Guyana Times - Sunday June 13, 2021

Dr Walter Anthony Rodney: P13 The father

who never got to see his children grow up Nationwide coverage coverage from from the the best best news news team team in in Guyana Guyana Nationwide Issue No. 4677 guyanatimesgy.com

THE BEACON BEACON OF OF TRUTH TRUTH THE

SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2021

President formally declares flooding a national disaster

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WHAT'S INSIDE:

2 parties formed by 2 former WPA, JFAP P27 members ...immediately join PNC-led APNU

Page 3

Army reservist arrested for P26 assaulting cops Page 3

P8 Salesman confesses to faking robbery

Porter drowns in attempting to swim across Barima River P28

An aerial view of flooding in Kwakwani, Region 10 on Saturday

...Regions 2, 5, 7, 10 now at Level 3 emergency – CDC Toolsie Persaud Police have “arrest first, executives warned investigate later” policy over illegal – Complaints Authority …says many ranks unaware works on Govt land

Vegetable P30 prices escalate in Berbice, Essequibo Coast

Page 2

Page 23

… AG threatens legal action

of SOPs, rights of citizens

2 more succumb to COVID-19, 107 new cases recorded

Pages 24&26

Canadians P27 join to help flood-affected Guyanese Electric vehicles gradually gaining popularity in Guyana – owners …as General Motors make EVs affordable to developing countries

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...Health Ministry to deliberate on vaccine travel card … vaccine drive-thrus major success as turnout skyrockets

2 NEWS

SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Toolsie Persaud executives warned over illegal works on Govt land …AG threatens legal action

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ttorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall has written a stern letter warning senior executives within the Toolsie Persaud Limited (TPL) franchise, over encroachments on plots of land at Turkeyen, East Coast Demerara (ECD), that are currently subject to a court case.

The land, namely plots K and N Plantation Turkeyen, is currently subject to a court ordered stay of exe-

cution granted by Appeal Court Judge Rishi Persaud on April 20, 2018, pending the hearing of the appeal of an earlier judgement made by Justice Brassington Reynolds concerning the land.

The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government had earmarked the land to construct a specialty hospital. But it has been observed of recent that massive works involving heavy duty equipment were being done on the

land - works that were not Government sanctioned.

According to Nandlall in his letter addressed to Rajesh Persaud, Avinash Persaud and Vinod Persaud, persons claiming to be acting in the name of TPL have begun doing work on the land without the Government’s permission.

“The effect of that stay of execution is that the status quo ante of the orders shall prevail. I wish to remind you that the said status quo was,

The disputed site at Turkeyen

the Government of Guyana being in possession of the said plots of land and had commenced the construction of an edifice to house a specialty hospital. That position still obtains and the Government, therefore, remains in possession thereof.”

“I am instructed that persons holding themselves to be servants and or agents of Toolsie Persaud Limited have recently entered upon the said land and have begun to clear, clean and landscape same, without the permission or the authority of the Government of Guyana,” the AG said in the letter.

According to Nandlall, these actions are not only a breach of the order handed down by the Appeal Court Judge, thereby constituting contempt of court, they are also a trespass against the Government of Guyana. The AG ordered them to vacate the site immediately or face the consequences.

“In the circumstances, I hereby request that the captioned plots of land be immediately vacated and all equipment, plant or machinery placed thereon be removed forthwith; and all activities and works being executed, thereof cease with immediate effect. Failure to comply with these demands will be met with the full force of the law.”

The three men the letter was addressed to are all listed as directors on the TPL Board on the company’s website and are understood to be the sons of TPL founder Toolsie Persaud. In the case of Avinash Persaud, he is listed as the Chief Executive Officer of Interior Forest Industries (IFI), which has logging concessions at Butukari in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).

The land in question has been subject to a court battle between TPL, the National Industrial and Commercial Investments

Limited (NICIL) and the Government of Guyana for some time, culminating in the High Court ruling of Justice Reynolds on April 20, 2018, that NICIL pass the title for plot N to TPL. Additionally, Reynolds had ordered that the Government of Guyana pay TPL compensation for plot K. That decision was appealed and pending that appeal, Justice Persaud had issued orders to stay Reynold’s ruling.

The former PPP Government had earmarked and even started construction of a Specialty Hospital on that very land, funded with a US$18 million line of credit (LOC) from the Indian Export-Import (EXIM) bank.

This hospital would have provided specialised services to Guyanese and eliminated the need for persons to travel overseas for expensive, life-saving treatment.

Back in 2012, the contract to construct the hospital was awarded to an Indiabased company, Surendra Engineering Corporation Limited.

At the time, however, a competing Indian company named Fedders Lloyd Corporation had opposed the bid. After the former A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government entered office in 2015, it proceeded to hand the contract to Fedders Lloyd, which was subsequently blacklisted by the World Bank for unrelated procurement breaches.

With that, the specialty hospital project hit its final snag. While the current PPP Government still wants a specialty hospital built, the Indian LOC had to be converted to upgrading existing regional hospitals such as West Demerara, Suddie and Bartica Hospitals. There is nevertheless both local and foreign private investor interest in constructing a specialty hospital in Guyana.

NEWS

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SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS

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

Sunday, June 13 – 04:00h – 05:30h and Monday, June 14 – 04:00h – 05:30h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Sunday, June 13 – 05:30h – 07:00h and Monday, June 14 – 06:05h – 07:35h.

President formally declares flooding a national disaster ...Regions 2, 5, 7, 10 now at Level 3 emergency – CDC Wave embedded within the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone is currently affecting Guyana, resulting in heavy rainfall which could last until mid-July," the CDC said.

To date, a total of 17,829 cleaning hampers and 21,735 food hampers have been distributed across the regions as a form of emergency relief. The Commission continues to manage shelters, housing a total of 205 residents who have been displaced from

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

WEATHER TODAY Sunshine will prevail during the day. There will be partly cloudy conditions at night. Temperatures should range between 22 degrees Celsius and 30 degrees Celsius.

Winds: East North-Easterly to North-Easterly to North North-Westerly between 1.78 metres and 3.57 metres.

High Tide: 18:31h reaching a maximum height of 2.41 metres.

Low Tide: 12:03h reaching a minimum height of 0.64 metre.

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resident, Dr Irfaan Ali has officially declared the widespread flooding currently affecting Guyana as a national disaster.

His proclamation was recorded in the Official Gazette on Thursday. The document states that as of June 7, 2021, a total of 28,228 households were affected by flooding, some with water entering their homes, domestic animals and livestock in distress or farmlands inundated.

Guyana has been inundated by heavy rains since May, which has caused widespread flooding. The devastation includes submerged buildings and vehicles with adverse effects on crops, livestock and health.

It has been noted that the rainfall experienced in May alone was recorded as the second highest level of rainfall across the country in the last 40 years.

Due to this, relief efforts to affected Guyanese have been nonstop, through various public, private and non-governmental collaborations. In fact, Government was seeking supplemental funding in the National Assembly a few days ago to the tune of $10 billion to assist with flood mitigation measures throughout the country.

Levels

The CDC announced on Saturday that Guyana has been classified as a Level 2 Disaster under the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency’s (CDEMA) mechanism, which indicates that the national capacity to respond is not overwhelmed but external assistance is required in the form of technical assistance, specialised equipment, support personnel and information sharing in order to respond and recover from the event.

Despite Guyana’s sit-

uation being classified as Level 2, the impact of the flood in the regions vary, with Regions One, Three, Four, Eight and Nine being at Level 2, given national capacity to manage the impact, while Regions Two, Five, Seven and 10 are classified as Level 3, based on the magnitude of the flood.

"It is for this reason that regional and international support is needed to effectively mobilise resources in order to respond and recover from the impact of the floods. A Tropical

their homes.

Under the Constitution, the President has been authorised to declare a disaster if he is satisfied that a disaster has happened and it has become necessary for the CDC to exercise disaster management powers, to prevent or minimise loss of human life, illness or injury to humans, property loss or damage to the environment.

TURN TO PAGE 12

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guyanatimesgy.com

SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2021

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

Rodney’s legacy

T

oday is the 41st anniversary of the assassination of Dr Walter Rodney by GDF Sgt. Gregory Smith, who was simply the agent of Forbes Burnham and his Government, which had declared Rodney an enemy of the state. They had actually charged him with torching Congress Place, which was then located in Georgetown, but were unsuccessful in their prosecution, if not their persecution. At his December 1979 Congress, six months before the assassination, Burnham had advised Rodney and cohorts to “make their will”, since his “steel was sharper”.

The assassination plans had to have been already afoot.

What was Rodney’s legacy, especially in the fractured polity that has remained as divided as he found it when he returned to Guyana permanently in 1974? First and foremost was his stance on the responsibility of Caribbean intellectuals - to be distinguished from academics who only concern themselves with examining people as objects; to ground themselves with the labouring people who still form the bedrock of our societies. Unlike what the British colonials had imparted, as described in the words of George Lamming, who was Rodney’s friend and fellow intellectual in this spirit, the intellectual must work to free “Caribbean society (which) has been crippled by this artificial status which separates the educated from the uneducated. In every location where he studied and worked - Jamaica, Tanzania and Guyana - Rodney identified with, and worked for, the masses. Today, sadly, this tradition appears to have disappeared.

Another, and probably the most lasting legacy of Rodney, was his recognition of the salience of race in the sociology and politics of Guyana - even in the face of some Marxists who dismissed the notion as “false consciousness”. In this, he followed the advice of another grounded Caribbean intellectual, CLR James, who as a matter of fact mentored him and a group of students in London when he was at the SOAS. To wit that in politics, “to neglect the racial factor as merely incidental is an error only less grave than to make it fundamental.” More than any other politician before or since, Rodney attempted to deal with the question of race, even as he accepted that the question of class was never absent.

Rodney demonstrated that while each Guyanese must be proud of their ethnic heritage and background, their political praxis must not be for any one race to dominate others, but to ensure that all Guyanese are treated equally, especially in relation to sharing the national patrimony.

This perspective is even more critical at this juncture, since the PNC, after being dragged kicking and screaming from office after they lost the elections, have once again resorted to playing the race card - even to the extent of not joining the PPP Government in exhorting their constituents to be vaccinated against the COVID-19 killer virus.

Another legacy of Rodney was to be realistic about the nature of the PNC in efforts to build “national unity” and to recognise that “it takes two to tango” in politics. If there is not the necessary commonality in world views in accepting the legitimacy of others to share the political space, then all efforts at developing Guyana would founder. He noted that the PNC’s Machiavellian world view is dominated by the drive to PNC paramountcy über alles. In 1979, he disagreed with the PPP’s insistence that the PNC should be included in a Government of national unity. The PNC, he said, as the problem, could not be part of the solution.

Finally, the last legacy was sadly passed on through his assassination, which demonstrates that the PNC would go to any length to remain in power. The Rodney COI that was initiated by President Ramotar in 2014 proved that Burnham was behind the deadly deed. We should therefore not have been surprised at the violence following the 1997 elections under Hoyte, segueing under Corbin, and erupting in West Berbice under Granger.

The PNC’s 2019 attempted elections rigging was almost benign in comparison. But still in character.

RIDING THROUGH THE DRIVE THRU: To ensure that he receives his COVID-19 vaccine, this gentleman rode through the drive thru exercise at MovieTowne’s Turkeyen parking lot, where first dose AstraZeneca and Sputnik V and second dose AstraZeneca and Sinopharm were administered on Saturday. #GetVax (Health Ministry photo)

Restoration of Dr Rodney’s legacy will help confront PNC’s enduring genius for mischief

Dear Editor, The Ali Government is right to establish, as a matter of record, that Dr. Walter Rodney was assassinated at the behest of an illegal PNC Government.

The time it has taken highlights the enduring genius for mischief of the assassins, and their relish in distorting public imagination in order to escape accountability.

The legacy of the late historian would help to confront this and the PNC’s enduring genius for mischief.

It would challenge a falsified “history” forced upon a certain section of the public and written by individuals such as Mr. David Granger, who inferred, for example, that in 1981, “Forbes Burnham, Guyana’s first elected President, was installed…” (see “Emancipation: The African-Guyanese Magazine,” Vol. 2, No. 12, p. 39).

Burnham was never “elected.” To say this is to teach that theft is acceptable and legal. Those who now seek to caution the PPP regarding the works of Dr. Rodney should direct their energies to the Granger-style distortion of events. One reads him and finds unmistakably missing the integrity of the efforts so visible in Dr. Rodney’s writings. In the

end, a reader gets less history and more imitation of local politics, driven by an underlying agenda to silence certain events.

One who silences certain events in the past does so to invite their recurrence in the future. The recording of electoral fraud is so instructive that an audit of financial records may be helpless without an audit of historical records.

An audit of some of the writings of Mr. Granger would raise questions as to his fitness to hold public office. His historically flawed views about the 1973 elections (see “The New Road”) and reference to the PPP (and traditional supporters, East Indians) as “gangsters”, which he knowingly allowed to be taught to soldiers yearly at the GDF, is a case in point.

One cannot record history accurately by writing inaccurately. His sudden interest in the history of criminal violence between 2000 and 2010 is deliberately crafted to protect the PNC and certain forces, and to level fault at the PPP, state agencies, or civil society.

Incidentally, there is no such thing as the “Troubles” or “Buxton Troubles” in Guyana. These references are illogical and misleading. There is the besieging of Buxton as a platform to topple a democratical-

ly elected Government; a failed racist coup d’état.

The inventors lost the war they invented in their false underground revolution.

This is what occurred historically. This is what is relevant.

On the other hand, the “Troubles” is a reference to the specific decades-long conflict between Northern Ireland and Ireland. It has nothing to do with Guyana, where the criminal disobedience reigned long before the 2001 elections and its aftermath, without concern from the PNC. Arguably, Dr. Rodney would have recognised the occurrence of the attempted coup d’état; but not Mr. Granger, who customarily disguises Africanrelated violence or criminality. See his paper (“Civil Violence, Domestic Terrorism and Internal Security in Guyana, 19532003) in which he is very silent on the 1964 violence at Wismar.

An audit of Mr. Granger’s writings was not done. It was a fatal error, and Guyana paid the price at the elections last year.

The wife of Dr. Rodney did her audit, and lamented that her husband’s books are not being read in Guyana. This is precisely due to the falsified history popularised over the past 25 years to protect the PNC from scrutiny.

Finally, the Ali Government must also be commended for its plan to re-establish the Dr. Walter Rodney Chair at the University of Guyana (UG).

It would help somewhat to cure the robust efforts by the PNC to keep the historian away from the university.

Indeed, in a two-article booklet titled “Walter Rodney,” Mr. Eusi Kwayana wrote: “The Academic Board of the University of Guyana had already taken its decision to appoint Walter Rodney to the headship of the History department when a certain minister, Hamilton Green, returned from a visit in Tanzania and began to be quoted as saying that he had learned there that Rodney was a ‘security risk’, and had been thrown out of Tanzania.

“Apparently working on these pretenses, Mr. Hamilton Green moved to have Rodney’s appointment rescinded. The appointment was rescinded on the orders of the rulers through the University Council, dominated by a large PNC team headed by Green and including elements of the security forces. This confirmed Rodney’s exclusion from the university of his own native land.”

Sincerely, Rakesh Rampertab

guyanatimesgy.com

SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2021

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

GECOM must be decisive Work will be rewarded; hard work

Dear Editor, The reactions to the elections fiasco of 2020 and the role and approach of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) are under the highest level of scrutiny. The cocksure position of the Commission raises many questions.

These unanswered questions signal that continued failure to act objectively would further hasten the organisation’s impact as an impediment rather than a democratic solution. This our nation simply cannot afford, given the almost catastrophic outcome of the last General and Regional Elections.

GECOM must be decisive going forward if it wants to regain the confidence of our citizens in the execution of its constitutional mandate.

One has to be brutal and frankly condemn the snail’s pace or, rather, the inaction of the Chairwoman and Commission to cleanse the organisation. It is more than a year since Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield and his cohorts openly defied the directions of Chairwoman Madam Justice (retired) Claudette Singh, after both the Courts and the Commission had ruled on related matters brought before them.

It is inexplicable that GECOM has been so indolent although an abundance of public evidence exists which underscores and highlights the outlandish thievery attempts executed by the Lone Ranger CEO, along with Chief Rigger Clairmont Mingo and Roxanne Myers.

The trio have proved that they are unsuitable to be around the preparation machinery for the holding of any election. Consequent to their surreptitious manoeuvres, the Guyanese people were humiliated, and suffered day after day as we were held to ransom for five long months, with the riggers’ numerous attempts to derail the elections.

These unfit senior members of the GECOM Secretariat are presently before the Courts for fraud and misconduct in public office, but there is certainly

no need to await the court’s decision in these matters.

The Commission itself has the legal authority to hire and fire staff, and these corrupt staff members must be dismissed immediately for GECOM to proceed with preparations for the holding of Local Government Elections this year.

Related in this regard, the Constitution states: “The Commission – (a) shall exercise general direction and supervision over the registration of electors and the administrative conduct of all elections of members of the National Assembly; and (b) shall issue such instructions and take such action as appear to it necessary or expedient to ensure impartiality, fairness, and compliance with the provisions of this Constitution or of any Act of Parliament on the part of persons exercising powers or performing duties connected with or relating to the matters aforesaid…”

It therefore defies logic and rationality that the Commission’s lack of action and slothful disposition have not yet confronted a vigilant approach to the necessary review of its staff. While the trio hold the dominant leadership positions, it has to be acknowledged that the corruption in GECOM is intrusive and far deeper.

Senior staff members Michelle Miller and Denise Cummings are also before the courts.

In addition, Election Officer Shefern February and Information Technology Officer Enrique Livan are also accused, and are facing charges related to inflating the results of Region #4 elections in favour of the APNU/AFC. Further, there are serious accusations against others for allegedly giving wrong advice and directions to the Presiding Officers in Region #4. This network of vipers, who are still currently on GECOM’s payroll, must certainly be screened going forward.

It is recalled that the APNU big bosses Joseph Harmon and Granger announced that the Elections

were free and fair on March 02, 2020. As the reality dawned on March 03 that they were rejected by the Guyanese people, backdoor manoeuvres were activated.

They were, however, caught red-handed trying to rig the elections by using the “fraudulent” spreadsheet.

They then tried to derail the elections!

For too long, the PNC was allowed to manipulate the Election machinery and rig elections, and this must be halted now. As a consequence, we need to have Electoral Reforms, so that we would never again have rigged elections to address the establishment of a system that would not be easily manipulated.

For those in the PNC who are conveniently talking about shared governance, there is a need for you to win the trust and confidence of the nation. Who would want to partner with cheaters and riggers?

The PNC’s track record clearly shows that it is all about using and abusing other parties for the assumption of power, and subsequently kick them, once power is attained.

In 1964 the United Force suffered this fate, and then in 2015 the AFC was used and kicked to the curb. Of note is that the PNC ruled this country for 33 years and never consider shared governance.

Conversely, one must not ignore the increasing role and inclusivity of the Civic component as an approach of the PPP to shared Governance, as a starting point for discussions.

We must have free and fair elections, and develop trust and confidence in parties advocating for governing roles in our nation-building. An undecisive GECOM would not be able to establish the clear lines that are needed going forward.

In context, the Chairwoman and Commissioners must get their act together. GECOM must be prepared to have Local Government Elections this year.

Sincerely, Neil Kumar

Walter Rodney lives Dear Editor, The PPP/C Government’s recent announcement to correct the historical falsification of the death of revolutionary intellectual Walter Rodney is an extraordinary step in ensuring that Rodney’s contributions to the struggle to remove the Burnhamite dictatorship lives in the consciousness of future generations.

The old saying that one’s man revolutionary is

another’s terrorist holds true in reference to Walter.

He definitely drove terror in the hearts and minds of Burnham’s PNC dictatorship.

They were mortally afraid of his message of demystifying the racial and class contradictions that were leading to a mass multi- racial movement that threatened the very existence of the Burnhamite dictatorship.

This is the reason for

the PNC to deliberately degrade the status of Rodney by stating that he was unemployed and died due to misadventure. Stating the true nature of Walter’s death by assassination, and recognising his prodigious scholarship are due homage to a great patriot.

Correcting this historical misinformation ensures that Walter lives.

Yours sincerely, Reggie Bhagwandin

will be rewarded even more Dear Editor, Guyana’s economy will remain resilient against the effects of COVID-19, maintaining its growth trajectory as the petroleum sector picks up steam.

The World Bank has revised its earlier projection of economic growth for Guyana, now projecting that the local economy will grow by 20.9 per cent in 2021, the highest growth rate in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region this year.

This is the latest assessment of the World Bank on the country’s performance last year, and projections for this year. Guyana grew at an extraordinary rate of 43.5 per cent in 2020, having completed a year of oil production.

However, the positive spillover effects have been dampened by a deep contraction in the non-oil economy, triggered by COVID-19 mitigation measures. Despite the lingering adversities, projections remain positive, with the country set to record economic growth of 20.9 per cent at the end of 2021.

This revision was reported in the World Bank’s June 2021 report on ‘Global Economic Prospects’, released recently. It is, however, unlikely that these local figures include the impact of the ongoing nationwide flooding.

The projections are for a growth of 26.0 per cent in 2022 and 23.0 per cent in construction activities ongoing in Providence, East Bank Demerara. Based on the latest estimates, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Latin America and Caribbean Region will be 2.6 per cent lower at the end of 2021 than it was at the end of 2019.

In the January 2021 edition of the Global Economic Prospects, the World Bank had projected that Guyana’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would increase by 7.8 per cent in 2021. The new figure in the June report is a 13.1 per cent upward revision of the earlier projection.

For context, real GDP is an inflation-adjusted measure that reflects the value of all goods and services produced by an economy (in this case, Guyana’s economy) in a given year. In simpler terms, the real GDP measures a country’s total economic output, adjusted for price changes.

The World Bank, in its semi-annual report on the region, said while most of the region should be enjoying strong economic rebound in 2021, Haiti and Suriname are expected to experience negative

growth. On the other hand, Guyana’s growth rate will remain in the double digits, as the country’s GDP of about US$6.8 billion is expected to more than double by 2025, reaching over US$14 billion.

Guyana, being a middle-income developing country, is home to fertile agricultural lands and abundant natural resources. Gold, bauxite, sugar, rice, timber and shrimp are among its leading exports.

The World Bank noted that the global economy is expected to expand by 5.6 per cent this year, which is the fastest post-recession pace in 80 years.

For context, there was a global recession (or temporary economic decline) caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, despite this recovery, the World Bank noted that this global output is still about two per cent less than the pre-pandemic projections. The LAC region is now expected to grow by 5.2 per cent in 2021, and some 3.9 per cent in 2022.

Guyana’s positive growth is primarily hinged upon developments in our burgeoning oil and gas sector. The economic growth, however, has been constrained by the enduring impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In fact, prior to the pandemic, Guyana expected economic growth of 86 per cent in 2020. After the pandemic was declared and the first set of cases were recorded in Guyana, that growth rate was later revised to 52.8 per cent. However, in January,

the World Bank estimated that Guyana’s economy grew by 43.5 per cent in 2020. Importantly, the World Bank lists Guyana as a commodity exporter and a country part of the ‘emerging market and developing economies’ grouping.

Generally, the emerging market and developing economies collectively are expected to expand by six per cent in 2021. But the World Bank highlighted that recovery in many countries has been stymied by a resurgence of COVID-19 cases, lagging vaccination progress, and, in some cases, the withdrawal of policy support.

The World Bank also noted that rising food prices and accelerating aggregate inflation may also compound challenges associated with food insecurity in low-income countries.

Considering our country’s oil revenue and other lucrative sources of income, our President, Dr Irfaan Ali, has said the standard of living and the quality of life must be lifted for all Guyanese.

“Work will be rewarded; hard work will be rewarded even more,” our President indicated.

According to our President, he is confident that the steps which our Government have taken in 2021 would continue to lift our economy, and improve the fortunes of every citizen within our nation.

Sincerely, David Adams

6 FEATURE

SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2021| GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BREEDING

ABOUT DESERTIFICATION AND DROUGHT DAY

– CONTINUED

THE STUD DOG

LAST week, we dealt with brood bitch. Of course, the other main actor in the breeding drama is the male dog, the bull. Within the context of focused and controlled breeding exercises, this animal is also referred to as the stud dog.

The male partner must be sought out with some serious objectives in mind. Both the breeders (stud dog and brood bitch owners) must know whether the chosen stud dog has an affable temperament or whether he is a fierce, vicious dog which might not only be rough on the female, with which he is to be mated, but also might pass on the vicious streak to the offspring he has sired. Also, you do not wish a mangy, diseased male dog mating with a healthy brood bitch.

His size is also important, in that you do not want a heavy male injuring a delicate female.

The important thing is to understand that it is imperative to choose the stud dog well in advance of the actual mating. If a stud dog has made a career of provably producing strong and vibrant puppies, especially if his mating prowess was over a long period and with several bitches, then it stands to reason that he will sire a successful litter with the brood bitch being presented for mating.

Some breeders here in Guyana offer a stud service.

If you have an outstanding bitch from that bloodline, you may give serious thought to using a stud from that same strain to reinforce the best qualities in the offspring. Remember to take note of the earlier discourse on Inbreeding and Linebreeding (“PET CARE” – 23 May 2021).

N.B. It is the responsibility of the owner of the bitch to come to a clear understanding with the owner of the stud dog concerning the breeding terms.

Usually. a stud fee is paid at the time of the mating, or the stud’s owner may agree to take the “pick of the litter”, which is one puppy (or more) of his own choosing, according to the size of the litter. The age of the puppy (or puppies) being allocated to the owner of the stud dog should be agreed upon in advance of the mating. If the bitch does not conceive, the stud’s owner may offer a return service at no extra charge. However, this is

not obligatory in any way.

Terms and conditions vary with the circumstances and policies of the owners. Once they are formally agreed and documented, there will be no misunderstandings at a later date.

A potential stud should be kept in top physical condition with regular exercise, routine health check-ups and a sound diet. Excessive weight is a severe handicap to a stud dog. As indicated above, he could be too heavy to mount a bitch.

On the other hand, a poorly kept run-down, emaciated dog is unsatisfactory.

Stud dogs of larger breeds should be x-rayed for bone and joint disorders (see “PET CARE” 30th May, 2021). Dogs with hip/ elbow dysplasia should not be offered as a stud.

Before your dog is used as a stud for the first time, check to be sure he has no problems that interfere with successful mating. Some male dogs have

a long flexible forepart to the penis. If it bends backward, it could make intromission (penetration) difficult, even impossible. If this is the case, then he should not be used as a stud dog.

Red, pimple-like bumps or growths on the penis should receive veterinary attention. Lacerations and erosions tend to bleed when the dog has an erection.

During intercourse, blood, if mixed with semen, reduces the motility of the sperm, and reduces the possibility of conception.

Other abnormalities are, inter alia, stricture of the foreskin; an infection beneath the sheath; abnormal or undescended testicles; and a discharge from the penis. More about these conditions, when we discuss Diseases of the Male Genital Tract. If one of these physical defects and ailments/ diseases is present, the dog should be examined and treated by a veterinarian before mating. In fact, there should be great discussion as to whether this dog (stud) should be used at all.

Please support the vaccination, spay and neutering campaigns/programs carried out by Humane Societies, the objective of which is to reduce cruelty to and suffering of animals, especially the “stray’ dogs which abound along highways and by-ways, predominantly of coastal Guyana.

D

esertification and Drought Day – known as the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought before 2020 – is observed every year to promote public awareness of international efforts to combat desertification.

The day is a unique moment to remind everyone that reversing land degradation is achievable through problemsolving, strong community involvement, and co-operation at all levels.

In 2021, the goal of Desertification and Drought Day is to demonstrate that investing in healthy land as part of a green recovery is a smart economic decision – not just in terms of creating jobs and rebuilding livelihoods, but in terms of insulating economies against future crises caused by climate change and nature loss, and in accelerating progress on all 17 Sustainable Development Goals as we recover from COVID-19.

The 2021 Desertification and Drought Day, to be held on 17 June, will focus on turning degraded land into healthy land. Restoring degraded land brings economic resilience, creates jobs, raises incomes, and increases food security. It helps biodiversity to recover. It locks away the atmospheric

carbon warming the Earth, slowing climate change. It can also lessen the impacts of climate change and underpin a green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) will work with the Ministry of Environment (MINAE) of Costa Rica - the host of the global observance to encourage households, communities, private sector and countries to have a better relationship with nature as we recover from COVID-19.

Nearly three quarters of the Earth’s ice-free land has been altered by humans to meet an ever-growing demand for food, raw materials, highways and homes. Fixing damaged ecosystems mitigates against climate change and bolsters nature’s defenses against disasters and extreme weather events, such as wildfires, droughts, floods, and sand and dust storms. Restoring natural landscapes reduces close contact between wildlife and human settlements, creating a natural buffer against zoonotic diseases.

Avoiding, slowing and reversing the loss of productive land and natural ecosystems now is both urgent and important for a swift recovery from the pandemic, and for guaranteeing the long-term survival of people and the planet.

“Land restoration can contribute greatly to postCOVID-19 economic recovery. Investing in land restoration creates jobs and generates economic benefits, and could provide livelihoods at a time when hundreds of millions of jobs are being lost.”

— Ibrahim Thiaw, UNCCD Executive Secretary For more information on Guyana’s efforts to combat desertification, please visit - https://glsc.gov.gy/ Source https://www.unccd.int/actions17-june-desertificationand-drought-day/2021-desertification-and-drought-day You can share your ideas and questions by sending letters to: “Our Earth, Our Environment”, C/O ECEA Programme, Environmental Protection Agency, Ganges Street, Sophia, GEORGETOWN, or email us at: eit.epaguyana@gmail.com.

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

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SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

8 NEWS

SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Salesman confesses to faking robbery

A

26-year-old male driver/salesman was taken into Police custody after he claimed that he was robbed of a large sum of cash belonging to the company with which he worked but later admitted that the alleged robbery was staged.

The incident occurred on Friday at Stabroek Market, Georgetown.

Reports are that the driver/ salesman, who is employed

by Associated Brands, of A Goedverwagting, East Coast Demerara, along with two delivery men went to Stabroek Square to deliver the company’s products to their customers and collect

payments for the items.

However, at about 14:00h as the deliveries were being made by his colleagues, the suspect stayed in the enclosed tray of the truck with

the doors open, counting the day’s sales. He had initially reported that he was confronted by two bandits who entered the canter via the open doors and demanded that he hand over the cash which he had in a black plastic bag. He claimed that he complied and handed over the money, after which the bandits made good their escape north along Water Street, Georgetown.

Subsequently, the Police were summoned and CCTV footage was reviewed but did not support the 26-yearold man’s story.

When confronted with

the facts, the salesman confessed to concocting the story and taking the day’s sales for himself.

He identified the two accomplices whom he arranged to collect the money from him and as a result of that information, a party of policemen went to Regent Street, Georgetown, where one of the identified co-conspirators was apprehended with a red haversack on his back.

A search was conducted on the haversack and $502,630 was found.

When quizzed on how he came into the cash, the man said that same was given to him by the driver/salesman.

He was then arrested and escorted to Brickdam Police Station, where he was told of the allegation and cautioned. He gave a written statement, which was also obtained from the driver/salesman and their third accomplice.

The three men remain in custody pending charges.

(G9)

Justice...

T

...for Rodney, shame for WPA hey say, “Justice delayed is justice denied.” And justice for Walter Rodney had been delayed so long that some - especially from within his party the WPA - seemed to have even forgotten its denial. Or buried it as they did the great man back in June 1980 and moved on to exploit his name and reputation for their own narrow and partisan ends. As was pointed out by the widow of Rodney - who never gave up hope - as late as October 2019. From London, she demanded “strong resistance to those who would attach themselves to Rodney’s legacy in order to reap narrow political dividends in the present that have nothing to do with healing, reconciliation and social and economic transformation.”

Well, a certain measure of justice has been done by the PPP government to rectify some of the more blatant consequences of the delay of justice. Like correcting his birth certificate to show his death wasn’t a result of “misadventure” but assassination. By agents like GDF Sgt. Gregory Smith with the full knowledge of Burnham - who’d mockingly warned just six months before, of his “sharper steel”. The family can now hopefully collect - 41 years later - on his life insurance. Corrected too, would be the cynical description of Rodney as “unemployed” when it was the PNC - through Hamilton Green on the UG Council - who’d rescinded his appointment in 1974 as professor of history at UG. A man who could’ve secured employment at any of the world’s major universities!

But your Eyewitness was thrown for a loop at the opportunism of the WPA’s remaining gerontocrac that issued a mendacious and unctuous statement at the announcement by the PPP government. Imagine these men and women had remained in their coalition with the PNC for five years when Granger refused to even accept the findings of the COI - much less make it official. It’s hoped the PPP will also rectify this soon by laying the Report in Parliament and having the findings debated. We shall see where the PNC still stands on the assassination!

But the WPA had the unmitigated gall to claim that “The WPA was in the forefront of this fight (to achieve justice for Rodney)” when they’d jumped into bed with his killers as was bitterly pointed out by Pat Rodney.

Didn’t they wonder why Burnham appointed Granger as head of the GDF - at the time when the plans to use Sgt Smith as the assassin were being implemented?

And that it was the GDF that spirited Smith out of the country after the assassination? Shouldn’t Granger have testified?

If they still have souls, WPA survivors should ponder, “For what profits a man if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul.” ...for our development Your Eyewitness notes Norway’s decision to continue with its oil and gas industry - the largest in Europe since 1967. A new field was just discovered and will be duly exploited. It should be noted that from the proceeds of its oil and gas fields Norway has the largest Sovereign Wealth Fund in the world - weighing in at US$1.1trillion!!

Some nest egg, eh?

But unlike the doom and gloom crowd in Guyana who wants us to leave our oil in the ground, Norway like the PPP in Guyana - has decided to make (petroleum) hay while the (market) sun is still shining! It should be noted, that also like Guyana’s gonna be doing , Norway has utilized its hydroelectric potential to generate 99% of its power supply!

The point of the matter is Guyana with less than a million can’t be trying to save the world, when its people are mired in poverty. We can’t even deal with our floods!

Charity begins at home. ...for Guyanese cricketers Your Eyewitness isn’t one to revel in the miseries of the WI cricket team - since he bleeds maroon. But he must admit to a tight smile over the past two days.

Will some of our cricketers now be called up?

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

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Remembering Rodney in absentia

I

never had the opportunity to meet Walter Rodney. I had heard of his ban by the Shearer Government from reentering Jamaica in 1968, when returning from a Black Writers Conference in Montreal. Seems he had dared to identify with the dispossessed - especially the Rastafarians - and to educate them on their history while he was teaching at UWI’s Mona Campus. The “Rodney Riots” in Jamaica reverberated weakly with a time lag at UG when Ratoon was formed in 1969 by Clive Thomas and other academics. By then, notions of “Black Power”, which Rodney was said to espouse, had reached Ravi Dev even the village of Uitvlugt, where I lived.

We had read Stokley Carmichael’s book, “Black Power: the Politics of Liberation”, and I was intrigued by his proposition on “racism”. He argued that a group could not be racist if it did not possess power, since it did not have the power to oppress others. This offered a tool for analysing the PNC’s actions that impacted on Indians like myself. By then Burnham had rigged the 1968 elections, and was consolidating his rule. Even though the 60s’ riots had segregated Uitvlugt into Indian and African sections, I saw some of my underage friends from the latter section vote.

I was doing “A levels” at Indians Trust in May 1970 when Stokely Carmichael - who had coined the term “Black Power” - was invited to Guyana by Ratoon, in conjunction with Eusi Kwayana’s ASCRIA. The Black Power rebellion over in Trinidad in February had piqued our interest, especially when we heard that there was an attempt to form an alliance between African and Indian Trinidadians.

Roy Sawh over in England had become very vocal on the Black Power issue with his “Racial Adjustment Action Society” (RAAS), formed with the newly minted Michael X following visits by Carmichael and Malcolm X. Sawh was a neighbour from Uitvlugt, and I had been kept abreast of his exploits by a nephew who was my childhood friend. I persuaded a couple of fellow Indian Guyanese sixth-formers, and we went over to listen to Carmichael’s speech at Queen’s College. We soon walked out with some others when Carmichael announced that Black Power was only for Africans. We were obviously in the wrong place, and it confirmed for us the rationale for Indian Trinidadians staying away from their Black Power marches.

As an addendum, the multi-racial Ratoon disagreed with Carmichael’s exclusivist stance, while ASCRIA and Kwayana supported it. It would appear that Kwayana wasn’t in agreement with Rodney’s position then. Not so incidentally, Burnham was present at the speech, and he embraced Carmichael along with Kwayana. It was then that I heard of Rodney’s “Groundings with my brothers”, and that he defined Black Power in the Caribbean as including Indian Guyanese.

I taught for a year at Central High School under former PPP executive Rudy Luck, before heading off to the US in 1972 for further studies. At Central, I came in touch with other teachers such as Mandal, Brutus and Devonish, who were influenced by the new politics represented by Ratoon and other “progressives” outside the PPP-PNC dichotomy.

Being oriented towards Indian culture, I focused on the school’s Hindu Society, and was not considered “progressive” enough. I remember visiting Moses Bhagwan at his law office after learning he was going to form an Indian political organisation. But he insisted that while Indians were being excluded politically, they were not oppressed culturally. He did not agree that in the preparations for Carifesta, Indians were allocated a peripheral role.

I left for New York the day after Carifesta ended in September 1972, and ended up in Flatbush, where I attended Brooklyn College. I joined West Indians who were moving in while the Jews and others were moving out. While I appreciated our commonalities in speech and food, my “Indianness” was more of a curiosity than anything else, excepting for Trinidadians. I learnt via mail about Rodney’s return to Guyana in 1974, and his joining the WPA, which had been formed by ASCRIA and Bhagwan’s “Indian Political Revolutionary Associates” (IPRA).

On my first return in Dec 1979, Guyana was in political ferment due to the charismatic presence of Walter Rodney and his politics of racial integration. But I was consumed in meeting family I hadn’t seen in seven years. By the time I returned in late September 1980, he had already been assassinated by Burnham.

12 NEWS

SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

President formally declares flooding...

FROM PAGE 3

Water level in Mahaicony

ty.

Floodwaters in Kwakwani, Region 10

Water rising in Kwakwani On Saturday, Prime Minister, Brigadier (ret’d) Mark Phillips led a team into the community of Kwakwani, Region 10, to deliver relief and assess the situation, as the area remains severely inundated by high floodwaters.

He was joined by Public Service Minister Sonia Parag and Public Works Minister Juan Edghill, in order to meet with the flood-affected residents, listen to their concerns and provide support. Relief hampers and supplies were also taken to the communi-

This exercise follows a visit by President Irfaan Ali and a team from the Civil Defence Commission, where an assessment of the severity of the floods and its impact on the residents was done. Other Ministers have also been engaging residents in the last two weeks.

The Health Ministry also donated 1800 packs

of medical supplies to Kwakwani. The items arrived at the village via the Berbice River as part of a continuous nationwide flood relief effort.

Kwakwani is one of the hardest-hit communities in the country and it was reported a few days ago that water levels remain at some 12 feet high due to the overflowing of the Berbice River. More than

850 residents in the region have been affected.

Region Six shelters also received water purification tablets, face masks and

cleaning agents. In Region Five shelters, cleaning agents, hygiene products and cots were also provided. (G12)

FEATURE

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SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

T

he name Dr Walter A n t h o n y Rodney is forever etched in Guyana’s history because of everything he stood for. The larger-thanlife man was such a threat to the then Government of the day that they played a heavy part in his assassination.

Today marks 41 years since the June 13, 1980 assassination of Dr Rodney.

He would have been 79 years old.

Dr Rodney was married to Dr Patricia Rodney and together they have three children – Shaka, Kanini and Asha. A scholar, activist and leader, Dr Rodney did not spend all his time writing or engaging in political activism but was every bit of a family man. On the morning of his assassination, Dr Rodney took the children to school and returned home where he and his wife discussed an invitation for him to work at the university in Zimbabwe. He had in the past ignored many such invitations from other universities.

On this occasion, he was particularly keen and actually decided to go to

his death as an assassination since they were involved in its planning and execution. That, in return, resulted in the Rodney family not being able to benefit Flashback: A photo of the Rodney children from his with their mother, Dr Patricia Rodney life insurance policy.

Zimbabwe. Later the eveDr Patricia Rodney was ning, he was dead.

“Walter never got to see left as a single parent to his children grow up. He raise her three children in was assassinated when he a state that wanted to supwas 38 years old. My oldest press them. In fact, at the son Shaka was 13, Kanini, 2019 forum, she spoke about 10 and Asha, 8. He nev- moving to Barbados after er got the chance to meet her husband’s murder and his grandchildren…As you then having then Prime know Walter Rodney was Minister Burnham labelassassinated on Friday ling them as enemies of the June 13, 1980,” Dr Patricia State.

“Two friends from Rodney said at a Guyana SPEAKS event on Sunday, Barbados, George Lamin October 27, 2019, in London. and Margaret Hope, came Dr Rodney was killed and took myself and the chilin the height of his profes- dren to Barbados. I hadn’t sional career and his family made any plans, what I was not only deprived of his would do, I know why I presence but also his finan- would do, I just knew I could cial contribution. The then not stay in Guyana because Government led by Forbes it wasn't safe. And I realBurnham did not recognise ised it wasn't safe because

when I got to Barbados, Prime Minister Burnham called up Prime Minister Tom Adams to tell him he was harbouring the enemy me and three small children were the enemy. So even in Barbados, the Barbadians had to provide security while I was in Barbados because they wanted to cover themselves. So that the harassment of the Rodney family didn't stop with just kill-

to leave Guyana served as a catalyst for the family to begin healing and getting back to some normalcy to their lives.

“One of the things that had happened in Guyana, because we had moved around so much, I had moved around with the children and Walter I was never able to finish my first degree. So when I got to Guyana, I was working

Walter Rodney addressing a gathering

ing Rodney, it continued,” she recounted.

Dr Patricia Rodney stayed in Barbados for nine years with her children because of a promise she and her husband made to each other. They wanted to ensure their children grew up somewhere in the Caribbean so that they could have an “identity.” The opportunity

with the Georgetown City Council in charge of the early childhood development day-care centre. I took the opportunity once again to go to University of Guyana, where I did a diploma in social work and then the university because University of Guyana had separated itself from the University of the West Indies, it was an inde-

pendent University in order to do the degree programme in social work one had to go to Jamaica and this was the first time students were going on this particular arrangement. So, two students were selected from that programme - myself and another person took to Jamaica to finish up. While I was away from Guyana, my parents, Walter’s parents and Walter and also looked after the children so I spent a year in Jamaica. So, in Barbados, that I was able to get a job where I could be at home by the time the children, finish school…then I emigrated to Canada and it's in Canada that I continued my studies…We know that several times, when you with men who are committed to politics or activism that your work gets left undone. And so, after Walter was killed, I was determined that I will continue my own education.”

Dr Patricia Rodney would later move to Atlanta, Georgia, where she and her children started the Walter Rodney Foundation and began to take ownership of his work. His work was at the time being used and profited off of by a number of persons.

To this date, the Rodney family is still healing.

TURN TO PAGE 18

14 FEATURE

Rodney’s assassination a racist murder

SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

By Donald Ramotar

J

une 13, 2021 marks forty-one years since the assassination of Walter Rodney. That murder still reverberates in our society.

The Guyanese people always knew that that dastardly act was committed by the PNC regime. That general feeling was confirmed by the Commission of Inquiry which was set up in 2014 and had done quite a lot of work - enough to conclude that it was an act by the Burnham-led PNC regime.

At the time of his brutal killing, Guyana and the Caribbean was witnessing a massive upsurge of the people in the region.

In Jamaica, the Michael Manley Government was charting an anti-imperialist

Walter Rodney (centre) in Guyana in 1970 (Photo credit: Wikimedia commons)

course and had moved to improve relations with Cuba.

In Dominica, the semi-dictatorship of Patrick John was overthrown. In St Lucia, the people’s movement removed the Government of John Compton.

The crowning success was undoubtedly the victory

of the Maurice Bishop New Jewel Movement in Grenada.

In Guyana on the lips of the masses was the chant “Gary gone! Patrick John gone!

Who next? Burnham next!”

At that time Guyana was in constant turmoil.

The 1973 elections saw how unpopular the PNC had become. The PNC had to do massive rigging to try to stay in power. The party had become so unpopular that they were nervous that the rigging was not enough to ensure their “victory”. They restored to naked force. The army was unleashed to seize the ballot boxes and change the people’s votes.

In the process, scores of PPP supporters were arrested and two were murdered at No 64 village on the Corentyne.

Cheddi Jagan himself was arrested on the Corentyne.

Many of his comrades had to go into hiding. One of whom, Rishi Ram Motie, recently passed away.

It was in this atmosphere

that Rodney returned to Guyana in 1974. He was already well known in the country long before he arrived. That was because of his expulsion from Jamaica in 1969 for his activism among the working and oppressed masses there.

The PNC’s efforts to prevent him from returning also gave him great popularity. The regime, using their party’s control of the Board of Governors, overturned the decision of the Academic Board to appoint Rodney as Head of the History Department at the University of Guyana.

Shortly after his arrival, the sugar workers led by the GAWU had called a strike to enforce its decades long de-

mand to be recognised by the sugar producers as the bargaining agents for the workers.

The PNC regime answered by using the army

and Police to harass workers and actively recruited scabs to break the strike.

That brought the PPP into the strike to support the workers.

The strike had now been transformed to one for industrial democracy.

Walter Rodney and many of his colleagues came out in strong support and assisted in solidarity with the workers.

That too, endeared him to the working people.

It also inspired many to see Jagan and the PPP fighting together with Rodney and the WPA. It was realising a dream of Jagan to unite the working people of the country, going back the spirit of 1953.

The strike was “adjourned” in the words of Cheddi Jagan, and was resumed in the second crop. That led to the recognition of the GAWU. That brought to a conclusion a struggle which began in the 1940s.

There was another very important strike by the sugar workers in 1977 that lasted for one hundred and thirty-five days. That strike was called to defend workers’ conditions. It was to force the Government to adhere to agreements reached between the Union and GuySuCo. In this strike too, Walter Rodney joined with the GAWU and PPP in giving solidarity to the workers and their Unions.

Here again the whole State apparatus was thrown against the workers and the progressive forces in the country. This struggle was taking place at the same time when the PPP was fighting to save one of its members from the hangman’s noose. He was on the trumped-up charge of having shot a policeman at the toll gate on the Corentyne. The joint activities continued with the joint boycott of the referendum in which Burnham was going to impose a Constitution on the Guyanese people.

All of those actions began uniting people and posing a threat to the existence of the PNC in Government.

After all it must be recalled that the PNC was created by the colonial powers to

stop independence under the leaderships of the PPP. To accomplish its mission, the British facilitated the PNC terroristic activities and its work to divide the working people. Racism was always at the heart of the PNC actions.

It is that philosophy that guides its actions even today.

The hatred for Rodney stemmed from the fact that the African Guyanese masses were responding positively to his politics. The PNC’s propaganda had reached a brick wall and the strategies it used previously were not having any impact on Rodney.

Recall the vicious attacks on African Guyanese PPP members and supporters.

They were attacked in two ways - violence and dismissals from jobs and other loss of livelihood. Some enticements and bribery were also employed. The idea of the British, later the Americans and the PNC was to try force the African Guyanese out of the PPP to push their division strategy. Those African leaders of the PPP that refused to bow to that pressure were slandered as being “collie stooges”.

That mentality and tactics is still being used by the PNC, now APNU/AFC. That could not be done against Rodney. He was conscious of the PNC tactics.

Moreover, he had acquired a lot of experience in other political and revolutionary movements. By the time be arrived here he was already known as a strong fighter for racial equality and an end to racial discrimination. He was also known as a Marxist who saw class as very vital.

He did not join the PPP specifically to deny the PNC that racist tool of calling him a “coolie stooge”.

The PNC regime then turned most of their fire on him and his comrades. The dictatorship murdered many of his close comrades, including Oheni Koama.

They were desperate to hold on to their racist tool which had served them so well, even up to this day.

Therefore, they murdered Rodney in order to hold on to African Guyanese support.

This was a racist assassination and designed to keep our people divided.

In honouring Rodney’s life, we should all reject PNC racist politics which is so evident in these times!

FEATURE

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SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Below is an excerpt of a speech given by Dr Walter Rodney on race and class in Guyanese Politics

T

he topic has been chosen to offer me an opportunity and hopefully to offer you the opportunity also to relate to an issue of wide-ranging importance, but to do so within a very specific context, because the debate on race and class has in many instances, tended to be carried on in a very abstract and theoretical question.

Sometimes indeed, when the statement is made that race is more important than class, or vice versa it is merely a statement of ideological preference or someone's conception of what it takes to be ideologically consistent. For the sake of illustration, some Marxists who would consider themselves orthodox they fear that to introduce the category race and to give it any valuation of importance is itself a heresy in relationship to the normal class analysis. And conversely, they are of course persons who would consider themselves as nationalists, either Black nationalists, Caribbean nationalists, African nationalists who inevitably when the category class is introduced see this, something doctrinaire, see it as a means of undermining their particular nationalist position.

It seems to me that the debate cannot really be carried on outside of a very specific historical and empirical context. Generally, to the extent that there has been an effort to locate the debate on race and class within some specific historical setting, it tends to be within the United States. It tends, therefore, to focus on the relationship between Blacks and Whites.

And of course, if one went to Southern Africa and in particular to the Republic of South Africa, then the debate is also about Black and White about African and European.

In this instance, the example seems at a glance to be rather different from the standard formulation of the question of race because in Guyana, to which I will refer, the situation is one of real or imagined conflict of real and potential conflict with between two racial or ethnic groups of African and Indian ancestry. So, this is not the classical BlackWhite problem and it seems to me from a purely analytical viewpoint, that it is extremely useful to delve into that situation in order to see whether it allows us to have a greater grasp of the overall problem of race and class, which would normally be tackled only in relationship to Black and White.

My assessment of the situation in a broad historical framework in Guyana suggests, first of all, that racism as between Black and Brown as between African and Indian is itself derivative from the old established racism as between White and Black. That is to say that the situation in Guyana, in Trinidad, in Suriname,

the situation in colonies or ex-colonies where transported peoples have been brought into conflict with each other in the new world is itself derivative from the old – the problem of racism in plantation society. That is one of my premises, I will attempt to elaborate on it as we proceed. But perhaps it will serve our purposes if from the outset, I indicated, the kinds of hypotheses and the lines of argument which I wish to follow.

The concept of Black-Brown relations having derived from the initial BlackWhite controversy is one of the lines of analysis. The second is that class trouble was indeed the principal motive force of Guyanese as of Caribbean history but at the same time that racism is responsible for important intraclass conflict, which is a topic that perhaps both historically and abstractly is not dealt with sufficiently. Intraclass conflicts within different classes within different strata were in fact based on real or imagined conflicts of racists. Thirdly, one of the consequences of assessing our history in Guyana is to come to the conclusion that at any given stage, the existence of racism as an aspect of consciousness, as an aspect of ideology, and the existence of racism as a facet in the structure of production relations is always guaranteed and promoted by a class outside of the working class.

That's the genesis and the determination of racism in the society is to be located outside of the working people themselves and these are points that I will elaborate on and in the process to bring you up to date with a sort of race-class structure that has emerged in our particular part of the world.

So, to return to my first formulation, when slavery ended in the Caribbean, as many people casually really familiar with the Caribbean would know, the population was, at that time, essentially African-based, the vast majority of the population. And it was, subsequent to slavery, that a large number of other ethnic groups were introduced to fulfil the function of labour in the society.

Indian immigration was the largest single sector of immigration, but we also had immigrants from China, from the Madeira and the Azores Islands, from Europe itself too some extent, from the Caribbean islands, and so on. But the Indian immigration was the largest and the most consistent source was the subcontinent of India. Consequently, at a certain point in the late 19th century in Guyana, and indeed in Trinidad, the Indian population became first of all, a substantial minority

and in the case of Guyana in the present century, they became the largest single ethnic group, and that is the basis of the so-called racial division in our society.

tion and evaluation of each other has to develop in situ.

Whatever relations exist between Africans and Indians in the Caribbean, were developed right there in the

each other.

Now, where the deep barbs originate? How did it develop in such a short time in the relations between Africans and Indians?

When African and Indian met in a Caribbean context for all practical purposes that was a first physical and or social confrontation.

It was not a continuation of relations which had independently been established between Africans and Indians, and therefore it's meant that their apprecia-

Caribbean. They are not relations which represents a carryover from any other type of contact which Africans had with Indians.

And yet, at a very early stage of the relationship between Africans and Indians in Ghana, it was acceptable that both sides were currently racial or racist barbs at

In pursuing this question, it was interesting to identify the stereotype which Africans and Indians utilise with respect to each other.

The stereotype of the African was brought straight from slavery.

The stereotype within our society was known as Quashie, Quashie being

a gross decimation of the name Quacie. Quacie became Quashie in the creole rendition of the word and the African slave was given a series of attributes, which those who know the literature on racism would readily recognise the attributes of being lazy, of being stupid, of not at one point, although capable of carrying on the most back breaking work is still in a controversial fashion, in a contradictory fashion, regarded as lazy, regarded as given to music, given to idleness and so on and so forth. The whole package still, in one way or another, informed some of the racist literature, and the racist stereotype of the Black man.

Now that was Quashie the African.

The Indians inherited that assessment, that stereotype, of Quashie. They had no notion of who Quashie was because they had not met Quashie. They had just arrived in society but they inherited lock, stock and barrel that stereotype that has derived from the plantation society.

TURN TO PAGE 19

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FROM PAGE 13

Dr Walter Anthony Rodney

Dr Rodney was born to Edward and Pauline Rodney in Georgetown, Guyana, on March 23, 1942. He came from a working class family of five sons. His father, Edward, was a tailor and his mother, Pauline, was a seamstress.

He attended Queen’s College, the top male high school in Guyana, and in 1960 graduated first in his class, winning an open scholarship to the University of the West Indies (UWI). He pursued his undergraduate studies at UWI Mona Campus in Jamaica, where he graduated with 1st class honours in History in 1963.

Dr Rodney then attended the School of Oriental and African Studies in London where, at the age of 24, he received his PhD with honours in African History. Dr Rodney’s thesis, A History of the Upper Guinea Coast, was published by Oxford University Press in 1970.

He developed into an intellectual and scholar and is recognised as one of the Caribbean’s most brilliant minds. Dr Rodney’s academ-

ic record is filled with awards, open scholarships and honours.

Dr Rodney combined his scholarship with activism and became a voice for the under-represented and disenfranchised – this distinguished him from his academic colleagues. His interest in the struggles of the working class began at a young age with an introduction to politics by his father, and continued with his involvement in debating and study groups throughout his student years.

His PhD thesis illustrated his duality as an intellectual and activist as he challenged the prevailing assumptions about African history and put forth his own ideas and models for analysing the history of oppressed peoples. Influenced by the Black Power Movement in the US, third world revolutionaries and Marxist theory, Dr Rodney began to actively challenge the status quo.

In 1968, while a UWI

Dr Patricia Rodney

professor in Jamaica, he joined others to object to the socio-economic and political direction of the Government.

Unlike his counterparts, however, Dr Rodney involved the working class, including the Rastafarians (one of Jamaica’s most marginalised groups) in this dialogue. His speeches and lectures to these groups were published as Grounding with My Brothers, and became central to the Caribbean Black Power Movement. Dr Rodney’s activities attract-

ed the Jamaican Government’s attention and after attending the 1968 Black Writers’ Conference in Montreal, Canada, he was banned from re-entering the country.

This decision was to have profound repercussions, sparking widespread unrest in Kingston.

In 1974, he returned to Guyana to take up an appointment as Professor of History at the University of Guyana, but the Government rescinded the appointment.

But Dr Rodney remained in Guyana, joined the newly formed political group, the Working People’s Alliance (WPA). Between 1974 and 1979, he emerged as the leading figure in the resistance movement against the increasingly authoritarian People’s National Congress (PNC) Government.

He gave public and private talks

all over the country that served to engender a new political consciousness in the country. During this period, he developed his ideas on the self-emancipation of the working people, “People’s Power”, and multiracial democracy.

As the WPA gained popularity and momentum, the PNC began a campaign of harassment including Police raids, house searches, and beatings. On July 11, 1979, Dr Rodney, together with seven others, were arrested following the burning down of two Government offices.

Dr Rodney and four others (known as the “Referendum Five”) faced trumped-up charges of arson, but without proof and scrutiny from international supporters, the Government was forced to drop these charges.

Dr Rodney’s voice was not confined to Africa and the Caribbean but was also heard in the US and Europe.

In the early-mid 1970s, he participated in discussions and lectures with the African Heritage Studies Association at Howard University; the Institute of

the Black World in Atlanta, Georgia; the African Studies and Research Center at Cornell University; and the State University of New York at Binghamton.

The persecution, however, continued: two party members were killed, and the Government denied Dr Rodney and others permission to travel. Despite this, Dr Rodney continued his political work and attended Zimbabwe’s independence celebrations in May 1980.

On Friday, June 13, 1980, Dr Walter Anthony Rodney was assassinated by a bomb in Georgetown, Guyana. He was 38 years old.

Though Dr Rodney lived with constant Police harassment and frequent threats against his life, he nonetheless managed to complete four books in the last year of his life: An academic work: A History of the Guyanese Working People, 1881-1905; A political call to action; People’s Power, No Dictator, and two children’s books: Kofi Baadu Out of Africa and Lakshmi Out of India.

(Extracted from the Walter Rodney Foundation)

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FEATURE

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Dr Walter Rodney's take on race and class...

At the same time, the modified plantation society at the post slavery era quickly built up its own stereotype of the Indian. The Indian was called Sammy.

That sounds rather anglicised, but what it really referred to was the title for me Swarmy, which in effect in English version at any rate, that would be the spelling but it relates to an engine of a certain, a Hindu and a person who had religious training and a religious inclination, a pre normal. Now the word was seeking then out of the names of many Indians, like Ramsammy or Verasammy and they simply said, this is Sammy. Now Sammy was also reduced to a stereotype of a rather cunning, given to idleness also, but willing to work under certain conditions in order to advance his own aim, but not to be trusted and so on and so forth.

There is another stereotype that is built up of Sammy. And again, interestingly enough, the Africans soon acquired the

stereotype of Sammy. So, the plantation society was producing its stereotypes of these two racial groups and because of its own economic as well as cultural dominance, the society imposed these stereotypes on both groups of working people, African, and Indian.

I won't go into any further detail on that, but maybe there is a broader lesson

to be drawn. In many of the studies on racism, there has arisen in the last several years, a tendency to want to try and find the roots of racism in some very distant epoch using sources like the Bible, using the very earliest contacts between Africans and Europeans, and it seems to me that one of the weaknesses of that scholarship and the meth-

odology which it utilises is that it takes issues such as acts of individual prejudice as between Whites and Blacks, or the way that a particular Black is treated in European society, but it does not follow through to see where that prejudice is transferred from being a mere individual prejudice to being part of an institutionalised relationship.

And it is only in the plantation provide, only in the slave society of the new world that the framework was established precisely for those institutional relations. So that the racism ceased to be merely an act of personal quirk, a personal aberration and became instead a rationalisation for a whole system of production. And this is why there's a qualitative difference between racism as understood in the new world as the developed, particularly in the 17th and 18th century and any other acts of individuals prejudice which can historically be illustrated as having occurred prior to that date.

In other words, it seems to me that even after one has illustrated that racism existed before capitalism, it still remains true that the capitalist system in a particular phase of its accumulation in which it required to subordinate non-White people in a particular way, was responsible for both aspects of modern racism, namely the involvement of

FROM PAGE 15

race as a category in determining hope people have access to the means of production. The involvement of race in the actual production relation.

And secondly, inevitably, the dissemination of racist ideas as a necessary part of the ideological superstructure, to maintain that type of exploitation. So, it is within the Caribbean, it seems to me that one must go back, just as it is necessary, and many scholars are finding it necessary in recent times, to return to the 17th century, to return to that very decisive moment in the expansion of the European economy, when it became an international economy, to understand the genesis of capitalism on the world scale. In the same way, it seems to me that we have to look at the development of the said Caribbean society to understand the development of racism has to be.

You can listen to the full speech at https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=9szjOu-yIPs

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SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

I

n 2013, then President Donald Ramotar contacted the widow of Dr Walter Rodney, Dr Patricia Rodney, and asked her if the family was still interested in pursuing the route of a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into his assassination. The response was a resounding yes followed by the reminder that the Rodney family never stopped pursuing that route.

On February 6, 2014, some 34 years later, the CoI into the assassination of Dr Rodney was established.

Sir Richard L Cheltenham, KA, QC, PhD – Chairman, Seenath Jairam, SC, and Jacqueline Samuels-Brown, QC were appointed to serve.

The Terms of Reference of the Commission were to examine the facts and circumstances immediately prior, at the time of and subsequent to the death of Dr Walter Rodney, in order to determine, as far as is possible, who is or what was responsible for the explosion resulting the death of Walter Rodney; to enquire into the cause of the explosion in which Dr Rodney died, whether it was an act of terrorism and, if so, who were the perpetrators; to specifically examine the role, if any, which the late Gregory Smith, Sergeant of

guised as a walkie talkie device exploded in his lap. He was in a car with his brother at the time when they were testing of the device which was built by electronics expert and Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Marine Corps Sergeant, Gregory Smith.

The CoI found that Smith gave Donald Rodney – brother of Walter Rodney – an anti-personnel device namely, a remotely controlled explosive in what appeared to be a walkie-talkie, a communications device. Smith was encouraged in providing that device by prominent members of State agencies.

Rodney CoI Commissioners - Queen’s Counsel Jacqueline Samuels-Brown, Senior Counsel Seenath Jairam and Sir Richard Cheltenham (Guyana Chronicle photo)

the Guyana Defence Force, played in the death of Dr Walter Rodney and, if so, to inquire into who may have counselled, procured, aided or abetted him to do so, including facilitating his departure from Guyana after Dr Walter Rodney’s death; to examine and report on the actions and activities of the State, such as the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Defence Force, the Guyana National Security, the Guyana People’s Militia and those who were in command and superinten-

dence of those agencies, to determine whether they were tasked with the surveillance of and carrying out of actions, and whether they did execute those tasks and carried out those actions against the political Opposition for the period January 1, 1978 to December 31, 1980; and to examine, review and report on earlier investigations and inquiries done and into the death of Dr Walter Rodney.

The CoI started public hearings on April 24,

2014, and held 66 such sessions. It heard the oral evidence of some 31 witnesses, 29 of whom were examined, cross-examined and re-examined where necessary.

Among them two witnesses were heard in-camera at the witnesses’ request.

In addition, we heard the incomplete evidence of two other witnesses, namely, Major General (Ret’d) Norman Mc Lean and Holland Yearwood also called Jomo.

The CoI adjourned its sittings on March 27, 2015, since the General and Regional Elections were slated for May 11, 2015. Those elections saw Ramotar losing and David Granger’s APNU/AFC coalition elected to office.

It is important to note that Granger is the leader of the People’s National Congress (PNC) – the party which was in power on June 13, 1980, when Dr Rodney was assassinated.

One of the first things that Granger’s Administration did was to determine that the Rodney CoI be given two more days of public hearings – July 27 and 28, 2015 – and then be brought to an end. The report of the CoI was delivered on February 8, 2016.

In a move that can only be described as disrespectful, then President Granger did not receive the report as is customary rather he left instructions for it to be handed over to his secretary.

The findings of the report have yet to be made public and the report was acknowledged by the Granger Administration and never adopted or accepted. The Rodney family has continuously called for the report to be made public so that the Guyanese populace as well as the wider world could have a true account of exactly what happened to Dr Walter Rodney. This call has fallen on deaf ears thus far.

Walter Rodney was assassinated on June 13, 1980, when a bomb dis-

The CoI findings:

“We find on the balance of probabilities that Walter Rodney had intended the walkie-talkie to be a communications device which would have permitted him to be in relatively easy contact with fellow WPA activists and for no sinister purpose. The point must be made at this stage that telephones were not easily available and there was discrimination in the distribution which was controlled by a State agency and which, in all likelihood, would have been denied the WPA. We find, further that Donald Rodney, whose testimony we accept, was on the night of 13th June, 1980, doing no more than accompanying his brother, Walter, to collect what they thought would have been a walkie-talkie. There is no evidence before us to suggest that the reason for collecting the device was other than indicated by Donald.

Further, we are satisfied on the evidence presented that Smith was protected by the State and this inference is strengthened when it is borne in mind: That within a matter of hours after the explosion and resultant death of Walter Rodney, Smith was taken to Kwakwani in a Defence Force aircraft; he was given a passport, not in the name of Gregory Smith which name he carried as a member of the Defence Force, but in the name of CYRIL MILTON JOHNSON. “We hold that the change of name was intended to conceal the true identity of the killer of Walter and that it could only have been achieved with the cooperation and support of the Passport Office which was part of the Police Force.

It is significant that the head of the Immigration Department at the material time was Laurie Lewis. We accept that Gregory Smith, renamed Cyril Milton Johnson, received State assistance in going to French Guiana. The choice of country was deliberate and was no doubt informed by the fact that French Government, of which French Guiana was

a Department, had a policy opposed to the death penalty. In short, it would have been difficult, virtually impossible, to secure the extradition of Smith/Johnson from French Guiana.”

The CoI also explicitly stated that Rodney was executed by the State and the Commissioners “no hesitation in holding that Gregory Smith was responsible for Dr Walter Rodney’s death on June 13, 1980, and that in so doing he was acting as an agent of the State having been aided and abetted so to do, by individuals holding positions of leadership in State agencies and committed to carrying out the wishes of the PNC Administration.”

The report of the CoI did not sit well with Granger and the PNC party because it was the proverbial nail in the coffin that the founder of the Party – Forbes Burnham – was the one responsible for the death of Dr Rodney. The report was more than likely placed on shelf somewhere and left to collect dust by a party of self-protectionists.

Rodney’s own party – the WPA – which joined hands with the PNC to form the APNU seemingly betrayed him and his legacy. They forgot the core values of the WPA and in turn zipped their mouths and allowed the PNC to dictate everything they did. The WPA kept silent when the PNCled APNU failed to accept the findings of the report and implement the recommendations.

Now the PPP/C is taking steps to right the wrongs done to Dr Rodney and his family by formally recognising his death as a State assisted assassination.

This move has caused the WPA to twist itself in such a manner to appear somewhat interested in the findings and recommendations of the CoI and the legacy of Dr Rodney- the same man they disregarded when they joined hands with the party responsible for his assassination.

His wife – Dr Patricia Rodney – in relation to the findings and burying of the CoI report once said “What has been distressing to me is that very decent people have remained silent and that is how we come to the position we're in and you know when people are talking about President Trump. I've seen that happen in Guyana, what Trump is doing is exactly what Burnham did and people kept silent. And almost like a child, if you give them foot they take a yard, they check the boundaries, and people saw it but they did nothing about it either because they've benefited from it.

I know some people have been scared, but we all have to stand up for truth.”

FEATURE

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SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Wabbani collaborates with IKEA to repurpose unsold doors with help from Indigenous artisans from Guyana U

pcycled doors from IKEA serve as the foundation of the handwoven basketry door inserts from Wabbani, a home decor enterprise that collaborates with Indigenous artisans from Guyana, South America, to produce handmade products.

With a mission to create fair-wage employment and generate funds for community development in the remote villages in Guyana, Wabbani has teamed up with IKEA to make use of the furniture retailer’s unsold doors — and diverting products from the landfill — by creating limited-edition IKEA doors with a handwoven flare: adding the Indigenous-made panels onto the doors.

The wardrobe doors come in a collection of four options: Annatto, Rainy Doors, June Green, and Tattoo Blue. Each option comes in a selection of prints and patterns, including a repetitive diamondback anaconda print and chevron-like print. All of the upcycled IKEA doors are a light beige, but can be painted over to match Wabbani’s different handwoven panels. All of the options are compatible with IKEA’s PAX wardrobe system.

Alternatively, Wabbani also sells the handwoven add-on basketry inserts for

other types of IKEA furniture and kitchen cabinets — the latter of which are all compatible with IKEA’s SEKTION kitchen cabinets, including Grimslov, Tohamn, Lerhyttan, Bjorket,

and Ekestad. The kitchen and furniture inserts come in the same general colour and patterns available for the wardrobe doors.

Wabbani culminated from the work of Rupununi Learners Foundation and

Caiman House Incorporated, two non-profit organisations that both support environmental, social, and educational programmes in the Rupununi region of Guyana in South America.

Wabbani LLC is a for-profit social enterprise that collaborates with Indigenous communities to produce handm a d e , culturally-authentic home décor which personalises IKEA home furnishings.

Wabbani was spun off the work of two non-profits, Rupununi Learners Foundation, a US 501(c)3, and Caiman House

Incorporated, a Guyanese non-profit corporation which partners to support environmental, social and educational programmes in and around Yupukari Village in the Rupununi region.

The decision to make Wabbani a for-profit company stemmed from the mission to create not only fair-wage employment, but also to be able to attract investment for scale, thereby generating significant funds for community development.

The Backstory

In 2005, Alice Layton (Founder), Peter Taylor and their 9-year-old son moved to the Macushi village of Yupukari in Guyana, South America. Peter was there to research a poorly-understood animal, the black caiman. Alice, as a social worker/librarian, established a collaboration with village school teachers to create a public library and classroom libraries to help them improve the teaching of reading.

Villagers credit the Yupukari Public Library and its outreach activities with the consistent rise in the pass rate from primary to secondary school, from near zero in 2005 to 86 per cent in 2019.

Alice established Rupununi Learners Foundation, a US non-profit, and a few years later Yupukari created Rupununi Learners Inc (now Caiman House Incorporated), to manage all the projects and funding, which has included grants from multiple zoos, the IUCN, and others.

Everything done at Caiman House Inc is village-owned and operated.

While the libraries took shape, Peter trained villagers to capture the formerly avoided caiman (up to 14 feet long), notate observations, mark, release, and recapture them for a long-term study (still ongoing) to understand the animal and its role in the environment. Tourists in the region soon got wind of the project, and before long the team was hosting "follow boats" of enthusiasts who, once the caiman were immobilised and jaws taped, could enjoy a bucket-list opportunity to get up close with a top predator and help out with

the study.

They quickly realised that the village had an opportunity to get into the tourism business, with the "Caiman Project" as the unique attraction. Interest grew, and so did the urge to link with other communities in the region and build a village guest house. Out of that dream the Caiman House Lodge was born. The Lodge has since won tourism awards and mentions by architects. The revenue from the Lodge has been

the primary funding for the Yupukari Public Library.

From the experience of “crafting” the Lodge and its furnishings and decorations, the idea of the opportunity to create sustainable income for artisans while preserving the Macushi culture was born. In 2018, Alice founded Wabbani LLC in St Louis, MO with Paul Dinkins. Their vision is to use their resources and expertise to connect remote, rural artisans with a global marketplace. And it's the combined skill sets

of North and South that now bring Wabbani to you.

A word of Arawak origin, “Wabbani” means “platform,” as in, a hunter’s treetop hide. Wabbani is an ecommerce platform for remote crafters all over the world, connecting them with the global market for home furnishings. Our aim is to preserve endangered cultures and habitats by creating the village-based jobs that keep families and communities intact, and crafts alive.

22 FEATURE

SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

HEALTH TIPS HIV AND PREVENTION

PRE-EXPOSURE PROPHYLAXIS (PrEP)

Dr Tariq Jagnarine Fam Medicine, Endocrinology/Diabetes

P

re-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a course of HIV drugs taken by HIV-negative people to protect themselves against HIV infection. Truvada, an antiretroviral drug, has been approved for use as PrEP in many countries. Truvada is a single pill that is a combination of two anti-HIV drugs, tenofovir and emtricitabine.

PrEP is different from PEP (Post-exposure prophylaxis), which is an emergency treatment for HIV, taken after possible exposure to the virus.

FAST FACTS

* Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a course of HIV drugs taken by HIVnegative people to prevent infection. * Taking PrEP correctly would virtually eliminate a

person’s risk of getting HIV, with efficacy from 70% to 90%. * PrEP does not protect against other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as syphilis, gonorrhoea, or hepatitis C. Condoms are still the best protection from these STIs. * PrEP is not taken for life; it is taken only for short periods, when a person may be at risk of HIV infection.

ACTION

The anti-HIV drugs in PrEP stop the virus from replicating in a person’s body. If someone is exposed to HIV, for example during sex without a condom, but has been taking PrEP correctly, there will be high enough levels of the drugs to prevent that person from getting HIV.

EFFECTIVENESS

If used consistently and correctly, PrEP would virtually eliminate the risk of becoming infected with HIV. A number of large, high profile trials undertaken across the world have continued to prove PrEP’s effectiveness as much as 70% to 90%.

PrEP AND CONDOMS

PrEP would protect persons from HIV, but it doesn’t give any protection against sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Using a condom is the best way to prevent

other STIs, such as gonorrhoea, Chlamydia and hepatitis C. Also, PrEP doesn’t prevent pregnancy.

WHO CAN TAKE PrEP?

PrEP is for people who are HIV-negative and more at risk of HIV infection.

PrEP can be used by men and women, both Trans and cisgender.

PrEP may be a good option for: * Persons in an ongoing sexual relationship with a partner living with HIV, who does not have an undetectable viral load. (serodiscordant couples) * Gay or bisexual men who have multiple sexual partners and don't always use condoms. * Gay or bisexual man in a new sexual relationship but not yet aware of their partner’s HIV status, and don’t always use condoms. * Persons who do not use condoms with partners of the opposite sex, whose HIV status is unknown and who are at high risk of HIV infection (for example, they inject drugs, have multiple partners, or have bisexual male partners) * Having sex for money, or receive gifts for sex. For example, female sex workers * Sharing injecting equipment, or have been in a treatment programme for injecting drug use.

CAN PrEP WORK FOR ALL TYPES OF SEX?

Yes. PrEP can prevent HIV infection during both vaginal and anal sex, but there are different recommendations for how to take it, depending on a person’s gender and the type of sexual interaction.

TREATMENT OPTIONS

There are two ways to take PrEP: * One tablet per day Recommended for: * Women (both trans and cisgender) * Transgender men having vaginal/frontal sex * Men having vaginal or anal sex with women * Gay and bisexual men

Caution

PrEP needs to be taken for 7 days before protection is achieved, and then every day for as long as protection from HIV is needed. * Event-based (on-demand), where you take PrEP before and after planned sex Recommended for: * Gay and bisexual men

Caution

This option would work only if persons had planned for sex at least two hours in advance, or can delay having sex for at least two hours.

There are different types of event-based PrEP, de-

pending on one’s pattern of sexual activity. Talk this option through with a health professional.

HOW CAN I START PrEP, AND FOR HOW LONG DO I TAKE IT?

An HIV test must be taken before starting PrEP, to be sure that persons do not have HIV. Once positive for HIV, taking PrEP may increase the likelihood of developing drug resistance, which makes HIV treatment less effective. The positive HIV cases need to be on regular ARV treatment for HIV instead.

While taking PrEP, a visit to the healthcare professionals for regular check-ups (at least every three months) is important.

Unlike HIV treatment, people do not stay on PrEP for life. PrEP is normally taken for periods of weeks, months, or a few years when a person feels most at risk of HIV. This might be during specific relationships; after the break-up of a relationship; and when dating new people, planning a holiday, knowing of desire to be sexually active with new people whose status may be unknown; while dealing with drug use problems, or when trying to conceive by HIVpositive stable HIV partner.

SIDE EFFECTS

Around one in ten people taking Truvada as PrEP ex-

perience short-term side effects in the first few weeks of taking it. These problems, such as stomach problems, headaches and tiredness, are usually minor, and go away after a week or two.

Long-term side effects are rare. Up to 2% of people taking PrEP have small decreases in kidney function while taking it. This usually returns to normal after taking PrEP has ceased.

Healthcare providers monitor the kidney function of people taking PrEP frequently.

While some people have expressed concern about the use of PrEP leading to the development of drug-resistant HIV, this has rarely happened in practice.

ACCESS TO PrEP

PrEP is currently available at ALL care and treatment sites (HIV treatment sites) throughout Guyana. It is free of charge, and is an option available to all high-risk HIV-negative persons.

Persons who are interested in getting PrEP can contact a healthcare professional, who should be able to provide advice on how and where to access the service.

The healthcare professional would also be able to offer any advice, monitoring, and support to help take PrEP correctly, and ensure the best protection possible.

NEWS

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SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Police have “arrest first, investigate later” policy – Complaints Authority …says many ranks unaware of SOPs, rights of citizens

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ver the years, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) has had numerous complaints levelled against it, from random stopping of motorists to violating the rights of citizens during arrests or searches.

But according to the Police Complaints Authority, most ranks in the GPF don’t even know the Standing Operating Procedures (SOPs) they work under.

This startling admission is contained in the Police Complaints Authority’s (PCA) 2019 report, compiled by PCA Chairman and retired Judge William Ramlal. In the report, Ramlal noted that he had previously recommended the fundamental rights of citizens be taught to the Police back in 2018.

This was because in 2018, it was observed that the Police continued to violate the fundamental rights of numerous citizens. According to Ramlal, he had personally lectured the Police at the Officers Training Centre about the importance of them knowing the SOPs and the rights of citizens so they could execute their duty properly.

But one year later, according to the former Judge, there has been no improvement in the GPF. According to him, 95 per cent of the hundreds of Police he interviewed in 2019 have a palpably poor understanding of what they can and cannot legally do.

“For 2019 I interviewed a few hundred members of the Force, covering all ranks, except the Commissioner of Police and all of them have shown a poor knowledge of the Force Standing Orders, the law and its applications in criminal matters, the fundamental rights of every citizen (and) the power of arrest with or without an arrest warrant.”

Additionally, Ramlal noted that most of the Police seem clueless about “what amounts to reasonable suspicion, what amounts to an arbitrary stop and search and what are the rules governing the principles of fairness. All of these and much more negatively impacts the work of the Police Complaints authority and the work of the Police themselves.”

Ramlal noted that the Police have an “arrest first,

According to the Police Complaints Authority report, there are hundreds of Guyana Police ranks who do not know the law they enforce

investigate later” mentality that has led to citizens being arrested without due process. There are even cases where persons are arrested without any reasonable suspicion being present.

“Based on my interview with the Police personnel, a substantial number of Traffic Police and others as well, misuse their powers of arrest to intimidate the citizen for favour or reward.

Likewise, the Police in the

Criminal Investigation Department misuse their powers of arrest in summary conviction matters.”

“Arrests are often carried out without any investigations being done or where there is no reasonable suspicion that someone committed any offence. The standard operational procedure is to arrest first or give the appearance of an investigation. This is resulting in too many complaints which

were avoidable. I recommend that administrative systems and training be put into place to detect and prevent such abuses,” Ramlal said.

The retired Judge’s other recommendations include serious training being given to all Traffic Police regarding the law concerning Driving Under the Influence (DUI). Recalling the case of taxi driver Lallbachan Bachan, who died in Police

custody at the Suddie Police Station in 2019, Ramlal said that Police were clueless about the section of the law relative for DUIs or even the particulars of the charge against Bachan.

“The computer printout established conclusively that Mr Bachan never committed any offense as charged since his alcohol concentration was well below the prescribed limit. I recommend that serious training be given to all Traffic Police on this and other issues.”

“It is patently clear that the Police generally do not know anything or anything of significance, about their powers of arrest with or without a warrant. This has resulted in a large number of complainants being unlawfully arrested.”

When it comes to this, Ramlal urged that serious training be given to all members of the Police Force on the law and application of that law to situations when arrests take place. He also recommended that the Police be trained about the fundamental rights of each citizen, so that resulting arrests will be lawful. (G3)

24 NEWS

SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Vaccine drive-thrus major success as turnout skyrockets

A

An overwhelming success was recorded at the MovieTowne Mall

resounding turnout at both East Bank and East Coast Demerara locations for the Health Ministry’s COVID-19 vaccine drive-thru events have set the tempo to coordinate such events in the future.

This weekend, the exercise continues at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, on the East Bank of Demerara while MovieTowne on the East Coast of Demerara is the newest drive-thru location. At both locations, first dose AstraZeneca and Sputnik V along with second dose AstraZeneca and Sinopharm were administered.

Over at the MovieTowne parking lot on Saturday,

a significant number of persons showed up to receive their first and second doses of the vaccines.

Communications Manager at the Georgetown Public Hospital Cheulana Providence told this publication that the consideration is open to make this a permanent location, after witnessing the demand.

“Quite like what we did at Providence a few weeks ago, we decided to replicate the activity here at MovieTowne and we have had quite an outstanding response. Since we started at nine this morning, we had a constant flow of persons coming in to get vaccinated. Based on the response that we have gotten today, I think we do an-

Vehicles turned up in their numbers at the Providence Stadium

ticipate that this will be a more permanent arrangement for us going forward because we had a pretty overwhelming response,” Providence underscored.

Private Sector companies also came on board to offer incentives to those who got their shots, as part of secondary efforts to attract people and move the country closer to her immunity.

“People are really excited about that. We’ve had Sol Guyana, DeSinco and MovieTowne give out prizes and giveaways to persons as they come. We had a few other companies as well and we’re looking forward to continuing those partnerships and doing more initiatives like these to get

people to come out and get vaccinated,” she added.

At the Guyana National Stadium, there was a similar response, attracting people from both Regions Three (Essequibo IslandsWest Demerara) and Four (Demerara-Mahaica).

Maternal and Child Health Officer, Dr Oneka Scott explained that there were vehicles waiting even before the sites opened.

She cautioned that with increased deaths and new cases every day, the Ministry is exploring new ways of enabling easier access and efficiency in getting the jabs.

“What’s important to remember as well is that we do have, unfortunately in Guyana, a high death rate from COVID-19. It’s in-

creasing. In order for us to get those numbers down, this is what we have to do.

Make vaccinations accessible, convenient, increase the opportunities for persons to get vaccinated. This is what the drive-thru is all about. The first one was a hit, the other one was a bigger smash and we know we will have fun working this weekend at both locations.”

Rita Lakeram, who received her second shot at the Providence site, told Guyana Times that she was extremely pleased with the orderly process and trained health workers.

“It was very comfortable.

I’m impressed and very delighted with the friendly staff. This was my second dose of the AstraZeneca

and I encourage everyone to come out and get their jab,” the woman shared.

Meanwhile, Nazrene Roopnarine shared, “The process was very good. It’s convenient and nice. I encourage everyone to come and take the COVID-19 vaccine because it’s very good. This is my second shot and I feel great.”

In the previous drive-thru event hosted at the stadium, over 1000 persons received vaccines each day.

In Guyana, over 216,000 persons have received their first dose while over 81,000 are completely immunised.

A few days ago, Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony stressed, “Persons who have been fully vaccinated, we have not seen them coming to the hospital. We have not seen them coming to the ICU, and we have not had a single COVID-19 death of persons who have been fully vaccinated. I think this is an incentive to get people to come out and get their vaccinations.”

The vaccine drive-thru will be operational today from 09:00h to 16:00h at the MovieTowne parking lot and at the National Stadium at Providence from 09:00h to 18:00h. (G12)

25

SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

26 NEWS 2 more succumb to COVID-19, new cases recorded: 107 SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

...Heath Ministry to deliberate on vaccine travel card

GUYANA COVID-19 DASHBOARD JUNE 12 UPDATE

NUMBER OF NEW CASES

107

NUMBER OF PERSONS IN INSTITUTIONAL ISOLATION

113

NUMBER OF PERSONS IN HOME ISOLATION NUMBER OF PERSONS IN COVID-19 ICU

1495 21

NUMBER OF PERSONS IN INSTITUTIONAL QUARANTINE

3

TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES BY GENDER (FEMALES)

9315

TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES BY GENDER (MALES)

8988

TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES IN GUYANA SINCE 2020

18,303

NUMBER OF RECOVERED CASES

16,250

TOTAL 1st DOSE VACCINATED FULLY IMMUNISED

216,862 83,729

TOTAL NUMBER OF DEATHS

424

DISTRIBUTION OF TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES SINCE MARCH 2022 REGION 1

1159

REGION 2

510

REGION 3

2117

REGION 4

8584

REGION 5

629

REGION 6

1318

REGION 7

1232

REGION 8

370

REGION 9

1107

REGION 10

1277

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

Keep a physical distance of at least 6 feet.

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

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

T

he Health Ministry on Saturday reported that two more persons have succumbed to COVID-19, thus bringing the death toll to 424.

There have been 26 deaths for the month of June.

The latest fatalities are a 51-year-old woman from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) and a 71-year-old male from Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo). Both persons succumbed on Friday while receiv-

ing care at medical facilities.

However, another 107 persons have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, thus bringing the confirmed cases to date to 18,303.

The new cases were record-

ed from the 1199 samples that were collected and sent for testing.

New statistics provided by the Ministry showed that 21 persons remain in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 113 in institutional isolation, 1495 in home isolation and three persons in institutional quarantine. Some 16,250 of the 8988 males and 9315 females have recovered completely. To date, Guyana has tested 168,284 individuals.

A breakdown of new cases showed that two were detected in Region One (Barima-Waini), 16 in Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam), nine in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), 55 in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), four in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), five in Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne), two in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), two in Region Nine (Upper TakutuUpper Essequibo) and 12 in Region 10 (Upper DemeraraBerbice) Cases in Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) remain at

370 after no new positives were detected.

In the latest COVID-19 update, Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony underscored that a vaccination certificate for travel will be deliberated upon in the coming future, as more persons take the vaccine and countries open their borders with this stipulation for entry.

“We will have to consider what would be our options as we vaccinate more and more of our people. Some of these types of considerations we will have to take on board, especially if countries to which the airlines who are here fly to would be asking for such travel documents. If that becomes a requirement, then we probably would have to follow suit.

But the way things are going, it looks like a lot of countries are going to be implementing these vaccine passport or travel certificate. There is still that discussion that is ongoing but some countries have already decided and they’re moving

ahead,” the Minister outlined.

He had previously warned that stringent measures will be taken against anyone found culpable of forging the COVID-19 vaccine certificate – a document issued by health officials after a person is immunised.

It was outlined that the forging of vaccination certificates is a serious crime and anyone guilty of such an act will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Symptoms of the coronavirus include fever, cough, tiredness, diarrhoea, pains, sore throat and loss of taste or smell.

The more serious symptoms are difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, chest pain and loss of speech or movement.

If persons are experiencing symptoms or have been in contact with a positive person, they are asked to contact the COVID-19 Hotline on 2311166, 226-7480 or 624-6674 immediately or visit www.health. gov.gy. (G12)

Army reservist arrested for assaulting cops

R

anks of the Guyana Police Force have arrested a male reservist of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) after he assaulted a group of policemen.

Reports are that the incident occurred at about 18:15h on Friday at the Pouderoyen Tarmac, West Bank Demerara.

On Saturday Police said that a party of GPF ranks were on mobile patrol and went to the Pouderoyen Tarmac where the suspect started to verbally abuse the ranks with expletives.

He was reportedly warned about his conduct and to desist from such behaviour but he continued in a loud tone of voice, causing a large gathering.

As a rank attempted to ar-

rest him, the army reservist began to physically assault one of the cops. This resulted in a sergeant and other ranks who were also there rendering assistance.

They were also assaulted.

The perpetrator was eventually subdued by the team, arrested and taken to Vreed-enHoop Police Station where he was placed into custody pending charges.

The injured policemen were seen and examined by a doctor at West Demerara Regional Hospital where medical certificates were obtained.

This is the second incident that has occurred recently where a GDF rank has assaulted Police Officers.

In another incident, a Lance Corporal of GDF’s Coast

Guard unit was arrested after he assaulted a rank of the Guyana Police Force.

At the time of the incident a Constable observed a dark grey motor car trying to change lane in the vicinity of the Harbour Bridge, and in the process, caused congestion of traffic.

As a result, the Police approached the driver of the car and realised that it was a GDF rank.

The officer told his superiors that he told the GDF rank of the offence committed, and then instructed him to go in the corner of the road. However, the Lance Corporal became annoyed, exited the vehicle, and shoved the Constable.

He was later arrested and charged.

NEWS

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SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

2 parties formed by 2 former WPA, JFAP members ...immediately join PNC-led APNU

I

n a transparent effort of the PNC-dominated APNU to maintain its claim as a broad based “coalition” subsequent to the withdrawal of two of its original members, the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) and the Justice For All Party (JFAP), Jaipaul Sharma and Tabitha Sarabo-Halley, who were former Members of Parliament (MPs) for the

JFAP and WPA, respectively, have now started political parties of their own and simultaneously joined APNU. Those applications, according to APNU in its statement, were approved. They now join other mini parties in APNU, such as the Guyana Action Party (GAP), the National Front Alliance (NFA) and the People’s National Congress

Reform (PNCR).

The announcement was made by the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition. In the statement, it was noted that Jaipaul Sharma, a former Junior Finance Minister under the former Government, has formed a party called Equal Rights and Justice Party (ERJP).

Canadians join to help flood-affected Guyanese

I

nternational Development and Relief Foundation (IDRF) has launched a multi-faith fundraising campaign to provide emergency relief in hardest hit regions of Guyana. In a statement on Saturday, the organisation said that people in Guyana whose homes, livelihoods and community infrastructure were destroyed by recent floods are receiving emergency aid through a campaign started by IDRF in partnership with the Central Islamist Organisation of Guyana (CIOG), and supported by a Canadian appeal involving a variety of faith groups and organisations.

Through these combined efforts, IDRF will raise more than $12 million with additional monies expected to come as mosques, Hindu organisations, and businesses continue to raise additional funds.

According to the organisation, while most Muslims give the bulk of their donations as Zakat during Ramadan and that money would have been earmarked for other charitable causes, a number of

mosques have pledged to renew their fundraising efforts this summer in support of Guyanese relief.

“We are extremely grateful for the outpouring of support from Canadians for Guyanese people in critical need because of this terrible flooding,” said IDRF’s Chair of Global Monitoring, Winston Kassim. Kassim, a Canadian of Guyanese heritage, who is a Member of the Order of Canada, added that “it is wonderful to see so many people of diverse backgrounds and faiths come together with a single purpose to help others who are suffering and in great need.”

Kassim and the IDRF team have been in close coordination with the President's office to ensure its humanitarian relief is meeting the most urgent needs of the affected communities and to sustain that support for an extended period. The team is already providing emergency relief across Guyana including in BarimaWaini, Essequibo islands, Goed Fortuin and Canals Polder, West Bank Demerara; Mahaica Mahaicony Abary,

and Black Bush Polder, Corentyne, Berbice, which are some of the hardest hit regions.

The funds raised are being used to provide humanitarian assistance to victims of the flooding, with an emphasis on food, and the distribution to farmers of livestock such as chickens that will sustain them in the future. Donations to support these efforts can be made on the IDRF website at: https://idrf.ca/project/guyana-flood-relief/. Tax receipts will be issued for donations.

Guyana has been inundated by heavy rains since May, which has caused widespread flooding, leading to submerged roads, buildings and vehicles. Crops and livestock were also adversely affected, creating food shortages and health issues.

“With the rainy season expected to continue through July, it is urgent to respond now while also developing the capacity to mitigate further suffering that additional flooding may cause,” said Director of Education and Dawah for CIOG, Shaykh Moeenul Hack.

did so at a time when its coalition partners were steadfastly denying they had lost the elections, thus breaking party ranks.

WPA

Former JFAP MP Jaipaul Sharma

Meanwhile, SaraboHalley, who served as the Public Service Minister under the former APNU/AFC Government, has formed a party called the Guyana Nation Builders Movement (GNBM).

Both Sharma and SaraboHalley’s former parties had fled the APNU/AFC coalition after their loss at the 2020 polls. It was an acrimonious

Former WPA MP-turned-party founder, Tabitha Sarabo-Halley

parting, as both JFAP and WPA had accused the coalition, dominated by the PNCR, of not consulting with them when making crucial decisions that affected their party.

JFAP The JFAP was also the first and only party within the coalition to concede defeat after the March 2 General and Regional Elections 2020. It

The WPA claimed to also have its issues with the PNCR’s dominance in the coalition even though they staunchly supported the attempted rigging of the 2020 elections. They later complained about Granger selecting Sarabo-Halley, who was at the time WPA’s Chairperson, as an MP without consulting the smaller party.

Most observers claim that the two individuals have no support or following and would be another paper-organisation in APNU like Keith Scott’s National Front Alliance (NFA).

28 NEWS

SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Commonwealth Innovation Forum discusses ways to mitigate COVID-19 …leaders identify need for collaboration

T

he first virtual Commonwealth Innovation Forum and Awards, recently organised with participation from several countries around the world, saw leaders collaborating and discussing ways in which the world can find a way out of the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Organised by the Golden Signatures Research and Consulting in association with Global Thought Leaders, Indian Observer Post, Corporate Tycoons, Africa-Asia Scholars Global Network (AASGON) and Commonwealth

Friends Association, the event saw 32 stakeholders being awarded with Commonwealth Innovation Awards 2021.

Themed, “Serving Humanity, Protecting Lives and Promoting Peace”, Special Envoy to Commonwealth Secretariat, Prajapati Trivedi said “those countries that have clarity of goals succeed while others falter. Unless countries have goal clarity, they will drift without any directions”.

He also called for making the bureaucracy accountable by rewarding

performers and pulling up non-performers and added that what is needed is to reform the entire system.

High Commissioner of India to Guyana, Dr K J Srinivasa chose to highlight the contribution of India to the Commonwealth. In addition, High Commissioner of Uganda to India, Dina Grace Akello focused on the importance of cooperation among the Commonwealth countries.

High Commissioner of Trinidad and Tobago to India, Roger Gopaul in his address vocalised that the pandemic has affected each and every person in

Attendees and speakers during the CIFA event

the world and has also created fear psychosis. It has reached everyone, irrespective of caste, colour, race or creed and has forced us to reassess our priority.

Gopaul noted, “We have to prepare for the post-pandemic world with new reality and positive frame of mind”.

Chief Secretary, Government of Bihar, Tripurari Sharan added that the COVID-19 pandemic is proving to be the biggest challenge to the world. He said while coun-

tries have made many big leaps for mankind, no one has been able to “conquer a tiny virus which has paralysed the world”.

Meanwhile, Advisor at Global Thought Leaders, Dr Anand K Joshi stressed the need to create psychological and emotional safety as people are going through depression and negativity. He also spoke on the need for reorganising post-COVID work dynamics as the work from home has merits as well as demerits.

President of the IIHMR University, Dr Prahlad Sodani indicated that from the academic perspective, efforts in driving research-focused education in healthcare management, pharmaceutical management and development management area are being explored. Emphasising the need for innovative approach in higher education, Dr Sodani stated that collaboration can help in making healthcare education relevant and useful to the current needs.

Porter drowns in attempting to swim across Barima River

A

22-year-old porter lost his life while trying to swim across the Barima River, Region One (Barima-Waini).

Dead is Franklyn Benjamin of Four Miles, Port Kaituma, Region One. Reports are that there was heavy rainfall and this prevented Benjamin and his boat crew from completing their task of delivering food supplies and fuel.

Police said the now dead man was employed as a porter on a truck and would assist in delivering food supplies and fuel to various backdams.

On Monday at around 06:00h, Benjamin and his crew left Port Kaituma to deliver food supplies and fuel in the backdam as they would usually do. Two days after, Benjamin and his

crew stopped at the Barima River, which had high waters at the time, preventing them from crossing.

Police said the men waited for another two days for the water to recede but continuous heavy rainfall prevented same.

Out of frustration, on Thursday at about 17:30h the porter attempted to swim across the river which is about 65 feet in width, with heavy water current.

Whilst in the middle of the river, he began shouting for help and his crew members attempted to help him but their efforts were futile.

Benjamin’s body went under the water and he did not resurface.

He was fished out of the water on Friday by his crew members and escorted to Port Kaituma District Hospital, where he was pronounced dead by the doctor on duty.

Investigations are ongoing. (G9)

NEWS

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SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Electric vehicles gradually gaining popularity in Guyana – owners …as General Motors make EVs affordable to developing countries

What are the indirect benefits to Guyana from ExxonMobil’s operations?

G

uyana’s development has been stymied for more than ten years, owing to its peculiar development challenges. The time has now come for all of Guyana and its people to embrace the development path the country is embarking upon, and support the policymakers to achieve these goals.

Guyana is now well positioned to lead a massive regional integration drive, given the development trajectory the country is embarking upon.

To that end, given the development of Guyana’s embryonic petroleum sector, a plethora of opportunities is emerging. These have already begun to manifest themselves for Guyanese businesses to capitalise upon, including through the formation of synergies with other international and regional organisations in providing support services to the offshore drilling companies and other oil and gas-related ventures.

Guyana is poised to experience an economic boom in the long-term outlook (Post COVID-19).

Owing to the now burgeoning oil and gas sector, Guyana’s average Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) annually pre–oil was US$260 million.

Post oil production in 2019, FDIs amounted to US$1.7 billion, which is an increase of US$1.4 billion, or 536% of what Guyana’s normal average level of FDIs was before becoming an oil producing country. As at 2020, net foreign direct investments increased by 7.6 percent, or US$128.9 million from the 2019 position to US$1.824 billion, due to investments in the oil and gas sector.

It is worthwhile to note that investors’ confidence – coupled with a business-friendly regime especially, are at an all-time high. Both foreign and local investors are moving ahead with critical investment projects – all of which will transform the economic landscape of Guyana in years to come.

By Vahnu Manikchand

A

s efforts are being undertaken globally to combat climate change, one of the major contributing factors is the high carbon emissions and according to reports, the global transportation sector accounts for approximately a quarter of the world’s CO2 emissions.

In the United States, where the transportation sector is responsible for the largest share of greenhouse gas being released into the atmosphere, General Motors – the largest auto manufacturer in the US city of Detroit – is aggressively moving to phase out its gas and diesel engines for all light-duty vehicles.

Back in January 2021, General Motors announced

General Motors Vice President of Global Public Policy, Tom Cooney

models – 30 all-electric models globally – by 2025. That’s just four years from now and they’re starting to roll out now… But 30 electric models by 2025 and 40 per cent of our company’s models just in the

Potential economic benefits from gas-to-shore project Lower energy cost will drive a strong industrialised economy and attract more foreign direct investments. Currently, energy costs account for 40% to 50% of the operating costs of manufacturing firms. Therefore, lower energy cost can facilitate greater economies of scale and economies of scope for firms and overall national competitiveness.

Implementation of the gas-to-shore project, which will become a major part of Guyana’s energy mix, can result in more than 50% savings on fuel imports, which is currently over US$500 million, thereby saving about US$250 million in the importation of petroleum products annually.

This can ultimately translate to the country enjoying a trade balance surplus from a deficit position, as it has always been. A trade balance surplus is a signal of stronger macroeconomic stability and a strong and stable domestic currency.

Guyana can also become a net exporter of energy/natural gas products and by-products within the region.

Other indirect economic benefits From looking at private investment data over the last ten years, the annual average growth in private investment was 39%, or Gy$22 billion, and averaging Gy$116 billion.

Over the next five–ten years, the estimated total public and private investment in major infrastructure and developmental projects can amount to Gy$7.2 trillion, or an average of Gy$719 billion annually in public and private investments. The current average total public and private investment, from looking at the trend over the last ten years, was approximately Gy$345 billion annually. With Guyana’s development trajectory, this sum can increase annually by 52%, or by Gy$345 billion, over the next decade.

Public and private investments can potentially increase by more than 50% annually, and can effectively translate to the creation of more than 100,000 jobs and tremendous growth in entrepreneurship opportunities during this period. In this regard, unemployment is currently estimated to be more than 25%, or 125,000 persons, of the total labour force. This number can be reduced to the lower single digits – around 3 to 5% - over the next five years and/or by the end of the decade.

As at 2018, the average total private expenditure, which includes private investments both local and foreign, stood at $880 billion/US$4 billion. On average, 7.3% of total private expenditure represents corporate and personal taxes. Therefore, for the purpose of this analysis, 7.3 can be used as a multiplier factor to determine what level of taxes can be earned based on forecasted increase in private expenditure.

Thus, in the scenario wherein GDP is projected to grow by 20.9% in 2021, and in 2020 where GDP growth was 43%. This is an average of 31.5% growth (measuring growth of the new oil economy), which is about 6 times non-oil GDP growth that Guyana experienced pre-oil production.

As such, assuming that given the development trajectory of Guyana, with GDP projected to grow by 4 to 6 times on average for the next decade or so, it is safe to presume that private expenditure can increase by as much as 4 to 6 times, or about 80%, annually.

With private expenditure increasing by six times over the next decade to approximately $66.4 trillion or US$310 billion, using 7.3% as the multiplier factor, corporate and income taxes can amount to approximately US$23 billion, or Gy$5 trillion, in ten years, or Gy$500 billion on average annually.

In the given scenario, this level of projected increase in corporate and income taxes represents 14 times the current average (2020 position) of $35 billion.

Hence, when one considers what Guyana’s economic transformation and development can translate to, the aforementioned are just a few hypothetic scenarios of what this might be, or could be.

About the Author: JC. Bhagwandin is a financial and economic analyst; and an Adjunct Professor at Texila American University, Business College. The views expressed are exclusively his own and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper and the institutions he represents. For comments, send to jbbankingadvice@gmail.com.

the processing so as to make EVs more affordable.

As part of its battery technology, General Motors is entering into joint ventures to manufacture its own batteries with estimated range of 450 miles – on a single charge, and acceleration of 0 to 60 in three seconds.

According to Cooney, his office is engaging governments around the world in finding ways to get foothold in them, particularly developing countries where there are little to no infrastructure for light-duty vehicles.

“So we’re working with governments around the world through a variety of fora not only as GM, but also with – in association with other automakers to help build that environment out there and increase consumer confidence to adopt an EV,” he stated.

On this note, the General Motors Vice President of Global Public Policy contended that incentives from Government are extremely important to get this done.

He pointed to EV incentives such as tax write-offs or rebates for purchase of an EV, which he said are “…designed to help with climate change and help with this adoption. And so that’s – the consumer incentives are very important.”

Cooney further outlined that investment in public infrastructure for EVs such as charging stations is also a big motivator to switch from gas and diesel engines.

EVs in Guyana

Local EV owner Delroy Dash’s wife, Delicia, also enjoys driving their light-duty car

plans to completely switch to electric vehicles (EVs) by 2035. Though ambitious, Vice President of Global Public Policy at General Motors, Tom Cooney is confident that they will meet this target, while also making EVs available at an affordable cost to developing countries.

During a recent Virtual Reporting Tour on US innovations to combat Climate Change hosted by the Department of State’s Foreign Press Center (FPC), Cooney spoke of General Motors’s technical innovations and how they will help to fight the climate crisis.

“We have an aspiration to be carbon-neutral by 2040. That means our fleet and also our operations and our facilities. So, this is a bold vision that we’re moving towards – all electric, zero emissions – and we’re already well on our way…

We’ve made commitments to introduce 30 all-electric

United States will be battery electric by 2025. That’s the speed at which we’re moving,” he outlined to reporters from around the world.

According to Cooney, these initiatives require a lot of financial investment, and currently General Motors has started investing $27 billion from 2020 which will run until 2025 with $7 billion for this year alone.

Recognising that the move to electric vehicles is not an inexpensive one, the General Motors Vice President of Global Public Policy posited that the affordability of EVs is important especially now when the cost of a battery vehicle is still more expensive than the cost of using an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle. However, he contended that this will not be the case in the coming years and the auto company – like many others – is working on driving down the cost of batteries, of the minerals, and of

In Guyana, the entry of electric vehicles into the local market took shape after hybrid and electric vehicles were exempted from the payment of Excise Tax in the 2017 National Budget.

In the 2019 Budget a proposal to amend the Customs Act to include relief from Customs duty for cars with a capacity equivalent to 2000 cc in Watts and to waive the Excise Tax on all-electric motorcycles was announced.

Following this, the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) in February 2020 unveiled the first State-owned, fully-electric car – a 2019 Nissan Leaf Electric Vehicle (EV). Since then, the Agency has not acquired any other EVs. But with Guyana’s transport sector accounting for some 30 per cent of fossil fuel imports, the move towards greener technologies in this industry has been gaining traction.

In fact, since the wavier of duties and Excise Tax on EVs, the importation of these light-duty vehicles have been on the raise with more car dealers bringing in electric

vehicles and more persons purchasing them.

At least one local car dealer has indicated that while the EVs do not sell as often or as fast as the internal combustion engine, there has been increased interests from customers on this type of vehicles.

“Maybe it has something to do with the wavier of the duties because these vehicles cost much less than the normal fossil fuel vehicles.

But we do see one, two people asking for electric vehicles or if someone buying a vehicle and ask for advice, we would tell them about electric vehicles among the options and they would show interest. But not everybody is the same, people are still sceptical because they hear these stories of people getting stranded after the batteries run down and stuff like that,” the auto dealer related.

While it could be some time before vehicle users in Guyana are comfortable with buying EVs, one Nissan Leaf car owner does not regret switching to the light-duty vehicle.

Delroy Dash was struggling with the high fuel cost from his ICE vehicle. This, compounded by other operating expenses, prompted him to explore cheaper alternatives which led to his decision to purchase an electric car.

“Since its cheaper to operate… There are many differences when it comes to driving an EV to an ICE car.

The most impressive one for me is the cost of operation.

My daily commute would usually cost $1800 with the ICE car and with the EV, it cost that amount for about two and half days. The car is much more comfortable to drive since there is no vibration from an engine and the acceleration and stirring are very much more responsive,” he explained.

The only downside of owning an EV, Dash mentioned, is the inability to charge anywhere.

“I usually charge at home. The Nissan Leaf which is the electric car that is driven in Guyana comes with its charger so all that is needed is a compatible socket in your home. More infrastructure would be nice but that would only make sense if there was a good percentage of EVs on our roads or if the Government was looking to encourage more EV imports,” he posited.

According to Dash, other EV owners he interacted with have nothing but good things to share about their experience with the light-duty cars.

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SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2021

News

Vegetable prices escalate in Berbice, Essequibo Coast

Anna Regina vegetable vendor Sherrey Bisram sitting at her stand

By Andrew Carmichael Raywattie Deonarine

and

T

he prices for all vegetables at municipal markets in Regions Two (PomeroonSupenaam), Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) and Five (Mahaica-Berbice) have increased, causing concern among consumers.

A visit to the Corriverton, Port Mourant and New Amsterdam Markets in Region Six and the Rosignol Market in Region Five on Saturday found that the current price for some vegetables is five times the price it was recently.

The Port Mourant Saturday market is the country’s largest market.

It is considered a farmers’ market. Many consumers flock there but on Saturday many of them were disappointed with the prices for vegetables, which have skyrocketed.

Some vendors were retailing tomatoes for $200 and six for $500, pumpkins for $200 a piece and boulanger (eggplant) at three for $500.

Cucumbers were being retailed at six for $500 while ochro were between $260 and $300 per pound.

At the New Amsterdam Market, ochro was being retailed at $360 per pound.

prices.

“The price raise for everything because enough greens are not in the market. Because of the flood, instead, we getting four bags we only get one; we lose plenty so we had to sell it that we could get something. Remember all the la-

Collet Alert at her vegetable stall at the Port Mourant Market

bour, drugs and fertilisers is expense, so, you not really making anything,” she told this publication while adding that market forces determine the prices.

However, Collet Alert, who purchases from the farmers and retails to consumers is of the view that the farmers should not be increasing prices.

According to her, the prices she is now acquiring vegetables at has increased.

Three parcels of bora being sold for $500 at Fairfield, Essequibo Coast

Many of the vendors at the New Amsterdam market get their vegetables from the Port Mourant Market.

Some consumers were left in shock.

Liloutie Harrinarine is a farmer from the Black Bush Polder - one of the communities hard hit by the floods.

She said that it is justifiable for them to increase

dred which is double the price before the floods.

“The things are expensive due to the flood but it is too expensive again,” she declared.

Meanwhile, wholesale prices taken from the four markets varied.

Nevertheless, the increases were evident.

Boulanger (eggplant) has moved from an average of $5000 per bag to between $10,000 and $12,000 per bag. Bora has increased to between $800 and $1000 per bundle whereas it was previously being wholesaled at $300 per bundle.

Squash, which was retailed in the market at two for $100 and $100 each is now being wholesaled at $400 each. They are being retailed at $500 each.

Pumpkins are being offered to market vendors at $80 per pound as against

She noted that eggplants are now being acquired at $10,000 per bag as against $2500 per bag. Tomatoes at $8000 per bucket whereas the price had risen to $3000 just before the floods.

According to Alert, she now purchases eschalot at $900 per pound, celery at $1000 per pound and cucumber, $4000 for one hun-

$20 previously.

The acquisition price for ochro has doubled to $200 per pound. Cucumbers have also moved up to $3000 per hundred as against the previous $2000 per hundred.

Celery has moved from $400 to between $800 and $1000 per pound from the farmers. Round peppers which were $100 per pint has doubled while large peppers have risen to $300 per pound, increasing by 200 per cent (was $100).

Vendors at all of the markets say that some shoppers have insulted them when they tell them of the new prices.

“As vendors, if we don’t want to pay the price, someone else will take it and go and sell it because greens aren’t there; we very lucky when we get something to buy to get to sell,” one vendor explained.

Meanwhile, even as vegetables were in limited supply at the Corriverton, Port Mourant, New Amsterdam and Rosignol Markets, there are rumours that the supply will be less next week.

At the New Amsterdam and Rosignol Markets, supplies are also received from Parkia.

Region Two

Meanwhile in Region Two, the price of most vegetables has risen considerably in the wake of the

Black Bush Polder farmer Liloutie Harrinarine

recent flooding, and customers are likely to see further increase if farmlands across the region remain water-logged.

A recent visit by Guyana Times at the Anna Regina Old Market revealed that seasoning peppers that were selling at $200 per pound just a few days ago, are now selling at $500 per pound. Adding to that, bora and ochro that were selling for $200 per pound are now being sold for $260$300 per pound. Cabbage is now $500 per pound as compared to $300 while tomatoes are $300 per parcel as compared to $200 for the same parcel before the flood.

Boulanger has risen from $3000 to $4000 per bag; pepper has gone from $200 to $500 per pound; Carilla is now being sold for $300 a parcel as compared to $200; callaloo, from $500 for two bundles to $500 a bundle; sweet pepper has gone from $300 to $460 a pound while eschalot and celery which were $500 per pound, is now $800-$1000 per pound.

Squash has risen from $100 and $200 for small ones to $300 and $400. Pumpkin is $300-$400 a piece compared to $200 for the same piece before the flooding situation in the region.

Meanwhile, the prices for ground provisions have also skyrocketed. Plantain is now $100 per pound, after being sold at $40 per pound/ three pounds for $100 just a days ago; cassava has also risen from $50 a pound to $100 per pound. However sweet potatoes and eddo are $120 per pound as compared to $60 a pound.

Additionally, fruits remain at the same prices, but customers are given less.

Speaking with a vegetable vendor, Margret Williams related: “Vegetable vending is my job for 8 years now… and I does buy fuh sell back to my customers… when I order my load this week I didn’t expect the price the man told me…. The same amount of vegetable ize buy every week… one bag boulanger ize pay for $3000 a bag and now is $4000… and I raised the price where I was selling 3 for $200 now I have to sell for $300… people nah willing to buy the greens because of the sudden rise on the vegetables.”

Another vegetable ven-

Persons purchasing from a Black Bush Polder farmer on Saturday

dor, Neesha Narine said that the price for vegetables has skyrocketed as a result of the intensive rainfall.

She stated that her vine crops are damaged, including squash, pumpkin and carilla because of the recent flooding.

However, this publication understands that some vendors are purchasing from farmers at a higher cost and so have to retail at a higher cost.

Internationally

Last week, a CNN Business report stated that

everything is getting more expensive. From furniture, to used cars, to uncooked beef roasts, consumer prices have grown steadily since January.

According to the report, the ongoing pandemic has complicated supply chains, limiting supply, even as demand for goods soars.

Overall, consumer prices rose five per cent last month over the previous May -- the biggest jump since the summer of 2008 and more than the predicted 4.7 per cent increase, the CNN report stated.

Former Mauritius PM Anerood Jugnauth dies

Former Prime Minister of Mauritius, Anerood Jugnauth

T

he former prime minister of Mauritius, Anerood Jugnauth, who is credited with steering the island nation’s economic transformation as its longest-serving leader, died at aged 91 on June 3, the country’s president said.

“It is with deep sadness and greater regret that we announce the death of Sir Anerood Jugnauth on June 3 as a result of illness,” President Prithvirajsing Roopun announced on Thursday evening.

Two days of mourning was declared, with the nation’s flag lowered to halfmast on all public buildings.

Elected prime minister for the first of six times in 1982, Jugnauth would also serve two terms in the ceremonial role of president during a 35year career.

He resigned in 2017 and handed the reins to his son Pravind, the country’s serving prime minister, who won a subsequent five-year term at the ballot box in 2019.

Born March 29, 1930, Jugnauth trained as a lawyer and entered politics in 1963 when he was elected to parliament.

In 1965, Jugnauth participated in an historic conference in London that paved the way for the adoption of a constitution in the then-British colony, and independence some three years later.

He always fiercely campaigned to have the Chagos Islands, a British overseas territory in the Indian Ocean that hosts a key United States airbase, returned to Mauritius.

In the years under his rule, Mauritius developed from a poor, agriculture-based economy into one of Africa’s richest countries, a miracle often attributed to Jugnauth.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, a close friend in the region, hailed “the architect of modern Mauritius” in a condolence message following the passing of the “tall leader and statesman”. (Al Jazeera)

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2021

31

1000+ Berbicians receive food hampers from BCB/RHTY&SC – compliments of Shimron and Nirvani Hetmyer Trust Fund

O

ver the course of the last week, the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) and the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (RHTY&SC) again collaborated to assist hundreds of families affected by the ongoing flood situation in the Ancient County.

With funding from the Shimron and Nirvani Hetmyer Trust Fund, these two very popular organisations were very active over a period of five days distributing food hampers on both sides of the Berbice River in the county of Berbice.

Attacking West Indies middle order batsman Shimron Hetmyer had last week donated $3M to the BCB via the Trust Fund to assist families affected by the flood, while members of the RHTY&SC assisted in preparing and distributing the hampers.

BCB President Hilbert Foster disclosed that the Hetmyers had

contacted him with the financial offer, and he agreed on behalf of both organisations to prepare and distribute the hampers.

Originally, the target had been 800 hampers, but with proper planning, the organisers were able to share out 917 large and 304 smaller hampers from West Berbice to Crabwood Creek in the Upper Corentyne area.

The large hampers each contained 20 items, among which were cooking oil, chowmein, flour, sugar, toilet tissue, split peas, macaroni and cheese, bleach, bread, toothpaste and rice. The smaller hampers each had 12 items in them.

Foster said the BCB used its countywide network of clubs to distribute the hampers, with a total of 56 clubs and subassociations receiving hampers.

Among the clubs that assisted

to distribute the hampers were Kendall Union Sports Star, Bush Lot United, West Berbice, Chesney, Albion, Port Mourant, Kildonan, Upper Corentyne Cricket Association, Cut and Load, Belvedere United, Fyrish, Nigg Intruders, Hampshire, Rose Hall Canje, Edinburgh, Mt Sinai, Guymine, Young Warriors and East Bank Berbice.

Foster disclosed that the large number of clubs across the county enabled the organisers to reach a larger network of persons. Donations were also made to several NGOs, public institutions and religious organisations, including Little Angels, Service to Humanity, and the Rose Hall Town Mayor and Town Council.

BCB Public Relations Officer Simon Naidu has said members of the organising team were shocked at the conditions

Vurlon Mills ‘perfecting the formula’ at VMF Academy …praises parents’ involvement

The Little Angel Organisation receiving a donation of food hampers from BCB PRO Simon Naidu

under

which their Berbicians

fellow were

living because of the floods, and were delighted to be of

assistance. He has extended gratitude to the Hetmyers for their assistance, and noted that over the last three years, the couple has invested heavily in the development of Berbice Cricket and in making a positive difference in the lives of the less fortunate.

Currently playing in the Pakistan Super League, Shimron Hetmyer has donated cricket balls to all clubs in Berbice, and has sponsored several cricket tournaments, educational grants to less fortunate cricketers, numerous charity programmes, and inter-county MVP programmes among other things over the last three years since the election of Foster to the BCB Presidency.

The Hetmyers have expressed their happiness at being able to assist their fellow Berbicians in a time of need, and have committed themselves to assisting in the future.

The former West Indies under 19 captain has said he has full confidence in the leadership of the BCB to use his contribution properly.

Lusignan Golf Club: “The sky is the limit” – Club continuously displaying level of transparency

Action at the VMF Academy (Jemima Holmes Photo)

By Jemima Holmes

F

ormer national footballer Vurlon Mills has transformed his passion for coaching at the youth level into a successful football academy that operates weekly and is hoping to forge a path of excellence for young footballers in Guyana.

Although facing the constraints of the pandemic, the Vurlon Mills Football Academy (VMF) is thriving as it caters to children as young as two years old, teaching and perfecting their craft.

“My passion is to see football in Guyana transform from where it is to more of a professional environment, where we can have local players represent our country not only on the national team, but also in professional leagues and colleges across the world,” Mills has said in explaining why he started the Academy.

About his coaching artillery, Mills has said, “I think we have some of the best coaches at the youth level. All of our coaches actually have done the ‘D’ licence with the GFF, and are equipped with the right material to work with kids and develop them to be professionals, to be the elite youth in Guyana.”

Understandably, the coronavirus pandemic has hindered the operations of the Academy; however, the certified coaches have found ways to manage, from separating groups to hosting in-house competitions.

“We’ve been managing well,” Mills assured. “We’ve

been able to manage all the sessions during the pandemic because we’ve hired more coaches to be part of the process. If (you) look around at each age group, you can see coaches managing each group. …I think (that) collectively, because we’ve always set out sessions’ plans, put things in place in terms of sanitisation.”

On the topic of keeping the young players ready for competition, Mills explained, “Obviously, competition throughout the country has hampered the development in a way. We’ve run in-house tournaments, the players like - I should say love - competing amongst themselves, it’s very competitive amongst them, so we continue to do in-house games, in-house tournaments.

We’ve given them medals, trophies for their reward…”

One reason why the Academy has been able to work, according to the midfielder- turned-coach, is the commitment of parents.

“Part of the tactical and lifestyle development at Vurlon Mills Football Academy is the involvement and inclusion of parents.

We’ve seen, over the period, that parents’ involvement in their kids’ development has enhanced their performance a great lot,” he praised.

The former Golden Jaguars player went on to share that parents also play a great role in ensuring less fortunate students are given the opportunity to be part of the programme.

“We have some parents who’re part of the academy, who volunteer to sponsor some

of the kids in terms of clothes, shoes and transportation to get them to and from home,” the coach shared.

He continued by saying, “Our programme is not just about people paying to come to the programme. We also have some of the under-10 students that come here for free. We do outreach programmes. We try to bring some of the kids from the underprivileged homes and communities and have them involved in this.

“This programme is all about helping those who might not be able to afford it as well,” he explained.

From a personal standpoint, Mills has already seen the effects of his coaching stints at several school tournaments. Several of those players have moved on to the senior men’s national setup, and Mills has said he sees it as a great achievement.

“It makes me feel good knowing that these players came a long way with me and they’ve kept their discipline, their understanding of the game tactically, and the head coach saw that with them and he gave them opportunity to represent Guyana.”

He added, “It’s quite a few players that I had that have made the national programme, and I hope that they continue to perform well and stay on the national team.”

Persons wishing to be a part of this academy can visit the academy’s Carifesta Avenue base, or their Facebook page, vmfacademy. For registration, persons can visit.

LGC Secretary Chet Bowling

By Timothy Jaikarran

T

he Lusignan Golf Club has continued to press on despite the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic taking a toll on every sporting discipline in Guyana and around the world.

The LGC Executive Committee, under the leadership of President Patanjilee Persaud, has continued to inspire many with its “No Retreat, No Surrender” motto. This committee consists of: President- Patanjilee Persaud, Vice President- Paton George, Club Captain- Patrick Prashad, Secretary- Chet Bowling, Public Relations Officer Anasha Ally, Treasurer Maxim Mangra, Assistant Secretary Treasurer Rabindranauth Persaud and Grounds Superintendent Mike Guyadin.

During an exclusive interview with the Club’s Secretary Chet Bowling, he was asked what the LGC has been doing for the game of golf.

Bowling responded by saying, “The momentum you’re seeing, I think the biggest thing is a sense of confidence in the new executive. We’ve seen a rekindling of the camaraderie that has always been a key selling point of the Lusignan Golf Club.

Apart from love of golf, which is first and foremost, there’s

always a sense of camaraderie.

When you come to the gates of the Lusignan Golf Club, you leave your position, your status, your title at the gate. You’re here to play golf and, you know, socialise with your fellow golfers. So I think that that is an unwritten rule that is applied across the golf club. I think you know the new executive with all the efforts, transparency, what we’ve been doing as an executive, we’ve been, you know, publishing every month, by the 15th of the month, financials, how are we doing. So, members know when we’re doing good or when we’re doing better”, he said.

The LGC secretary added that they are currently in the process of trying to set up a subcommittee for the Guyana Open, which the club is aiming to pull off on 30-31 October, 2021. He noted that there is one subcommittee that was set up to investigate ways of developing the Lusignan Golf Club in a way to attract investment from larger companies.

“A good demonstration was the recent donation by MACORP where they rewrote and rebuilt all the signs, the Tee box signs that tells you the par of the hole, the length of that hole, and so it’s all looking modern and what a professional golf club should look like. So, we’re moving, moving

forward.” Bowling added.

Further, Bowling said, despite the committee is all based on voluntary efforts by its committee members, who have their businesses and their own lives to look after, the Club still continues to make progress.

Bowling noted that the driving range is one of the few projects on the card, and once the finances are in place, the club would look into the matter.

He also iterated that the club is hoping to have a Golf Awareness Day, which would include youngsters and kids coming out and enjoying a cool, calm and breezy atmosphere at the LGC. “The extra effort by the committee towards transparency, hard work by the new committees, rekindling the members of who are contributing and coming forward, and playing their role and being more active definitely means we are on course to achieving greater things in the future.”

CLASSIFIED ADS TAXI SERVICE Elegant Cabs. 231-1494 / 2264277, Cell #: 625-6600. 24 hrs.

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

SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2021

guyanatimesgy.com

Providence preparing for Pakistan T20s

By Brandon Corlette

T

he Guyana National Stadium at Providence have hit preparation mode ahead of the T20 International series against Pakistan starting on July 31. West Indies will host Pakistan in the last three T20s of the fivematch series, with matches set for Providence on July 31, August 1 and August 3.

This daily publication has been reliably informed that the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) and Cricket West Indies (CWI) must make formal request to the Ministry of Health for fans to be allowed at the venue for these Pakistan T20 matches.

In May, reports indicated that a possibility existed for COVID-19 vaccinated persons to attend Providence when international cricket returns. This was according to Advisor to

Azad Ibrahim

the Minister of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy.

CWI will hold another meeting in the coming week, and this topic may be up for discussion. Until then, no final decision has been made on whether or not fans would be allowed at Providence during these matches.

During a recent visit at Providence, this daily publication observed the tiptop shape of the ground, and that the other facilities are taking shape. In an interview with the new-

ly appointed Manager of the Providence Stadium, Azad Ibrahim, he noted that the preparation would be completed in mid-July.

“The ground is in immaculate condition. We started preparing for the Pakistan tour, the ground was due for scarifying, and it was fertilized. We will now roll the ground and grow the grass,” Ibrahim said.

Ibrahim, who is also President of the Muslim Youth Organization, VicePresident of the Georgetown Cricket Association, Treasurer of the Demerara Cricket Board, and a Guyana representative on Cricket West Indies Board, also noted that two weeks before the Pakistan-West Indies match bowls off, the ground will be in the hands of the local and regional cricket boards.

Walking through the Stadium, employees were seen painting the sight

Preparation ongoing at Providence

screens and various parts of the venue, and pressure washing and fixing the various stands. The last time an international match was

hosted at Providence was in August 2019, when West Indies played India.

Pakistan last played at Providence in April 2017,

when the Guyana Amazon Warriors seniors scored heavily. Shoaib Malik scored a century while Hafeez scored 81 in Pakistan’s win.

Kagiso Rabada takes five as South Africa clinch innings win K

agiso Rabada claimed his first five-wicket haul in 33 innings, since March 2018, as South Africa wrapped up the St Lucia Test before lunch on the third day to take an unassailable lead in the twomatch series. West Indies lost six for 65 in an extended first session on Saturday to stumble to a sixth innings defeat in 253 matches at home.

While conditions remained challenging for batting throughout the match, with swing through the air, the surface did not hold

Roston Chase in a tangle

score of 62 but had barely any support. West Indies’ highest partnership was a 46-run stand between Chase

Rabada celebrating the wicket of Joshua DaSilva

any demons. Roston Chase proved as much with a top

and Jermaine Blackwood, who only added three runs

to his overnight score and was worked over by Lungi Ngidi on the third morning.

Ngidi thought he had an early breakthrough in the fourth over of the day when umpire Gregory Brathwaite gave Blackwood out caught down the leg side but Blackwood reviewed.

Replays showed the ball had hit the thigh pad as Blackwood missed the flick.

Two balls later, Blackwood was hit on the front pad and Ngidi appealed for lbw but the ball was clearly going over the top of the stumps.

And two balls after that, Blackwood was given out again after Ngidi beat him with a full delivery on middle stump and the batter reviewed again. Ball-tracking

showed the delivery was too high and Blackwood survived again.

South Africa’s frustration did not last much longer. Blackwood faced just eight more balls and then drove Rabada uppishly to short extra cover, where Rassie van der Dussen took a low catch. West Indies’ score was on 97 at that point, the same as their first-innings total.

Anrich Nortje was brought on after that wicket and immediately bared his teeth. He overpitched and Chase took back-toback boundaries to bring up his half-century off 122 balls. Chase’s achievement stood in stark contrast to his team-mates. No other West Indian batter made an individual score of more than 20 in the match.

Nortje claimed the last wicket when Jayden Seales flashed at a wide ball and edged to Mulder at third slip to end South Africa’s streak of nine consecutive defeats on the road, since Nottingham 2017. It was also Dean Elgar’s first win as Test captain, a pleasing result for the new leader.

(ESPNcricinfo)

Photo: Kagiso

South Africa took the lead in the series 1-0

SCOREBOARD WEST INDIES 2ND INNINGS Kraigg Brathwaite (c) lbw b Rabada 7 Kieran Powell lbw b Rabada 14 Shai Hope c Mulder b Nortje 12 Roston Chase b Maharaj 62 Kyle Mayers c Mulder b Nortje 12 Jermaine Blackwood c van der Dussen b Rabada 13 Jason Holder b Maharaj 4 Joshua Da Silva † b Rabada 9 Rahkeem Cornwall c van der Dussen b Rabada 0 Kemar Roach not outn 13 Jayden Seales c Mulder b Nortje 3 Extras (b 8, lb 2, nb 2, w 1) 13 TOTAL (64 Ov, RR: 2.53) 162 Fall of wickets: 1-12 (Kraigg Brathwaite, 4.2 ov), 2-25

(Kieran Powell, 10.2 ov), 3-37 (Shai Hope, 15.1 ov), 4-51 (Kyle Mayers, 17.4 ov), 5-97 (Jermaine Blackwood, 36.6 ov), 6-125 (Jason Holder, 44.1 ov), 7-140 (Roston Chase, 54.4 ov), 8-141 (Rahkeem Cornwall, 55.4 ov), 9-146 (Joshua Da Silva, 59.6 ov), 10-162 (Jayden Seales, 63.6 ov) BOWLING Kagiso Rabada Lungi Ngidi Anrich Nortje Wiaan Mulder Keshav Maharaj

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