprinklers and hoses directed at grassy areas and not the pavement when watering?

Is rainwater collected for irrigating and watering plants?(plt.org)

news

7

saturday, august 31, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

GRDB fraud case

$52M fraud charge against PPP/C executive, 2 others dismissed

Former General Manager of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), Jagnarine Singh

By Leah Hernandez

S

enior Magistrate Leron Daly on Friday dismissed a 2011 fraud charge against three former officials of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) when the matter was called before her at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

Those freed of the charges were former General

Manager of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) Jagnarine Singh; former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs and PPP/C Member of Parliament, Nigel Dharamlall; and the Deputy Permanent Secretary of Finance in the Ministry of Agriculture, Prema Roopnarine.

The charge which was dismissed alleged that in 2011, while being members of the GRDB, with intent to defraud, they omitted to enter some $52 million in the GRDB ledger.

Defence Attorney Sase Gunraj in an interview with Guyana Times after the court hearing on Friday conveyed that the charge was dismissed after Magistrate Daly found that Special Prosecutor of the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), Lawrence Harris failed to prove his case against the defendants.

“The matter was dismissed, Magistrate Leron Daly found that the prosecu-

Former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs and PPP/C Member of Parliament, Nigel Dharamlall

tion, which was SOCU, had not made out a case against the persons” he noted.

With respect to the remaining charges including the omission of some $77.3 million from the GRDB ledger also in 2011, and other charges which read that between the years 2014 and 2015, the sums of $130 million, $9.7 million and $145 million were respectively

omitted from the GRDB register, the defence attorney underscored that the above listed can also be dismissed since the Magistrate also found that it was not the responsibility of the defendants to enter information into the ledger.

Back in May of 2017, Singh, Dharamlall, Roopnarine along with former Deputy General Manager of GRDB and People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) member Madanlall Ramraj, PPP/C Member of Parliament, Dharamkumar Seeraj and former General Manager of the Guyana Oil Company (GuyOil) Badrie Persaud were all slapped with the fraudulent charges, alleging that they failed to make a proper entry into a register of a company, with the intent to defraud over $400 million from the entity’s Republic Bank account, between the period of 2011 to 2015.

However, they were granted bail in the sum of

10,000 kg of mercury...

It will seek to monitor the use of the substance in various operations, especially gold mining. During the ceremony, Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman underscored the importance of mercury-free activities, which Guyana has committed to since 2013 under the previous administration.

“The determinant for who does the transition to a mercury-free environment is not economics. It is based on national willpower. The journey to a mercury-free Guyana is a long but necessary one. We started that journey in 2013, when we globally expressed our national acknowledgement of the dangers and hazards of mercury,” Trotman ex-

pressed.

Commissioner of the GGMC, Newell Dennison noted that the mercury importation is dependent on the amount of gold produced, but in recent years, the volume has decreased.

Last year, approximately 10,000 kilograms of the substance was imported. This is significantly lower than the peak of 87,000 kilograms in previous years.

“It went up to 87,000 kilograms is the peak we had in the last seven years or so, but it varies. Last year, we only had about 10,000 kilograms. This is based on the official records. The idea now is for a register to be put in place so we’re able to have a better handle of the stocks supposed to be offi-

cially,” Dennison told media operatives.

According to Registrar of the PTCCB, Trecia DavidGarnath, her agency will act as one of the primary regulatory bodies for the importation aspect of the element.

“We are one of the key agencies that has a responsibility in the management of the import of mercury in Guyana. The Board will also be looking at distribution and storage of mercury in Guyana. Recognising the hazards and risks is one of the reasons why we are pleased that there will now be a collaborative approach among the three agencies,” the Registrar specified.

Meanwhile, the EPA will be responsible for management and conservation of

Deputy Permanent Secretary of Finance in the Ministry of Agriculture, Prema Roopnarine

$500,000 each at their first court appearance.

Following the said charges, former Deputy General Manager of GRDB, Madanlall Ramraj filed legal proceedings at the Demerara High Court to challenge the grounds on which he was arraigned before the courts.

In this matter, High Court Judge Navindra Singh ordered a stay on the

Attorney-at-Law Sase Gunraj

fraudulent charges brought by the State against Ramraj.

The parliamentary Opposition has long argued that the charges brought against the officials were trumped-up charges and that they had no merit.

Several other former Government officials are facing charges in the courts, which the Opposition argues is just a case of political witch-hunting and victimisation.

From page 2

the environment as well as preventing or controlling pollution, sustainable use of the natural resources, and regulation of wastes comprising of mercury and mercury compounds.

The Ministry was vested with the “overall responsibly to develop, implement and oversee policies for the responsible explora-

tion, development and utilisation of natural resources”. Trotman had positioned that there are indications of mercury being transported across borders to other countries once imported.

Guyana had signed on to the Minamata Convention— an international treaty designed to protect health and the environment from an-

thropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds.

According to the agreement, the entities are mandated to agree to a limited amount of the substance to be imported for use in small and medium scale mining, starting with 1,000 flasks or 34,000 kilograms per year.

8 News

saturday, august 31, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Nabaclis murder

Gold miner charged for killing ex-lover

Murdered: Vinnette Headley-James

O

ne week after brutally killing his ex-lover, 54-year-old Sherlock James was on Friday arraigned for murder when he appeared at the Mahaica Magistrate’s Court.

James made his first appearance before Magistrate Marissa Mittelholzer after being discharged from the Georgetown Public Hospital

Corporation on Thursday, where he was being treated for a self-inflicted neck injury.

The accused was not required to plead to the indictable charge which stated that on August 21, 2019, at Lot 68 Nabacalis Side Line Dam, East Coast Demerara, he murdered Vinnette Headley-James.

An unrepresented James was remanded to prison by Magistrate Mittelholzer and the matter was adjourned until October 9, 2019, when it is expected that James will make his appearance at the Cove and John Magistrate’s Court.

This publication previously reported that a few days before the victim, Vinnette Headley-James, met her demise, she was stabbed by her husband, Sherlock James, during a heated argument over an accusation of an extramarital

Murder suspect: Sherlock James

affair.

However, he returned to the woman’s home a few days later and was greeted by his clothes and other belongings being dumped in the yard.

He reportedly demanded that the woman stop throwing out his personal belongings but she refused to com-

ply.

This reportedly angered the man, who armed himself with a knife and stabbed the mother of three to her neck.

Headley-James was rushed to the CC Nicholson Hospital where she died whilst receiving treatment.

The police later found James lying with a wound to his neck a short distance away from where the crime was committed.

He was escorted to the GPHC where he received treatment under guard and was discharged to make court appearance on Friday.

Police reports have indicated that James worked in the interior and would spend long periods away from home.

The couple have eight children together but only three were living with them at their Nabacalis Side Line Dam, East Coast Demerara (ECD) home.

Ex-GRA personnel charged for collecting bribe from night club owner

T

hirty-three-year-old Siresti Bascom, a former employee of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), was on Friday slapped with a charge of corrupt transaction when he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

Bascom, who is now a security guard, denied that on December 4, 2018, at the Rio Night Club, while being an agent of the GRA, he corruptly obtained $1 million from Paul Daby as a reward or inducement to not seize and remove uncustomed alcoholic beverages found at the nightclub, an act in relation to his principal affairs.

The court heard that on the day in question, the defendant was given in-

A report was later made against Bascom regarding his actions. An investigation was launched into the matter and upon completion, the present charge was instituted against him.

Police Prosecutor Sanj Singh made no objections

Remanded: Siresti Bascom

structions to go and seize a quantity of illegal alcoholic beverages at the nightclub, but failed to do same and instead collected the cash listed in the charge.

to bail being granted and as such, Magistrate Leron Daly granted Bascom his pre-trial liberty in the sum of $80,000.

Bascom will make his next court appearance on September 20, 2019.

Vendor charged for being in possession of over 96lbs of ganja

A

fter being busted with a large amount of marijuana at his stall in the Stabroek Market a few days ago, 30-year-old Jason Dundas appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan charged for the possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking.

Dundas of Ann’s Grove, East Coast Demerara (ECD) denied that on August 22, 2019 at Corn Hill Street, Georgetown, he had in his possession 43.772 kilograms or (96.5 pounds) of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.

Short facts presented by Police Prosecutor Gordon Mansfield detailed that on the day in question, ranks

Remanded: Jason Dundas

acting on information went to the defendant’s stall and requested to carry out a search.

During the said search, a quantity of leaves, seeds and stems suspected to be marijuana were found wrapped in several parcels hidden in the stall.

After Dundas was cautioned and told of the offence, he reportedly claimed ownership of the illegal drugs.

Prosecutor Mansfield objected to bail being granted to the defendant on the grounds of the penalty the charge attracts and the prevalence of the charge.

As such, the Chief Magistrate remanded the defendant to prison until September 25, 2019.

Stymied by…

W

…a recalcitrant government hat we’re witnessing in Guyana is a game of “Three-card Monte”, writ large: with the Constitution as the card that Granger’s sleights of hand have seemingly befuddled the Courts. The No-Confidence Motion was passed on Dec 21, 2018. It’s now clear that through his “now you see it and now you don’t” moves, the caretaker President will NOT be proclaiming any election date for this year.

As to when that date will be, it’s just as certain that even when GECOM (read the GECOM Chair Claudette Singh) finally says when they’ll be “ready”, Granger will go beyond that date.

The Opposition has bent over backwards to go along with the subterfuges of Granger – and then some! If the PPP had invoked the voodoo theory of half-men to claim a majority of 65 is 34 when the very existence of their government was based on having a majority of 33, this Eyewitness will bet dollars to donuts that the PNC – call it APNU or what you may – would’ve been in the streets in violent protests.

But it’s time to call a spade a spade in the continued outrage the PNC’s inflicting on the nation.

After throwing out that “half-man” nonsense on stilts, the CCJ – as any court would do – interpreted the Constitution as far as the NCM was concerned.

They ruled that the NCM was validly passed but they shouldn’t have stopped there. All courts, after interpreting the law (in this case the Constitution) have to then go on to issue orders to ensure the wrong is made right. In this case, that the elections be three months after the NCM as per Art 106 (6).

Recognising as it did that the actual deadline of March 21 had passed, the Court ruled that the “clock had been stopped” by the legal action but started ticking again on June 18. Where the CCJ made a fatal mistake (for our Constitution and the peace of Guyana) was to refer to the “integrity” of the parties to do the right thing. Meaning, of course, elections by Sept 18.

But the CCJ should’ve known that they were dealing with the PNC. …merging After the naiveté of the CCJ – your Eyewitness will give them the benefit of the doubt – since the PPP lead lawyer Mendez and his “seconds” hadn’t explicitly asked for a definitive date from them – we now have to deal with the new GECOM Chair who so happens to be a retired Judge. The issue in front of her was the same one posed by the CCJ to the government: holding elections ASAP. From the moment your Eyewitness saw her taking her sweet time convening a meeting with the Commissioners to make a decision on the H2H, he smelled a rat. And lo and behold, the “Threecard Monte” continued. This time it was the voters’ list that faced the “now you see it and now you don’t” manoeuvres.

Four days was given to stop H2H and not immediately; the Secretariat doubled up the time for registrations during those four days; then the old list had to be merged with the (fixed) new one.

With help from Jamaica.

No elections until first oil!! …fake papers It’s clear the PNC believes offence is the best defence. Knowing fully well they’ve provided Haitians, Venezuelans and Brazilians plus 16 year olds with fake birth certificates and other IDs, they’ve now accused the PPP of the deed!!

Taking their doo-doo…

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

news

9

saturday, august 31, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

PSC makes application to be election observer

T

he Private Sector Commission (PSC) has submitted a request to become an observer for the upcoming elections in Guyana.

It is the first local organisation to make a request to be an observer, according to Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Public Relations Officer Yolanda Ward.

The application was submitted following a meeting with the Chairperson of the GECOM, Justice (retired) Claudette Singh on Thursday.

“Upon conclusion of the meeting, the PSC submitted a letter requesting accreditation to

observe the upcoming General and Regional Elections,” GECOM said in a statement to the media on Friday.

The 2015 General and Regional Elections attracted several local and international observers, including from the Carter Centre, the Commonwealth, the Organisation of American States (OAS), among others.

GECOM’s Public Relations Officer explained to Guyana Times that international observers are accredited by the Government, not GECOM. For local observers, they have to express their interest to GECOM for the application process to begin.

The PSC, the PRO explained, has taken the first in a series of steps to become accredited as an observer.

The Commission will have to go through a number of procedures before they become accredited.

Preparedness for the polls

The Private Sector’s meeting with GECOM was to ascertain the entity’s preparedness for the polls, according to the statement.

PSC Chairman Gerald Gouveia, during the twohour long meeting, explained that there has been a fruitful relationship between the two agencies for more than fifteen years.

Water woes

Fire truck supplies affected WCD residents with water

– East Coast villages without water for days

A

The fire truck supplying the residents with water on Friday

s Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) continues to address the water woes, hundreds of residents on the West Coast and East Coast of Demerara are without potable water for close to two weeks.

Residents of Plaisance, Goedverwagting, Ogle, Better Hope and Atlantic Gardens on the ECD have contacted Guyana Times out of frustration complaining about the water woes.

Most of them have stated that they have been out of water for the past week but GWI has not issued any statement with regards the situation. As such, they are hoping the water company corrects the present inconvenience at the shortest possible time.

On the other hand, as the situation gets worse on the WCD, the fire tenders attached to the Guyana Fire Service intervened on Friday morning to bring some relief to resident in De Kinderen and Meten-MeerZorg, West Coast Demerara (WCD).

The trucks would have provided residents with a few containers of water to last them a few hours so that the children and those working family members can go about their business.

Although grateful, the residents were upset at the poor condition of the water.

“Me ain’t putting that on my skin, the water brown, it looks like trench water, I ain’t sure where they get that from” one resident complained.

Another stated “I can’t use that to bathe or to wash my baby clothes because I don’t know what germs in it, it red red” the young woman complained in dismay.

Some residents told Guyana Times that at midnight, water would come through the taps but only for a short period.

“I does put the hose in the drum and leave the pipe on so when it come on a little at nights, I does get water but just a little but at least I could use it to shower” the De Kenderen resident stated.

However, some residents have not gotten any water at all for several days now.

“We even try to pump the water and nothing. We don’t have any water at all to do anything, not to bathe, to wash, to clean, nothing at all” the resident said.

The water woes in the areas began with consistently low water pressure, creating a situation of acute discomfort and inconvenience to residents.

“The water pressure has been so low that I had to loose down my pipe from the stand to get [it] to a lower height, and then I use small containers to literally place on the ground to get a little water. That’s how desperate I am…

“Doing that takes me a good 30 minutes to get a small bucket of water… It is very frustrating, and today (Sunday) no water at all [has flowed]. I don’t know how much more of this I can take. This is the weekend,

when I need to get all of my chores done before the new week. Now all of my dirty clothes pile up, my house is a mess…I don’t have water to do anything,” one De Kenderen resident had complained.

Another De Kenderen resident had recently complained of having to purchase water in order to complete chores.

“I don’t have any water tanks or water barrels or anything at the moment, so I have no other means of getting water other than from the pipes. And since they aren’t working, I literally have to purchase bottled water to shower and do dishes and so on, and that is not cheap at all! It’s a struggle,” that resident complained.

However, the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI), when contacted, had advised affected residents that the matter is being investigated, but results of this investigation are yet to be made known.

The water company had further revealed that no issue had been detected at the pump station supplying the affected areas. Officials reportedly believe there might have been a breakage in the water distribution network. It was, however, later reported that the issue is as a result of low power being supplied by the Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL).

As such, a team from GWI is presently working to have water pushed to the area.

Members of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) meeting with GECOM Chairperson Retired Justice Claudette Singh and Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield

He outlined some of the specific areas of collaboration in particular, the PSC’s role as accredited observers during elections and expressed an interest in continued support and collaboration.

However, the meeting focused extensively on the GECOM’s state of preparedness for the holding of the elections in light of the constitutional deadline, the CCJ’s ruling on the NoConfidence Motion and the recent ruling of the Chief Justice on House-to-House Registration.

Specifically, the PSC expressed concerns as it relates to what was referred to as “the possible lengthy duration to merge the National Register of Registrant Databases (NRRDBs)”.

Opposition Leader

Bharrat Jagdeo had explained that the merging of the data could push elections back until April 2020.

“So, you understand this merger will not improve the database. It’s a delaying tactic once again,” he had stated during his press conference Thursday.

Furthermore, the Opposition Leader had reasoned that the data collected during the more than 40-day registration exercise might even be illegal.

GECOM had announced that it will scrap the Houseto-House Registration exercise effective August 31, 2019 and will merge the data gathered so far with existing NRR.

Early elections

Meanwhile, in response to the concerns raised by the

Private Sector officials, the GECOM Chairperson assured that everything will be done to ensure elections are held as early as possible.

“Justice Singh explained that in her capacity as GECOM’s Chairperson, she will be doing everything possible within her remit to ensure that the ruling of the Court is honoured and the elections are held within the shortest possible time,” GECOM stated.

“She added that, based on her decisions taken at the last statutory meeting, the technical team is working to provide timelines to the Commission”.

Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, who was also present at the meeting, provided details on the Secretariat’s operational activities.

10 news

saturday, august 31, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

GRA to sell over 4000 seized bottles of alcohol T

he Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) will be disposing of a quantity of alcoholic beverages it seized over a period of time by selling it to interested persons before the Christmas season.

The beverages according to the agency will be given to persons who submit a written request to the Authority expressing their interest in purchasing the alcohol, using its approved price list.

Interested persons must attach to their request a copy of their Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) certificate and a copy of the requisite “off liquor and malt and wine licence” or liquor restaurant licence.

GRA noted, “Persons who have met the above-mentioned criteria and are interested must state clearly in their letter to the Revenue Authority the quantity needed and their contact information”. The spirits include Ciroc, Johnnie Walker, Absolute, Hennessey and others. Guyana Times understands that close to 5000

An official at the tax agency told this publication that the vehicles, some of which are already registered, were used by the entity.

However, the agency in a notice published in the newspapers said, “Motor vehicles that can be registered would be assigned new registration numbers after full payment”.

On sale are Toyota Raums, Carinas and

bottles of liquor will be on sale.

Inspection of the goods will be facilitated daily commencing September 9, 2019 and concluding on September 11, 2019 between 09:00h to 15:00h at GRA’s warehouse facility, Industrial Site, Eccles, East Bank Demerara and Corriverton, Berbice, it added.

Over the years, GRA has been successful in seizing alcoholic beverages amounting to millions of dollars.

In fact, earlier this year, the state newspaper report-

ed that several bottles of Hennessy Cognac were discovered in a 20 foot container at the Guyana National Industrial Corporation (GNIC) wharf on Water Street, Georgetown.

It was the Drug Enforcement Unit of GRA who made the startling discovery in February. Guyana Times understands that there have been several other busts following that incident.

In addition, on Tuesday, the GRA revealed that it has 67 vehicles for sale at warehouses across the country.

Cruisers, Nissan Bluebirds, X-Trail and several others which require repairs. In fact, GRA said some of the vehicles will even be sold as scrap on a ‘as is, where is’ basis, through bidding.

Inspection of the vehicles commenced on Monday.

GRA was keen to note that payments must be made in cash or through a manager’s cheque within three working days of being

informed, failure on the part of the successful bidder will result in the next bidder being considered.

A separate bid form will be required for each vehicle and bidders are only allowed to submit one document per stock number.

Successful bidders will be required to remove and transport their vehicles within five working days of being informed.

Volunteer to gain experience – Energy Director tells UG students

W

ith concerns raised about youths being denied job opportunities on the basis that they lack requisite experience in the fields, Energy Director, Dr Mark Bynoe has urged them to take up volunteerism.

He shared this position during the orientation exercise for students of the University of Guyana’s Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences on

Energy Department Director, Dr Mark Bynoe

Thursday. There, the batch of students was given a guide on how to be professionally successful in their career paths.

“The big question becomes how are we going to get the experience if no one employs us. I say the quickest way to get that experience is to volunteer your services.

Volunteerism is not such a foreign term and that’s the problem we have had…Many other volunteer institutions allow us to gain experience alongside the jobs we want to perform,” Bynoe shared.

Along with that, the Energy Director insisted that the competency of university graduates has been questioned in the past. For this, they are seeking to equip the oil and as sector with skilled personnel who can apply their training in practical settings.

“We’ve heard consistently about issues surrounding university graduates and persons not being able to perform because of difficulty in terms of competency…If as Guyanese we will be popu-

lating this new and emerging sector, it is important that we are grounded and have a common understanding in terms of what it means.”

He gave assurances of the vast employment opportunities which are essential in the oil industry. However, it entails investments in their educational field to qualify themselves. The oil sector has many components and will require human resources of different skills.

Dr Bynoe said to the new students, “You will benefit once you make the sacrifice…Each operator still needs to have a marine biologist. They still need to ensure that for every well that they drill, they conduct an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment.

They must also construct an Environmental and Social Management Plan and those have to be monitored to ensure that they’re adherent to what is stipulated therein.

Do not just follow the rhetoric but think about where your future lies”.

With these guidelines, Bynoe asked the University students to ask questions on how oil revenues will benefit their lives since Guyana will shift into production mode next year.

“Oil is no more a figment of our imagination, but is drawing closer to reality…

Much discussion have gone on around oil and gas and Guyana being able to embark on a new frontier but it is also important for us to stop and ask ourselves how are we going to benefit from these new resources that will be coming in,” he said.

news

11

saturday, august 31, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

APNU, AFC still to discuss PM candidacy for upcoming elections – despite AFC choosing Ramjattan as its PM candidate

General Secretary of the PNCR, Amna Ally

A

s Guyana prepares for General and Regional Elections in the coming months, the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance for Change (AFC) have not discussed its prime ministerial candidate although Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan was selected to take up the post once the Government gets back into power.

This is according to Chief Whip of the APNU, Amna Ally, who during a press conference on Friday stated that the AFC is yet to officially communicate with the APNU as to who the AFC’s prime ministerial candidate.

“With regard to endorsing Minister Ramjattan, we have not received any formal request, notification or whatever…We are still about to engage the AFC for consultation to deal with Cummingsburg Accord among other matters that are important, and so maybe, maybe that is going to be one that will come up for discussion but at the moment we have no notifica-

tion or no request from the AFC about a prime ministerial candidate.”

The last time the two parties were supposed to meet, she explained, discussions were expected to be focused on the Cummingsburg Accord. She is, however, convinced that the two sides will meet soon.

“There was supposed to be a meeting and that meeting did not come off but what I know is that the proposals were laid on the table. We have a team from the APNU side that is dealing with it and the AFC has a team. So, they are looking at the proposals and so on.”

When questioned about the AFC’s proposals, Ali stated that she would be unable to disclose such, since she is not privy to that information as yet.

“I am not part of that delegation that deals with the proposals. Mr Harmon and Ms Volda Lawrence are our representatives,” the PNCR General Secretary added.

Ramjattan as PM candidate non-negotiable

However, just last month, General Secretary of the AFC David Patterson had stated that neither the PNCR nor any other member of the APNU can dictate or direct the selection of AFC for that party’s prime ministerial post.

Patterson made those comments during one of his party’s press briefings and stated that the Cummingsburg Accord, which the AFC signed on to with the APNU, is still in existence, and as such, it is solely the responsibility of the AFC to choose its prime ministerial candidate for the upcoming elections in Guyana.

Leader of the AFC, Khemraj Ramjattan

This Accord has expired but according to Patterson, “It is very clear that the AFC shall nominate the PM candidate and it is very clear that the APNU shall nominate the presidential candidate. I don’t see anything, I don’t know anything, there has not been any discussion and we would not entertain any discussion that changes that. And that is just the way it is”.

His remarks came in response to questions by the media about a recent statement made by Chairperson of the PNCR Volda Lawrence, who had noted that although the AFC has elected Khemraj Ramjattan to be its next prime ministerial candidate — replacing Moses Nagamootoo in June — the APNU and the AFC are yet to meet on this new development.

“The party welcomes the fact that the AFC party was able to have their conference and elect their new candidate for the Prime Ministerial position. The coalition and the AFC have not reached that stage in terms of discussion on the

prime ministerial candidate,” Lawrence had noted.

In accordance with the Cummingsburg Accord between the two parties, AFC will have the Prime Ministerial position, while the presidential post goes to APNU. However, some believe that APNU would sidestep AFC and go the route of choosing a prime ministerial candidate from within its own grouping. The APNU alliance consists of five parties with the PNCR leading.

The others are the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), Justice for All Party (JFAP), National Front Alliance (NFA) and the Guyana Action Party (GAP).

Nevertheless, following the AFC’s National Executive Conference on June 15, the party’s newly elected General Secretary David Patterson had told reporters that Ramjattan’s nomination will have to be accepted by the majority of APNU. “The Alliance for Change is a political party in its own right. The AFC has made a recommendation it will stick by. So just like we did in 2015, we will do in 2019 or 2020, if we stay in a coalition… If we’re in a coalition and we’re governed by an agreement and that agreement is currently in effect, it says the AFC shall nominate a prime ministerial candidate. There’s nowhere in that agreement that says we’ll nominate a prime ministerial candidate who the coalition accepts or not,” Patterson had stated.

PM Nagamootoo’s poor performance led to his ousting

While the APNU fraction of the coalition earlier this year had already signalled support for its leader David

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo

Granger to return as presidential candidate, it was reported that sections of the AFC’s delegation felt that incumbent Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo’s performance over the years has not been up to par.

However, earlier this year, AFC’s then leader and current Chairman, Raphael Trotman, had

warned against replacing Nagamootoo, saying that it would undermine the coalition Government in the eyes of the people, by seeming to validate the Government’s failings and the passage of the No-Confidence Motion (NCM).

“The No-Confidence Motion was a direct challenge on the GrangerNagamootoo leadership. In my view, if we were to jump to replace either gentlemen in an emotive way, we would be openly conceding that the motion and vote were justified and valid,” Trotman had stated in sections of the media back in February.

With the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) having already ruled that the No-Confidence Motion was validly passed against the coalition back in December, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is expected to provide a date as early as possible for elections to be held.

12 news

saturday, august 31, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

After 20 years

Court yet to make decision on protection of Indigenous peoples’ lands in Region 7 …justice delayed is justice denied – Upper Mazaruni District Council Chairman

A

ruling on a court battle which dated back 20 years to ensure that the lands occupied

by Guyana’s first people of Region Seven (CuyuniMazaruni) are protected is yet to be laid down.

This is according to former President of the Amerindian Peoples’ Association (APA) and Chairman of the Upper Mazaruni District Council, Toshao Mario Hastings, who on Thursday stated that although this matter was filed decades ago by the Indigenous people, the court is yet to make a ruling and was not sure the reason for the hold up.

“A collective action taken by the Akawaois and Arecunas…the lawsuit one Mendelson et al v the Attorney General, this case has passed successive political administrations and executive Presidents. So we have had our case pending and we are awaiting a decision. We know that at present there are a lot of legal cases being filed in the high court and rulings have been made in a very short time, but here we have our case pending for almost 21 years”.

During the launching ceremony of a Participatory Assessment of the Land Tenure Situation of Indigenous Peoples in Region Seven report, Hastings explained that

in future developmental designs of policy, legislation, regulations, programmes and projects,” Hastings stated.

According to the Toshao, this land tenure assessment report is a clear documentation which authorities in Region Seven will use to guide their “support policy makers” since the document highlights the concerns of Indigenous peoples in that

Chairman of the Upper Mazaruni District Council, Toshao Mario Hastings

some of the Toshaos who filed as plaintiffs in the case as well as some of the village leaders in the Upper Mazaruni who testified have passed away.

However, the Indigenous people are imploring that the judicial arm of the country deals with the matter in an expeditious manner.

“We await a decision and hope that this will be done soon because justice delayed is justice denied. As Guyana moves to have significant foreign investments such as oil drilling scheduled to commence soon, we call for an urgent, legal reform that protects our rights as Indigenous peoples. Reform legislation must protect our rights to traditional lands and respect our right to free, prior and informed consent

Region as well as recommendations.

“Indigenous peoples are indisputably recognised globally as the true protectors of lands and forests. We call on the Government to respect our right to sit at the national table to design the future of our country… This report points out opportunities for government agencies to work with us in ensuring that the land tenure

situation is righted hereon in a participatory manner and in a manner that guarantees the collective rights of Indigenous peoples”.

Hastings added that in cases where titles may have been issued, these were done without consultation and without the Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of Indigenous peoples.

Inevitably, this has resulted in severe challenges on rights violations since Indigenous peoples’ right to

own, use and occupy traditional lands is constrained in many ways, he noted.

“Our hunting, fishing, spawning, farming, gathering grounds, lie outside of our titled lands. Our sacred sites outside of titled lands are being desecrated by mining which is done without our consent. We are faced with fragmented titles enabled by deficient laws that do not recognise our collective right nor support our collective decision making”.

20 Guyanese to study in China as 23 return

T

he Chinese Embassy to Guyana on Thursday evening bid farewell to 20 Guyanese who will soon head to further pursue their education in China while at the same time, it welcomed the returning students.

In creating a more diversely trained public service ready to contribute to Guyana’s development, the scholarship awardees who were selected out of over 1000 applicants will now have the opportunity to study in a Chinese renowned university of their choice, in several provinces across China in various fields including medicine, engineering and several social sciences.

The students, who will study for a two-year period would have completed studies at the University of Guyana and graduated at the top of their classes.

The scholarships form part of the People’s Republic of China and the Cooperative Republic of Guyana’s continued bilateral support in all areas, ranging from trade to infrastructure to education.

Permanent Secretary of the Department of Public Service, Karen Vansluytman-Corbin reiterated the Department’s

Permanent Secretary of the Department of Public Service, Karen Vansluytman-Corbin (pink jacket); Director of the Department of International Cooperation, Forbes July; Student affairs official, Tanza McAlmont; Chinese Ambassador to Guyana HE Cui Jianchun and his wife; and Deputy Chief of the Chinese Embassy Chen Xilai (third from right), along with returned and outgoing students and other representatives of the embassy and PSM staff

commitment to ensuring Guyanese students have access to a range of educational opportunities.

“We believe that training is the essence of transformation and is essential for the development of Guyana’s human capital… training continues to be pivotal and necessary in order for the public service to achieve its developmental objectives,” she noted.

In his feature remarks, Counsellor and Deputy Chief of Mission, Chen Xilai encouraged the outgoing students to make the most of

the opportunity provided to them while challenging the returning students to invest in Guyana. Xilai noted that the Chinese Government places significant focus on education.

“The Chinese people attaches great importance to education and each year’s billions of dollars goes to education, in 2018, the Government’s expenditure in education accounts for about 4 per cent of the total GDP. Upon the strong support of Government, the Private Sector and stakeholders, many Chinese uni-

versities have become well known internationally and are playing very important roles in China’s national development” Xilai stated.

The Deputy Chief of Missions congratulated the students, noting that their accomplishment is no small feat.

“Congratulations!

For this year, 10 million high school students took part in this year’s national university entrance examinations and less than 10 per cent of them can be accepted by the top universities that you are going to study,” Xilai said.

Navindra Persaud, one of the outgoing students, expressed his gratitude to the Chinese Embassy for granting him the scholarship.

However, returning student Serena Rambarran, a clinical medicine graduate from the Nanchang University in China, shared her experience.

“We accomplished what once seemed impossible.

We formed the GuyanaChina Students Association.

Our vision is to deploy the skills obtained through mutual learning within the Association to contribute to the development of Guyana while bridging the gap between past, present and future Guyanese students… we formed lasting friendships and we enjoyed the Chinese cuisine, our time was a great one” Rambarran expressed.

Upon their return, the students will serve in the public sector in fields specifically related to their areas of study.

news

13

saturday, august 31, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Region 10 youths inspired through FTCSF’s “Empower U” initiative

FTCSF Director Tisha Campbell

H

undreds of youths from across the Linden community and other parts of Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) are actively involved and are being positively inspired through an “Empower U” initiative spearheaded by Linden-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), For The Children Sake Foundation (FTCSF).

A number of programmes were conducted in Linden recently, including the “Empower U” youth conference and a series of youth camps in riverine communities across the region.

The annual youth conference, which was held at the Lichas Hall, saw over 200 of the community’s youths in attendance.

This was conducted in collaboration with the Office of Linden Mayor Waneka Arindell and the Family and Adolescent Health Units of the Public Health Ministry, the Maternal Child Health Department, Department of Youth, Linden Fund USA and the Ministry of the Presidency.

The event was held under the theme, “To Empower,

Encourage and Inspire” and featured a number of motivational speakers and activities aimed at youth development in several areas.

FTCSF Executive Director Vernon Todd explained that the primary goal of the conference was to bring together leaders and professionals as well as friends and partners of Linden and across the country in open dialogue with the aim of discussing issues youths face on a daily basis.

In addition, it was used to develop possible strategies to allow youths to become aware and more en-

vestment, politics, education and outreach”, he noted.

Director of the organization, Tisha Campbell said the aim of the initiative, which was birthed by the organisation last year, was conducted in keeping with the theme.

“We live in a society where, if you open the papers you see a lot of suicide, there’s a lot of gender-based violence, abuse, rape and all these things. So, the whole objective is basically to empower adolescents. We want to be able to encourage them to speak out; empower them to develop personally, proYouths in attendance at the “Empower U” conference at the Lichas Hall

Young people from riverine areas in Region 10 engaged in activities during the camps

gaged in initiatives taking place in Region 10.

“We believe that our diverse and dynamic group of speakers provided indepth insight, as well as actionable and practical tools of engagement, ‘Models, Methods and Mechanisms’ (3Ms) that have worked in other regions; and were able to share how the 3Ms could be utilised to aid the youths to become more effective in the ongoing development efforts of Region 10 in key areas such as healthcare, in-

fessionally...so different persons are here to inspire, share their experiences and to basically impart knowledge to empower our adolescents”, she noted.

Campbell hailed the successful engagements with participants, who were educated on aspects such as self-love and empowered to be leaders and agents for positive change.

She stressed that there is a range of ongoing initiatives hosted by the organisation as it continues to work

towards capacity-building.

Presently, there is an active youth organisation based at One Mile, Wismar, Linden, where youth-friendly sessions are hosted on Fridays and Saturdays. This programme is open to all interested youths. Campbell said youths also get the opportunity to become peer educators which also aids in capacity-building in dealing with social and health-related issues. It also gives an opportunity for assisting other adolescents and persons within the community. Other initiatives include the “Youth seeking answers” programme, which is also open to all adolescents.

Interested persons can text

or call 699-2286 and ask any health-related or socially-related questions and also receive counselling. There are also additional programmes targetting community development.

The Ministry of the Presidency Department of Youth in collaboration the FTCSF, Region 10 Department of Education and Linden Fund USA also recently hosted a series of Youth camps at Aroaima, Coomacka and Rockstone under the “Empower U” initiative.

Todd also encouraged the community’s youths to become volunteers as he stressed the importance of volunteerism.

“Volunteer work gives youth knowledge, experience, social identity and new skills. Voluntary work also builds a sense of community, improves the daily lives of many people and promotes social development...

It is more important than ever to maintain a strong focus on human rights, strong and universal educational systems, stimulate entrepreneurship and cooperation with the Private Sector for increased job creation.

Worldwide, young people make up a quarter of the world’s population.

You are a driving force behind change...”, he noted.

(Utumu Belle)

14 News

saturday, august 31, 2019| guyanatimesgy.com

Students complete workGRDB urges farmers to destroy study stint at GNBS Paddy bug infestation

pests despite age of crop

T

he Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) is urging farmers affected by paddy bugs to destroy the adult bugs, despite the age of their crops.

So far, dozens of farmers across three different administrative regions have confirmed that their farms are infested with the dreaded pest, which has already resulted in millions of dollars in losses.

The Rice Board said that dams and meres must be free of grass weeds at all times as this provides a good source of food and shelter for the paddy bugs, while issuing tips for farmers to better manage their rice fields.

More importantly, GRDB explained, “Spraying is necessary if the number of bugs is one per metre square or one bug for every two sweeps…farmers are advised to use two motor blowers per acre at a distance of

22 feet or 11 footsteps apart when spraying”.

It also encouraged farmers to monitor their fields daily while the crop is in its flowering stage, especially early in the morning before 08:00h or late in the afternoon after 16:00h until the grains mature fully.

Additionally, the Rice Board noted that egg masses should be destroyed but if they are already hatched, spot spraying can be done with a contact insecticide.

Last week, former Agriculture Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy called out the Government and the GRDB for not responding to the paddy bug infestation which has already resulted in millions of losses for rice farmers.

Ramsammy argued that the Government and GRDB’s move to dismiss the challenges and problems rice farmers face while insisting rice is a Private

Sector activity is “dangerous” and “repulsive” as rice farmers and millers invest more than $50 billion annually into the economy.

The former Minister said he knows for a fact that the paddy bug infestation has led to the loss of almost 20 per cent of the rice crop in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) and even worse losses in Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam). Over in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), the problem is equally devastating to farmers, he added.

For Regions Two and Six alone, some 500,000 bags of paddy were lost, which means $1.4 billion in revenue for each region.

Meanwhile, in Region Five, farmers reportedly lost more than 600,000 bags of paddy as a result of the paddy bugs and red rice.

Ramsammy was keen to note that the paddy bug is not the only issue affecting farmers as he made mention specifically of floods and dry conditions, accompanied by clogged canals and dysfunctional pumps among others.

These issues, according to him, are not being addressed by the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) nor the Agriculture Ministry.

He predicted that overall, Guyanese rice farmers will lose about $9 billion this year, having already lost more than $8 billion in 2018.

Officials along with the work-study students at the closing ceremony on Friday

T

he Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) on Friday hosted a simple ceremony to bid farewell to six workstudy students who completed their six-week stint with the organisation.

These students, who completed secondary and tertiary institutions, benefited from the experience of working with staff within multiple departments of the National Standards body.

Completing the workstudy were: Rawle Douglas, Ayeshia Carter, Avanelle Meusa, Letecia Hassan, Shennisa Daniels, and Ashley Mohanlall.

Speaking at the ceremony were the various Heads of the Departments (HoDs) to which the trainees were at-

tached. The HoDs commended the students for their demonstrated commitment to the GNBS, shown by their punctuality, attendance and their desire to participate and become knowledgeable about the activities conducted by the organisation.

Lisa Ahmad, Head Human Resource and Administration commended the students for aligning and conducting themselves with the GNBS core values of accountability, synergy, professionalism, innovation, respect and efficiency. She encouraged the students to take these values with them throughout their professional and personal lives for continued success.

Further, the trainees were encouraged by

Shailendra Rai, Head of Product Compliance Department to take note of what is occurring in the local oil industry.

He urged them to do their research and to be engaged in the relevant studies to align themselves for employment in this major industry or supporting industries.

On behalf of their counterparts, Meusa and Douglas thanked the GNBS for the amazing experience they had with the organisation.

They both alluded that during this first experience of work they benefitted significantly from the knowledge freely imparted by staff of the GNBS.

GTT to increase 3G capacity in core Georgetown areas – company sees increased traffic for mobile 3G services

A

s Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) continues its efforts to enhance its 3G service handling capacity to mobile customers, it has installed nine new pole sites across the core Georgetown areas in the past few months.

The new pole sites were deployed in North Georgetown (Main Street

and Thomas Lands), South Lusignan, South Diamond, West of Stadium; Enterprise, ECD and Westminster, WBD. According to GTT Senior Engineer— Mobile Operations, Ian La Fargue, since the installation of the new pole sites, the company has seen increased traffic for 3G mobile services.

“These nine pole sites are

for additional capacity. Pole sites selected for this deployment ensured high traffic areas were satisfied to cater for additional capacity in a specific mobile serving area.

Since we deployed these poles, we have seen an increase in traffic for services.

Persons traversing these inhigh traffic mobile areas can now enjoy improved mobile functionality,” La Fargue

stated.

The Senior Engineer explained that these new sites are shorter when compared to the traditional towers, and reduce the area required for a site, while adding capacity in the area installed.

In addition to the nine pole sites, La Fargue explained that the telephone company would be installing six traditional towers com-

mencing the last quarter of 2019. This, he noted, will cater to customers outside of core Georgetown areas.

“The tower sites we have are for South Canal WBD, North Rosignol and New Amsterdam areas”.

news

15

saturday, august 31, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Deforestation, fires alarming – Granger

– urges youth to preserve environment for future

U

nderscoring the importance of the Guiana Shield – which is considered to be the lungs of the earth— President David Granger has expressed alarm at events within this critical area that result in the de-

struction of the much-needed preserved forests.

According to the Guyanese Head of State, the Guiana Shield is not only essential to enriching and replenishing the world’s biodiversity, but is also consequently essential

to the planet’s survival.

“This is all we have and we have to protect and preserve it… [So] there’s justifiable alarm in what is taking place in other areas in the South American continent; when so many trees are being cut down

Region 9 residents benefit from WASH training

President David Granger with Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman, Minister of State Dawn Hastings-Williams, Social Cohesion Minister, Dr George Norton and the participants of this year’s YNR apprenticeship programme

Facilitators of the WASH programme pose with some of the participants after their training session in Nappi Village, Region Nine

R

esidents of Nappi, Parishara and Hiawa in Region 9 (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) are now equipped with the requisite knowledge of water supply, sanitation and hygiene in their communities following the recent hosting of a workshop at the Nappi Central Benab.

The Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) workshop was hosted under the Japan Caribbean Climate Change Partnership Programme and was a collaborative effort among the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI), the Office of Climate Change (OCC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

It was made possible through a grant from the People of Japan.

The objectives of the WASH workshop were to increase awareness of water supply, sanitation, hygiene and to educate the communities about the maintenance of climate resilient infrastructure, storage tanks, pipe networks, filters and rain water harvesting.

It forms part of a Guyana Pilot Project which is being rolled out in the aforementioned communities by the OCC in conjunction with the UNDP. The pilot project focuses on improving the resilience of the water supply infrastructure in the communities to extreme climate conditions, specifically droughts.

It was determined that the pilot warrants the active participation of GWI as a key player, especially with regard to climate change impacts on water resources, well conditions, specific capacity, water supply, demand balance and water quality monitoring.

Toshao Guy Fredericks expressed his appreciation for the collaborative effort. GWI Alternative Energy Manager Cleon French detailed GWI’s work in Region Nine to improve access to potable water for all residents in the 57 communities where GWI has developed infrastructure.

GWI also engaged the services of Lucina Singh – Climate Change Officer— to provide guidance on formulating solutions for the communities affected by the prolonged dry weather conditions and on climate change adaptation from which residents share their experience with drought.

The team observed that the communities of Hiawa, Nappi and Parishara have wells which are producing adequate for the communities. GWI Executive Director of Design & Infrastructure, Aubrey Roberts said, “It is pivotal to monitor the water level in these wells and to have good water practices and storage”. He also gave a broad overview of how GWI delivers water to residents and the role communities can play to sustain the investments in the water supply

systems.

Sanitation is also important and residents were told that if they practice good sanitation then they can preserve their health. The importance of effective hand washing was discussed by GWI’s Sanitation Manager, Rensford Joseph.

The company’s Head of Water Quality, Dr Deon Anderson tasked residents with keeping their water sources safe for consumption purposes. He also engaged residents on how bleach should be used and what to do if their water should become contaminated. Further, health workers were taught how to collect water samples for microbiological analysis.

GWI Region Nine Manager John Yow explained the operation of solar powered water systems and the importance of timely feedback from the community to sustain the water supply. He also outlined that maintenance will be provided from the GWI Lethem office, together with the efforts of the servicemen in the communities.

A total of 24 participants including teachers, health workers, servicemen and councillors are now armed with vital information and are prepared to work with GWI on solutions for dealing with the effects of the prolonged dry season, hygiene, water quality and harvesting rainwater.

or burn to the ground,” the President asserted.

The Guiana Shield encompasses some 270 million hectares of forests, covering Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Venezuela and small parts of Colombia and northern Brazil. It is home to exceptional biodiversity and plays a key role in the fight against climate change, by alone storing over a billion tons of carbons and mitigates the effects of greenhouse gas emissions.

The Guiana Shield is located to the northwest of the Amazon rainforest, 60 per cent of which is located within the borders of neighbouring Brazil. However, currently the Portuguesespeaking nation is experiencing its most intense forest inferno in almost a decade.

Fires have been ripping through the Amazon at a record rate for weeks.

While the Amazon usually experiences wildfires during the dry season (July-October), experts say that the blaze has intensified as a result of deforestation and a practice called ‘slash and burn’— which clears the forest to make way for agriculture, livestock, logging, mining and other developmental activities.

Figures provided by Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) show more than 87,000 forest fires were recorded in Brazil in the first eight months of 2019, compared to 49,000 in the same period last year.

While the inferno is a direct concern of countries around the world, it is particularly worrisome to the Amazonian countries which include Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru,

Suriname and Venezuela.

Last week, Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman told reporters that while concerns are brewing over the blaze across the border, no direct impact has been identified to Guyana’s own forests.

Nevertheless, he noted that the country is taking precautionary measures to protect against any such occurrence in its dense forest.

With the Amazon fires stirring fears around the world, President Granger has underscored the need for Guyana to continue to intensify preservation practices that would keep the rainforest and its biodiversity intact, not only for the benefit of current population, but future generations as well.

He was at the time delivering the feature address on Friday at the closing ceremony for the third Youth in Natural Resources Apprenticeship Programme, which saw 28 young people being exposed to Guyana’s interior regions to learn about the Natural Resources Sector and job opportunities in these industries.

According to the Head of State, with over 75% of Guyana’s territory covered by forests, Guyana continues to be a global front runner in the promotion of environment conservation.

Pointing out that the biggest threat to this is the extractive industries, the President charged that steps be taken protect the environment from this.

“We must take measures to ensure the sustainability of our resources and also the protection of our population. We must not believe that environment damage is a victimless crime… The extractive industries, par-

ticularly mining and logging, despite their immeasurable economic benefits, are associates of mid-air pollution, biodiversity loss, fresh water and maritime contamination, greenhouse gas emissions, land degradation and resource depletion. These industries must be developed in a manner that protects the environment,” he contended.

President Granger went on to outline that this generation is merely a trustee and custodian of the environment and its natural resources, and as such, cannot bequeath a “damaged legacy” to future descendants.

“There is need now to arrest the destruction of the environment by some of the most ruthless extractive industries,” he asserted, adding that he is not blaming anyone except the “bad guys”.

However, Granger further commended the Natural Resources Ministry for undertaking the Youths in Natural Resources (YNR) programme, which exposes young people to the prospect of involvement in the extractive industries as an honourable vocation if done sustainably and with due regard for the environment.

“It involves young people in the protection and preservation of the environment. Youth in Guyana can look forward to a bright future in the Natural Resources sector. Guyana of necessity must continue to support farming, logging and mining which are the principle occupations which sustain the population. These sectors will remain the main stays of the economy and the providers of employment,” he stressed.

16

guyanatimesgy.com

saturday, august 31, 2019

Regional

Amazon fires: The tragic couple Trinidad: PSA Leader Duke granted $250k bail with surety who died protecting their home

T

rinidad and Tobagonian Leader of the Public Services Association (PSA), Watson Duke, was granted $250,000 bail with a surety when he appeared before a Port of Spain Magistrate this morning charged with sedition.

Duke appeared before magistrate Adia Mohammed in the Third Court.

The prosecution said while they did not object to a bail application made

by Duke’s attorney John Heath, they were concerned that Duke may continue to commit offences while on bail.

Citing Duke’s pending

Leader of the T&T Public Services Association, Watson Duke

matters of rape and indecent assault in Trinidad and one count of disorderly conduct in Tobago, the Police Prosecutor said they were not sure what bail stipulations to place on Duke given his status as Leader of the PSA. Duke was granted bail and is expected to return to court in December.

Heath told reporters, while Duke was mentally strong, he was still unwell and was expected to be re-admitted to the Port of Spain General Hospital on release from police custody.

(Trinidad Newsday)

Dorian strengthens to Category 3 hurricane

H

urricane Dorian has strengthened to a major Category 3 storm. The National Hurricane Centre in Miami says the hurricane is “extremely dangerous” and poses a significant threat to Florida and the north-west-

ern Bahamas.

Dorian was located 445 miles (715 kilometres) east of the northwest Bahamas at 14:00h EDT on Friday.

It had maximum sustained winds of 115 mph and was moving northwest at 10 mph.

A hurricane watch was in effect for north-western Bahamas. Hurricane conditions are possible by Sunday.

The centre said additional strengthening is expected as the storm approaches the Florida peninsula. (Jamaica

Observer)

T

he home of Eidi Rodrigues and her husband Romildo – a wooden shack with a thatched roof – now lies in ruins.

It was their first house, and it made them proud.

The couple lived in Machadinho D’Oeste, a rural village in the Amazon state of Rondonia in northwest Brazil.

It is a region marred by land disputes, and among communities in Machadinho D’Oeste, it is common practice to clear land for pastures and crops.

Fires had been a constant concern for the couple, who feared that those started by their neighbours could spread to their backyard, especially during periods of drought.

On 13 August, Eidi and Romildo’s worst fears were realised.

The couple died while trying to protect their home, unable to escape when the flames got out of control.

“People use fire to clear the land in this region, but on that day it was very windy. The fire spread too quickly and didn’t give them time to run away,”

Farmers Eidi and Romildo died while trying to salvage their home

Jeigislaine Carvalho, one of Eidi’s daughters, told the BBC. A large number of fires are ravaging parts of the Amazon, a tropical rainforest that spans much of Brazil and other South American countries.

Satellite data shows a huge increase in fires burning in the Brazilian Amazon in particular.

Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) says 87,257 fires have been recorded so far in the country this year, a 76% increase on 2018.

In Rondonia state alone,

there have been more than 6,500 fires so far, a rise of 146% on 2018, Inpe data show.

The extent of the fires has caused concern and outrage across the globe, with world leaders calling on Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro to take action.

French President Emmanuel Macron has described the steep rise in fires as an “international crisis” which critics have blamed on Bolsonaro’s anti-environmental rhetoric and soft stance on deforestation violations. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Jamaica: Health Minister Colombia: Ex-FARC leaders’ return to launches prostate cancer arms brings back memories of bloodshed awareness campaign T he memories came flooding back to Angela Maria Escobar when she woke to the news that key former leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were once again picking up arms.

The bloody clashes between the rebel fighters and paramilitary groups. The sounds of gunfire that once echoed across her small Colombian town. Her friends who were murdered by one armed group because they

Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton participates in displaying a T-shirt with the logo for the prostate cancer awareness campaign, dubbed the “Boss Man”, at its launch on August 29, at Hope Zoo in St Andrew, Jamaica

J

amaica’s Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton, has launched a prostate cancer awareness campaign to help reduce the high number of deaths associated with the illness locally.

Speaking at the launch yesterday, August 29 at the Hope Zoo in St Andrew, the Minister said that greater focus must be placed on prevention, in order to get Jamaicans to practise healthier and better quality lifestyles “and reduce the need and the costs associated with curative measures”.

“It is a response to a growing problem that we have, and that response starts with promoting personal responsibility and awareness around the extent of the challenge [of] why we need to do something about it; and why we can be better individuals, in terms

of longevity of life, by doing something about it,” Tufton said.

The campaign, dubbed the “Boss Man”, is supported by the Jamaica Cancer Society, Guardian Group, and Guardsman Group. It is projected to run for six months, during which men will be encouraged to “boss up” and get screened to preserve their lives.

“At the end, if we achieve greater awareness of the simplicity and the ‘no risk involved’ in the testing, and follow-up actions, the number will come down,” the Minister said.

Under the programme, a series of community activities targeting gender-specific spaces to reach men will be done, and male influencers in the security forces, the clergy, and community will play leading roles to promote screening and testing for the cancer.

(Jamaica Observer)

were suspected of helping the other.

The sadness, desolation, fear, and the date, December 23, 2000: the day she was raped by three paramilitary’s fighters.

“It’s a sadness, devastation, I felt like I was powerless,” she said.

Anxiety struck many in the South American country on Thursday morning, when a group of FARC leaders - including former peace negotia-

tor Ivan Marquez - announced they were rearming against the government of Colombian President Ivan Duque, accusing him of not honouring the 2016 peace accords.

While the peace was already on thin ice, the announcement of a “new phase of armed struggle” by the guerrilla fighters marked perhaps the biggest hit to Colombian peace since the accords were signed three years ago. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

nouncing on Election Day in 1988 when he served as Interior Minister that the vote-tabulating computers had crashed as the main opposition candidate was in the lead. When the computers came back online, the PRI’s candidate had won, drawing accusations of fraud from critics.

Lopez Obrador won a landslide victory at the polls last year

after vowing on the campaign trail to root out corruption.

Mexican journalists Areli Quintero and Carlos Loret de Mola this week reported that Bartlett controlled a vast real estate empire worth far more than the assets reported in his public declaration.

A spokesman for the CFE did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reuters)

Mexican President backs official accused of suspect real estate purchases

M

exican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Friday expressed support for Manuel Bartlett, the head of national electricity company CFE, despite accusations that Bartlett has improperly accumulated nearly two dozen luxury properties.

“I have confidence in Mr Bartlett,” Lopez Obrador told reporters at his morning news conference.

The President tapped Bartlett, a veteran politician with a controversial past, to lead Mexico’s State-owned power utility.

Bartlett, then a member of the long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), is well known in Mexico for an-

guyanatimesgy.com

saturday, august 31, 2019

17

Around the World

34 years later, Assam set Ebola deaths in east DRC outbreak top 2000 to get an updated NRC

A

fter a wait of 34 years since the Assam Accord was signed at the end of a six-year-long bloody anti-immigrants’ agitation, Assam is set to get an updated National Register of Citizens (NRC) on Saturday.

It was committed in the accord, signed in 1985 between the then Rajiv Gandhi Government and the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), that the NRC of 1951, unique to Assam, will be updated. The demand for its updation was in the light of alleged unabated migration of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Given the threat posed to Assam’s demography and pressure on land, language and culture, the anti-foreigners’ agitation was launched. In due course, a political party, Asom Gana Parishad, was born out of it which promised to rid Assam of the immigrants. It tasted power twice but the problem remained.

The Assamese had fought for long demanding the updation of the NRC. They believed its updation could only

help detect and deport the immigrants. As such, when the Supreme Court in 2013 issued an order to the Centre for the updation of the document, the Assamese had heaved a sigh of relief. They believed they were, at last, going to get something that will protect them.

On the eve of the publication of the updated final NRC, there is a widespread fear among the migrant settlers, particularly Bengali Hindus and Muslims, although it is still under check. The state Government said people excluded would not face immediate detention and that they would be given ample opportunities to fight their cases in the Foreigners’ Tribunals.

The Government has also announced that it would extend legal help to those excluded free of cost.

Amidst the perception that some elements might try and foment trouble, the State’s Director General of Police (DGP), Kuladhar Saikia, has warned that anyone found taking law into his hands will be dealt with firmly.

“We have taken various measures to maintain peace and communal harmony. Steps have been also taken to thwart any untoward incidents. If any person tries to take law into his hands, he will be dealt with firmly,” he told reporters.

He said the situation was absolutely “normal” and “under control”. “We have no apprehension on the law and order front. As people cooperated with us during the publication of the last two drafts of the NRC, there was no incident. We expect similar cooperation from them this time too,” the DGP said.

Stating that the superintendents of police in all districts had already surveyed their areas and assessed vulnerability and sensitivity, he said the police control rooms across the State had been activated and they were working in synergy with the police headquarters and the NRC authorities.

The Top Cop said the police had also kept a hawk’s eye on social media activities. (The New India Express)

Iran has said it will breach the deal’s limits on its nuclear activities one by one, ratcheting up pressure on parties who still hope to save it.

US President Donald Trump has offered to hold talks with Iran on a broader deal but Tehran says first it must get relief from US sanctions.

Friday’s quarterly report to member states obtained by Reuters said Iran has accumulated 241.6 kg of enriched uranium and is enriching at around the same level as before, up to 4.5 per cent.

Iran’s enriched uranium stock is

still a fraction of the tonnes it possessed before the deal. Its enrichment level is also well short of the 20 per cent it reached before the deal and the roughly 90 per cent that is considered weapons-grade.

Its breaches have therefore not yet made much difference to the time it would need to obtain enough fissile material for a nuclear bomb if it sought one. The deal - which set nuclear restrictions in exchange for sanctions relief - extended that time to roughly a year from a few months. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Iran goes further in breaching nuclear deal, IAEA report shows

I

ran has gone further in breaching its nuclear deal with world powers, increasing its stock of enriched uranium and refining it to a greater purity than allowed, the UN atomic agency report said on Friday.

The quarterly report from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is policing the 2015 deal, confirms Iran is progressively backing out of the deal in retaliation for Washington’s withdrawal from the accord and renewal of sanctions that have hit Iranian oil sales.

A new case in Uganda is likely to heighten fears over the crossborder spread of the deadly outbreak

T

he death toll from the year-long Ebola outbreak in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has topped 2000, according to Government data released on Friday, which also showed the number of confirmed cases had surpassed 3000.

The outbreak, which was officially declared in August of last year, is the second deadliest on record behind the 2013-2016 epidemic in West Africa that killed more than 11,300 people.

Uganda, meanwhile, reported another fatal case of Ebola after a nine-year-old girl who crossed the border from neighbouring DRC and tested positive for the disease died on Thursday evening.

The child - who was being held in isolation at a hospital in the Ugandan border district of Kasese - travelled from the DRC with her mother on Wednesday, Uganda’s

Health Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

The girl, of Congolese origin, was identified by a screening team at Mpondwe border post as she tried to cross to Uganda.

She exhibited symptoms including high fever and unexplained mouth bleeding, according to the statement. A sample of her blood tested positive for Ebola.

“Since the child was identified at the point of entry, there are no contacts in Uganda,” The Health Ministry’s statement said.

The new case is likely to heighten fears of the outbreak, which has largely been confined to eastern DRC, spilling over into neighbouring countries.

Cases of cross-border contamination have so far been rare, however, in part because of stringent screening procedures at official border crossings in Uganda and Rwanda, which border the DRC. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Hong Kong activists arrested: Brexit: MPs trying to block no-deal make Joshua Wong and others charged it more likely, says Boris Johnson

T

A

number of prominent pro-democracy activists and lawmakers have been arrested by Police in Hong Kong.

Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow, from the Demosisto party, were arrested and charged on Friday, while party Chairman Ivan Lam, who is not currently in Hong Kong, was charged in his absence.

Three pro-democracy lawmakers have also been arrested.

It comes after a mass march, scheduled for today, was banned by officials and called off by organisers.

If demonstrations went ahead, it would mark the 13th consecutive weekend of protests in Hong Kong.

The movement started as rallies against a controversial extradition bill - now suspended - which would have allowed criminal suspects to be sent to mainland China for trial.

They have since expanded in scope, becoming a broader pro-democracy movement in which clashes have grown more violent.

The Demosisto party said Wong, 23, was “suddenly pushed into a pri-

Pro-democracy activists Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow leave the Eastern Court after being released on bail in Hong Kong, China August 30, 2019

vate car on the street” while walking to a train station at around 07:30h (23:30 GMT Thursday).

Both he and Chow were taken to Police headquarters in Wan Chai and were charged with unlawfully organising a rally on June 21, at which protesters blockaded Police headquarters for 15 hours.

The case was adjourned until November and the activists were released on HK$10,000 (£1045) bail.

Beijing has repeatedly condemned the protesters and described their actions as “close to terrorism”. (Excerpt

from BBC News)

he PM has warned MPs they are damaging his chances of getting a deal with the EU by trying to block a no-deal Brexit.

Boris Johnson said the UK would leave the bloc “do or die” on October 31 prompting some MPs to act to stop the UK leaving without an agreement.

But he said the more MPs try to block a no-deal Brexit, “the more likely it is that we’ll end up in that situation”.

It comes after the PM announced he would be suspending Parliament for five

weeks over September and October.

Johnson said it was to allow the Government to hold a Queen’s Speech and outline its “very exciting agenda” for the future. But critics claim his intention is to prevent any moves in the Commons to stop a no-deal.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called the PM’s comments “complete nonsense”.

He said he was working with all the opposition parties to “challenge the Government” to stop a nodeal Brexit next week and he

was “hopeful” of securing the backing of the Commons.

Senior Tory Sir Oliver Letwin said MPs still had time to act next week when they return from recess and before the suspension - which is expected to begin between September 9 and 12 and last until October 14.

Former Prime Minister Sir John Major also confirmed he would be seeking a judicial review through the courts to oppose the suspension - known as prorogation joining forces with campaigner Gina Miller. (Excerpt from BBC News)

amid an increasingly deteriorating situation in Idlib province Russia, which intervened in Syria’s long-running conflict four years ago to back al-Assad, said on Friday that an agreement had been reached on “a unilateral ceasefire by Syrian Government forces in the Idlib de-escalation zone, from 6 am on August 31”.

The ceasefire aimed

“to stabilise the situation” in Idlib, the statement said, urging anti-Government fighters to “abandon armed provocations and join the peace process”, the Russian Reconciliation Centre for Syria said in a statement.

On Friday, Syrian troops captured several hills and small villages southeast of Idlib as they appeared to be trying to take as much ground as

possible before the ceasefire went into effect.

The Russian-led alliance has taken the towns of Khwain, Zarzoor and Tamanah farms in southern Idlib, pushing closer into densely populated parts of the province.

The advancements were the first major gains since the alliance seized the main rebel pocket in Hama province last week.

Russia declares ‘ceasefire’ as Syrians try to storm border post

R

ussia has announced a unilateral ceasefire in northwestern Syria, where Moscowbacked Government forces have been waging a fierce offensive to capture the rebels’ last major stronghold, from this morning.

The announcement came on Friday as displaced Syrian civilians tried to push through a border crossing to enter neighbouring Turkey,

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

18

guyanatimesgy.com

saturday, august 31, 2019

ARCHIE

ARIES

Visit a friend, attend

(March 21- a reunion or sign up for April 19) something that will expand

your mind or improve your health. Keeping busy will ease stress and encourage positive change.

Explore the possibilities TAURUS but don’t lose sight of what (April 20you already have. A comMay 20) bination of mixing the old with the new will add balance to your life. Romance is featured.

Social events that are inGEMINI dulgent or costly or include (May 21June 20) unsavory people are best avoided. It’s in your best interest to rethink whom you get involved with financially or emotionally.

dilbert

CANCER (June 21July 22)

A family gathering will give you access to people who can offer information about your extended family’s history.

Personal and spiritual growth will encourage better relationships. Romance is in the stars.

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

Do something that makes you happy or that makes you feel good about your appearance or career.

Helping others will make you grateful for what you have.

Peanuts

A change is favored.

VIRGO Join in, have fun and get in(Aug. 23- volved in social events that Sept. 22) will lead to exciting encounters with positive people who challenge you mentally, physically and emotionally.

Calvin and Hobbes

Take a broader look at LIBRA (Sept. 23- your personal life and curOct. 23) rent situation. Weigh the pros and cons of a certain situation. Let experience be your guide.

SUDOKU

SCORPIO Mixing business with (Oct. 24- pleasure will help you get Nov. 22) ahead. You have more assets than you realize, and you should exploit what you have to offer to get the highest returns.

Stop, look and listen.

SAGITTARIUS Recognize that some people (Nov. 23will use deceptive means Dec. 21) to trick you into buying something you don’t need or doing something you shouldn’t. Protect your reputation and assets.

solution for Last Published puzzle

Set high standards.

CAPRICORN Strive for success. Take care (Dec. 22of your interests personally.

Jan. 19) Offer a loved one something that will bring you closer together. Romance will enhance your life.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 19)

Check out new possibilities. A chance to make a professional move, retire early or use your skills in a way you find more enjoyable looks promising.

Be honest about your PISCES feelings, intentions and life (Feb. 20goals. Being willing to share March 20) will lead to a solid plan and a bright future.

saturday, august 31, 2019

19

Anderson ruled out of Ashes

– England call up Overton

J

ames Anderson has been ruled out of the rest of the Ashes Series, after suffering a recurrence of his calf injury while playing for Lancashire’s 2nd XI in a bid to prove his fitness.

England had been hoping to add him to their squad for the Old Trafford Test, but have instead called up Somerset all-rounder Craig Overton as bowling cover.

Anderson had played in the first Test against Australia, but had managed to bowl only four overs before suffering pain in his calf, having picked up the problem playing for Lancashire. England were heavily beaten at Edgbaston, but came back to level the series at 1-1 with two to play, after Ben Stokes’ heroics at Headingley.

Having featured for Lancashire’s seconds in a three-day friendly against Leicestershire, Anderson stepped up his recovery programme this week, bowling 20 overs on the first day against Durham 2nd XI at Chester Boughton Hall. However, while delivering his ninth over on Thursday, he felt pain in his right calf, and

was subsequently assessed by England’s medical team.

The most prolific fast bowler in Test history, Anderson has, in all likelihood, made his final appearance in Ashes tests. He has never hinted at setting a retirement date, but will be 39 by the time England next tour Australia, in 2021-22.

It is possible that Anderson has played his final Test altogether, although the lure of becoming the first fast bowler to take 600 wickets might encourage him to push for a return on England’s winter tours to New Zealand and South Africa.

Currently fourth on the alltime list of Test wicket-takers with 575, his partnership with Stuart Broad is the most sucJames Anderson

Matarkai Indigenous Heritage Football Tournament…

Participation in limbo – Champions PK United FC & Sebai Invincible Talons FC may not participate in regional playoffs

P

Male Champions PK United

ort Kaituma United Football Club, the 2017 National Indigenous Heritage Champions and double semi-finalists, like the Sebai Invincible Talons Football Club -- who emerged Matarkai champions and won the bragging rights to represent Matarkai in the Regional Playoffs scheduled for Mabaruma on September 7-8 – may not be able to participate in the National Heritage Games 2019 in Georgetown.

Their participation is in “limbo” because they allegedly have both been reliably informed that the Region One REO is totally against their attending the Regional Playoffs. This official is allegedly contending that attendant expenditure to accommodate the three subregions would exhaust the region’s funds before those participants even reach to Georgetown for the National Games.

The Matarkai Sports Council

(MSC) has allegedly been reliably informed -- at 16:50 hours on Thursday, August 29, 2019 -- that

Female Champions Sebai United

the REO instructed CDO Edward James to travel to Matarkai on Friday, August 30, to select 5 players from the Matarkai Finals to form the Region One team.

PK United FC and Sebai Invincible Talons FC, upon hearing about this new development, have advanced the following objections: They disapprove the idea of “Separation in forming a dream team”.

They are urging that the Region be represented at these playoff, because “it’s taxpayer’s monies involved.

If the situation is indeed as declared, why did Mr. Griffith (Hinterland Sports Coordinator) instruct that Sub-regional

playoffs be played?

The teams that participated in the competition leading up to the National Heritage Games have funded their own transportation and meals.

If the shocking revelation allegedly made is indeed true, why are the talented youths of Region One being deprived of the opportunity to be at the Heritage Games?

The Matarkai Sports Council is therefore calling for the Regional Playoffs to be staged with a minimum of 18 players per team, so the best team could be selected to represent the region; as it is their belief that Sports unites everyone.

cessful in Tests between two quicks. They have taken more than 850 wickets in games together.

In Anderson’s absence, Broad has led the way during the Ashes with 14 wickets at 25.35, although the emergence of Jofra Archer has given England an additional cutting edge. The selectors have otherwise stuck with the same players that helped secure a one-wicket win in Leeds, despite some speculation about the top-order batting after England were bowled out for 67 in the first innings.

Overton, who featured twice in the 2017-18 Ashes, is likely to join Sam Curran in vying with Chris Woakes for the # 8 spot.

The Old Trafford Test begins on Wednesday, with England needing to win at least one of the two remaining Tests and avoid defeat in the other in order to regain the Ashes.

England squad: Joe Root (capt), Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Jack Leach, Craig Overton, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes (Excerpt from cricinfo)

US Open 2019…

Federer deflates Evans –to reach 4th round

B

ritish number two player Dan Evans was outclassed by Swiss great Roger Federer in their third round match in the US Open 2019 tournament, as the 38-year-old rediscovered his best form to ease into the fourth round.

Playing with his trademark fluency on the Arthur Ashe Stadium, the five-time champion defeated Evans 6-2, 6-2, 6-1. Federer had dropped the first set in both of his previous two matches, but he played this one with swagger. He had lost out in the last 16 last year, but will next play David Goffin or Pablo Carreno Busta.

Evans was playing his second match in 24 hours, after completing his three-hour victory over French 25th seed Lucas Pouille only at about 15:00 local time on Thursday.

Despite leaving the Flushing Meadows site at about 18:00h, the world number 58 had to be back to play Federer at midday on Friday.

“I was fatigued. I thought it was pretty tough to be first up after playing yesterday, if I’m brutally honest,” Evans, 29, said. “Him being totally fresh and me battling yesterday, it is completely polar opposite. To try and beat him (while) being tired, stiff, and having played four sets…it is nigh on impossible. He played near-perfect tennis.”

‘Golden set’ Resurrecting his career after being without a ranking last year, Evans had pushed the 20-time Grand Slam champion when they met at the Australian Open in January, but the 29-year-old could not impose himself this time in what proved to be a miserable first appearance on Ashe.

The Briton did not look overawed by the occasion as he stepped out in the lunchtime New York heat, laughing with Federer and basketball legend Kobe Bryant - who was helping with the coin toss at the net. But the smiles soon turned to grimaces as he was beaten in one hour 20 minutes - the shortest completed men’s match of the tournament.

Evans played some wonderful stuff in his second-round win over 25th seed Lucas Pouille on Thursday, albeit helped by an erratic display from the Frenchman -- who could not land a first serve, and clocked up 81 unforced errors.

Here, he was given no help by Federer. The Swiss, perhaps benefiting by an extra day off than Evans, showed his intentions by starting the match with an ace, and was then allowed to dictate his service games, pushing forward regularly and finishing by winning 69% of his 36 net points.

The second set flashed by Evans with Federer not dropping a single point on his serve, and hitting 20 winners compared to none from the Briton.

“In the locker room, we call that a golden set,” former player Jeff Tarango said on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra commentary. “It’s a golden serving set. It’s so hard to serve a whole set without losing a point, and we’ve just seen Roger Federer do it. Federer is definitely going to talk about it at dinner.”

Evans earned some brief respite in the third by breaking back for 2-1, and showed his relief with a huge roar. That could not inspire a change of fortunes however, as Federer stepping up to immediately regain his advantage, and then win the next three games to seal a comfortable win. (Excerpt from BBC.COM)

20

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

saturday, august 31, 2019

HOLDER IMPRESSES -but Kohli, Agarwal‘s fifties keep India ahead

D

espite two fine fifties from Mayank Agarwal and Virat Kohli, it was Jason Holder whose persistent lengths made the most impression on a topsyturvy first day at Kingston.

Holder’s three wickets - of the two half-centurions and KL Rahul - never allowed India to dominate any period of play in the opening day of the second Test, and ensured they scored at a rate of lower than three runs per over.

Holder had opted to bowl at the toss, stating that the grassy surface would allow the Windies’ pacers to make the most of the deck; but that wasn’t to be early on, as India openers Rahul and Agarwal struck at a run-rate of 5.33 for the first six overs.

Rahul was especially aggressive, beginning his charge off the day’s very first over when he struck Kemar Roach through the covers for four. Soon, though, Agarwal presented a chance to Shannon Gabriel. Looking to drive, he edged one through the slips, but looked surer two balls later, while driving through the off side for a boundary.

When Gabriel went off the field, unwell after just three overs, Holder brought himself on, and struck with his fifth ball. Getting a length ball to straighten, he found the shoulder of Rahul’s bat, and had him caught at slip for 13. The catch was taken by Rahkeem Cornwall, one of two debutants - alongside wicketkeeper Jahmar Hamilton - playing for West Indies.

Soon after the first wicket, Cornwall was handed the ball with No. 3 Cheteshwar Pujara still searching for his first run.

Cornwall found purchase off the deck straight away. Pujara was often coming down the pitch to negate his flight and turn, but when the off-spinner pitched one shorter and quicker twenty minutes before lunch, the extra bounce forced the batsman on the back foot, and he ended up chipping to point for six. Thus the teams went into the break with India at 72 for 2, and No. 4 batsman Kohli still new at the crease.

straight back, as Kohli moved into his thirties.

Agarwal, though, was being tested by Holder’s length balls, which went both ways. He was particularly troubled in his forties, inside-edging two attempted drives to fine leg before reaching his third Test fifty in unconvincing fashion.

On 53, Agarwal was adjudged caught behind off Roach, but he reviewed after consulting Kohli, and that paid off. Replays

chances that could’ve rolled on to his stumps.

Kohli moved to 49 with a crisp cover drive off Gabriel, and two balls later, reached his 22nd Test fifty.

Rahane, ‘man of the match’ in the first Test, batted carefully in

3

SCOREBOARD KL Rahul c Cornwall b Holder 13 MA Agarwal c Cornwall b Holder

55 CA Pujara c Brooks b Cornwall 6 V Kohli (c) c †Hamilton b Holder 76 AM Rahane c †Hamilton b Roa ch 24 GH Vihari not out 42 RR Pant † not out 27 Extras 21 (b 8, lb 13) TOTAL 264/5 (90 Overs, RR: 2.93) Yet to bat: RA Jadeja, I Sharma, Jason Holder celebrates a wicket

Virat Kohli acknowledges the applause after another landmark Getty Images The post-lunch session began with four byes, as Kohli missed a pull down the leg side. He then rolled his wrists to flick Roach through midwicket, before repeating that in the next over off Cornwall. When Gabriel replaced Roach, he was driven

showed dayight between bat and ball; but it wasn’t to last, as Agarwal perished to Holder in the next over, edging one to Cornwall at first slip.

The 69-run stand, though, had done enough to put India slightly ahead at that stage.

Kohli and No. 5 Rahane then consolidated, with the latter surviving a few inside-edged

the hour before tea, happy to take the singles and avoid risky shots.

The final session began with India at 157 for 3. Roach dismissed Rahane with a dangling delivery outside off that he played at. Edging to the keeper, Rahane fell for 24, with India only at 164 for 4.

Kohli and No. 6 Hanuma

Vuelta a España…

Alejandro Valverde wins stage 7

– Miguel Angel Lopez reclaims lead

S

pain’s Alejandro Valverde won stage seven of Vuelta a Espana as Miguel Angel Lopez reclaimed the overall lead.

Road Race World Champion Valverde took victory ahead of Slovenian Primoz Roglic - second overall - on a stage which finished with a four-kilometre climb of Alto Mas de la Costa. Lopez has a six-second lead over Roglic in the overall race for the red jersey.

Earlier, Tejay van Garderen withdrew from the race after crashing on stage six. The American EF Education First rider was one of several hurt in a crash on Thursday. Team mates Rigoberto Uran and Briton Hugh Carthy suffered broken collarbones in one crash and were among four to withdraw.

Van Garderen felt well enough to start Friday’s stage, but eventually succumbed. (Excerpted from BBC.COM) Stage 7 result 1. Alejandro Valverde (Spa/ Movistar Team) 4 hrs 34 mins 11 secs 2. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Team Jumbo-Visma) “ 3. Miguel Angel Lopez (Col/ Astana Pro Team) +6 secs

Virat Kohli

day’s first six over long-on.

Vihari wasn’t afraid to play his shots either, striking two driven fours off Gabriel in the 85th over.

From the other end, Cornwall and Pant had a battle, wherein the bowler came around the wicket trying to induce the sweep. When the new ball was taken, Roach troubled Vihari with balls that were searing inwards, but a tired Gabriel did not pose the same challenge.

In the final over of the day, Vihari flicked two fours through midwicket off Roach, to finish the day of 42; while Pant walked back on 27.

Despite Cornwall bowling 27

Alejandro Valverde won stage seven of the Vuelta a España with a time of 4 hrs 34 mins 11 secs

4. Nairo Quintana (Col/Movistar Team) “ 5. Rafal Majka (Pol/BORAhansgrohe) +42 secs 6. Ion Izagirre (Spa/Astana Pro Team) +48 secs 7. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) +51 secs 8. Fabio Aru (Ita/UAE Team Emirates) “ 9. George Bennett (NZL/Team Jumbo-Visma) +1 min 7 secs 10. Oscar Rodríguez (Spa/Euskadi

Basque Country-Murias) +1 min 20 secs Overall leaders 1. Miguel Angel Lopez (Col/ Astana Pro Team) 28 hrs 19 mins 13 secs 2. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Team Jumbo-Visma) +6 secs 3. Alejandro Valverde (Spa/ Movistar Team) +16 secs 4. Nairo Quintana (Col/Movistar Team) +27 secs

5. Rafal Majka (Pol/ BORAhansgrohe) +1 min 58 secs 6. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) +2 mins 36 secs 7. Esteban Chaves (Col/ Mitchelton-Scott) +2 mins 52 secs 8. George Bennett (NZL/Team Jumbo-Visma) +3 mins 34 secs 9. Wilco Kelderman (NED/Team Sunweb) +3 mins 36 secs 10. Fabio Aru (Ita/UAE Team Emirates) “

Vihari then looked to build a partnership, but it lasted only 38 runs, as Kohli perished for 76.

Holder had returned for a new spell, and he went full outside off stump, tempting the India captain to drive. The ball zipped off the surface, took a feather-edge, and handed wicketkeeper Hamilton a second catch.

At 202 for 5, No. 7 Rishabh Pant joined Vihari, and he soon took on Roston Chase for the

Mohammed Shami, JJ Bumrah Fall of wickets: 1-32 (KL Rahul, 6.5 ov), 2-46 (Cheteshwar Pujara, 16.5 ov), 3-115 (Mayank Agarwal, 40.5 ov), 4-164 (Ajinkya Rahane, 59.5 ov), 5-202 (Virat Kohli, 72.1 ov) BOWLING O M R W KAJ Roach 19 7 47 1 ST Gabriel 12 0 57 0 JO Holder 20 6 39 3 RRS Cornwall 27 8 69 1 RL Chase 12 4 31 0

overs for only one wicket, West Indies would be pleased at the turn he was getting. Cornwall and Chase induced leading edges off nearly every batsman on the day, and the erratic extra bounce always kept the batsmen honest.

For the hosts, though, India’s unbeaten sixth-wicket stand of 62 stands in their way of taking the upper hand in a must-win Test match. (Excerpt from cricinfo)

Manchester United outcast Smalling, joins Roma on loan

R

oma have signed Chris Smalling on a season-long loan from Manchester United, the Serie A club announced.

Smalling last December signed a contract extension at Old Trafford running until 2022.

Three days before then, manager Jose Mourinho was sacked.

The 29-year-old continued to feature under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but the arrival of Harry Maguire during the close season left him down the pecking order at centre-back.

He has consequently opted for a temporary move to Roma, who paid United €3 million (£2.7m) to seal the deal.

“This is the perfect opportunity for me,” Smalling said in a statement. “The chance to experience a new league with a big team that has got big aspirations is exactly what I needed. Hopefully, I can hit the ground running. I’m looking forward to joining up with my team-mates.”

Roma sporting director Gianluca Petrachi added: “We are pleased to bring a player like Chris, who has so much experience, to Roma. We are convinced he will help the growth of this squad and all the

Chris Smalling

lads he plays alongside.”

Like the similarly long-serving Phil Jones, Smalling has not managed a minute of first-team action this season, with Solskjaer preferring Axel Tuanzebe as back-up to Maguire and Victor Lindelof.

Smalling has 31 caps for England, but has not featured since June 2017, having fallen out of favour with national team boss Gareth Southgate.

Roma shared a thrilling 3-3 draw with Genoa on the opening weekend of the Serie A season.

Smalling was identified as the man to shore up a Roma defence shorn of the influential Kostas Manolas, who joined Napoli ahead of the 2019-20 campaign.

(Excerpt from Sportsmax)

guyanatimesgy.com

saturday, august 31, 2019

CLASSIFIED ADS DRIVING Shalom Enterprise Driving School Address: 2nd Coral Street, Stabroek Georgetown. Also obtain an International Driving Permit covering 131 countries. Tel: 227-3869, 6228162/659-3381. Join us on Facebook.

FOR SALE 2 Acres for Housing. Vreed-en-Hoop, W.C.D. #621-6918, 697-7731 TRANSPORTED HOUSELOTS SARAH JOANNA EAST BANK DEMERARA # 673-9231 / 216-4063/ 685-5476

property for sale ONE Greenheart Wooden Building.

Only going for $290,000 (price negotiable). all : 501-3706.

spirituality & ASTROLOGY OM SHAKTI ASTROLOGY. MEET PANDIT ONCE AND GET PERMANENT SOLUTIONS FOR ALL YOUR PROBLEMS, PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE. JOB, LOVE, HEALTH AND DOMESTIC PROBLEMS 100% GUARTANTEED. CALL OR WHATSAPP 692-9449. LOCATED – ECCLES EAST BANK DEMERARA.

TO LET FOR RENT BY OWNER. 8000 sq ft of warehouse/office space on the BV (Beterverwagting) Public Rd, East Coast Demerara.

Multiple air-conditioned offices. USD $4500 NEGOTIABLE. Call or Whatsapp 592-610-6580

Archery Guyana represented at Double 720 Qualification in Baltimore – DeAbreu, Persaud have good outing

O

n Saturday 24th August, 2019, two of Archery Guyana’s members: Wayne Gerald DeAbreu and Devin Persaud, partic- i pated in the World Archery approved tournament Double 720 Qualification in Baltimore, Canada.

Under bright clear blue skies, our two Guyanese started the day in Baltimore with the half hour of practice time to sight in their Recurve Bows, then started shooting 72 arrows and scoring the first 720 during the morning session, which result-

ed in DeAbreu with a 626 score and Persaud with a 620.

After a break, the afternoon session commenced with the other 72 and that concluded the second 720 round, after which DeAbreu secured 603 and Persaud emerged with a 644 thereby elevating his ranking. Archery G u y a n a is pleased to report that Devin Persaud is currently

ranked 9th in Canada after the top 5 scores are recorded and Wayne DeAbreu is ranked as 17th in Canada.

Current plans and training are ongoing to continue to shoot in the upcoming tournaments to continuously better scores and raise the ranking and ultimately the level of Archery. The Board of Archery Guyana stands behind their two highest ranked Archers as they continue to represent Guyana.

The Double 720 Qualification or Olympic round, 72 arrows are shot at 70m for recurve archers and at 50m for compound archers. & amp; nbsp; The compound archers shoot

employees.

The Insurance Institute of Guyana, an arm of the Insurance Association of Guyana, is responsible for training and education in the industry. The Insurance Association of the Caribbean Inc (IAC) was the “brainchild” of a small group of visionaries (industry leaders from Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana

NOT RECEIVING YOUR DAILY & SUNDAY COPIES OF THE

Men and WomenCompound and Para-Archery - 50 cm Target Face:- 50M for Master, Senior, Junior and Cadet Men and Women40M for Cub Men and Women- 30 M for Pre-Cub Men and Women.

and Barbados) who wanted to prepare the indigenous insurance industry for the future challenges of the remaining century.

Its membership is diverse, with a large contingent of registered affiliates located throughout the Caribbean, Canada, Europe and the United States. These specialise in every field of insurance.

King's Jewellery World helps Wong realise his Germany dream

Some of the action that will be featured in the tournament

– Payless Variety Store also on board

Contact our

Circulation Department

J

on

Phone: 223-7230 EXT: 55

Insurance Institute of Guyana President Anil Singh

T 223-7230-1 (Ext 55)

on a 6 ring, while the recurve archers shoot on a 122cm full target face.Recurve 122cm Target Face:- 70M for Senior and Junior Men and Women- 60M for Master and Cadet Men and Women50M for Cub Men and Women- 30M for Pre-Cub

Highly-anticipated tape-ball tournament today

Lucky me Lucky you seek Sales Representatives to sell tickets in their respective region. Requirements: ID, Two Proof of Address. Call: 6600275 / 624-3507.

in your area?

Devin Persaud and Wayne DeAbreu at the Double 720 Qualification Baltimore, Canada

Insurance Institute of Guyana…

wanted

GUYANA TIMES

21

he Insurance Institute of Guyana (IIG) will be staging a fiveover, seven-a-side knockout tape ball tournament at the Guyana National Industrial Company’s (GNIC’s) Sports Club ground on Woolford Avenue in Thomas Lands, Georgetown from 11:00h today.

According to IIG President Anil Singh, nine teams have thus far registered to participate: Handin-Hand, Raj Insurance, Assuria, Diamond, GTM, NAFICO, GCIS, Demerara

Mutual, and Caricom Insurance, and the brokers, including APEX, MP, P and P, IBGL and Abdool and Abdool, will team up with the insurance companies to form the various teams.

Trophies donated by the companies will be at stake as the top four teams from the preliminary round games contest the semi-finals.

Other events carded for the day include sack races, while there would also be entertainment for the children. Singh said this is

the first time the IIG, located at North Road and King Street, is engaging in such an activity, and excitement is high.

He said IIG encourages people to study, and to some extent, provides materials for them to so do. He added that the IIG’s Social Activity Committee is responsible for events. This committee comprises members of the various insurance companies.

Singh foresees this activity being attended by members of the various insurance companies and their

ust a few days after Miguel Wong’s intention to participate in a Germany-based table tennis camp was publicised, the popular King’s Jewellery World has been one of the first business entities to come to his assistance.

The three-month training camp in Eilenburg, Germany will be hosted at one of the world’s finest table tennis club and youth nursery— Sächsischer Tischtennis-Verband eV. With his dream located halfway across the world, it is no secret that the national player would need an extra push. As such, the household name King’s Jewellery World has thrown their weight behind national table tennis player.

Meanwhile, Payless Variety Store has also made a contribution, but Wong says that he needs just a little more support to realise his journey halfway across the world.

The table tennis club, Sächsischer TischtennisVerband eV, is considered the training ground for the world’s best talents from Latin-American countries.

Wong revealed that he met a Mexican senior player, along with a Dominican player at the Pan-American Games in the Dominican Republic a couple of years ago and they were impressed by his skill, thus, they had put plans in motion to get him invited to the training facility.

The training camp invitation is for September 1 November 30 in Eilenburg, Germany, and as such, Wong is appealing for support. Anyone interested in assisting the youngster can contact him via +592 646 0825 or on Facebook: Miguel Wong.

22

saturday, august 31, 2019

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

CONCACAF Nations League…

Interim Head Coach looking to add something ‘new’ to team T

he door has been closed on the tenure of Michael Johnson as Golden Jaguars Head Coach; but a new door has been opened for the introduction of Márcio Máximo as interim Head Coach, and on Friday morning he interacted with media operatives in this regard, sharing some of his views on the team, and how he would like to go forward.

Given opportunity to lead the Golden Jaguars following resignation of the Jamaican Michael Johnson, who has been given a better offer, Maximo, a Brazilian national, has been in Guyana, and has been working with a local 31-member provisional squad for the CONCACAF Nations League, which will begin on September 5.

Speaking on his appointment, Maximo said he is elated to be working with the Guyanese outfit, and hopes to add something meaningful to this team.

“I’m really, really happy to be here, and I hope that in the near future we start to add something. I didn’t come here to change, I came here to add something to Guyana football,” he declared.

Whilst reflecting on the moment when he received the job offer from Guyana Football Federation (GFF) President Wayne Forde, Maximo said he has every intention of utilizing a team that is a mixture of foreign and local talents.

“When Mr. Forde invited me to take the job, it was very clear that it should open new opportunity for our youth and local players. You can’t only depend on

foreign players. Of course, foreign players are very important for us, because they open markets for our local play-

Aruba, the coach admitted, the team will have an uphill task, but he remains positive about its preparations.

“I think that it is a medium- tolong-term programme. The competi-

The new Golden Jags Head Coach Marcio Maximo conducts a training session

ers; but not only (them), you should create a system that you can use our local players as well,” he said.

The Head Coach emphasized the importance of having a balanced team, saying that “local players don’t have the experience that foreign players have.”

When Guyana begin their Nations League campaign on September 6 against

tion will be tough for us; we have three days, but we study videos, we know some of the players, and we have three days there to implement something to add (to what we already have). We can’t change too much,” he explained.

GFF President Wayne Forde has disclosed the reason behind that Federation’s ability to find Johnson’s replacement as

quickly as had been done.

“Clearly, we had a short space of time to make a decision, and I think the good in all of it is that we anticipate things, as any good management would do. So we were already considering if certain eventualities appeared before us, what (are) the decisions that would likely be taken.”

Probed about the new direction the team is likely to take under fresh stewardship, Forde stressed that the team is not looking to restart, but rather to build on the foundation that has already been laid.

“It’s not by any means a restart. I think what will be new is that, with every new head coach, they bring their own playing philosophy, their own model. So you may see some of that along the technical lines, but in terms of the strategic direction of the Guyana Football Federation for the Golden Jaguars brand, it remains the same,” he explained.

The GFF boss has praised former Head Coach Johnson for the work he had put in during his year-long tenure, and has expressed positive hopes for the Golden Jaguars’ future.

“We are very proud of the work that Coach Michael Johnson did during his tenure. The records will show for the rest of Guyana’s football existence that Coach Johnson took the Guyana Golden Jaguars to the Gold Cup, the team performed credibly there, and we now have to build on that success,” he said.

Mixed results for BCCC Joseph replaces Udana in St Kitts and Nevis Patriots squad in 2-match city tour

T

he St Kitts & Nevis Patriots have replaced Isuru Udana, who is now no longer available for the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) because of international commitments. He will be replaced by West Indian fast bowler Alzarri Joseph, who has played for the Patriots since 2016.

Joseph has played nine Tests and 16 ODIs for the West Indies, but missed the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup through injury. As a Leeward Islands cricketer, there is a strong local connection for this Antiguan.

The Patriots are very proud to be representing the Leeward Islands at CPL, so having a local player of such quality join the squad for the 2019 tournament is a huge boost for the franchise.

The Patriots’ Director of Cricket, Robin Singh, said: “It is always frustrating to lose players so close to the start of a tournament, but in Alzarri we have a local player who is world-class and has a track record of success. As a very promising young fast bowler, it is exciting to have Alzarri with us.

We feel that the Patriots have a very strong squad this year, and we are confident of making the knockout stages and pushing for our first title.” (CPL)

Zaid Baksh with his squad

T

he Under-15 Boys’ team of the Blairmont Community Centre Cricket Club (BCCC) of Region Five (Demerara-Mahaica) toured the Region Four stronghold of Georgetown on Wednesday last, and in feature 40-over matches against the Everest Cricket Club (ECC) and the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC), garnered mixed results: winning against the ECC by three wickets, but losing to the GCC by 172 runs.

Batting first, ECC recorded 130 all out in 39.3 overs, with Anthony Khan’s 40 being decorated with 4 boundaries, while Ruel Prashad chipped in with 32. Bowling for BCCC, Zaid Baksh grabbed 4-7, and Rashad Gafoor took 2-15.

In reply, BCCC crept to 131-7, with Satya France chalking up a match-winning unbeaten 36 runs that included four boundaries.

In their match against the GCC, the BCCC fielded first, and this home team reached 233-8 in their allotted 40

Satya France

Dominic Roberts scored 83 for the GCC

overs.

GCC left-handed stroke-maker Dominic Roberts smashed a brilliant 83, which was decorated with 11 boundaries and a lone six; while Aryan Persaud (23), Mavindra Dindyal (17) and Rahul Singh (16) each contributed to the score.

The BCCC’s Zaid Baksh, who had had a star performance in the win against the ECC, took 4-48, while Sheerdat Roopnarine took 2-25, and Guyana Under-17 player Zeynul Ramsammy grabbed 2-35.

The BCCC, in reply, were bowled out for a paltry 61 runs scored in 37.3 overs; their batsmen finding it difficult to negotiate the GCC bowlers, who shared the wickets collectively. Persaud took 2-3, while Dindyal took 2-8.

From this tour, the BCCC U-15 Team gained much needed exposure in conditions away from Berbice, and this should be to their advantage when they host the city side in a return fixture. (Brandon Corlette)

Isuru Udana

Alzarri Joseph

guyanatimesgy.com

saturday, august 31, 2019

GAW pre-tournament camp…

GAW has deep batting, says Coach Botha

New-boy Brandon King going through the motion

GAW Team Analyst Saurab Walkar

Story and photos by

G

Brandon Corlette

uyana Amazon Warriors (GAW) began their traditional pretournament camp on Friday last at the Guyana National Stadium (GNS), Providence. With Shimron Hetmyer coming off the 2018 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) with 440 runs under his belt, Head Coach Johan Botha explained that the expectation of Hetmyer remains high.

“Last year was a break out year for him, where he won some games for us; I would say he was one of the main reasons to take us into the final,” Botha declared.

The 37-year old South African, Botha, further added that Hetmyer has had a decent year for the West Indies

since his last CPL outing. Despite not scoring the amount of runs he would have wanted to score for the West Indies, Botha spoke highly of the Guyanese star who showed glimpses of brilliance in recent times.

Botha further highlighted that the batting should not be on Hetmyer’s shoulder alone.

“As I said to the group, we can just hope that Hety (Hetmyer) gets runs, everyone else must be up for the task,” Botha explained.

The likes of Sherfane Rutherford, Brandon King, Nicholas Pooran and Shoaib Malik must be ready. Both spoke highly of Pooran, who is currently playing in Yorkshire in the T20 English tournament.

“Pooran has had a really good World Cup, so there is batting around Hetmyer”. The GAW batting line-up looks deep on paper, with the likes of Shadab Khan, Chris Green and

Keemo Paul, who can all handle themselves with the bat.

“If we have something similar from last season from Hetmyer, that would be nice”, Botha signalled.

The GAW has also invested in a team analyst. Botha revealed that Saurab Walkar was working behind the scenes last season but he is now on the forefront with the GAW. Walkar was part of the Mumbai team in the Ranji Trophy— India’s first-class competition, for eight seasons.

On two occasions during that time, Mumbai lifted the title.

In early 2019, he left the Mumbai unit to take up a role with Pakistan Super League side Multan Sultans. Incidentally, he was convinced to take up the role there by Multan Sultans, noted Coach Botha, who is now the Warriors coach for the second season running. Botha added that Walkar’s presence will be looked upon to provide the team with the necessary statistics and analysis—the basic things that will make a difference to the team.

The GAW will play their first three matches at their home fortress, the GNS at Providence.

Malik is GAW Captain – Coach Botha confirms

O

n the opening day of the Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW) pre-tournament camp, Head Coach of the GAW, Johan Botha, disclosed that the Pakistani superstar Shoaib Malik will lead the team.

Malik, who had led the GAW in five matches in 2018 before departing for overseas duties, is described by Botha as an experienced leader.

“I think for now it’s still Shoaib. He was r e a l l y good for us last year in the first five games he was present. We are still looking for that calm head on the field”, Botha disclosed.

Botha, a 37-year-old South African, added that Ben Laughlin and Chris Green would also be looked upon to keep the team calm.

“Between Malik, Green and Laughlin, that should be enough to keep the guys going”, Botha explained. Green, the 25-year-old Australian, had begun wearing the captaincy armband after Malik’s departure in 2018. He has matured as a player, and his leadership skills will be an important asset to the Guyana Amazon Warriors.

The 37-year-old Malik has a wealth of experience, having represented teams around the globe in 345 T20 matches. He has a high score of 95*, and has scored 71 half-centuries. The Pakistan star has 287 One Day International and 111 T20 International matches under his belt. His experienced and calm-headed approach will be an important asset to the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the 2019 Hero Caribbean Premier League.

Malik is shortly expected to arrive in Guyana to join his GAW team at the pre-tournament camp. (Brandon Corlette)

Shoaib Malik

Head Coach Johan Botha at the opening day of the camp with local Coach Ryan Hercules in background

23

Romario Shepherd on the run

Botha stated that a good start to the tournament is certainly on the team’s radar but winning away from home is something the team is capable of. Reflecting on the 2018 CPL campaign, the Head Coach stated that making it to the final was a positive for the team. The initial aim for the team in the early stages of the tournament is to make the final four, where the team will be in a position to win their maiden CPL title.

During the opening day of the pre-tournament camp, the players were engaged in fitness sessions and team bonding activities. A few of the players will join the camp shortly before the first match on Thursday, September 5, against St Lucia Zouks at the GNS. The likes of Green, Malik, Hetmyer, Paul, Khan and Pooran are expected to arrive shortly.

saturday, august 31, 2019

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

guyanatimesgy.com

GAW pre-tournament camp…

Page 23

GAW has deep batting, says Coach Botha Page 23

Malik is GAW Captain – Coach Botha confirms

CONCACAF Nations League…

Interim Head Coach looking to add something ‘new’ to team

Page 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 - marketing@guyanatimesgy.com - PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY GUYANA TIMES INC.