Guyana Times - Sunday, November 13, 2022

Laing Ave man shot dead by stray bullet during shootout

were recovered at the scene. One resident related that the shooting stemmed from an old grievance between the two youngsters.

“So, the man got shot but the issue that I got with Guyanese, people stand around and video and take pictures. One woman said ‘His belly is still alive’ and another person said ‘Y’all leave him there the ambu

AWest Ruimveldt, Georgetown man is now dead after he was caught in the crossfire as a group of young men traded bullets on Friday.

The dead man has been identified as 53-year-old Dexter McFarlene, a labour er of Laing Avenue, West Ruimveldt. The incident oc curred sometime around 17:00h on Laing Avenue.

Reports are that McFarlene had just gotten off a bus and was heading home through a shortcut in the area when he was hit to

his left side chest by a stray bullet.

Based on information reaching Guyana Times, two young males were chas ing another young man and firing shots at him. At the

lance is coming’… they stood there and allowed that man to bleed out till he eventual ly died.”

“I feel bad for that fami ly…innocent man,” the resi

same time, McFarlene was walking in the street, and was shot.

Two .32 spent shells

dent added.

Police are on the hunt for the youngsters involved in the shooting.

Two of the suspects on a motorcycle

The area where the young men traded bullets

Two suspects chasing each other during the shootout

BRIDGE OPENINGS

FERRY SCHEDULE

WEATHER

Dozens of squatters in Charity, Region Two, on Saturday received their certificates of title during the “Dream Realised” programme during which President Dr Irfaan Ali further commit ted that over $200 million will be spent to regularise the community.

In addition, he noted that work will start on 123 roads throughout the re gion by the end of the year.

The Head of State par ticipated in the distribu tion of the certificates of ti tles to the residents at the Young Scholars Academy at Charity, Essequibo Coast. It was explained that out of 123 lots that can be reg ularised immediately, only 27 had fully paid their fees while 33 were yet to pay.

Accordingly, 27 per sons received their titles on Saturday, while there will be a distribution for the re mainder on Monday. It was explained by President Ali that the Government pro cessed 60 titles in just four days.

“The remaining num ber of persons, the remain ing 63 persons, out of the 123, we are ready for you to sign up and pay your fees so that you can get your title before the end of the year,” President Ali said.

He further explained the plans the Government has for their community and for the region as a whole. For one, he explained that over $200 million will be spent on regularising their com munity.

This includes the con struction of a 40-foot-long concrete bridge linking Charity to an adjoining community, valued at some $35 million.

Another $120 million is expected to be spent on 2.5 kilometres of concrete roads between these two communities. An additional $20 million will be expend ed to bring water to the community, and another

$20 million will be utilised to expand the electricity supply to the community’s ‘Red Rice’ area.

The President further assured the former squat ters that they will be vis ited by bankers who will come to approve their home improvement loans. He not ed that the Government has negotiated a special inter est rate of just 3.9 per cent for these low-income loans.

Roads

President Ali mean while told them that having conducted an assessment of the region, they will be spending millions on roads in every community in the region. He made it clear that these roads are being built regardless of how com munities voted, reminding that his Government is one that does not discriminate when it comes to State re sources.

“In Charity, we are in vesting $4 billion in a huge, new water treatment plant for you here. Outside of all of that, we have identified 251 roads that have to be done in Region Two. We did an analysis of the entire re gion,” President Ali said.

“Every single communi ty, regardless of how you look, feel or voted, all the roads in this region, ev ery single community, has been placed on a list. And we have 251 roads to be done. We are earmark

ing, through supplementa ry provisions, resources to do 123 of these roads, com mencing this year. Every community.”

Minister within the Housing and Water Ministry Susan Rodrigues, who was present at the event, assured those pres ent that the Government will continue to deliver on its promises to them.

“We’re getting there, we’re getting more effi cient and we will be able, through the Ministry of Housing and Water, to de liver on all of our promises by 2025. Every day you see

DaSilva extended thanks to the President, Ministers and all the technical staff who have been hard at work making sure they can process the certificates of ti tles. Paulette Owen, anoth er recipient, also expressed thanks.

“I’m so happy that I’m here to receive this title. And I would like to congrat ulate Mr President for the good work that he’s doing. Even doing work in the ca nal, which I will be a part of. And I would like to say thank you,” she said.

Antonio Gonsalves, when called up to receive his title, lauded the efforts the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has been mak ing to address the issues closest to the hearts of ordi nary Guyanese.

a demonstration of our com mitment to the work – de livering and actually put ting in the work, hours and resources to deliver. And it is our honour to do so,” she said.

The former squatters turned homeowners were equally grateful. Tracy

“I do hope y’all recog nise the great effort that comrade Irfaan Ali and his team are doing for the peo ple of this country. Now you can’t expect something to come, brap. Comrade Ali took his time, he did a draft plan to get things in order, so that we could get a better life. They are working hard to comfort us. And I hope you acknowledge and cher ish, the work they are doing for us,” Gonsalves said.

Imandeen Mangar meanwhile admitted that she has been squatting for 30 years. She, therefore, noted that the title meant a lot to her, as she celebrated that she’s “no more a squat ter today.”

Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues

President Dr Irfaan Ali as he addressed Charity residents during the land allocation exercise

ViewsEditor: Tusika Martin

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Diasporas for development

Earlier this month, the High Commission of India announced that the Government of India would be hosting Guyana’s President, Dr Irfaan Ali, as the Chief Guest of the 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention (Indian Diaspora Day), on 8-10 January 2023 at Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The PBD is commemorated on January 9 –the day when Mahatma Gandhi returned from South Africa to India in 1915, after honing the strategy of Satyagraha, to fight oppression.

The emblematic “diaspora” had been formed out of the dispersal of the Jewish people subsequent to their conquest thousands of years ago, when most had been driven into slavery in Babylon and Egypt. In more modern times, the process has not been much different for several other “peoples”. Between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, two sets of “diasporas” were formed, when millions of Africans were snatched from their native lands by Europeans and shipped to the “New World” as slaves - Africans and Europeans of several nationalities.

Following the abolition of slavery in the 19th century, Indians, Chinese and some other groups were shipped as “indentured labour”. The shipments of Indians and Chinese created two new diasporas, which become very significant because of their numbers. Intellectuals of African descent - from the USA, the West Indies and Africa - were the first to organise their diaspora, and launched the 1st Pan-African Congress in 1900.

When the 5th Pan-African Congress was held in Manchester in 1945, at the end of WWII, the individuals who were to become leaders in the struggle for independencesuch as Eric Williams of Trinidad and Tobago, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana - honed for their countries a common strategy which included a strong development component. As a matter of fact, several West Indian intellectuals, including George Padmore, repatriated themselves to the emerging independent countries in Africa to assist in their development. In 1974, Walter Rodney wrote “Towards the Sixth Pan-African Congress: Aspects of the International Class Struggle in Africa, the Caribbean and America”.

The successive governments of post-Mao China much more self-consciously mobilised its diaspora and very successfully tapped into the skills and resources in their drive for development, starting in the 1980s. In 1989, Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) who were mostly first-generation immigrants to the USA organised the “First Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin” (GOPIO) in New York City, to bring together the Indian Diaspora.

But it exposed a new problem - the descendants of those Indians who had been “exported” in the 19th and early 20th centuries to European colonies were now part of secondary diasporas, and had some concerns that were different from the NRIs - particularly when it came to the “development” of India. The NRIs generally were focused on increasing their business contacts with India and within their community in the USA, while the “Girmitiyas” - those arising from the “agreement” of bound labour - were focused on the development of their “new” homelands, and in simply maintaining cultural links with India.

When the Government of India initiated the annual PBD in 2003, it attempted to accommodate both imperativesthe drive for India’s development by harnessing the skills and resources of its diaspora, and the desire for cultural contacts of the latter. With the advent of the new Government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, a decision was made to host the event biennially, and to have preparatory structured meetings and discussions in New Delhi with representatives of the diaspora on identified subject areas. For Guyana, the experience of its delegates to PBD should be tapped to facilitate its own aspirations to tap into its diaspora. Once again, there have been efforts for Guyana to achieve this goal through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana. However, after a flurry of activity, there does not appear to be a coherent strategy in place.

President Ali should observe India’s strategy firsthand at the PBD, and perchance adopt some of the policies from the successful Indian model.

The CoI is exposing the blatant riggers

Dear Editor, Thank you for the op portunity to express my voice for the hearing and consideration of your wide audience. The support this media outlet continuously provides and encapsulates the rational acceptance and wisdom endowed in the words of Martin Luther King who contends that “Our Lives begin to end, the day we become silent about things that matter!”

Less we desire to di minish ourselves individ ually and collectively as a people among nations, we must not remain silent when the very serious mat ters associated with the blatant attempts to steal power, derail our demo cratic principles and throw Guyana off a precipice at the whims and fancy of those who played key roles. It is anticipated, therefore, that many will continue to come forward and provide testimony of the willful ac tions within and from be hind the scenes, coupled with the glaring abuse of laws and procedures that many involved in the at tempted coup orchestrat ed.

President Ali’s move to ensure the commence ment of a highly accred ited State Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the an tecedents of the flagrant and contrived, thieving, rigging, and denial of the truth is on point and in keeping with the spirit and intent of the Commissions of Inquiries Act Cap 19.03. Indeed, Guyana and the world deserve to know the truth and these ongoing inquiries are instrumen tal to ensuring an environ ment in which people can

provide the facts without fear of suppression that would have otherwise been a significant threat if the thieving cohorts had suc ceeded.

It is accepted that the findings and recommen dations of the COI are not enforceable for the imposi tion of penalties and can not bind courts consider ing the subject matter. Notwithstanding, it is an ticipated that the impartial fact-finding undertaking will provide the scope for informed rational conclu sions. These will also pro vide exposure to the truth regarding the roles played by those known and vari ous others in the abhorrent and unholy suppression attempt on the Guyanese people who must contin ue to unite in our struggle for free and fair elections. Further, the world would know the truth and our cit izens would be more aware of the existing monsters among them when their silken covers are stripped away in this process.

Editor, the testimonies provided since the com mencement of the ongoing COI have already exposed elements of the clandes tine concoction in play at the tabulation process at the Ashmin’s Building which housed the com mand center of region # 4. The then GECOM head security Officer Ronald Stewart conveyed that he defied instructions from Deputy Chief Election Officer (DCEO) Roxanne Myers, concerning evac uating people from the building due to an alleged bomb threat which in his view had no truthful ba sis. He also informed the

Commission that all the

eminent person

refused to leave the

as the assigned

made a genu ine effort to avoid using the legitimate Statement of Polls and tried desper ately to read from a false spreadsheet to which there were strong and volumi nous objections by the at tending representatives of Political Parties. Ronald Stewart resigned in fear of being dismissed because his honesty and integrity were at stake.

Assistant Police Commissioner Edgar Thomas who was at the time in charge of the Police Division, was brutally hu miliated and sent packing from his post at the tabu lation center because he did not get the support of the genuine persons who were at the Ashmin’s building to evacuate and allow the “riggers’ to ma nipulate the results of the Elections. Thomas’s expla nation of what took place at the tabulation cen ter in the presence of the local and International Observers was indeed an insult to Guyana. Notably, the role of key players in the Guyana Police Force comes up for a keener in terrogation and it is hoped that this commission al lows the full picture to be defined.

Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Lennox Shuman narrat ed his experience and se rious concerns about the safety of the GECOM Chair Claudette Singh. According to his testimo ny, from all appearanc es, she was held captive, and attempts to communi

cate with her were futile. The account of what took place is indeed alarming as doors were broken and heavily armed police were around. Lennox Shuman’s account of the involvement of GECOM staff in skull duggery was very touch ing.

Guyanese are always suspicious of the fact that they are attempts to de rail the Elections. Hence, the Commission must be cognizant of all attempts to obstruct, frustrate, sub vert and interfere with the proper counting and tabulation of the results. Further, there were sev eral attempts by the PNC/ APNU+AFC to postpone the National and Regional Elections and it was the relentless struggle of the people of this country that forced the Granger Government to hold the elections.

The missing Statements of Polls and the events that took place under the instructions of the DCEO must be dealt with fully. Our democracy was un der severe threat and we must be fully aware that GECOM staff was heavily compromised. The extent to which these inefficacies brought our citizens face to face with hell, must there fore be fully interrogated and those responsible ex posed.

The COI must serve its purpose of stripping the cover of those dirty riggers still in hiding, and provid ing apt recommendations to be acted upon to prevent the recurrence.

Sincerely, Neil Kumar

accredited

alities

building

operatives

This Mike Charles photo shows an aerial view of the airstrip at Olive Creek, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni

Tribute to Shiv “Tiger” Chanderpaul

Dear Editor,

All across the glob al cricket world, pride has surged once again, as Guyanese and Caribbean cricket legend Shivnarine Chanderpaul, a former cap tain of the West Indies team, was inducted into the ICC’s Hall of Fame, joining crick et’s most celebrated players.

The West Indies crick et administration across all formats must immediately inculcate some of Shiv’s re markable professionalism, determination and courage to its players by hiring him as its chief coach; no one can dispute that. The ICC stamp is the imprimatur of great ness, that deservedly and in disputably puts Shiv in the top tier of cricket’s immor tals. Any player who does not heed his advice should not be playing at the level Shiv dominated.

It is a deserving appre ciation for this unsung hero from Unity village, Guyana, who was denied the chance to become the leading Test scorer in West Indies Cricket, and was “forced to retire,” when his career was unceremoniously derailed by Dave Cameron and the WICB’s whimsical and spite ful actions. This left-handed batsman scored 11,867 runs at an average of 51, with 30 centuries in an illustrious career of 164 Tests, to end at the second place in the list of all-time West Indies run-scorers, 86 runs short of legendary Brian Lara, who has 11,953 runs, and eighth on the all-time list.

After all, this was the man who personified lon gevity and tenacity, and sur vived while 519 Test bats men perished at the other end, and shared a record 771 different partnerships in Tests -- worthy world re cords that speak volumes about his singular durabili ty and dependability. Rahul Dravid, the Indian “Wall”, is next, but quite some dis tance behind at 453 Test dis missals at the other wicket, and 738 partnerships.

Yet Chanderpaul has rarely been given deserving accolades, like Dravid and Tendulkar. “That guy with the most Test matches for the West Indies, playing for over 20 years, I don’t think people in the West Indies understand exactly his con tribution,” the great Brian Lara acknowledges, remind ing us that Shiv was instru mental in his many batting feats, even conceding that his compatriot deserved to go past his record for the most Test runs by a West Indian.

Many cricket aficionados have told me that if their lives depended on the pro fessional application and dedication of a batsman to combat, survive the best bowling, and keep his wick et intact, they would choose Shiv Chanderpaul above ev eryone else. Indeed, Shiv fa mously faced 1,051 deliv eries against India in 2002

without being dismissed, batting for 1,513 minutes. He was the consummate professional, blessed with the heart of a lion.

Brett Lee, with a fast, vi cious bouncer, knocked him out cold to the extent that he “could not feel anything, and could not stand or move any limb”, yet Chanderpaul refused the stretcher, and was up and running in a few minutes, and even went on to score a brave century.

Such was his dedication to his craft that he is the only notable internation al batsman who used dark stickers below his eyes as anti-glare patches used to reduce light entering the pe ripheral area of the eyes, so that he could bat and field without being affected by the sun’s glare. Such atten tion to minute detail in his improvement and comfort as a cricketer defines the man appropriately called “Tiger.”

Shiv has been the rock and anchor of the West Indies since 1994, a verita ble Atlas, and has been one of the Caribbean’s most ac complished, yet overlooked, heroes.

Chanderpaul’s first Test century came in his 19th match, a testimony to his application and determina tion after scoring as many as 15 half centuries in the pre vious 18 matches. He spent most of the initial phase of his career under the shad ows of the legendary Lara. From that small fishing vil lage in Guyana, Shiv became the people’s hero of David vs. Goliath vintage, and became a lone warrior after the re tirement of Hooper, Lara and Sarwan. He soldiered on as the people’s champi on, whose struggles and ul timate successes reflected their daily struggles to over come the odds; the proverbi al underdog defeating social and economic barriers that suppressed them.

The paucity of the team’s batting in his career caused him to eschew aggression. He became the proverbial Rock of Gibraltar while sup posedly better talents than him perished meekly at the other end. His detractors fail to appreciate that he honed his technique to make the very best of what God gave him, and made up for defi cits overwhelmingly in other areas. It is this single-mind ed dedication and adaptabil ity that made him the cham pion and master he became.

Shiv did not have the genius of Rohan Kanhai or Sir Gary Sobers; the pow er of Sir Viv Richards, Gordon Greenidge or Sir Clive Lloyd; the audacity of Roy Fredericks or the tech nique of Alvin Kallicharran; or the finesse of Carl Hooper, Lawrence Rowe or Ramnaresh Sarwan, but the statistical achievements he accumulated that determine how a batsman is assessed -- runs, centuries, averag es --surpassed theirs. The “pencil-thin boy” became a

man on the cricket field, and has played the most Tests, 164, for the West Indies, surpassing more robust players by far. This is not to say he was better in the wider context by which bats men are assessed, but it en sures that one cannot deny his status among the greats of the game.

Those who are critical of his doggedness fail to appre ciate that he was often the lone warrior in many lost causes at a time when West Indian Cricket had sunk to unfathomable depths, and responsibility had forced him to eschew glamour and style for dependability, and audacity for attrition. Like all the great players, the breadth and depth of his achievements provide sound rebuttals, considering that Chanderpaul has the re cord for the 4th fastest Test century, off just 67 balls, against the worthy visiting Australians in 2002.

In 2008, with 10 needed off two balls to win a OneDay International (ODI) against Sri Lanka, he hit a four and a six against the bowling of Chaminda Vaas. He also created history in 2003 with Sarwan when they combined to help West Indies chase down a 418-run target at Antigua against Australia, scoring 105 and 104 runs respectively. He was named the captain of the team to face the visit ing South Africans in 2005, and celebrated it by becom ing only the second player to make a double century on debut as a Test captain, scoring an unbeaten 200 in Guyana.

Another absolutely stun ning record Chanderpaul holds is that of being stumped for the first time after having batted in 266 innings, while batting with as many as 82 different Test partners.

When I interviewed him about the reason for his lon gevity and success, he told me, “I have an immense skill and unique gift – concentra tion, a divine gift bestowed by Lord Shiva”. I marvelled at him then in 2005, and he cemented that belief to all subsequently.

There is no doubt that

he must have a divine con nection when you survey his immense accomplishments, longevity and humility. Ian Bishop, now an interna tional cricket commenta tor, said it best in tribute to Chanderpaul, 2008 Wisden Cricketer of the Year: “I

played several Test series with him (Shiv), and have seen more esteemed teammates shrink in the face of the fastest bowling, but never Chanderpaul…That no other West Indian man aged a score of more than 60 in the Tests speaks of the

yawning gap between his skill, commitment and expe rience and theirs.”

Healthcare is ongoing, and should be appreciated

Dear Editor, We must always wel come medical input from the Government. This news is good; it is that the Lethem Health Centre got a new ATV (All-terrain ve hicle) to expand vaccination coverage.

In fact, when vaccina tion programmes are un folding in Guyana, it is most important that peo ple capitalise. Vaccination is a vital aspect of health care, and only recently, the World Health Organization posted vital statistics re garding it. Under the la bel “Immunization cover age”, the WHO, in June of this year, noted the follow ing: Only 25 vaccine intro ductions other than the COVID-19 vaccine were re ported in 2021; global cov erage dropped from 86% in 2019 to 81% in 2021; an es timated 25 million children under the age of 1 year did not receive basic vaccines, which is the highest num ber since 2009; the num ber of girls not vaccinated against human papilloma virus (HPV) increased by 3.5 million, compared to 2019; and in 2021, the num ber of completely unvacci nated children increased by 5 million since 2019.

Here, in Guyana, in terms of logistics, Lethem has to be multi-function al as much as possible, and this medical ATV is a good sign indeed. The details show that the Maternal and Child Health Department of the Lethem Regional Hospital in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) received the new

National CleanUp Exercise

Dear Editor, On Saturday November 12, and a few other times, His Excellency President Dr Irfaan Ali and his team led a clean-up campaign across the country. Such an initiative must be lauded, as it is showing a major ex ample of caring for our en vironment from the highest office in the land!

However, we, the peo ple, need to stop littering, knowing the consequences of such: drains get clogged, and flooding can occur; it

creates a nasty scene when bottles and plastics are left all around. How many more examples do we need in order to show that we can keep our surroundings clean on our own?

I believe the President and his team truly care about Guyanese and Guyana. It is now up to us to also care for ourselves, by at least keeping our sur roundings clean.

Sincerely, Tanya Mohabir

all-terrain vehicle (ATV) so that it can boost its current expanded vaccination pro gramme.

And as I have just stat ed, vaccination is some thing that the WHO is very concerned about. This move was facilitated via the Government of Guyana pro curing an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) loan. The vehicle cost ac tually ran to the tune of $3 million, but its work will far exceed measurable finan cial returns.

I note that “This vehicle will be used to continue to provide services for wom en of reproductive age, ne onates and children,” and again, my hope is that ‘vac cination education’ will be embraced by those who are directly affected.

Ideally, all women should be up-to-date with their vaccinations before they become pregnant. It is known that approximately 50 percent of all pregnan cies are unplanned. This means that it is important to keep women of reproduc tive age current with im munisations, regardless of

whether they are actively trying to conceive. Also, im munising during pregnancy provides the opportunity to protect both the pregnant woman and her infant via transplacental transfer of vaccine-induced antibod ies during the third trimes ter of pregnancy, and with the additional benefit of re duced risk of transmission of infection from mother to infant.

In the words of President Irfaan Ali, “Our primary ob jective is to ensure the lives of all the people of our coun try be improved. And what ever benefits the coastland must be available for you, and we will ensure you to benefit.”

As we know, a total of $1 billion has been allocated for the upgrading of health centres across all regions in Guyana. These health centres allow residents to gain much-needed health services. Region Nine also has the Lethem Regional Hospital, which provides more specialised services.

Yours truly, H Singh

Sincerely, Albert Baldeo State Assembly District Leader (Richmond Hill, NY)

SHOULD WE KEEP WILDLIFE AS PETS?

Two weeks ago, I indi cated that I would di gress a bit from writ ing on specific ailments and address some of the more general queries which have been received from our readers, and which have been piling up. Last week, we dealt with the query of whether dogs and cats see in colour. Today we will at tempt to answer the ques tion of whether a caregiv er should keep any form of wildlife as a pet. Twentyone years ago, I requested my colleague and friend Dr. Nicholas Waldron, to write on this subject. The advice remains the same today.

Many wild creatures are kept as pets. Sometimes, the intentions of the owners of these pets are very no ble; they may have rescued an injured or orphaned an imal, or may have bought it off a trader or hunter be cause it was being kept un der deplorable conditions and was perceived to be suf fering.

However, even under these seemingly dire cir cumstances, wherein the poor wild creature is ‘res cued’ from its immediate torture, the ‘well-wishing’ Samaritan may be sen tencing his new pet to cer tain death. The natural environment optimally pro vides all that the wild ani mal needs to live com fort ably

and without undue stress. Despite our good inten tions, we lack sufficient knowledge of the nutrition al specifics and behavioural peculiarities of these crea tures to adequately cater to them in captivity. As a result, many wild pets suf fer from injuries due to im proper handling/transpor tation/restraint, nutritional deficiencies, diverse illness es and other stresses caused by cramped spaces, prox imity to humans/domestic animals, strange noises, unfamiliar surroundings, insufficient or excessive light/darkness, etc.

Birds, especially those in captivity, may initial ly become droopy and dull,

while other species may be come depressed, sad, stop eating, and then eventually die. Diarrhoeas, pneumo nias, skin diseases and par asitic infestations are very common. Some animals be come so agitated that they may injure themselves by thrashing about as they continuously try to escape, while others develop sinis ter habits, such as self-mu tilation.

When we keep wild an imals as pets, we also rob them of some of their nat ural instincts, which are essential for their survival in nature; and if, at some time, these animals have to be returned to the wild (which happens quite often when the

nice cuddly pet becomes large and sometimes ag gressive), their chances of survival are poor, as they have become so dependent on human care that they can no longer fend for them selves. In some cases, the poor animal is mutilated by the caregiver, and therefore rendered defenseless or in capable of foraging for food.

nature’s delicate balance when we remove animals/ plants from their natu ral habitats, because each member has a part to play within the ecosystem.

TYPICAL EXAMPLES OF CAREGIVERS’ MUTILATION OF WILDLIFE PETS

INCLUDE:

• The clipping of birds’ wings to prevent es cape.

• Removal of feral cats’ claws to prevent dam age to household furnish ings.

• Removal of snakes’ fangs.

• Placing restraining belts on the abdomens of monkeys, resulting in their contracting serious lesions. We also con tribute to the disruption of

Wild pets also put us at risk, as they are known carriers of some diseases that can be transmitted to man. Turtles, parrots, and monkeys, some of the most popular “wild” pets, pose a grave threat to human health, especially that of children.

Serious physical inju ry is also a very real pos sibility, as a wild animal’s behaviour in captivity is sometimes unpredictable, and an animal may attack humans or react defensive ly in an aggressive manner if it perceives a threat (wild cats, monkeys, snakes). Some of these incidents can have FATAL results!

If such a feral animal should happen to come into your possession, please contact the Zoo, the EPA,

Iwokrama, or persons/agen cies with the technical or professional know-how in the handling of these crea tures. Should you find an animal (wild or otherwise) being maltreated or suf fering, contact one of the humane societies, or the Police.

I hope by now we are all convinced that it is not such a good idea to keep a wild animal as a pet. These an imals must be allowed to roam freely in their natural habitats. So, the next time you are tempted to obtain and host a wild pet, STOP and think again.

The following poem was forwarded to the “Pet Care” column by Ms. Syeada Manbodh. It touches even the most hardened heart.

“Deep within the soul of the lonely caged bird Beats the rhythm of distant forest, Etched upon its bro ken heart the faded mem ory of flight”.

This

Some of the more common wild animals kept as pets in Guyana:

Cyber security agreement signed between Guyana, UAE as VP continues high-profile meetings with senior officials, investors

mining, forestry, and agri culture. As such, the team over the next few days will be meeting with other se nior Government function aries and stakeholders for a more informed assessment of their investment inter ests.

Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat during his engagement with the investors stated that Guyana is open for business and is hoping to diversify and strengthen the coun try’s traditional sectors.

and to increase the presence of Dubai’s Private Sector in the Region.

In the statement, Buamim also emphasised his Chamber’s desire to con tinue building relationships with fast-growing econ omies such as Guyana’s through private sector-led partnerships.

Guyana has, among other things, con cluded a cyber se curity agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo continues to represent Guyana in the UAE and hold high-level meetings with officials and investors.

According to a state ment, VP Jagdeo is cur rently in the UAE, engag ing Government officials and investors. One such of ficial was Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum, who is a member of the ruling family of Dubai. It was ex plained that general mat ters of cooperation and in vestments were discussed during his meeting

The VP also engaged in discussions with Reem Ebrahim Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Cooperation. During the discussions, a number of issues were placed on the agenda in cluding strengthening the role and interest of the South in the global multi lateral system and climate change negotiations.

Meanwhile, a bilater

al Agreement on Cyber Security was formalised between Guyana and the UAE. Other high-level meetings were held with Dubai Ports (DP) World and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) on ar eas of mutual interest and cooperation.

“The Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo is accompa nied by the Minister with in the Ministry of Public Works, Minister Deodat Indar and National ICT Advisor Daryl Akeung. Further engagements will be held in UAE over the next few days,” a statement on the discussions conclud ed.

Shortly after the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) had taken office in 2020, a high-level team from the Private Office of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum, had visited Guyana to seek and discuss investment opportu nities, and strengthen col laboration with Guyana.

The team, which includ ed Patricio Balmaceda and Gaspar Lino, expressed an interest not only in the oil and gas sector but also in

He had pointed out that the Government will not depend solely on the coun try’s oil and gas resourc es. Further, the Natural Resources Minister out lined opportunities avail able within the mining and forestry sectors for develop ment and value-added ac tivities.

Last year, Guyana’s participation in the Dubai World Expo 2020 had re sulted in an agreement be ing reached for a Guyana Trade Office to be set up in Dubai. This came about fol lowing a successful meeting between representatives of the Guyana Private Sector and the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, led by its President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Hamad Buamim.

In a statement, Buamim had indicated that the Chamber is ready to facili tate a Guyana Trade Office in Dubai. He explained that the office would promote and expedite continuous in vestment and trade part nerships between the two countries.

During the meeting, the delegations discussed ways to connect businesses for trade, and business oppor tunities between countries

Prior to the meeting, the private sector delega tion was told by President Irfaan Ali at a breakfast meeting to take advantage of the opportunities avail able and form themselves into consortiums.

The Vice President with UAE’s Minister of State for International

Cooperation, Reem Ebrahim Al Hashimy

VP Bharrat Jagdeo during his meeting with His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum

Teen remanded on breakand-enter-and-larceny charge

Eighteen-year-old

rested on Friday and charged with the offence of break and enter and larce ny committed on the dwell ing house of Alisa Williams,

a cashier of Craig, EBD.

The robbery occurred be tween November 8 and 9 and the total value of the ar ticles stolen is $453,000.

The charge was laid un der Section 229 (a) of the Criminal Law (Offences) Act Chapter 8:01. The accused appeared at the Diamond/ Golden Grove Magistrate’s before Magistrate Sunil Scarce where the charge was read to him.

He pleaded not guilty but bail was refused. The matter will continue on January 3, 2023.

Feral blast…

…or tough love?

Well…well…well…who woulda thought??!!

President Ali reaming out the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI)?? Naaah!! Your Eyewitness and most Guyanese assumed that breeze couldn’t pass between the President’s administration and the Chamber!! Ali had even taken more than his fair share of flack for their supposed closeness. So what’s the scoop on what went down at the GCCI’s Business Development Forum at the new Peg, where Ali was invited to deliver the keynote address??

It seems the President was taken aback by the GCCI President’s introductory remarks. While the fella mentioned the Forum’s five thematic areas – access to finance, opportunities for business, improving standards and quality, doing business in Guyana, and marketing fundamentals – he honed in on access to finance as the most critical. He blamed local banks most of all, and charged that they “need to get up off of their ‘tush’ and get to work!!” And while not mentioning it, he must’ve had in mind the said banks announcing hundreds of millions of US dollars in PROFITS every quarter for the last two years!!

He received loud cheers from his business audience.

He announced that his organisation had surveyed some 450 businesses and they were pulling their hair out as to how they’d secure the US$112M they needed for immediate expansion to exploit the Local Content Policy!!

As an aside, think about the fact that while our businesses can’t raise that amount, some are insisting we shouldn’t have locals develop some of our new oil blocks - where it’ll take at least US$6 billion to get to the oil under more than a mile of Atlantic waters!! The GCCI head honcho then moved on to identify some concrete shortcomings, such as the lack of depth of the financial markets, the taxation system, and standards to meet competition in a globalised economy.

Clearly, Pres Ali, must’ve seen this as an attack on his administration’s efforts in these areas up to now, and threw away his prepared presentation to defend his record!!

He announced the need for some “tough conversation”, and proceeded to initiate just that!! He identified the Saudi investor group he’d brought, and -- while he didn’t explicitly mention it -- he must’ve remembered he’d tried to court them by even wearing a kaffiyeh tied with the camel hair cord, the iquaal!! He pointed out that not a single business proposal was made!!

He spoke about the Korean business group’s ditto result. Then there was the UK team proposing UKEF financing for a whole new supply chain of foods – with not even a feasibility study presented by the Private Sector for consideration.

He concluded bluntly, “The Government has a responsibility of opening up opportunities, but you (also) have a responsibility”!

Over to the GCCI!!

…from US Ambassador??

The US Ambassador’s leaving soon, after a most eventful sojourn since March 2019 in our dear mudland!! She arrived here after a long stint at USAID, where, in overseeing a US$5B budget for the region, she had gotten the opportunity to observe matters political from her vantage point up close and personal. That she was sent when oil was struck by Exxon after they’d been squeezed out in Venezuela surely wasn’t coincidental. She soon established a style of her own – one that made her easily the most visible and interactive with ordinary Guyanese since the beginning of diplomatic relations with Guyana. She knows Guyana!

So, we should take seriously her latest advice to the Government on the eve of her departure: “(Guyana) is an ethnically-divided society, and so they will need to focus on inclusion; and there have been many efforts to do so so far, but they will need to continue to do that, and at an increased pace.”

We can’t ignore the ethnic factor!

…from DCEO

One clear thread running through each of the witnesses’ evidence to the Election Rigging Commission is the insidious role of the DCEO. The picture emerging is of a fanatically PNC partisan willing to do whatever it takes to rig the elections.

Tyreek Bouyea, a labourer of Grove Public Road, East Bank Demerara (EBD), was ar

Charged: Tyreek Bouyea

Single-window approval for construction permits by year-end – Pres Ali announces

By the end of 2022, a single window ap proval system for con struction permits will be ac tivated, thereby providing significant ease and elimi nating the royal run-around to get these permits validat ed.

This announcement was made by President Dr Irfaan Ali during his address at the Business Development Forum 2022 on Friday at the Pegasus Hotel.

He added that this will see many hurdles being re moved while noting that it will consolidate several in teragency procedures into one application document.

“Before the end of this year, we are going to pass the single window approval sys tem for construction permits. That alone removes hurdles. Now, you have to lodge your form, run to CH&PA…then the Fire Service, then Public Health, then some sanitary department…All of that is being erased into one ap plication process,” Ali ex pressed.

The President expounded on how this system will func tion, adding that once all ob jections are fixed, the agency cannot bring new ones.

“What this single window application process will do is very simple. You deposit your application to one win dow. Electronically, it is sent to all the agencies that need to comment within a time frame. If they don’t provide their comment, it is deemed approved. If they provide all their comments, the appli cant gets a timeframe to re spond to their comments. Once you respond to those comments and clear all the hurdles, they can’t come back with any new comments.”

The Guyanese Head of State acknowledged that many aspects of the sys tem are archaic. However, Government is constant ly making strides to correct these issues and enable easy access for Guyanese.

“Is the system perfect? No, absolutely no. Is the sys tem archaic? Many parts of the system are archaic. Are we fixing it? Yes, of course, we are fixing it. The system deals with our training, at the technical institute, at the University of Guyana. Is our training geared towards the orientation of the economy?” he questioned.

Speaking on the cur rent state of the construc tion sector, Ali emphasised that it has been booming and as such, investments and Government intervention to support stakeholders will see hundreds of contractors benefitting.

“I can tell you as I speak to you now, in the last two years, we have more than 420 new small contractors working in this Government, working in this country get ting projects every day.”

Last month, the Housing and Water Ministry held consultations with agency heads on the single window system being introduced to make issuing planning and building permits a smoother process.

The Central Housing and Planning Authority hired experts from the Region for assistance in setting up the single window system. The increase in planning and construction has seen 1964 applications being processed by the CH&PA between the period of October 2020 and September 2022.

The Ease of Doing Business Index is one of the most comprehensive studies done by the World Bank, in which it looks at key indi cators such as registering, compliance, taxation, obtain ing loans, and similar factors such as administrative pro cedures. It also looks at legal measures such as protection and settlements.

In its last report, the World Bank ranked Guyana

134 out of 190 countries in its Doing Business Report for 2020 as it relates to the ease of doing business. However, the Government has been

embarking on setting up a single window system.

Earlier this year, Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud had reassured investors that

Government was working on the single window system as a mechanism to enhance the ease of doing and setting up businesses in the country.

President Irfaan Ali

Enforcement is next step to ensure country remains clean – President Ali

Heavy emphasis will be placed on en forcement to en sure that the country re mains clean, according to President Dr Irfaan Ali on Saturday during the na tional clean-up exercise along Vlissengen Road, Georgetown.

The Head of State point ed to some improvement in the state of cleanliness in the area since the last ex ercise, which he said is a step in the right direction. He, however, called for in tensified efforts to curb the dumping of garbage.

“We have given enough time, enough education pro grammes; enforcement is going to become a major as pect of what we are doing.”

The President said

that following the nation al clean-up effort, work will begin on improving the secondary drainage runoff across the country, in a phased manner. He reiter ated that cleanliness and the upkeep of the environ ment are a shared respon sibility.

He was joined at the exercise by the Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d), Mark Phillips; Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill; Chief of Staff, Brigadier Godfrey Bess and Head of the Private Sector

Commission Paul Chung among others.

However, Dr Ali laud ed the participation of the youths from Albouystown and members of the football community who came out in their numbers to join in the exercise. He also pointed to the massive mobilisation of the Men on Mission (MOM) team.

“Today, they are part of the national effort to make a positive change, and this is the type of behavioural influence we want all across the country.”

The President and his

team visited several loca tions in the city, including D’Urban Park, the seawall, and the Stabroek Market, and then headed to Charity in Region 2 (PomeroonSupenaam).

The countrywide cleanup exercise is being spear headed by the Ministry of Public Works’ National Enhancement Committee and saw the involvement of various stakeholders, in cluding Government agen cies, the diplomatic corps, the private sector, NGOs the Joint Services, and members of civil society.

The Head of State and other officials during the clean-up exercise on Saturday

Opposition must move out of the past

Throughout 2009, I argued for the Opposition and its partisans to abandon their insistence that the PPP was an “Elected Dictatorship”, since it blocked them from seizing the real opportunity to win power at the polls. I wrote about the “grievance-hunting” mindset – “a pathological condition that betrays a state of mind uniquely incapable of seizing the opportunities and responsibilities of the present, and so must morbidly escape to the past to discover a sanctuary of grievance for itself.” In January 2010, I expanded on this theme in an article, “Stuck in the past”, which I excerpt below, since I believe the failed strategy is being repeated with the Opposition’s “incipient apartheid state” charge.

“The fixation…is due primarily to ideologues locking on to a problem space from the past and refusing to rigorously interrogate the present, mechanistically (applying) the answers from that past to circumstances that might have changed radically. Critiques being always strategic: those answers are not so much wrong as irrelevant. The “expired strategies” invariably lead to frustration and anger, since even though hard work may be done to implement them, success is elusive. External malevolent forces and scapegoats are blamed for the failure, and the grievancehunting mentality is reinforced.

“Take, for instance, the insistence by many…that, “How can an electoral system in a racially divided nation be ‘free and fair’ when only one side can win because of an ethnic census?” This is an exemplary instance of refusing to interrogate the present, and to dwell only on the past. The “problem spaces” then and now are different: the questions to be posed must be different, and therefore so might be the answers…

In the 1997 and 2001 elections, the PPP won while the PNC maintained its usual percentage…and precipitated violence and a further resistance against cross-ethnic support. The PPP, in the meantime, cognisant of the inexorable shrinkage of its traditional base due to higher rates of emigration, maintained its well-oiled electoral machinery and intensified its wooing of the Amerindian and African Guyanese blocs. The PPP, unlike the PNC, was adjusting to the new problem space. It should not be surprising that, in 2006, the PPP repeated its majority even though Indians were then only 43% of the electorate.

“From our informal surveys (in 2009), the percentage of Indians in the population is now below 40% (this was proven correct in the 2012 census, which showed Indian Guyanese at 39.8%). The question in our present problem-space is therefore not how to deal with the obstacle -- an automatic built-in majority -– or even a plurality. The answer, then, has to be different. I believe that it is the Opposition’s own unwillingness to forge a strategy and build a mobilisation machinery that could deny the PPP a majority, rather than any inbuilt “ethnic censuses”, that is keeping the PPP in office. In such a scenario, even if the PPP at best secures the Presidency, it would need Opposition support to govern. This could provide the leverage for initiating changes in governance structures, and was the premise of my “Centre Force” proposal in 2005. The “Third Force” platform that was actually floated was torpedoed by such crass political opportunism, naked ambition, and gamesmanship that I am quite cynical about the “change” being touted.

“I still believe we need a system of governance that will engage the widest possible consent of our people. However, simply repeating this aspiration like an incantation will not bring it into existence. It is the people that will have to be convinced of this need, and make their convictions known at the polls. And this is the task of the Opposition. The people whose opinions we hope to change cannot be just castigated as “fools”; their fears have to be understood as rational and real – and certainly not to be further inflamed.

“The history of our present also does not justify a narrative that arbitrarily essentialises one group (Indian Guyanese) as congenitally incapable of change, and another (African Guyanese) as having no control over being elected into office. To accept that reality is socially constructed (albeit withing stubborn structural conditions) is to assert that we and our future can be changed. The present is pregnant with positive possibilities, and it is up to the Opposition to cast off their debilitating mindset of grievance and create that change.”

And as it was true in 2010, so it is in 2022.

Green Gibraltar offers connectivity to hinterland

Green Gibraltar Inc – a 100 per cent Guyanese-owned company will host a demon stration of its service ca pabilities in Rockstone Village on Friday, November 18, 2022.

The aim of the exer cise is to demonstrate how connectivity advances the community in four key ar eas - medicine, education, tourism/commerce, and well-being.

In 2019, two compa nies, MHM Holdings Inc and Green Gibraltar Inc led by Guyanese entrepre neurs, resolved to improve the limited and poor-qual ity cellular service in the country. A formal applica tion was submitted in re sponse to the Telecoms Liberalisation act.

After more than two years of hard work and

sound investments, the companies assembled an industry-leading team of fi nancial and technical part ners. The granting of the licence was the first step on the journey of realicing this vision.

Green Gibraltar Inc, MHM Holdings Inc, and their partners understand the desire of Guyana’s cit izens and businesses to have the option to connect with the world in a profes sional and cost-effective manner.

With the approval and issuance of the licence, ef forts were focused on the steps necessary to com mence operations. Green Gibraltar is grateful to the Government of Guyana and is eager to receive ad ditional spectrum in order to fully implement opera tions.

One of the devices that will be tested

Ravi Dev

Guyana’s economic climate very promising –

Describing Guyana’s economic cli mate as one that is very promising, United States (US) Ambassador to Guyana Sarah-Ann Lynch has made it clear that the US wants to be Guyana’s “partner of choice” as the country continues to grow.

She was at the time making an appearance on an interview facilitat ed by the Wilson Center, when she made refer ence to all the progress Guyana has been making and the assistance that the US has been providing. The diplomat also refer enced the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that

Guyana signed with the US Export-Import Bank in July of this year.

“The US Government, through the Export-Import Bank, also signed a historic MoU with Guyana, which would allow for the access ing of up to US$2 billion of potential investment. So, with all these things we re ally find the climate prom ising here,” the diplomat explained.

Going into detail on some of the areas the US has provided assistance to Guyana, Lynch spoke about the help the US has given in improving man agement and digital solu tions in elections and the

Judiciary.

“On economic growth, we’ve done so much to highlight the economic in vestment opportunities, through virtual meetings, through trade missions, through conferences. We work primarily in the areas of governance, economic development and security. And as such, we work with Guyana to improve trans parency and accountabili ty, we provided assistance from the US Treasury to Guyana’s Revenue Authority to help them au dit large contracts and im prove their human resourc ing efforts,” she said.

“And to improve stan

Boat mishap at Imbaimadai Search continues for missing surveyors

dards, we’ve worked on even some people-to-peo ple exchanges like our Fulbright programme, to provide specialists to work to ensure that certain pro grammes at the University of Guyana are accredited, like their engineering pro gramme. So, we have the accreditation board for en gineering and technology that we’re working with. And a Fulbrighter to help them.”

Lynch was asked about geopolitical interests in Guyana, particularly since tenders for large proj ects such as the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP) and components of the gas-to-shore project tend to attract internation al bids from various coun tries… including the US.

“Chinese companies are bidding on these ten ders, European companies, Canadian, US, we’re all bidding. Our hope is that what we can show, as the United States, is that our companies bring something that not all investors bring to the table.”

“And that’s quality, ex cellence, on-time projects, on-time budgets. So, we’re really hoping that we’re the

partner of choice in the ma jority of these projects,” the diplomat explained to the interviewer.

One of the high points of President Dr Irfaan Ali’s trip to Washington in July of this year was the sign ing of the US$2 billion agreement with the United States (US) Export-Import (EXIM) Bank, which will allow for funding for a range of projects, includ ing in the renewable ener gy sector.

Under the agreement, the parties agreed to ex plore options for utilising EXIM’s standard instru ments, which include di

rect loans and mediumand long-term guarantees, to finance US exports to Guyana for Government projects.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has already projected that Guyana would achieve a growth rate of over 57 per cent in 2022, a slight in crease from what the coun try’s Finance Ministry had projected at the half-year mark.

According to the IMF in its statement on the conclu sion of its Article IV consul tation with Guyana, which was released in September, Guyana is expected to ex perience a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 57.8 per cent this year.

Additionally, the IMF noted that oil GDP would grow by over 100 per cent in 2022, and by 30 per cent on average annually be tween 2023 and 2026. The strength of this growth is a testament to the fact that Guyana’s commer cially recoverable petro leum reserves are expect ed to reach over 11 billion barrels. This, according to the IMF, is one of the high est levels per capita in the world.

Emergency respond ers and family mem bers are continu ing to search for Germain La Rose, 34, of Canvas City, Wismar, Linden, and Terrence Thomas, 29, of Meadow Brook Gardens, Georgetown, who went miss ing following a boat mishap at Imbaimadai Landing on Thursday.

When contacted on Saturday, Region Seven Commander Dion Moore confirmed that the bodies were yet to be recovered but the search was continuing.

Thomas and La Rose went missing after the boat in which they were travel ling started to take in wa ter and sank in the Upper Mazaruni River in the vicin ity of Imbaimadai Landing.

Romell Ramlakhan, a Mines Officer in charge attached to the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission stationed at Imbaimadai Landing stated that he returned from a field trip at Kamarang Landing along with two other col leagues.

According to Ramlakhan, he was on his way to the GGMC station when Thomas and La Rose approached him on the Imbaimadai air

strip and related that they had arrived in Imbaimadai Landing to do work but did not elaborate.

Information further re vealed that La Rose request ed to be accommodated at the GGMC living quarters to which Ramlakhan agreed, since he was a former em ployee.

However, the follow ing day at about 03:00h, Ramlakhan noted that he observed La Rose and Thomas preparing for their journey to which he insist ed that they wait until day light. However, Thomas de clined while noting that the journey was a lengthy one.

Ramlakhan said he dropped the duo on the hill by the riverside on an AllTerrain Vehicle (ATV) and returned to the GGMC sta tion.

The boat captain, Romain Reece, told investigators that he along with La Rose, Thomas, and another man boarded a metal boat, prop erty of Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), and headed for Kako Village, Upper Mazaruni, along with approximately 40 gallons of fuel and 10 signs to be erect ed at the mining claim they were going to survey.

Some two minutes into their journey while he was trying to plane off the boat, the captain said the boat be gan to take in water. As a result, Thomas and La Rose panicked and jumped over board, causing the boat to take in water and sink.

The occupants then at tempted to swim to safety by holding on to fuel tanks but upon reaching the riv er bank, Reece discovered Thomas and La Rose were missing and the other col league a few feet away.

Subsequent to that, an alarm was raised and Police were notified. A search par ty was then formed and is currently ongoing.

It was also revealed that none of the occupants of the boat were wearing life jack ets at the time of the inci dent. It was also reported that the Mines Officer did not have any knowledge or authorise anyone to use the GGMC boat and engine.

The boat captain is cur rently in custody assisting with investigations. Several fuel tanks which were in the boat were recovered about three miles from where the accident took place.

Investigations are ongo ing.

Germain La Rose and Terrence Thomas

US Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch

US Ambassador - says US wants to be ‘partner of choice’ for Guyana

As the beauty indus try keeps growing, it can be vividly seen that consumers are willing to pay almost anything to look attractive.

Natural and organic skincare items are among the most popularly pur

chased beauty products in the world. And now 29-yearold Savina Sukhnandan of New Road, Charity, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) has grabbed the opportuni ty to open her own natural and organic beauty product business, which creates one

hundred percent satisfac tion for customers.

After giving birth to her son Aiden Sukhnandan and daughter Liliana Sukhnandan, Savina Sukhnandan saw that her skin had a lot of dark spots, stretch marks, and oth er pigmentations that she considered looking ‘terri ble’, and she developed low self-esteem.

She decided to research natural remedies to get rid of hyperpigmentation from the skin, and made a finished product of sever al natural skincare treat ments that would enhance beauty and skin appear ance. She now owns and

The

ing the products made by her hands. Sukhnandan is currently working on grow ing her business, so that it can become a household name in the future.

In a recent inter view with Sunday Times, Sukhnandan revealed that after browsing the inter net and watching several YouTube videos, she came across ‘Carrot Oil’ as a homemade natural remedy that would even skin tone.

She then decided to gath er her carrots and other in gredients needed to make the finished product, which came out successful.

operates “Lilly’s Organic”, named after her daughter, because she wants to create a legacy and cut the tradi tion where businesses and properties are only passed

on to sons.

young entrepreneur launched her business on April 8, 2022 after she saw great changes in her skin tone come about after us

Savina Sukhnandan with her children

The products made by the young entrepreneur

Courts' Light-Up brightens Main Street for Christmas

EPA GUYANA CELEBRATES GIS DAY

The iconic Courts light up was brought to life on Friday evening, illuminating Main Street, Georgetown with holiday cheers that signalled the start of the festive season.

Every year, the antic ipated light-up of Main Street by furniture giant, Courts Guyana Limited is anticipated by many. It is a tradition dating back de cades, that somehow never

goes out of style.

In fact, hundreds of per sons flocked this year’s light-up exercise to wit ness the spectacular lights as the switches were turned on. Persons of all ages were seen enjoying the display and entertainers as they marvelled at the light show.

Prime Minister, Retired Brigadier Mark Phillips relayed in his remarks that this event has be

come a local signal that the Christmas season is ap proaching.

“Many Guyanese will use this location to spend valuable time with their families and make new memories at this joy ous time of the year. Of course, the lighting of the tree has great significance at Christmas time and re minds us of a story that took place over 2000 years

ago – the story of the birth of Jesus Christ,” Prime Minister Phillips shared.

He added, “Beyond hope and faith, this season re minds us to love one anoth er, be kind and generous; and take care of our neigh bours. Christmas time is observed by giving gifts, the spirit of charity and good will, and is among the most festive seasons of the year.

Over 20 years ago, Jack Dangermond, the founder and president of Esri, envisioned people collaborating and sharing how GIS affects everyone. This led to the establishment of GIS Day, which was first observed in 1999. The explosion of geospatial technology since then has expanded that idea into a global event that shows how geography and the real-world applications of GIS are making a difference in business, government, and society. It's a chance for organisations to share their accomplishments and inspire others to discover and use GIS.

The EPA Guyana utilises GIS and Remote Sensing in its day-to-day activities to inform key decision-making processes. At the EPA, GIS is used for environmental screening, environmental effects monitoring, modeling, and mapping. Every application submitted for authorisation to the agency is screened spatially for potential impacts and to identify key environmental receptors that may potentially be affected. Compliance monitoring and effects monitoring are also done utilising GIS and Remote Sensing techniques.

One exciting way the EPA utilised GIS recently was in modeling the potential trajectory of a simulated oil spill, conducted by EEPGL on November 03, 2022. The GIS Department utilised the data given in a simulation situation, and predicted the potential impact on land and marine life. The model was created using the WebGNOME platform provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This platform allowed for input of key parameters and real-time wind and ocean currents data. In addition to the trajectory of the simulated spill, the GIS Department also prepared maps of the environmental sensitivities in the potential impact area.

This November, EPA Guyana will join hundreds of organisations worldwide in hosting in-person and virtual gatherings that would celebrate the impactful work of GIS professionals, and serve to ignite the imagination of future innovators who will further advance global progress using GIS.

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

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

Scenes from the Courts' Christmas Light-Up at Main Street

TURN TO PAGE 17

Environmental sensitivity map

Marine traffic density

“One day I decided to do some research to see if I can make something home made to use on my skin, and I came across carrot oil. So, I followed the recipe on line and I made it…After two weeks of using it, I be gan to see positive chang es in my skin appearance, and my hyperpigmentation was fading. After a month of use, my skin was looking so amazing and I was glow ing from within,” the entre preneur disclosed.

Using pure organic in gredients in her skincare line, and seeing positive changes, the young entre preneur has incorporated exotic herbal remedies us ing orange peels, hibiscus, rosemary, carrots, turmeric and essential oils to create glowing skincare products.

Her skin enhancement remedies have motivated the young woman to make another product, and she chose to put together tur meric, sugar and other in gredients to make a face and body scrub. The fa mous face and body scrub is best used for treating dark spots, hyperpigmentation, sunburns and eczema, and is best paired with carrot oil to produce a natural skin glow.

“When I made the tur meric scrub, it didn’t come out as expected at first, be

cause I was using the wrong turmeric powder and it stained my skin for days… I did some more research and learned about the cosmetic grade of turmeric, and after making, it came out better than the first,” she said.

Sukhnandan explained that her friends and family members noticed her skin change from spotted black to fair, smooth, healthy and glowing skin, and all were eager to know what were her products. The young woman added that she was very excited to introduce them to her natural rem edies that give her skin a perfect look.

“After they used the product, they experienced a great change in their skin. So, I would use their re views to know how to im prove the products I cre ated… I then created two more products: Brazilian scrub and orange peel oil, after discovering an ancient article about the anti-aging properties in these ingredi ents.” Sukhnandan said.

Sukhnandan decided to market her products, so she made five pieces of her nat ural and organic products and sold them to her friends who are salon owners.

“They used the products and I got great feedback from them…. They also en couraged me to open a small

business, make and adver tise my products, and sell to persons who are interest ed in my natural products.

I was hesitant at first, be cause I know there are a lot of organic skin care product lines out there,” she said, while adding that her hus band Balram Sukhnandan, the owner of Platinum Group, is her biggest sup porter, who in the first place encouraged her to take up the challenge and open her own business.

She explained that she started by making ten prod ucts, which she sold them to several locations on the Essequibo Coast, such as New Road, Glanz Beaute Studio, Roshini Hair Salon, and Sony’s Cosmetics; and she also offered delivery to Georgetown. She add ed that currently she has ten products, which include 2 scrubs, 2 oils, 2 creams, 1 body butter, 1 hair oil, 1 hair mask, and 1 yoni.

Speaking about the chal lenges she faces in her busi ness, Sukhnandan said that getting customers to buy her products is very diffi cult, so most of her time is spent on advertising and encouraging people to pur chase her products, and look attractive with glowing skin in two weeks.

“A lot of persons were hesitant because of (the

products) being locally made, and also to find some of the ingredients here in Essequibo to make the prod ucts. Some of my ingredi

ents are from right here in my area, (from other) wom en-owned businesses, and the others I have to import or buy from Georgetown,”

she explained.

When the young entre preneur was asked what motivates her the most, she answered that she always wanted to do something on her own, and she achieved her business; and she also wanted to be able to stand on her own feet and have her own identity besides be ing a perfect mom and wife.

“I want my kids to grow up with understanding, so that they will know that you have to work hard for what you want, and I want them to see both of their parents working so that they can grow up knowing that you have to work to be successful. Lily’s Organic is very dear to me, as the products are crafted to treat skin problems that I have, like dark spots, hyperpig mentation, acne-prone skin, sunburn, and more… I in tend to create products for women or men with these conditions at the best qual ity and affordable cost,” she related.

She also said that her in gredients are of the highest quality, and that all ingredi ents are naturally produced by plants. Sukhnandan be lieves that healthy, glowing skin can be achieved with out using harmful chemi cals that can cause irrevers ible damage to customers’ skin in the future.

For years, hinterland communities have seen recurring inci dents of social issues, such as teenage pregnancy and alcohol abuse. Youths of Batavia, in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), plan to effect change to this situa tion to see social ills affect ing the community being addressed frontally.

On October 28, 2022, the Batavia Mountain Movers Youth Group was pre sented to its home village. With training provided by Blossom Inc’s Spotlight Initiative, these youths, some of whom are serving as Community Support Officers, have been trained in various skills, and are equipped to address the issues of gender-based

violence and child sexual abuse. They have also been trained in various life skills before the official launch of the group.

The training sessions were capacity-building ini tiatives to provide the youths of the community with skills and knowledge, so they can appropriately advocate for other persons within the community.

“The name Mountain Movers came about because of the main purpose of the group, and that is to make a positive impact on the lives of the youths of Batavia,” Crystal Williams, one of the leaders of the group, noted at its launching. She said the main pillars of the group are love, trust, and commu nity service.

“This group believes that teamwork is what makes the dream work. And our dream as youths is to see our vil lage forge ahead in terms of youth empowerment, hence our motto is, ‘Individuals go far, teams go further’,” she told the villagers.

Williams said the group would work together, with its motto being to provide the youths of the communi ty a better and more level playing field when it comes to sports, jobs, and training opportunities. She said the group also wants to provide the youths in the area with “more solid building blocks to education and equal op portunities, so that they can make a more positive contribution to their family as well as village develop

ment.”

At the launch of the group, its members pre pared several artistic piec es, such as skits, dramatic poems, songs, and an acros tic inspired by their train ing. Batavia Toshao Orin Williams, Deputy Toshao Donna Boyal, Regional Child Protection Officer Shenella Edwards, and rep resentatives from Blossom Inc. Child Advocacy Centers graced the event.

Blossom’s Spotlight Initiative began in November 2020 in collab oration with the Spotlight Initiative, a project fund ed by the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations, and the European Union. Its goal is to elimi nate violence against wom en and girls in Guyana.

Blossom Inc’s Education and Outreach Officers Arlyne Ramdatt and Joses Solomon have been making several impactful trips into several communities to do just that.

The officers have been able to establish and sup port communities such as Matthews Ridge in Region 1 and Waramadong in Region 7 to launch youth groups similar to the one formed in Batavia.

According to Blossom Inc., the youth groups are not only peer-support bod ies that offer safe spaces for young people in the com munity, but youths who

form the group have re ceived from Education and Outreach Officers train ing and mentorship that has provided them with the skills to plan and conduct various awareness-raising activities and campaigns to advocate against the so cial ills in their communi ties while supporting other youth in the community.

Following the launch of the Batavia Mountain Movers Youth Group, Blossom Inc expressed ap preciation to the EU for be ing a major donor of funds to the UN to embark on the wider Spotlight Initiative.

That global initiative would see Guyana benefit ting from the three-year, EU-funded program aimed at eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls.

“Much more is still to be done in order to see us, as a nation, achieve sustainable gender equality and the benefits of women empower ment by 2030,” Blossom Inc has said.

It has been noted that the Spotlight team would forever be grateful for all the support given and pledges made to the project. For safe spaces to make re ports of gender-based vio lence, members of the public can contact Blossom Inc. at 233-6701, the Counselling Hotline at 914, and/or the Child Protection hotline at 227-0979.

Members of the newly formed Batavia Mountain Movers Youth Group alongside Blossom Inc’s mentorship trainers Joses Solomon and Arlyne Ramdatt (kneeling)

Courts' Light-Up brightens Main...

But in all our festivities, let us remember to reflect on our blessings and give thanks.”

The Prime Minister encouraged that giving or lend ing a hand to those in need is especially welcomed at this time of the year.

“Let us also commit to brightening the lives of people whose Christmas may not be as cheerful and bountiful as others.”

Sub-regional Managing Director at Courts, Vincent Gordon expressed that for over 25 years, the annual lightup and concert have become an integral part of the coun try’s holiday celebrations.

“While it is true that we missed a couple of years be cause of the COVID pandemic, we are here, we are back… Our light-up reflects the look and feel of the new Courts Mega Store. We have invested in a full-light show that will stretch from the Avenue of the Republic to Middle Street. It includes over 600 lights,” he outlined.

A few weeks ago, the company, through its parent company Unicomer, remodelled and rebranded its store to a mega facility in upgrading the shopping experience for Guyanese.

“Months ago, we reviewed the Unicomer footprint in Guyana and determined that our customers needed new shopping experiences, better stores, better look and feel; and a wider range of choices. While it will take some time, we have started by remodelling our Main Street location.”

After the lighting, the crowd was also thoroughly en tertained by a number of local artistes and dancers.

Prime Minister Phillips joined a group of kids as the light display wowed the crowd

NA Secondary School wins inaugural Secondary Schools’ Choral Speaking Festival

in the future.

Senior Education Officer (English), Sheldon Granville said that the Education Ministry’s Secondary Sector is happy to be a part of the event.

Before delivering the re sults, Chief Judge Randolph Critchlow, who is a local poet, teacher, and drama tist, noted that the event is a culmination of seven years of work and moving around the country. He fur ther commended the Unit of Allied Arts for the role it played in the introduc tion of choral speaking in schools.

All participating stu dents also received a Certificate of Participation.

The Education Ministry’s Unit of Allied Arts on Friday hosted its inau gural Secondary Schools’ Choral Speaking Festival at the Theatre Guild and saw students from Regions Three, Four, Five, Six, and Georgetown showcasing their dramatic talents.

At the end, New Amsterdam Secondary School copped first place with their piece entitled “Guyanese Folklore”. As part of their prize, the group will be performing at their region’s Christmas Festival.

In second place was Uitvlugt Secondary School with their piece, “The Beauty of Music” and coming in third was

Charlestown Secondary School performing their piece, “Perspective”.

Prizes were also award ed to the best conductor of each group.

Ascena Amsterdam from New Amsterdam Secondary received first prize while Leona France from Uitvlugt Secondary School got sec ond place, and De’Angelo Tomlinson from Skeldon Line Path Secondary copped third place.

Choral speaking is de fined as a group of people narrating a poem or a dra

matic piece.

The competing schools were Ann’s Grove Secondary School, Belladrum Secondary School, Charlestown Secondary School, Fort Wellington Secondary School, New Amsterdam Secondary School, President’s College, Skeldon Line Path Secondary School, Tucville Secondary School, Uitvlugt Secondary School and West Demerara Secondary School.

In brief remarks, act ing Administrator of the

Unit of Allied Arts, Kurt Braithwaite stated that the event provides students with a platform to express themselves.

“This gives them an op portunity to develop their abilities to speak in pub lic. They express them selves and this is what cho ral speaking is about. Here it also provides you with an opportunity to see how oth ers can utilise their talents in different ways.”

He noted that while this is the first event of its kind, similar events will be held

Charlestown Secondary got third place with “Perspective”

New Amsterdam Secondary School won the inaugural Secondary Schools’ Choral Speaking Festival

Uitvlugt Secondary School got second place with their piece, “The Beauty of Music”

The judges tallying their scores

Senior Education Officer (English), Sheldon Granville

Acting Administrator of the Unit of Allied Arts, Kurt Braithwaite

Citizens urged to practise responsible waste disposal during Christmas season

Public Works Minister, Bishop Juan Edghill is urging citizens to prac tice responsible waste dis posal during the Christmas season, as the Government continues its efforts to ensure a cleaner, greener Guyana.

The Minister made the appeal on Saturday during the third National Enhancement Exercise, an initiative of President Dr Irfaan Ali, with support from the private sector and other stakeholders.

Minister Edghill was at time overlooking the mas sive clean-up efforts at the Stabroek Market Square, Georgetown.

“I want to make a special appeal to citizens, wheth er there is organised lead ership or not, let’s clean up. Christmas is coming and at a household level people nor

mally do a lot of cleaning. One of the things we don’t want to happen is when you clean up your households, you bring the old chair, the old fridge and the old stove and put it back on the para pet that we are cleaning up

right now,” he said.

Minister Edghill encour aged persons to hire a can ter to responsibly dispose of their waste at the Haags Bosch dumpsite.

He said “don’t just put it on a donkey cart and carry it

to a spot and throw it off be cause what we are doing here will be in vain. So, we are calling here for responsible behaviour by every citizen.”

Meanwhile, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson, who was

overseeing the works along the Main Street thorough fare, called for the support of all stakeholders in this na tionwide campaign.

“We are happy to have the support from all the as sociations, the sports associ ation are now a part of this too, you will see some of the athletes joining us and it is something that is good for the country. So, there is no better feeling than a place that is clean in Guyana. We say the place feels light and when this is done that’s the feeling that we get in the country,” the Minister noted.

The Guyana Fire Service joined the Sports Minister in cleaning the cenotaph and surrounding area for Remembrance Day, which will be observed today.

Also, Public Service

Sonia Parag and team joined in clean ing D’Urban and Smyth Streets, Georgetown and Mocha/Arcadia, East Bank Demerara.

The Minister said the President’s enhancement campaign is a nudge in the right direction geared at de veloping a sense of responsi bility in citizens.

“It was really to get the citizens of Guyana to take re sponsibility for the environ ment in their own country, I mean we all have to live in it at the end of the day and we want to be able to create a wave of cleanliness, as well as a sense of responsibility as it regards our environment.”

The Government has committed to the continua tion of the nationwide cleanup campaign. (DPI)

Minister

Public Works Minister Juan Edghill at Stabroek Market Square during the National Enhancement Exercise

Culture, Youth and Sport Minister Charles Ramson Jr cleaning along Main Street

Public Service Minister Sonia Parag cleaning along Durban and Smyth Streets with members of the Joint Services and citizens

Removal of garbage at Stabroek Market Square, Georgetown

Dr. Tariq Jagnarine Family meDicine, enDocrinology

Acataract is a dense, cloudy area that forms in the lens of the eye. A cataract begins when proteins in the eye form clumps that prevent the lens from sending clear images to the retina. The retina works by converting

the light that comes through the lens into signals. It sends the signals to the optic nerve, which carries them to the brain.

A cataract develops slow ly, and eventually interferes with one’s vision. Persons might end up with cataracts in both eyes, but they usu ally don’t form at the same time. Cataracts are com mon in older people. More than half of the people in the United States have cat aracts, or have undergone cataract surgery by the time they’re 80 years old, ac cording to the National Eye Institute.

of cataracts

Causes

There are several under lying causes of cataracts. These include:

* Overproduction of ox idants, which are oxygen molecules that have been chemically altered due to normal daily life

* Smoking

* Ultraviolet radiation

* The long-term use of

HEALTH TIPS CATARACT

steroids and other medica tions

* Certain diseases, such as diabetes

* Trauma

* Radiation therapy

Types of cataracts

There are different types of cataracts; they’re classi fied based on where and how

they develop in your eye.

* Nuclear cataracts form in the middle of the lens, and cause the nucleus, or the centre, to become yellow or brown.

* Cortical cataracts are wedge-shaped, and form around the edges of the nu cleus.

* Posterior capsular cat

aracts form faster than the other two types, and affect the back of the lens.

* Congenital cataracts, which are present at birth or form during a baby’s first year, are less common than age-related cataracts.

* Secondary cataracts are caused by diseases or medications. Diseases that

are linked with the devel opment of cataracts include glaucoma and diabetes. The use of the steroid prednisone and other medications can sometimes lead to cataracts.

* Traumatic cataracts develop after an injury to the eye, but it can take sev eral years for this to happen.

* Radiation cataracts can form after a person has un dergone radiation treatment for cancer.

Risk factors of cataracts

Risk factors associated with cataracts include:

* Older age

* Heavy alcohol use

* Smoking

* Obesity

* High blood pressure

* Previous eye injuries

* A family history of cat aracts

* Too much sun exposure

* Diabetes

* Exposure to radia tion from X-rays and cancer treatments

Symptoms of cataracts

Common symptoms of cataracts include:

* Blurry vision

* Trouble seeing at night

* Seeing colours as faded

* Increased sensitivity to glare

* Halos surrounding lights

HEALTH TIPS CATARACT

* Double vision in the affected eye

* A need for frequent changes in prescrip tion glasses

Diagnosing cataracts

The doctors will perform a comprehensive eye exam to check for cataracts and to assess

one’s vision. This would include an eye chart test to check your vision at different distanc es, and tonometry to measure your eye pres sure. The most common tonometry test uses a painless puff of air to flatten the cornea and test the eye pressure. Doctors would also put drops in the eyes to make the pupils bigger. This makes it easier to check the optic nerve and retina at the back of the eye for damage.

Other tests doctors might perform in clude checking a person’s sensitivity to glare and the perception of colours.

Treatment of cataracts

If a person is unable or uninterested in surgery, their doctor may be able to help them manage their symptoms. They may suggest stronger eyeglasses, magnifying lenses, or sunglasses with an anti-glare coat ing.

* Surgery Surgery is recommended when cataracts prevent persons from going about their daily activities, such as reading or driving. A sur gery is also performed when cataracts inter fere with the treatment of other eye prob lems.

One surgical method, known as phacoemulsification, involves the use of ul trasound waves to break the lens apart and remove the pieces.

Extracapsular surgery involves removing

the cloudy part of the lens through a long in cision in the cornea. After surgery, an artifi cial intraocular lens is placed where the nat ural lens was.

Surgery to remove a cataract is gener ally very safe, and has a high success rate. Some of the risks of cataract surgery include infection, bleeding, and retinal detachment, though incidents of all those complications are less than 1%. Most people can go home on the same day that they had surgery.

Cataracts can interfere with daily activi ties, and lead to blindness when left untreat ed. Although some stop growing, they don’t get smaller on their own. The surgical re moval of cataracts is a very common proce dure, and is highly effective roughly 90 per cent of the time, according to the National Eye Institute.

Prevention of cataracts

To reduce your risk of developing cata racts:

* Protect your eyes from UVB rays by wearing sunglasses outside

* Have regular eye exams

* Stop smoking

* Eat fruits and vegetables that contain antioxidants

* Maintain a healthy weight

* Keep diabetes and other medical condi tions in check.

EBD records 12 road fatalities for 2022

– Police worried about failure to wear safety helmets

burning issue in his dis trict.

He reminded that any one using a motorcycle with an engine capacity of 50CC and over are required to wear a safety helmet with The Motorcycles (Protective Helmets) Regulations, Section 3 (1) of the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act Cap 51:02 states that: “The driver of, and every person carried on, a motorcycle on a road shall wear a safety helmet capable of affording protec tion to the head of the wear er from injury in the event of an accident.”

The Guyana Police Force (GPF) is re minding citizens, es pecially motorcyclists, that the wearing of helmets is necessary when using the roadways.

Traffic Officer of Regional Division 4B (East Bank Demerara), Assistant Superintendent Maniram Jagnandan contended that motorcyclists’ failure to wear safety helmets is a

In light of this occur rence, the Traffic Officer pleaded with the motorcy clists to abide by the traf fic laws while adding that many persons can survive a broken limb, but, without the helmets, bikers have no other form of protection.

“I would like to appeal to these motorcyclists to wear their safety helmets, and not wear them alone, but ensure that it is prop

erly strapped to your head. Sometimes when we stop these motorcyclists, we find that the strap is not on properly.”

This plea comes as the country is observing Road Safety Month under the theme “Safe Driving, Saves Lives”.

However, Jagnandan said from the period January 1, 2022, to October 3, 2022, his division record ed 12 fatal accidents com pared to 28 last year.

“We had a big decrease

in Region 4B. We had this decrease because of the var ious measures and systems we put in place. We do a lot of analysis within our re gion to see which are acci dent-prone areas,” he said.

The Traffic Officer said that to keep these num bers low, they will contin ue to do several analyses

coupled with enforcement to help curb casualties. “We will hold lectures at school, engage drivers along with pedestrians so that the message will be clearly re ceived,” he said.

The most recent acci dent involving a motorcy cle on the East Bank corri dor occurred two Saturdays ago, leaving two persons

hospitalised with severe in juries.

The horrific accident oc curred at Friendship, East Bank Demerara (EBD).

It was reported that the motorcycle crashed into an other vehicle. So far, inves tigators were told that the motorcyclist was speeding and somehow ended up in the path of the vehicle.

Traffic Officer of Regional Division 4B, Assistant Superintendent Maniram Jagnandan

Over 20 global experts earmarked for mental health conference

Over 20 global ex perts will be con verging in Guyana next week for the Guyana Mental Health and WellBeing Conference, where significant knowledge and studies will be shared on re lated topics.

The Guyana Mental Health and Well-Being Conference is being organ ised in collaboration with Columbia University, New York. It returns for the sec ond time from November 15 to 18, 2022.

Featured this year is Professor Christina Hoven from Columbia University, who specialises in epide miology and psychiatry. She is also the Head of the

Psychiatric Institute in New York.

However, Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony said that the 20 global ex perts and local stakeholders will play key roles.

“Next week, we look for ward to welcoming this prestigious group of people to Guyana as we launch the second edition of the Mental Health and Well Being con ference here in Guyana… For persons who are in terested in learning more about mental health and how to prevent suicide and so forth, it is a good oppor tunity to come to the con ference and be able to inter act with some of the most prestigious professors in

mental health globally,” Dr Anthony added.

The conference is open to the general public and is free of cost.

The Mental Health Protection and Promotion Act, which was passed on

August 10, 2022, paves the way for mental health ser vices to be more accessible to Guyanese.

Enshrined in the law is a series of rights for mental health patients, including access to care.

The Act provides for the mental healthcare of per sons suffering from mental illness and protects, pro motes and fulfils the rights of those persons during the delivery of mental health care. Additionally, it seeks to promote the mental health and well-being of per sons in Guyana and to en sure that all persons receive the best mental healthcare.

When the Bill was tabled in the National Assembly, it provided for the setting up of a Mental Health Board, while repealing the mental hospital ordinance.

Clause 52 outlined that the Board also has to “re ceive and investigate com plaints on any matter con

nected with mental health care and treatment (and) undergo a periodic review at least once every six months of all persons receiving men tal health care in a mental health facility”.

Most recent statistics show that 15-20 per cent of the Guyanese population have some form of mental health illness, be it mild, severe, or acute. There are another 150 different condi tions that can be classified as mental health illnesses.

With this in mind, there has been growth in the number of psychiatrists in the country, with provisions to train more doctors who wish to specialise in this field.

Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony

ARIES

(March 21April 19)

TAURUS (April 20May 20)

Take note of what others are doing, but don’t buy into someone else’s dream. Make your way down a path that en courages you to use your skills in a satisfactory manner.

Don’t give in to someone’s bullying. Trust and believe in yourself and your ability to get things done to your specifica tions. Time spent at home with loved ones will encourage posi tive change.

GEMINI (MAY 28June 20)

CANCER

Don’t count on getting the help you want and deserve. Be mindful of fast-talkers or those trying to take charge or push you in a different di rection. A disciplined attitude will be key.

Enhance your ideas with exciting twists and turns, and you will capture the imag ination of people who wish to participate in your plans. Embrace what excites you. Romance is favored.

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

Be careful what you ask for and whom you believe. Don’t let changes that oth ers make cause confusion or tempt you to do something that isn’t beneficial. Show discipline and don’t risk your health.

Mingle with people from different backgrounds and you’ll discover something that will change your beliefs. Subjecting yourself to unfa miliar customs will broaden your outlook.

Scooting here and there will keep you busy and out of trouble. Have a route mapped out that will help you finalize your plans and make an im pact on others. Visit a friend or relative.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

Take a leadership position and confidently march for ward. A compassionate atti tude will increase your popu larity, helping you get others on board with your plans.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23Dec. 21)

CAPRICORN

(Dec. 22Jan. 19)

Dig deep and discover all you can before you get in volved in anything that can influence your financial po sition, reputation or peace of mind. Sign up for a rigorous activity.

Speaking from the heart will convince others to help. Someone you least expect will offer more than just a helping hand or suggestions. A financial gain is within reach.

AQUARIUS

(June 21July 22) (Jan. 20Feb. 19)

PISCES

(Feb. 20Mar. 20)

Observing, listening and taking note will help you prevent mistakes. Pay atten tion to your well-being. Get fit, choose a healthy diet and get enough rest to function at your best.

Take your expertise and forge into the future with enthusiasm. Mix and min gle with people who are in terested in what you offer. A partnership offer or propos al could be forthcoming

Peanuts

Calvin and Hobbes

Dilbert

2022 ICC T20I World Cup…

Pakistan, England and the promise of an epic T20 World Cup final

Never mind the controllables and onepercenters that usually dominate post-match platitudes. Six weeks ago, after England had cruised back into the lead of their topsy-turvy seven-match series in Pakistan, Saqlain Mushtaq was roundly lampooned for suggesting that the "laws of nature" were ruling the fortunes of his team. And yet, even amid the brickbats, Pakistan's head coach could be forgiven for feeling a little bewildered by the fluctuations he was being expected to oversee.

One day prior to collapsing to 28 for 4 in pursuit of an outlandish 212, he had witnessed Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan romp to a 200-run target in a single bewitching stand. You can neither teach nor tame such feral genius, let alone legislate against it - on any given night in Karachi, let alone on the most imposing stage of them all.

And so, can there be any better explanation for the ludicrous logic that has brought us to this moment in time: England versus Pakistan in a World Cup final at the MCG, 30 years and a handful of months since the last staging of this classic encounter way back at the dawn of the white-ball era in 1992??

Then, as now, Pakistan's World Cup campaign has been a riot of last-ditchism, with as many incongruous plot twists as a tired old movie franchise - one that's battling to stay relevant in a fastevolving world, but one that also knows its audience and knows that nothing puts bums on seats more readily than a warm and familiar nostalgic bath.

Troubling early defeats? Check. Wildly unlikely lifelines to drag the team back from the brink? Check. An outbreak of demented mastery to make fan and foe alike wonder how the team's resolve could ever be doubted? Check.

Only Pakistan could have been so far out of the running that, on this occasion, even Netherlands doing a stunning number on South Africa wasn't enough in itself to get them back on an even keel. Only Pakistan could have lost to their arch-rivals India in such heart-stopping, gutwrenching circumstances at the MCG, only to find themselves back at the same venue three weeks later with all sins forgiven. If they can now take that final step, we will know that it was written. And who would ever dare to quibble with nature again?

Well, England might, for starters. In their more understated fashion, Jos Buttler's men have been on no less a journey at this World Cup. It is not so much one of self-discovery, as

they've been doing that for fun since their own nadir at the 2015 World Cup, but of reaffirmation.

At the mid-point of the group stages, they were the most timorous team in the competition, stacking up the dot balls and failing to find the boundaries - a situation best exemplified by their careless rain-rules loss to Ireland, when a surfeit of good manners with the weather closing in cost them the chance to get ahead of the DLS par score.

Even now, going into the final, no one in England's middle-order has struck more than one six in the competition; but by way of mitigation, Buttler and Alex Hales racked up ten between them in their ten-wicket saunter against India in Adelaide. That display was at reassuring odds with the anxious grind to victory that Ben Stokes had marshalled in their must-win group game against Sri Lanka.

Much like the liberation that occurred against Australia in the 2019 World Cup semifinal, perhaps it was a case of sheer relief at achieving the bare minimum of the team's expectations. After all, for England's white-ball agendasetters, this Melbourne match is a date with destiny of a subtly different magnitude. At some point in the next 48 hours, weather permitting, we shall know if England have managed to become the first men's team in history to hold both the 50over and 20-over World Cups simultaneously; and by dint of that achievement, whether they have conferred on themselves a measure of greatness that a select few teams in history can claim to have achieved.

You can quibble with how such intangibles are measured, but you cannot deny the extent to which this generation of England players has dictated the pace of white-ball cricket since 2015. The team has reached at least the semi-finals in all four global competitions since that fateful winter, and though the personnel has evolved to a degree - including this year's retirement of Eoin Morgan - six members of the side that played in the 2016 World T20 final in Kolkata are likely to front up in Melbourne on Sunday (seven if both Chris Jordan and David Willey get the call).

And for all the inevitable chatter about 1992 in the coming hours and days, perhaps for England, that 2016 experience is the most significant ghost in the shadows. Only Stokes knows quite how fundamental that failure was to his never-say-die endeavours in the 2019 final, but Morgan himself has since spoken about how he wished he had slowed the pace down in Kolkata

and given his team more room to breathe - a point that he visibly carried into those fraught closing moments of Jofra Archer's Super Over three years later.

The point is that England have been here before, and have the advantage of having lived every imaginable emotion on their previous visits to the big time; not least Buttler, whose run-out of Martin Guptill at Lord's unleashed the very best of them on that unforgettable July day.

The danger for England is that to fail again at the final hurdle - so soon after falling short in the UAE last year - would be a bitter blow to that legacy, seven years of hegemony, and just the one (albeit significant) trophy to show for it.

And yet it was telling, in the moments after the India win, that when Buttler and Morgan were reunited in front of Sky Sports' cameras, the moment amounted to an on-screen passing of the baton.

"There's no advice I can give to this man," Morgan said. "I thought he captained his best-ever game today…so my messaging to anyone who's asking is, 'They are just ready'."

Pakistan, by contrast, don't really do 'ready'. But they might just be bang up for it. Because that, as they have endlessly and chaotically demonstrated, is sometimes all they've needed to prove it was in the stars all along.

If England emerge victorious, then Hales's narrative arc is sure to be the one doing the rounds for obvious and well-documented reasons. And yet, to judge by the plotlines of England's last two global finals, their death bowling is likely to be the make-or-break factor. They trusted in vibes for the 2016 final in Kolkata, and poor Stokes imploded; while in 2019, they turned to proven excellence and Archer prevailed in the Super Over.

This time, however, with Archer hors de combat, Sam Curran has emerged as the man

Curran

40 balls between the 17th and 20th overs in this World Cup, and conceded only 34 runs while picking off seven wickets. And while he took some tap from a rampant Hardik Pandya in Adelaide, the wider acreage of the MCG is likely to suit his methods better.

Quizzed about facing Pakistan in the final, Buttler pointed out that the two teams weren't exactly strangers after the winter just gone. And though that may be true as a whole, one man in Pakistan's line-up could come as something of an unknown quantity.

Mohammad Haris was flitting around the fringes of their set-up in the bilateral series just gone. He even coyly introduced himself to Buttler before the first T20I in Karachi in a heartwarming video that did the rounds on Twitter. But his solitary outing in the sixth match yielded just 7 from 8 balls, which was a far cry from his ballistic displays since getting his chance in Australia.

In this tournament, his 89 runs at #3 have come at a rowdy strike rate of 161.81, including 28 from 11 against South Africa despite being clonked on the grille by Wayne Parnell’s second ball. He's carried on in the vein that made him a breakout star of this year's PSL, and provided that edge of intent that had been so lacking in Pakistan's batting whenever their mainstays, Babar and Rizwan, failed.

Team news

No reason for Pakistan to change a winning formula after their cruise to victory over New Zealand. After easing his way back to match fitness with one wicket in three outings against India, Netherlands and Zimbabwe, Shaheen Shah Afridi has led the line with a trio of formidable displays against South

Africa, Bangladesh and New Zealand - 9 for 60 in 11 overs all told, including three powerplay scalps. And given that Pakistan's seam attack was already among the most menacing on show, it's an all-immersive threat that gives extra license to Babar and Rizwan to do what they do best with the bat.

Pakistan (possible): 1 Babar Azam (capt), 2 Mohammad Rizwan, 3 Mohammad Haris, 4 Shan Masood, 5 Iftikhar Ahmed, 6 Mohammad Nawaz, 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Mohammad Wasim, 9 Naseem Shah, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Shaheen Shah Afridi.

After fielding an unchanged XI all through the tournament, England were forced into two changes against India, after injuries to Mark Wood and Dawid Malan in the Sri Lanka match.

England's head coach, Matthew Mott, has promised to keep an "open mind" about their availability, but has warned that playing either man for such a high-stakes contest would be a "gamble".

Captain Buttler said both were "improving", and they would give them "every chance". Both men trained on Saturday, and looked good. They both did some running. Wood bowled in the nets, including a handful of deliveries at full pace, while Malan faced throwdowns.

But such is England's depth that there's no need to roll the dice, even to accommodate their highest-ranked T20I batter and most express-paced bowler. Instead, Phil Salt, unrequired as a batter in that ten-wicket romp, is set to keep his berth in the middle order. The only potential change might be a tactical one, with Morgan, England's former captain, suggesting that Melbourne's vast square boundaries might favour the swing of David Willey over the yorkers of Chris Jordan, whose three wickets against India were nevertheless invaluable in his only outing of the campaign.

England (possible): 1 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 2 Alex Hales, 3 Dawid Malan/Phil Salt, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Sam Curran, 9 Chris Woakes, 10 Mark Wood/ Chris Jordan/David Willey, 11 Adil Rashid.

Pitch and conditions

The pitch is likely to be another MCG 2.0 offering based on how it looked while uncovered 24 hours out - with Victoria's damp early-season conditions enhancing the pace and bounce on offer to the seamers in a significant improvement on the moribund drop-in offerings of years gone by. As Pakistan and India proved in their epic groupstage tussle, wickets in the

powerplay are to be expected, and a target of 160-odd is likely to be challenging - even Ireland's 157 proved sufficient to topple a ponderous England in their rainaffected clash at the venue. This strip does appear to have a little less grass, but there is still more coverage than what is normally seen in January in the BBL.

The trouble is…that forecast is not encouraging. A reserve day on Monday has been factored in, with a start time of 5pm (4am GMT) to allow as much time as possible for a result. But the omens are not entirely promising.

Stats and trivia

Pakistan and England have met twice before in the T20 World Cup: at The Oval in 2009 and in Bridgetown in 2010.

England emerged victorious on both occasions; and on the latter occasion, they even went on to claim the title at the same venue.

And yet, true to Pakistan's reputation for taking the scenic route to glory, they themselves bounced back in 2009 to defeat Sri Lanka in the final at Lord's.

Ben Stokes needs 44 more runs to pass 3,000 in all T20 fixtures. Despite a vital 42 notout in his most recent innings against Sri Lanka, he is still awaiting his first half-century in the format.

Shadab Khan needs three wickets to reach 100 in T20Is, and 44 runs to complete the 100/500 double. He will be playing in his 84th T20I.

An England victory would give their coach Matthew Mott his second World Cup title of the year, after he helped guide Australia's women to the 50-over crown in New Zealand in April.

Quotes

"We've played against them a lot recently, but, of course, in very different conditions. I think that's probably the main factor. Even though we've played each other in quite a few games, here at Melbourne is going to be a different game to the series obviously in Pakistan. We know we're up against an excellent team; that's exactly what you expect in a World Cup final."

England captain Jos Buttler expects a different challenge against Pakistan in Melbourne to the recent seven-match series in Pakistan.

"The England side is one of the best in the world. The series we played against them was very competitive. Hales and Buttler were outstanding yesterday, but we have one of the best pace attacks in cricket."

Babar Azam, Pakistan's captain, aims to fight fire with fire with his attack against England's in-form openers. (ESPNCricinfo)

for the big occasion. His left-arm line is a challenge in itself, but so too are his mental resilience and command of his options. Going into the semi-final,

had bowled

Presidents of GCB, TTCB ink agreement to host U13 tournaments

The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) and the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) will participate in a bilateral regional under-13 tournament scheduled for Guyana from December 10 to 17, 2022.

This inter-regional tournament is novel to Guyana, and complements Cricket West Indies’ plans to institute two-year incremental development programmes. It is expected to adequately expose under-13 players to competitive cricket in order to facilitate their growth and development for future two-year incremental development programmes, such as the national under-15, under-17, and under-19 training activities.

The GCB currently has established structured cricket development activities for the under-11, under-15, under-17, under-19, and senior levels.

The under-11 activities are conducted through the Republic Bank Five for Fun cricket development programme. Additionally, the GCB and Republic Bank are in the planning stages of initiating a national under-23 inter-club tournament.

GCB President Bissoondyal Singh, expressing delight at being able to positively engage TTCB President Azim Bassarath, has said, “Both

Territorial Boards are keen on exposing our future professional cricketers at an early age to the highest competitive standards possible. We recognize the need for children to develop their art: bowling, batting, and fielding, in a fun-related manner. However, we strongly believe that players in the under-13 age group can begin to challenge their minds a bit more than is currently being

done.

“Learning cricket techniques is good, but executing the respective skills in competitive environments will set the players on a greater path to success. This initiative paves the way for a regional under-13 tournament. We believe in promoting the training aspects of cricket so that players can inculcate the recommended practices for the game as well as a person. Our planned Cricket Academy, which will cater to the needs of players aged seven (7) to seventeen (17), is geared at making our players rounded cricketers. In addition to technical and skill development, our Academy focuses on areas of cricket laws, scoring, match referee and umpire’s duties; and etiquette, including personal communication, interviewing as a priority activity, and psychology.”

West Indies Women U-19 ‘set and ready’ for series opener

The West Indies Women’s Under-19 team have started their work ahead of the much-anticipated four-team tournament in the eastern coastal Indian city of Visakhapatnam. Since arriving earlier this week, they have had training sessions at the facilities at the Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy International Cricket Stadium, where they will play the series against India 'A', India 'B' and Sri Lanka.

West Indies will then travel to Mumbai, where they are due to face New Zealand Women U19 at the D.Y. Patil Stadium.

West Indies’ first match is on Sunday at 9am local (11:30pm Saturday Eastern Caribbean/10:30pm Saturday Jamaica).

Head Coach Steve Liburd has said the overall aim of the tour is to see the players improve on all areas, as well as get vital preparation ahead of the ICC Women’s Under-19 T20 World Cup early next year.

Before departure for India, the team had trial matches and a camp in Trinidad.

“Things have been going extremely well since we assembled in Trinidad. The first two days of camp were used to play trial matches. Following that, we had skill sessions at the facilities at the National Cricket Centre. We focused on strike rotation against spin. We are trying to get the girls to understand from an early age how to use the depth of the crease, use of their feet, sweeping against spinners, and just being more

effective against spin. The overall aim for the girls is to be a bit more proactive, especially during the middle phase of the innings, which we were stagnant before…that's something we want to improve on,” Liburd has said.

“For this tour of India, it is very important towards their development. The aim is to show growth in all those things which I listed out, just to see where we are. We have the batting plans and we want to see how well we can implement them. Also, from a bowling point of view, we also have some plans (and) we want to see how well we can implement those.

“As a fielding group, the major aim is to see how we can affect the game and create opportunities to build pressure and take wickets. So those are areas we are looking to judge or develop, and see where we need to add and do better leading into the World Cup."

This series in the sub-continent will form a crucial part of the team’s preparations for the inaugural ICC Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup 2023. The global event will feature 41 matches played from 14 to 29 January in South Africa.

The official warm-up matches will be from 9 to 11 January. The 16 participating teams will play in four groups in the preliminary round. West Indies have been drawn in Group C, alongside New Zealand, Ireland and Indonesia.

FULL SQUAD

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MATCH SCHEDULE

* Sunday, 13 November – vs India ‘’A at Vizag (9am)

* Tuesday, 15 November – vs Sri Lanka at Vizag (9am)

* Thursday, 17 November – vs India “B” at Vizag (1pm)

* Saturday, 19 November –Final at Vizag (1pm)

* Tuesday, 22 November – vs New Zealand at Mumbai (1pm)

* Thursday, 24 November – vs New Zealand at Mumbai (1pm)

…GCB’s Singh lauds initiative as another significant step in youth cricket development

GCB President Bissoondyal Singh

TTCB President Azim Bassarath

The Guyana Harpy Eagles have recorded a 129-run win against the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) team in a match played at the Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad, and have now booked a semifinal spot in the CG United Super50 Cup.

Batting first, Guyana posted 266 all-out in 47.3 overs before restricting CCC to 137 all out in 36.1 overs. CCC had a faststart, with Kristan Kallicharan blazing 32 in a first-wicket stand that lasted for 7.2 overs and yielded 52 runs. After that wicket, Guyana bowlers kept things tight, which enabled Kevin Sinclair to claim 3-25 in 10 overs.

The CCC batsmen showed their inexperience against some disciplined bowling, but Captain Denesh Ramdin stood tall as he put up a resistance for his team. However, he was left stranded on 32 not out, as Nial Smith claimed 3-21 in 6.1 overs in his first match of the season.

Earlier, the Eagles, having won the toss, opted to bat first; and after Anthony Bramble had

departed for 18 from 25 balls, Kemol Savory and Tevin Imlach took the score from 26-1 to 159-2, adding 133 runs before the second wicket fell.

Savory, who scored his second List A half-century,

faced 101 balls and scored 69 runs, including six boundaries. Imlach was then bowled for 75 from 88 balls, after producing an innings that featured one four and two sixes.

NAMILCO Thunderbolt Flour Power U17 Football League launched in Moruca

At launching of the Moruca

NAMILCO “Thunderbolt

Flour Power” Inter Club Football League, done last Sunday at the Kamwatta Recreational Ground in the Moruca sub-region of Region One (Barima-Waini), top teams Atkinson Brothers FC, Golden Eagles FC, and Mighty Warriors FC each recorded a victory against worthy opponents.

In front of a massive crowd of partisans, Atkinson Brothers FC defeated Friends United FC 3-1, Golden Eagles FC trumped Alpha United FC 7-0, and Mighty Warriors FC won by virtue of a walkover, as Silver Sands FC were absent.

Atkinson Brothers playmaker Carlos Rodrigues netted a double, while his equally adept team mate Kevin Joseph chipped in with a single. Friends United FC player Cardell Lucas was the only one to respond, and with a lone goal, thus Atkinson Brothers eventually won the match 3-1.

The Golden Eagles were

literally like birds of prey as they dominated the match against Alpha United, with Dolph James, Allister Henry and Samuel Azaire each scoring a double, and Elon Bjorn Heart nailing a single to help the Eagles record a massive 7-0 win.

Before the games commenced, Silver Sands, Golden Eagles, Friends United, Mighty Warriors, Atkinson Brothers and Alpha United FC each received football gear from Executive members of the Barima-Waini Football Association Interim Committee.

Meanwhile, Moruca’s next fixture is on November 20, when

another triple header would be on offer. Friends United FC will take on Alpha United FC at 11 am, Mighty Warriors FC would oppose the strong Golden Eagles FC at 1 pm, while Atkinson Brothers FC would engage Silver Sands FC at 3pm. All games are being played at the Kumaka Recreational Ground in Moruca.

The newly-formed BarimaWaini Football Association Interim Committee has now joined the Guyana Football Federation’s Nine other footballplaying associations to manage the run-off of the GFF-NAMILCO “Thunderbolt Flour Power” U17 Inter-Club Football League.

Shimron Hetmyer came and looked dangerous, but his brief stay produced 21 runs from 16 balls. The left-hander struck two fours and one six before being caught-and-bowled by off-spinner Isaiah Ali.

Guyanese wickets fell at regular intervals, with Leon Johnson and Sherfane Rutherford being run out cheaply. Kevin Sinclair, promoted to number five, made 27 from his 19 balls, and Gudakesh Motie's unbeaten 20 took Harpy Eagles to 266 all out in 47.3 overs.

The CCC bowlers shared the wickets, with Ali accounting for 2-39 with his off-spin.

The semi-finals will be played in Antigua next Wednesday and Thursday.

SCOREBOARD

Guyana Batting

Anthony Bramble

c Ramdin b Forde 18

Kemol Savory c

Mansingh b Greaves 69

Tevin Imlach b Greaves 75

Shimron Hetmyer c & b Ali 21

Kevin Sinclair b Ali 27

Leon Johnson run out 1

Sherfane Rutherford run out 10

Romario Shepherd

b Goodridge 11

Gudakesh Motie not out 20

Veerasammy

Permaul lbw b Forde 4

Nial Smith b Goodridge 0

Total (10 wickets, 47.3) (10 extras) 266

FOW: 26/1 (6.5) Anthony

Bramble 159/2 (33.2) Kemol

Savory 191/3 (37.6) Tevin Imlach

191/4 (38.1) Shimron Hetmyer 195/5 (39.2) Leon Johnson 220/6 (41.5) Sherfane Rutherford

236/7 (43.2) Romario Shepherd

245/8 (44.4) Kevin Sinclair 261/9 (46.6) Veerasammy Permaul 266/10 (47.3) Nial Smith

Bowling Matthew Forde 9-1-41-2

Amari Goodridge 9.3-1-55-2

Romario Greaves 10-0-65-2

Abhijai Mansingh 7-0-39-0

Isaiah Ali 9-1-39-2

Navin Bidaisee 3-0-25-0

c

Kyle Roopchand c Permaul b Motie 21

Jonathan Drakes

c Johnson b Motie 6

Navin Bidaisee lbw b Sinclair 10

Denesh Ramdin not out 32

Odain McCatty c Rutherford b Sinclair 4

Matthew Forde b Sinclair 10

Romario Greaves

c Bramble b Smith 1

Amari Goodridge lbw b Smith 0 Abhijai Mansingh

c Savory b Shepherd 2 Isaiah Ali b Smith 5

Total (10 wickets, 36.1) (14 extras) 137

FOW: 52/1 (7.2) Kirstan Kallicharan 62/2 (11.3)

Jonathan Drakes 90/3 (20.2)

Navin Bidaisee 96/4 (22.4)

Odain McCatty 123/5 (30.4) Matthew Forde 124/6 (31.2)

Kyle Roopchand 127/7 (32.3)

Romario Greaves 127/8 (32.4)

Amari Goodridge 132/9 (35.3)

Abhijai Mansingh 137/10 (36.1)

Bowling

Kevin Sinclair 10-0-25-3

Romario Shepherd 5-0-25-2

Veerasammy Permaul 7-0-36-0 Nial Smith 6.1-0-21-3 Gudakesh Motie 8-0-21-2

Ms Ormelindie Gildarie BWFA

2rd Vice Chairperson donated football gear to Mr Barry Atkinson, Atkinson Brothers FC manager, in the presence of club members

In photo, from L-R are: Ms Ormelindie Gildarie, BWFA’s 2nd Vice Chairperson; Ms Ingrid Harris, BWFA’s Treasurer; and Mr. Sherwin Viverous, RDC Councillor responsible for Sports, pose at the launching of Moruca NAMILCO U17 Games. Gratitude is extended to the Atkinson Brothers for their unwavering support, and to the Mighty Warriors FC for preparing the venue

CCC Innings

Kirstan Kallicharan

Sinclair b Shepherd 32

Guyana Harpy Eagles are into the semi-finals

Tevin Imlach topscored for Guyana

guyanatimesgy.com

Muir, Singh, Ramchand, Jeffery lead respective time trials

The South Dakota track came alive yesterday as the time trials got underway. The races saw Troy Muir leading the pack for the Street Tuners, while Groups 2, 3 and 4’s qualifying results saw Chet Singh, Anand Ramchand and Kristian Jeffery leading their respective groups.

With the time trials out of the way, all eyes will now be fixated on the final leg of the

In the time trials, Troy Muir prevailed with a time of 1:50.68 and a best speed of 52.033. Coming in second was Altabh Khan with a time of 1:52.965 and best time of 50.989, while Vicky Persaud came in third with a time of 1:54.639 and a best time of 50.245. In fourth position was Naresh Alves with a time of 1:57.384 and a best

fifth to eight positions were Jorge Zafiro Ramirez (1:57.640), Harold Hopkinson (1:59.737), Sanjeev Caimraj (2:01.225) and Sadeek Yaseen (2:01.731).

In Group 2, Chet Singh dominated with a time of 1:46.919, while Shan Seejatan came in second with a time of 1:46.931 and Anand Ramchand was third with a time of 1:48.057. Coming in at

In Group 3, Anand Ramchand led the pack with a time of 1:43.393. Danny Persaud was second in 1:56.461, Afraz Allie was third in 2:20.013, and Gavin Guyadin and Stefan Jeffery came in fourth and fifth respectively.

In Group 4, Kristian Jeffery

led the pack with a time of 1:29.471, and Mark Vieira and Kevin Jeffery came in second and third with times of 1:29.686 and 1:38.950 respectively.

In the Starlet Cup, Anand Ramchand led the pack with a time of 1:41.423. Following Ramchand were Danny Persaud, whose time was 1:49.817, and Afraz Allie, who registered 1:52.474. Coming

in from fourth to ninth were Shairaz Roshandin, Ravindra Dharamjit, Kevin Deodass, Gavin Deodass, Gavin Guyadin, Nyron Maraj and Syed Hassan.

Junior Sammy, ENetworks, Banks Beer, Prem’s Electrical, Vitality, Beharry Automotive Limited, Secure Innovations and Concepts, Government of Guyana, and Ministry of Tourism are listed as sponsors of this event.

By TimoThy Jaikarran

The PMT20 Cup has commenced with a bang, and all the teams went head-to-head on day one. In the end, the best of the best remained on top of the table. However, on the second day, it was crunch time, as the top teams duked it out in the semifinals to book their spots in the grand finale, to be played at the National Stadium at Providence, EBD.

In the semifinal fixtures, the teams that book their spots in their respective finals were: Regal Legends and New York Softball Cricket League in the O50 category; 4R and Trophy Stall in the ladies’ category; Regal Masters and Ariel Masters in the O40 category; and Name Brand and Guyana Knight Riders Ariel All-Stars in the Open category.

In the Legends category, Regal Legends will now play New York Softball Cricket League in the final today. In the over-50 semifinal category, played at MYO, Parika Defenders made 136-8 in 15 overs, batting first. Oswald Chandla scored 44, as Eric Thomas took 2-14. Regal Legends responded with 141-5 in 10.5 overs. Mohendra Arjune

led with 39, and Ramesh Narine scored 32. Chandla took two wickets.

At Eve Leary, NYSCL managed 138-8 in 15 overs. Ravi Sahadeo scored 41 as Mahase Chunilall picked up 3-16. East Coast Legends were bowled out for 85 in 13.1 overs in reply. Chunilall made 31. Quayam Farouk, Doodnauth Nandalall, Jagdesh Persaud and Ronald Evelyn each took two wickets.

In the first semifinal in the ladies’ category, Upper Demerara Allstars duked it out with 4R. Upper Demerara posted 83 all-out in 10 overs, of which Natalia Hall top-scored

with 20. Bowling for 4R, L Smith took 2-14 and H Mohammed took 2-16.

In the chase 4R were too hot to handle, and ended on 84-3 in 9 overs. Leading the charge for 4R was J Vanserima with 17 and A. Scott with 15.

In the other game, in which East Coast Warriors played Trophy Stall, East Coast ended on 81-7, and in reply Trophy Stall scored 82 without loss in 9.2 overs. This means that Trophy Stall and 4R will now face off in the final.

In the open semifinals at Queen’s College, Ariel batted first and posted 171-7 off their

reduced quota of 12 overs. Jonathan Fernandes made 63, while Keon Sinclair scored 45 and Zamal Khan made 18 not out. Asif Hyman took 2-50.

In reply, Speedboat were bowled out for 82 in 9.5 overs. Davendra Mohan made 18 and Safaz Esau made 12. Eon Hooper grabbed 4-34, Keyon Sinclair took 3-19, and Jonathan Fernandes took 2-17.

In the other game, Regal batted first and managed 131-6 in 12 overs. Sachin Singh made 49, Delroy Perreira made 24 and Fazal Rafiek made 22 not out. J Sampson and K Gangaram each took two wickets.

Name Brand responded with 136-4 in 11.4 overs. S Sukul made 48, while A. Judister scored 25 and K Gangaram 23. Kevin Orford took two wickets.

Regal and Ariel will play in the Over-40 final, after winning their respective semifinal games.

Also sharing her thoughts on the lucrative tournament was GSCL Inc Organising Secretary Telesha Ousman Yamin, who thanked God for maintaining good weather so the tournament could get underway. She said she is very optimistic that excellent days of play are ahead, especially with the finals set for today at the National Stadium.

“We are expecting lots of support at the Guyana National Stadium. For two years, cricket was played under strict restrictions with COVID-19. But with everything open up, we are expecting a big crowd and lots of support for the teams,” Yamin shared.

She explained that what has most impressed her is the level of play from the teams. She explained that softball has evolved, as teams are coming from all over the world and the players are upping their game, which impresses her with the level of maturity they have shown.

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series: the Radicals Caribbean Cup series, today.

Nasrudeen Mohammed, Keron Rodrigues, Mark Williams and Shahab Roshandin.

GSCL Inc Organising

Secretary Telesha

Ousman Yamin

The semifinal action between the Legends also saw rain halting the game

Radicals Caribbean Cup Series to conclude today