Guyana Times - Sunday, May 5, 2024.pdf

BRIDGE OPENINGS

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

Sunday, May 5 – 02:30h-04:00h and 13:00h-13:45h and Monday, May 6 – 03:00h-04:30h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Sunday, May 5 – 14:25h-15:55h and Monday, May 6 – 15:20h-16:50h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

Parika and Supenaam departure times –05:00h, 10:00h-12:00h, 16:00h, 18:30h daily

WEATHER TODAY

PPP/C is at its strongest, due to diversity, changing narratives

–

Pres Ali …says 95% of the manifesto promises, 60,000 new jobs delivered

As the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic’s 32nd Congress gets underway, the Party is the strongest it has ever been in the year 2024 due to the influx of diverse members and the changing narrative. This is according to President Dr Irfaan Ali.

During the opening ceremony of the congress, at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), which featured a massive crowd numbering in the thousands, President Ali was one of the keynote speakers. He recalled the mission that was set at the last PPP Congress, to ensure the Party could rebuild and strengthen its support base.

“The only national party is the PPP. And if you have any doubt about this, look across the room at the membership of the PPP. And be proud that this is a representation of Guyana. Every inch of Guyana is represented here.

“The vision is clear. The mission was clear. And the mission was to rebuild. To modernise. To carry our mes-

sage to every home. To disallow those with racist and divisive agendas, to build our narrative,” the President explained.

According to President Ali, this was a weakness that the Party identified the last time it held congress in 2016. And it set about rectifying this so that by the time the 2020 General and Regional Elections came around, the nation overwhelmingly voted in favour of them.

“We allowed others to define who we are. We allowed others to define the narrative about who we are. From the day we took back control of that narrative by naturally showing to the people of this country what the PPP stands for, the population rallied behind the PPP. And that is what allowed us to grow this party.”

According to the President, as a result of these deliberate efforts by the Party to counter these messages and to attract new membership, the result is that on the eve of the 2025 General and Regional Elections, the Party is at the strongest it’s ever been.

“This party, that we are part of, has never been on such solid footing in the history of our party. I repeat this. This is the strongest the PPP has ever been. And this is something we must celebrate. Young Guyanese, the future of this country, are embracing us.

“They’re embracing us because they see in us the hope. A party that can fulfil their aspirations. A party that stood the test of time and did not remove from its founding principles: to always be on the side of the people,” President Ali said.

Sugar workers

President Ali meanwhile recounted harrowing tales from the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) era, including when he sat down for a meeting with them as a representative of the PPP. Despite his efforts to intercede on behalf of the sugar workers, APNU/AFC still insisted on closing the estates.

“More than 50,000 families sent to the breadline. In just more than three years,

your party, this PPP/C government, has brought back 60,000 new jobs to the people of this country. We have reopened the sugar estates.

“We have brought back more than 7000 sugar workers. We’ve increased bauxite workers. And by the end of this year, we’ll double the number of bauxite workers in the industry,” President Ali said.

The PPP’s 32nd Congress is being held under the theme: “Strengthen the Party, Defend Guyana, Unite All Our People for Progress and Prosperity.”

The Congress is the highest decision-making forum of the Party, and this year’s biennial congress is set to be the largest in the Party’s history, with over 3000 persons from across the country registered.

The last Congress was held in 2016 when the PPP was in Opposition. This year’s Congress is being hosted ahead of the 2025 General and Regional Elections, where the ruling PPP will be seeking a return to office.

(G3)

President Dr Irfaan Ali

Delegates at the opening ceremony of the PPP’s 32nd Congress at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre

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Why commemorate Indian Arrival Day?

“The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.” George Orwell.

The question has been implicitly and explicitly posed: Why commemorate “Indian Arrival Day?” The word “commemorate” means to mark out something extraordinary from the ordinary, so that it is remembered by society. While commemoration refers to historical events, it is less about history than “remembrance” and “collective memory”, which are part of the narratives of the people. What is important is the meaning we give to events or persons remembered for their impact on society.

The Irish, who are in the midst of a decade of commemorations, advise we should: 1) Start from the historical facts, 2) Recognise the implications and consequences of what happened. And 3) Understand that different perceptions and interpretations exist, and show how events and activities can deepen understanding of the period.

In a nutshell, such commemorations should be occasions for nation building by providing material for a national narrative. By starting with Indian Arrival Day, the gaze is shifted away from India as the sole focal point of the descendants of Indian Indentureds to the new land in which the decision was made to remain in Guyana. “Arrival” confirms their decision to establish roots in this new land…roots that originated in India, but would be adapted to their new circumstances.

Indian Arrival Day emphasises their new nationalism: “We have arrived at our country and all that it means –equal rights as well as responsibilities”. Indian Arrival Day might have been a reaction to a refusal by some to concede to the Indian Indentured descendants what Trinidad’s National Motto promises: “Where every creed and race MUST HAVE an equal place.” They were brought here to labour on the plantations, and they remained as citizens prepared to build their new country in which they had ARRIVED.

In Guyana, the first post-WWII public calls for recognition of Indian Arrival Day were made in the 1960s, when Dr Balwant Singh, who was a leader in the Gandhi Youth Organization, called for “Rama Khan Day” to be commemorated during the rising ethnic tensions. From the arrival records of the ship Hesperus, that landed the first Indentured Indians at Highbury, East Bank Berbice on May 5th 1838, he pointed out that the first Indian Indentured Immigrants to step onto Guyanese soil were Rama and Khan.

From a commemorative standpoint, Indian Arrival is certainly a historical event that, while some may differ on specifics, all agree that it has had a most extraordinary impact on Guyanese society, not only in in terms of remembrance, but for helping to create a more diverse society. In 1938, the British Guiana East Indian Association (BGEIA) had initiated the first commemoration of the event on its CENTENARY with week-long activities in Georgetown and several other locales. This was during the Great Depression, and the Indian presence and ambitions were being questioned by others in the society.

The BGEIA Chairman, Charles Ramkissoon Jacob, offered six reasons for what the organisers unabashedly declared a “celebration”: You will note that, by starting with Arrival, their gaze had shifted away from India as the sole focal point to the new lands in which three quarters of the 239,000 arrivals had decided to remain. After the 1938 celebrations, only 2 ships, with a total of 556 immigrants, returned to India, the last in 1955. It is a matter of historical record that many of them expressed a desire to return to British Guiana, and some actually did.

The six reasons CR Jacob offered were: that Indians had 1) saved the sugar industry from ruin; 2) established a rice industry; 3) “contributed very largely to every phase of industrial activity”; 4) “are found in every walk of life,”; 5) had “made good progress”; and finally and quite pertinently concluded,

6) they “have held our own against all sections of the community.”

Today, there is no need to justify commemorating Indian Arrival Day: their contributions speak for themselves.

A new

Cold

War?

World

War Three? How do we navigate this age of confusion?

By TimoThy GarTon ash

In these times of planetary polycrisis, we try to get our bearings by looking to the past. Are we perhaps in the New Cold War, as Robin Niblett, the former director of the foreign affairs thinktank Chatham House, proposes in a new book? Is this bringing us towards the brink of a third world war, as the historian Niall Ferguson has argued? Or, as I have found myself suggesting on occasion, is the world beginning to resemble the late 19th-century Europe of competing empires and great powers writ large?

Another way of trying to put our travails into historically comprehensible shape is to label them as an “age of …”, with the words that follow suggesting either a parallel with, or a sharp contrast to, an earlier age.

So, the CNN foreign affairs guru Fareed Zakaria suggests in his latest book that we are in a new Age of Revolutions, meaning that we can learn something from the French, Industrial and American revolutions. Or is it rather The Age of the Strongman, as proposed by the Financial Times foreign affairs commentator Gideon Rachman? No, it’s The Age of Unpeace, says Mark Leonard, the director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, since “connectivity causes conflict”.

But come now, surely, it’s The Age of AI, the title of a book co-authored by the late doyen of foreign affairs gurus, Henry Kissinger. Or “the age of danger”, as international essayist Bruno Maçães argues in a recent issue of the New Statesman. If you type the words “the age of …” into the search box on the website of the journal Foreign Affairs, you get another bunch of contenders, including the age(s) of amorality, energy insecurity, impunity, America first, great-power distraction and

climate disaster.

Perhaps this is just the age of hype, in which book publishers and media editors relentlessly drive authors towards big, dramatic, oversimplifying titles for the sake of sales’ impact in an overcrowded marketplace of ideas?

Joking apart, it’s vital to try to learn from history, since, as Evelyn Waugh, that master of precise English prose, wrote in Brideshead Revisited: “We possess nothing certainly except the past.” The trick is to know how to read it. First, you need to identify the mix of old and new, similar and different. The relationship between the only two current superpowers, the US and China, clearly is, as the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken put it during a recent visit to Beijing, “one of the world’s most consequential relationships”. As during the Cold War, these two superpowers have a global, multi-dimensional, ideologically-inflected, long-term strategic competition. Yet, as Niblett rightly observed at the very beginning of his book: “The New Cold War will be nothing like the last one.” He singles out two big differences: the degree of economic integration between the two countries, which in the past has led pundits to talk of Chimerica; and the fact that this contest is “far less binary” because there are so many other great and middle powers, such as Russia, India, Japan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Brazil. The first point is clearly significant, but won’t necessarily prevent a cold war from turning hot. Just a few years before the First World War broke out, the journalist Norman Angell published an influential book called The Great Illusion. He argued that the degree of economic interdependence between the European great powers meant that a big interstate war was highly unlikely – and couldn’t last long anyway. It was Angell’s own thesis that turned

out to be the great illusion.

Niblett’s second difference seems to me compelling. Sometimes these other powers are described as the new nonaligned – another term from the Cold War period – but they are much richer and more powerful than the pre-1989 nonaligned nations. As we see over in the war in Ukraine, Russia’s relationships with countries like China and India enable the Russian economy to survive everything the West can throw at it.

In another attempt to give an overall label to this age of confusion, political scientist Ivan Krastev, Mark Leonard and I have posited an “à la carte world”, in which non-western great and middle powers make transactional alliances, sometimes simultaneously aligning with different partners in different dimensions of power. For example, they combine a major economic relationship with China and a security relationship with the United States. This analysis cuts against the notion of a more fixed new “axis of authoritarianism” between China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. Here the very word axis implies something like a wartime alliance, since it echoes not just the “axis of evil” identified by US President George W Bush, but also the original Axis of Nazi Germany, fascist Italy and imperial Japan in the Second World War.

“And now, as in the 1930s,” Ferguson wrote earlier this year in the Daily Mail, “a menacing authoritarian Axis has emerged…”

Learning from the past also involves seeing the interaction between deep structures and processes on the one hand, and contingency, conjuncture, collective will and individual leadership on the other.

Our time offers important examples of both kinds of historical force. The way in which the accumulation of the unintended effect of human activi-

ties is dangerously transforming our natural environment through global heating, the reduction of biodiversity, and resource scarcity is one of those deep structural changes. Hence the characterisation of our age as the Anthropocene. The accelerating development of technology, including AI, is another structural change. Kissinger argued that inherently unpredictable military applications of AI might eventually undermine even the minimal strategic stability of nuclear deterrence between the US, China and Russia. But if you ever doubt that contingency and individual human choices matter as well, you need look no further back than February 2022, when Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s inspiring personal leadership and the way that Ukrainian forces just managed to deny the Russians control of Hostomel airport changed the course of history.

This goes to the last and most important point. The interpretive cacophony that I’ve identified is itself symptomatic of the fact that we are in a new period of European and global history, with everyone casting around for new bearings. The postwar period (after 1945) was followed by the post-Wall period, but that lasted only from 9 November 1989 (the fall of the Berlin Wall) until 24 February 2022 (Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine). In history, as in romance, beginnings matter. What was done in the five years after 1945 shaped the international order for the next 40 years – and in some respects, such as the structure of the UN, to this day. So what we do now, for example in enabling Ukraine to win, or allowing it to lose, will be crucial in determining the character of the new era. History’s most important lesson is that it’s up to us to make it. (The Guardian) (Timothy Garton Ash’s Homelands: A Personal History of Europe, was recently awarded the Lionel Gelber Prize)

Performers during the opening ceremony of the People’s Progressive Party’s 32nd Congress on Saturday, being held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre at Liliendaal, Georgetown (President Dr Irfaan Ali social media photo)

Guyanese must reflect on many sacrifices of foreparents – PPP

Arrival Day, designated a national holiday in 2004, is of tremendous significance to our country and all of its people. It is a day that brings into focus the rich history of strength, determination, and the innovative spirit brought by our ancestors who came to the shores of our dear land from various parts of the world.

It also reminds us of the sacrifices and immeasurable contributions made by them to develop our communities and our country, and emphasizes for us the duty we have

to build a better country for our children.

Once again, as we observe this occasion, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) takes this opportunity to extend greetings to all Guyanese, at home and abroad.

As we commemorate this day, all Guyanese are urged to reflect on the many sacrifices our foreparents made to advance our country and better our lives. We are urged to recognize that the sacrifices of all our ancestors will be in vain if those who wish to di-

vide us are allowed to succeed.

After their gruelling journeys, at various points in our history, to arrive here; and despite the hardships they faced, they were selfless in their efforts to not just build for our betterment, but remained steadfast in ensuring the preservation of the various cultural traditions which continue to instill values, enrich, and shape our lives.

Those deliberate efforts have led to the creation of this multi-cultural and multi-religious society of ours, where

there is immense pride in diversity, imbuing us all with strength as we share and participate in the various festivals that have come to identify us as a people. Over time, those events have served to strengthen bonds of togetherness among our people.

The sacrifices and achievements of our foreparents will remain a source of inspiration for our efforts to build a prosperous and unified nation that is home to all of us.

Happy Arrival Day to all!

People’s Progressive Party

Spare a moment to reflect on how far

Guyanese have come as a people – GAWU

Our rich cultural tapestry is one of the features that set Guyana apart from many of its contemporaries. As a people, we take great pride in our diversity and the coexistence of our several cultural groupings. It is against this background that the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) extends best wishes to all Guyanese, both at home and further afield, on the occasion of Arrival Day.

This important observance is another reminder of what makes Guyana special, and what plays a role in our renowned hospitality and welcoming spirit.

While Arrival Day – May 05 – is largely associated with the arrival of East Indians, the day reminds us of all indentured immigrants brought to our land. Our research advises us that outside of the East Indians, the Madeiran

Portuguese came in May 1835, the Chinese in 1853, as well as a few other ethnicities during that phase of colonialism. We are aware that the colonialists also brought labourers from Malta, Ireland, Germany and England.

Arrival Day also reminds us of the reasons for the indentureship system. The then immigrants who replaced the emancipated slaves were made to toil in the fields of the sugar plantations to enrich the foreign owners of the plantations. Indentured labourers and their families were forced to exist in inhumane and atrocious conditions. And, like their compatriots, they were forced to engage in several struggles, which gave us several martyrs, in order to bring about small improvements and meagre benefits in their lives and work conditions.

As we observe Arrival Day, the GAWU is con-

“We now celebrate our heritage as one people”

The Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) extends greetings to all Guyanese on the occasion of Arrival Day 2024. This observance commemorates the historical and extensive indentureship period that began in 1834. May 5 also marks the anniversary of the arrival of our East Indian ancestors, who reached these shores on this day in 1838, while on May 3, 1835 the first batch of Portuguese arrived. The first batch of Chinese arrived in 1853, and some of our African ancestors also came as indentured servants.

Together, we now celebrate our heritage as one people, bestowed with the diversity embodied by Arrival Day.

Central to Arrival Day are the enduring contributions made by our forebears, whose resilience, persever-

- ERC

ance, and untold sacrifices have shaped the fabric of our nation and contributed to our unique mosaic of cultures.

As we commemorate Arrival Day, the ERC reaffirms its commitment to fostering harmony, understanding, and respect among all ethnic groups in Guyana. We recognize the importance of embracing our diversity as a source of strength and unity, and we call upon all Guyanese to promote tolerance, inclusivity and mutual respect in our communities.

Let us honour the sacrifices and contributions of our ancestors by building a more just, equitable and inclusive society for future generations. Together, let us celebrate our shared heritage, and continue to work towards a brighter, more harmonious future for all.

Happy Arrival Day!

strained to remind us that our unique culture has a common thread in the sugar industry. It is that historical industry which binds a great lot of our people. We are reminded that it is the very industry on which modern Guyana is built through the labour of many of our people.

As Arrival Day is once again commemorated, we remain saddened over the affairs of this important industry. At this time, a legacy of mismanagement has invoked severe setbacks and undue pain. We recognise and appreciate efforts to breathe new life into the industry, as we consider significant interventions to move further along the road of turnaround. Critically, given the linkages between Arrival Day and sugar, we urge the need to strengthen the current

management with skilled and capable personnel. We believe this would be an appropriate tribute to those who toiled in the fields and factories, and on whose contributions today we proudly stand.

As we celebrate Arrival Day, the GAWU urges all Guyanese to spare a moment to reflect on how far we have come as a people, the challenges we overcame, and the successes we have recorded. At this time, when we ought to be looking to reach new and higher plateaus, we see concerted efforts that would very likely reverse much of the progress we have made and rightly can take pride in. Let us resist such efforts, and get back on the development track.

Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU)

The Indentured Contract

Ravi Dev: inDian HeRitage MontH 2024

The system of indenture was a government-to-government arrangement: it imposed obligations and conferred rights both on the employer and the indentured labourer. The penalties which either incurred for violation of the terms were set out in the agreement (“Girmit”), which the emigrant signed. This is a copy of one such contract for Trinidad. We note that, unlike what has been claimed recently, it did not mention anything about land for the indentureds. There is a right to a return passage to India, which was totally covered by the employer in the beginning, but gradually whittled away as below by 1893.

As the copy below shows, it was written in English and an Indian language.

Conditions of Service and Terms of Agreement which the Recruiter is Authorised to offer on behalf of the Agent to intending Emigrants

1. Period of Service -- For male Emigrants five years from the date of allotment; for female Emigrants three, years from the date of allotment.

2. Nature of Labour — Work in connection with the cultivation of the soil or the manufacture of the produce on any plantation.

3. Number of Days on which the Emigrant is required to Labour in each week. - Every day, excepting Sundays and authorised holidays.

4. Number of hours in each Day during which the emigrant is required to Labour without extra Remuneration. — Nine, inclusive of half an hour for rest and refreshment .

SUNDAY, MAY 5, 2024

06:00 (Sign on) Jewanram Gospel Hour

07:00 A TVG Arrival Day

08:00 Shekinah Ministry

08:30 Evening News (RB)

09:30 Anthony Persaud’s Indian Arrival Day Special

10:30 Cartoons

11:00 Prem’s Electrical Religious Program

11:30 The Truth

12:00 Movie - The Prince and Me (2004)

14:00 Movie - Notes from Dad (2013)

15:30 Movie - The Young Black Stallion (2003)

16:30 A TVG Arrival Day R/B

17:30 The Healing Touch

18:00 Maths is Fun

18:30 Week-in-Review

19:00 Supergirl S1 E4

20:00 Arrow S6 E7

21:00 Riverdale S6 E6

22:00 Movie - Monkey Man (2024)

00:00 Sign off

5. Monthly or Daily Wages or Task Work Rates. - Able-bodied adults of and above 16 years of age shall be paid 1s 1/2p (25 cents), which is at present equivalent to 12 annas and 6 pie for each day’s work. Adults not able-bodied, or minors of and above 10 years and under 16 years of age shall be paid 8d., which is at present equivalent to 8 annas for each day’s work, and when performing extra work, shall be paid in proportion for each extra hour of work. Wages earned will be paid fortnightly. If the Emigrant is required to work by task instead of by time, the same wages shall be paid as to unindentured labourers on the same or neighbouring plantations, or to indentured labourers on the neighbouring plantations; and such wages may be more, but shall not be less than the minimum wages payable for time work.

6. Conditions as to return passage – The Emigrant, on completing a continuous residence of ten years…and holding or becoming entitled to a certificate of exemption from labour, shall, with family if any, should they not be under indenture, or, if under indenture, should commutation money have been paid to their employer, be provided with a return passage back to Calcutta on payment of one-half of the passage money in the case of men, and one-third in the case of women. Provided that every such Emigrant who is destitute or disabled shall, with dependents, be entitled to a free return passage. Persons who have previously proceeded to this Colony and returned to India shall not be entitled to return passages…Blankets and warm clothing are supplied gratis on leaving India, but not for the return voyage.

7. Other’ Conditions — Full rations will be provided for adults and minors by the employer for 12 calendar months following the date of allotment, according to the scale sanctioned by the government…at a cost of 3d., which is at present equivalent to three annas each daily, and to each infant under 10 years of age, one-third of a ration free of cost. Suitable dwellings will be assigned to Emigrants free of rent, and such dwellings will be kept by the employer in good repair. Hospital accommodation with medical attendance, comforts, &c, will be provided free of charge to all Emigrants under indenture and their families.

PUPPY AILMENTS (CONTINUED)… FADING PUPPY SYNDROME (FPS)

Last week we wrote about the runt(s) in the newborn litter. Today we’ll concentrate on those puppies that were born seemingly normal, but, within weeks, exhibit a slower growth rate and a failure to thrive. This is a condition with which practising veterinarians are confronted whenever there is a spate of deliveries. (Dare we speak of a season–associated birthing?). It should be noted that this phenomenon of some of the newborns within the litter not attaining the expected body size and stature is not uncommon in kittens.

Stunted Growth (SG) is observed within the first 6-12 months of life, and may be seen in both male and female offspring. Some research scientists find this “dwarfism’ in certain breeds (e.g. German Shepherds), and relate it to a tardy development of certain important glands, such as the Pituitary Gland and the Thyroid Gland, which are associated with growth and development. Sometimes

deformity at birth could render the newborn pup unable to suckle. An example of such an anatomical deficiency is the Cleft Palate, found in the Shih Tzu breed, for example. A middle ear structure abnormality would contribute to FPS and SG.

Malnutrition, due to poor quality or inadequate quantity of feed, would lead

to stunted growth. A heavy worm burden in the newborn puppies (you remember me documenting that if the mother dog is beladen with worms, those parasites would find themselves infecting the pups while the latter are still in their mother’s womb) is also a significant contributing factor to SG. The helminth (worm) burden at birth will take

its toll on the newborn pups’ ability to thrive.

Other factors that contribute to FPS and SG.

- Geography and Seasonality

Certain infectious organisms are found more often in specific geographical areas. We use the word endemic to describe this occurrence. Further, seasonality has to play a role in the well-being or ailments in young pups/kittens. In the dry season, where dusty conditions abound (for example, dust currently coming all the way from the Sahara Desert in Africa over the Atlantic Ocean),

kittens and puppies do not fare well - suffering from respiratory distress (breathing problems) which leads to an inability to optimally suck in oxygen into the young animal’s body.

- Juvenile Diabetes (yes, dogs can be afflicted with Diabetes);

- Congenital Cardiac Disease;

- Inborn Pancreas Insufficiency;

- Any muscle ailment characterized by progressive weakness and early signs of exhaustion (Myasthenia gravis);

- Enlarged digestive tracts.

WHAT PET CAREGIVERS WILL USUALLY OBSERVE AND

• Regurgitating food, especially after weaning.

• Diarrhoea; large masses of stool of varyng consistency.

• Constantly drinking water and urinating.

• Often the pups/kittens have a bloated abdomen.

• The limbs, trunk and head are not displaying the appropriate sizes relative to the litter mates, and to that which is expected of the breed.

[Actually, it would be a good idea for you and your veterinarian to have a discussion on how best to establish a good Body Condition Score (BCS) to determine a good or poor thrift. This action is a helpful monitor].

FPS AND SG – SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

FPS/SG shows itself in a pup/kitten that was apparently vigorous and healthy at birth, but then fails to gain weight, loses strength and vitality, and

REPORT

• The young companion animals lag behind the other litter mates, who are showing great vitality and strength; The ailing pups are not exhibiting an expected weight gain and stature.

• The diet recipe being used is not producing expected results. The young pups/ kittens do not find the offered food to be palatable.

its willingness to feed. Some cases may be due to those symptoms and conditions listed above (immaturity, birth defects, environmental stores, genetic factors, etc.). The FPS and SG may be reversible if the cause is obvious or can be easily ascertained by your veterinarian, and steps are taken to correct the causative factor(s) when possible.

HAPPY ARRIVAL DAY, DEAR READERS!

• Signs of mental dullness and a pronounced inability to engage in immediate social and environmental activities. Also, constant disorientation.

32nd Congress

PPP must win 2025 elections to complete historic mission of bringing national harmony – GS …says no other party has vision & plan for Guyana

As the People’s Progressive Party’s (PPP’s) 32nd Congress got underway on Saturday, party General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo delivered a charge that stressed the need for that party to win next year’s election; not just for the sake of power, but to complete the party’s mission of national harmony.

The PPP is holding its 32nd Congress at the Arthur Chung Conference Center. During the opening ceremony, Jagdeo told the thousands of delegates why the party must win the next General and Regional Elections, expected to be held late in the year 2025. According to Jagdeo, it’s not just for the sake of political power. Rather, it’s to ensure the party can fulfill its historic mission of uniting Guyana in racial and religious harmony, so that the country can progress.

“We’re not fighting for political power. We have to win the 2025 elections, and win them massively. We’re not fighting for political power in this country because it’s an ego trip or it’s a pathway to privileges and perks, like the other party did,” he explained.

“We’re fighting for political power because we have a historic mission that we have to complete. Starting off from the beginning of our party, we need to bring all of these people, everybody, together in racial and religious harmony. Cement our country going forward,” he declared.

Jagdeo pointed out that, unlike the other political parties, the PPP has a vision, and a plan on how to achieve that vision. This, according to the General Secretary, is what

sets the PPP apart from its competition.

“We have to work to manage our resources in a way that is sustainable. And again, we’re not a wishy-washy party. We’ve given clear economic leadership of the country from the creation of the National Development Strategy. Trace its evolution All the way to the Low Carbon Development Strategy: it’s a clear process of defining our vision. That’s what differentiates us. We’ve defined our vision, our end goal; we’ve put in place the programmes and policies to achieve the end goal. The other parties don’t have a vision. They don’t have plans and programmes. They don’t have an end goal,” he said.

Jagdeo went on to define the PPP’s strengths, noting that the party does not have to revert or subscribe to outdated descriptions. According to the General Secretary, the party remains stoutly

working class, while at the same time believing that

3000 persons having registered. Set for May 3-5,

Our People for Progress and Prosperity”.

During this weekend’s event, more than 90 persons will be vying to be part of the PPP’s Central

“We’ve given clear economic leadership of the country from the creation of the National Development Strategy. Trace its evolution all the way to the Low Carbon Development Strategy: it’s a clear process of defining our vision. That’s what differentiates us. We’ve defined our vision, our end goal; we’ve put in place the programmes and policies to achieve the end goal. The other parties don’t have a vision. They don’t have plans and programmes. They don’t have an end goal,” PPP General Secretary

everyone should be prosperous.

“We are a working-class party. We believe in the development of all Guyanese. We believe in racial equality. We believe in cultural diversity. We want prosperity for all of our people,” Jagdeo further said.

The congress is the highest decision-making forum of the Party, and this year’s biennial congress is set to be the largest in the Party’s history, with over

PPP’s 32nd Congress is being held under the theme: “Strengthen the Party, Defend Guyana, Unite All

Executive Committee.

Delegates would have to elect 35 persons from 93 contestants to form the

Central Executive of the Party, followed by the election of another five candidates who would attend the meetings of the committee but will not have voting rights.

Top positions in the Party, such as General Secretary, will not be contested openly at the Congress, but rather will be done at the level of the newly-elected Central Committee.

The two-day Congress would also include seven workshops focusing on key issues relating to strengthening the Party; politics and Parliament; social and economic policies; local Government; social media; international relations; and youth and gender. (G3)

A section of the massive crowd of delegates at the congress

PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo

Taxi driver jailed for 12 years for raping girl

Evon Barker, a 31-year-old taxi driver of Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), has been sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment by Justice Sandil Kissoon in the Demerara High Court after pleading guilty to raping an 11-year-old girl in an incident that occurred in February 2022.

The child had been entrusted to Barker’s care to be transported home. Instead, he diverted from the intended route and committed the sexual assault on the minor.

During a court session last Thursday, Justice Sandil Kissoon delivered a stern reprimand to Barker for his reprehensible act,

Jailed: Evon Barker and deemed Barker's claim of ignorance regarding the girl's age as indefensible, particularly given the pre-existing acquaintance

between Barker and the victim's family, which included a past relationship with the girl's elder sister.

When Barker was allowed to address the court, he begged for forgiveness, stating that he serves God and is not a bad person.

The rape survivor said in her impact statement that she was "happy" and "satisfied" with how the case turned out. She then disclosed that she no longer trusts males and that she had thought about suicide several times.

Prior to the sentencing, Justice Kissoon highlighted the grave breach of public trust inherent in Barker's actions, noting the heightened expectations of con-

duct for those in service roles, like taxi drivers.

Although initially facing an 18-year sentence, Barker's prompt admission of guilt led to a one-third reduction under sentencing guidelines.

The court has also ordered the offender to participate in the Prison Service's sex offenders’ programmes.

Barker's daughter is four years old, and his wife is said to be expecting a child right now.

Barker was represented by Attorney-at-Law Ronald Bostwick, while State Counsel Latifah Elliot and Senior State Counsel Nafeeza Baig appeared on behalf of the prosecution.

(G9)

Changes…

…and revolutionary (PPP) changes

Well, even though there had been hints it was coming (notice your Eyewitness dissecting Pressie’s recent talk about helping the “working class”?), the announcement that the PPP’s gonna be “considering” dropping the words “Marxism-Leninism” and “socialist” from its constitution still hit your Eyewitness with a jolt. And “considering” was put in scare quotes because he knows the comrades at the ongoing party Congress will absolutely agree with the proposal. And that brings us to the important question as to whether the folks there would still be greeting each other as “comrade” henceforth!! Or wearing red shirts??! Wow…this’ll be a whole new world for a lot of folks!!

The change was a long time comin’. As the GS noted, defining the party by an “ism” from 60 years ago is much too constricting - and causes all sorts of futile debates and arguments as to whether the “line” is being followed. Back in 1978, the Chinese Communist Party - debating how to developing their country - saw Chairman Deng declaring: It doesn’t matter whether the cat’s black or white – once it catches the mice!! And look what they’ve achieved after making that pragmatic choice to accept pragmatism!! They’ve lifted more people out of poverty than any other country in the shortest possible time in the history of the world!!

So, as we try to do the same for our piddling population of less than 800,000, why shackle ourselves to a centuryold formula for development?? Especially when the country that pretty much launched the path of MarxistLeninist development in 1917 – Russia - also jettisoned it? Now, of course, some old heads are going to resist the change. It’s expected…after all, change is never easy. But change into what?? And this is where the PPP’s gonna be challenged to explain - through action rather than wordswhat the new dispensation means. For example, “socialist” – which preaches “from each according to his ability; to each according to his needs” - will be replaced by “just and equitable”…and as we know, that’s open to a host of interpretations.

Similarly replacing “Marxism-Leninism” with “our party’s founding principles” will raise questions like whether the principle of “democratic centralism” in making decisions will also be thrown out!! Or will the party now let “a thousand flowers bloom”?? Deng’s Chinese Communist Party embraced capitalism, but retained the democratic centralism model. Whatever we may think, our country’s in for a period of intense discussion as to what it’ll all mean for us.

Your Eyewitness believes that if we can keep our eyes on the new prize – lifting up the “poor”, rather than the “working class” – we’ll have achieved what the founding fathers and mothers wanted!!

Onward upward!!

…in electricity supply

There’s no question the PPP’s been embarrassed by the slew of blackouts over the past few months. The shameless PNC didn’t lose a chance to try scoring points – as usual –even though they set the standard for “blackout” in Guyana. But we’ve secured a new supply for electricity – 36KV of it- from a Turkish ship moored in the Corentyne River. Imagine that!! Your Eyewitness is old enough to remember the Robert Corbin Barge, bought for millions and millions from the States, never supplied a KW in the late eighties. Maybe they wanted to rig elections in the dark??

Your Eyewitness expects that this time - because of the international connection (no pun intended!!) - the power will be supplied and the challenge will be to get it to the customers. One of the variables in electricity supply that GPL didn’t take as seriously as they should was its distribution. Fortunately, the Government have announced they’ll not only be installing a 69KN transformer in Berbice, but be rehabilitating the entire system!!

…but not stereotypes

The Muckraker recently had a pic of a Chinese gentleman at a PPP fundraiser, and falsely blared it was that of the missing Mr Su, who’s been sued by the GS for slandering him.

All Chinese look alike?

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

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

Sharing Arrival Days U

Last year, over Zoom, I delivered this message to the Indians of South Africa:

I greet you from Guyana on this, the 163rd Arrival of Indians to South Africa, on 16 November, 1860, on the ship Truro. My earliest ancestor, Doerga from Bengal, also arrived in 1860 to then British Guiana -- on 2nd February to be exact -- on the ship Kirkham. There is much truth in the observation that “Men make their own history, but not in circumstances of their making.” So, what were those “circumstances” in which we Indian indentureds had to make our history?

The plunder of the Indian economy by the British gave the English language the Hindi word “loot”, as millions of landless peasants became “labourers”, desperately seeking survival within, and us without, India. The British made them fungible for the cheap labour demands of their colonies in their far-flung Empire. Having self-righteously “abolished” slavery, they revived the indentureship “agreement” - the defining characteristic of which was the terms of the contract or agreement that bound them to work at specified times and conditions at specified rates of pay in the country to which they were transported for free.

But in our case, they added the unique feature of penal sanctions for “violations” - which ordinarily is a civil matter. We were not free, but “bound”. This agreement was pronounced “girmit” by the indentureds of Fiji, who, in a seminal act of agency, called themselves Girmitiyas rather than “coolie”. Eventually more than 1.6 million of us Girmitiyas were shipped to some eighteen colonies. There was a right of a return passage to India first after five, then 10, years and part-payment.

We know it was a one-sided contract - but they “Kammar bandhnewale”/“banded their belly” to fulfil their side of it, because prospects seemed better than the ravished India they had left. And to which most chose not to return – positive that after they finished their five years, “they would create better”. They knew they had the ability to produce “two blades of grass where there was but one”. They were labelled “docile” merely for “keeping their word”, but when the planters broke theirs, they rebelled. These are demonstrated by the number of court cases filed against Girmitiyas, and the number of strikes they staged - even in the face of the “leaden argument”, as the deadly shootings were called in Guyana.

We are Girmitiyas - people of that peculiar “agreement” that marked the transition from a world in which slave-labour had been abandoned - but into a world of so-called “free labour” that had not yet been born in the evolving capitalist world system. It was not for humanitarian reasons, as the colonizers would have it, but for the fundamentally more prosaic reason of greater profit for the empire, that we were kept in that state of indeterminacy: not slave, but certainly not freedmen. We must explore this indeterminacy, because of its lingering effects on our present predicament.

As immigrants escaping landlessness, joblessness, famines, caste and debt, we were determined to work our way up and out - even in the abysmal conditions the other groups in the countries rejected. One other commonality of us Girmitiyas is that the groups we met were encouraged to reject our claim to equal legitimacy to the lands we chose to remain in and develop. Our motto, as one scholar put it, became “laboro ergo sum” - I am, because I work! It led to the stereotype, as the anthropologist Brackette Williams studying Guyana reported, “Indians live to work, while Africans work to live.”

We became the first “Indians”, since, in the colonies it didn’t matter which region or caste one came from - we were all othered as “coolies” and “Indians”. When a group is ostracized, it becomes more cohesive; it is a matter of survival: solidity of the group is directly proportional to the pressures imposed. We became also less bogged down by the deadweight of caste etc. as our crossing induced positive changes, such as cross-caste “Jahaji” friendships, which we deepened as we attempted to recreate a less restrictive life than we knew in village India. While increasingly integrated after the end of Indentureship, we remain connected to our heritage through embodied knowledge, traditions, and artifacts we brought.

Let us embrace our unique Girmitiya identity that allows us to positively confront the modernity into which all have been conscripted.

Arrival Day 2024 Build a future that embraces values of unity, diversity

& inclusivity

…says multiculturalism is a priceless asset

nderscoring the myriad contributions made by ancestors who came as immigrants to Guyana, President Dr Irfaan Ali has sounded a call for not only their sacrifices to be honoured, but also for citizens to build on their core values of unity, diversity, and inclusivity.

The Head of State made these remarks in his message to commemorate today’s observance of Arrival Day 2024.

This particular public holiday holds great significance in Guyana, as it commemorates the rich and varied tapestry of cultures that constitute the fabric of this country. Celebrated annually on May 5, Arrival Day coincides with the date when the first batch of Indian indentured servants arrived in the then British Guiana to work on sugar plantations.

However, Arrival Day is observed to celebrate the arrival

and honour the contributions of other indentured immigrants –Chinese and Portuguese – as well. According to President Ali, Arrival Day recalls the waves of immigrants, including from the Caribbean, who came to this nation – the majority of whom stayed to forge new lives. Today, he said, the country celebrates their indomitable spirit and resilience while

also paying tribute to the myriad contributions they and their descendants have made to Guyana.

“Their enduring legacy reminds us of the human capacity to overcome adversity and thrive in the face of challenges. As we honour their contributions and carry forth their legacy, let us reaffirm our commitment to building a future

–

Pres

Ali

that honours their sacrifices and embraces the values of unity, diversity, and inclusivity,” the Guyanese Leader posited.

The Head of State went on to emphasize the importance of multiculturalism, which, he outlined, remains a priceless asset that enriches the collective human experience in Guyana.

“In an era where divisiveness and intolerance threaten to tear apart the social fabric of nations, highlighting and celebrating our multicultural diversity makes us stronger and more united. By celebrating the mosaic of cultures that coexist within our communities, we not only foster a sense of belonging and inclusion, but also lay the foundation for a more cohesive and harmonious society,” Ali noted.

Ravi Dev

President Dr Irfaan Ali

inspiring rise of 2 brothers From roadside vendors to professionals:

Brothers Yuborn and Yulous Allicock, once street vendors, now earn their living as professionals, one being an attorney-at-law and the other being a doctor -- marking a remarkable transformation in their lives and a strong impact in their community.

The Allicock brothers were raised in the rural community of Wales, West Bank Demerara (Region Three: Essequibo IslandsWest Demerara), attended the Patentia Secondary School, and early in their lives had faced financial hardships. To help ease the strain on their family, their parents asked them to sell

homemade delicacies in the local community. Thus, for five years, the brothers filled the entire streets with the enticing aromas of chicken foot souse, mithai, channa, and polourie as they pursued their family’s financial freedom.

During an interview with <<Guyana Times>>, Yulous relayed that before the local delicacies could be placed upon their stalls, their parents, his brothers and he would normally spend hours in the thick mixture of flour as they prepared the foods. “My parents were with us every step of the way, from preparing to selling. They ensured all of

the delicacies were properly made before selling them,” he stated.

After preparing the foods, he relayed, they would head out into the streets of Patentia to sell, where other challenges would be awaiting them. “We would start from around 16:00h and then we would go until 22:00h,” he disclosed. Yulous was still attending school at the time.

Braving harsh weather conditions and numerous challenges, including societal stereotypes which came with selling their goods, the brothers remained rooted in their ongoing journey, and embraced every opportunity

to learn and grow, embodying the mantra: “It matters not where you are planted, you can grow.”

Through their roadside vending efforts, the family managed to save enough money to send Yulous to receive higher education. It was a decision that proved pivotal in shaping his future aspirations. Yulous, whose dream was to help people, embarked on his desired path of medicine, and his parents used the money to send him to med school.

Despite being granted the opportunity to go to medical school, he often found himself torn between his studies and the need to

sell to further fund the rest of his studies, which impacted his focus on medicine when it demanded his undivided attention. However, fortune smiled upon him in the second year of his studies, after he was just about to take a break due to insufficient funds. He was granted a Government scholarship, and it was a moment of great grace that changed the course of his life forever. That scholarship lifted the financial burden from his and his family’s shoulders, as it provided Yulous with the opportunity to pursue his dream of becoming a doctor without the distraction of selling goods.

“That scholarship took the strain off of us a lot, and we didn’t need to be selling on the road as we used to,” he divulged.

Meanwhile, Yuborn’s practical approach to the world led him down the path of Law. Though he was not granted a scholarship like his brother, he found his way through the glorious doors of law school by virtue of some of the money gained from selling on the roadside.

Yuborn, who was hanging onto the pockets of his father and the income gained through his job, faced unimaginable turmoil, which later caused strain to the entire family when his father was injured in an accident that caused him to lose his job.

“My father, who was the main breadwinner at the time, got into an accident; and this caused financial stress for the entire family, as he was forced to leave his job. I think this was the hardest time of our lives,” Yulous expressed on behalf of his brother and family.

Yulous further spoke on his brother’s behalf and said that, because of this unforeseen circumstance, he had to take a year off and find a job to work, as the money could not suffice for his brother’s entire studies.

“My brother had to take a year off to work, as I was not selling food anymore and the only breadwinner of the family was our father. But though he had to work, he got help from my mom and me. Any opportunity we got to help him, we did,” Yulous stated.

Asked by Guyana Times about the significant role their parents played within their journey at that time, Yulous expressed that they did anything to ensure that he and his brothers were good. “Oh my, they left themselves undone just to see us feel good, whether it be emotionally, physically, or financially,” Yulous, who defied all odds, explained.

As ongoing battle came the brothers’ way, the Allicocks learned the value of hard work and perseverance early on from their parents, who instilled in them the importance of self-reliance. With continued determination in their hearts, they both graduated in 2019, making a significant accomplishment not only for their families, but also for the communities at large. When asked what advice they would give to persons who are experiencing similar financial strains in life, Yulous said, “Just never give up. My mother Shondell Allicock would always say, ‘It’s never too late until it’s too late’. Push until you can’t push any further, and when you meet that point, push a little more,” he stated.

The brothers Yuborn Allicock and Yulous Allicock

Top Jamaican publisher seeks exposure for ‘new generation’ of Guyanese writers

Stalented writers may soon find exposure in the Caribbean, and even further afield. The individual they’ll have to thank for that is veteran Jamaican publisher Ian Randle, the force behind one of the oldest and most respected publishing companies in the Caribbean.

Ian Randle Publishers Ltd has been publishing mainly scholarly and academic books for some 33 years, and is said to be the first English language publisher of scholarly books in the Caribbean. But Randle, who describes himself as “a risk taker”, is now making a foray into fiction and non-fiction.

And what better place to start than Guyana?

“Ian Randle Publishing is not known for publishing fiction, but given the literary upsurge that is taking place across the Caribbean, it seems to me this upsurge needs to find an outlet, and I

I have made myself available to potential authors who have works, fiction and non-fiction, for which they are seeking a publisher,” Randle told Guyana Times during a brief visit here.

“These (persons) include the winners of the Guyana Prize For Literature, which covers fiction and non-fiction. Given the reputation the Prize has developed and the people who have been the judges, it stands to reason that the prize winners over the last few years is a good place to start that search,” he explained.

“I’ve had very encouraging meetings (with some writers), and I have already asked my office to send out author questionnaires to people I have met here. It (the questionnaire) really is the document that triggers our consideration of any work. We ask every author to complete this questionnaire. It’s

cally sell us your idea; be cause if you can’t sell us your idea, how are we go ing to sell our readers the idea?” he explained.

“The questionnaire is vital. One element is that it asks questions that go straight to the heart of our decision-making, which is (the book’s) intrinsic value as well as its marketability, and we do take on a boom based on that questionnaire. The information we get forms the basis of our marketing plan,” he divulged.

“I’m a risk-taker, but my risks are always calculated; and I wouldn’t consider this venture if I didn’t think it would be successful,” he declared.

Profit is not the sole motivation, Randle insists.

“The motivation is not to make a lot of money. Having done this for so long, with so few doing it, I feel a sort of obligation in giving exposure to

writ -

ers from across the Caribbean. I have never seen myself as a Jamaican, but as a Caribbean publisher who is based in Jamaica. In fact, our mantra says ‘from the Caribbean, to the world,’ not ‘from Jamaica to the world’. If we don’t do it, who is going to? I’ve been in publishing for 55 years, and I would like to think I’m the most experienced and active publisher in the region. I think that carries with it a kind of obligation not only to fill the gaps, but also to give exposure to a new generation of writers, both young and old,” he explained.

But these new works are not likely to appear on bookshelves this year, since there are many other publications that Randle Publishing Ltd. is already committed to pub-

in 2024.

Started as a job Randle was born in Green Island, Hanover Parish, Jamaica in 1949. He studied for a Special Honours degree in history at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies, Jamaica, and later for an MSc in international politics at the University of Southampton, UK, on a Commonwealth scholarship.

“I had no career ambitions of being a publisher. I started it as a job, and simply stayed with it. Maybe it’s part of my personality, why I’m still in publishing, in that I don’t change easily. I was recruited straight out my undergraduate degree programme at UWI to take up a twin job; to be a representative in the Caribbean for a British educational publishing firm, Ginn and Company, (which no longer exists) that was active in the Caribbean in the sixties and seventies.

That company had also just become involved in setting up a Caribbean publishing operation called Caribbean Universities Press, which was based in Barbados, and its first books were of Caribbean history,” Randall disclosed.

“I started out in a dual role of being a representative for a British textbook company, to do their marketing, and

Caribbean editor for a publishing operation.

From there I left for Heinemann (Publishing Company) which was a secondary text book operation that was also producing literary work, notably the Caribbean Writers Series. I was in text book publishing for 25 years, then I left and started my own company in 1990,” he explained.

Tough beginning

“It was extremely difficult to get started. The year 1991 was a difficult economic time in Jamaica. There was a financial crisis, and to borrow money, interest rates were extremely high. I had no money, but what I had was a reputation which I had developed over 25 years in publishing. It was my greatest asset, so much so that when I announced to colleagues in the US and UK that I was starting this operation, one publisher in the US offered me a deal to publish a book, so that on the day I opened as Ian Randle Publishing Ltd., I published my first book. Reputation and goodwill are as vital as cash,” he declared.

Randle’s reputation as a distinguished publisher has earned him awards, including the Prince Claus Award in 2012 and the Bocas Henry Swanzy Award for distinguished service to Caribbean letters in 2019.

Jamaican businessman Ian Randle of Ian Randle Publishers Ltd

Help available for male victims of sexual abuse, domestic violence – Dr Husbands

The Human Services and Social Security Ministry’s Sexual Crimes and Domestic Violence Policy Unit stands as a pillar of support for male victims of domestic violence. It offers a wide array of essential services that are tailored to the specific needs of such victims.

This is according to the Unit’s Manager Dr Cona Husbands, who is encouraging men to take advantage of the ministry's resources to access the assistance they so rightfully deserve. Domestic violence against men, she said, is a complex issue that can manifest in various forms within domestic environments, such as marriage or cohabitation.

During a recent telephone interview with this newspaper, Dr. Husbands spoke of the different dimensions of abuse, noting emotional, ver-

victim’s masculinity; while verbal abuse includes coercive language aimed at subjugating and manipulating individuals. Financial abuse, on the other hand, could entail the exertion of control over earnings or their misuse, resulting in victims feeling disempowered and helpless.

bal and financial abuse as prevalent types that male victims encounter. She said that emotional abuse, for instance, may involve demeaning remarks or threats to a

Further, Dr Husbands underscored the societal challenges surrounding the recognition and addressing of sexual abuse against men, and said the unit is striving to break the existing stigma

through the ministry's unwavering commitment to providing professional and confidential services to all victims.

Meanwhile, the ministry's inclusive approach ensures that both male and female victims receive the support they need, including counselling and legal aid, at no cost to them. In 2023 alone, the ministry handled 500 cases of domestic violence involving male victims, underscoring the prevalence of this issue, and the urgency of collective action to combat it.

Dr Husbands is calling on the public to actively participate in raising awareness and showing solidarity to male victims of domestic violence.

She has emphasized the importance of fostering a society where all forms of abuse are recognized and addressed effectively.

Dr Cona Husbands is the manager of the Sexual Crimes and Domestic Violence Policy Unit of the Human Services and Social Security Ministry

“Arrival” is not geographical

By Ravi Dev

On May 5th, the nation commemorates Indian Arrival Day. The holiday is officially designated “Arrival Day” putatively to recognize all the other immigrant groups that were brought by the planters to labour on the sugar plantations after the abolition of slavery. These groups include the Portuguese and Chinese as well as Indians, but there has not been any noticeable participation by the descendants of these industrious and hardy pioneers since the holiday was ushered in back in 2004. In 2016, President Granger – leader of the PNCled coalition - announced that the Arrival Day of the immigrants other than Indians would also be recognized –but not as public holidays.

In the run-up of the efforts to have the day officially recognised, we had predicted this outcome, not merely because May 5th was the specific day Indians arrived in

Guiana - Portuguese landed on May 3rd and Chinese on January 12th - but because the latter two groups, especially the Portuguese, never demonstrated any collective inclination to remind themselves or the nation that they had arrived as immigrants to this nation. Whatever the reasons for this self-induced amnesia, it may be time for the Government to alter the omnibus appellation that probably forcibly reminds

these communities of a circumstance they would rather not deal with. Trinidad also initially ushered in an “Arrival Day” holiday, but soon changed it to “Indian Arrival Day” without raising any fuss.

But whether we call the holiday “Indian Arrival Day” or “Arrival Day”, there is still the objection originally raised by ACDA and some others as to why should Africans celebrate an occasion that result-

nal 1847 strike, the argument needs to be addressed. There are several ripostes apart from pointing out that, because of the loss of preferential prices from England in 1846, if wages were not cut, the entire industry would have had to be shuttered, and, hydrologically, the Guiana coast would have ceased to be viable. Sugar planters were not in any position to give the old wages, and this was the case in all the islands, and is why so many Barbadians and other small islanders migrated as indentureds to Guiana after the abolition of slavery.

ed in the undercutting of the bargaining power for their labour? Whether the group that was used as scabs were Indians, or Portuguese, or liberated Africans, or African West Indians (as I have argued) to break their semi-

Firstly, the occasion is not mandated to be “celebrated”, but to be “commemorated”. This is not an idle semantic distinction. Occasions are commemorated in a manner intended to inculcate some value into the participants re-

lated to the occasion. It is from this perspective that we have been criticising some events in Mashramani which we feel do not serve to promote the values necessary for the authentic realisation of Republican status. “Holocaust Day”, which has been proposed by ACDA as a holiday (and supported by the Select Committee on Holiday in 2004) is meant, I am sure, to commemorate, and not celebrate, one of the greatest tragedies in the history of the world – the uncountable deaths of so many Africans during the Middle Passage. I believe that the way that ACDA has been commemorating the event over the past few years is most touching and appropriate, and inculcates a palpable ethos of overcoming in the African Guyanese community.

Landed At Demerara, Guyana, South America, East Indian Immigrants, Engraving 1884 (Getty Images)

“Arrival” is not ...

The arrival of Indians –especially because of their relatively large numbers and the decision of most of them to remain - has impacted on the rest of Guyanese society in profound ways, and other groups can reflect on these to commemorate Indian Arrival Day. In the economic realm, apart from the early undercutting of wages, the Indian immigrants’ drive for material accumulation has been transmitted to their descendants, and has influenced how they exploit economic opportunities in the present. This is not unique: when African Guyanese emigrate to the US, they exhibit these same immigrant values, and stand out in their new communities. Maybe the same resolve and wherewithal can be reinforced

right here through activities and events on Indian Arrival Day. A similar argument can be made for dealing with the political consequences of the demographic changes precipitated by Indian Arrivalabout which ACDA has been very vociferous in highlighting.

But there is a deeper level at which the whole society might deal with the question of arrival. After all, every group that now inhabits this ‘land of many waters’ came from somewhere else. It is taught to us from our earliest lessons in primary school, but we seem to forget, as soon as the school doors close, that even the Amerindians came across the Bering Straits. So, in the most mundane geographical sense, we all arrived by merely setting foot

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on this land. We have posited before, however, that “arrival” can also be looked at from an aspirational perspective: arrival becomes not a “where,” but a “what”. What is it that each one of us, individually, sectionally and collectively, want to become? When we have achieved that, then and only then would we have “arrived”.

As a start, I believe that we all want to live in dignity and in peace. On May 5th, let us therefore at least spare a thought as to what we can do as citizens and as groups to create the conditions in this land of immense possibilities to move us closer to that goal. Arrival can thus become a notion that can bring us together, rather than divide us, as it does presently.

GCCI president urges shift in road culture to safeguard tourism

President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Kester Huston, has emphasized the critical link between road culture and tourism in Guyana.

Citing concerns over speeding and other road-related issues, Huston underscored how these factors could significantly deter tourists from coming here.

As the voice of the business community in Georgetown, Hutson has shed light on this pressing issue, which extends beyond mere transportation logistics. Speaking on the “Traffic and You” programme, he pointed out that the experience of travelling on Guyana’s roadways can form a crucial part of tourists’ overall impression of the country.

He said that the prevalent culture of speeding and other reckless driving on the roads significantly deters potential visitors. “You have er-

rant road users at this point, which is a culture that I really detest, and it has really affected every other industry, particularly the tourism industry. You have a heavy influx of visitors coming into the country and this is what they are exposed to. They are scared, they are terrified to use the roadways. We cannot talk about development if this aspect is not taken care of,” he has asserted.

Huston highlighted the need for a collaborative effort between Government, law enforcement agencies and the private sector to address these challenges effectively.

He suggested initiatives such as enhanced road safety awareness campaigns and stricter enforcement of traffic regulations to create a safer and more inviting environment for both locals and tourists.

Meanwhile, Coordinator at the Guyana National Road Safety Council, Romona

Doorgen, has announced plans to devise a five-year national plan to address these issues and instigate a cultural shift on Guyana’s roads.

“We are continuing to work with the Ministry of Home Affairs to have the national form…to come up with the national plan. We need a national five-year action plan for traffic management and enforcement. If we don’t work together, the chain is as strong as its weakest link…,” Doorgen has said.

Recently, the Police Traffic Chief, Senior Superintendent Mahendra Singh, asserted that all drivers, regardless of their status, would face consequences for breaking the law.

Acknowledging that some drivers neglect the five ‘Cs’ of the road, Singh revealed that speeding, cell phone usage (particularly texting), alcohol, and loud music systems in vehicles are significant

contributors to reckless and dangerous behaviours.

The Traffic Chief elucidated that while there are other factors influencing such behaviours, these highlighted ones stand out as ma-

jor distractions on the road. He said drivers must recognize that their actions not only jeopardize their safety, but also endanger the lives of others.

Despite the police be-

ing familiar with these contributing factors, the Traffic Chief emphasized, it is the collective responsibility of all Guyanese to curb these practices and prioritize road safety. (G9)

2024 records highest number of NGSA students since Covid – Manickchand

As education systems around the world still reel from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Guyana’s Education Ministry has achieved a new milestone by recording the highest number of children writing the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) since 2020.

This was revealed by Education Minister Priya Manickchand during a social media post on Friday. According to the minister, only a minor percentage of absentees has been recorded for the examinations.

“Since Covid-19, this is the best we have seen in terms of turnout…with 95 per cent of our attendance registered and a three per cent absentee rate,” the minister underscored.

Declaring that the three per cent absentees is still regarded as a high percentage for the ministry, she revealed that work is ongoing to reduce this amount, as the ministry expects to reconcile the numbers for absent pupils.

“This is too high, as even

(one) per cent would be too high for the ministry as well, and we will reconcile that number. When I say reconcile, I mean that if a child was going to St. Pius but left without informing the ministry to go to a private school, and registered there and did the exams, they would be regarded as a walk-in, but at St Pius an absentee. So, when they reconcile the numbers, they expect to see a decrease,” Manickchand explained.

Meanwhile, she expressed that beside the success of this massive turnout, there was also the grand suc-

cess of meals’ distribution over the course of the two days.

“We delivered over 49,500 meals over the course of Thursday and Friday: breakfast, lunch, and hot meals across the hinterlands and across the country,” the minister has said.

Minister Manickchand is encouraging children to explore various activities while they await the results of these examinations. She is encouraging them to learn a new language, become fitter, and read books, as the vacation period would be four months.

A total of 15,488 pupils wrote this year’s NGSA on May 2 and 3. The pupils were tested in English Language, Mathematics, Social Studies and Science. The NGSA results will be available on or before July 5. Minister Manickchand has expressed that the students’ curriculum has been consolidated to test up to a Grade 5 level. These students are the fourth batch to have done the National Grade Five Diagnostic Assessment thus far. (G2)

Education Minister Priya Manickchand

Romona Doorgen, Coordinator of the Guyana National Road Safety Council

President of GCCI, Kester Huston

“We will fly our flags in and out of elections” – Teixeira to Opposition

…as APNU attempts to get party to downplay 32nd Congress

In the face of a letter from Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton, which was critical of the fanfare accompanying the People’s Progressive Party’s (PPP’s) 32nd Congress, the party’s Executive Member Gail Teixeira on Saturday said her party would continue to display its colours and flags across the country at any time of the year.

She was at the time responding to a statement from Norton, who was condemning the PPP for hoisting its party flags at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) and on utility poles across the country.

Opposition has brought out a statement, an official statement, saying that the PPP is violating the constitutional law and democracy by putting up our party flags on the Convention Center and outside and across the country. What nonsense! They got short memories!” she said.

problems”.

In their statement, APNU accused the PPP of sending a message of party paramountcy, and of “weakening the fabric of society”. They further noted that outside of elections, the PPP cannot prominently display its flags, though it quoted no law against this.

Teixeira’s reference to APNU’s “real problems” are likely a reference to the infighting that has beset the main Opposition par-

ty in recent weeks. It was only recently that People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) stalwart Amna Ally, a former Minister of Social Cohesion and former PNC/R General Secretary, came under attack after allegedly referring to the present leader of the PNC, Norton, as an “unfit leader” who was responsible for divisions in the party.

Norton is currently facing a leadership challenge from Senior Counsel

Roysdale Forde, MP, behind whom Ally has thrown her support. In March, Forde launched his campaign to run for the leadership of the PNCR – the leading party in the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)majority Opposition – at the upcoming Biennial Delegates Congress, where the party elects its Leader, Chairman, Vice Chairman, and 15 members to sit on its Central Executive Committee (CEC). (G3)

Mechanic arrested after police find bag with ganja

Ranks of Regional Division Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) have arrested a 26-year-old mechanic following the discovery of 35 grams of marijuana at his residence on Saturday when a party of police ranks searched his home at 7th Avenue, Bartica.

The flags are on display as the ruling party hosts its 32nd Congress this weekend. The Opposition, in its statement, said the flags should not be displayed in such magnitude “outside of election periods,” and even more so at the ACCC, which is being used to hold Parliamentary sittings. However, Teixeira argued that the Opposition’s own practices were worse during their time in office, from 2015 to 2020.

“The Leader of the

“When the PNC flag hung over the Judiciary and the Guyana Defence Force and every ministry in this country, and you had to wear the party colours under Granger, you did not dare go with red to any public office between 2015 and 2020! How dare they?! We will fly our flags, we will fly our Guyana flags inside and outside of elections, because we are the true party of the people,” Teixeira said, adding that she wished the PNC luck and that the Opposition party has “real

Build a future that embraces...

Further, the President highlighted that, regardless of ethnicity, every Guyanese is an equal member of the human family, and that family is united by the shared aspirations for a better future. By embracing this fundamental truth, he said, citizens can transcend the artificial barriers and reject those forces that seek to divide them from being one people.

“By acknowledging the diverse histories and experiences that have shaped our society, we pay homage to the sacrifices and struggles of those who paved the way for us. As we mark Arrival Day 2024, let us recommit ourselves to the ideals of unity, diversity and inclusion. Let us celebrate the contributions of all our peoples, past and present, and strive to build a society where every individual can flourish and thrive,” he added.

The Guyanese Leader added that, “In the spirit of solidarity and mutu -

al respect, let us forge a future where our differences are respected, and where the bonds of brotherhood and sisterhood allow us to overcome the divisions of the past and the shenanigans of those who seek to manipulate these divisions for their own ulterior ends. Together, let us build a brighter tomorrow, guided by the enduring values of justice, equality and compassion that define us as a nation.”

President Ali’s renewed calls for unity and inclusion come on the heels of the divisive rhetoric arising out of his recent visit to Brooklyn, in New York City, last month. While the Guyanese diaspora warmly welcomed the Head of State into their businesses and arms, this sparked the ire of some in the diaspora, who have threatened these businesses with boycotts –which has been widely condemned, especially by the Ali-led Government and sections of civil society.

President Ali has stout -

A bulky, transparent plastic parcel containing 26 transparent Ziplock bags which each contained a quantity of leaves, seeds, and stems of the cannabis sativa plant was found at the mechanic’s home. The suspect was told of the offence upon being arrested. He was later escorted to the Bartica Police Station, where the narcotics were weighed in his presence and amounted to 35 grams.

He remains in custody pending charges.

ly defended members of the Guyanese diaspora, including businesses who welcomed him during his visit.

“It hurts me to know that people and an organisation that claims to love can be so divisive, can be so self-centred and selfish they can issue statements calling for the boycott of businesses and your economic well-being…How low can you get? If you have something against me, come after me with all that you have! Point all your guns and weapons to me. But leave the people out of this; do not seek to destroy the lives of ordinary people. Do not seek to separate our people,” President Ali had stated.

Nevertheless, in the wake of this divisive rhetoric, the Guyanese Leader has called on elected officials in the United States (US), some of whom have close ties to those spewing this divisiveness, to pay keen attention to the actions of these individuals and organisations. (G8) FROM PAGE 11

PPP Executive Member Gail Teixeira

Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton

The marijuana found in Bartica

TAURUS (April 20May 20)

GEMINI (MAY 21June 20)

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22) (March 21April 19)

Push forward with enthusiasm. A spirited approach will help you gain support. Don’t take risks with money or health. An unexpected gain is apparent. Make an unorthodox move.

Take your time, absorb what’s happening around you and be wary about anyone trying to push you in an undesirable direction. Be true to yourself and your needs; you will make headway.

Trust your ability to figure things out and get things done. Use your intelligence, connections and persuasive techniques to outmaneuver anyone trying to exploit you.

(June 21July 22)

Use your imagination and skillfully display what you have to offer. Let your actions speak for you. Engage in events that bring back memories and encourage you to revisit old ideas.

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

SAGITTARIUS

(Nov. 23Dec. 21)

(Jan. 20Feb. 19) (Dec. 22Jan. 19) LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

PISCES

(Feb. 20Mar. 20)

Pay attention and learn something new. Attend lively events that challenge you to think and act. An open mind will free you from boredom and encourage you to reconsider someone or something.

Someone or something unusual will change your perspective and point you in a new direction. Communication will result in an unanticipated prospect. Don’t settle for less.

Sign up, get involved and make a difference. Don’t let life pass you by or let what others say lead you astray. Speak up and do what makes you happy. You hold the key to your heart; share it with those who respect and protect you.

Walk away from interference. Take the path that allows you to pursue what makes you happy. Don’t let hesitation or doubt hold you back. Consider how you feel.

Relax, have some fun and surround yourself with people who make you smile. Entertaining events will change your perception of life and long-term goals. Don’t let uncertainty weigh you down.

Emotional matters will get in your way. Distance yourself from drama or anyone trying to pick a fight. Focus on what brings you joy and participate in inspirational events.

Observe, assess and consider your options. Traveling, communicating and reconnecting with the people, places and things you miss will help you put things in perspective.

You have more control than you think. Stay focused when it’s your turn to push for what you want. Do some research, and you’ll find the window of opportunity you’ve been searching for.

Peanuts

Calvin and Hobbes

Pickles

AQUARIUS

CANCER

CAPRICORN

Solid as a Rock: Starfire Gold is the one to beat

"If you pass your CSEC exams I will buy the horse for you" – this motivational promise was made to Antonio Hossain by his grandfather, Azad Hossain three years ago.

Young Antonio, who was 17 years old at the time of the promise, passed the CSEC exams. His 65-year-old grandpa kept his promise and gifted him his dream horse.

As fate would have it, this horse is now one of the leading three-year-olds among the West Indian-bred and Guyana-bred horses heading into the Guyana Derby scheduled to be run off on the Guyana Cup Day, Sunday, August 11, 2024 at Rising Sun Turf Club (RSTC), West Coast Berbice.

This horse is the only three-year-old West Indianbred or Guyana-bred to win around two turns – 1600 metres this season. He did so with consummate ease –unchallenged by close to a dozen lengths beating Bin Ladin, She's A Monica, and Easy Jet in that order, in the sixth race of the seven-race

day, and he gave me a birthday gift that I will never forget in my life. Country Rock brings over 100 people from the village, and surroundings to support him whenever he is racing. They are very proud of him. Now that he has won, he will bring more people to the track."

Antonio, who is now self-employed in his own business – dealing in horse feed, when quizzed on what advice he would impart to young persons desiring to own a horse or wanting to get involved in the sport, declared: " I do not drink or smoke. So, my money goes into the expenses of this horse. It is an expensive sport. Horse racing is about dedication – literally 24/7. Your social life is impacted."

Further clearing the air on the impact on his social life, Antonio, who has completed his secondary school studies, explained, " Yes, I have a girlfriend, and she has been complaining that I am spending more time with the horse than with her. So, my advice to young persons who want to own a horse: Learn about

card promoted by Jumbo Jet Thoroughbred Racing Committee (JJTRC) run off on April 28, 2024.

The horse in question is Country Rock-bred at Machado Stables in Danzic, East Coast Demerara. He is a bay colt, sired by Rock Movistar out of the mare Zionane.

Antonio explained, "I picked out the horse. I did not have any money and was going to school at the time when I saw him. He was a yearling. He had good conformation, and that is everything that is needed in a horse. His breeding and the farm have a good reputation. So, I knew he will be a good horse."

Asked if his family was involved in the sport, Antonio declared, "Yes, We had horses such as Blondie and Rude Boy. My uncle Kamalodeen Hossain, who had stopped training horses said to me when he saw Country Rock, it reminded him of Rude Boy, and he said he will return to training horses."

My uncle declared, “I will get back in racing. This horse is everything you want to see in a horse. This horse proved him right, also fulfilled also the dream of training a good young horse, and have a runner in the Derby to run amongst the elite owners in the country, as we are coming from very humble background."

Sharing how the success of Country Rock has impacted on his young life and his community, Antonio said, "Sunday gone was my birth-

will be a date with history for Country Rock."

He pointed out: “Country Rock has proven he can stay. He has not competed against the Trinidad-bred horses yet. So, we do not know how good they are. I have confidence in my horse. He is as solid as a Rock and will have the place rocking when the Derby is over. He will raise the Guyana flag on Guyana Cup Day."

Closing with the future racing plans for Country Rock, he advised, "We are giving him some time off. We are not rushing to race him anytime soon. We would see if the race impacted on him, and then we will look at getting a prep race before the Guyana Cup."

time management, so your girlfriend will not get upset."

Speaking on the sport's development, and what impact it will have on the country, Antonio shared, "I am seeing the sport is developing tremendously. The rules now are taking it to a different level. People feel more secure coming to the track. It is getting more media exposure. I am a small owner and got lucky. I never believed my picture or my story would be in the papers. Here I am, a young boy from a small village, Little Biaboo is getting recognition, and bringing recognition to the village."

Switching to how Country Rock got its name: he said, "We live in the countryside, and that is how he got Country, and he got Rock from his sire, Rock Movistar."

Antonio admitted that Country Rock did win very easily, but his horse must improve more to remain on top.

He explained, "Country Rock was beaten by Starfire Gold every time they meet. We were looking forward to avenging at least one of the defeats, but she did not turn up. I understand she had a training problem. I wish her a speedy recovery. The sport needs a star, and she is one."

He continued, " I am being realistic. Starfire Gold is unbeaten, and she is the horse Country Rock will have to contend with. She has very good early speed. If she can carry it around two turns, she will be hard to beat, but with further improvement expected in Country Rock. It

Country Rock connections after the win at the Jumbo Jet Race of Champions

Jockey Ronaldo Appadu piloted Country Rock to a superb win

short-term loan with Chicago Fire first team

SA’s Major League Soccer (MLS) team Chicago Fire, in a major announcement on Saturday morning, have revealed that Guyanese football sensation Omari Glasgow has been signed to their first team on a short- term agreement. In another major move, the 20-year-old Guyanese was said be available for Saturday night’s regular season home match for Chicago against New England Revolution at Soldier Field. Glasgow usually competes for their second team, Chicago Fire II in the MLS Next Pro since being signed back on March

Since joining the Club, Glasgow has appeared in 42 matches (40 starts) for Chicago Fire FC II. In his three seasons with the Fire, Glasgow has recorded 12 goals and 10 assists. So far in 2024, Glasgow has two goals, including one in last weekend’s 2-0 victory over Atlanta United 2. At the international level,

Glasgow is a constant for the Guyana men’s national team. As a member of the Golden Jaguars, Glasgow has 14 career goals with the senior team. Most recently, Glasgow was awarded CONCACAF Nations League Young Player of the Tournament honours. With seven goals in five games, Glasgow additionally earned CONCACAF Nations League Top Scorer honours, making him the first Guyanese player to win the award. Additionally, Glasgow is the youngest player in competition history to earn the honour at just 20 years of age.

Per MLS rules, a Club may sign a player from its affiliate (MLS Next Pro or USL) to a maximum of four short-term agreements (up to four-day contracts) each season (maximum of 16 days). An individual player may be included on up to four MLS league season match rosters each season; however, that player may appear in no more than two MLS league season matches. An individual player may appear in any number of non-league games during the terms of his four short-term agreements.

The MLS is currently home to several of football’s international stars like Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and Luciano Acosta.

Windies A end Nepal tour with 6-wicket defeat

…top 5-match series 3-2

West Indies A concluded their tour of South Asia on a losing note, as they were handed a six-wicket beating by Nepal in the final encounter of a five-match T20 series at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, on Saturday.

Despite the loss, the Caribbean side topped the se-

ries 3-2, but had very little to celebrate, as they failed to really put together a dominant collective display. Instead, the series win was lined with individual performances, namely from Captain Roston Chase, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Alick Athanaze, as well as stellar efforts from Gudakesh Motie and Obed McCoy with the ball.

Nepal (T: 173 runs from 20 ovs) Kushal Bhurtel c Walsh b McCoy 13 Aasif Sheikh † c Forde b McCoy 51

Anil Sah c Deyal b McCoy 58 Kushal Malla not out 37

It was more of the same in the curtain-call contest, where Athanaze’s unbeaten 29-ball 42 and Chase’s 33 off 23 balls were the highlights of the West Indies A innings, which ended at 172-7, after they opted to take first strike.

Sagar Dhakal (3-17) and Sompal Kami (3-16) did the damage for Nepal with the ball.

In reply, Nepal, courtesy of half-centuries from Aasif Sheikh (51) and Anil Sah (58), easily got to their target with seven balls to spare.

McCoy led West Indies A bowlers with 3-36.

After losing opener Kushal Bhurtel (13) to McCoy in the second over, Nepal had very

little trouble fending off West Indies A’s bowling attack, as Sheikh and Sah put together

a 96-run second-wicket stand, which laid the platform for the victory.

Chase, 13.3 ov), 5-137 (Matthew Forde, 16.3 ov), 6-153 (Fabian Allen, 18.2 ov), 7-155 (Gudakesh Motie, 18.5 ov)

BOWLING O-M-R-W

Pratis GC

Sagar Dhakal

Sompal Kami

Dipendra Singh Airee

Kushal Bhurtel

Abinash Bohara

3-0-22-0

2-0-17-3

4-0-16-3

3-0-39-0

4-0-25-0

4-0-49-1

Dipendra Singh Airee c Allen b Forde 5 Rohit Paudel (c) not out 0 Extras (lb 7, w 2) 9 TOTAL 18.5 Ov (RR: 9.18) 173/4 Did not bat: Abinash Bohara, Pratis GC, Sundeep Jora, Sompal Kami, Sagar Dhakal Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Kushal Bhurtel, 1.4 ov), 2-109 (Aasif Sheikh, 13.3 ov), 3-138 (Anil Sah, 16.2 ov), 4-151 (Dipendra Singh Airee, 17.6 ov) BOWLING O-M-R-W Matthew Forde 3-0-25-1 Obed McCoy 3.5-0-36-3 Fabian Allen 3-0-20-0 Joshua Bishop 3-0-29-0

Wicketkeeper Sheikh smashed two fours and five sixes in his 35-ball knock, while Sah had four fours and four sixes in his 58 off 45 balls.

Even when that partnership was eventually broken by McCoy, who removed Sheikh in the 14th over, the hosts remained in firm control, and the win was inevitably wrapped up by Kushal Malla, who struck three fours and three sixes in a brisk unbeaten 18-ball 37.

Earlier, West Indies A lost their top order in the eighth over with just 60 runs on the board, as Charles (24), Kadeem Alleyne (11) and

Mark Deyal (11), all failed to repel the attack of Dhakal’s slow left-arm orthodox spin. Chase, who struck five boundaries in his 23-ball 33, and Athanaze, who had one four and three maximums, tried to repair the damage with a 40-run fourth-wicket stand, before the former fell in the 14th over.

Matthew Forde, with a 12-ball cameo of 23, including three sixes, added some impetus to the innings, but when he fell to Kami, West Indies A lucked out, as the right-hand medium-fast bowler also removed Fabian Allen (three) and Motie (one) in quick succession.

Athanaze and Hayden Walsh (seven) were left not out. (Sportsmax)

West Indies A celebrate after their 3-2 series win against Nepal

Omari Glasgow has netted 12 goals and 10 assists for Chicago Fire II since being signed back in 2022

Nepal’s Captain, Rohit Paudel was the highest run-scorer and Player of the Series