Guyana Times - Sunday, November 20, 2022

Cost oil audit of ExxonMobil almost complete – lead auditor …draft

report to be submitted by next month

FERRY SCHEDULE

Work by an AmericanGuyanese consor tium of auditors, to audit approximately US$7.2 billion in ExxonMobil cost oil claims, is nearing com pletion, with the head of the consortium saying that a preliminary report could be presented to the Government in the early part of next month.

This was revealed by Professor Floyd Haynes, in an exclusive interview with this publication. The RHVC consortium he leads (Ramdihal and Haynes, Vitality Consulting) and Eclisar Financial & Professional Services (EFP), joined forces for the au dit with United States (US) based companies Martindale Consultants Inc, and Squire Paton Boggs, earlier this year.

Work on the audit of fis cal years 2018, 2019 and 2020, started in August. According to Haynes, they have almost completed their field work and will now move into preparing an in terim draft report. Once that draft report is submit ted, the Government is ex pected to examine it and provide their feedback.

“We expect to wrap up field work early next week. By the end of next week for sure. Most of it we’re already done. And then we expect to have an interim draft report submitted to the Ministry of Natural Resources, in the first week of December. That is the plan,” Haynes said.

It was explained by Professor Haynes that af ter they put together the lo cal consortium, they went out and found an interna tional auditor in the form of Martindale, with the requi site experience. According to the Professor, the goal was to work alongside them and learn. It is a goal that Haynes believes was accom plished.

“The goal is to build local capacity, with the idea that over a period of time, we could have the talent here that could take on the audit, on behalf of the Government. The way we went about do ing that, we had two of our staff, local guys, embedded in the audit team. They flew to Oklahoma and have been there for six weeks, work ing side by side alongside

Martindale consultants, the lead auditors.”

“Our guys just returned, I think, last week… and go ing forward, we intend to in crease that number. We may be able to accelerate the pace at which that knowledge and skills are transferred. But as of now I think we’re accomplishing those objec tives,” Professor Haynes ex plained.

Fully cooperating Haynes also emphasised that ExxonMobil was ful ly cooperative and willing to provide information to the auditors upon request. According to Haynes, the process went smoothly un der the circumstances.

“I would say they’ve been extraordinarily cooperative. The process of itself went very smoothly. With these types of things, back and forth. So, in all that I would say it went well. They were forthcoming with informa tion.”

“We had questions. They were willing to provide ex planations. Some of the ex planations we may or may not have agreed with. But nonetheless they were pro vided to us. And all of the information we requested, they responded,” he said.

Haynes also cautioned that the cost oil audit was not a witch-hunt. While he assured that they left no stone unturned in their quest for the truth, he called it a mistake to accuse an oil

company of inflated costs without first examining their books. As he put it, it is not something that can be litigated on the pages of a newspaper.

“I want to make sure, in fact I think it’s a little reck less for any audit, to go into an audit with a preconceived notion that the party under audit is guilty. It’s just not how it’s done. Unless you’ve looked at the books, exam ined it in details, no one can arrive at that conclusion,” Professor Haynes said.

The US$751,000 cost recovery audit contract, which covers profit oil from the years 2018, 2019 and 2020, was signed in May of this year in a room full of stakeholders and suppliers, during a workshop on lo cal content. Preceding fiscal years have already been au dited.

According to Annex C of the PSA Guyana signed with Exxon, pre-contract costs “shall include four hundred and sixty mil lion, two hundred and thir ty-seven hundred thousand and nine hundred and eigh teen United States Dollars (US$460,237,918) in respect of all such costs incurred under the 1999 Petroleum Agreement prior to the year ended 2015”.

When the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government as sumed office in 2020, it took over the shepherding of audits for ExxonMobil’s pre-contract and other pre2017 costs. The pre-contract cost audit was conducted by the UK firm, IHS Markit, which was hired by the pre vious Administration four years after oil was first dis covered offshore.

Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat handing over the audit contract in May of this year to the contractors in the presence of Permanent Secretary Joslyn McKenzie

Professor Floyd Haynes

Views

Editor: Tusika Martin

News Hotline: 231-8063 Editorial: 231-0544 223-7230,223-7231,231-0544, 225-7761

Marketing: 231-8064 Accounts: 225-6707

Mailing address: Queens Atlantic Investment Estate Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown

Email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, marketing@guyanatimesgy.com

Alcohol and violence

The litany of alcohol-related violence continues unabatedly to fill the newspapers and other media – especially in intimate partner and interpersonal relationships. But sadly, very little is being done to deal with the high level of alcohol abuse. While the scourge exists in all communities, like that other social pathology suicide, it is particularly prevalent among Indian Guyanese, with both arising from their indentureship experience. That origin also helped shape their reaction to alcohol consumption, which –a fact not widely known – is always socially constructed.

Provided alcohol by the plantation administration sometimes in lieu of wages, and facilitated later by permitting rum shops to be established outside “pay offices”, Indians expressed their frustrations with plantation life by venting their anger violently on each other. Violence – especially against wives and children — and alcoholism became a feature of Indian plantation life. This continued off the plantation into the present.

The epidemiological literature on alcohol consumption in New York makes a relevant point for us in Guyana: in measuring drinking problems, there were “clear cut, significant and persistent group differences…the groups with the lowest incidence of alcohol abuse, the Jews and Italians, have (a) the lowest abstinence rates among these groups, and (b) (especially the Italians) the highest consumption rates.”

Alcohol abuse is a sociological problem.

Counterintuitively, then, the groups that drink the most and have the least number of members that abstain from alcohol have the least problems with alcohol abuse. One study of Irish-Americans in Boston over a 40-year period found that they were “7 times as likely to develop alcohol dependence as Italian-Americans — this despite the Irish-Americans having a substantially higher abstinence rate.” What is going on? If nothing else, alcohol abuse is not an individual idiosyncrasy, and socio-cultural factors are as crucial as physiological and psychological ones.

“Ways of drinking and of thinking about drinking are learned by individuals within the context in which they learn ways of doing other things and of thinking about them. That is, whatever else drinking may be, it is an aspect of culture about which patterns of belief and behaviour are modelled by a combination of example, exhortation, rewards, punishments, and the many other means, both formal and informal, that societies use for communicating norms, attitudes, and values.”

Another counterintuitive finding of anthropological studies is that aggression is not ineluctably linked to alcohol consumption. “Worldwide, however, such (aggressive) behaviour is typically quite rare, even among people who drink a great deal. Numerous anthropological studies demonstrate that alcohol-related violence is a learned behaviour, not an inevitable result of alcohol consumption.”

“The way people comport themselves when they are drunk is determined not by alcohol’s toxic assault upon the seat of moral judgment, conscience, or the like, but by what their society makes of and imparts to them concerning the state of drunkenness.”

“Cross-cultural evidence from diverse populations around the world shows that some have habitual drunkenness with little aggression, others show aggression only in specific drinking contexts, or against selected categories of drinking companions, and so forth. Such widespread and diverse variation contradicts the view — shared by both `common sense’ and much scientific writing — that characterises alcohol as having a relatively direct pharmaconeurological effect in triggering aggression.”

What has also been shown to be true is that cultures into which alcohol was forcibly introduced as a measure of control within a very compressed time had no time to evolve positive drinking norms, and in fact imbibed the foisted notion that the alcohol was a precursor to “letting off steam”. This was the case with Indians in the Caribbean. “The major colonial powers exported to those areas of the globe that fell under their control not only models of drunken behaviour, but also a host of beliefs about the effects of alcohol on human beings. It may be that the widespread belief in alcohol as a disinhibitor is nothing but an ethnocentric European folk belief foisted on subject peoples around the world during the heyday of colonialism.”

$200 billion intervention relief, now 8% wage increase for Public Sector workers

Dear Editor,

One day before President Dr Irfaan Ali announced a wage increase of 8% across board for all public sector em ployees, well-known Trade Unionist Dr Nanda Gopaul and myself were engaged in a discussion on wage increase for the public sector. We both agreed that given an infla tion rate of 5.8% (which is be low most countries) that an 8% increase across the board is reasonable. We premised this forecast also on the un derstanding that the govern ment has made several in terventions into the economy to soften that heavy punch of inflation partly attribut able to the supply chain prob lems and the Guyana flood. Public service workers’ in crease would be payable with their December salary, and it would be retroactive to January 1, 2022.

The President listed some of those interventions, in cluding the removal of 50% excise tax on gasoline and duty-free allowance on cer tain building materials. However, Guyanese might not necessarily appreciate the cumulative impact of in terventions as those occurred at separate times under dif ferent circumstances. To pro vide a perspective on this, Financial Analyst Mr. Joel Bhagwandin conducted an analysis and found that relief measures total over $200 bil lion (equivalent to $254,452 per capita), or 1/3 (33.5%) of the country’s 2022 national budget.

The President also an nounced that work is be ing done to improve the sal ary scales of employees with low pay in the public sector (such as in the armed forc es, nurses and doctors, teach ers, frontline workers, etc.) and that an announcement

on these adjustments would be made next week. When asked if these measures have relevance to the 2016 “Commission of Inquiry into the Public Service of Guyana” (I.e., the role, functions, re cruitment, training, remu neration, and conditions of service in the public service), the Minister of Labor Mr. Joseph Hamilton says “no,” and notes that the PPPC gov ernment has been in the pro cess of evaluating the eco nomic situation of workers and families continually and making the necessary inter ventions for relief.

As Guyana continues to strive to narrow the income gap, as part of the country’s economic development strat egy, it has become apparent that, given the current in crease in wage and the im pending adjustments of the lower-level salary scales, the disparity between the min imum wage level of private and public sector will re main high. The disparity in 2013 was 9.8%; in 2017 it in creased to 35.7%; it dropped to 23.9% (when the govern ment increased the private sector minimum wage from

$44,200 to $60,147); and it has increased again with the current increase in pub lic sector wage (excluding the additional impending adjust ments) to 33.8%.

While the government cannot fix wage rates for the private sector, they could en act minimum wage legisla tion. They enacted one in July 2022, and another one could take place later if the private sector minimum wage rate continues to lag the govern ment ‘s minimum wage rate. While the Minister of Labor is aware that the private sec tor is taking note of the var ious government’s interven tions in the economy, he also says that the impact of the disparity at the minimum wage level is not as great as depicted by these figures since 90% of private sector workers earn more than the minimum wage (of $60,147) and that only 10% of work ers are at the minimum wage level.

Mr. Paul Cheong, Chair of Private Sector Commission supports this ratio and adds, “in most places the start ing salary is above the min imum wage. If you offer the

minimum wage, you will not get staff.” Mr. Cheong says that that it is difficult to get a laborer for less than $4,000 a day. This works out to $100,000 (25 days x $4,000) per month. He envisages that more companies would need to move beyond the minimum wage to attract workers.

Minister Joseph Hamilton emphasizes that while wage increase is important to keep pace with inflation and is com patible with workers’ welfare, this (wage increase) must be considered part of a pack age that includes workplace safety, leave allowances, uniform grants, scholarship awards, duty-free conces sions, among other things. It is assumed that state agen cies like Bank of Guyana,and Guyana Revenue Authority, would benefit from the wage increase. While this wage pay out would increase the disposable incomes of house holds and individuals, it is unlikely to increase the infla tion rate as productivity has also increased across all eco nomic sectors.

Sincerely, Dr Tara Singh

A rank from the Guyana Defence Force crossing on a rope as part of the military’s quarterly Fitness Competition for 2022 (GDF photo)

GECOM on track to host transparent LGE in 2023!

Dear Editor, Since August 2020, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has undertaken several concur rent activities aimed centrally at re-modelling and improving the organization’s previous ly sullied image, while ready ing itself for the hosting of the overdue Local Government Elections (LGEs). The asso ciated success of the work of the Commission led by Chairwoman Justice (retired) Claudette Singh is particular ly relevant and merits objec tive discussion, or the award of credit where applicable. Notable is the concomitant existence of a created volatile environment strongly influ enced and characterized by numerous continuous irratio nal positions being directed from the ‘core hub’ of leading Opposition political elements and their agents. One must therefore associate GECOM’s initial tricky period of cau tious incremental progress with the need to recover from the debacle of key operation

al managers placed before the Courts to answer charges as sociated with electoral fraud; their flagrant abuse of dis cretion, disregard for adopted precedence or legal decisions, and the need to reverse the impact of these persons on re quired organizational culture.

In examining the sig nificant work undertaken and completed to ready it self and the nation for the March 2023 scheduled LGEs, one must appreciate that the Commission’s measured suc cess and delivery thus far were not without conflict and challenges. Guyanese by now are fully aware of the rollout of the PNC’s book of tricks to create a mirage of prob lems due to their general un willingness to contest LGEs. These are evidenced by the consistently destabilizing pur suits when in and out of pow er. Historically, after more than two decades of the PNC Government of Guyana, the PPP/C held LGEs in 1994, almost immediately af ter winning the support of

the electorate in the demo cratic process of 1992. The PNC did everything to pre vent the holding of LGEs un der the PPP/C Government. However, immediately after they went into Government in 2015, they went to the National Assembly and all by themselves passed the laws to amend the Continuous Registration process making the Voters List legal for six months to hold LGEs. They did what they wanted with the List, and held LGEs in 2016 using sinister manoeuvres to create subtle strategic advan tages such as gerrymandering with the boundaries of Local Authority Areas (LAAs), with out consulting with the PPPC or other relevant stakehold ers.

Notwithstanding, the PPP/C, while observing the anomalies, never made ex cuses and went to the polls on both occasions and whipped all the other contestants. In the current setting, the Guyanese people are also wit nessing the convenient ex

cuses emerging from other “pseudo” contestants and aco lytes of the Coalition, such as the WPA and AFC, who have joined the bandwagon trying to survive under a camouflage of pretending to be relevant.

They will not contest be cause they are shell organiza tions.

The WPA has been re duced to a paper group, while the AFC, according to Ramjattan, is a “deadwood”, or rather effectively ‘Dead meat’, given their demon strated loss of purpose. The few remnants of the remain ing hopeful in their Executive are currently hanging on de pending on the now-and-then forms of condescending and baseless media critiques. As for the PNC, they will contest the LGEs because they will be looking to stay afloat in the political stream. The PNC will not want to remove them selves totally, because they do not want to fall by the wayside without having a measure of the work they need to do going forward. Moreso, Party and

Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton does not want to be re placed by default in the PNC.

Consequently, the PNC surprisingly are now forced to accept that Constitutional change is required before the removal of the alleged impugned names from the Voters List. It was the PNC leaders who institutional ized election rigging machin ery in Guyana. It took almost three decades for the people in Guyana to resist election rig ging in this country. Again, it took five months of keen struggle and a united people along with the unflinching support of the international community to stop the PNC/ APNU+AFC from stealing and rigging elections in this country in 2020.

While Guyana is a Godgifted country, thousands of our citizens were forced to flee our dear land because of the brutal, murderous, and dis criminatory practices orches trated by the PNC. To un dermine the role of GECOM as a key player in the cycle of

democratic establishment of power, Granger made a des perate attempt to give back total control of GECOM to the PNC. His illegal self-imposi tion of Patterson as Chairman of GECOM, coupled with the employment of riggers, partic ularly those before the Court for fraud and highly question able activities, evidences the confirmation of the PNC’s at tempt to re-institutionalize rigging in this country.

As our country continues to develop economically and politically, thousands of per sons in the diaspora are re turning to their homeland.

Guyana is a safe and strong paradise, with no recurring threats of earthquakes! No hurricane! And a rejected PNC! So let us welcome our people back home with open arms as proud people, and al low them to contribute.

GECOM must bring on the LGEs.

Sincerely, Neil Kumar

No nexus between dead persons and fraudulent voting

Dear Editor,

Mr Vincent Alexander’s letter, captioned “No mecha nism has been activated to re move dead persons from the voters’ list”, allows me the op portunity to put the coup de grâce on the ‘bloated list’ de bate.

Mr Alexander is demon strably more adept than Messrs. Aubrey Norton and Sherwood Lowe on the legal issues pertaining to the vot ers’ list, and in particular re garding what cannot consti tute ‘bloat’ on that list. I am fortified in this view by Mr. Alexander’s omission to re spond to my key and critical contention that persons law fully on the list cannot con stitute ‘bloat’. I construe that omission to be both a recogni tion and an acknowledgement of the unassailability of my le gal contention.

Unfortunately, Mr. Alexander dilutes his letter by his approbation of Regulation 40 promulgated under the National Registrations Act in 2005. He fails to appreciate that insofar as that Regulation authorises the removal of names from the National Register of Registrants (NRR) on the basis of residency, it collides with the Constitution and is unlawful, null, void, and of no effect.

In any event, the ratio de cidendi of the Chief Justice’s ruling on this issue in 2019, to which repeated reference has been made on previous occa sions, has likewise outlawed that regulation.

Mr Alexander concurs with me that dead persons are disqualified from the list, and ought to be removed. He and I are ad idem on the piv otal issue that those names constitute ‘bloat’. However, any alleged failure of the Chief Registration Officer to cleanse the list of those per sons is a matter for which Mr. Alexander cannot escape

responsibility. The registra tion of citizens, the de-regis tration of those disqualified, and the preparation of a vot ers’ list are all part of the du ties of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) im posed by the Constitution. Mr. Alexander is the most senior Commissioner at GECOM, and perhaps one of the lon gest serving members on that Commission since its creation -- a post for which he is remu nerated. Therefore, he can not adopt the posture of an officious bystander proffering critical commentary. Rather, he should plead mea culpa and claim at least partial re sponsibility for the problem. Were he diligently prosecut ing this cause during his pro tracted tenure at GECOM, we may not be having this ex change.

In respect of the removal from the list of persons who have died within the jurisdic tion, the Government’s pro posed statutory reforms will create a network of duties de volving upon the Registrar of Births and Deaths, the Chief Medical Officer, and the Commissioner of Police, to supply information regarding deceased persons to the Chief Registration Officer at period ic intervals. The latter two of ficers will furnish information that will enable the system to capture deaths not registered with the former. Additionally, information received per taining to these unregistered deaths will be published by the Chief Registration Officer and become part of the Claims and Objections mechanism, thereby providing an oppor tunity for political parties as well as the public to play a part in sanitising that infor mation.

A criminal offence with a hefty penalty is created for the non-removal of known dead persons from the Register. This wide array of measures

ought to comprehensively ad dress the removal of local dead persons from the NRR.

Mr Alexander also rais es the thorny issue of the ab sence of a mechanism to remove from the database per sons who have died overseas. He raised this very issue last month at the Government’s public consultations on statu tory electoral reforms held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre. As I candidly said to him then, and I reiterate now, I cannot conceive of a mea sure to address that dilemma at this point in time. There is simply no institutional frame work which exists between Guyana and its diaspora through which such data can be accurately collected and transmitted. As I did then, I hereby repeat my request for Mr. Alexander to recom mend a mechanism which can be utilised for that purpose. The fact that he did not offer one then, and does not offer one now, conclusively demon strates that he has none to of fer.

However, the solution CANNOT be to disenfranchise tens of thousands of living per sons by removing their names from the list because of an in ability to remove a segment of dead persons therefrom. This dilemma is neither unique nor peculiar to Guyana. It obtains throughout the Caribbean, where the registration system is similar. Like us, they have not resorted to the disenfran chisement of qualified electors in order to remove dead per sons from their databases.

This brings me to the final issue raised by Mr. Alexander. It is the alleged nexus which Mr. Alexander makes be tween dead persons on the vot ers’ list and voter imperson ation or fraudulent voting. Mr. Alexander makes a gargantu an leap by suggesting that the presence of dead persons on the list results in fraudulent

voting, presumably by vot er impersonation, as it is ob vious that dead persons can not vote. This is an unfounded and fanciful conclusion which Mr. Alexander’s political party continues to make and propa gandise as the basis for their loss at the March 2020 elec tions. They continue to peddle the excruciatingly nonsensi cal narrative that some 15,000 ballots were cast at the 2020 Elections in the names of de ceased/migrant persons on the list by impersonators on E-Day. How this monumen tal feat of thousands of per sons voting multiple times could have occurred without being detected by APNU/AFC leaders/ activists and support ers, members of the public, Election Observers, the Press, the Guyana Police Force, the Presiding Officers, Assistant Presiding Officers, Polling Clerks, Polling Agents for each political party, and indeed the entire GECOM machinery re mains a befuddling mystery of gigantic proportion. That all of these allegedly fraudu lent votes were ONLY in fa vour of the PPP and that they totalled the same number of votes that the PPP received over and above APNU/AFC, adds greater bewilderment to this hair-raising saga.

Were one to follow the plot line of this cryptic tale, it means that after voting for himself, each impersonator would then have voted multi ple times (perhaps hundreds), as the case may be. Every vot er knows his name will be identified on the list of elec tors at the Polling Station by a Poll Clerk. The voter produc es an acceptable form of ID or swears an oath of identifica tion. This is checked against a folio containing the person al information of the voter, in cluding a photograph. This fo lio is in possession of all the staff in that Polling Station. When the elector’s identi

ty is confirmed, his name is then ticked off on the list of electors in possession of each staff in that station. After vot ing, his index finger is then stained with an indelible ink – all of this taking place with in the full view of a Presiding Officer, an Assistant Presiding Officer, a Poll Clerk, and mul tiple Polling Agents represent ing the political parties. It is APNU/AFC’s contention that this person then returned, possibly dozens, hundreds or thousands of times during the course of that very day and voted multiple times for oth er persons without detection! Just imagine this occurring 15,000 times in a 12-hour peri od across the country in broad daylight!

This is the level of asinin

ity to which the APNU/AFC have descended.

In conclusion, there is ab solutely no evidence to suggest that the presence of dead peo ple on the list results in voter impersonation or fraudulent voting. There are sufficient checks and balances in place which are going to be further strengthened by amendments already tabled in the National Assembly, along with the cre ation of a series of offences car rying penalties as high as 10 years’ imprisonment, to pre vent voter impersonation.

Yours faithfully, Mohabir Anil Nandlall, SC MP Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs

THE OVERZEALOUS BARKER

Continuing with the miscellaneous ques tions asked by our readers, we will, today, tackle the problem asso ciated with the incessant barker.

If you have been fol lowing the “Pet Care” col umns, you would have real ised that irrespective of the topic, I am inclined to pro vide you with definitions, so that there can be no mis understanding about what we are discussing. Bearing this in mind, the scientific definition of “EXCESSIVE BARKING” is an amount of barking that causes dis tress, and which is unac ceptable to humans. This condition can be further de

outside on this cold and wet evening? It was only re cently, when I was a pup py, that I was warmly en sconced in the safe, snug, and warm kitchen with my own soft bed. What’s up? What did I do?”

I know that I am anthro pomorphizing the dog’s be haviour. But, you know,

she will continue to present the case – unceasingly.

Perhaps the canine custodian of your premis es might want to alert the caregiver that there are predators (poisonous toads, snakes, etc.) that have es tablished a home in an adjacent gutter or some secluded place on the prem ises. The dog, feeling that it has to protect its master’s home will continuously try to intimidate that undesir able intruder into leaving. Since the latter will not ac quiesce to the invitation to leave, the barking persists.

Then there is the neces sity (for the home-dog, that is) to “tell” visiting strays (or any other animals in the immediate neighbourhood) that they are tres passing.

Since the other intruders could not be bothered, then the barking continues – at least until your “Rover” un derstands that all the bark ing in the world is not going to change the current locus standi (the already estab lished state of affairs).

However, I should add that dogs that are confined solely within the home/ yard, and never taken for a walk, are more likely to use barking to communi cate with other dogs in the vicinity.

One very common cause of incessant barking is sim ply boredom, or the lack of requisite attention.

Chaining a dog, for hours and end, is clearly cruel. It is also against the law here in Guyana and all over the Caribbean. Let me also state categorically and unequivocally that chain ing a dog for extended pe riods will surely lead to the development of an aggres sive disposition. It also af fects the dog’s health neg atively.

Age and Gender

The researchers have found that incessant bark ing can occur with equal frequency in both sexes and at any age. Puppy vocali sations are more often as sociated with care–seeking (Tender Loving Care) be havior. Adult dogs seem to react with increased bark ing to deficiencies of the caregiver, not lastly ne glect and the lack of Tender Loving Care.

I must mention that Puppies (and even some adults dog) when intro duced to a kennel with other barking adults, may learn excessive barking (by obser vation), which in turn can become ob sessive.

Breed

Breeds of dogs that are on record for being high maintenance on the barking scale include Chihuahuas, Beagles, Pomeranians, Siberian Huskies, and Yorkshire Terriers. Here in Guyana, we all know that the common mongrel can fall into this category, and mainly for the reasons cit ed above.

Whatever the reasons, the caregiver must appre ciate that its ward is at tempting to “tell” him/her something and the prob lem can be fixed if you can determine exactly what is the reason for the barking.

Next week, we shall explore the possible treatment regi mens to deal with the prob lem of incessant barkers.

scribed as any incessant/ overzealous barking which can be associated with the dog’s anxiety or a funda mental pathological, be havioural disorder.

WHY DO HEALTHY DOGS BARK INCESSANTLY?

Now, dogs bark for all sorts of reasons.

They may be attempting to “tell” the caregiver: “Why am I being kept

dogs do express many of hu man traits and behavioural patterns; for example: envy; jealousy; anger; the need to be loved and to show affec tion; the desire to be the alpha male/female in the house/yard; and so on. And the dog will continue to plead (bark) his case until something is done to allevi ate its distress. Your dis regard of the dog’s needs will not help matters. He/

President Ali intervenes to have NIS address veterans’ woes

After being informed of a host of issues be ing faced by veterans at the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), President Dr Irfaan Ali has stepped in to arrange a special threeday engagement at the Guyana Defence Force’s Headquarters to address these matters.

While speaking at the 13th annual Wreath-Laying Ceremony at the Veterans’ Monument located at GDF’s Base Camp Ayanganna on Friday, the Head of State recognised that there are issues at the NIS that Government needs to look into and resolve.

To this end, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces commit ted to put together a team of NIS officers to conduct an exercise at the GDF Headquarters to specifical ly tackle challenges faced by veterans.

“Yes, NIS is a prob lem. I am offering now… to have the NIS team here for the next three days – from Monday to Wednesday – to sort out all the outstanding NIS issues that you have here with the veterans. You do not have to go line up and wait [at the NIS office],” President Ali indicated.

His intervention was in response to pleas by the President of the Guyana Veterans’ Legion (GVL), Retired Lt Col George

Gomes, who requested assis tance in addressing the vari ous challenges veterans con front at the NIS.

One of the issues he raised is the policy at NIS whereby if a person never made any claims at the NIS during their working years, when they retire and their health deteriorates, they are unable to make claims at the institution.

“People get sick when they get old. Before I retired from army, I don’t even be lieve I went to the army for anything – not even a spectacle. But now as a re sult of diabetes and these things, people are suffering [such as the] dialysis cases. But if you never reported it, and you never went to the NIS with it while you were working and while you were young, the NIS cannot give you anything.”

“Sir I am asking you to look into this. People are now getting sick when they are old and that rule at the NIS needs to be changed. We have to cater for our peo ple in their old age,” he con tended.

Another issue with the NIS that was highlighted by Gomes has to do with claims by newly retired veterans. He explained that during the massive 2005 floods in Guyana, many of GDF’s re cords were destroyed.

As a result, he point ed out that when persons

now reach the retirement age and go to NIS to make their claims, they are being told that there is no record of their contributions.

The GDF, he noted, has since come up with a system where they prepare letters indicating that the individu al in question actively served as a soldier within the requi site years. However, Gomes said that the NIS does not recognise this letter.

“Once you were in the GDF, NIS was being deduct ed from you but the NIS ad ministration is disrespect ing and not honouring those letters. The GDF is a repu table organisation and I’m certain no officer would just give somebody a letter here to take to NIS if they were not a serving soldier,” the GVL President stated.

To this end, the veteran implored with the Head of

State to have the NIS accept the GDF letters as a cred ible record for retirees to make claims on their contri butions.

Meanwhile, President Ali further committed to implementing programmes and policies for the uplift ment of Guyanese especially the men and women in uni form.

Only Thursday evening, the Guyanese leader an nounced an eight per cent salary increase for all pub lic servants and revealed that the permanent salaries of public healthcare work ers and members of the dis ciplined services are being reviewed. An announcement on the latter intervention is expected in the coming days.

Nevertheless, the Commander in Chief on Friday reminded of the steps already taken by his

Government to enhance the lives of the serving mem bers, particularly in the ar eas of housing and educa tion.

“We have embarked on a programme that is allow ing men and women in uni form today to own their own homes. I took a personal in terest in ensuring that there is a special window to al low them to own their own homes, both at the Ministry of Housing and through the banking system…”

“I took a personal inter est to ensure that their edu cational upliftment is being guaranteed. Never before did we ever have so many men and women in uni form doing a degree, a diplo ma or post-graduate train ing or a specialised training in the history of the Joint Services—never before,” he contended.

Moreover, President Ali reassured that his Administration intends to do a lot more for the coun try’s pensioners and elderly.

“We raised pension by 40 per cent. Yes, it’s still not enough. We will do more… We must do more for our pensioners and elderly, and we will do more. We will do a lot more. In my announce ment, you heard me say that we are progressing in a very phased manner and the next set of announcements will shake some heels in this country,” the Head of State

posited. Since the PPP/C Administration took office in August 2020, senior citizens have benefitted dramatically from a number of initiatives including the increase in old age pension from $20,500 to $28,000. This measure alone placed $22 billion annually into the hands of pensioners.

Additionally, last year, this segment of the popula tion benefitted from a oneoff grant of $25,000. To fur ther offset the rising cost of living, President Ali, for a second year, announced last month a $28,000 one-off cash grant which is current ly being distributed to pen sioners across the country.

Pensioners have also benefitted from the reintro duction of the water subsi dy as well as easier access to their entitlements under the current Government. (G8)

Guyana Veterans’ Legion President Lt Col (ret’d) George Gomes

President Dr Irfaan Ali speaking at Friday’s wreath-laying ceremony

2 arrested as Police find guns at Haslington, Golden Grove

Two men are now in Police custody after they were found with guns in their possession on Friday and Saturday at separate locations on the East Coast of Demerara.

The first incident oc curred at around 20:50h on Friday.

Police said that, acting on information received, a Deputy Superintendent and a party of Police ranks went to Haslington/ Enmore Front, East Coast Demerara (ECD), where they contacted a 37-yearold wash bay owner.

Minibus BAC 140,

which was at the wash bay, was searched in the presence of the wash bay owner, and a firearm was found under the driver’s seat. When told of the sus picion and cautioned, the wash bay owner claimed the bus was brought to his wash bay by a man (name unknown) to wash. The man reportedly left the bus in his care and custody and went away.

This wash bay owner was escorted to the Cove and John Police Station, where the firearm was fur ther examined and found to be an air gun.

Investigations are ongo ing.

Meanwhile, on Saturday at around 02:30h, while on patrol duties, ranks from Regional Police Division 4B, while in the vicinity of Bliss Sports Bar, which is located at the 'second bridge', Golden Grove, East Bank Demerara, observed a group of men standing on the roadway.

On seeing the Police, the men walked off, but one of whom was acting suspiciously. The Police said they observed this in dividual walking to a near by garbage bin, taking out

an object from the waist of his pants, and throwing the object into the bin.

One of the ranks ap proached this individu al (name withheld), and he said he was a 23-yearold construction worker. A search was conducted in the garbage bin in his pres ence, and the Police found one black metal object sus pected to be a firearm.

The Police told him of the allegation, and he re mained silent. He was ar rested, escorted to the Golden Grove Police sta tion, and placed in custo dy. (G9)

Break up…

…of Coalition??

Here we go again: Khemraj Ramjattan announced that as of this year-end, the AFC’s parting ways with the PNC-as-APNU!! How many times haven’t we heard this song before?? It’s “Break up to make up” by the Stylistics - which Ramjattan and Norton are both longin-the-tooth enough to know!! “Tell me what's wrong with you now, tell me why/ I Never seem to make you happy though heaven knows I try// What does it take to please you? Tell me just how/I can satisfy you woman, you're drivin' me wild/ Break up to make up, that's all we do/ First you love me then you hate me/ That's a game for fools”!!

It all started so romantically after the smooth-talking Granger dropped on one knee (he reserved the twoknee drop for the Church!!) and proposed back in 2015. Ramjattan played coy and blushed that he’d become “Dead Meat” if their transgressive union were consummated!! But in the end, after the Sanctimonious Granger signed a prenup (called the Cummingsburg Accord) Ramjattan was persuaded by the promised Dowry!! Nine Ministries, a Prime Ministership on steroids to his ex-PPP sidekick Nagamootoo – and outriders even to pick up a “large” at the corner Rum Shop!!

But leopards can’t really change their spots, can they?? So how could an old PNCite like Granger – who was suckled with PNC milk at the feet of Burnham himself! –share power?? Ramjattan should’ve filed for divorce the moment Nagamootoo got “Larwah” rather than “powah” - and half of his Ministry was hived off to Felix!! But that’s the problem with these Marriages of Convenience, isn’t it?? They’re totally transactional and cold blooded - unlike Marriages of Commitment where, after a long courtship, the couple know each other and tie the knot because they have the same goals.

But Ramjattan and the AFC did get those nine MP seats and the big fight coming up after they depart after December is whether they’ll be allowed to keep those jewels. Ramjattan seems to be pinning his hopes on Granger being the Representative of the List – and with his beef with Norton – will stiff them!! Ramjattan can claim he’s merely getting his deserved alimony!! But after Ramjattan and his AFC endured so much humiliation during the marriage, there gotta be some action by Norton that was the final straw.

Like most abused spouses, he hadn’t left because “where would he go??” He’d risked a trial separation at the last LGE and was left naked and bleeding!! Your Eyewitness thought he’d remain with the PNC at least till the next LGE – where he could garner some local power from under their skirttails!!

So was he constructively kicked out after being denied any rewards - like in Linden??

…at Queens??

After all the hoopla of getting one’s kid into Queens there must’ve been a tsunami of schadenfreude sweeping over all the parents whose little darlings hadn’t made the cut!! Seems that behind the walls of that coveted institution - pretty much formed to be a finishing school for the elites - life was no different than in your average ghetto school!! Ahh…how low has the mighty fallen!!

It’s like all the other institutions the Brits bestowed on us - and we let the jungle back in? Like Parliament where MPs wave dildos, blow whistles, seize the mace and assault its guardian - while hurling racist imprecations!!

The rot started when Burnham made Queens co-ed in 1976…Eton and Harrow still only accept boys!! Now if you think your Eyewitness is “sexist”, chew on this: Do you think that father would’ve protested if there was a scuffle between his son and another boy??

Nah!! The father became irate when a BOY assaulted his DAUGHTER and was then she was forced to APOLOGISE!!

…of “real” Guyanese

With the Local Content Policy about to be tightened to prevent “rent a Guyanese” front men and women for foreign businesses compliance, expect some ingenuous ruses.

Like foreigners marrying GUYANESE to get OUR citizenship!! Imagine that!!

Govt looking at long-term sustainability of salary increases – Public Service Minister …assures

The announcement of an eight per cent sal ary increase for pub lic servants is premised on the long-term sustainabili ty of salary increases, with Public Service Minister Sonia Parag assuring that the Government has the long-term interest of public servants at heart.

During a recent broad cast, Parag alongside her Cabinet colleague Public Works Minister Juan Edghill, spoke about the sal ary increases and referenced some of the calls from oth ers like the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), for Government to grant a dra matically larger increase.

“You’re looking at a longterm situation. So, if you have a group of persons that fall within $40-$50,000, you have to be very economical in the way that you increase salaries. Because if some thing is to happen to any one of the sectors that help us to earn, tomorrow, how do we sustain it? So, sustainability is a big deal.”

“Therefore, when people argue that there should be this amount of increase and a 50 per cent increase, as the GPSU called for last year, I don’t believe it’s economical because you have to sustain it,” Parag said.

Minister Parag explained that the Government will be

expected to roll out another increase next year. She as sured that the Government will continue to improve the overall welfare of public ser vants and will not only be looking to provide them with an increase.

“Then next year you still have to give an increase, be cause the public servants are looking forward to them be cause they deserve it for the work that we do. But I want to say to public servants that this is of course just one phase. And next year comes again and we will continue to look after their lives.”

“And what is important to note is that when a coun try has to manage its purse, it has to manage it in a very smart and economical way. So, while you may give a cash grant to a specific cat egory of workers, to cush ion everything happening in the sector, with increases in wages and salaries, it’s a dif ferent thing,” Parag said.

On Thursday, President Dr Irfaan Ali announced an eight per cent salary in crease for all public servants as his Government contin ues to implement measures to improve the lives of all Guyanese. He also explained that this increase will be ret roactive to January 1, 2022.

“My Government will be paying an across-the-board increase of eight per cent to

public servants, teachers, members of the Disciplined Services, constitution al office holders, as well as Government pensioners,” he declared.

According to the Head of State, work will commence immediately to ensure that this increase is processed and paid to eligible employees to gether with their December salary. In addition, the President also indicated that further announcements will be made regarding specif ic categories of public sector employees.

“I have instructed those options be identified for ad justment to the salaries paid to a number of specific cat egories of public sector em ployees. These include, in the first phase, ranks of the Police Force, Prison Service, and Fire Service.”

“Additionally, a similar exercise is currently being conducted and recommen dations being made in re lation to specific categories of employees in our public healthcare system, including nurses, interns, doctors, and other healthcare profession als,” the Guyanese Leader said.

President Ali posited that his Administration contin ues to place high value to the hard work that Government employees do every day in delivering services to the

People of Guyana. To this end, he contended that the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) regime is reso

lutely committed to ensuring that the lives of all Guyanese are improved steadily in a tangible and demonstra

ble manner as they work towards realising national prosperity for the benefit of everyone. (G3)

salary, other benefits will continue to be boosted

Election CoI to resume on November 28

…on course for January 2023 completion

The Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the 2020 General and Regional Elections, which took a break over a week ago following the testimo nies of several witnesses, is expected to resume its work from November 28 and continue until the mid dle of December.

This was revealed by CoI Secretary Javeed Shadick, in an interview with the media. Shadick explained that as the ev idence unfolds, they may need to call back witnesses to clarify their testimonies, or even get more witnesses.

“It was taken to a good point, to pause, gather as much as we can and then, during this period, we’ve been working on speak ing to the witnesses who’ve (testified), see if there is more information that they may have gotten,” Shadick said.

Shadick added that when the proceedings re sume, they will be able to go in depth into more tes timony. He also noted that the CoI is on track for its previously announced com pletion in January of 2023.

The last day the CoI was held, November 10, saw tes timony from Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) Chief Executive Officer

Sase Singh, who was a scrutineer during that period and Information Technology (IT) Manager Aneal Giddings.

Singh told the Commission that he was a supernumerary agent for the PPP/C and on March 4, 2020, after for mer Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo took ill and had to be escort ed from the Region Four Command Centre at the Ashmins building by med ical officials, the then Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield provided two new Deputy Returning Officers (DROs) to continue the verification process.

However, Singh recalled that there was a “funda mental difference” with

the process after the two GECOM officials were us ing pre-prepared spread sheets and not the SoPs, as was done prior, to ver ify the votes. He said that Lowenfield had explained that this new method would add efficiency to the process.

But he disclosed that he had no idea what was on the spreadsheets, how they were prepared, by whom, using which data and when. Despite objections by the agents from the various political parties, Singh said the GECOM officials con tinued using the spread sheets to reconcile their fig ures with that of the SoPs in possession of the party agents and observers pres ent.

CoI Secretary, Javeed Shadick

What, if not peaceful politics?

Irespond to Tacuma Ogunseye’s letter in two dailies, which was a riposte to my intervention, “The opposition’s struckin-the-past mode provided critical opportunities for the PPP’s well-oiled machinery”. I had made the point that Guyana now being is a nation of minorities, while ethnicity still dominates politics, any party that desires to take office – which is their raison d’etre – must attract voters outside of their ethnic bases.

Tacuma claims that “Dev is confusing general opposition politics and the politics of the African–Guyanese (African) condition”. If so, I would like Tacuma to explain why the “politics of the African Guyanese condition” cannot be articulated within our political system?? If, for instance, as I suggested, the Opposition takes a more accommodative stance towards non-African Guyanese, are there not political parties like the present WPA that take a more Afro-centric position to highlight African interests? Or African Guyanese “cultural” groups like ACDA that do the same from within civil society??

I am hoping Tacuma has not again given up hope of our political system delivering justice to African Guyanese, as he evidently did following the 2002 Prison outbreak, and defended the bandits holed up in Buxton as an “African Armed Resistance”. In a 2007 letter, “A multi-racial front against the government is not possible”, in addition to street protests, he proposed the option to “support an armed resistance and give it political legitimacy”.

Later, on the eve of the 2011 elections, after ACDA had called for street protests against the PPP, which I had argued against, Tacuma on behalf of the group delivered his “Riot Act speech”. “If we win, we sharing the government with them, but we also have to tell them that if we lose, we are going to fight and bring Guyana to a halt until we have a national government in which the representatives of African people and the combined opposition is part of parliament; Comrades, we are announcing the Riot Act… Once the African people rise up in their great numbers, I dare the army to take the side of the PPP and against Africans. Our sons and daughters would not do that…Come elections night when the results come out, Africans must have a share in the government, there must be a national government or there will be no Guyana!” Interestingly after the PPP was neutralized in 2011 and defeated in 2015 by the combined Opposition and were not brought into any “national government”, ACDA did not “bring Guyana to a halt”.

In his recent letter, Tacuma concedes that while “Guyanese elections is an ethnic census, it is possible, as… in the 2015 elections, that there can be a deviation from the norm. But the real question is, is it sustainable?” But that’s the point, isn’t it?? It is up to the PNC to make the politics of moderation and accommodation to attract “outside” voters sustainable.

As I pointed out, the PPP has gone so far in that direction that the Opposition is now strenuously engaged in physically preventing them from entering “their strongholds”.

As Tacuma pointed out, the PNC under Corbin did ignore his exhortations and others like Eric Philips’, to engage in street protests, and went on to jettison its name by forming APNU, which entered a coalition with the AFC to take office. It was David Granger, leader of the PNC and APNU, who torpedoed that initiative with his unilateral shuttering sugar and sidelining the AFC. While the model’s “sustainability” was made more difficult for the PNC to accede to office, the “potential demographic changes by new arrivals” identified by Tacuma must be seen as an opportunity to end the “old” politics. These newcomers would not have been conditioned by the old narratives, and would be more willing to give their votes to parties that are for development writ large, rather than pandering to sectional interests.

In terms of “armed resistance”, I repeat the question posed then by Dennis Wiggins, using the title of Mr Eusi Kwayana’s book. What happens “The Morning After” such an armed struggle in such a small society as ours?

“You can’t abuse people’s children” – Manickchand warns teachers

…says teachers must explore civilised ways to discipline students

Education Minister Priya Manickchand has warned teachers against abusing or beating students in the classrooms, as she urged them to find new and civilised disciplinary methods.

It was explained by the Education Minister that on any given day, she is notified through social media of teach ers abusing students. As she was speaking to young train ees of the Cyril Potter College of Education, Manickchand said the evolving world re

quires new approaches.

“You can’t beat people’s children black and blue. You can’t abuse people’s children and believe, somehow or the other, that is the order of the day. Look at you; young, fresh citizens of this world who must inform yourselves of what is the new, civilised be haviour,” she expressed.

Moreover, she sounded a warning that the Ministry will come after those teachers displaying such behaviour.

“I say that to say that it is not the Ministry of Education Education Minister Priya Manickchand

Boat captain missing after allegedly pushed overboard by passengers

The boat was then brought to shore along with the two suspects, and they were told of the allegation, arrested, and escorted to Wismar Police Station and placed in custody. The boat was searched, but nothing of evidential value was found.

Searches were later car ried out in the Demerara River for Alexander, but he was not located. Statements were taken, and an investi gation is in progress. (G9)

alone that will come after you, because we will come af ter you! It’s a different order in the world. People are go ing to demand more of you because people want to see a better world, a better coun try.”

Speaking on the conduct of teachers, the Minister un derscored that whatever be haviour is presented in the classroom would affect chil dren, either positively or neg atively.

“You have to understand that every single child in there could be adversely affected by your terrible attitude or re ally feel like the most valued human being by your good attitude. Sometimes it’s not even what you teach, it’s how you make children feel. The world is riding on your shoul

ders. What Guyana looks like is dependent on you.

Minister Manickchand cautioned that these educa tors will be held accountable not only by the Ministry.

“The nation will hold you accountable because people want a better, nicer, more de veloped Guyana.”

Just this week, it was re ported that a three-year-old child has been out of school for almost two weeks and is now being forced to relocate. This is after the little girl al leged that she and her friends were beaten by her teacher, resulting in officials at the Ankerville Nursery School refusing to allow her back at the public institution.

The child had complained that the teacher used a rul er to beat her. After refusing to return to school, the par ent visited the Department of Education, where the Education Officer made a de cision to have the child placed into another class.

The following morning when the mother went to drop off her daughter, she was re portedly greeted at the door by the Head Teacher, who allegedly told her that the teachers had a meeting and decided that they no longer want the child to attend the school and as such the moth er would be given a transfer letter. (G12)

Missing: Elick Alexander

A55-year-old boat cap tain of Silver City, Wismar, is now feared dead after he was al legedly pushed overboard by two passengers, both of whom Police say appear to be of unsound mind.

Missing is Elick Alexander.

The incident occurred around 01:00h on Saturday morning in the Demerara River about 40 feet off the Wismar shore in Linden.

Police said that Leslie Orna, who resides overseas, is the owner of a blue and white passenger boat that operates from the Wismar shore to the Mackenzie shore. Alexander is the cap tain of the said boat.

It was reported that Alexander was on the Mackenzie shore await ing passengers when Brian Hermanstyne, a 25-year-old unemployed man of Amelia’s Ward, Mackenzie, and Elden Hermanstyne, a 24-yearold unemployed man of Red Crescent Road, Mackenzie, boarded the boat for Wismar shore.

While the boat was about 40 feet off the Wismar shore, Alexander was allegedly pushed out of the boat and his body was completely sub merged by the water. The boat then proceeded north on the Demerara River.

The matter was reported to the Police and the scene was visited. A drone was immediately mounted, and during an aerial search, the boat was located in the vi cinity of Spieghtland.

Ravi Dev

Rupununi’s got talent: How Randy Austin taught himself ICT

By AlvA Solomon

If one is in Lethem and a computer-related prob lem arises, the name Randy Austin may be recom mended by residents of the Rupununi township. In fact, his knowledge and skills are at a standard where the en tities made him the ‘go-to’ person for technology-relat ed work.

Austin, who was born and raised in the Deep South Rupununi village of Aishalton, told <<Guyana Times>> that he was of fered a hinterland scholar ship to study in the capital city after completing pri mary school. However, af ter three years, he returned to Lethem and completed his secondary education at the St Ignatius Secondary School.

As for ICT, he said it all started out when a friend who worked for the Government around 2003 lent him a laptop. “Information

and Communications Technology was new to the Rupununi in 2003 when I left school, and only those that were fortunate enough to afford a computer or classes was able to have any real education on it,” he said.

According to Austin, af ter familiarising himself with his friend’s laptop, a moment of glee came when a neighbour loaned him her laptop for a month-long pe riod. “I practically lived on it from early morning to late hours in the night, even crashing it a few times and repairing it,” he said as he recalled those embryonic days in the field.

He said he became ex tremely connected to the computer, and soon after, he explored the internet. In those days, having internet was expensive, and Austin noted that since he spent many hours each day online, whatever money he made was spent on being connect

ed to the internet. “It was expensive at the time, $500 per hour for dial up inter net service,” he said, and he noted that the internet was very slow back then.

Austin said that as he

continued his journey into the world of ICT, he would utilise every opportunity which occurred whenever he met resource persons. “I also utilized resource per sons any chance I got to ask

questions and learn from them,” he said.

Austin noted that he also learned a lot from on-the-job training, which he did with companies such as Digicel, Lethem Power Company and IMON Wireless Service. He said he worked with those entities “as a low-lev el techie”, and he noted that this exposure ultimately contributed to his extensive knowledge of the field.

He said that as he gained more knowledge of comput ers, he started undertaking computer and phone repairs as well as programming and troubleshooting. “Since it was something I enjoyed, I found it easy, and any prob lem was like a challenge I needed to conquer for per sonal satisfaction,” the am bitious Austin noted.

Taking on the big jobs

According to Austin, af ter taking jobs for friends, they were very satisfied with the job and cost. He said when compared to oth ers in the field in Lethem as well as in Georgetown and Brazil, he was recom mended to persons like the Regional Executive Officer and the Regional Chairman, among others.

“After doing repairs and programming, they were also satisfied with my work, effectiveness and efficien cy, and costings were com mended, so they decided to make me the Go-to person for most of their tech work,” he said.

Austin noted that in Information Technology re pairs, most times the faults are minor, such as a loose cable or a reset may be needed to a device. “Stuff like that I don’t charge for, and this is a major factor in creating trust with my cli ents,” he noted.

He credited his spir it of determination which has led him up the path of success in ICT. “Being selftaught has boost my confi dence tremendously, and it has showed me that if some one is determined enough, then nothing can stop you from learning and being one of the best in your endeav ours,” Austin said.

Being in architecture

But while he may be a wizard in the field, ICT is not his main job. In fact, it is one of his “side” sources of in come. He said architecture is one of his main sources of in come. Austin’s name is also down in the history books at Lethem as he has been the designer of several notable buildings in the border town.

He has created dozens of buildings plans, and they have since materialised into popular structures in the town. They include the Pacarimas Golden Suites, Antai Store, WOW Store, the American Store, and Ori Hotel, among others.

He said he is current ly offering affordable rates and a wide selection of choic es of building designs for the newly developed Housing Schemes in Lethem, and Austin noted that he has also been self-taught architec ture.

He said he was work ing in the capacity of Land Administrator with Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC) at Lethem when someone asked if he knew to design building plans. He said after answer ing in the negative, he was advised that he should give it a try, since not many persons were in that field in the town.

Austin recalled that art was always one of his hob bies, and as such, it was an easy transition to enter that field. “With the advice of se nior officers in similar fields, lots of trial and error and lots of frustration, mainly from hand-drawn plans at that time, I was finally able to meet a standard,” he said.

Persons familiar with his work told Guyana Times that Austin is recognized as one of the best in the Rupununi, and as such he started ob taining jobs from small, me dium and large domestic and commercial clients, both lo cal and in Brazil.

Austin noted that there exists immense potential for Rupununi youths who wish to explore the ICT field. However, he said what is needed is affordable and reli able internet service provid ers.

He said, too, that there are some private individu als, such as Mr. Welcome in St Ignatius village, who offer free internet access to stu dents so that they can get their school work done. “If more individuals like him, especially the larger busi nesses, should come on board to offer help to our youths, we can see a positive boost in that capacity,” Austin said.

Austin is a father of four. His eldest daughter recently graduated from his alma ma ter- St Ignatius Secondary - and she was among those who attained high grades at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate exams.

His youngest daughter is a year old, and Austin noted that she seems to be follow ing in his footsteps, since she is exploring her first gadget, a children’s tablet.

Austin and family members

Fairy House: The story behind the little house

By Andrew CArmiChAel

The Sunshine Garden, which is situated at Now or Never, Mahaicony, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), and known as the Fairy House, is the ideal place for beau tiful nature photographs without going to an expen sive faraway resort.

Known for its serenity, the Sunshine Garden com

It might just be the only tourist destination that is free, or still free.

Owner and operator Nadira Pooran said she did not set out to have a tourist site, noting that most per sons are initially attracted by the ‘Fairy House’ which is a unique house now filled with storybooks for kids and other items for them to

like people love it more than me,” the chuckle con tinued.

The building was con structed as a prayer house and initially used for that purpose.

The 55-year-old farm er said while moving the house from its former loca tion at De Kinderen to its

current location at Now or Never, persons were taking pictures of it as they had it on a truck along the road.

When the house was set up at its new location, peo ple just started visiting to take pictures as they were fascinated with it.

Pooran said while it was

not her intention to have it as a tourist attraction, she is not disappointed that it turned out this way.

“I make new friends ev ery day.”

While it is not a busi ness venture, Pooran said she is thinking about mak ing it one.

“It needs maintenance so I am thinking about turning it into a business.”

The facility, apart from having a corner for wed dings, is also equipped with a changing room and wash room.

bines tropical flowers with exotic shrubs and displays them in the most attractive way.

It is equipped with a chapel and is quite suitable for weddings, as it also car ries a “Just Married” sign with an extended nature background.

The Sunshine Garden is a must see, even if it is just for five minutes on a trip to

play with.

These only came into being after the house start ed getting so much of atten tion.

“It is what the peo ple make it,” Pooran said with a chuckle when this publication asked what Sunshine Garden was all about.

“Whatever you see here I always loved but it seems

Berbice or from Berbice to the capital, Georgetown.

Owner and operator, Nadira Pooran

Fairy House: The story behind the...

Unfortunately, many times when people go, Pooran and her husband are at the farm and not available to entertain them.

Speaking on the invest ment needed to take the fa cility where she now wants it to be, Pooran said she needs to provide a better washroom and a cafeteria. She said she would also like to upgrade the walk way around the facility.

“But we can’t afford it right now and nobody don’t really help you. The gov ernment never really help me or give me anything. I would like them to help me to get a little walkway, a washroom and a cafete ria...”

She said she once ap proached the government seeking assistance but was denied.

“One time they were giving money to small businesses but when I ap proached them they said

that it is closed, so I didn’t get anything.”

That was earlier this year Pooran added while

noting that First Lady Arya Ali also visited the facility.

“She came to visit but she didn’t offer anything.”

“I would be happy if we can get a little help from anybody because we can’t really afford to maintain this place.”

Pooran said she will be willing to enter into a part nership with businessper sons who are willing to as sist.

Meanwhile, Director (Ag.) of the Guyana Tourism Authority, Kamrul Baksh when asked by this publication of plans to aid in the development of that tourist facility said he is unaware of any plans to try to assist that facil

ity.

“It would certainly do well if we can meet with the facility owner to share some ideas to enhance the area. It is certainly one of the more popular stops on the route (referring to tourist destinations the media was taken to) there are others on the route. In fact, we are exploring oth er areas that we can work on; for example, there is an owner with several ranch es that we want to work with and to open the area up.

He said there are many attractions that are not as popular as the fairy House and the role of TAG is to ensure that those come to light.

Dr. Tariq Jagnarine Family meDicine, enDocrinology/DiabeTes

Diabetes is a chron ic disease that has reached epidem ic proportions among adults and children worldwide.

Uncontrolled diabetes has many serious consequenc es, including heart disease, kidney disease, blindness, and other complications.

HEALTH TIPS DIABETES FOODS TO AVOID

Prediabetes has also been linked to these conditions.

Importantly, eating cer tain foods can raise blood sug ar and insulin levels and pro mote inflammation, which may increase the risk of dis ease.

CARBS AND DIABETES

Carbs, protein, and fat are the macronutrients that pro vide the body with energy. Among them, carbs have the greatest effect on blood sugar by far. This is because they’re broken down into sugar, or glucose, and absorbed into the bloodstream.

Carbs include starches, sugar, and fibre. However, fi bre isn’t digested, and is in stead absorbed by the body in the same way other carbs are,

so it doesn’t raise blood sugar.

When people with diabe tes consume too many carbs at a time, their blood sugar levels can be raised to danger ously high levels. Over time, high levels can damage the body’s nerves and blood ves sels, which may set the stage for heart disease, kidney dis ease, and other serious health conditions.

Maintaining a low-carb in take can help prevent blood sugar spikes and greatly re duce the risk of diabetes com plications. Therefore, it’s im portant to avoid the foods and drinks listed below.

1. SUGAR-SWEETENED BEVERAGES

Sugary beverages are the worst drink choice for some

one with diabetes. First, they’re very high in carbs, with a 12-ounce (354-ml) can of cola providing 38.5 grams. The same amount of sweet ened iced tea and lemonade each contain almost 45 grams of carbs exclusively from sug ar.

In addition, these drinks are loaded with fructose, which is strongly linked to in sulin resistance and diabetes. Indeed, studies suggest that consuming sugar-sweetened beverages may increase the risk of diabetes-related condi tions like fatty liver disease.

What’s more, the high fruc tose levels in sugary drinks may lead to metabolic chang es that promote belly fat and potentially harmful cholester ol and triglyceride levels.

2. TRANS FATS

Artificial trans fats are ex tremely unhealthy. They’re created by adding hydrogen to unsaturated fatty acids to make them more stable.

Trans fats are found in margarine peanut butter, spreads, creamers, and fro zen dinners. Furthermore, food manufacturers often add them to crackers, muffins, and other baked goods to help ex tend a product’s shelf life.

Although trans fats don’t directly raise blood sugar lev els, they’ve been linked to in creased inflammation, insu lin resistance, and belly fat, as well as lower levels of HDL (good) cholesterol and im paired arterial function.

3. WHITE BREAD, RICE, AND PASTA

White bread, rice, and pas ta are high-carb, processed foods. Eating bread, roti, and other refined-flour foods have been shown to significantly increase blood sugar levels in people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

This response isn’t exclu sive to products made with re fined white flour. In one study, gluten-free kinds of pasta were also shown to raise blood sugar, with rice-based types having the greatest effect.

Another study found that high-carb foods not only raised blood sugar, but also de creased brain function in peo ple with type 2 diabetes and mental deficits.

HEALTH TIPS FOODS

TO AVOID

AND MAPLE SYRUP

These processed foods contain little fibre. Fibre helps slow the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream. In other research, replacing these low-fibre foods with high-fibre foods was shown to significantly reduce blood sugar levels in people with diabetes. Moreover, people with diabetes experienced re ductions in cholesterol.

Increased fibre consump tion also improved gut micro biota, which may have led to improved insulin resistance.

4. FRUIT-FLAVOURED YOGURT

Plain yogurt can be a good option for people with diabe tes. However, fruit-flavoured varieties are a very different story. Flavoured yogurts are typically made from nonfat or low-fat milk, and are loaded with carbs and sugar. Many people consider frozen yogurt to be a healthy alternative to ice cream. However, it can contain just as much, or even more, sugar than ice cream.

5. SWEETENED BREAKFAST CEREALS

Eating cereal can be one of the worst ways to start the day for diabetics. Despite the health claims on their boxes, most cereals are highly pro cessed and contain far more carbs than many people real ize. In addition, they provide very little protein, a nutrient that can help the eater to feel full and satisfied while keep ing the blood sugar levels sta ble during the day.

6. FLAVOURED COFFEE DRINKS

Coffee has been linked to

several health benefits, in cluding a reduced risk of di abetes. However, flavoured coffee drinks should be viewed as a liquid dessert rather than a healthy bever age.

Studies have shown the brain doesn’t process liq uid and solid foods similar ly. When drinking calories, avoid compensating by eating less late, this can potentially lead to weight gain.

Flavoured coffee drinks are also loaded with carbs.

7. HONEY, AGAVE NECTAR,

FROM

People with diabetes often try to minimize their intake of white table sugar, as well as treats like candy, cook ies and pie. However, other forms of sugar can also cause blood sugar spikes. These in clude brown sugar and “nat ural” sugars such as honey, agave nectar, and maple syr up. Although these sweeten ers aren’t highly processed, they contain at least as many carbs as white sugar. In fact, most contain even more.

8. DRIED FRUIT

Fruit is a great source of several important vitamins and minerals, including vita min C and potassium. When fruit is dried, the process re sults in a loss of water that leads to even higher concen trations of these nutrients. Unfortunately, its sugar con tent becomes more concen trated as well. Therefore, raisins contain more than four times as many carbs as grapes do. Other types of

dried fruit are similarly high er in carbs than their fresh counterparts.

9. PACKAGED SNACK FOODS

Pretzels, crackers, and other packaged foods aren’t good snack choices. They’re typically made with refined flour, and provide few nutri ents although they have plen ty of fast-digesting carbs that can rapidly raise blood sugar.

10. FRUIT JUICE

Although fruit juice is of ten considered a healthy bev erage, its effects on blood sugar are similar to those of sodas and other sugary drinks. This goes for un sweetened 100% fruit juice, as well as types that contain added sugar. In some cases, fruit juice is even higher in sugar and carbs than soda.

11. FRENCH FRIES

Diabetics need to steer clear of French fries; pota toes themselves are relative ly high in carbs. One medium

potato contains 34.8 grams of carbs, 2.4 of which come from fibre.

However, once they’ve been peeled and fried in veg etable oil, potatoes may do more than spike the blood sugar. Deep-frying foods have been shown to produce high amounts of toxic compounds, such as advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and al dehydes. These compounds may promote inflammation and increase the risk of dis ease.

Indeed, several studies have linked frequently con suming French fries and oth er fried foods to heart disease and cancer.

The main goals should in clude staying away from un healthy fats, liquid sugars, processed grains, and oth er foods that contain refined carbs. Avoiding foods that in crease blood sugar levels and drive insulin resistance can help keep people healthy, and reduce the risk of future dia betes complications.

“Tis the season to DRIVE”: 4 vehicles up for grabs from GTT

Telecommunica

tions giant, Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GTT) Company has launched its massive “Tis the Season to DRIVE” Christmas promotion, where four lucky customers will drive away with the grand prize of a Toyota Raize.

Powered by BM Soat Auto Sales and Rentals, GTT said the fuel-efficient Toyota Raize will be won by four el igible customers, who follow the guidelines on how to en ter.

To be eligible to win, new and existing GTT customers must either activate a pre paid data bundle, sign up for a new Fibre+Voice plan or purchase an in-store hand set and SIM. MMG+ sub scribers must pay two bills or more via the MMG+ app or at any MMG+ agent across the country.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Damian Blackburn said GTT wants to contin ue to impact the lives of Guyanese in a tangible way.

“Throughout our many

products and services, we have quite a diverse cus tomer base and we thought about how we can truly im pact their lives, many of them have been with us for decades…We want people to really feel the impact when we say strengthen the com munity. We have made many changes over the years to continue to provide the sup port the industry needs, our

customers are standing by us and the base is quickly grow ing, so I think this is going to be a very impactful promo tion and will bring real joy to some of our customers, their families and friends this sea son,” he underscored.

Blackburn shared that the company is ending the year with numerous achieve ments, especially in fulfilling the commitments made in

customer service delivery.

“We want to celebrate in our special way and we’ve got some great things hap pening…We make sure that we honour the commitments that we make. We started the year with a mission to become a 21st century cus tomer-centric organisation. It was a bold promise given where we got to and we’re making great strides in that regard,” the CEO expressed.

Blackburn added the company is on a transforma tional trajectory to change the way business is done.

“We’re transforming it not because we’re doing it for ourselves. We’re transform ing it solely to make sure that we give great custom er experience and service to the public of Guyana who de serve the world’s best. That is what we’re bringing,” he underscored.

The promotion will run from November 18, 2022 to January 13, 2023.

In addition to the car, customers can also win up to $10,000 MMG+ cash in their wallet, dinner, grocery and spa vouchers among other

daily prizes throughout the season when they tune in to their favourite radio sta tions.

Customers can also get deals on handsets, 4G LTE SIMs and win big prizes from Santa Claus when they con duct any other transaction at one of the company’s retail stores.

The company is encour aging its customers to stay tuned to GTT’s social media pages to find out about how they can get other valuable deals and more opportunities to win. (G12)

Attendees at the launch on Thursday evening

GTT clears backlog of landline applications

The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GTT) Company has managed to clear a build-up of landline applications in the system, which had amounted in the thousands.

Chief Executive Officer, Damian Blackburn posi tioned on Thursday eve ning that every person who needs a landline connection should be able to acquire one. With the clearance of the backlog, just over 100 applications are in the sys tem for processing.

“We had a backlog of landline applications

when I arrived into the thousands. I’m pleased to report that this morn ing (Thursday) when we checked the backlog num ber, it was 108,” he re vealed.

Blackburn credited this achievement to the tech nical workers who man aged to install these ser vices even throughout the COVID pandemic.

“The heroes of the front line in GTT are engineers who did it through COVID, dodging the weather twice a year and they have done an incredible job. We have no more backlog or waiting

Teen dies in early morning ECD accident …another battling for life at GPHC

hurt.

It was reported that the three young men were in motor car PKK 2362, and were proceeding east along the northern carriageway of Le Ressouvenir Public Road, ECD, at a fast rate of speed when the driver lost control of the vehicle. In the process, the vehicle spun twice and collided with a concrete fence just off the road's northern edge.

time on landlines.”

With the growing usage of smart phones and data connections, companies are seeking more spectrum to cater for larger demands.

The CEO shared that the company has been pleased with the way this has been awarded in the last 18 months by author ities, in meeting the needs of the population.

He added, “All opera

tors around the world need more and more spectrum. We have a plan. We apply for spectrum where we need it and we’ve been very very happy with the way the spectrum has been award ed to us over the course of the last 18 months.”

By 2024, GTT has made a commitment to have 75 per cent Fibre coverage across the country. Thus far, they have crossed

105,000 households, repre senting 55 per cent cover age.

“There is no difference between the GTT Fibre service you have here than what people are getting in the US from the big carri ers. We are further ahead in the rollout of Fibre than any of those carriers in the developed world.”

This year, GTT upgrad ed the mobile networks of its customers to LTE and will be finished this year.

“It’s been a year of put ting down massive founda tions here that we’re go ing to build on in 2023,” Blackburn assured.

Since the launch of GTT Fibre a year ago, GTT has enhanced the value for mon ey in its packages, bring ing faster internet speeds and the ground-breaking GTT Fibre + Voice ser vice including the ability to migrate a landline num ber and receive free min

utes and calling features. Reliability is increased through affordable Plume Wi-Fi mesh solution and Power backup solution op tions.

Communities equipped with GTT Fibre in the last year include Amelia’s Ward, Tucber Park, Adelphi Settlement, Best Village, Vreed-en-Hoop, Plantain Walk, Non-Pareil, Supply Village, Helena No 1, Bygeval, Good Hope, Diamond, Grove, Vigilance, Friendship, Strathspey, Bladen Hall, Buxton, Melanie, Annandale, Bachelors Adventure, Section C Enterprise, Coldingen, Enterprise Gardens, Enterprise Hymac Scheme, Leonora, Cornelia Ida, Anna Catherina, Edinburgh, Groenveldt, Stewartville, Uitvlugt, Versailles, Pouderoyen, Malgre Tout and Good Fortuin. (G12)

Ayoung man is now dead and anoth er is in critical con dition following an ear ly morning accident on the Le Ressouvenir Public Road, East Coast Demerara (ECD).

The fatal accident oc curred around 01:15h on Saturday morning.

Dead is 18-year-old Sudesh Mahadeo of Lot 20 Bee Hive, ECD. The driver of the vehicle is in critical condition at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). Another 19-yearold male occupant was in the vehicle but escaped un

As a result of the colli sion, Mahadeo was flung through the front wind shield, and onto the road. He was found lying motion lessly whilst the driver and other occupant were stuck in the vehicle.

An ambulance was sum moned but Mahadeo was pro nounced dead at the scene. The body was subsequent ly taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital's mortuary and is awaiting a post-mor tem examination.

The driver was admitted as a patient of the GPHC in critical condition.

When contacted on Saturday evening, Mahadeo’s family members were too grief-stricken to speak with the media.

Investigations are in progress. (G9)

GTT CEO, Damian Blackburn

Dead: Sudesh Mahadeo

Murder over ganja

“Gold Teeth” slapped with murder charge

Jamaal Abrams, called “Gold Teeth”, a 29-year-old mason of Westminster, West Bank Demerara (WBD), was on Friday slapped with a murder charge.

He was charged for the murder of Sherwayne Underwood, a 32-year-old construction worker of La Parfaite Harmonie, WBD.

Abrams appeared at the Vreed-en-Hoop Magistrate’s Court via Zoom before Magistrate

Faith McGusty.

After the charge was read to him, he was re manded to prison and the case was adjourned to December 15.

Last Tuesday, the 29-year-old suspect al legedly killed Underwood in a dispute over marijua na.

Reports are that the men were at Policeman Corner in La Parfaite Harmonie, imbibing, when a misunderstanding devel

oped over marijuana that the late Underwood was using.

Abrams allegedly told Underwood the weed he was using was “bush weed”, and the suspect also dealt Underwood a punch to the side of his head.

A fight ensued, during which the suspect whipped out a knife and dealt Underwood a single stab to his abdomen.

Underwood ran a short distance before collapsing

and was picked up in a con scious state by public-spir ited persons and rushed to the West Demerara Regional Hospital, where he later succumbed to his injury.

The suspect, who had made good his escape from the scene, was arrested and was escorted to La Parfaite Harmonie Police Station, where he gave a video-recorded statement under caution, admitting to the crime. (G9)

Election CoI to...

Copies of these SOPs are given to agents of po litical parties and ac credited observers at the Polling Station after votes are counted. The stake holders then use their copies to verify figures be ing used by the Returning Officers to ascertain the votes from each district.

During this verifica tion process, however, stakeholders continuous ly observed discrepan cies between the figures being called out from the spreadsheets and those contained in 17 out of 21 SOPs verified. According to Singh, this led to loud outbursts and objections by the party agents result ing in CEO Lowenfield in tervening.

He noted that while Lowenfield did not enqui ry from the DROs where the figures on the spread sheets were derived from, he did conduct an exercise with a sample of three SOPs from the 21 and re verting to the original procedure during which the discrepancies with the spreadsheet numbers were confirmed.

Giddings recalled that on March 5, 2020 at about 10:45h, he and his staff in the Tabulation Centre, which is separate from the area where the District Four votes were being reconciled, were in formed that there was a bomb threat to the build ing and that they should evacuate.

The Manager said they immediately complied with the exception of his

FROM PAGE 10

deputy, who remained to back-up the data they had compiled thus far on a flashdrive after which he also left.

While they were out side the building at a mus ter point, Giddings said he received a call from the then Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO), Roxanne Myers, asking if he processed a back-up and to handover the flash drive.

The Manager noted that while the DCEO’s request was abnormal, he complied and hando ver the flashdrive, which has been missing since. He went onto recall that while they were still out side, he made a decision to return to the building to power off the server and removed it from facil ity for its protection.

This, he explained, is in keeping with proto cols outlined in GECOM’s IT Division Disaster Recovery Plan, which al lows for the removal of servers from premises in certain situations. He told the commission that a bomb threat was an ap propriate situation to ap ply that protocol.

Other persons who tes tified on previous days include Assistant Police Commissioner and former Divisional Commander for Region Four, Edgar Thomas, Chief Elections Officer Vishnu Persaud and Ronald Stewart, who was in charge of security for GECOM during that fateful period. (G3)

Remanded: Jamaal Abrams aka “Gold Teeth” Dead: Sherwayne Underwood

Tourism Awareness Month

Tourism potential abounds in Regions 5 & 6

a destination being focused on.

“You guys will have the opportunity to experi ence some new tours; down in the Canje River by a new operator – Blackwater Adventures and also the operator has managed to package the Fort Nassau –a Dutch heritage site which has historically been very difficult to package. It is a relatively new tour, just about two years old,” Baksh said.

The potential for tourism in Region Five (MahaicaBerbice) and Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) is great. This is according to Acting Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority, Kamrul Baksh.

The two regions are be ing highlighted this year by the Ministry as part of Tourism Awareness Month. Last year, Regions Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) and

the products being offered by those operators.

According to Baksh, among some of the sites with great tourism po tential in Region Five are Dhandarry Nature Resort, the Fairy House and Parks Square.

“Other sites that have been prioritised for devel opment include Moraikobai which is the only Indigenous community in the region and the Guyana Tourism

Fort Nassau was the capital of the Dutch colony of Berbice, in present-day Guyana. It is situated on the Berbice River approx imately 88km upstream of New Amsterdam.

Baksh said that through the Tourism Ministry, the GTA has been providing training and working close ly with operators of tour ist sites. Service delivery

and first aid are some of the trainings provided.

“There is the Blairmont Sugar Estate sugar experi ence that we are working on. That can be packaged so that persons can have a sense of how sugar is pro duced and the history be hind sugar.”

He said GTA is receiv ing tremendous support from Region Five Tourism Committee and other stakeholders inclusive of the Regional Democratic Councils that “are work ing on other products such as the Novar Beach experi ence. We are going to work

with all stakeholders to en sure that the Berbice dis trict has great tourism products”.

Tourism Awareness Month is a collaborative ef fort between the Tourism, Industry and Commerce Ministry and the Guyana Tourism Authority. (G4)

Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) were highlighted.

This year Tourism Awareness Month 2022 is being observed under the theme, “All Sectors, One Tourism.”

According to Baksh, Region Five is well on its way to reaching its tourism potential. However, he not ed that in both Regions Five and Six there are many lo cations that are not very popular but attractive and well-known.

The GTA’s role is to work with regional tourism committees to ensure that they are more known and to provide the necessary men torship and support need ed.

According to Baksh, this year GTA commenced working with those small or lesser-known operators. He said they are still assessing

Authority and the Ministry of Tourism have been work ing with the community since 2016, and they were officially launched in 2020.”

He also highlighted the Mahaica Birding and Fishing Tours in Region Five.

“We have been working with them for the last few months to refine their ex periences. That is one of the experiences that will be launched before the end of this year. So far, the Authority has launched seven products in the dif ferent regions and shortly we are to launch an addi tional six, and by December 7, we will launch an addi tional four products,” he added.

According to the Tourism Director, apart from the Number 63 Beach in Region Six, New Amsterdam is also

Another 14 persons have tested pos itive for the nov el coronavirus in the last 24 hours, according to the Ministry of Health.

This now takes active COVID-19 cases in Guyana to 89, including three pa tients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the remain ing persons in isolation, that is, four in institution al isolation and the other

82 in home isolation.

One more person is also in institutional quaran tine.

The COVID-19 death toll remains at 1281, while recovered cases in the coun try also remain at 70,170.

On Friday, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony had warned that there has been an increase in the number of positive COVID-19 cases detect

ed and reiterated calls for citizens to get vaccinat ed ahead of the Christmas holidays.

Dr Anthony said that after weeks of declining COVID cases, there is now a rise in the numbers.

As such, he is strong ly recommending that per sons continue to wear face coverings in public settings despite the mandate being lifted.

Information Fair hosted for Region 10

ARegional Information Fair was hosted in Region 10 (Upper DemeraraBerbice) to boost employ ment and provide residents with vital information re garding Government pro grammes and development initiatives.

The fair was organised by the “10 Forward” Civil Society Group.

Delivering the feature remarks, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill emphasised the impor tance of youth involve ment in the agriculture sec tor and iterated the PPP/C Administration’s continued mandate of fostering job creation in Region 10.

The Minister said, “This Government was bold and brave enough to put the legal and administrative framework in place to en sure job creation for our people, to get involved in something that is mean ingful, economically viable, and good for the develop ment of our country.”

The Department of Public Information (DPI) spoke with a few patrons and exhibitors at the event. They expressed gratitude at the opportunity to engage the Minister as well as re ceive the information.

One such patron was a student of the Linden Technical Institute, Emile Persaud, who said that the information fair and the Minister’s remarks encour

aged him to explore a career in the agriculture sector.

He said, “It was quite in formative. Since Linden is mostly agriculture-based, it is very vital, and we have everything right here to get stuff done. Hemp being in troduced can also be very vital in raising the econom ics of Linden in the whole.”

Another Lindener, Nateshia Drakes, com mended the “10 Forward” group for organising the fair before dubbing it a very good initiative.

She said, “I think it was a good initiative to show case all that the various Ministries have to offer, be cause, a lot of the times peo ple don’t have this knowl edge.”

Moreover, Jada Daniels, another student of the Linden Technical Institute, emphasised how important it is to create awareness of the benefits of investing in the agriculture sector.

“It was very enlighten ing. Before I came to this fair I didn’t know that much about hemp in general, but I came here and learned a lot about how it is pro cessed, and manufactured,” she relayed.

Dawn Hector of Block 22 said that the information fair exposed her to valu able information she did not have before.

“What the Minister said today, was good. It enlight ens us about a lot of things we never knew about. We

received a lot of informa tion today. I hope that the people here understand the privilege they have in Linden here. Not only can we become doctors or law yers or nurses, we can also be self-employed.”

She continued, “This hemp farming is a very good thing for us in Linden be cause we have a lot of farm lands.”

Similarly, Bradley Fredericks also expressed gratitude at the knowledge gained from the informa tion fair, saying, “I found it very interesting, and I think it will be especially useful for the younger folks so that they can grasp the opportunity and develop themselves.”

The Regional Information Fair and Town Hall meeting featured pre sentations from Senior Research Scientist at the Agriculture Ministry, David Fredericks, and Principle Legal Advisor of the Legal Affairs Ministry, Ronetta Sargent, who enlightened the gathering on the bene fits and regulations of hemp cultivation.

Following the presenta tions, Edghill also under took one-on-one sessions with persons to listen to their concerns and facilitate any interventions where possible.

Representatives from the various Ministries were also in attendance at the in formation fair.

Ukraine war: Rishi Sunak visits President Zelensky in Kyiv as he pledges £50m in aid

Rishi Sunak has pledged £50m in defence aid to Ukraine as he met President Volodymyr Zelensky in his first visit to Kyiv since becoming prime minister.

Mr Sunak said it was “deeply humbling” to be in Kyiv and that the UK would continue to stand by Ukraine.

“Since the first days of the war, Ukraine and the UK have been the strongest of al lies,” Mr Zelensky said follow ing the meeting.

The aid package is intend ed to counter Russian aerial attacks.

The £50m defence aid comprises 125 anti-aircraft guns and technology to count er deadly Iranian-supplied drones, including dozens of ra dars and anti-drone electronic warfare capability.

Mr Sunak also announced the UK will increase the train ing offer to Ukraine’s armed forces, sending expert army medics and engineers to the region to offer specialised sup port.

It follows more than 1,000 new anti-air missiles an nounced by the UK’s Defence Secretary Ben Wallace earlier this month.

On his visit the prime min ister saw captured Iranianmade drones which have been used to target and bomb Ukrainian civilians in recent months.

Mr Sunak also laid flowers for the war dead and lit a can dle at a memorial for victims of the 1930s Holodomor fam ine, before meeting emergen cy workers at a fire station.

The prime minister said: “I am proud of how the UK stood with Ukraine from the very beginning. And I am here to day to say the UK and our al lies will continue to stand with Ukraine, as it fights to end this barbarous war and deliv er a just peace.

“While Ukraine’s armed forces succeed in pushing back Russian forces on the

ground, civilians are being brutally bombarded from the air. We are today providing new air defence, including anti-aircraft guns, radar and anti-drone equipment, and stepping up humanitarian support for the cold, hard win ter ahead.

He added that it was “deeply humbling” to be in the Ukrainian capital and have the opportunity to meet peo ple “paying so high a price, to defend the principles of sover eignty and democracy”.

Sunak’s pledge to send more air defence support is ex actly what President Zelensky would want to hear at a time when Russian airstrikes have destroyed nearly 50% of the country’s energy infrastruc ture, according to the govern ment in Kyiv.

The men’s hopes for peace and a just outcome to the con flict may feel like distant pros pects, but Mr Sunak’s prom ise to hold a reconstruction conference for Ukraine next year in London will be good news for the government and companies, which desperately need access to international fi nance.

During the visit, Mr Sunak also confirmed £12m for the World Food Programme’s re sponse to Ukraine, as well

as £4m for the International Organisation for Migration.

Downing Street said the funding would help provide generators and mobile health clinics, with the UK also send ing tens of thousands of ex treme cold winter kits for Ukrainian troops.

Labour’s shadow defence secretary John Healey tweet ed: “The government contin ues to have Labour’s fullest backing to support Ukraine, reinforce Nato allies and con front Russia’s aggression.”

Ukraine has been request ing assistance from Western nations in recent months amid intense Russian aerial attacks on Kyiv and across the country.

Earlier in the week, Russia hit Ukraine with one of its biggest barrages of mis siles yet, days after its troops were forced to withdraw from Kherson.

Kyiv was hit and there were strikes across the coun try, from Lviv in the west to Chernihiv in the north.

That attack coincided with the G20 summit in Indonesia this week where, in a virtu al speech, Mr Zelensky said he was “convinced now is the time when the Russian de structive war must and can be stopped”. (Excerpt from BBC)

Dominica’s snap general election: Skerrit among 6 running unopposed

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit is among six candi dates of the ruling Dominica Labour Party (DLP), who will not face the elector ate on December 6 when Dominicans vote for a new government in the snap gen eral election.

Skerrit and five other DLP candidates, including health minister Dr Irving McIntyre, were nominated unopposed for the election on Friday that Skerrit called two years ahead of the con stitutional deadline.

“The following seats have been declared for the Dominica Labour Party Candidates, as they were duly elected unopposed at the end of the nomina tion period,” according to a statement posted on the

Government Information Service (GIS) website.

It named the constit uencies as Vielle Case, which Skerrit has been representing since 2000, the Roseau Valley repre sented by McIntyre since 2019. The other constitu encies are in Paix Bouche, Cottage, Colihaut and Petite Savanne where the DLP had nominated new candi dates. The two main oppo sition parties, the United Workers Party (UWP) and the Dominica Freedom Party Roseau Valley have said they would be boycot ting the polls because of the lack of promised electoral re form. At least two indepen dent candidates have said they would contest the polls and the newly formed Team Unity Dominica (TUD) said

it will nominate candidates.

The Electoral Office has not yet made any issued any formal statement re garding the nomination of candidates for the 21- seat Parliament.

But prior to the Nomination Day it issued a statement stating “if at the end of seven hours, there is only one candidate duly nominated, the returning officer will immediately de clare that candidate to be duly elected. If there is more than one candidate duly nominated, the Returning Officer will adjourn the poll to the date stated in the writ, December 6th, 2022”.

In the 2019 general elec tion, the DLP won 18 of the 21 seats. The other three seats were won by the UWP. (CMC)

Ex-Malaysia PM loses seat in shock defeat

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has lost his parliamentary seat in Saturday’s general elections, likely ending the career of one of Asia’s most enduring politicians.

Mahathir came in fourth in a five-way fight in his long-held constituency in the holiday resort island of Langkawi, the country’s election commission said on Saturday.

“It’s a major sur prise that not only has he [Mahathir] lost, but he has lost in a spectacular fash ion,” Al Jazeera’s Florence Looi, reporting from outside of Kuala Lumpur, said.

“He has not only lost his seat but has lost his deposit because he has not been able to get more than an eighth of votes cast. His party has also not managed to win a single seat.”

It was the 97-year-old’s first electoral defeat in more than half a century. He served as Malaysia’s prime minister for 22 years from 1981 to 2003.

He returned to politics two years ago in the wake of the multibillion-dollar scan dal at state fund 1MDB. Mahathir held the Guinness World Record for being the “world’s oldest current prime minister” when he

became prime minister in 2018, just two months shy of his 93rd birthday.

Visibly slowed by age but still looking healthy, Mahathir ran this time around under his own Homeland Fighters’ Party and had laughed off sug gestions he should retire, telling reporters before the election that he had a “good chance” of winning. “I’m still standing around and talking to you, I think, making rea sonable answers,” Mahathir said.

He added his party would not form any allianc es with parties that are led by “crooks or jailbirds” – an apparent reference to the

United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the party of jailed former Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s ruling Barisan Nasional coali tion – which is dominated by his UMNO party – lost ground to rival alliances led by former Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

The corruption-taint ed Barisan Nasional coali tion, which ruled Malaysia since its independence from Britain until 2018, could still return to power depend ing on post-election allianc es. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Rishi Sunak meets President Zelensky in Kyiv for the first time as Prime Minister

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad

RegionalTen killed as gang bosses’ transfer sparks prison riot in Ecuador

Ten inmates have been killed in a riot at a prison in Ecuador’s capital Quito, which au thorities said took place as a result of the Government’s decision to relocate three crime bosses to a high-secu rity facility.

The prison riot and kill ings are the latest challenge for the country’s prison sys tem, in which some 400 in mates have been killed in gang-related violence since last year, the prison author ity said.

The latest unrest broke out on Friday at El Inca prison shortly after the Government said it was moving inmates it suspect ed of being the masterminds behind previous prison dis turbances to a maximum security prison.

One of the prisoners whose relocation sparked the violence, Los Lobos gang leader Jonathan Bermudez, had been responsible for previous killings at El Inca, according to a statement from the President’s office.

The prison authority said that “members of this

criminal organisation (Los Lobos) undertook violent re prisals” for the relocation of Bermudez to another pris on.

Police Commander Victor Herrera told report ers the prison had been se cured, with heavy security deployed as forensics per sonnel removed the bod ies of those killed. Herrera said the cause of death “ap peared to be strangulation”.

Since February 2021, Ecuador has expe rienced eight prison mas sacres that left about 400

dead; many of the victims were beheaded or burned.

The last gang-led prison riot was on November 8 in Quito, in which five inmates died.

Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso said the country would not be intim idated by gang leaders.

Bottom of Form Lasso also thanked law enforcement agencies for restoring order to the pris on and tackling what he de scribed as “narco-terrorist leaders”. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Lima airport: 2 firefighters dead as plane crashes during take-off

Two firefighters have died after a plane crashed into a fire truck while taking off at Peru's busiest airport.

The LATAM Airlines plane collided with the truck just before 15:30 (20:30 GMT) on Friday at Jorge Chávez International Airport in the capital, Lima.

Video posted on social media shows the plane ca reering down the runway, catching fire and smoking as it ground to a halt.

No passengers or flight crew were killed, the air line said on Twitter.

A 31-year-old firefighter is in a critical condition, ac cording to an executive di

rector of the hospital agen cy EsSalud.

Peru's Health Ministry added that 20 passengers are being treated for inju ries - two of them are be lieved to be serious.

It remains unclear why the fire truck entered the runway while the plane was taking off, bound for the southern Peruvian city of Juliaca.

During a news confer ence, LATAM CEO Manuel Van Oordt said the flight had been cleared for takeoff.

"We don't know why [the fire truck] was there," he said. "We didn't ask for their services."

The prosecutors' office

said it was investigating the incident as potential manslaughter, according to Reuters news agency.

Lima Airport Partners (LAP) - which operates Jorge Chávez Airport - has suspended flights until Saturday afternoon at the airport.

International flights due to land there have been di verted to Colombia, Panama and various Peruvian cit ies including Iquitos, Pisco, and Arequipa.

In a statement LAP added: "At this moment we are finding and investigat ing all the necessary fac tors that could determine the cause of this." (Excerpt from BBC News)

Fiscal conflict posed by Brazil's Governmentelect shows ignorance, says Guedes

Brazilian Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said on Friday the alleged con flict between social needs and fiscal sustainabil ity posed by the new Government-elect reveals ignorance and technical inability.

Canada on Friday im posed sanctions on three Haitian poli ticians, including a former President of the country's Chamber of Deputies, with Ottawa accusing them of aiding gang leaders and laundering their illicit earnings, according to a statement.

"These individuals are using their status as cur rent or previous public of fice holders to protect and enable the illegal activities of armed criminal gangs, including through money laundering and other acts

of corruption," the state ment said.

"Today's sanctions are intended to stop the flow of illicit funds and weapons and to weaken and disable Haiti's criminal gangs," said the statement, issued by the Foreign Ministry.

The sanctions will freeze any assets held in Canada by Senator Ronny Célestin, Former Senator Hervé Fourcand, and Former President of the Chamber of Deputies Gary Bodeau, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

Haiti's gangs have ex panded their power since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021, and Prime Minister Ariel Henry has faced dif ficulties in restoring order to the country.

The sanctions, which implement a UN Security Council resolu tion and build on earli er actions imposed by the United States and Canada, aim to stop the illegal flow of money and weapons into Haiti that help criminal gangs, the Ministry said.

(Reuters)

Speaking at an event hosted by the Ministry, Guedes said any retreat in any economic dimension in relation to what the current Administration is doing would be a mistake.

Leftist former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva defeat ed right-wing incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in a tight presidential runoff in October.

Since last week, Lula has been shaking finan cial markets with speech es in which he under scores the priority of social spending over fis cal responsibility.

"We launched the big gest social programme ever, with fiscal respon sibility. So what is this story about a conflict

between social and fis cal? This reveals igno rance and lack of knowl edge, technical inability to solve problems," said Guedes.

The Minister stat ed that the welfare programme Auxilio Brasil, which the next Government will rename as Bolsa Familia, could indeed be increased but financed by taxes on divi dends, which are current ly exempt.

Lula's Government transition team proposed stripping nearly 200 bil lion reais (US$37 bil

lion) of expenditures from a constitutional budget cap for an indefinite pe riod, with no counterpart on the revenue side, to pay for social benefits to low-income families and increase public invest ments.

Earlier on Friday, cen tral bank chief Roberto Campos Neto said that the final design of the spend ing package approved by Congress could force pol icymakers to "react," im plying the risk of a possi ble monetary policy shift.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Saint Lucia's economy will face intensifying risks of natural disas ters linked to climate change, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Friday, advising the Caribbean state to build buffers despite finan cial constraints.

"Downside risks domi nate," it said in a statement, pointing to the pandemic, higher food and energy prices, costlier imports, tighter finan cial conditions and the rising costs of natural disasters for the small, tourism-dependent island nation.

Poor countries on the front lines of fiercer floods, droughts and storms have pushed during this month's COP27 UN climate conference for

rich countries to pay into a "loss and damage" fund to address the mounting cost of climate disasters. Countries such as the United States and France have pushed back.

The IMF predicts natural disasters will cost Saint Lucia some 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product this year. Despite financial constraints, it highlighted "the importance of developing a strong disas ter insurance strategy while structural resilience is built."

The IMF encouraged au thorities to prioritise spend ing and increase pass-through of global energy prices, while supporting vulnerable house holds with targeted transfers.

Fiscal policy should focus on protecting the most vulner

able from food and fuel price increases, it said, noting that price controls and energy sub sidies had somewhat mitigat ed surging commodity prices.

While the financial sector remained stable, the IMF not ed that non-performing loans had risen during the pandem ic, and encouraged author ities to address remaining anti-money laundering defi ciencies to protect banking re lationships.

Saint Lucia's high pub lic debt limits its capaci ty for public infrastructure and social investments, even as it looks to foster an inclu sive recovery, the IMF said, warning of "significant chal lenges ahead." (Excerpt from Reuters)

Hundreds of mi grants were found in a clandestine camp in southern Mexico, authorities said on Friday, after US and Mexican au thorities implemented new policies aimed at stemming the illegal flow of migrants into the United States.

Members of the National Guard found 368 migrants during a patrol in a mu nicipality of Tecpatan, in a mountainous area in the southern state of Chiapas, close to the border with Guatemala.

Mexico's National Migration Institute (INM)

said the group includ ed 217 from Guatemala, 85 from Nicaragua, 45 from Ecuador, 11 from Honduras, seven from El Salvador and three from Cuba.

The migrants were transferred to official agencies to decide their le gal status, the INM said in a statement. It did not say when the operation took place.

US authorities last month had announced a plan, agreed to with Mexico, to return mi grants who enter the US illegally to Mexico. Earlier

this week, however, a US judge ruled unlawful the pandemic-era order, known as Title 42, used to expel migrants to Mexico.

Guatemalan authori ties said on Friday that 31,315 of their citizens were repatriated this year under Title 42.

Thousands of migrants have been found camping in poor conditions elsewhere in Mexico. In Oaxaca state, about 12,000 people, large ly from Venezuela, were found sleeping on wooden crates, on sidewalks, and in residents' houses and backyards. (Reuters)

Soldiers standing guard outside a prison in Quito on November 18, 2022, where 10 inmates were reported killed [Rodrigo Buendia/AFP]

Canada imposes new sanctions on Haitian politicians – statement

IMF warns Saint Lucia to build buffers for mounting climate risks Hundreds of migrants found in clandestine camp in southern Mexico

Around the World

OIL NEWS

European refiners oversupplied as oil shortage fears subside

European refiners have found themselves oversupplied with crude as an expected shortage owing to the looming EU ban on Russian oil has yet to materialise.

The front-month Brent crude futures spread narrowed sharply this week, reflecting better supply in the physical oil market as fears over the EU embargo on Russian crude begin to subside.

Premiums on prompt prices to future prices - known as a backwardated market structure - usually indicate supply tightness.

Traders cited Europe’s ability to replace Russian oil with grades from the Middle East, the United States and Latin America while Asia is asking for less crude because of an economic slowdown and increased use of Russian barrels.

Brent futures prices have also slumped by about 7 per cent this week, weakening for a second week in a row.

“There’s too much oil around,” one European crude trader said.

“(European] refiners seem to have overbought in November and December, probably because of fears around Urals,” he said, adding that French strikes and refinery maintenance also contributed to a crude overhang.

Russian Urals crude prices jumped in August as traders and refiners rushed to buy as many barrels as possible, fearing the EU ban on Russian oil would lead to shortages.

The EU will ban Russian crude imports from Dec 5 and oil products from Feb 5. A G7 price cap on Russian crude also comes into effect on Dec 5.

“The expectation of a tight market has not been realised,” a second European trader said, adding that oil from Brazil, Guyana, Canada and the US Midland region was heading to Europe to improve the supply picture. However, he cautioned that supply is likely to tighten again in the new year.

Traders said refiners have adjusted to living without Russian crude, which had been a mainstay of Europe’s refining system.

As a result, premiums for alternative grades such as Kazakh CPC Blend, West Africa and WTI Midland have all come under pressure.

European imports of Latin American crude have soared since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, averaging 313,000 barrels per day (bpd) this year, up from 132,000 bpd in 2021, Refinitiv Eikon data shows.

In July alone, Europe imported nearly 600,000 bpd of crude from the region, the highest since at least 2015.

US crude imports have also increased, rising to 1.1 million bpd already this year, compared with 800,000 bpd for the whole of last year.

WTI Midland prices weakened to their lowest since mid-June because of a supply overhang.

Iraq also increased exports to Europe by more than 20 per cent year on year in the July-November period, Refinitiv Eikon data shows, as Iraq faces more intense competition in Asia from cheaper Urals oil.

In Asia, spot premiums for Middle Eastern grades have plunged in recent days, with Dubai’s premium touching its lowest since late January. Chinese refiners, meanwhile, have asked for less Saudi crude in December because of an economic slowdown.

“Nobody is screaming for crude right now,” a third European trader said. (Reuters)

COP27 nears breakthrough on climate finance in scramble for final deal

Negotiators at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt neared a breakthrough deal on Saturday for a fund to help poor countries be ing ravaged by the impacts of global warming, but re mained locked over how to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions driving them.

With a final climate ac cord already more than a day overdue, representa tives of nearly 200 nations were anxious for an agree ment they could bill as a step forward in the fight against climate change.

“We have to be fast here now, but not fast towards a bad result. Not fast in terms of accepting some thing that we then spend years regretting,” said Eamon Ryan, Ireland’s Environment Minister.

Frans Timmermans, the European Union’s cli

“We’d rather

The outcome of the twoweek summit

town

mitments to limit glob al warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius to prevent the worst of climate change, but offered little evidence of increased ambition to make the emissions cuts needed to reach that goal.

Days of tense bargain ing between wealthy and developing nations at the summit yielded a propos al on Saturday to set up a fund to benefit coun tries coping with irrepa rable damage from severe storms, floods, droughts and wildfires.

attention.

A COP27 draft agree ment released on Saturday reaffirmed past com

Rich countries, includ ing the United States and those in Europe, have for decades resisted the idea of a so-called loss and dam age fund for fear it would open them up to legal li ability for their historic greenhouse gas emissions.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Artemis: NASA expects humans to live on Moon this decade

Humans could stay on the Moon for lengthy periods during this de cade, a NASA official has told the BBC.

Howard Hu, who leads the Orion lunar spacecraft pro gramme for the agency, said habitats would be needed to support scientific missions.

He told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that Wednesday’s launch of the Artemis rock et, which carries Orion, was a “historic day for human space flight”.

Orion is currently about 134,000km (83,300 miles) from the Moon.

Sitting atop the rocket is

the Orion spacecraft which, for this first mission, is un crewed but is equipped with a ‘manikin’ which will register the impacts of the flight on the human body.

Wednesday’s flight fol lowed two previous launch attempts in August and September that were aborted during the countdown because of technical woes.

One of the most critical phases of the Artemis I mis sion is getting the Orion mod ule safely back to Earth. It will re-enter the planet’s at mosphere at 38,000km/h (24,000mph), or 32 times the

speed of sound and the shield on its underside will be sub jected to temperatures ap proaching 3000C.

Once the safety of Artemis’s components and systems has been tested and proven, Hu said the plan was to have humans living on the Moon “in this decade”.

A large part of the reason for going back to the Moon is to discover whether there is water at the satellite’s south pole, he added, because that could be converted to provide a fuel for craft going deeper into space - to Mars, for exam ple. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Malaysia faces hung Parliament in tight election race

Malaysia was facing a hung Parliament for the first time in its history as support for a conservative Islamic alliance prevented major coalitions from winning a simple ma

N Korea warns of ‘all-out’ nuclear response to US ‘aggression’

North Korean lead

er Kim Jong Un has promised to use nucle ar weapons to counter threats from the United States hours after test-firing an inter continental ballistic missile (ICMB), the latest escalation as the UN Security Council prepares to convene an emer gency session on Pyongyang’s actions.

The United Nations Security Council, at the behest of Japan, South Korea and the US will gather on Monday to discuss North Korea’s latest missile launch.

North Korea test-fired what it said was a Hwasong-17

ICBM, which can travel up to 15,000 km (9320 miles), on Friday shortly after warning of “fiercer military responses” to Washington.

“Kim Jong Un solemnly declared that if the enemies continue to pose threats … our party and government will resolutely react to nukes with nuclear weapons and to total confrontation with all-out con frontation,” Pyongyang’s of ficial Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Saturday.

KCNA said the Hwasong-17 launched on Friday was aimed at achiev ing “the most powerful and

absolute nuclear deterrence” and described the missile as “the strongest strategic weap on in the world”.

North Korea has long de fended its launch of ballistic missiles as a legitimate de fence against what it calls a decades-old threat from US military forces and its allies in South Korea.

Commenting on Friday’s launch, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said his country had “lodged a strong protest against North Korea, which has repeated its provocations with unprec edented frequency”. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

jority in a general election.

Without a clear winner, political uncertainty could persist as Malaysia faces slowing economic growth and rising inflation. It has had three Prime Ministers in as many years.

Failure by the main par ties to win a majority means a combination of them would have to build a majority alli ance to form a Government. Malaysia’s constitutional

monarch may also get in volved, as he has the power to appoint as Prime Minister a lawmaker whom he be lieves can command a ma jority.

Long-time Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim’s co alition won the most seats in Saturday’s general election, results from the Election Commission showed.

The biggest surprise came from former premier

Muhyiddin Yassin who led his Perikatan Nasional bloc to a strong showing, pulling support from the incumbent Government’s traditional strongholds.

Both Anwar and Muhyiddin claimed to have the support to form Government, though they did not disclose which par ties they had allied with.

Muhyiddin said he hoped to finish discussions by this afternoon. His alliance is a junior partner in incumbent Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s ruling coalition and could work with them again.

Anwar said he would submit a letter to Malaysia’s King Al-Sultan Abdullah de tailing his support.

If Anwar clinches the top job, it would cap a re markable journey for a pol itician who, in 25 years, went from heir apparent, to the premiership, to a pris oner convicted of sodomy to the country’s leading oppo sition figure. (Excerpt from Reuters)

mate policy chief, said Ministers from the region al bloc were prepared to “walk away” if the accord is not ambitious enough.

have no decision than a bad deci sion.”

in the resort

of Sharm el-Sheikh is a test of worldwide resolve to fight global warming, even as a war in Europe and rampant consumer in flation distract interna tional

Nakeeyat Dramani Sam holds up a placard at an informal stocktaking session during the COP27 climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, November 18, 2022

The 100m-tall Artemis rocket blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center as part of NASA’s mission to take as tronauts back to Earth’s satel lite.

Howard Hu is in charge of the Orion spacecraft

Supporters of Perikatan Nasional watch a video stream for live results of Malaysia’s 15th general election at a hotel in Shah Alam, Malaysia November 19, 2022

ARIES

(March 21April 19)

TAURUS (April 20May 20)

Take on a physical chal lenge, invest in yourself through educational pursuits or update your appearance. Look at what’s trending, and you’ll find a way to get ahead. Romance is in the stars.

Settle on something; if you are inconsistent, some one will lose faith in your abil ity to get things done on time. Don’t show signs of uncertain ty; step up and make things happen.

GEMINI (MAY 28June 20)

CANCER

Promote what you have to offer. Attending a conference will position you to meet peo ple who share your insight and interests. It’s OK to be ambitious, and your enthusi asm will garner support.

Be careful how you han dle emotional situations. Be a good listener, but don’t get in the middle of someone else’s fight. Put more thought into maintaining your position and reputation.

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

Get together with friends or relatives. The information you gather will provide in sight into something that in terests you. Don’t let a change someone makes interfere with your plans.

You may want to rein vent yourself, but first exam ine what you have going for you and what you enjoy doing, and find a plan that makes you happy without taking an unnecessary risk.

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

Attend a function that al lows you to mingle with the people who have the informa tion you want. Ask questions and use your conversational talents to their best effect.

Fix up your space to suit your needs. A change of pace will give you more time to enjoy life’s little pleasures. Make plans with a loved one and you’ll get the chance to share ideas.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23Dec. 21)

CAPRICORN

(Dec. 22Jan. 19)

Discuss prospects with someone close to you; you’ll get a different perspective on something you want to pur sue. An adjustment will be necessary to deal with possi ble risks.

Think big, but when it comes time to act, be moder ate and stick to a budget you can afford. A change of scen ery will give you a different perspective that encourages you to play it safe.

AQUARIUS

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

PISCES

(Feb. 20Mar. 20)

Invest in your physical, emotional and mental well-be ing. If you don’t like the di rection you are heading, turn around. Think about what makes you happy and follow your heart.

What you want and what you get won’t coincide. Consider your options and adjust whatever is getting in your way. A clear passage will make it easier to reach your destination on time.

Peanuts

Calvin and Hobbes

Dilbert

2022 FIFA World Cup… Ecuador lock horns with hosts Qatar in tournament opener

The 2022 FIFA World Cup competition kicks off this weekend, and its much-awaited first match features Ecuador lock ing horns with host nation Qatar in a Group A encoun ter at the Al Bayt Stadium on Sunday.

Preview of Qatar vs Ecuador

Qatar have grown in stature over the past de cade, and will be intent on pulling off a few upsets this week. The hosts secured an impressive 2-2 draw against Chile in September this year, but will be up against a formidable opponent on Sunday.

Ecuador, on the oth er hand, finished in fourth place in the CONMEBOL qualification table, and

have been inconsistent over the past year. The South American team were held to a 0-0 draw by Iraq last week, and cannot afford to drop points in this fixture.

Head-to-head and key numbers Qatar and Ecuador are

on an even footing as far as their head-to-head re cord is concerned, and have each won one game out of three matches played be tween the two teams.

The previous meeting be tween the two sides, which took place in October 2018,

ended in a stunning 4-3 vic tory for Qatar. This edition of the World Cup is the first to be hosted by a country in the Middle East, and will also see Qatar taking part for the first time in their his tory.

The opening games in the last four editions of the FIFA World Cup have pro duced a total of 17 goals. Senegal’s 1-0 victory against France in the 2002 FIFA World Cup was the last time a team making its de but in the World Cup had won its first match. Qatar can achieve a similar feat on Sunday. Qatar have won their last three matches at the Al Bayt Stadium by a combined scoreline of 9-0.

Ecuador have done well to qualify for the FIFA

World Cup, but will need a consistent run of form to reach the Round of 16.

Enner Valencia, the team’s talisman, will hope to be at his lethal best in this fix ture.

Qatar have a strong home crowd backing them,

and are the underdogs in their group. Ecuador are the better team on paper, and hold a slight upper hand go ing into this game. We ex pect the South Americans to secure a narrow victory in this opening encounter.

(Sportskeeda)

GAME DECLARED DRAWN Giannis climbs down

Giannis Antetokounmpo insists he “never tried to disrespect any one” after pushing over a lad der at Wells Fargo Center following the Milwaukee Bucks’ 110-102 defeat to the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday.

The Greece-born star scored 25 points on the night, with 14 rebounds and four assists, but struggled from the free-throw line for a second consecutive game. He could sink only four from 15 attempts on Friday, having managed the same amount from 11 in Wednesday’s home de feat to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

In an attempt to get his form back, Antetokounmpo came back onto the court after the loss to Philadelphia, to try and shoot 10 free throws in a row. After the ball was taken off him by Montrezl

an unfortunate event that took place. I went back out there to shoot, and there was a ladder in front of me, and I said, ‘Can you please move the ladder?’ And they said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘Can you guys please move the ladder?’ They said, ‘No.’ I was like, ‘Guys, I have two more free throws, can you please move the ladder?’ And they said, ‘No.’

“I know what happened. I think there’s cameras all over this court. We can show the whole incident from people coming and getting the ball, people getting in my face…

“I don’t want to get into all those things. I don’t know if I should apologise, because I don’t feel like I did anything wrong, except the ladder just fell. I feel like it’s my right for me to work on my

West Indies’ batters missed a chance to find their groove on Australian pitches before their tour game against an NSW/ACT XI was declared a draw.

The visitors were 114 for 4 in their second innings on Saturday at Manuka Oval when play was called off, the hosts declaring earlier in the day on a mammoth 426-4.

Opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul, son of West Indies great Shivnarine Chanderpaul, made just four, and did not bat in West Indies first innings’ effort due to ill ness. Jermaine Blackwood, who retired on 42 in the first innings, made just one. West Indies were on 77 for 4 be fore Roston Chase (31*) and Joshua Da Silva (12*) en sured no further damage was done.

Earlier, Blake MacDonald finished unbeaten on 177 af ter #3 batter Oliver Davies had smashed 115 off 106 balls on Friday in a wake-up call

for the West Indies’ attack.

The tourists will play a four-day twilight fix ture against a strong

4-0-30-1

WI tour to Australia 2022; match against NSW/ACT XI… American basketball…

Windies lose four cheap wickets in second innings – after Bucks star pushes ladder following team’s loss to 76ers

GSSF’s final competition for 2022…

El Dorado Security Service now official sponsor of Guyana Sport Shooting Foundation

El Dorado is Guyana’s exclusive dealer for Grand Power Line firearms

The El Dorado Security Service has come on board as an official sponsor of the Guyana Sport Shooting Foundation’s upcoming final competition for 2022.

During a simple ceremony

held at the headquarters of El Dorado Security Service in Young Street, Kingston, GSSF Secretary Ms Vidushi PersaudMcKinnon, in accepting the kind sponsorship, conveyed thanks to both Mr. Tamesh Jagmohan and the Management of El

Dorado Security Service, and expressed her congratulations on the dealership and the CEO’s usual unhesitating support, as Mr Jagmohan continues to give towards building sport shooting in Guyana.

The upcoming Practical

Port Mourant Turf Club horse meet set for December 11

Top local horses, including Guyana Cup winner Alado, will be running for supremacy on Sunday, December 11, at the new and improved Port Mourant Turf Club facility in East BerbiceCorentyne. Seven races are on that card for the grand one-day event, and more than seven million dollars in cash prizes will be up for grabs.

These races are open to all horses and will have a total purse in excess of three million Guyana dollars. In the main event, the race for West Indian-bred horses over one mile, the top horse would bag one million dollars. The total purse for that race is approximately two million dollars.

Other races carded include the H & Lower six-furlong race, the two-year old West Indies and Guyana-bred event, the J Open, the J Non-Starter and horses placed second and Lower in the J3 Non-Starter /Earner. The K&L race will round off the day's activities.

For the Open events, the

weight would be allotted by Class.

In the two-year-old West Indiesbred event, horses would carry seven lbs more than maiden creole horses, and three lbs for the winners. Also, the first Guyanabred to finish would be paid separately.

Races will be run under the updated classification, and entries for this event will be closed on December 6, 2022. Races will also be run under the guidance of the Guyana Horse Racing Authority rules. The Club reserves the right to cancel/reframe any race. Five

horses must start a race for the third prize to become payable, and seven horses must start a race for the fourth prize to become payable.

Depending on the entries, the organizers would be open to framing additional races. Horses can be entered through Gingo (618-7278), Dennis (6406396/640-6396), Fazal (657-7010), Shazeena (322-0798/0369), or WhatsApp Nic on (+1 868 3862432). All horses need to be registered before their entries are accepted.

Shooting Match will feature four exciting stages to challenge local handgun practical shooters. Their knowledge of firearm safety will be foremost while competitors’ skills of marksmanship and handgun reliability will be put to the test in the fast-paced run-andgun shooting that the sport of practical shooting is known for. In this regard, the Grand Power X-Calibur’s 1mm wide fiber optic front sight and

adjustable rear sight and long sight radius (over 8 1/2 inches) are ideal for accuracy-minded shooters. Left-handed shooters are particularly delighted, since the X-Claiber’s safety, magazine release and slide lock are on both sides of the pistol.

The Slovakian manufacturer, producer, and exporter of the Grand Power Line Firearms to more than 60 countries worldwide now has a presence in Guyana, with El

Gafoors Industries Limited gives substantial donation to Guyana Cricket Board

to assist

GCB

to develop, promote cricket in Guyana

be fully utilised for its in tended purpose. On be half of GCB President Bissoondyal Singh and the Guyana Cricket Board, Saywack has expressed a

wish that this relationship would grow from strength to strength in the area of cricket development and promotion across the coun try.

South Turkeyen Sports Committee to host Fun Day on Sunday at Better Hope ground, ECD

The South Turkeyen Sports Committee (STSC) will be hosting a Family Fun Day on Sunday, November 20, at the Community Centre ground in Better Hope, East Coast Demerara.

The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) has received a substan tial donation from Gafoors Industries Limited to as sist in executing its man date to develop and pro mote cricket in Guyana.

At a simple ceremony held at the office of Gafoors Industries Limited, the donation was received by the Guyana Cricket Board team, led by Marketing

Representing Gafoors were Rosana Gonsalves, Executive AssistantFinance, and Susie Persaud, Senior Payables Clerk of Gafoors Industries Limited. They expressed the company’s pleasure

at being able to assist the GCB with this donation, and said the company is looking forward to work ing with the GCB in the future.

GCB Marketing Manager Saywack thanked the compa ny’s Chief Executive Officer Sattaur Gaffoor and Gafoors Industries Limited for the donation, and pledged that it would

The event commences at 10hrs, and an under-14 football competition, fivea-side small-goal football competition, six-over softball matches for area teams, 80-metre race for girls and boys, and a 9-team domino competition are on the cards.

At stake are trophies/ medals and a cash incentive donated by the general contracting firm of Orgasein

Johnny Barnwell is the organiser of the Fun Day

& Sons. All teams interested in participating can call 6662950 for further details.

The Fun Day is organised by Johnny ‘Overseas’ Barnwell and Darren.

Dorado Security Service of Lot 136 Young Street, Kingston, Georgetown having been given the exclusive dealership.

The X-Calibur is this company’s top-of-the-line “sport” pistol that is ‘aimed’ at the IPSC/USPSA and general practical shooter. Like many of the guns for this market, it’s a DA/SA full-frame 5? slide 9mm with a 15+1 capacity. It looks and feels like many of the High Powered/CZ-75 guns currently vying for the competitors’ trophies at sport shooting events.

A fun fact is that the older K100 pistol by Grand Power was imported by STI in Texas, with STI branding on it. STI is the maker of the familiar 2011 race guns, and the heritage of that manufacturing is present in the X-Calibur as well.

Remember: this is a “race” gun, not an everyday carry gun. As such, it is much anticipated to see the firearm in the hands of local sport-shooters.

CLASSIFIED ADS SERVICE

Pandit Balaji: He is an expert in clearing problems like: Marriage, love, relationship, business, jobs, court case, health, bring back loved ones, remove black magic. 100% guaranteed results and He has permanent suggestions and solutions for lifetime within 3-5 days. Contact +592 698-8091.

Pandit Hari Krishna: Are you suf fering from love problems, rela tionship, Family, Children, wife and husband, business, jobs, lucky number, remove negative energy, bad luck, visa, health?

Pandit Hari Krishna gives you permanent suggestion and solu tion within 5 days. Contact +592 678 4062.

Need a Real Estate Agent for your property? Buying, Selling or Renting? Contact Antonie on 6309558.

Vacancies exist for One (1) Nanny, One (1) Housekeeper and One (1) Cook. Must be over 40 years. Please call: 619-9317.

Mrs Vidushi Persaud-McKinnon, Secretary of the Guyana Sport Shooting Foundation, receiving sponsorship funds from Mr Alvin Holladar, Chief Security Officer of El Dorado Security Service

Manager Rabindranauth Saywack and compris ing Assistant Secretary Davteerth Anandjit and TDO Admin Assistant, Kavita Yadram.

Looking to Heaven won the last feature event at Port Mourant (Brandon Corlette photo)

Haynes stars as Enterprise lift Courts’ Pee-Wee Championship title

It isn’t often that you would witness the ice broken and immediately after the gridlock is set in place again, but that was the reality on Saturday afternoon when St. Pius Primary and Enterprise Primary put on a thriller of a final to decide who would emerge champions of the Courts’ Pee-Wee Under-11 Football tournament.

The two powerhouse

teams went bang for bang, and it was only the first half, leaving the parents and sup porters proverbially salivat ing at the prospect of more ac tion from the next generation of Guyana’s best ballers.

In the 13th minute of the final showdown, Carlon Robinson struck the ball to the back of the net to put St. Pius Primary in the lead. When the ball was set in

the middle again, almost in stantaneously Jashan Haynes took a shot at the goal, and connected in the top corner.

The once exuberant St. Pius were now as quiet as a mouse, while Enterprise took their turn to revel.

Following words of inspi ration from two of Guyana’s national players, Jeremy Garrett and Marcus Wilson, the young ballers returned

Aftermath of Prime Minister’s Cup 2022 softball tournament…

Regal Masters basking in glory

– after reaping results of hard work

Captain of the Regal Masters softball team, Bobby Parasnauth, has revealed that the team’s success at the recently con cluded Prime Minister’s Cup 2022 softball tournament was due to hard work collec tively done.

In the championship game against Ariel, played under lights at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence, EBD, Regal Masters inflict ed a nine-wicket wallop ing on their opponents in the process of dethroning Fisherman’s Masters.

“Our plans were well ex ecuted. The team gelled ex tremely well, and those were the things that made the dif ference,” Parasnauth, a stal wart softball cricketer, men tioned.

Regal Masters were re lentless throughout the tour nament, winning their stip ulated three preliminary round matches before con tinuing their dominance in the semis, and crowning their efforts with eminent success last Sunday.

“I think we played good cricket from the start to the ending. We believed in team cricket, and worked towards our plans,” the right-arm bowler expressed.

For this sixth edition of the Prime Minister’s Cup, 26 male teams participated, and were divided into three cat egories: Legends (Over-50), Masters (Over-40) and Open (any age). There also were four female teams in conten tion. In the 20/twenty show piece, Parasnauth, who is

currently based in Canada, acknowledged his role as a leader, and at the same time was delighted to captain a team of top-notch softball players.

“It was indeed a won derful tournament. Thanks to the GSCL Inc for the op portunity to lead Regal Masters successfully; and ev ery player played their role,” Parasnauth disclosed.

In the final, Regal Masters won the toss and opted to field. They restrict ed Ariel Masters to a moder ate 118, while Regal romped home to success with 38 balls to spare. Opener Chien Gittens struck an unbeaten 43, while Khemmy Dindial helped seal the deal with 30 not out. Gittens’s open ing partner Patrick Rooplall also made an impression with the bat by scoring 31.

In the bowling department, Roy Persaud tormented most Ariel batsmen, and ended up snaring 4-26 from his maxi

mum four overs.

“That was the approach of our games from start to finish: just to play positive cricket and try get the job done as quickly as possible; and our players were eager to dominate,” Parasnauth said.

In the Legends Category, Regal beat New York Softball Cricket League by two wickets to retain the tro phy, while Guyana Knight Riders Ariel powered their way to the championship again in the Opening roundarm bowling category.

In the Ladies category, 4R Lioness humbled Trophy Stall Angels by nine wick ets to claim the first women’s trophy.

The three-day softball extravaganza was hosted by the Georgetown Softball Cricket League (GSCL) Inc., in collaboration with the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport.

with fresh enthusiasm and determination.

Aaron Vasconcellos of St. Pius was visibly having an off-day on the field, yet the youngster kept firing shot af ter shot, giving the eventual ‘best goalkeeper’ lots of work to do.

However, the man who eventually found the winning goal was on the opposing side. Jashan Haynes returned in the 30th and, capitalizing on a freekick opportunity, went straight for goal, much to the pleasure of the Enterprise supports, who erupted in ec static cheers for a second time.

Favour was not on the St. Pius side, as chance after chance went awry, resulting in a 2-1 victory for Enterprise.

In the third-place playoff, North Georgetown outplayed Marian Academy to lift the trophy after a 3-1 affair.

Marian Academy drew first blood by way of a pen alty kick, which was taken by Nayal George in the 13th. Another penalty opportuni ty, this time going the way of North Georgetown, was responsible for levelling the scores in the 32nd. The shot was aced by Nathan Peters.

North Georgetown kept their composure as Shawn Douglas (36th) and Malik Fletchman (40th) both found the back of the net to steer their team away from danger.

In the individual priz es, it came as no surprise that Jashan Haynes was ad judged Most Valuable Player

(MVP) and highest goal-scor er. The youth collected the li on’s share of prizes, which included one laptop, a tab let, an MVP Sports voucher and trophies for his exploits. Meanwhile, the tournament’s best goalkeeper also came from Enterprise Primary. In addition, Sterling Products, in a bid of goodwill, also reward ed Aaron Vasconcellos with a Samsung tablet for his ex ploits in the tournament.

Among the prizes that the top four teams received, compliments of title sponsors Courts, were Smart televi sions, trophies and balls. The tournament was also support ed by Sterling Products, MVP Sports, and the Ministry of Education (MoE). (Jemima Holmes)

Bobby Parsanauth of the Regal Masters receiving the trophy from PM Mark Phillips

Jashan Haynes (blue bib) was often locked in battle with Aaron Vasconcellos (on ball) during the final

Enterprise Primary were all smiles as they received their championship trophy from Courts’ Richard Allen

Jamaica Scorpions defeat T&T Red Force to claim Super50 title

departed in unfamiliar fash ion when he stepped on his stumps and was dismissed for a solid 43. Cariah, who was the top-scorer, faced 45 balls and struck two sixes and two fours.

Hosein, who was looking for a big finish, made 37 from 52 balls before offering a re turn catch to off-spinner Pete Salmon at 206-8 in 44.4 overs.

Red Force eventually finished on 217 in 47 overs, their lowest total of the 2022 Super50 sea son.

The collective Jamaican bowling effort was led by Nicholson Gordon, who claimed 3-51 in eight overs. Jeavor Royal claimed 2-22 in four overs, while Odean Smith had 2-29 in six overs.

Odean Smith 6-0-29-2 Peat Salmon 5-0-29-1

Led by an important 80 from Chadwick Walton, which was supported by a collective bowling effort, Jamaica Scorpions defeated fa vourites Trinidad and Tobago Red Force by three wickets to clinch the 2022 CG United Super50 Cup.

Playing at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua, Scorpions restricted Red Force to 217 all out in 47 overs. In re ply, Scorpions ended on 218-8 in 47 overs.

In the chase, Scorpions lost Brandon King for 12 when he was stranded down the legside by Shannon Gabriel. At 24-1, Andre McCarthy joined Chadwick Walton and the duo added 126 runs for the second wicket. Walton got his first ma jor knock of the tournament,

and he produced an important 80 from 94 balls. His innings in cluded eight fours and two six es. McCarthy, who struggled all season, got a much-needed 55 from 88 balls in an innings decorated with three fours and one six.

After McCarthy’s depar ture, Scorpions were reduced to 155-3 after 34.4 overs. Rovman Powell came to the crease and looked dangerous, but was given out leg-before for 25. Wickets fell in the lower order, but Odean Smith came and finished the game off, end ing unbeaten on 13.

Terrence Hinds had 2-31 from six overs, while Khary Pierre had 2-42 from seven overs. Red Force had some dropped chances in the field, and that proved costly in the

end.

Earlier, Jamaica won the toss and opted to field first against the defending champi ons, Trinidad and Tobago Red Force. Openers Kjorn Ottley (33) and Amir Jangoo (23) had a solid start, adding 46 runs together. However, the expe

rienced middle order of Jason Mohammed (03), Darren Bravo (14) and Nicholas Pooran (08) all fell cheaply as the Jamaican spinners kept things tight, while Yannic Cariah and Akeal Hosein at tempted to rebuild the innings. After a 56-run stand, Cariah

Pooran 184/7 (40.4) Terrance Hinds 206/8 (44.4) Akeal Hosein 208/9 (45.3) Sunil Narine 217/10 (46.6) Shannon Gabriel

Bowling Nicholson Gordon 8-1-51-3

Jamie Merchant 10-0-23-0

Rovman Powell 4-1-18-1

Jeavor Royal 4-0-22-2 Dennis Bulli 10-0-44-1

Jamaica Innings Brandon King c Jangoo b Gabriel 12 Chadwick Walton c Ottley b Cariah 80 Andre McCarthy c Pierre b Hosein 55

Alwyn Williams b Pierre 3 Rovman Powell (RHB) lbw b Hinds 25

Peat Salmon b Pierre 11

Dennis Bulli b Hinds 2

Odean Smith not out 13

Jeavor Royal not out 1

Total (7 wickets, 47.0) (16 extras) 218

FOW: 24/1 (5.4) Brandon King 150/2 (31.6) Chadwick Walton 155/3 (34.4) Andre McCarthy 172/4 (38.3) Alwyn Williams 200/5 (43.3) Rovman Powell 204/6 (45.2) Dennis Bulli 210/7 (46.1) Salmon

Bowling

Akeal Hosein 10-2-26-1

Shannon Gabriel 4-1-13-1

Terrance Hinds 6-0-31-2

Sunil Narine 10-0-32-0

Khary Pierre 7-0-42-2

Yannic Cariah 10-0-65-1

Players’ remuneration, prize money announced

The ‘One Guyana’

President’s Cup foot ball tournament will see, for the first time, play ers handsomely rewarded for each match played in the Regional stage.

Following the conclusion of the Inter-Ward fraction of the tournament, players will be selected for their respec tive Regional teams.

Apart from the $2M up for grabs for the winner, each player will pocket $80,000 per match. Team captain will receive $100,000. The head coach of each team will col lect $100,000, while members of his coaching staff are to re ceive $80,000.

Each team advancing to the quarter-finals will pocket $200,000, and each semi-fi nalist will collect $400,000. Second place team to get $1M

and third place $500,000.

For the current InterWard stage, cash prizes are awarded to the respective winners.

President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), Wayne Forde, highlight, “with the huge committed

incentives being offered by President Ali, I would like to encourage more young men to step forward and repre sent their community thus increasing their chances of making the final regional squad.”

““The One Guyana

President’s Cup has opened up a new frontier in Community football. We are already seeing quality young players that we not part of the established football grid,” Forde said.

With the unprecedented investment from Government in the tournament, the Headof-State is calling on the most important asset to his master plan – the players – to be ful ly committed.

With several entities known for supporting foot ball, particularly during the festive season, President Ali is hoping to bring all of cor porate Guyana under one umbrella for the President’s Cup.

He further stated, “this doesn’t take away the com munity football and the small goal football. That is an im

portant part of community life and building up capacity.”

“But, here is where you have a serious national tour nament that is geared at identifying a pool of nation al players that will go into an academy, that will have a three-year engagement to ensure that they’re doing the right thing, that they are dis ciplined, that they’re practis ing and having the right nu trition and they are having an opportunity to have a fu ture after football.”

President Ali, before the kick-off of the tournament on November 12, said the idea is to use the ‘Beautiful Game’ as part of his Government’s plan to integrate sports into national life.

President Ali said the first-of-its-kind programme gives the Government of

“I’ve been around foot ball, I’ve looked at football, and I think we have the ca pabilities and capacity to get to the world cup. We will be using this brand to project football in a very positive di rection, to launch a regional competition,” President Ali said.

President Ali also be lieves that football has an op portunity to bring people to gether, adding that "this is why, in conceptualizing this tournament, I asked the guys to look at how we can bring every region on board, so it goes beyond clubs.”

Guyana “an excellent plat form which we can reach communities. We can reach disadvantaged people. We can reach young people. And football is an important sport for Guyana.”

Part of the action in the Inter-Ward stage of the One Guyana President’s Cup Football Tournament

Nicholas Gordon

Chadwick Walton