Guyana Times - Saturday, May 14, 2022

Healthy ecosystems crucial for livelihoods, protecting biodiversity – EMC Director …call for worldwide conservation of migratory birds, habitats

Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana Issue No. 5008

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THE BEACON OF TRUTH SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2022

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Constitutional appointments

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WHAT'S INSIDE:

President, Opposition Leader agree to consult in keeping with laws

Guilty! Jury convicts 5 men for killing phone card distributor P16

Page 3

“It’s a balancing act” – VP on shortage of skilled labour …says issue must be handled in a sensitive way Page 7

BA.2 subvariant could be behind rising COVID-19 P12 numbers – Health Minister Bus driver P12 found not guilty of raping differentlyabled woman

Bandits rob P11 businessman in front of home

Some of the young professionals of Linden, Region Ten (Upper Demerara-Berbice) receiving the keys to their new homes on Friday from Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA). The homes are part of the Government’s 1,000 housing units project in Region 10 (Central Housing and Planning Authority photos)

AG asks High Court to dismiss case challenging passage of NRF Act

4 WCD schoolgirls hospitalise after using drugs …Opposition wants money withdrawn returned to Fund Page 17

Page 8

Over $3B owed in revenues to GWI Baksh …company pursuing errant commercial entities …reduces new service backlog from 7,684 to 200

Unidentified pedestrian P11 killed by truck

See stories on pages 2 & 10

Cuban busted with forged Canada visa at CJIA P11 Guyana to cut carbon footprint with 1st solar water treatment plant in 2023 P2

2 NEWS

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Guyana to cut carbon footprint with 1st solar water treatment plant in 2023 …GWI reduces new service backlog from 7684 to 200

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uyana’s first solar-powered water treatment facility is on schedule for completion and commissioning in 2023, coming out of a $150 million EU-funded project.

The project is being funded through the European Union (EU) through the Caribbean Climate Change Centre in the Bahamas and spearheaded by the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI).

Manager of Water Resources and Climate Change Adaptation, Denise

Woolford lauded on Friday, “It will see the reduction of our carbon dioxide emissions, which we know will minimise risks of climate change. As a company, we want to ensure that our activities add value and does not cause adverse effects.”

Further cementing its role in climate-friendly practices, GWI has embarked on an aquifer study in the Upper Takutu basin. Engagements have commenced with the Government of Japan, the intended donor to offset the

US$1.5 million cost.

“We are prepared as a company to be ahead of time and ensure that all of our operations will ensure that future generations will benefit.

This project is a study of our groundwater resource within that region and it is geared to ensuring that as a company, we effectively manage our water resources.”

At the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, Guyana pledged

to reduce its carbon emissions by 70 per cent in 2030 through a progressively cleaner energy mix.

The renewed Low Carbon Development Strategy – LCDS 2030, which will drive the country’s energy transition using a mix of renewable sources, will be an important instrument in this journey. Already, Cabinet has approved the construction of the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP), generating clean power for the country.

Water treatment

Water Resources and Climate Change Adaptation Manager Denise Woolford

Owing to widespread complaints directed at the low-quality water delivered

by GWI, a “massive” water treatment project to the tune of $25 billion will soon be embarked.

Chief Executive Officer, Shaik Baksh announced on Friday that 12 large water treatment plants will be built to complement the existing 28 across Guyana. Ten smaller plants are to be built to fill the remaining gaps.

“The cry of the population on the coastal belt is the quality of the water. Treated water is important. The Government, over the next three years, has committed to funding a massive water treatment programme. GWI, as the executing agency under the Ministry of Housing and Water, has been mandated to proceed to ensure completion,” the CEO divulged.

Tenders for seven of the large treatment plans are scheduled for release by the end of May 2022.

“We’re moving at a speed to go out there to tender for contractors. It will be designed and build programme for seven. The other five will come later in the year; we’re hoping by the last quarter in all regions.”

Between June and July, a pilot project will kickstart the smaller plants for complete coverage on the coastal stretch. Upgrades to 10 existing treatment plants are to follow, with tenders going out in June.

Baksh elaborated, “In all of this, we have factored in the new housing areas. Over the next two to three years, those persons who are going to take up the house lots in the new housing area will be given treated water also.

It (treated water) is coming.

We ask the population to be patient on that.”

Meanwhile, GWI facilitated some 7684 new service connections since September 2020. It also managed to eliminate the build-up of applications, which is now down to 200.

Another $5 billion was allotted by Government for coastal, urban and hinterland capital projects since then. In Georgetown, replacement of the transmission and distribution lines are ongoing. Lamaha, Cemetery Road, New Town and Vlissengen Road projects were completed. Contractors are to embark on the Church Street project to replace the archaic pipelines.

“For the three years ending 2022, the Government would put in $1 billion in terms of expenditure to replace these pipelines.

There’s the commitment there. We’re planning for Phase Two implementation before the end of 2022. We appeal to the residents of Georgetown to be patient with us as we renew the infrastructure.” (G12)

NEWS

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SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Constitutional appointments

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President, Opposition Leader agree to consult in keeping with laws

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Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton and Opposition MP Roysdale Forde meeting with President Ali on Friday at Office of the President

Dr Irfaan Ali was accompanied by Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall during Friday’s meeting with the Opposition Leader

uyana’s President, Dr Irfaan Ali on Friday met with Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton for the first time to have preliminary discussions on the appointments of members to the various constitutional agencies and, now the two officials are likely to meet again next week.

The meeting took place at the Office of the President (OP), Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Georgetown. President Ali was joined by Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall, SC, while Norton was accompanied by APNU/AFC Opposition Member of Parliament, Attorney-at-Law Roysdale Forde.

In a joint statement issued during their engagement Friday afternoon, it was noted that Norton was invited to in-person consultations with the Head of State on the appointments to be made at the Integrity Commission, the Judicial Service Commission, Police Service Commission and Teaching Service Commission.

According to the Constitution of Guyana, members of these Commissions shall be appointed by the President “…acting after meaningful consultation with the Leader of the Opposition”.

However, prior to the engagement, the Opposition Leader had requested additional information on the names under consideration but was asked, by Governance and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Gail Teixeira, to specify the details being requested.

“At the meeting held [on Friday], the Leader of the Opposition clarified that the information that is being requested are the Curriculum Vitae (CVs) of the persons under consideration and the President agreed to make those CVs available within two days,” the joint missive outlined.

Meanwhile, the two leaders further agreed that the consultations will be guided by the provisions of Constitution of Guyana. They also committed to resume the in-person consultations sometime within the coming week.

Following the nearly three-hour-long meeting, Norton told reporters outside the Office of the President that the way is now paved

the second paragraph, it says clearly that you need time to assess, et cetera; so, the CVs are needed, and once we get the CVs, we will do what we have to do,” he stated.

Only last month, the National Assembly approved the nomination of four individuals to be appointed members of the Police Service Commission, which is responsible for appointing and disciplining Police ranks who are above the rank of Inspector.

These nominees include: businessman Ernesto Choo-aFat; businessman, Attorneyat-Law Lloyd Mark Conway; businessman Hakeem Mohamed, and Pastor Patrick Findlay.

Meanwhile, the Opposition Leader, who was only appointed to the post last month after being sworn-in as a Member of Parliament, further told reporters when asked if he was satisfied with Friday’s meeting, that the issue is not about satisfaction but rather following the provisions of the Guyana Constitution.

“All I want to see is everything occur in keeping with law, in keeping with the Constitution. I think we’ve

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for the mutually-agreed continuation of engagements between himself and President Ali in keeping with the Constitution.

He also confirmed that a commitment was made to provide him the CVs of persons being nominated to these critical agencies.

Engaged

“Basically, we agreed to engage, and we engaged, and we have now agreed that documents would be provided to us in keeping with the Constitution and we will do an assessment, and then engage again. That is basically it,” the Opposition Leader stated.

Asked about the importance of CVs, Norton explained that will allow him to better participate in “meaningful consultation” on the appointments in accordance with the laws.

“When I see the CVs, I’ll tell you why they’re important. Because you need to know about people… I’m saying to you, first of all, we need CVs. The whole process of ‘meaningful consultation’ has been defined in law. In fact, in

been able to make this point and in moving forward, we will operate in keeping with the Constitution and what meaningful consultation means,” he said.

This is the first meeting between President Ali and the APNU/AFC Opposition since his assumption to office in August 2020 – following the protracted and controversial March 2, 2020 elections that saw attempts to deny the will of the Guyanese people.

President Ali last month told reporters that he will soon be inviting the Opposition Leader to discuss matters that the Constitution mandates both leaders to consult on including critical appointments of the service commissions as well as top judicial posts, that is, the Chancellor and Chief Justice.

But Norton, who is the Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) – the leading party in the APNU/AFC coalition Opposition – had contended that he wants to have broad consultations with the Head of State on other issues such as good governance.

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SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2022

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

Young people: utilising time wisely

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n a matter of months another academic school year term will come to an end if the Education Ministry does not go ahead with its proposed plan to keep schools open during July and August.

If this is not done, then this means that children will have a lot of time on their hands and should therefore be encouraged to utilise this time in a constructive manner.

During the July/August period, parents are faced with the challenge of finding activities; whether they are academic or recreational etc, for their children to be involved in. There are many different ways in which our young people could effectively utilise their time wisely. Some students who have not done so well during the past year; or perhaps those that encounter difficulties in a particular subject area, could use the time to do remedial academic work to catch up with the rest of their peers.

Some of the more mature students also chose to take up work study opportunities where they get a taste of what the world of work has to offer. There are also those who go off on ‘summer camps’ hosted by religious/ youth groups or other organisations including the government-sponsored programmes. This provides an opportunity for youths to interact with their peers and engage in extracurricular actives which would help them become well rounded individuals.

When persons are not fully occupied with doing positive and uplifting things they tend to fall by the wayside, most times to their own detriment. Many would agree that many of our young people are falling prey to the use and trafficking of illicit drugs and engaging criminal activities, in the process completely destroying their lives and a great future they could have had if better choices were made and the necessary support systems were put in place to ensure their proper upbringing.

It is being said that institutions such as the family and religious groups need to take up their roles more seriously as happened before. Historically, the older generation had managed to transmit their beliefs, values, traditions, customs and institutions to the younger members of their societies and had contributed in some way to their disciplined upbringing.

This was achieved largely due to the impact of agencies of socialisation, such as the family, religious organisations and the schools to a large extent. Today, the impact of these institutions has been challenged and undermined by new forces, particularly television and the internet, and the pop culture as a whole.

We believe that if our adolescents are to move from the less mature and irresponsible ways of thinking and acting to making more mature and responsible judgments and engaging in activities that are the hallmark of a socially productive adulthood, certain support systems must be provided. In addition to the various interventions which the government should make, there are numerous organisations including the private sector, which could rise to the occasion and contribute more towards saving our youth population. They need to come on board and sponsor programmes that would see our children and young people become well equipped with the necessary skills to develop themselves and the society as a whole. Coordinating and sponsoring such programmes during the ‘summer break’ when children are away from school for a long period is a good way to start.

Successful programmes typically incorporate specific components, such as providing a sense of belonging, promoting a supportive relationship with adults, and affording opportunities to enhance decision-making and leadership skills.

Further, sport could also play a very important role in bringing the youth population back on track so that they could interact with their peers and elders in a more meaningful and dignified manner. There is need to revive many of the nonfunctional sport groups/ centres in communities as the lack of access to such facilities makes it more challenging to engage youths.

The idea is for young people to be meaningfully engaged with activities that they could gain something positive from.

It is well accepted that those who have achieved successes in life or have gone on to do great things, are the ones who have utilised their time wisely.

President Dr Irfaan Ali sharing a photo with Non-Resident Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Norway to Guyana, Odd Magne Ruud, and his wife, after he accepted his Letters of Credence on Friday at the Office of the President on Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Georgetown (OP photo)

Black Friday blues

By BC PIRES

T

hank God it's Friday.

Today (Friday) is the only Black Friday of the year, so there’s another thing the Democrats in the US can protest against.

It’ll be trending on Twitter in no time. It’s surely got to be some sort of elitist oldwhite-male conspiracy that would cough up only one measly Black Friday from a possible 12! How much more will black people have to put up with?

Now I’m joking, of course – but you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be people on Facebook convinced that there being only one Black Friday this year is yet another proof of systemic racism in western liberal democracies swallowing the lies of lame-stream media and that political correctness gone wild will continue defending the patriarchy until we all understand that NATO expansionism forced Vodka Hitler to bomb Mariupol to smithereens.

Once you pick a social media side, you apparently have to stick with it, no matter how foolish a proposition you end up defending.

And what a lot of foolishness – and darkness – we’ve

had in the only Black Friday week of 2022.

Ted Cruz, a perennial contender for Republican As---le of the Year (which he usually wins hands down, every year – in January) demanded that Democrats call off their goons silently protesting outside the homes of the US Supreme Court judges poised to repeal Roe v Wade and chastised said “radical Democrats" for wickedly forcing the invented label of “insurrectionist” upon the peaceful protesters defending the Constitution on January 6, 2020 (even if said Capitol riot resulted in at least three people already having pleaded guilty to sedition).

At the equivalent of midnight of this Black Friday week, in the Philippines, voters seem to have elected, by a landslide, the son of the Dictator Couple of All Time, to be their new president.

It’s like the Haitians sending Baby Doc a ticket back to Port-au-Prince – and they kind of did, too.

I won’t sully my own page by naming a member of the evil Filipino family/dynasty but I do reckon you’d have to smoke two bongs, indeed, to think of them as the saviours, and not destructors, of

the Philippines.

Can you get a Blacker Friday than Filipino turkeys voting for the Christmas of another round of murderous dictatorship? That would be like Shelley Duval going back to the Overlook in The Shining, but, yes you can find the heart of darkness in Trinidad, where time seems frozen permanently at “before dawn.”

Here at home, the whole country is waiting, with bated breath and breathless novenas, pujas and jumas, to find out if the most recent tragic death of a child, the already heartbreaking-enough story of Kimani Francis, is even darker than it appears.

And who would bet their own money it isn’t?

What does it say about your country that the best you can do when you hear a two-year-old child is dead is hope that he drowned by accident? That no one held the poor little sufferer under?

Why is it the most important medical procedure in Trinidad is the autopsy?

Newsday’s Clint Chan Tack reported that tensions are high in Techier Village, Point Fortin, where, on Monday, little ’Mani, barefoot, in diapers, trotted off

from home towards the river where his body was eventually found.

Bizarrely, one Zoi (the woman who raised the alarm) herself reportedly became the target of neighbours, angry she hadn’t done more to save the child than call the police. Zoi’s own neighbours stood outside and shouted at occupants of the house.

Why does the death of a barely ambulant child precipitate anger before grief?

Why do we look for a scapegoat when we should be offering solace? How did we get here? How can it be that, in this context, in Trinidad, we point a finger before we lend a hand?

Prime Minister Rowley “shocked and saddened” by the death, on Facebook, called for a commitment for us all to “be our brother’s keeper.” Who could cast the first stone at him for that?

But which of us, sitting in the limbo of not knowing – or, probably more accurately, not yet knowing – is not tempted to lash out at any target. Ask Zoi. Today (Friday) is the only Black Friday of the year.

Thank God. I don’t think we could handle two. (T&T Newsday)

guyanatimesgy.com

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2022

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Upgrading laws to present-day standards Girmitiya in society

By Guyanese

B

of

Indian Ancestry Association

y the time the Indentureds arrived in Guyana, the basic premises of the colonial “Creole” society into which they were plunged were already in place.

Here, the Whites, African slaves and Mixed/Coloured freed groups had interacted in all aspects of life - which were based on the imposition and acceptance of English culture and Christian beliefs as superior.

Dear Editor, “We had bought that land a while, but it was held up in litigation…so, for eight years, we had to wait.” These are the words of Nazar ‘Shell’ Mohammed published in Guyana Times on Friday May 13, 2022. This type of litigation has become commonplace in Guyana, culminating in huge amounts of time and money being spent behind court cases in Guyana.

The 25-acre property at Providence, East Bank Demerara sat idle, when it could have been developed and provided employment.

Such pitfalls can be avoided if the Laws of Guyana regarding real estate (land, waterways, properties, and

deeds) can be better utilized; if only the country’s laws can be upgraded to present-day standards.

It is irrefutable that a vast array of procedures is ambiguous, and therefore subjected to several interpretations, as opposed to clear-cut provisions. The election fiasco in 2020 is the most salient example, and in the manner of a huge preponderance of cases ultimately reaching the pinnacle of jurisprudence in the apex Caribbean Court of Justice in Trinidad.

Properties are sold without the owners’ knowledge or consent, while land titles are transferred in clandestine yet legal procedures. Such is the oxymoronic function

of an archaic legal system where the guardians of the law are the chief law-breakers; ask any driver who was confronted by the Police.

The latest filing in a litany of lawsuits comes on the heels of another land dispute valued over US$25 million.

Clashes for real estate ownership will perpetually dwell throughout the courts -the offshoot of poorly- construed laws.

Guyana’s archaic laws are shrouded in ambivalence, controversy, and ambiguity, and many times are unable to provide for true justice.

Notwithstanding, properties under litigation have stymied economic growth. Two sectors of such impotent leg-

islation that need urgent reformation are the Deeds Registry and Traffic Offence Procedures, which has seen the latter as a toothless Doberman where the death of a person is classified as ‘Causing death by dangerous driving’ instead of vehicular manslaughter.

Additionally, such killings that occur while drivers are intoxicated should be upgraded to ‘Criminal Homicide’. With modern, efficient laws, coupled with rational sentencing, the society will save billions being wasted on litigation.

Sincerely, Leyland Chitlall Roopnaraine

Police reports are integral to crime-solving

Since the Indentureds were low-status plantation labourers, their cultural traditions were promptly derided as 'coolie culture'. They were taunted as doing 'slave work”, being dirty, heathens, uncivilised for not practising English culture.

While most of the freed slaves had left the plantations by the 1850s, many of them still worked in the factories, and some in the fields - especially as shovel men. Few Guyanese know that, at this stage, the Indentured Indians were exposed to the 86,000 Portuguese, Africans, West Indians and Chinese who were also brought in as Indentureds.

Locked away on the sugar plantations for the most part, they had limited contact with the Creole sections on a sustained basis, and so were heedless of their evaluations.

It was only when they began to move out of the logies into African villages, Georgetown and New Amsterdam that the odious comparisons precipitated a backlash.

They were aware that they were inheritors of ancient Hindu and Moslem cultures that could bear comparison with the White culture vaunted over them. Conversion was very minimal during Indentureship. It was only towards the end and afterwards as they entered the Government’s Christian schools that they were forced to convert so as to obtain jobs off the plantation.

Culturally, however, since all the institutions of the upper strata were western, most of the upwardly mobile, newly educated Indian elite that were being formed even before the abolition of Indentureship adopted western values.

Even those who formed Indian Associations such as the Luckhoo and Ruhomans.

This process continues JA Luckhoo, Founder of BGEIA into the present.

DID YOU KNOW? EA Luckhoo was the first Indian Solicitor (1899), and his brother JA Luckhoo was the first Barrister (1912).

JA Luckhoo and his cousin Joseph Ruhoman founded the BGEIA in 1916 in Berbice. It was relaunched in 1919 in Georgetown.

Dr WH Wharton was the first Indian MEDICAL doctor (Edinburgh, 1899)

Dear Editor, The writing of reports by the Police is integral to crime- fighting and the solving of many civil and criminal matters. Many cases have gone down the chute as a result of poor reporting, or none at all. This is a major bugbear in the crime-fighting story of our Caribbean society, and I am making an emphatic call for this matter to be addressed speedily. There are simple matters that have gone abegging due to the lack of independent reporting from peace officers.

A report from the Police is information coming from the only independent witness in the matter, and is crucial evidence into the solving of the case. Otherwise, it would be a shouting match of he-saidshe-said matter, with no end in sight. This makes the work of the judiciary more difficult to arrive at a just and fair conclusion.

Being a peace officer, it is your duty to report and act in a just an impartial way, and writing up your report in a detailed and accurate manner is critical to any case. A well-written report gives a thorough account of what happened, and the safest way in doing this is to stick to the facts; it is vitally important.

Remember, either party has a story to tell, and either would be eager to put forward his or her case in the way that would make them look good in the eyes of the judicial adjudicator.

Therefore, the Police who had arrived on the scene must stay clear of being prejudicial or impartial in his reporting, this makes for easy crime-solving of any matter.

Then there is the situation in which someone refuses to consent or sign a Police report. That is okay, but that individual would be hard pressed to explain to the judge what was the basis for their refusal to consent to a report. This would hinder as well as hurt their case, because things are fresher in one’s mind then than weeks and months later.

Examples of this kind show up in domestic violence matters or other sensitive cases in which politics is involved. In such instances, the victim refuses to give a statement. However, all of this changes when, either for political mileage or financial reward, a person suddenly becomes lucid. But, like I said earlier, this strategy oftentimes hurts rather than helps one’s case.

We have come to the point in our discussion

A true woman of worth

Dear Editor, Every once in a while, a news item bursts on the scene that gladdens the heart. One such item was the impending prestigious OAS Award to our own Dr Tracey Bovell, for good practices in women's leadership.

The genesis of her nomination was founded in the distinguished, excellent, and compassionate

leadership she provided to the treatment and care of COVID-19 patients in Guyana.

Dr Bovell is a worthy candidate of the award and recognition bestowed on her, as all Guyana is proud of a fine daughter of the soil, a true woman of worth.

Sincerely, Shamshun Mohamed

where there is the general reservation as to the writing skills of the lawmen. How proficient are they in their writing? Are they up to the task when it comes to writing a proper report? Can their writing stand up in a court of law? These are all legitimate questions we may ask, and to which we deserve honest answers.

This matter can be corrected if only the powers that be take the bold ini-

tiative to have their officers trained and certified in the writing of reports. I am willing to give back to my country through a national service by which I can help in the strengthening of the Force's writing skills’ capabilities. It is something I am seriously considering as I approach my retirement year.

Respectfully, Neil Adams

Saturday, May 14, 2022

06:00 06:30 07:00 08:00 09:00 (2006) 10:30 13:00 15:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 20:30 22:00 00:00

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SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2022

Page

Foundation ◄ CONTINUED FROM FRIDAY

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n this fun and easy sound science experiment, we’re going to explore and investigate sound by making a string talk. This is a very easy sound experimentation activity to perform that helps visualise different sounds associated with different vibrations. Have fun making all kinds of fun sounds with your talking string contraption.

24 inches of string a 2-hole button

Materials:

Instructions: Thread the string through the button holes and centre the button on the string.

Hold one end of the string in each hand.

Allow a little slack and start spinning the button.

After a few spins, pull the string tight.

Alternate between allowing slack and spinning the button to pulling the string tight. You should hear the string make noise or “talk”.

How it works: As the button spins, it vibrates. The vibrations are sound waves that travel to your ears and are heard as sound. By adjusting the speed at which the button spins, and the tautness of the string, you are able to create different sounds by altering the vibrations created by the button.

Make this a science project: Use different types of string. Try larger and smaller buttons. Replace the button with other materials like cardboard. Try different lengths of string. (sciencefun. org)

“Experience is merely the name men gave to their mistakes.” – Oscar Wilde

SCENE II. Another part of the island.

STEPHANO Stand farther. Come, proceed.

CALIBAN Why, as I told thee, 'tis a custom with him, I' th' afternoon to sleep: there thou mayst brain him, Having first seized his books, or with a log Batter his skull, or paunch him with a stake, Or cut his wezand with thy knife. Remember First to possess his books; for without them He's but a sot, as I am, nor hath not One spirit to command: they all do hate him As rootedly as I. Burn but his books.

He has brave utensils,--for so he calls them-Which when he has a house, he'll deck withal And that most deeply to consider is The beauty of his daughter; he himself Calls her a nonpareil: I never saw a woman, But only Sycorax my dam and she; But she as far surpasseth Sycorax As great'st does least.

STEPHANO Is it so brave a lass?

CALIBAN Ay, lord; she will become thy bed, I warrant.

And bring thee forth brave brood.

STEPHANO Monster, I will kill this man: his daughter and I will be king and queen--save our graces!--and Trinculo and thyself shall be viceroys. Dost thou like the plot, Trinculo?

TRINCULO Excellent.

STEPHANO Give me thy hand: I am sorry I beat thee; but, while thou livest, keep a good tongue in thy head.

CALIBAN Within this half hour will he be asleep: Wilt thou destroy him then?

STEPHANO Ay, on mine honour.

ARIEL This will I tell my master.

CALIBAN Thou makest me merry; I am full of pleasure: Let us be jocund: will you troll the catch You taught me but while-ere?

STEPHANO At thy request, monster, I will do reason, any reason. Come on, Trinculo, let us sing.

Sings Flout 'em and scout 'em And scout 'em and flout 'em Thought is free.

CALIBAN That's not the tune.

Ariel plays the tune on a tabour and pipe

WORD SEARCH

NEWS

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SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

“It’s a balancing act” – VP on shortage of skilled labour …says issue must be handled in a sensitive way

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ith Guyana currently undergoing unprecedented development, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said the Government is currently grappling with the need to fill capacity deficiencies in order to move ahead with major developmental projects while at the same time ensuring employment opportunities for Guyanese.

During a virtual appearance on a diaspora talk show, the Vice President addressed the issue of labour shortages in Guyana’s rapidly growing economy.

He explained that Government is faced with the task of balancing ensuring that projects – both private and public – have the necessary resource capacity available to be executed in a timely manner and also ensuring that Guyanese are not sidelined from job opportunities here.

According to Jagdeo, this is especially the case with the skilled labour force.

“Already we are seeing in some parts of the country severe labour shortages particularly for some types of skills. So there has to be a time when, if we want to keep growing at the pace that we are growing without it becoming too infla-

Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo appearing on a diaspora talk show

tionary and counterproductive that we will have to import labour and we may have to do it in a sensible way at the beginning so that it don’t compete with local,” he noted.

VP Jagdeo further pointed out that Government is cautious about overheating the economy with developmental projects which will not only lead to high inflation but also increase labour costs due to scarcity and the lack of local capacity.

“It’s hard to find, even for the housing sector now, carpenters and construction people in many areas. You may have to allow them if they want to bring in 500 Mexicans to work on this project, complete it and then leave. So,

you may have to allow it because if you don’t, and you take labour from the existing market then what happens is the prices go up and you have scarcity, and it would affect your capital programmes.”

“So, it’s a very sensitive area because you don’t want to do it in a way where a man is still looking for a job – say a displaced sugar worker or maybe a bauxite worker – and then he sees you bringing in somebody right away to take a job…

It’s a balancing act and we’re very conscious of the need to not overheat the economy; we’re very conscious of our people still, in some areas, being unemployed and we’re very conscious about the need to do something to ensure

President, Opposition Leader...

The Opposition Leader, however, did not respond to questions about whether the talks of Friday went beyond constitutional appointments.

After securing a landslide victory at that PNCR’s internal Congress in December 2021, Norton was mandated by the party’s Central Executive Committee to take up several key posts including

Opposition Leader, which was previously held by Joseph Harmon.

Harmon had lost his bid for the PNCR leadership position to Norton and was not re-elected to the party’s Central Executive – the highest decision-making body of that party – nor co-opted.

Norton was also asked to takeover the Chairmanship of the A Partnership for

FROM PAGE 3

National Unity (APNU) faction of the Coalition Opposition – a post that was held by former PNCR Leader and President of Guyana, David Granger.

It was further reported that Norton also had a mandate from the PNC Executive Committee to take up the position of Representative of the List of Candidates, which is also being held by Granger. (G8)

that we keep our capital programmes going. So, it’s between these three variables that often you have to make these decisions,” the Vice President outlined.

Only late last year, the business community in Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne) complained about a shortage of labour and the significant impact it is having on their operations.

But some labourers had refuted the claims, contending that the Private Sector needs to offer employees more than just a salary but other attractive benefits as well.

In the meantime, VP Jagdeo pointed out that the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Government is undertaking efforts to build capacity amongst Guyanese so that they too can benefit from the limited opportunities available in the oil and gas sector. He mentioned plans to establish an Oil and Gas Training School in Port Mourant, Berbice, which will offer short sources for skilled personnel such as welders and fitters – jobs that are in high demand by

oil operators in the country.

Nevertheless, Jagdeo added that Government is also heavily investing in infrastructure, through co-investment and other measures, to stimulate non-oil and gas growth in the country that will generate the jobs of the future.

He noted that the emphasis is being placed on other economic sectors not only because oil and gas is a wasting resource but also it is not very labour intensive.

Moreover, the Vice President ruled out his Government doing any sort of cash payout using the oil and gas revenues – something which the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Opposition has called for.

However, Jagdeo did state that some of these monies will be spent on vulnerable groups such as children, pensioners and persons living with disabilities.

“The vulnerable groups would have to receive some of this money from the oil and gas sector to make

sure that they have a better-quality life. But we can’t splurge and give everybody,” he said.

According to the Vice President, instead of setting up an unemployment scheme, Government is moving to hire between eight to ten thousand persons and give them part time jobs. This initiative is focused in areas like Regions 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), Five (Mahaica-Berbice) and Six (East BerbiceCorentyne) as well as the hinterland regions where there is little to no oil and gas investments taking place.

“So that is one way of ensuring that people could now have a part time job and then they can still go and work elsewhere. So, that is part of ensuring people with disability get additional help, the elderly and our children; so target groups but not splurge and give every able-body man and woman in the country money. That is not wise and we don’t have enough money to do in any case,” he stated. (G8)

8 NEWS AG asks High Court to dismiss case challenging passage of NRF Act SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

…Opposition wants money withdrawn returned to Fund

High Court Judge Navindra Singh

Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC, (centre), House Speaker Manzoor Nadir (right), and Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Isaacs standing on the corridor of the High Court in Demerara on Friday

A

ttorney General Anil Nandlall, SC, has asked the High Court to dismiss the case filed by Opposition Chief Whip Christopher Jones and Trade Unionist Norris Witter, which challenges the passage of the controversial Natural Resource Fund (NRF) Act last December.

Before Justice Navindra Singh, the duo argued that due to the absence of the parliamentary Mace – the most significant symbol in the National Assembly and some members not seated, the Act cannot be regarded as being lawfully passed.

On the night of December 29, 2021, Members of the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) had dislodged the Mace from its position at the House Clerk’s desk in an attempt to prevent the Natural Resource Fund Bill from being passed. During a brief hearing, Justice Singh fixed timelines by when the parties must file submissions and replies. He will hear oral arguments on September 12. The Attorney General, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh, Speaker of the National Assembly Manzoor Nadir, and Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Isaacs have been listed as respondents.

Replica Mace

At one point in the proceedings, the Speaker’s Personal Assistant was seen latching onto the Mace while lying on the floor in an attempt to secure it, while the Opposition parliamentarians stood by hurling racial slurs and taunts at him. But despite the Opposition’s protest and its mounting calls for the Bill to be sent to a Special Select Committee, the Government went ahead and passed it. House Speaker Manzoor Nadir is, however, adamant that the Bill was lawfully passed, noting that a replica Mace was in place.

He had explained that almost all Parliaments in the

Westminster System have two Maces in case one is not being found or is stolen.

No relevance

In his Affidavit in Defence, Nandlall contended that the action is an abuse of the court process and without any legal basis. In light of this, he has urged the court to dismiss the matter.

According to the Attorney General, there is no princi-

Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh

ple known to the law, neither does the Constitution nor the Standing Orders of the National Assembly require that the Mace must be present and in place for Parliament to exercise its constitutional power to make laws for the peace, order, and good governance. He argued that, whether the Mace is in place or not, or whether an instrument can be used as a Mace, the purpose of the Mace and matters connected to Parliament are matters over which the High Court has no jurisdiction, as they constitute procedural matters of Parliament over which the Parliament has exclusive jurisdiction under Article 165 of the Constitution. In any event, Nandlall argued, too, that the Mace has “no relevance and place” in the exercise of Parliament’s constitutional power and authority to make laws.

Excluded from consultations

Jones and Witter, in their Fixed Date Application (FDA), are seeking a number of declarations including one that the conduct of the business of the House without the Mace and the later passage of the Bill were illegal.

They argued that this is contrary to constitutional values of the rule of law, democracy, inclusive governance, and the Standing Orders of the National Assembly.

The Opposition’s position is that civil society bodies were excluded from consultations on the Bill.

Witter argued that under Article 154A of the Constitution and Article 25 of the Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, he has a fundamental right to political participation in the conduct of public affairs. He, however, argued that this right was violated with the passage of the Bill. In light of this, the Trade Unionist is asking the court to declare that pursuant to Article 154A, the Government in formulating an NRF policy, had a responsibility to engage in consultation.

Manifesto promise

But Nandlall submitted that a lack of consultation does not in any manner affect the law power and authority of Parliament. He deposed, “It will be contended that the debates among the elected representatives of the people in the National Assembly which is a component of the legislative process constitutes consultation.” He said that the Natural Resource Fund Bill received widespread national consultations. To support his argument, he reminded that the legislation was a promise contained in his party’s manifesto for the 2020 National Elections – a document he has included as an exhibit. He said that the manifesto itself was a product of five years of public consultations from 2015 to 2020, across all

10 regions, including a grand public consultation held at New Thriving Restaurant, Providence, on February 17, 2019.

For the aforementioned reasons, the Attorney General submitted that he maintains “most resolutely” that the Natural Resource Fund Act was lawfully, validly, and properly passed, and received the due assent of President Dr Irfaan Ali in accordance with the Constitution.

Replenish

Since the passage of the legislature last December, the Government has gone on to establish the Natural Resource Fund Board.

Earlier this week, the

Opposition Chief Whip Christopher Jones

Finance Minister announced the Government’s first withdrawal of $41.7 billion from the Natural Resource Fund.

This sum, which was taken out following parliamentary approval, has been transferred to the Consolidated Fund to finance national development priorities, Dr Singh noted.

However, Jones and Witter are further asking the High Court to declare null, void and of no effect, all actions taken by anyone, including the Minister of Finance, pursuant to the passage of the Bill, or the Constitution of any Board under the NRF. They are also seeking orders necessary to ensure that the NRF is replenished to the extent of all sums disbursed from it. (G1)

Getting back on stream...

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…with manganese ou’ll be able to place your Eyewitness chronologically when he tells you he remembers when manganese was being shipped from the Northwest District - and Matthews Ridge was like a boom town. When last did you hear about NW District?! It’s now Region 1! Of course, one doesn’t really ship MANGANESE from out of the ground but its ore, which is manganese oxide. It has to be purified to deliver the manganese, which is a metal. Just like bauxite, thank you!!

He remembers it was some American company that did the mining, starting in the 1960s. But when the bottom fell out of the manganese market in the late 1970s, the company up and left!! Unlike with Bauxite, Burnham hadn’t nationalised the operations in the 1970s. It’s those old mines that had collected batshit for decades that had killed some workers a few years back, when the mining was resuming.

Manganese is used in the conversion of iron into steel, and so one hopes steel production holds up, and we don’t get stuck with just huge craters in the ground!! Permission for 7 open mining pits has been given, along with 10 waste dumps. Kinda the story of our lives, no?? Furriners come in, dig our gold, diamonds, bauxite and manganese, and we get holes in the ground. All of this rumination about manganese was brought on, of course, by the news that after a fifty-year hiatus, we’ll be shipping the ore again.

Well…not really “we”, but the Chinese company Bosai, that’s already mining our bauxite. There’d been a Canadian company that had gotten the mining permits, but, after a while, they sold it out to the Chinese. Guess it’s like “flipping” in real estate!! You step in…buy cheap, hype the product, then sell dear!!

OK…we’ll hear about the taxes Bosai’s gonna pay, and the employment it’ll create…but is that all we’ll ever do?? When will we get to a point where we’re stop being a “primary” producer and start adding value and make the big bucks? Just like refining and smelting bauxite to aluminum, manganese production demands huge quantities of electricity. But aren’t we gonna have this electricity with AFHEP and the gas-to-shore generating plant coming on stream??

Maybe we can run some of that gas from the Stabroek oil fields direct to Matthews Ridge, and insist that Bosai builds a smelting plant?? We might just generate enough economic activity to catalyse economic development there!!

On another note, just as President Ali’s proposed Silica City to prepare us for our coastal plain’s inundation, Burnham had suggested moving our capital to NWDistrict.

But with him, unlike with Ali, it was always all talk!! …at Uitvlugt Returning to your Eyewitness’s callow youth, “Uitvlugt” was one of those “hard words” that teachers would spring on hapless (and unsuspecting) youths for them to spell.

Well, after Granger took out his spite (and bile) on sugar workers, some thought Uitvlugt had been spared when Wales was closed. But we’re slowly discovering that Uitvlugt might be slowly twisting in the wind, after being hung out to dry!!

Now let’s pick sense from nonsense. There was a time when this estate was regularly producing 25,000 tons a year. So now that it has even picked up some workers from the shuttered Wales and maintained its acreage, shouldn’t it be producing more sugar? But, right now, its target is not even half of that. And it can’t even meet that! For months, the estate had to be shuttered, and will remain so for the entire crop, because of some missing part from a roller.

Is Uitvlugt being set up for a fall? Will the workers get their bonus? Missing the target ain’t their fault! …with art There’s been some wrangling in the papers about the Govt ejecting some sculpture by a local artist depicting “unity”. Abstract art flies over your Eyewitness’s head.

Could the artist explain what’s unifying about the squiggles?

The views expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Guyana Times’ editorial policy and stance

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

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SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

10 NEWS

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Over $3B owed in revenues to GWI – Baksh …company pursuing errant commercial entities

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utstanding revenues owed to the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) has accumulated to a whopping $3 billion from a number of residential and commercial customers who have failed to meet their utility obligations.

Chief Executive Officer of GWI, Shaik Baksh made the revelation during a press conference on Friday, outlining that an aggressive programme has been launched to go after errant customers. While revenue collection has recorded an overall improvement, unwillingness to pay the billed rates has been on the front burner of reasons.

“The outstanding debt right now is just over $3 billion owed by customers out there…The revenue collection has been improving but there is much more to be done. We have several strategies being employed to bring in these revenues.

In some communities, there is an unwillingness to pay for the water service. That is a big challenge for GWI. We’re urging the customers out there to come forward and pay their bills to enable

us to provide an improved level of service,” Baksh told media operatives.

The utility company is especially focused on chasing after commercial customers who owe dues for services provided. Nevertheless, since the new management took over in September of 2020, the CEO said the water company was able to climb out of a mountain of debts and overdrafts, and is now financially sustainable.

“Financial sustainability has been achieved. We have a stable financial position at GWI here. By that, we have eliminated any need for overdraft facilities

at the bank. Secondly, we have a fairly good cashflow to meet all of our commitments, that is, employment costs which was skyrocketing.”

With a reduced staff complement of 988, Baksh said the company is saving $240 million annually and their productivity ratio has seen positive numbers.

Moreover, an inherited debt of $800 million for payment to suppliers is almost cleared, with some $50 million remaining.

After the new management took over operations in 2020, Government had also cleared GWI’s debt to the Guyana Power and Light,

which had accumulated to some $8 billion at that time.

Overall, “prudent” financial management has been lauded as the reason for the company’s turnaround.

Baksh outlined, “We have achieved a lot of cost-cutting without affecting the operations of the utility. Electricity costs was also reduced tremendous.

We have an energy efficiency unit at work to ensure we have more savings because employment and electricity costs here are high. We targeted those areas. So, it is prudent financial management in all areas.”

Meanwhile, through a robust metering programme, 15,000 new meters were installed in 2021. This year’s target is 20,000. The goal is to have 85 per cent meter coverage by 2025; bringing down water losses and contributing to its continued financial stability.

“Moving forward, we have to reduce the NRW (Non-Revenue Water) because this contributes to financial sustainability. We are trying to bring down, under the strategic plan, NRW losses should come down to

Guyana Water Incorporated CEO, Shaik Baksh

55 per cent by 2025. We are revising that to a figure of about 45 to 50 per cent. We want to do more, because as we reduce the water losses, it redounds to better financial management of the utility,” he highlighted.

Waiver

From now until the end of June, GWI will be waiving the residential reconnection fee of $7500 for customers, on the condition that they pay 50 per cent of the outstanding balance.

Getting customers back on track will translate to increased revenues for the

State-operated entity.

Director of Commercial Services and Customer Relations, Andrea Khan commented, “We are willing to offer a wallet-friendly payment plan to offset the remaining expenses.

This is a limited time offer. We’re urging persons to come into our office and take advantage of this relief programme…We will work out your payment arrangement so that you can back on stream.”

If residential customers are caught tampering, a penalty fee of $30,000 is instituted. (G12)

NEWS

11

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Unidentified pedestrian killed by truck

The unidentified man lying on the roadway

The motor lorry that was involved in the accident

A

man whom Police were up to press time on Friday trying to identify has been killed in an accident at Madewini, along the Soesdyke-Linden Highway.

That accident, which occurred at around 05:30h on Friday, involved motor lorry GAB 1668, being driven by a 28-year-old resident of Linden, Region Ten (Upper Demerara-Berbice) and a pedestrian.

Reports are that the motor lorry was proceeding north along the western side of the road when the pedestrian, who was sitting on a tyre on the western side of the road, allegedly ran from west going east and into the path of the motor lorry.

The driver of the motor lorry claimed he applied brakes, but because of the short distance between the vehicle and the pedestrian, the left side front of the vehicle struck the

Cuban busted with forged Canadian visa at CJIA

A

Cuban national was arrested in the wee hours on Friday morning at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) after he was busted with a forged Canadian visa.

Reports from the Police’s headquarters stated that the Cuban national was scheduled to depart the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri, on Copa Airlines flight CW179.

The flight was destined for Panama City at 03:50h.

According to Police, he proceeded to the check-in point at the airport and presented his passport to a representative of Copa Airlines Service and a visa stamped by the Canadian Embassy purporting to be issued by the said Canadian Embassy based in Georgetown, Guyana.

The passport and visa from Canada were examined and suspected to have been forged.

The Copa Airlines representative made contact with the Canadian officials for verification and was informed that the visa was forged.

The suspect was immediately handed over to the Police, where he was arrested. His passport was lodged at the Timehri Police Station General Property Book and he was placed into custody.

Investigations are in progress.

(G9)

pedestrian.

As a result of being hit, the pedestrian fell on the road surface and received injuries

to his head and body. He was picked up in an unconscious state by the Police and was taken to the Diamond Diagnostic Center, where he was seen and examined by doctors on duty, who later pronounced him dead.

The body was then escorted to Carmen’s Funeral Home on the East Bank of Demerara

for storage, prior to his identification being determined and a post-mortem examination being performed.

The driver of the motor lorry was later administered a breathalyzer test, but no trace of alcohol was found in his system. He is presently in custody assisting with the ongoing investigation. (G9)

Bandits rob businessman in front of home

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46-year-old businessman of Fourth Street, Cummings Lodge, Greater Georgetown was on Thursday evening robbed by three bandits after he arrived home from the supermarket.

Police have said that the man was robbed of $400,000 and two Samsung Galaxy cell phones valued at $120,000.

Reports are that the victim had gone to a supermarket in Cummings Lodge to purchase groceries, and upon returning home, had exited his vehicle to open his gate.

While he was in the process of opening the gate, a silver-coloured Premio vehicle approached and stopped right beside his car, and two

males, one dressed in a red hoodie and the other in a grey hoodie, exited and instructed him to go back into his car, to which he complied.

The hooded men then searched the businessman and confiscated his phones and the cash. Thereafter, they ransacked his car and removed other sums of cash that he had lodged in the middle compartment of his car, before they and the driver of the Premio made good their escape.

The Police were called to the scene, and they questioned several persons. CCTV cameras in the area will be reviewed soon, as investigations continue.

12 NEWS

SATURDAY, MAY 14,, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BA.2 subvariant could be behind rising COVID-19 numbers – Health Minister A

s the Health Ministry continues to study the driving factors behind this week’s increased COVID-19 positives, there are contentions that this could be linked to the BA.2 subvariant of the Omicron strain here.

A sudden uptick in COVID-19 cases this week has led to an increase in active cases. Now, six persons are hospitalised. Four are intubated – a new trend which the Ministry has identified.

Addressing the situation on Friday, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony pointed out that the different subvariants of Omicron have been circulating. Following January’s wave of about 20,000 cases, linked to the BA.1 strain, authorities have concluded that the new spike could be linked to the BA.2 subvariant causing local infections.

“One of the new subvariants is BA.2, which is now becoming very dominant globally. You’re seeing more countries in Europe,

the Americas, having a BA.2 subvariant that is circulating…I think because we have such close contact with the US and other countries, eventually we would have those cases coming here as well. Maybe this new increase in cases is perhaps being fuelled by a BA.2 subvariant,” the Health Minister contended in the briefing.

In conjunction with close monitoring, samples will be sent for genomic sequencing to determine definitely which variant is circulating here. Authorities are also examining the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, which has shown higher transmissibility.

Active cases have climbed to 277 across the country. Region Four is recording a majority of the new positives, as 166 active infections are being monitored. The remainder cases are dispersed in other regions, showing 55 in Region Six, 27 in Region Three, 11 in Region Two.

New infections

The daily dashboard showed an increase of 36 cases on Friday, resulting in 63,772 total infections to date. Some 29,364 males contracted the virus along with 34,408 females.

There are four persons in the specialised Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 12 in institutional isolation, 249 in home isolation and zero in institutional quarantine.

Recoveries now stand at 62,279 while 609,376 tests have been conducted.

Regionally, there were four new cases in Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam), 19 in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), and 13 in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).

In Guyana, 441,071 first doses and 340,572 second doses were distributed to adults. This is approximately 86 per cent and 66.4 per cent, respectively. For children aged 12 to 17, 25,355 or 34.7 per cent are completely vaccinated. Booster coverage is 63,574.

GUYANA COVID-19 DASHBOARD MAY 13, 2022 UPDATE

NUMBER OF NEW CASES

36

NUMBER OF PERSONS IN INSTITUTIONAL ISOLATION

12

NUMBER OF PERSONS IN HOME ISOLATION

249

NUMBER OF PERSONS IN COVID-19 ICU

4

NUMBER OF PERSONS IN INSTITUTIONAL QUARANTINE

0

TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES BY GENDER (FEMALES)

34,408

TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES BY GENDER (MALES)

29,364

TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES IN GUYANA SINCE 2020

63,772

NUMBER OF RECOVERED CASES

62,279

TOTAL 1st DOSE VACCINATED FULLY IMMUNISED

REGION 1

2520

REGION 2

2509

REGION 3

8097

REGION 4

31,577

REGION 5

2385

REGION 6

5858

REGION 7

2425

REGION 8

886

REGION 9

4039

REGION 10

3476

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

441,071 340,572

TOTAL NUMBER OF DEATHS

DISTRIBUTION OF TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES SINCE MARCH 2020

1228

Keep a physical distance of at least 6 feet.

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

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

If anyone is displaying any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19 or needs any additional information, they are asked to contact the COVID-19

Hotline 231-1166, 226-7480 or 624-6674 immediately or visit www.health.gov.gy.

Global figures show that almost 516.9 million people have tested positive for

the virus and 6.2 million have died. In the Americas, more than 154.2 million confirmed cases have been reported with over 2.7 million deaths.

Bus driver found not guilty of raping differently-abled woman

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48-year-old Route 42 (GeorgetownTimehri) minibus driver has been found not guilty of rape by the Demerara Sexual Offences Court. A 12-member jury took about two hours to reach the unanimous verdict on Friday, resulting in the acquittal of Sherwin Reynolds.

Reynolds of Plaisance, East Coast Demerara (ECD), was charged with the crime back in September 2018. It was alleged that on April 19, 2018, in the county of Demerara, he engaged in sexual penetration of a 21-year-old differently-abled woman without her consent.

He had been on trial for the offence before Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.

Reynolds was represented

by Attorney-at-Law Teriq Mohammed while State Counsel Paneeta Persaud, State Counsel Cicelia Corbin, and State Counsel Caressa Henry appeared for

Freed: Sherwin Reynolds

the prosecution.

It has been reported that, on the day in question, the woman, who is mute, boarded Reynolds’s bus to travel from Georgetown to Timehri.

She allegedly refused to exit the vehicle and was taken back to Georgetown, where she again remained in the bus, and was taken back to Timehri for a second time.

It had been alleged that

Reynolds then drove the woman to a secluded area and raped her. The woman went home and told her parents what had transpired.

A report was made to the Police which led to Reynolds being arrested. A confrontation was reportedly held between him and the woman, during which she identified him as the person who had raped her. (G1)

NEWS

13

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

“We need to build the capacity of teachers” – Education Ministry CPO

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n efforts to address future Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) and Education Data Systems software, the Chief Planning Officer of the Education Ministry, Nicola Johnson has said that the department within the Education Ministry will revolutionise the delivery of education in Guyana.

Johnson was at the time participating in a webinar called by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Headquarters in Paris.

During her presentation, Johnson said that capacity building is an important

Education Ministry's Chief Planning Officer Nicola Johnson and Global Partnership for Education Economist Margaret Irving

part of the successful rollout of the programme and policy.

“We need to build the capacity of teachers to utilise this system and understand how it will serve them.”

According to Johnson, the data collected by the EMIS can be used to inform decision-making. She noted that the issue of capacity building is currently being addressed since the Ministry is in the process of conducting an organisation audit which will highlight what are the needs that exist.

The Education Management Information System Community of

Practice was launched in February 2022 and established three working groups to address specific aspects of EMIS development.

Johnson is a member of Working Group Three which met on Friday. Working Group Three is tasked to focus on the assessment of capacity development gaps and emerging needs.

The EMIS software is intended to improve information management and efficiency in schools. The software will enable teachers and policymakers to efficiently manage the sector data and take effective measures to address key sector issues. (G2)

Sentencing for 2 convicted rapists deferred S entencing for two convicted rapists which was initially scheduled for Friday has been deferred to May 23 by Demerara Sexual Offences Court Judge Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.

Corwyn Arthur, called “Cross Eye”, 37, of Cinderella City, Amelia’s Ward, Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), and Thurston Semple, also 37, of Tucville, Georgetown, were found guilty by juries on separate rape and assault charges in March.

In Arthur’s case, Justice Sewnarine-Beharry deferred sentencing to allow her time to consider the submissions made on Friday by the convict’s lawyer, Madan Kissoon, and State Prosecutor Mohammed Ali. The Linden resident was allowed to address the court.

In so doing, he said that he was sorry for what happened to the 16-year-old girl whom he was convicted of raping.

He, however, denied committing the act, claiming that a Police officer to whom he owes money framed him.

Probation and psychiatric reports on him were also presented to the court. The victim’s impact statement and a psychological evaluation of her were also presented.

Meanwhile, the court could not proceed with sentencing for Semple because his lawyer, Everton SinghLammy, was engaged in another matter before a Magistrate.

Furthermore, the probation and psychological reports in his case are yet to be completed.

Raped at knifepoint

Arthur engaged in sexual penetration of the 16-yearold girl on December 17, 2013, without her consent.

He was also convicted of assaulting the victim. It was reported that the victim was walking home from a friend’s birthday party when she was attacked by Arthur, who was armed with a knife.

The court heard that the rapist threatened to kill the teenager if she did not comply with his wishes. The vic-

kitchen. Upon his return, he grabbed the woman by her hair, placed a knife to her neck, removed the condom from his penis, and forced the woman to perform oral sex on him.

When the woman stopped performing the act on him, Semple dealt her several slaps to her face.

At this point, she requested to have a drink of water.

When Semple turned his back, the naked woman escaped through a glass win-

Rapist Thurston Semple

tim had managed to raise an alarm, but Arthur, in retaliation, dealt her one blow to her head with the knife he was carrying. He then dragged her into a clump of bushes, placed the knife to her neck, and raped her.

Jailed

Arthur is currently serving a 15-year jail term for stabbing his ex-lover’s husband to death in 2018. In 2021, he admitted that on May 10, 2018, he unlawfully killed 40-year-old taxi driver Claude De Jonge, also known as “Sonno”, of South Amelia’s Ward, Linden.

It was reported that De Jonge was stabbed to death while at the home of his girlfriend, who reportedly once shared a relationship with Arthur. De Jonge was found lying motionlessly in a pool of blood next to the front door of the house. At the time, he was clad in trousers and his body bore several stab wounds to the neck, shoulders, and abdomen.

Battered and raped

Rape/manslaughter convict Corwyn Arthur

In addition, Semple, a taxi driver, sexually penetrated a woman against her will between February 24 and 25, 2021. He was also found guilty of assaulting her.

The facts stated that around 22:30h on the day in question, Semple drove up alongside the woman who was standing in front of a hotel in Georgetown. The two of them began conversing during which Semple agreed to pay her $10,000 to have sex with him.

The woman left with Semple who transported her to his Tucville, Georgetown home. Upon arrival, she sat on a bed and smoked a cigarette. They then engaged in sexual intercourse. During the sex act, the condom broke, resulting in the woman having to replace it.

While doing so, she told Semple that he only had 15 minutes remaining and that if he does not finish within that time, she would leave.

Semple replied by telling her “okay” before leaving for the

dow. Semple ran behind her; he grabbed her by her hair again and dealt her several stabs with a knife. When the woman held onto the weapon, Semple lashed her about her body with a tube that was filled with cement.

To get away from him, the woman jumped a fence and began crying out for help. Persons came to her rescue. Shortly after, Police arrived at the scene and arrested Semple. The injured woman was taken to the

Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation where she was treated for lacerations about her body, fractured ribs, among other injuries.

After the offences were put to him and he was cautioned in accordance with the Judge’s Rules, Semple replied: “Officer, I had sex with her. I paid her for the service and she refused to do what I asked… and I assaulted her in her face with a PVC [polyvinyl chloride] pipe.” (G1)

14 NEWS

SATURDAY, MAY 14,, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

GNRSC advocates for reduction of speed Motorcyclist, pillion rider injured after crashing into car limits in urban streets, school areas

A snapshot of the CCTV footage showing the motorcyclist colliding with the car

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wo men, 34-year-old Seenauth Mohamed and 18-year-old Suraj Mohamed, both of Vilvoorden, Essequibo Coast, are currently hospitalised after they crashed into a motor car on Friday.

The accident occurred at Land of Plenty Public Road, Essequibo Coast, at about 07:58h.

Reports are that motor car PVV 2033 and the motorcycle were both proceeding north along the western driving lane of the road

when the driver of the motor car attempted to turn right onto the eastern side of the road. It was then that the motorcyclist overtook a vehicle that was behind the motor car and subsequently collided into the right-side rear portion of the car.

The motorcyclist and pillion rider fell onto the roadway as a result of the collision, and were picked up and taken to the Suddie Public Hospital where they were treated for their injuries and later admitted as

patients.

The motorcyclist was admitted for lacerations to the head while the pillion rider was admitted for a fractured left foot.

The car and motorcycle were both lodged to be examined by a license and certifying officer. The driver of the motor car is in custody assisting with the investigation. Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) footage of the accident has since been handed over to the Police.

(G9)

Public Works Ministry Engineer Kester Hinds

Assistant Chief Education Officer Carol Benn

Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn

he Guyana National Road Safety Council (GNRSC) has called for the speed limit for urban streets and school areas to be reduced to 30 kilometres per hour. This call was made during the launching of the United Nations global road safety week on Friday at the Home Affairs Ministry. The call by the GNRSC is to reduce road accidents and fatalities, especially among children.

Global road safety week will run from May 13 to 17 and is hosted by the World Health Organisation to highlight the benefits of low-speed limits on urban streets. The focus of this year is to encourage policymakers to drop speed limits to 30 kilometres an hour in cities where cyclists and pedestrians interact closely with car traffic.

As such, the GNRSC has stepped on board with this initiative and has called on the Government of Guyana to incorporate this strategy.

At the small ceremony, Engineer at the Public

Works Ministry, Kester Hinds said that the Ministry has already taken a step to have the speed limit incorporated.

“What we have been embarking on in collaboration with the GNRSC is to explore the possibilities of ensuring that within these high traffic areas that we address those areas by not only effecting installations of speed calming measures… but to erect the 30km speed limit within those zones, primarily where schools are located.”

He added that he is hoping to have this addressed in a timely manner. Hinds said they are also in discussions with the Ministry of Education to ensure that the school areas are outfitted as a safe zone.

Meanwhile, Assistant Chief Education Officer and member of the National Road Safety Council, Carol Benn said for some time the Education Ministry has been trying to convince parents that schools are a safe zone, but most parents are

concerned about the rate at which drivers traverse the streets.

She said it was only recently they were able to relaunch the road safety patrols at schools.

“We have had a little push back from some of our parents… we had a real task of trying to convince them that we will have things sorted out, we will be there for your children, we will not leave them alone because the Police will also be there along with their teachers…”, she said.

On the other hand, Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn said he is aware of the risks imposed by speeding on the roadways and agrees that if the speed limits are lowered, fatalities and injuries will be lowered.

He added that the Ministry in collaboration with other stakeholders was so far able to reduce road fatalities, in keeping with the United Nations General Assembly’s second Decade of Action for Road Safety 20212030. CONTINUED ON PAGE 15

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NEWS

15

SATURDAY, MAY 14 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

450 jobs to be created with US$40M pipe-coating venture A

US$40 million company, Pipe Coating Guyana (PCG) Inc, was launched on Wednesday evening at the Marriott Hotel, Kingston.

The company is being led by Guyanese-owned S Jagmohan Hardware Supplies, in partnership with two foreign companies PSS and WASCO Energy.

Minister within the Public Works Ministry, Deodat Indar while addressing the gathering, said the recent passage of the Local Content Legislation is paving the way for such businesses. The company is one of many that is tapping into the oil and gas industry here in Guyana. It is expected to create some 450 jobs.

According to a DPI re-

port, Indar explained that with the pipe coating company here in Guyana, it will drastically reduce the cost for such products while at the same time building the technical capacity of Guyanese.

“Guyanese will benefit from this and the technical transfer of how to do pipe coating will transfer overtime and I hope faster than slower.

“Here is it, a prime example of what local content and what the Local Content Legislation is driving in Guyana. It is really delivering prosperity to everybody, but you cannot sit on your hands, it is not the time for that. Guyana as you all know, I do not have to remind you all, we are at

A representative of the company explaining the process of pipe coating to Minister within the Public Works Ministry, Deodat Indar; Private Sector Commission Chairman Paul Cheong, and GO-Invest Chief Executive Officer Dr Peter Ramsaroop

GNRSC advocates for reduction...

“For the last year, we have had for the first time a massive reduction in road traffic deaths… it dropped below 100 deaths for the entire for the first time in 16 years.

This is a massive improvement given the fact that we have many more vehicles on the road, and many newer and younger drivers,” he said.

The Minister said they were also able to implement several mechanisms throughout Guyana through intended amendments to the legislation, education of the public and the Guyana

Police Force, strengthening of public-private partnership, usage of Information and Communications Technology to complement the ambitious target of UN General Assembly by preventing 50 per cent of road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030.

Benn further noted that apart from the amendment to the traffic legislation, which will impose more severe penalties and heavier fines on persons caught using our roadways in a lawless manner, several other

FROM PAGE 14

preventative measures are in motion which will play an integral part in achieving safer roads for drivers and pedestrians.

“We have talked about increasing the fines, we’ve talked about putting in more speed bumps in particular areas, we’re talking about bringing in more speed guns, breathalysers, and wheel clamps. We are talking about number plate recognition for persons who may be involved in error behaviour…”, he explained.

(G9)

a place where we have the largest economic growth projections, 47.5 per cent GDP rise in a single year,” Indar is quoted as saying.

He said that Guyana is moving in a direction that will ensure that every Guyanese benefits from the oil and gas sector.

Meanwhile, Director of PCG Inc, Narain Tulshi

said from the time the Local Content Legislation was conceptualised and passed, the challenge was accepted to take advantage of what the Government was presenting to Guyanese.

“The 450 jobs to be created from this venture will add to the thousands that have already been created by the local partners throughout

Guyana. We are committed to proving employment and ensuring that out people benefit from the opportunities in this new petroleum economy,” Tulshi said.

Research shows that pipeline coating is a cost effective and viable solution to maintain pipelines’ integrity. This coating provides a constant protective lining that helps save pipelines from the damaging effects of corrosion.

The company will be operating out of the compound of Guyana Shore Base Inc (GYSBI) on the East Bank of Demerara, as a temporary location and will be receiving pipes for coating out of Brazil. Pipe Coating Guyana (PCG) Inc is expected to have the capacity to coat about 80 pipes per day ranging from 12 to 24 inches.

Also delivering remarks at the launch of the company were of WASCO Energy International Business Development Director Roberto Gonzalvez, Private Sector Commission Chairman Paul Cheong and GO-Invest Chief Executive Officer, Dr Peter Ramsaroop.

16 NEWS Guilty! Jury convicts 5 men for killing phone card distributor F SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

ive men accused of murdering a Corentyne phone card distributor in February 2017, were on Friday found guilty by a jury.

The men were accused of killing 36-year-old Danian Jagdeo, a phone card distributor, on February 8, 2017, at Adventure, Corentyne, during the course of a robbery.

The jury returned the unanimous verdict on Friday afternoon after a lengthy trial before Justice Sandil Kissoon which com-

Murdered: Danian Jagdeo

menced in February of this year at the Berbice Assizes.

Mark Dhuman, Abdul Salam Azimullah called “Sato”, Shuman Batson, Satish Budram and Zaheer Abdulla called “Gold Teeth” maintained their innocence during the trial.

They were being represented by attorneys Siand Dhurjon, Moti Singh, Ravindra Mohabir, Sasha Roberts and Surihya

Shannon Batson

Satesh Boodram

Abdul Salam Azimullah, called “Sato”

Mark Dhuman

Zaheer Abdulla, called “Gold Teeth”

Sabsook.

The State’s case was presented by Attorney-atLaw Abigail Gibbs.

In presenting the State’s case to the jury, the prosecutor said the five accused are responsible for robbing and murdering Jagdeo. The State presented both Police and civilian witnesses to convince the jury.

On February 8, 2017, Jagdeo was followed from Corriverton to the village of Adventure after making several stops at places to conduct business.

At Adventure, Jagdeo stopped at Country Chef Creole Snackette and was in conversation with the business owner when a man pretending to be a customer walked into the establishment.

Jagdeo enquired whether the business owner knew the strange-looking man entering the premises; however, before the owner could respond properly, the man whipped out a gun and

aimed it at Jagdeo.

Upon seeing this, the business owner ducked under the counter while several shots were fired.

When the businessman resurfaced, the bandits were running out of the shop with Jagdeo’s bag while the injured man lay in a pool of blood. He was taken to the Port Mourant Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

By daylight the following day, the five accused were in Police custody along with two other suspects; one who made the false number plate for the motorbike the accused used and the teenager who purchased the gasoline for the getaway motorbike.

The motorbike was discovered one village away from the murder scene about two hours after the incident.

One of the prosecution’s key witnesses, Sergeant Philbert Wilbur detailed a night and entire morning

of traversing the Corentyne during which the five suspects were arrested and the alleged murder weapon was found.

The Police officer said that at about 22:00h, acting on information, he and a party of Police officers went to a wake house at Hampshire Village and contacted Azimullah. He was arrested and at about midnight he was able to arrest Satish Budram.

Just before 2:30h the following morning, Batson was arrested at the house at Williamsburg. Upon his arrest he told the Police officer, “Ah gon tell you everything when we get to the station,” Wilbur told the court.

When they got to the Rose Hall Town Police Outpost, Wilbur said Batson told him that he was going to take him to Canje and show him where the man who did the shooting lives; he said the man was called “Gold Teeth”.

He said while taking Batson to East Canje, he jumped out of the vehicle but was apprehended by Police officers.

When they got to the home which Batson pointed out as being Abdulla’s, they called at the door several times and then realised that someone had jumped through the back window.

The man had jumped over two barriers but got stuck between a picket fence where he was arrested. The officer told the court that Abdulla said he was also called “Marlon” and “Gold Teeth”.

Based on further information that was received, the court was told that at about 6:30h, Mark Dhuman was arrested.

Wilbur said as he and other officers continued to work, they received more information and then contacted Abdulla, who was in Police custody and told him that they were in receipt of information that suggested

that the gun which was used in the shooting was hidden in his yard. He told the officer that it was not so but agreed to take them to his home at Hampshire Village to conduct the search.

During that search, what appeared to be a handgun was found on a heap of stripped branches, wrapped in a handkerchief.

Wilbur told the court that when the gun was found, Abdulla told him that a gun was hidden there

by Batson.

Later a confrontation between Batson and Abdulla was had and Batson told Abdulla that the gun which was found was Abdulla’s.

The jury was shown the said firearm as the Police officer tendered it as evidence in the trial.

Following the verdict, Justice Kissoon ordered probation reports to be prepared for each of the accused. They will have to return to court on June 10.

(G4)

Healthy ecosystems crucial for livelihoods, Guyana joins Airbnb “Live and Work protecting biodiversity – EMC Director …calls for worldwide conservation of migratory birds, habitats

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s World Migratory Bird Day is being celebrated across the world today, the Environmental Management Consultants Inc (EMC) joins the calls for conservation of migratory birds and their habitats while reaffirming its commitment to support the protection of Guyana’s ecosystems.

On Friday, EMC said that Guyana is home to more than 850 species of birds and more than 250 of these species have been seen in Georgetown, making it one of the few capital cities in the world that can boast of such a high number of birds.

“Guyana also hosts over 90 migratory bird species that depend on a network of sites and habitats, such as wetlands, coastal areas, forests, and grasslands, to survive. This wide avian diversity has made bird-spotting a popular pastime for locals and international tourists. It is also a source of revenue

for tourism operators and communities,” a press release from the company stated.

According to EMC, unfortunately, migratory

birds are under threat from loss of habitat, climate change, and predation, including human hunting.

The effects of these threats on bird species, the

release stated, have long been observed in Guyana, but the scale of their impact is yet to be thoroughly examined. EMC’s work contributes to the protection of Guyana’s ecosystems and rich biodiversity, including the diverse species of migratory birds the country hosts.

EMC’s Managing Director, Shyam Nokta, said that “healthy ecosystems are crucial for livelihoods, offsetting climate change, and protecting biodiversity.”

“We contribute to Guyana’s biodiversity database through our work on the coast and hinterland, which includes biodiversity assessments, resource mapping, awareness raising, capacity development, and continuous engagement with communities and stakeholders.

Our work supports a better understanding of avian biodiversity and habitats in Guyana and can therefore contribute to their conservation,” Nokta said.

Anywhere” campaign

G

uyana has joined the Airbnb “Live and Work Anywhere” campaign to promote the destination to the growing number of digital nomads worldwide.

As flexibility becomes a permanent part of so many company cultures, Airbnb wants to make it easier for workers to take advantage of their newly enshrined flexibility.

With more than six million listings worldwide, the platform launched last Thursday its “Live and Work Anywhere” programme.

This is an ongoing initiative to continue working with governments and other organisations to create a one-stop-shop for remote workers, and encourage them to try new locations to work, while helping to revive tourism and provide economic support to communities after years of travel restrictions.

For the Caribbean re-

gion, Airbnb found that the share of nights booked for long term stays in the first quarter of 2022 almost doubled compared to the same period in 2019 and that in the first quarter of 2019, almost six per cent of all bookings were for long term stays, while in 2022 this percentage reached almost 10 per cent.

It was also found that the number of nights booked for long term stays tripled in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period in 2019.

Continuing the effort to partner with governments and tourism agencies to promote responsible travel and local economic growth, Airbnb in partnership with the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) will promote CTO member countries with digital nomad programmes across Airbnb’s vast global community.

This campaign will promote Guyana through a landing page that provides details about the digital nomad programme, and also highlights the best Airbnb options to stay in and work from in Guyana.

17 President Ali extends condolence on death of UAE President NEWS

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan passed at age 73

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ollowing the news of the passing of the President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Friday, President Dr Irfaan Ali wrote the Royal Family in Abu Dhabi to extend his condolences.

In the letter seen by the Guyana Times, the Guyanese Leader said he was disturbed by the distressing news of the death of the UAE President, who had been ill after suffering a stroke in 2014.

“While I was aware that His Highness was not in

President Dr Irfaan Ali

the best of health, his sudden passing came a as a sad surprise. That he died on the blessed day of Jumu’ah is testimony to the blessed life he lived,” President Ali said.

The Guyanese Head of State described the Middle East Leader as a “humble

and generous man” who sought the unity of the Muslim world and worked tirelessly to fulfill the aspirations of the Emirati people. According to Ali, President Sheikh Khalifa’s death has wrested an illustrious and an iconic figure from the world.

Differently-abled man receives new electric wheelchair

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ifty-two-year-old Gordon Ross of Princes Street, Georgetown, broke down in tears on Friday after he received a brandnew electric wheelchair from businessman, Azruddin Mohamed.

Ross has been incapacitated for the past three years and was forced to use a wheelchair as his only mean of mobility.

While working in the interior, he sustained injuries to his lower spine and had been using a wheelchair, which gradually deteriorated.

He made several pleas for help but no assistance was forthcoming, however, Mohamed contacted Ross, a father of two, after reading an article in the local media of him soliciting assistance.

The new electrical wheelchair was purchased and handed over to the self-employed man at Mohamed’s Enterprise, Lombard Street, Georgetown.

Ross retails masks, umbrellas and other small items around the city. He said sometimes, he travels by bus to the Corentyne where he plies his trade.

At the handing over on Friday, Ross thanked the businessman for his benevo-

lent gesture and promised to use the piece of equipment to the fullest.

“I have never used one like these before but with constant practice and manoeuvring, I will get a grasp of it,” Ross told this publication.

Further, he stated that when he was contacted by the businessman, he was left in shock and could not contain his excitement.

“I would see him helping a lot of people but I am now proud to say that I am one of the beneficiaries of Azruddin’s donations.”

He added that with the new machine, he will be able to ply his trade in a more effective manner.

On this note, he explained that he lives with a few friends and by selling, he is able to assist in providing food for the table.

His disability, he reassured, does not stop him from making an honest living.

Ross, nevertheless, noted he was robbed several times on his way home after selling.

“These men, if I see them, I can identify them, sneak up on me and take away my daily sales… I made several reports to the Police but nothing came out of the matters.

All the Police say is to check

“On my own behalf that that of my Government and the people of Guyana, I express my deepest condolences to the grieving Government and people of the United Arab Emirates,” the letter dated 13th May, 2022 detailed.

Of recent, Guyana has been further strengthening bilateral ties with the UAE with reciprocal visits by state officials in both countries.

Only in March of this year, President Ali met with UAE’s Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum during which the two leaders discussed a number of areas of cooperation.

The Guyanese President was at the time attending the Caribbean Investment Forum (CIF2022) in Dubai, where delivered the keynote address at the opening, and also participated in the Global Business ForumLATAM. This followed his first visit to the Middle East nation in October 2021.

Emirati state news

agency, WAM, reported on Friday that President Sheikh Khalifa died at the age of 73. He took office as the second President of the UAE in November 2004 but had hardly been seen publicly since his stroke in 2014.

According to the BBC, Sheikh Khalifa’s half-brother, Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, is now in charge of state affairs.

The international news agency said that in addition to being president of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa, who they described as “one of the richest monarchs in the world” was also the ruler of Abu Dhabi, the oil-rich capital of the seven emirates which comprise the UAE. The country’s ministry of presidential affairs declared 40 days of mourning with flags at half-mast from Friday, and work suspended in the public and private sector for the first three days.

Following the announcement of his death, tributes from leaders around the world poured in on Friday.

(G8)

4 WCD schoolgirls hospitalised after using drugs

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Fifty-two-year-old Gordon Ross riding off with his new electric wheelchair from Mohamed’s Enterprise, Lombard Street, Georgetown.

back but up to now no one was arrested,” Ross added.

“We live in a world that you will find and meet people with different problems and issues and it is our responsibility to assist if we can.

While some use their wealth to trample and oppress the poor, I want to use mine to continue assisting the less fortunate so that they can have a better life,” the businessman added.

our female students of a West Coast Demerara secondary school, Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) were on Friday hospitalised after they consumed excessive doses of an illegal drug.

Reports are that the students allegedly mixed the drug in a beverage but subsequently fell ill.

They were rushed to the West Demerara Regional Hospital where they were all admitted.

Police in the region confirmed that the students were hospitalised but are not revealing who gave them the drug.

In January, three highly intoxicated teenage girls of Anna Regina Multilateral School, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) were hospitalised at the

Suddie Public Hospital after they were seen consuming alcohol at the Anna Regina bus park.

They were reportedly picked up by officials of the Welfare Department and taken to the hospital where two were in an unconscious state. The then Divisional Commander, Demise Griffith, had told this publication that the three young girls were consuming the liquor and tablets in the minibus.

Meanwhile, only last week, school-aged children in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) were caught in the sale of illicit drugs. This has prompted swift action by Police officers in the division which has led to the arrest of the adults suspected of giving the minors the narcotics to sell.

18

guyanatimesgy.com

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2022

Regional

Eleven killed, 31 rescued after Mexican girl at centre of outcry over violence boat capsizes near Puerto Rico was sexually assaulted, murdered: autopsy

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A

t least 11 people have died and 31 others were rescued after a boat capsized north of an uninhabited island near Puerto Rico.

The United States Coast Guard, which conducted the rescue on Thursday, said most of the survivors were from Haiti or the Dominican Republic.

A “mass rescue effort” continued overnight into Friday, Coast Guard spokesman Ricardo Castrodad said.

“We’re looking to rescue as many people as we can and find as many survivors as we can,” he said.

The deadly incident comes amid an uptick in Haitians and other migrants attempting the dangerous water passage to the US. From October 2021 to March 2022, 571 Haitians and 252 people from the Dominican Republic were detained in waters around Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, according to US Customs and Border Protection.

In the fiscal year 2021, 310 Haitians and

The US Coast Guard, which conducted the rescue on Thursday, said most of the survivors were from Haiti or the Dominican Republic [US Coast Guard/AFP]

354 Dominicans were detained, compared with the 22 Haitians and 313 Dominicans apprehended in the fiscal year 2020, according to the agency.

The incident comes less than a week after the US Coast Guard and the Dominican navy on Saturday rescued 68 migrants in the Mona Passage, a treacherous area between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. One woman believed to be from Haiti died in that incident.

Those rescued on Thursday, 11 women and 20 men, were taken to Puerto Rico, where eight were treated at a local hospital, according to authorities.

The uptick in people fleeing Haiti has accompanied a surge in gang-related violence in the country that has killed dozens of people, including women and children. Homicides are up by 17 per cent in the country, according to the United Nations. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Chile’s climate scientist minister eyes tougher rules for top copper mining nation

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hile’s Environment Minister Maisa Rojas, a leading climate scientist with a PhD from Oxford who made the leap into politics this year, is on a mission to strengthen the Andean country’s environmental rules and hold mining firms to account.

Rojas, 49, is spearheading a new climate change law that binds Chile to carbon neutrality by 2050 and gives her Ministry more power to set emission caps, including for the key mining sector in the world’s top copper producer.

“In the case of mining, there are concrete commitments that will have to

be put in place,” she told Reuters, citing initiatives that will be closely watched by miners of copper and in-demand battery metal lithium.

The law will put “borders” around the country’s industries in terms of emissions and pollution, Rojas said in her white-walled office in Santiago decorated with family photos and a glass whiteboard with planning notes and doodles.

“They are going to have to adapt to that border.”

Rojas, who has a PhD in Atmospheric Physics from the University of Oxford and has focused her research on climate modeling and dy-

namics, said many environmental rules so far had been largely voluntary and need tougher enforcement.

A strengthened Ministry would hold companies to account on emissions, mining tailings, water use and environmental adaptation plans, with a mandatory yearly reporting requirement to congress, she said.

Rojas, who took office in March under new progressive President Gabriel Boric, faces a tough challenge to balance goals to toughen environmental regulation and meet climate targets with the country’s heavy reliance on copper mining. (Excerpt from Reuters)

J/ca: Elderly man gunned down a day after cousin

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aurice Parkinson has always disliked Fridays that fall on the thirteenth of the month and he had good reason as that’s the day he lost his left arm in a fight. It was chopped off sometime in the 1980s. Friday, May 13, 2022, in a cruel twist of fate, the 86-year-old farmer from Brighton in Little London was gunned down at his house.

He was killed a day after his cousin, Kenroy Parkinson, was murdered by gunmen as he slept at his house in the Retirement area of their community.

The Police, who believe the two murders are connected, say they have not yet

identified a clear motive but says they are following strong leads.

It appears the elderly man was killed as he filled buckets with feed for his goats. Residents heard what sounded like gunshots and called the Police who arrived to find his body.

“Him never wah guh out on the 13th; Friday the 13th is not a good day for him,” said a tearful Eugene Lewis, whom Parkinson raised as his son. “It sad, it sad man,” he said.

He struggled to understand who could have seen a one-armed, 86-year-old man as a threat.

“Yuh really kill wah

man that age! What kind of heart you have?” he asked the unknown assailant.

He had shared a few laughs with his father the night before, he recalled, his face showing a flicker of a smile before grief once again took over.

Stephen Parkinson, another of the deceased man’s sons, told Observer Online they were both at their house when the unthinkable happened.

“I was here and I heard about three shots. I went to the bushes, by the time I got back around [the entrance to the yard] the cops were there,” he said.

(Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

exico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador vowed on Friday to deliver justice for the killing of a Mexican teenage girl after an autopsy was published showing she had been violently sexually assaulted and murdered.

“I promised to help clarify what happened and ensure there’s no impunity,” Lopez Obrador told a news conference after meeting with the parents of Debanhi Escobar, whose killing last month inflamed anger over violence against women across Mexico.

The 18-year-old law student vanished on April 9 amid a spate of disappear-

ances of women in the northern state of Nuevo Leon.

Her body was found nearly two weeks later submerged in a cistern at a motel near where she was last seen alive.

The independent autopsy, which was performed at the request of Debanhi’s family, revealed that her head was bludgeoned repeatedly by a “blunt object” and that she had bruises around her genitals indicating sexual assault, according to Spanish newspaper El Pais, which first reported the findings.

Mario Escobar, Debanhi’s father, accused the State Attorney General’s office of leaking the document in an

Instagram video following the article’s publication.

The Attorney General’s office, which did not respond to requests for comment, had previously said the cause of death was a “profound contusion to the skull.”

For weeks, local officials suggested she had died after accidentally falling into the underground water tank.

“We want answers, and we want them to tell us the truth,” Escobar told reporters after meeting Lopez Obrador.

An average of 10 women a day are killed in Mexico, and tens of thousands more are missing. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Royal Society names climate scientist first Brazilian member since 1800s

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he Royal Society scientific academy has elected climate scientist Carlos Nobre, a leading researcher studying the Amazon rainforest, as its first Brazilian member since the country’s Emperor Dom Pedro II joined the group in the 1800s.

Nobre has studied the Amazon for decades and was an early proponent of the theory that rapid deforestation is pushing the world’s largest rainforest toward a tipping point after which the biome could

dry out into savanna.

“The Royal Society is giving international recognition to the risks that the Amazon faces,” Nobre told Reuters on Friday.

“It’s an enormous risk that we could lose the greatest biodiversity and the biggest tropical forest on the planet.”

Preservation of the Amazon rainforest is vital to curbing climate change because it absorbs a vast amount of carbon dioxide.

Last year, Nobre led a group of roughly 200 researchers that launched a

landmark report with the most detailed and complete analysis to date of scientific knowledge about the Amazon rainforest.

Great Britain’s Royal Society began in 1660 and is the oldest national scientific academy.

The Nobel laureate Peter Medawar, a British biologist born in Brazil, was also a member previously, according to the Royal Society. But Medawar, who died in 1987, gave up his Brazilian citizenship as an adolescent. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Honduras “retakes sovereignty” by nixing corporate enclaves

I

n a rare display of unanimity, the Honduran Congress voted last month to reverse a controversial law that had facilitated one of the most widely loathed economic projects in this Central American nation.

The law allowed for the creation of special economic development zones, known by the Spanish acronym ZEDEs – semi-autonomous corporate enclaves where investors could govern as though they were independent entities, taking advantage of separate tax schemes, security forces and labour regulations.

While foreign investors and Silicon Valley luminaries had intermittently supported ZEDEs as a driver of economic development, many Hondurans spent years protesting against them, saying the enclaves would displace rural residents while selling off national sovereignty.

The revocation by Congress of the ZEDE law, passed in 2013 and staunchly backed in the ensuing

A demonstrator holding up a banner during a protest against the special economic zones in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on September 15, 2021 [Fredy Rodriguez/Reuters]

years by the administration of now-imprisoned former President Juan Orlando Hernandez, means that such projects no longer have standing within the framework of the Honduran legal system.

ZEDEs were “the last coup de grace that [the previous Government] did to the country: selling off the national territory in pieces”, Maria Carrasco, a Honduran PhD student living in Tegucigalpa, told Al Jazeera.

She welcomed the law’s re-

vocation, saying the controversial project had been “the icing on the cake” after years of Government corruption and mismanagement.

Xiomara Castro, the left-wing President inaugurated in January, thanked Congress for “repealing the criminal ZEDEs and defeating those who tried to steal our sovereignty”. The first female Head of State in Honduras, Castro had made revocation of the ZEDE law a signature campaign promise. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

guyanatimesgy.com

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2022

19

Around the World

OILNEWS OIL NEWS Oil jumps 4% as US gasoline prices hit record high

O

il prices rose about 4 per cent on Friday as US gasoline prices jumped to a record high, China looked ready to ease pandemic restrictions and investors worried supplies will tighten if the European Union bans Russian oil.

Brent futures rose US$4.10, or 3.8 per cent, to settle at US$111.55 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose US$4.36, or 4.1 per cent, to settle at US$110.49.

That was the highest close for WTI since March 25 and its third straight weekly rise. Brent fell for the first time in three weeks.

US gasoline futures soared to an all-time high after stockpiles fell last week for a sixth straight week. That boosted the gasoline crack spread - a measure of refining profit margins - to its highest since it hit a record in April 2020 when WTI finished in negative territory.

"There has not been an increase in (US) gasoline storage since March," said Robert Yawger, executive director of energy futures at Mizuho, noting gasoline demand is poised to spike when summer driving season starts on the US Memorial Day holiday weekend.

The US 3:2:1-crack spread, another measure of refining margins that includes gasoline and diesel, rose to a record, according to Refinitiv data going back to May 2021.

Automobile club AAA said US prices at the pump rose to record highs on Friday of US$4.43 per gallon for gasoline and US$5.56 for diesel.

Oil prices have been volatile, supported by worries a possible EU ban on Russian oil could tighten supplies but pressured by fears that a resurgent COVID-19 pandemic could cut global demand.

"An EU embargo, if fully enacted, could take about 3 million bpd (barrels per day) of Russian oil offline, which will completely disrupt, and ultimately shift global trade flows, triggering market panic and extreme price volatility," said Rystad Energy analyst Louise Dickson.

This week, Moscow slapped sanctions on several European energy companies, causing worries about supplies.

In China, authorities pledged to support the economy and city officials said Shanghai would start to ease coronavirus traffic restrictions and open shops this month.

"Crude prices rallied on optimism that China’s COVID situation was not worsening and as risky assets rebounded," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at data and analytics firm OANDA. Global shares rose after a volatile week of trading, pushing up stock indexes in the United States, and Europe.

Pressuring oil prices during the week, inflation and rate rises drove the US dollar The EU said there was enough progress to relaunch nuclear negotiations with Iran. The US said it appreciated the EU's efforts but said there was no agreement yet and no certainty that one might be reached.

Analysts said an agreement with Iran could add another 1 million bpd of oil supply to the market. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Ukrainian forces thwart Russians at river as fight shifts to Donbas

U

krainian forces destroyed parts of a Russian armoured column as it tried to cross a river in the Donbas region, video from Ukraine's military showed on Friday, as Moscow appeared to be refocusing its assault in the east after a new pushback

by Kyiv.

Ukraine has driven Russian troops away from the second-largest city of Kharkiv in the fastest advance since Kremlin forces pulled away from Kyiv and the northeast over a month ago, although Moscow is still bombarding villages north of Kharkiv.

The city, which had been under fierce bombardment, has been quiet for at least two weeks and Reuters journalists have confirmed

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North Korea's limited testing capabilities, the numbers released so far probably represent a small fraction of the infections, which could lead to thousands of deaths in one of only two countries in the world without a COVID-19 vaccination campaign.

About 187,800 people are being treated in isolation after a fever of unidentified origin has "explosively spread nationwide" since late April, the official KCNA news agency reported.

Roughly 350,000 people have shown signs of that fever, including 18,000 who newly reported such symp-

Ukraine now controls territory stretching to the Siverskyi Donets River, around 40 km (25 miles) to the east.

Some 10 km (six miles)

north of the city, firefighters doused smouldering wreckage in Dergachi after what local officials said was an overnight Russian missile attack on the House of

“Crisis for families”: US House to probe baby formula shortage

T

he United States House Oversight Committee said on Friday it plans to investigate the four largest manufacturers of baby formula and seek answers on how to ramp up production amid a nationwide shortage.

“The infant formula shortage is a crisis for American families,” the committee said in a Twitter post.

US Representative Carolyn Maloney, who leads the committee, sent letters seeking information to Abbott Nutrition, Mead

Johnson Nutrition, Nestle USA and Perrigo, ABC News reported.

“The national formula shortage poses a threat to the health and economic security of infants and families in communities across the country – particularly those with less income who have historically experienced health inequities, including food insecurity,” the letter said.

The investigation, which will look at potential price gouging among other issues, is the latest move in

Washington to address the shortage.

Abbott Laboratories in February recalled some baby formulas, including certain Similac products, made at the plant in Sturgis, Michigan, after complaints about bacterial infections in infants who had consumed the products.

Formula shortages have been compounded by supply-chain snags and historic inflation, leaving about 40 per cent of baby formula products out of stock nationwide, according to data firm

Datasembly.

Less than half of babies born in the United States were exclusively breastfed through their first three months, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2020 Breastfeeding Report Card.

US President Joe Biden met on Thursday with executives from infant formula manufacturers and retailers, pressing them to do everything possible to get families access. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Dozens die as blaze guts office Kenyan fighting FGM building in India capital Delhi crowned world's best nurse

F

ire has swept through a four-storey office building in Delhi, killing at least 27 people and injuring at least 12, emergency services say.

More than 70 people were in the building when the fire started and Police broke windows and used ropes to rescue people.

North Korea reports 1st COVID-19 death as fever spreads “explosively” t least one person confirmed to have COVID-19 has died in North Korea and hundreds of thousands have shown fever symptoms, state media said on Friday, offering hints at the potentially dire scale of country's first confirmed outbreak of the pandemic.

The data represents an unprecedented admission of an "explosive" outbreak in a country that had reported no previous confirmed cases since the pandemic began, and could mark a grave public health, economic and political crisis for the isolated regime.

Experts said that given

Service members of pro-Russian troops are seen atop armoured vehicles during Ukraine-Russia conflict outside Donetsk, Ukraine May 13, 2022

Culture, used to distribute aid. Volunteers inside were trying to salvage packages of baby diapers and formula.

"I can’t call it anything but a terrorist act," the Mayor, Vyacheslav Zadorenko, told Reuters. "They wanted to hit the base where we store provisions and create a humanitarian catastrophe."

Another missile had slammed into the building on Thursday and Russian shelling had wounded a staff member at a clinic and killed a young couple in their home, he said.

Russia, which denies targeting civilians, said its forces had shot down a Ukrainian Su-27 aircraft in the Kharkiv region and disabled the Kremenchuk oil refinery in central Ukraine.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

toms on Thursday, KCNA said. About 162,200 have been treated, but it did not specify how many had tested positive for COVID-19.

At least six people with fever symptoms have died, with one of those cases confirmed to have contracted the Omicron variant of the virus, KCNA said.

Harvard Medical School's Kee Park, who has worked on health care projects in North Korea, said the country has been testing about 1400 people each week, which is not nearly enough to survey 350,000 people with symptoms. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Some 20 fire engines were used to put out the blaze near Mundka metro station in the west of India's capital.

A short circuit is thought to have started the fire.

Indian media report that two arrests have been made.

Offering his condolences over the loss of lives, Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised 200,000 rupees (£2,118; $2,580) to next-ofkin in compensation for each death.

After the fire was extinguished, a rescue operation continued. "It will take time given the vastness of the area," Sunil Choudhary, deputy chief fire officer, was quoted as saying by Times of India.

Most of the bodies were reportedly found on the second.

Local official Jogi Ram Jain, said preliminary reports suggested a short circuit had caused the fire and that the building did not have proper fire safety certification.

"We have initiated an inquiry and if any municipal officials are found to be at fault, strict action will be taken," he was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times. (Excerpt from BBC News)

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Kenyan nurse who campaigns against early marriage and female genital mutilation says she is "speechless" after winning a prize of $250,000 (£205,000).

Anna Qabale Duba's colleagues say she always goes the extra mile for others in her pastoralist community in the northern county of Marsabit, and runs a school in her village.

"This award will help me to expand my school all over Kenya," she told BBC Newsday.

In the morning the classrooms of Torbi Pioneer Academy host lessons for children, before their parents come in for literacy classes in the afternoons - and sometimes both age groups get the same homework.

Qabale said she was the only university-educated girl from Torbi village, and the only girl educated past primary school level in her family of 19 children.

The 31-year-old now holds a Master’s in Epidemiology

and has set up a foundation aimed at empowering young girls and mothers.

"I am so passionate about education. After tasting the fruits of education, I decided to go back home to empower the rest," she told the BBC. Family and community are key influences and Qabale has dedicated her latest nursing award to her late brother, who part-funded her university studies.

Through her Qabale Duba Foundation, the school she has built in her village also teaches parents about key sexual and reproductive health issues.

Working as a nurse at Marsabit County Referral Hospital, she strives to end harmful cultural practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM) and early marriage, and it is for her work in these areas that Dubaibased Aster DM healthcare says she beat more than 24,000 nominees to their Global Nursing Award.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

20

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2022

guyanatimesgy.com

DAILY HOROSCOPES

ARCHIE

Assess your current personal and professional situations, and you'll come up with a great idea. A change of pace, lifestyle or routine will help you get your priorities straight.

(March 21-April 19) Don't worry if you meet with opposition. A debate will offer insight into how others think and what they can do. Choose your words wisely and offer something hard to resist; you'll gain support.

DILBERT (April 20-May 20)

(May 21-June 20)

Do the work yourself to avoid disappointment. A well-organized schedule will deter others from interfering with your plans. Keep moving and doing what you do best, and everything else will fall into place.

You'll get plenty of attention if you let your creative imagination take the reins.

Keep your plans simple and affordable, and everything will unfold smoothly.

Don't dismiss an expert's input.

PEANUTS (June 21-July 22)

Explore new possibilities and help a cause or someone in need. Look for a way to get things done without getting into an emotional battle. Listen to concerns and complaints and offer fair solutions.

(July 23-Aug. 22) Pay attention to the people you care about most. A kind gesture will pave the way to unexpected support and hands-on help. Your actions will significantly influence what transpires.

CALVIN AND HOBBES

(Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Don't hold back. Put your talents to work for you. You'll stand out at a social event and gather information about others that will help you make a personal decision. Romance will enrich your life.

(Sept. 23-Oct. 23) An emotional matter will surface if you get together with a friend, relative or loved one. Listen and choose your words wisely. Keep the peace. Stubbornness may prove to be a virtue.

SUDOKU (Oct. 24-Nov. 22)

Someone will use emotional tactics to push you into something questionable.

Be strong and willing to say no. Put your time and energy into self- and home improvements. Romance is favored.

(Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Go about your business and do things your way. If you don't make a fuss, you'll avoid interference. Don't put your health or your reputation at risk. Take care of unfinished business.

SOLUTION FOR LAST PUBLISHED PUZZLE

(Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Go over your investments, assets and liabilities. It's important to know where you stand before you make a move or go along with a change someone wants to make. Protect against loss.

(Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Go over personal documents, confirm due dates and leave nothing to chance.

Once you know where you stand financially and legally, you will recognize what you need to do.

(Feb. 20-March 20)

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2022

21

IPL 2022: RCB vs Punjab Kings…

Livingstone, Bairstow help Kings set winning total P

unjab Kings gave their playoffs’ chances a big boost with a thumping 54-run win over the Royal Challengers Bangalore in a m a t c h played

at the Brabourne Stadium.

With 12 points from as many games, Kings are now sixth on the points table, their net run rate being marginally lower than that of the fifth-placed Delhi Capitals.

Sent in to bat, Kings rode on half-centuries from Jonny Bairstow and Liam Livingstone to post a daunting 209 for 9.

Bairstow laid the platform by hitting four fours and seven sixes in his 29-ball 66. Once he got out, Livingstone took over and smashed 70 off 42 balls, studded with five fours and four sixes.

Royal Challengers’ bowling card made for interesting reading.

Wanindu Hasaranga conceded just 15 from his four overs, and picked up two wickets. Harshal Patel bowled t h e

difficult overs at the death, and still finished with 4 for 34 from his four.

On the other hand, Josh Hazlewood registered figures of 4-0-64-0.

In response, Royal Challengers lost Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis, and Mahipal Lomror within the first five overs. Glenn Maxwell and Rajat Patidar tried to revive the chase, but their efforts proved futile.

Bairstow's 21-ball fifty sets the tone

Coming into this game, Bairstow had 136 runs in eight innings, at an average of 17 and a strike rate of 117.24 in IPL 2022.

But here he teed off right from the start, chipping Maxwell for a straight six in the opening over before biffing Hazlewood twice over deep midwicket. By the end of three overs, he had raced to 34 off 12 balls, with four sixes.

Maxwell got rid of Shikhar Dhawan, but Bairstow took apart Mohammed Siraj in the last over of the powerplay, hitting him for three sixes and a four.

Bairstow brought up his halfcentury off just 21 balls, his fastest in T20 cricket, a s Kings reached 83 for

1 after six overs.

Hasaranga, Shahbaz apply brakes

After a blazing start, Wanindu Hasaranga and Shahbaz Ahmed pulled things back somewhat.

Hasaranga dismissed Bhanuka Rajapaksa in the seventh, the batter slicing a tossed-up googly to short third man. Soon after, Bairstow miscued one against Shahbaz and was taken at coverpoint. From overs 7 to 11, Kings scored only 25 for the loss of two wickets. But their quick start meant the run rate was still hovering around ten.

Livingstone tees off

After scoring only 14 off his first 14 balls, Livingstone jumped out to Shahbaz and smashed him for a straight six. In the spinner's next over, Livingston picked up a four with a reverse sweep before launching a massive hit over long-on.

However, Mayank Agarwal, who came in at #5, struggled to get going. Eventually, Harshal dismissed him with an offcutter for a laboured 19 off 16 balls.

Hasaranga then came back to pick up Jitesh Sharma, once again with a googly, before Harshal sent back Harpreet Brar.

But there was no stopping Livingstone. In the 19th over, he got stuck into Hazlewood, hitting him for two sixes and two fours in a 23-run over. Harshal conceded only four from the final over, but Livingstone's assault meant Kings finished with a daunting total.

Royal Challengers lose early wickets

Liam Livingstone blasted 70 off 42

For a moment, it looked like Kohli was back in form. In the second over of the chase, he drove Arshdeep Singh to the cover boundary, before whipping him through midwicket for four more. In the next over, he skipped down the ground to Harpreet Brar and lofted him over deep midwicket.

Kagiso Rabada got rid of him with a back-of-the-length delivery. Kohli moved towards the leg side and went for the pull, but the ball brushed the glove, hit the thigh pad, and lobbed towards short fine leg, where Rahul Chahar pouched it.

The umpire gave it not out, but Kings got the decision reversed on review.

In the next over, Rishi Dhawan dismissed du Plessis and Mahipal Lomror to leave Royal Challengers on 41 for 3 after five overs.

Harshal Patel bagged 4-34

SCOREBOARD

PUNJAB KINGS INNINGS (20 overs maximum) Jonny Bairstow c Mohammed Siraj b Shahbaz Ahmed 66 Shikhar Dhawan b Maxwell 21 Bhanuka Rajapaksa c Patel b de Silva 1 Liam Livingstone c †Karthik b Patel 70 Mayank Agarwal (c)c de Silva b Patel 19 Jitesh Sharma †b de Silva 9 Harpreet Brar c †Karthik b Patel 7 Rishi Dhawan c Maxwell b Patel 7 Rahul Chahar run out (Maxwell/†Karthik) 2 Kagiso Rabada not out 0 Extras (lb 3, nb 1, w 3) 7 TOTAL 20 Ov (RR: 10.45) 209/9 Did not bat: Arshdeep Singh Fall of wickets: 1-60 (Shikhar Dhawan, 4.6 ov), 2-85 (Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 6.4 ov), 3-101 (Jonny Bairstow, 9.1 ov), 4-152 (Mayank Agarwal, 14.6 ov), 5-164 (Jitesh Sharma, 16.2 ov), 6-173 (Harpreet Brar, 17.3 ov), 7-206 (Liam Livingstone, 19.2 ov), 8-207 (Rishi Dhawan, 19.4 ov), 9-209 (Rahul Chahar, 19.6 ov) BOWLING O-M-R-W Glenn Maxwell 2-0-17-1 Josh Hazlewood 4-0-64-0 Mohammed Siraj 2-0-36-0 Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva 4-0-15-2 Shahbaz Ahmed 4-0-40-1 Harshal Patel 4-0-34-4

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE INNINGS (Target: 210 runs from 20 overs) Virat Kohli c Chahar b Rabada 20 Faf du Plessis (c)c †Sharma b R Dhawan 10 Rajat Patidar c S Dhawan b Chahar 26 Mahipal Lomror c S Dhawan b R Dhawan 6 Glenn Maxwell c Arshdeep Singh b Harpreet Brar 35 Dinesh Karthik †c Rajapaksa b Arshdeep Singh 11 Shahbaz Ahmed c Rajapaksa b Rabada 9 Harshal Patel c Agarwal b Rabada 11 Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva c Harpreet Brar b Chahar 1 Mohammed Siraj not out 9 Josh Hazlewood not out 7 Extras (b 1, w 9) 10 TOTAL 20 Ov (RR: 7.75) 155/9 Fall of wickets: 1-33 (Virat Kohli, 3.2 ov), 2-34 (Faf du Plessis, 4.2 ov), 3-40 (Mahipal Lomror, 4.5 ov), 4-104 (Rajat Patidar, 10.6 ov), 5-104 (Glenn Maxwell, 11.2 ov), 6-120 (Dinesh Karthik, 14.5 ov), 7-124 (Shahbaz Ahmed, 15.4 ov), 8-137 (Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva, 16.4 ov), 9-142 (Harshal Patel, 18.1 ov) BOWLING O-M-R-W Harpreet Brar 4-0-33-1 Arshdeep Singh 4-0-27-1 Kagiso Rabada 4-0-21-3 Rishi Dhawan 4-0-36-2 Rahul Chahar 4-0-37-2

Maxwell, Patidar try to revive the chase

Johnny Bairstow scored 66

After playing out a couple of overs, Maxwell and Patidar took Chahar on in the eighth over of the chase.

Maxwell started by hitting a reverse-swept four. Patidar joined in with

a six over midwicket, before Maxwell wrapped up the over with switch-hit six over extracover.

In the next over, Patidar hit Brar for a six and four off successive balls. At the halfway stage, Royal Challengers were 95 for 3, needing another 115 from the last ten overs.

Chahar and Brar didn't take long to strike back. With the longer boundary on the leg side, Chahar bowled well outside off to Patidar. The batter still tried

to target the leg side, and holed out to long-on. In the next over, Maxwell ended up hitting Brar straight to Arshdeep at longoff, leading to high-fives from the bowler, the fielder, and even Livingstone.

With 92 required from 36 balls, Royal Challengers' diminishing hopes hinged on Dinesh Karthik.

Arshdeep, however, dashed them with an excellent 15th over, wherein he conceded only two runs and dismissed Karthik. (Cricinfo)

“That's not who he is anymore” -Embiid says 76ers' James Harden is not the Houston MVP version

J

ames Harden cannot be expected to consistently dominate NBA games, but he could have shown more aggression as the Philadelphia 76ers were knocked out of the playoffs, teammate Joel Embiid has said.

According to Embiid, a teamwide lack of aggression cost the 76ers, as a 99-90 loss to the Miami Heat spelled the end of their season. After being bounced out of the Eastern Conference semi-finals, much of the attention turned to Harden's quiet game.

Harden had just nine shots, and scored only 11 points in almost 43 minutes on court, taking a mere two shots in the second half.

Embiid, who had a doubledouble with 20 points and 12 rebounds, said the 32-year-old Harden cannot be compared to the player who averaged above 30 points for three consecutive seasons with the Houston Rockets, from 2017-18 to 2019-20.

Harden was the NBA MVP in 2018, but his points on the board have been tailing off in the past two seasons.

Since joining Philadelphia in February 2022, after a stint with the Brooklyn Nets, Harden has averaged 21.0 points over 21 regular season games, and just 18.6 points per game in the postseason.

Harden's field-goal shooting record of 40.5 per cent over the Sixers' 12 playoff games was his lowest in the p o st s e a s o n since the 2013-14

season.

"Since we got him, everybody expected the Houston James Harden," said Embiid. "But that's not who he is anymore. He's more of a playmaker. I thought at times he could have been -- as all of us could have been -- more aggressive.

All of us, whether it was Tyrese [Maxey] or Tobias [Harris] or guys coming off the bench.

And I'm not just talking about offensively. I'm talking about as a whole, offensively and defensively.

I didn't think we were good defensively as a team.

"They took advantage of a lot of stuff that we tried to do defensively. And then, offensively, just really everybody being on the same page, obviously only having probably three or four months to all work together and try to figure it out. Maybe it wasn't a lot of time.

I don't think we played our best basketball."

Lakers legend Magic Johnson was among those to question Harden's display, saying such a player "can't have a performance like that".

The 76ers won the last of their three NBA titles in 1983, and have not landed a conference title since 2001.

Asked how he and Harden could forge a stronger understanding, Embiid told a news conference: "Everybody's got to get better. It's not just about me and him."

Questions will be asked of Doc Rivers and the 76ers coaching staff, but Embiid has said the players must look at themselves.

"I believe that we have the right people, but, at some point, you have to stop looking at coaching and you have to look at the players. Maybe you are just not good enough," Embiid has said.

"I'm not trying to blame anybody, but the players have also got to do their jobs. It doesn't matter how much a coach or a GM talks to you or tries to motivate you, if you still go out there and don't do your job, and the other team is more physical than you, that's on the players."

(Sportsmax)

22

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2022

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

GCB senior female inter-county tournament…

Emphatic wins for Demerara and Berbice in round one

Hat-trick star Latisha Jordan

Sheneta Grimmond is clean bowled

by D'Aguiar (Brandon Corlette photos)

Shabika Gajnabi looked dangerous in her short unbeaten stay

By Brandon Corlette at Albion

touch.

In the first match, Demerara posted 139-5 in 20 overs, with 35 coming by means of extras, while the Select XI were bowled out for 50 in 19.1 overs. Skipper Fraser, who played some big shots on a large and slow outfield, was run out for 46 from 40 balls after an innings that included six fours.

She was supported by her West Indies teammate Mandy Mangru, who made 21 from 31 balls, and opener Latoya Smith, who made 20.

Bowling for the Select XI team, Rose Hall Canje off-spinner Naveena Ramnauth had 2-26 in four overs, while Kimberly Sookdeo and Renata Liverpool had one wicket each.

In response, the Select XI’s batting order looked out of sorts,

B

lessed with glorious sunshine in Berbice, the Guyana Cricket Board’s (GCB’s) senior female 20-over inter-county tournament bowled off at the Albion Community Centre Cricket Club.

In the opening round, both Demerara and Berbice registered commanding wins.

For Demerara, the top performers were West Indies players Cherry-Ann Fraser, who scored 46, and Kaysia Schultz, who claimed 3-11; and hattrick star Latisha Jordan, who had 4-7 in four overs with her offspin.

Demerara won by 89 runs against the Select XI, while Berbice won by nine wickets against Essequibo, after a collective bowling effort and Shabika Gajnabi's finishing

Cherry-Ann Fraser played a good innings for Demerara

Ashmini Munisar appealing during her top spell

while the Demerara bowling unit looked supreme. Impressive leftarm spinner Kaysia Schultz began the damage from the northern end, and she ended her top spell with 3-11 in four overs.

Jordan continued the demolition job from the commentary box end, and she claimed a hattrick. The offspinner, who bowled wicketto-wicket on the slow surface, took advantage of the ordinary batting.

Realeena Grimmond, the only batter to reach double figures, top-scored with 14, while extras contributed 20.

Meanwhile, in the second match, Berbice routed Essequibo for 30 all out in 13.5 overs. Extras contributed 21 runs to the total, as no Essequibo batter reached double figures. Off-spinner Ashmini Munisar claimed 2-1 in 1.5 overs, while Plaffiana Millington took 2-4 in two overs.

Left-arm spinner Dian Prahalad had 2-8 in her four overs and

veteran seamer Tremayne Smartt had 1-1 in three overs, including two maidens.

In response, Berbice lost West Indies player Sheneta Grimmond for two, when she was bowled by a flat delivery.

Skipper Gajnabi and Sherica Campbelle ensured no further hiccups, as Berbice cruised to 32-1 in 4.3 overs. Gajnabi made an unbeaten 14 while Campbelle made six. Analesia D'Aguiar had 1-15 in her two overs. Essequibo gifted 10 extras to the Berbice total.

The tournament will continue today, Saturday May 14, with the Select XI taking on Essequibo, and Berbice battling Demerara. Both matches will be played at Everest from 9:30am.

This tournament will be followed by the 50-overs tournament, and performances will be used to select the Guyana team for the regional women's tournament in June. That tournament is expected to be played in Guyana.

Antiguan coaches receive boost WAS THE OBVIOUS CHOICE as CWI hosts workshop at CCG HE - Sir Viv backs Nicholas Pooran as white-ball captain Cricket Pathway, and then have our local coaches head back out into their communities and address these areas with our junior players,” Brabazon has said.

The Antiguan Workshop follows hot on the heels of a series of coach-development events held in St Kitts over the Easter weekend, including

CWI High Performance Unit staff, including Coach Development Manager Chris Brabazon, with the coaches

A

ntiguan coaches were part of an impactful day-long seminar at the Coolidge Cricket Ground this week. It was jointly hosted

by Cricket West Indies (CWI) and the Antigua and Barbuda Cricket Association (ABCA).

The main aim of the event was to re-engage previously accredited coaches and provide them with an opportunity to share their knowledge on various aspects of cricket coaching, reconnect with each other, and identify opportunities to work together to move Antiguan cricket forward.

Among the coaches involved were former Test cricketers Winston Benjamin, Kenny Benjamin and Sylvester Joseph, as well as former regional first-class players and national representatives.

CWI High Performance Unit staff including Coach Development Manager Chris Brabazon, High Performance Manager Graeme West, and High-Performance Coach Steve Liburd. They guided the 22 participants through a range of topics, including the West Indies Cricket Pathway, Coaching Philosophy, Applied

Sir Vivian Richards

L

Skill Acquisition across fielding and batting, as well as how to plan and deliver effective contemporary training sessions.

“It was great to have so many local coaches committed to ongoing developing of their coaching skills. We know that good coaching plays a massive role in the recruitment and retention of players, and this group of Antiguan coaches are well placed to have a massive positive impact in the community.

“CWI are looking forward to rolling out more of these types of workshops across the region, where we can reconnect with previously accredited coaches, share some key development priorities from the upper echelons of our West Indies

CWI Level 1 and Level 2 Coaching Courses, and observations of CWI High Performance Programme (Level 3) participants.

In its promise to lift coaching standards, over the past three years, CWI has delivered over 600 new coaching certificates across eight Caribbean countries, while 16 CWI Coach Developers have also been trained to deliver Level 1 Courses locally.

To find out more about CWI’s Coach Development Programme and get involved in coaching, please request a coach development information pack via email at cwi@cricketwestindies.org.

egendary West Indies batsman Sir Vivian Richards believes the young and explosive Nicholas Pooran is the right man to lead the current crop of West Indies players in the white ball format, after the Trinidadian was recently named captain of both the ODI and T20 squads.

West Indies white-ball captain, Nicholas Pooran

“There wasn’t any other choice, in my opinion. I think the young man is pretty studious about what he wants to get done. He takes his cricket pretty studiously, and I am a fan of Nicholas Pooran. Early in his career, I guess there was some immaturity…but having been through the mill and where he’s at now, I think he is the perfect choice as captain,” Sir Viv has said.

Pooran has replaced the outgoing Kieron Pollard, who announced his retirement in late April, much to the surprise of many cricket fans. Although a feared T20 cricketer, Pollard’s numbers for the West Indies remain underwhelming, with only 2,706 runs at just above an average of 26, and 55 wickets from 123 ODIs, along with 1,569 runs from 101 T20Is at an average of 25.3. He also took 44 wickets.

Sir Viv has said the Trinidadian served

the regional squad well, and that his decision is respected.

“I guess he has felt like he’s had enough, and I think he has done magnificent service to the West Indies’ cause. I have always been a fan, and I say that because we

Kaysia Schultz bowled a brilliant spell

were responsible for getting these guys involved, starting with the Stanford tournament where we [legends] were given the mandate to select these individuals. He was one of the guys who went on and just achieved great things, and not just for his teams he would have played with around the world, but also for the West Indies team,” he said.

Pooran previously led the sides in Pollard’s absence, and has played 37 ODIs and 57 T20Is for West Indies, scoring 1,121 and 1,193 runs respectively. In international cricket, he has one century to his name.

Pooran will lead the side as the full-time white-ball captain for the first time in the threematch away ODI series against Netherlands, which will be a part of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League.

The new captain will lead the team in ODIs on May 31, June 2 and 4 in the Netherlands, followed by another three ODIs on June 8, 10 and 12 in Pakistan. (Antigua Observer)

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SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2022

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CWI Regional Four-Day Championships…

23

Barbados Pride expecting ‘spin diet’ from Guyana Harpy Eagles -says Coach Vasbert Drakes

were unavailable for selection, due to injuries.

"We, as a group, we know we have a good opposition; the (Guyanese) boys play some good cricket. Playing cricket in

the squad, while Kevin Sinclair is the front-line offspinner.

With Pride being stacked with a host of righthanders, Harpy Eagles may start their campaign with the left-arm spinners.

Despite being stacked with star players, Drakes noted, the Pride unit will be playing as a team, and will not be depending on specific players.

"We play as a collective (unit). It is not necessarily about specific players, it is about us playing as a team and achieving our objective," Drakes said.

Guyana Harpy

Kraigg Brathwaite

Gudakesh Motie

By Brandon Corlette

E

quipped with three frontline left-arm spinners and a right-arm offspinner in their squad for the upcoming rounds of Cricket West Indies’ Regional Four-Day Championships, Guyana Harpy Eagles will oppose defending champions Barbados Pride at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad from May 18.

And according to the Pride’s Head Coach Vasbert Drakes,

the Barbadian team is expecting a ‘spin diet’ from the Harpy Eagles.

Pride are stacked with West Indies players the likes of Shai Hope, Kraigg Brathwaite, Roston Chase, Shamarh Brooks, Shane Dowrich and Raymon Reifer. Kemar Roach, Chemar Holder and Shamar Springer

Shai Hope

Trinidad is a different set of challenge. Guyana in Trinidad will come up with a lot of spinners, so we have some plans; so, let's see," Drakes said in a recent media briefing, while responding to this daily publication.

West Indies Test spinner Veerasammy Permaul, along with Gudakesh Motie and Antony Adams, is the left-arm spinner in

Eagles squad is comprised of: Leon Johnson (captain), Keemo Paul (vice-captain), Chandrapaul Hemraj, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Tevin Imlach, Vishaul Singh, Akshaya Persaud, Anthony Bramble, Veerasammy Permaul, Gudakesh Motie, Nial Smith, Demetri Cameron, Anthony Adams, Kevin Sinclair and Ronsford Beaton.

The Barbados Pride Squad is comprised of: Kraigg Brathwaite (captain), Camarie Boyce, Shamarh Brooks, Jonathan Carter, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich (vicecaptain/wkpr), Justin Greaves, Keon Harding, Chaim Holder, Shai Hope, Akeem Jordan, Shayne Moseley, Raymon Reifer, Ramson

Simmonds and Jomel Warrican.

Vasbert Drakes is Head Coach, Ryan Hinds is Assistant Coach, Wendell Coppin is Manager, Dr Jacqueline King is the Physiotherapist, and Jamar Layne and Alexander Forde are strength and conditioning coaches.

Veerasammy Permaul

Mississauga Cricket League’s T20 Super-8 tournament…

“AMAZON KINGS EXCITED FOR THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS,” …Canada-based Guyanese Dennis Legay says

MVP Sports hands over sponsorship for Magnum Independence Cup

Defending Champions Bent Street

T

onight’s semi-final matches in the Magnum Independence Cup would involve Back Circle tackling Gold Is Money and Sparta Boss coming up against Bent Street.

With these matches, being played at the National Park tarmac, always delivering riveting action, the Magnum Independence Cup futsal tournament is easily the most talked about tournament in Guyana, and it has now gained support from MVP Sports in the form of sponsorship.

A statement from Ian Ramdeo, CEO of MVP Sports, has said, “MVP Sports is a proud Guyanese brand that continues to support local sport activities

and local athletes from various disciplines. We are happy to be part of one of the biggest grassroots football events in the country, to show our support for the communities that the teams represent. MVP Sports is the leading sports apparel and gear store in the country, and we are partnering with this event because we see it as one of the leading grassroots sports events.”

Tournament Organiser Edison Jefford is extremely appreciative of MVP Sports coming on board this event, as the company has supported many of his events. "Mr. Ramdeo and MVP Sports has always been supportive of my

sport programmes and projects, none of which would have been possible without his financial backing. I cannot thank the company enough for their continued confidence in me and the level of administration that engineers their corporate support. This means a lot to these teams, and by extension their communities, when they see big companies giving back in these ways" Jefford shared.

The losing quarterfinalists will compete in the Magnum Plate Championship.

The eventual winners would receive $40,000. Melanie will oppose Future Stars at 19:00h tonight, while North East La Penitence will lock horns with Showstoppers from 19:30h.

Winners of the quarter-final ties would progress to the semifinal round slated for tonight at the same venue. The winners of the tournament will collect the package of $700,000 and the championship trophy, while the runners-up will receive $400,000 and the corresponding accolade. The third- and fourthplace finishers would walk away with $200,000 and $100,000 respectively.

Among the sponsors of the event are MVP Sport, Nigel Hinds Financial Services, Andrews Supermarket, Bold Expressions Barbershop, Fireside Grill ‘N’ Chill, Star Party Rentals, and Lucozade.

Amazon Kings

Dennis Legay

C

anada-based Guyanese Dennis Legay, captain of the Amazon Kings cricket team, is cautiously optimistic of his team making a big impression this year in various competitions across the Greater Toronto Area.

Amazon Kings will begin their campaign today against the Toronto United team in the Mississauga Cricket League’s T20 Super-8 tournament, and according to Legay, a former Guyana under-15 player, his team, loaded with a bunch of exGuyana cricketers, is “excited” to get on the field, having featured in the championship game last year.

“I [am] confident that our players will give a good account (of themselves) this time. Having played in the final last year, we

are motivated, excited, and ready to go,” Legay assured.

He also informed that Amazon Kings will be participating in the forthcoming Unity Cup T20 extravaganza, to be played from May 20th to 23rd in Brampton, wherein teams will be vying for a first prize of Cdn $15,000.

“Yes, there are lots of tournaments for this year, and with the formation of the club in 2021, I have seen tremendous interest by my fellow Guyanese cricketers, who are now residing in Canada and want to play the game professionally; so, I am heartened to see we can play as a group,” Legay, the left-arm orthodox spinner, related.

Some players who represented Guyana at different levels and are now included in the Amazon Kings side are: Dillon Heyliger, Jeremey Gordon, Royston Crandon, Farook Hussain, Harrinarine Chattergoon, Devon Ramnauth and Eugene LaFleur; while Abdool Samad and Aftab Shamsudeen are Guyanese who played for Canada internationally.

Legay, who started his cricketing career at the prominent Georgetown-based Malteenoes Sports Club, has

said his team is very formidable and full of talent, and members are banking heavily on their experience as well.

“I came up with the idea during the COVID time in 2021 to form a cricket team with my West Indian cricket peers. I first called Elton Baker and Heyliger to share what I was thinking, and the more people I called, the more excited I got; and everyone was very supportive from then, and these are all experienced cricketers. And to reach in the final last year was commendable, and now I am confident they would want to make a big impact this year,” Legay declared.

Legay has said he would like to thank Shameer Ali president of the Mississauga Cricket League, and manager Rambo Purnwasi, for the support and assistance rendered to him in every way to build the team, and he would also like to thank his good friend Rex Collymore.

Legay has also acknowledged the generosity of the team’s sponsors: Crown, ALARM TECHZ, KP Employment Solutions Inc, Pizza Pizza (Matthew), Caribbean Lyme Restaurant, Ellite Plastering Inc, Revivi Auto Collision Inc, and We Want Electric Ontario Inc.

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2022

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

CWI Regional Four-Day Championships…

MVP Sports hands over sponsorship for Magnum Independence Cup

Pg 23

Coach Vasbert Drakes

-says Coach Vasbert Drakes

CEO of MVP Sports, Ian Ramdeo (right), handing over the sponsorship cheque to Edison Jefford yesterday at the store in Giftland Mall

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GCB senior female inter-county tournament…

Emphatic wins for Demerara and Berbice in round one Page 22

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