Guyana Times - Sunday, October 22, 2023.pdf

“Reaching for the Stars – The Life of Dr. Yesu Persaud, Volume 2” launched on his 95th birth anniversary P13 Nationwide coverage coverage from from the the best best news news team team in in Guyana Guyana Nationwide Issue No. 5530 guyanatimesgy.com

THE BEACON BEACON OF OF TRUTH TRUTH THE PRICE $140 VAT INCLUDED

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023

Consistent political will paramount in achieving agri-food vision – VP Jagdeo

– says goals have to be supported by investments

WHAT'S INSIDE:

GPF records 34.8% decline in crime in Reg 2 P8

See story on page 11

Guyana becomes 1st country in region to launch high-yield, zinc-enriched rice strain Page 12

– as rice production is projected to grow to 847,000 tonnes by 2025

Local agricultural products take centre stage at Agri-Investment Forum & Expo 2023 P18

Timehri man gets 3 years on break and enter and larceny charge P25

Prime Minister Mark Phillips with other officials at the launch of the high-yield, zinc-enriched rice strain at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) on Saturday

MoU signed for Cuba Woman, 58, Page to provide Guyana perishes in 21 with technical support N/A fire caused in honey production Page 3

– 200 beekeepers to benefit from Cuban expertise

by overheated fan

3 Venezuelans nabbed with gun, ammo, narcotics at Page Arakaka 10

Policewoman, family homeless after fire guts ECD home P22

Diamond man busted with ganja hidden in wall divider P26

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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

NEWS

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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS

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

Sunday, Oct 22 – 11:00h – 11:45h and 23:30h – 01:00h and Monday, Oct 23 – No retraction.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Sunday, Oct 22 – 10:00h – 11:30h and Monday, Oct 23 – 11:40h – 13:10h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

WEATHER TODAY There will be sunshine and thundery showers during the day. Expect clear skies at night. Temperatures should range between 24 degrees Celsius and 33 degrees Celsius Winds: East North-Easterly to East South-Easterly between 1.78 metres and 3.57 metres High Tide: 10:21h and 22:48h reaching maximum

heights of 2.08 metres and 2.17 metres

Low Tide: 16:13h reaching a minimum height of 1.19 metre

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2023

LOTTERY NUMBERS F

04 10 12

20 26 27

18

FREE TICKET

Bonus Ball

DAILY MILLIONS

01 02 04 24 25 LUCKY 3

8

3

1

0

Afternoon Draw

5

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Evening Draw

DRAW DE LINE

01 04 05 08 10 12 17

18

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SUPER

PAY DAY

PAY DAY

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2023

05 06 13 15 17 1

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07 09 13 16 18

8

4 Afternoon Draw

3X Afternoon Draw

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8 Evening Draw

FP Evening Draw

955

DISCLAIMER: WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ERRORS IN PUBLICATION. PLEASE CALL THE HOTLINE FOR CONFIRMATION - TEL: 225-8902

COMMODITIES Indicators

US$

Change %

Crude Oil

$92.16/barrel

-0.24

Rough Rice

$285.80/ton

+0.65

London Sugar

$726.20/ton

-1.57

Live Spot Gold Bid/Ask Low/High Change

USD Per Ounce $1981.20 $1972.40 -0.00

$1982.20 $1997.60 -0.00

MoU signed for Cuba to provide Guyana with technical support in honey production - 200 beekeepers to benefit from Cuban expertise

G

uyana and Cuba have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will see Cuba sharing its knowledge and expertise in the agriculture industry including in beekeeping, as part of an initiative that will benefit over 200 local beekeepers around the country.

The MoU was signed on Saturday, on the sidelines of the 2023 Agri Expo at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.

Director General of the Agriculture Ministry, Madanlall Ramraj and Cuban Ambassador to Guyana, Jorge Francisco Luis signed the agreement.

In his remarks, Ramraj spoke highly of Cuba’s agricultural setup and how much Guyana can learn from it. According to him, the exchange of knowledge will be especially beneficial to efforts to slash Caribbean Community (Caricom) food imports by 25 percent by 2025.

“Guyana forests have a great potential for apiary culture. If exploited, it can

The MoU being signed by Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Delma Nedd (left) and Cuban Ambassador to Guyana, Jorge Francisco Luis. From left (standing) are Director General of the Agriculture Ministry, Madanlall Ramraj, and his Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodriguez

create employment and sustainable income for the population residing in the hinterland areas. Guyana has several hectares of land that is mostly unserved, with respect to beekeeping.”

“And provide tremendous potential for the expansion of the apiary industry. And will allow for the increase in the production of honey for

the 25 by 2025 initiative, allowing Guyana to be an exporter of honey in Caricom.”

Meanwhile, the Cuban Ambassador described the initiative as an important occasion for bilateral ties between Guyana and Cuba.

Lauding the work that has been done by President Dr Irfaan Ali and Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha,

the diplomat noted that this MoU is Cuba’s contribution to the effort.

“This is an important day for our relations, cooperation, and friendship with Guyana, where we are expanding our ties, a very important area for our Region, for Guyana and for Cuba, which is agriculture.”

TURN TO PAGE 7►

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guyanatimesgy.com

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023

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 Industrial Estate Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown Email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, marketing@guyanatimesgy.com

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Gonzo Journalism

n Guyana, the relationship between the media and the Government -- starting from the 1960s, when the former played a critical role in ousting the latter -- has been fraught with unnecessary tension. Most recently, because of our oil-driven higher profile, we have witnessed the entry of a new form of journalism, Gonzo Journalism, to our shores. By one account, “Gonzo journalism is a style of journalism that features the author as its protagonist…

(They) become part of the story, portraying events through their own experience, which offers readers their version of the truth. In gonzo journalism, the personality of the piece and its subjective truths are more important than the actual facts of the story, so certain aspects of the writing are often exaggerated or profane, while the tone and writing style may rely on hyperbole, humour, and sarcasm.”

In our democratic (albeit initially colonial-ruled) 1960s, the press was privately owned, as it mostly is today. A section of the press, aligned with the Opposition of the day back then, however, created and foisted hysteria in the country by their daily vitriolic outpourings that the elected Government of the day was “communist”. The Government was going to reduce the populace to slavery to serve their nefarious, obviously totalitarian ends, etc. etc. History has shown that these “facts” actually lay: some who pulled the strings eventually apologised. But the damage had been done: big power intervention followed by twenty-eight years of destruction and decrepitude.

However, the danger that journalism might be used to subvert democracy by stoking the fears of ordinary people and others had been identified long before. In fact, by a man who is widely regarded as one of the founders of modern journalism – the American Walter Lippmann.

Lippmann had served in WWI as the US’ propaganda chief in Europe, and observed from within how easily the minds of people can be swayed by a mixture of opinions on tenuous “facts”. Returning to peacetime America, he wrote a prescient text, “Liberty and the News”, which was re-released a decade ago because of its topicality in the modern world.

Lippmann identified what he defined as a “crisis in journalism”, precipitated by the sheer explosion of information about a world that had become smaller because of increased communication. And that was before the internet! No one, he pointed out, could now keep track of what was going on around even his/her limited sphere. John Public now depended on the press to perform that function. But unlike most commentators who felt the danger lay in advertisers influencing the news, Lippmann believed that the greater menace originated in the smug assurance of some journalists of their omniscience. And their propensity to place their opinions ahead of facts.

Worse yet, there were some that manufactured their “facts”.

There is a confusion of what “liberty” under a democracy meant for journalism: not just to print whatever came to mind, but according to Lippmann, “the effort to protect for public use, access to a factual record”. This is a lesson that is lost to some local newspapers: that veracity comes before “edification”. With Gonzo Journalism, we have journalists that still use “he seh she seh and dem seh”, but now add “me seh” to define businessmen and governments in toto as “corrupt” by simply making claims of their own artifice or by individuals with their own agendas.

There is the further irony that in being so arrogant in asserting that their opinion is not merely a point of view but instead the “TRUTH”, these journalists betray their own totalitarian and fascist tendencies. Some have pointed out these tendencies arise out of their Nietzschean ressentiment of being failures but yet obsessed about being “First World” and “putting Third Worlders in their place.” This is, as has been remarked, a most dangerous development.

We call upon the members of our newspaper fraternity to call out these Gonzo Journalists, especially on social media, who are destroying the good name of journalism.

Or would we rather repeat history?

President Dr Irfaan Ali delivered the Feature Address at the opening of the Meeting of Heads and Officers in Charge of Guyana's Overseas Missions on Saturday. In the photo, the Guyanese Head of State is flanked by Prime Minister Mark Phillips and other Cabinet members, along with officials who attended the event

Reopening of Rose Hall Sugar Estate

Dear Editor, On September 5, 2023, the remorseless AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan again poured venom down the throats of the workers re-employed by the Rose Hall Estate; the people who were devastated economically and socially by the heartless and uncaring Coalition Government when they shuttered the Estate and sent the thousands down the road to poverty and willful destruction.

The workers were unceremoniously kicked out, with no bread in sight. In utter despair, they dejectedly walked into an unknown, bleak, dark and desolate future that engulfed them. Thousands of families were ripped apart in turmoil and chaos as the domino effect forced the closure of many economic activities which depended on the income of the sugar workers, who were then reduced to mendicants while those in the uncaring Coalition raped and emptied the Treasury and lived like royalty.

Can anyone imagine what it is like to lose your only livelihood with no alternative source of income?

Why would a Government be hell-bent on dismissing thousands of workers en masse? Was it vengeance, to spite the PPP? Was it to destroy the PPP’s perceived support base?

It should be recalled that the Rose Hall Estate produced 27,000 tons of sugar in 2016, it was the recipient of the Medal of Service in 1978 for exceptional performance, and was among the high-flying estates in GuySuCo. The financial records will bear testimony that, from 2015, when the Coalition assumed office, the Estate was systematically deprived of capital investments, and even the capital allocation in 2016 was

left unused funds were simply not available.

The devious plan to close began as soon as the Coalition held the reins of power, despite lofty election campaign promises made to sugar workers in 2020. Everyone could still vividly recall the 20% wage increase and the ‘no closure promise’ they made.

In fact, the COI they commissioned recommended no closure, and envisioned viability by 2025.

Now it can be seen that if the Coalition was still in Government, as warned by the PPP on the 2020 campaign trail, all the Estates would have been closed by 2025.

Granger and Nagamootoo's empty rhetoric: that ‘sugar was too big to fail’, was just to ‘sugarcoat’ what was imminent.

Deceit and lies were the order of the day.

Today, the AFC’s visionless leader still maintains that ‘the reopening of the Rose Hall Estate will take the sector and the country into a black hole’.

When they shuttered the four estates, I would assume that no ‘black hole’ was created. I will submit that the ‘black hole’ was created as soon as the Coalition assumed office.

They literally emptied the Treasury during their term in office and pauperized the Guyanese masses. In GuySuCo, hundreds of billions in standing canes and fixed assets were left to rot and decay after the heist of billions in assets, which until today bears no accountability can be ascertained, compliments of the SPU – again, a creation by the Coalition.

Assets just dissipated in thin air. Mandrake the Magician would pale in comparison. Imagine closing four Estates after ‘spending’ $49 billion in ‘subsidies’ with nothing to show.

Today, the Opposition Coalition wants to know the reopening cost of the Rose Hall Estate, but they have the answer at their disposal: just calculate the cost of the panoramic destruction of the entity - the standing canes, the cane lands converted to forests, the clogged waterways, the hundreds of rotten punts, the falling bridges, revetment, the many building (fertilizer bonds, chemical bonds, the stores, administrative buildings, staff houses, guest house, staff club, etc.), the entire factory structure, the factory machinery and equipment, the entire field machinery and equipment, and the list goes on. All of these, including the social and economic cost of labour, are just collateral damage to the Coalition.

There are photographs and videos that bear evidence of the complete annihilation of the Rose Hall Estate. This will be the same condition in all the closed Estates. This insensitive and callous act should be investigated and documented, since untold suffering was meted out to thousands of people. This was a deliberate criminal act, and yet the ones accountable can now stand and question the expenditure of paltry sums in comparison to what they destroyed and siphoned off.

They can now denigrate the Herculean efforts by the PPP/C Government to reopen the Estate. A criminal act was committed on the people for no justifiable reason. The APNU and AFC should applaud this Government for correcting their wrongs.

Today history is created at Rose Hall Estate, when over 160 persons employed as porters and cleaners were trained and transformed into skilled artisans (operators, welders, fitters, electricians),

and together with those re-employed, undertook what was mission impossible to rehabilitate the factory. Today, the success of the factory and the field bears testimony to the tenacity of the GuySuCo Team dedicated and committed to the reopening, for which failure was not an option.

The APNU and AFC postulated that the reopening would fail wrong bet.

The Estate’s Management Team headed by Mr Goberdhan as the Estate’s Manager achieved the success that a handful of ‘negaholics’ had decried and rallied against. The entire rebuilding process was systematically planned and executed by the hard-working CEO and his industrious Head Office Team.

Mr Sasenarine Singh became personally connected with the reopening process, and it was no surprise when calls were made to managers and directions given in the dead of the night.

The PPP/C Government has delivered once again on its 2020 campaign promises, and the workers and the people of Region 6 have expressed their heartfelt gratitude to the Government for realizing this promise. The indefatigable Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Zulfikar Mustapha, must be congratulated for ensuring the timely delivery of this promise, as he kept his focus on the objective to reopen the Estate. He made it pellucid that if making people’s lives better is ‘pumping money down a dark hole’, then it is money well spent, since the benefits by far outweigh the costs. This Minister is the true Champion of the sugar workers, not the ‘candle lighter’.

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf

guyanatimesgy.com

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023

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

Guyana’s agriculture sector setting the pace towards food security by 2025

Dear Editor, Please permit me space in your letter columns to share my views on the agriculture sector in Guyana, as we are celebrating this year’s Agriculture Month under the theme “Accelerating Vision 25 by 2025: Investing in Agri-Business and Food Security”.

Over the past three years of the People’s Progressive Party Government, led by His Excellency Dr. Irfaan Ali, we have seen much importance being placed on the agriculture sector to ensure that it remains top of the agenda. The Agriculture Ministry for me, and I believe all will agree with me, is the most important Ministry in Government, because we all need food to survive, and this Ministry is tasked with ensuring we have food on our tables daily.

But having a Ministry with a visionless leader would fail, and we saw that during the tenure of the previous Government.

Today we can say that the President Ali-led PPP/C Government put a man who

knows about agriculture to lead that Ministry, because he came from that background and has a vision to ensure the agriculture sector in Guyana strives towards being top of Caricom when it comes to food security.

Over the past years of this administration, and since the Hon. Zulfikar Mustapha, MP, took up the mantle of heading the Agriculture Ministry, we have seen vast development in the sector, and I mean all of the agricultural sectors in Guyana. The Government is spending billions of dollars yearly to develop this sector in every way possible, and the private sector is also been actively involved since 2020.

Investing in the many D&I projects is helping our farmers to have better drainage systems for their crops, especially during this prolonged dry weather season.

We are seeing the effects that climate change is having, and because of the Government’s investments in this sector, farmers are

able to cope with the prolonged dry weather, and we all know that water is very important for this sector.

We saw the major investments being made in the cash-crop industry, which was a dying industry prior to 2020; and the many opportunities being given to our farmers within the villages to get back to their lands to do farming, and they are proudly doing so.

We saw the introduction of shade houses, etc.

Not only is the Government investing money into this sector, but technical assistance and training from NAREI is being given to the farmers countrywide.

We are seeing a positive rise in the cattle and poultry industry by the introduction of new breeds of cattle to the farmers and also giving them the guidance needed.

We saw the introduction of the black belly sheep project, etc. The poultry industry is on the rise on a daily basis, with the private sector taking up the many opportunities in getting into the industry. We saw the introduction of the black giant

chicken project in the hinterland, etc.

Ther is much guidance and educational programmes being given to farmers by the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA). Rice farmers are now enjoying reductions in their land rates and D&I charges. We all know that under the previous Government, although no assistance was given to the industry, the then minister and Government imposed a rise in those charges, which was a burden to farmers. Many left their lands because they could not afford to pay those charges.

Under the previous Government, we saw VAT being put on machinery and agricultural products such as fertilizers, etc. It was a hardship for farmers. Today that VAT has been removed, and farmers are investing more and more into the industry. Many went back to their lands, and sought more lands to plant rice because that burden was removed. They have better drainage and irrigation systems to better their crops.

This brings me to mention the many farm-to-market roads that are being made across the country over the years, which give farmers better access to their produce brought out on a timely basis to market.

These roads not only allow farmers to bring out their produce, but also to have better access to their farmlands.

We are seeing major investments and improvements in the fishing industry, and the introduction of ponds for blackwater shrimp projects in some of the regions. That project is seeing an increase in production.

I cannot forget to mention the many developments taking place in the hinterland regions of our country. We are seeing soya bean projects, rice planting, massive poultry rearing, cash crop farming, etc.

Thousands of acres of land are being cleared to be developed into agricultural lands, and my brothers and sisters in the hinterland are taking full advantage of the many opportunities in the agriculture sector.

I must mention also that we recently saw the reopening of the Rose Hall Canje Sugar Estate, and sugar cane is being cultivated to produce sugar. Moreover, it will create hundreds of jobs for our people, and would ease the economic impact that those areas suffered under the previous Government.

Editor, there are very many positives happening in the agriculture sector under the strong and visionary leadership of Minister Mustapha MP. I can go on, but space may be limited if I should. With that being said, as a Guyanese, I can proudly say that under this People’s Progressive Party Government led by President Irfaan Ali, and with the strong and visionary leadership in the Agriculture Ministry being led by Hon. Zulfikar Mustapha MP, Guyana will become food secure by 2025, with the rapid pace the agriculture industry is moving forward.

Regards, Abel Seetaram

Insurmountable problem with Anand Goolsarran Dear Editor, It is a damning indictment of the PNC administrations 1980-1992 that its Deputy Auditor General Anand Goolsarran can defend the absence of audited accounts by simply saying, “The fact is that the Government did not submit draft financial statements to the Auditor General.

Therefore, in the absence of these statements, there could not have been audited accounts”.

Interestingly, it was during this period that Goolsarran was promoted from deputy to the top job, which he accepted with full knowledge that there would be no audits to perform. Here is where the first question of personal integrity enters, and one can ask: “How many years does it take to decide that you are being paid from the public purse for doing nothing, and on top of that ‘earning’ a promotion?”

Goolsarran’s letter provides an interesting synopsis of his career, and a snapshot of that period of Guyana’s history as we transitioned from decades of dictatorship to democracy; from being classified as a heavily indebted poor country (HIPIC) subject to IMF monetary regimes to exiting HIPIC in 2006.

As Auditor General, Goolsarran was interested in earning a better salary. President Cheddi Jagan referred to officials who earned more than US$5000 per month in the public

service as ‘super salaried’.

There were other public officials who were paid US dollar salaries under loan programs - the Finance Sector Programme 956 and the Public Sector Technical Assistance Credit 3726.

Goolsarran subsequently got an offer while representing Guyana at an international conference, and the Government facilitated a six-month leave period that allowed Goolsarran to earn commensurate with his qualifications and experience.

In the end, Goolsarran was gone for four years.

The Guyana Goolsarran returned to in 2004 was a vastly different place. We were no longer a country where paint was only available in white, Guyana was progressing economically to the point where we would exit the HIPIC classification and corresponding IMF regime in 2006.

Goolsarran says, “Four months later, I demitted office, following the Government’s reaction to the “dolphin scam”. In other places, Goolsarran states that he delivered the Audit Report on the 31st December 2004, and left the country that night, and stayed away in fear for his life. The attempt to export dolphins and other protected species through waiver or special permit was indeed a scandalous affair, good for a round of laughter in Georgetown circles, but certainly not serious enough to cause an Auditor

General to flee for his life.

I suspect Goolsarran had gotten used to the consultant life, and was finding that the Audit Office had changed to a hard-charging work environment in his prolonged absence.

Goolsarran’s next incarnation was as a transparency advocate. If he were to be listened to, we would have no bridge over the Berbice River, and no Marriott Hotel. Goolsarran and others so clouded the Amalia Falls issue that the investors pulled out, and that vital project never went forward.

Goolsarran made numerous allegations of corruption, and without a doubt, corruption exists.

What Goolsarran and others did not provide was actionable evidence of specific instances. As Auditor General, Goolsarran was in the statutory position to unearth this evidence, he was no layman bystander, and this was his primary task. He failed, and resorted to the easy road of allegations and innuendoes.

The second serious questioning of Goolsarran’s integrity came from the forensic audit he conducted under the APNU/AFC administration. Goolsarran accepted this contract in blatant violation of the Laws of Guyana (Audits Cap 73:01). Section 4(3) requires the approval of the Public Accounts Committee to have an audit conducted by an auditor other than the Auditor General; this

was neither asked for nor granted. Also, there should have been a public tender for this audit, the contract Goolsarran accepted was sole-sourced; these black marks are further compounded by Goolsarran’s denial that his name and estimates could be found in the APNU Manifesto (they are on page 42 of 56).

Editor, his use of a dolphin as a red herring aside (bad form), Goolsarran’s letter made for good reading as one man’s rationale (unsolicited) for his life’s choices at a difficult time in our history. HIPIC days were no picnic, they required full disclosure.

I also worked abroad from 1990-2008 in search of a better salary, but offer no apologies. Salaries have always been a sensitive issue in Guyana, as the APNU/AFC found out when they gave themselves a 50% increase in 2015, mere months after assuming office; and even then, it was less than USD 5000 per month.

In this context, Goolsarran (and others) are vindicated in their move away from Guyana in search of better salaries. the difference with others is they have not returned with a sense of entitlement, and have not become bitter when none was offered.

For example, in eight years of public writing, I have made numerous claims of corruption.

In each case, I provided evidence, all without

the power and staff of the Auditor General’s Office.

Corruption can and must be exposed at every opportunity, but it requires integrity; and that is where

Jagdeo seemingly has an insurmountable problem with Anand Goolsarran.

Sincerely, Robin Singh

Sunday, October 22, 2023

06:00 (Sign on) Jewanram Rel. Hour 07:00 Anthony’s Navratri Special 07:30 Cartoons 08:00 Shekinah Ministry 08:30 Evening News (RB) 09:30 Fast & Loud 10:30 Cartoons 11:00 David Persaud Religious Program 11:30 Blippi Educational 12:00 Movie - Midnight Masquerade (2014) 13:30 Movie - The Princess Diaries (2001) 15:30 Forged in fire 16:30 Payless Power Hour 17:30 The Healing Touch 18:00 Wheel of Fortune 18:30 Week-in-Review 19:00 Lucifer S5 E5 20:00 Arrow S5 E5 21:00 Riverdale S5 E3 22:00 Unsolved Mysteries 23:00 Stand-up Comedy 00:00 Sign off

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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023| GUYANATIMESGY.COM

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have devoted several articles to the care of the elderly dog with emphasis on therapeutic intervention that will lengthen the life span of a beloved family member with some acceptable degree of comfort. But regrettably the time will come when the pet’s health deteriorates visibly and, eventually, rapidly. Life becomes painful and movement may become agonizing.

This pet has been with you, more than likely since a newborn. A playful puppy/ kitten with boundless energy which often seemed directed at your ankles to trip you over. Getting into mischief was a norm, and the precious antics were a source of joy to the family and brought you all together so many times to relate the fun stories. Your kids

have grown into teenagers

THE FINAL DAYS OF YOUR PET

and adults along with your pet. For all practical purposes, this animal is an integral member of the family.

You cried and blamed yourself when she fell off the verandah or when you carelessly allowed your rear wheel to clip her leg.

And you recall how happy you were when the vet declared that there were no

injuries to internal organs,

or broken/ dislocated bones.

You have watched her give birth to puppies. Will you ever forget that face, that look of relief, which told you that everything was all right as she nursed her first litter – you, like her, not really knowing what was the right thing to do.

You remember the days when “Rover” went roaming while you were

frantic

at

not

knowing

where he was. You scolded him, yet you hugged him in return – looking bedraggled and perhaps even with a few wounds. You could not help but feel proud, not only because he returned to his home, but because there was a twinkle in his eyes when he jumped into your arms. You cannot forget those nights when you stayed up to look after him when he was ill, and you dutifully gave him his medication or when you cradled his head at the vet while receiving the glucose/saline drip. And those horrible nights when thoughtless people threw squibs, which

sent him into paroxysms of panic. You would rather stay at home on New Year’s Eve than let him go through that trauma without your care.

Yes, that human/animal bond is powerful and beautiful. Your pet would never desert you and your

home is his home; his territory which he would defend – yes, even with his life.

Your dog cries, laughs, exhibits jealousy, anger, fear, guilt, but never ingratitude.

sense and logic, and even love, forces you to accept that you owe him the final kindness of allowing him to die quickly and painlessly.

The family makes the decision.

And now this true friend is physically collapsing, his life is no longer a joy or a pleasure. His condition is growing progressively worse, and there is no hope for improvement.

Euthanasia The trauma associated with putting an ailing dog to sleep is understandably psychological. For the dog, there is no physical discomfort. A sedative is administered by injection into the muscle. Then, a few minutes later, an anaesthetic is infused into his vein.

The concentration of the anaesthetic is enough to induce an immediate and irreversible loss of consciousness. Before you can count to five, the entire procedure is over. There should be no regret, no blame, and no self-flagellation. Perhaps later on, when the family has recovered from the loss, you may wish to visit one of the many existing humane societies with an-

You are now confronted with a difficult situation, not unlike that which we face when a close relative is terminally ill. But the legal limitations are not the same.

This is one time when your vet cannot make the decision for you. For your vet, the situation is also painful; after all, he has also known your pet from puppyhood.

Ultimately, though, some common

imal shelters and adopt a new puppy or kitten. And the cycle of happiness continues.

This topic of Euthanasia is not just the administration of a simple injection. The agony experienced by the caregiving family is not immediately over. Next week, we will share in depth more considerations associated with this traumatic decision, before and after.

NEWS

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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

ExxonMobil spent over US$280M on local suppliers for 1st half of 2023

– over 1,300 Guyanese women employed in workforce

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il giant ExxonMobil has made notable strides in its local content commitments to Guyana, including the expenditure of over US$280 million on local suppliers in the first half of the year, and in its employment of over 1,300 Guyanese women.

Last week, ExxonMobil Guyana President Alistair Routledge held a press briefing in which he updated the media on the company’s achievements for the first half of the year, in addition to its strategic investments.

According to information supplied by Exxon, in excess of US$280 million was spent on Guyanese suppliers in the first half of the year, marking

a 45 per cent increase in purchases from local suppliers compared to the same period last year. And it also adds to the more than US$1.2 billion spent with Guyanese suppliers since 2015.

“ExxonMobil Guyana and its contractors utilise a diverse supplier base of Guyanese businesses for a range of services, including structural fabrication, accounting, legal, marketing, catering, facilities management, recruitment, medical, security, logistics, and transportation,” the company said.

It was, meanwhile, explained that approximately 5,900 Guyanese workers “supported the activities of ExxonMobil Guyana” and its

reporting contractors at the end of the first half of the year. Further, Guyanese represent 69 per cent of this overall workforce.

“More than 3500 workers are based offshore Guyana, including 1,700 Guyanese workers. More than 1,400 women workers support onshore and offshore oil and gas activities; 1,300 are Guyanese women,” the company further explained.

When it comes to Exxon’s strategic investments, the company said it plans to invest over US$40 billion in the coming years in five development projects. The company noted that this figure is over 10 times Guyana’s current budget, and is being done at

MoU signed for Cuba to ...

“Also, Guyana has a leading role, as we all know, within CARICOM, in the area of food security and food production.

And Cuba is important in that area. We all know that Cuba/ Caricom relations are very historical and very strong,” Luis added.

He further made reference to the eighth CARICOM-Cuba Summit that was held last year, where cooperation between CARICOM and Cuba was explored. According to Ambassador Luis, this can be considered as Cuba making its contribution to the food security agenda in the region.

“We look forward very much to achieving and beginning a new chapter in our cooperation relations in this area, with Guyana. We are certain that we are going to achieve higher results working together, in order to make our production capacities achieve bigger and better results.

The full scope of the agreement includes Agriculture and Vegetable Products, Livestock

and Animal Products, beekeeping, forestry, and other areas of interest. When it comes to beekeeping, Ramraj confirmed to this publication that over 200 bee-keepers in several regions including Region One (Barima/Waini) and Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Esequibo) will benefit.

At present a delegation of Cuban agriculture specialists is in Guyana and participating in the Agi-Investment Forum and Expo, including representatives from the Cuban Agriculture Ministry, the Cuban Beekeeping Company (APICUBA) and the Agriculture Import-Export Company (CATEC).

Their presence in Guyana follows a visit earlier this year from Cuban First ViceMinister of Agriculture, Rodolfo Rodriguez Exposito, during the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States CELAC Meeting of Agriculture Ministers.

President Dr Irfaan Ali announced on Friday that com-

FROM PAGE 3

munities from the hinterland, coastland, and those near mangroves are set to benefit from Cuban assistance for the honey industry. The President had underscored that given the country’s tropical nature and its cultivated crops; it can produce superior honey which can carry a heavy price.

Guyana currently produces honey on a small scale but the Cuban specialists could assist greatly in setting up apiaries across the country. Cuba sports a successful honey industry that is continuously growing. In 2021, record exports of 8500 tons were primarily destined for markets in western Europe, Canada, Japan, The Bahamas, and Martinique.

Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha had said earlier this month that the move to boost local honey production is timely, considering that Trinidad and Tobago is actively embarking on steps to remove barriers to trade to certain products, such as honey.

The Liza Destiny FPSO… one of two FPSOs Exxon operates in Guyana’s waters

zero cost to the country.

“In the first half of 2023, ExxonMobil Guyana’s strategic community investments included the Guyana Amazon Warriors sponsorship, University of Guyana partnership, Petra Youth Football Championships, and WE LIFT. “Through the Greater Guyana Initiative (GGI), ExxonMobil Guyana and the Stabroek block co-venturers also supported the Centre for Local Business Development (CLBD), including its ElevateALL initiative, training with TVET institutions, and youth STEM programming,” the company added.

Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), Exxon’s local subsidiary, is operator of the Stabroek Block, and holds 45 per cent interest thein, while Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd holds 30 per cent interest, and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited, holds the remaining 25 per cent interest.

In May 2023, EEPGL had revealed that it and its reporting contractors had spent more than $80 billion (US$400 million) with more than 1500 Guyanese businesses in 2022 alone. That is part of the more than $180

billion (US$900 million) spent with locals since the first discovery in 2015.

By the end of 2022, the company and contractors had also employed over 5000 Guyanese workers, representing more than 65 per cent of the overall workforce in the local oil and gas industry.

The company noted, too, that the number of Guyanese working offshore continued to grow. Among the 2700 personnel committed to supporting ExxonMobil Guyana’s operations, over 1300 are Guyanese, constituting approximately 48 per cent of the offshore workforce.

Back in 2021, Routledge explained that Guyana had undergone drastic changes in its oil and gas capacity since the early days when the company made its first oil discovery in the Stabroek Block in 2015, to the point where the company wanted to transition its supply chain to Guyana.

He had said that when Exxon started exploration, there was no infrastructure or expertise in place locally to support the company’s operations. This had led Exxon to source those services from Trinidad and Tobago, which has been producing oil on a commercial basis since 1908.

8 NEWS

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

GPF records 34.8% decline in crime in Reg 2

P

olice Commander for Regional Division 2, Superintendent Khemraj Shivbaran has indicated that there has been a 34.8% reduction in crime on the Essequibo Coast.

Commander Shivbaran made the disclosure during an interview on Thursday during a radio programme in Essequibo.

The Regional Detective Officer and Traffic Officer disclosed the region's crime and traffic statistics and their proactive measures to address and reduce both areas.

According to the RDO, the Division has a 100% clear-up rate when it comes to crime, with 24 reports in 2022 and 17 when compared to January 1 to October 9, 2022.

He noted that there were 10 reports of break and enter and larceny and one murder for 2023 as against two in 2022.

He further alluded that his department is making all efforts to ensure that people who committed such offences are brought into custody and complete the investigation in a timely manner to deliver justice to the victims.

The Traffic Officer said six fatal accidents have been recorded for the year thus far when compared to two in the previous year.

However, there has been a 58.9% increase in all categories of accidents for 2023.

In 2022 (Jan 1 to Oct 9), 435 traffic offences were committed, compared to 653 in 2023, and summons accounted for 162 against 178

in 2023; tickets: 166 in 2022 against 185 in 2023, thus far.

The Regional Traffic Officer also alluded to the proactive approach being taken through enforcement and sensitisation initiatives such as through “lectures” to schools and drivers, distribution of flyers and educational awareness programmes, enforcement activities, and cooperation from members of the public.

Commander Shivbaran, however, stated that it was the residents themselves who achieved the reduction of serious crimes in the region by working in collaboration with the regional Police to solve them, as well as report same.

Shivbaran also noted a reduction in domestic vio-

lence compared to figures for the corresponding period last year. In 2022 (Jan 1 to Oct 9), there were 131 reports, with 90 cases as against 86 reports with 54 cases in 2023, with 15 and 14 convictions, respectively.

He noted that this was achieved through training of ranks with the relevant knowledge, skill sets, and best practices. Statistics also indicate a reduction in noise nuisance, with 36 reports and 19 cases for 2023.

Shivbaran, meanwhile, stressed that improvement in Police-community relations and increased sensitisation and awareness initiatives were the key components to the fight against crime and the reduction in fatal accidents in the region.

What kinda…

F

…Government?

or a country in which politicians were called “precocious” during colonial days -- spouting communist rhetoric that spanned the spectrum from communism to cooperative socialism -- it’s weird that nowadays we don’t get a peep out of the players on ideology. And it’s not that the choice was between those two extremes: there were all the gradations from the Black Nationalist Socialism of Kwayana; the Black Nationalist Marxism of Rodney; the Revolutionary Maoism of Brindley Benn; the Christian Democracy of Tennessee - not to mention the overt identity politics of the League of Coloured Peoples and the BGEIA. If Guyana’s the “Land of Six Peoples”, a thousand ideological flowers bloomed even before Mao thought of the phrase!!

So, what’s with our political parties now?? Suffering from mental laziness - as one Opposition leader accused followers of the PPP – or have we reached the “end of ideology”, as predicted some time ago?? Now, your Eyewitness ain’t talking about any full-blown, Bible-thumping ideology… but shouldn’t our politicians have some sorta ideas on how our politics and society ought to function?? Maybe if they articulated such an overarching idea, folks wouldn’t be choosing between who’s uglier or more pugnacious than whom!!

Ok…Ok…so you, dear reader, wanna know a bit more what your Eyewitness is going on about, don’t you?? Well, let’s talk about services provided by the Government. In the US – the home of capitalism and “the brave” - they lob rockets from caves in the Rockies to targets 10,000 miles away!! – they don’t believe in free medical care for all!!

That’s – gasp!! - “socialism”. Even the Affordable Care Act – dubbed “Obamacare” in echo of “Medicare” that sets earning limits - was derided.

Well, we got free medical care, and also free education – up to and including University by 2025, if the PPP’s to be believed. This would make us stark raving communists to Americans!! So, is this why we stay mum?? One wing of the Opposition – in direct echo of Burnham’s socialist “declarations” - has the “Declaration of Buxton”, which promises $1,000,000 to every family in Guyana!! Whether you’re a billionaire or you’re a street sleeper!!

Now, how about politics?? America sez ‘free and fair’ elections are the very essence of “democracy” - which it promotes across the world even at the point of a gun, as in Afghanistan or Iraq. Our Opposition’s playing a “hold me-loose me” game on this one!! Even though they won under those rules in 2015, suddenly they’re very skittish on the entire question. A government in waiting ain’t enough for them - they’re looking for a GUARANTEED seat at the Governmental table – even by rigging!!

Whether folks want that or not!! It’s unclear which part of “government by the people” they don’t understand!! …wooing for Guyana?

Imagine you were the wall flower at the dance on the international scene for decades - cause you were considered drab and nondescript. Now suddenly - because a fairy godmother named Janet waved her wand and invited Exxon to dig for and find oil under our Atlantic coast – we’re the belle of the ball!! So many suitors are lining up, we gotta decide to tell them our dance card’s full, innit?? After all, there are only so many times one can pirouette around the dance floor when we got things to do and places to see!!

Right off the bat, we gotta realize we ain’t getting the full-court press because our suitors suddenly discovered we’re the salt of the earth!! It’s the oil – and its attendant money – that they wanna get their hands on!! And some of those hands are pretty grubby - cause once they get what they want, they’ll ravish our fair land and leave it barefoot and pregnant!!

Let’s play hard-to-get!! …risk for the Democrats??

With the Republicans unable to agree on a House Speaker - which their control of the House can deliver - if their whip doesn’t ensure all members are there to cast their vote this weekend, Democrat Hakeem can slip in!!

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

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

9

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

10 NEWS

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

3 Venezuelans nabbed with gun, ammo, narcotics at Arakaka

T

The three Spanish-speaking nationals in custody

hree Venezuelans were on Friday arrested at Arakaka, North West District (NWD), Region One (Barima-Waini), with three unlicensed firearms along with matching

Venez, Romel Masim, and Jiminez Rojas. In addition, the Police are on the hunt for Reny Melville, known as “Pony Tail”, who is said to have picked up the three men at a shop in the area.

The identification cards of the men

ammunition and a quantity of narcotics.

The three Spanishspeaking nationals were identified as Eliyer Vera

Based on reports received, at about 17:25h on the day in question, ranks of the Arakaka Police Outpost received information that

three Spanish-speaking individuals, suspected to be Venezuelan nationals, had visited a shop to charge their phones and were seen with firearms in their waistbands.

However, shortly after, Melville arrived at the shop and picked up the men after which they left on an All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) for the waterfront, where Melville resides.

As such, the ranks fully dressed in uniform proceeded to Melville’s home. Upon their arrival, contact was made with Melville during which he was informed of the purpose of the visit. The ranks subsequently requested permission to conduct a search in and around his home, to which he agreed.

As the ranks entered the house, they observed the three men lying on the floor and they were conversing in

The gun, ammo and other items found during the search

Spanish.

Nevertheless, whilst conducting the search, a blue and black haversack was discovered under a bed in a room. Upon further inspection, a Glock 19 pistol (with a tampered serial number) along with six matching rounds of ammunition and two Beretta 92 A1 pistols with magazines - one with 12 rounds of 9mm ammunition and the other with seven rounds of 9mm ammunition were unearthed.

Following the discovery, the men were told of the offence committed, but they remained silent.

Moreover, further searches were conducted on a wooden table near the bed where a black plastic bag was found containing a quantity of a creamish substance suspected to be cocaine. A quantity of ganja was also found.

Again, the men were cautioned about the offence committed but remained

silent. Melville, however, managed to escape from the scene during the search.

Meanwhile, the three Spanish-speaking nationals were taken to the Arakaka Police Outpost where the suspected cocaine and ganja were weighed and amounted to 66.4 grams and 64.7 grams, respectively.

The three men were placed into custody pending further investigation and charges while efforts are being made to arrest Melville.

NEWS

11

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Consistent political will paramount in achieving agri-food vision – VP Jagdeo

…goals have to be supported by investments

Identity Politics A in Guyana

E

arlier this week, I ran into a true blue Jaganite old acquaintance from the seventies, who bemoaned that our political discourse is again dominated by “race talk”. It would appear that announcement of the demise of such an orientation in our political mobilisation with the emergence of new generations of voters has Ravi Dev been rather premature.

Sadly, the questioning of the right of Indian-Guyanese -- through their preferred party, the PPP -- to seek national power has reappeared. There was that early instance, at Ghana’s first independence celebrations, when Jagan was excluded from a meeting including Nkrumah, Burnham and a host of WI leaders, who feared Jagan establishing an “Indian state” in BG. Barbadian writer George Lamming later observed: “This perception of the Indian as alien and a problem to be contained after the departure of the Imperial power has been a major part of the thought and feeling of Black West Indians, and a very stubborn conviction among the Black middle layers in Trinidad and Guyana. Indian power, in politics or business, has been regarded as an example of an Indian strategy for conquest.”

The irony is that, after 181 years in Guyana, notwithstanding their protestations, Indian-Guyanese has become “Guyanised” to such an extent by the plantation system and the post-colonial experience that they are as distinct from the present-day “Indian Indians” as AfricanGuyanese are from “African-Africans”. While the first part of our hyphenated designation may signify our “motherlands”, are we not all bound by the common second part: being Guyanese? There is, of course, the problematic of “the narcissism of small differences”.

The Jamaican poet Olive Senior, of mixed heritage, used the activity of “gardening” as an extended trope in her book, “Gardening in the Tropics”, to analyse the brutal colonisation of us all in the Caribbean by the Europeans in the formation of our identities. Gardening does involve “rooting out”, discarding” “cultivating”, “nurturing”, “grafting”, “hybridity”, and so many activities that are also at work in cultures and relationships in the construction of identities. All of us have been, and continue to be, “cultivated”, whether we like it or not, and have, to a lesser or greater extent, been “hybridized”.

Even when we were uprooted from homelands in Asia, Africa and Europe, we were all already “hybrids” that had been variously constituted. For instance, the North Indians of the Bhojpuri belt were the product of continuous invasions for thousands of years, of which the Moghul invasion and its Islamic world view was only the most extensive. Ditto for the West Africans from different tribes with Islam.

In the Caribbean, the Indians, Portuguese and Chinese indentureds would encounter the Africans, who had been subjected to hundreds of years of European-imposed culture and religion – forcibly then hegemonistically. Africans were expected to inculcate “English culture”, even though their humanity was denied, and they definitionally could never be “English”. While, against all odds, they retained elements of their West African cultures, it was their “creolised” culture into which the new indentured servants would be thrown to imbibe through “seasoning”.

However, during the 20th century in Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean, people of African origin sought to counter the European hegemonic cultural imposition with the ideologies of “Black Power”, “Negritude” and “Pan Africanism”, all of which privileged African culture as the “root” of the tree of “national culture” here. There was never a comparable, say, Pan-Indian movement, but with independence we were instructed that we were “One People; One Nation; One Destiny”. Last month, with no sense of irony for what it implied for the Indigenous Peoples and descendants of indentured labourers, a high-level UWI conclave in Jamaica bestowed on Caricom the African Union’s designation of its diaspora as its “6th Region”.

Reviewing the broad sweep of Caribbean history, Senior had sought to make the point that there are no “pure” origins, and no “one root” from which to construct our Caribbean identity. She borrowed the metaphor of the “rhizome” – with its multiplicity of roots that privilege no one root for Caribbean identity from the Martiniquean Edouard Glissant. He was consciously reacting against the construct of “negritude” and of “hybridity” that had been proposed to describe French Antillean identity. The first excluded all others, such as people of Indian origin and the French, and the latter still privileged the “African root”.

We are all equally Guyanese, and should have equal opportunity to all that our country offers - culturally, politically and economically, etc.

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

flurry of action only on the brink of imminent food crises will not abet the Region’s efforts to achieve food security and an enabling agri-business environment, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has warned.

Speaking during his presentation at the AgriInvestment Forum and Expo at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre on Friday, the Vice President painted a frank reality of lacking political will and consistent action to realise the agricultural goals set out for 2025.

Some 15 years ago, countries within the regional block had set out to transform agriculture into agri-business, moving away from the ‘peasant-type’ agriculture to a viable sector and food security.

However, the former Head of State recognised that this is still not in place. Leaders are only pushing for agricultural policies during times of urgent need, but as soon as the situation abates, interest is lost.

“That enabling environment is still not here or in place as of today…A lot of politicians in the Region, when we have global crises and we have an escalation in food crises, there is a flurry of activities to talk about agriculture and food security because the political reality of dealing with a higher cost of living and anger of people dictates that. As though we can develop a viable period in just that period,” Jagdeo underlined.

This mindset, he added, must be transformed into sustainable and continued political buy-in from leaders in Caricom. This means that even though growth and recessions, or success and disasters, there must be commitment and investment in the agriculture industry.

“The efforts have to be sustained through boom-andbust cycles, through high prices and low prices. We have to have a sustained policy environment or we have to address this matter in a sustained way. That requires political capital to be expended.

It requires an understanding and commitment on the part of each country to do the things necessary to allow the growth of a viable agricultural sector.”

Budgetary allocations per country for agriculture reflect an ‘embarrassingly small sum’, the VP pinpointed. According to him, fiscal incentives should mirror that which is allotted to other sectors such as tourism.

He reasoned, “Often, although agriculture doesn’t contribute to a large part of the Gross Domestic Product of many countries, they create a lot of linkages and employ quite a few people in countries where you have until now, high rates of unemployment.”

The Vice President also spoke on enabling laws that are still lacking, to speak to

Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo during his presentation on Friday

issues such as praedial larceny or the theft of agricultural produce. Lastly, for agriculture to prosper, infrastructure, drainage, irrigation, and availability of water are some key issues yet to be fixed from a national perspective.

Quality planting material is essential in allowing a thriving agriculture sector and is being realised locally with a tissue culture lab. A second one is being touted to produce materials specifically for the sugar industry.

In piling up the challenges coming in the way of smart and modern practices, he pointed out that Guyana is in the ‘stone age’ when it relates to soil testing, whereby one simple test takes some four weeks. To embark on precision agriculture, data is important.

“The challenges for the Region are huge. Last year, I said cutting our food import bill by 25 percent by 2025 is a huge task given where we are today and especially in Guyana’s case, a growing disposable income. Even though we are producing and exporting more, we still will export more final products because

we have a growth in national income.”

Investment

In 2022, it was projected that some US$7 billion investment was needed to achieve a 25 pe cent food import reduction. Jagdeo raised concerns that just a fraction of money has been invested while the 2025 deadline creeps in.

“I doubt that we have invested US$500 million in the Region in the sector. So how are we going to achieve a 25 percent cut by 2025 if we don’t invest? It requires money to achieve that. The goals are important but they have to be supported by policy environment and investments,” he zeroed in.

He added, “I don’t want to sound depressing but that’s the real state. We have to be frank, open, and admit where our deficiencies are if we want to really achieve the outcomes that we desire.”

Locally, investment in agriculture has increased by over 300 percent through budgetary allocations during the last three years. This represents some $33 billion.

It was recommended that

there be a rethinking of the regional food system and what can be rolled out in each country based on their advantages.

Updated information

Meanwhile, the Vice President lamented on the lack of information at the level of Caricom to the Region’s population, as it pertains to projects and policies being undertaken on the agricultural front. He cited that recent searches for such only reveal old articles dating back several years.

Jagdeo said current information should be present at a first glance for the world to see. This is inextricably linked to increased support and interest from global partners and investors.

“If we have a regional agricultural strategy, we first of all have to ensure that the premier institution that is responsible for coordinating this regional policy, which is Caricom, that it has information that is current and productive, that will allow people around the world to understand where we’re headed.

Right now, that’s absent.”

(Rupa Seenaraine)

12 NEWS

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Guyana becomes 1st country in region to launch high-yield, zinc-enriched rice strain – as rice production is projected to grow to 847,000 tonnes by 2025

G

uyana has been able to develop and launch its own strain of bio-fortified rice, making it the first country to develop this particular rice strain that naturally stores zinc.

This has been accomplished through the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) with the assistance of regional and international partners.

The new rice strain was launched on Saturday during the ongoing AgriInvestment Forum and Expo being held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.

During the expo, Prime Minister Brigadier (retired) Mark Phillips made it clear that this is just one manifestation of the Government’s efforts to boost food production with the ’25 by 2025’ goal in mind.

“Rice production in Guyana is projected to grow to 847,000 metric tonnes by 2025. The Government has made tremendous investments in improving the capability of the Guyana Rice Development Board to conduct research to keep the industry on its competitive edge. On an annual basis, our Government allocates

Prime Minister Brig (ret’d) Mark Phillips and Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha (centre) posing with other officials as they launch the new variety of rice

over $300 million to promote production and productivity in the rice sector, including research and development, to improve yields. This includes the introduction of the bio-fortified variety we’re launching today,” the Prime Minister explained.

According to PM Phillips, the Research Scientists at GRDB are continuously working to find new varieties that improve

rice productivity and increase the industry’s competitiveness. That is why rice fortified with zinc took prominence as a project, especially since zinc is an essential mineral the body needs but cannot produce on its own.

PM Phillips also explained that this variety of rice is not a genetically-modified organism (GMO), but was rather developed

through conventional breeding methods. GMOs are usually developed through genetic engineering.

“Recognizing the importance of zinc in our daily lives, the GRDB, through a collaborative effort, developed a local-bred rice variety with high levels of zinc content in its grains, to satisfy this need,” the Prime Minister has said.

“The development of a

rice strain that naturally stores higher levels of zinc in the grains, we now have zinc-enriched rice with 17 to 20 milligrams of zinc. Zinc is an essential mineral that we must have and utilize to support our immune system and cellular functions.”

Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha made it clear that this is a remarkable achievement, since Guyana is the only country launching the zinc-fortified variety of rice. Further, he noted that this would become a variety for the farmers to cultivate in the new crop.

“That will be an achievement for us, because you heard that zinc is now being grown in the rice. And that will be important, because the farmers in our country will have an opportunity also, with the cultivation of this variety, to enjoy preferential prices, because this variety will not get the same price we’re getting now for the varieties that are there,” he explained.

“This will be a high-yielding variety; I understand between six to eight tonnes per hectare.

And if we could get that, that would be a tremendous achievement for us here in

Guyana. Because when you look around the world today and the crisis in food production, a country like us, that is leading the charge in Caricom, this is the way to go,” he declared.

Mustapha noted that while farmers are improving in traditional areas, they are also venturing into new crops. He also expressed hope that as Guyana continues to develop new varieties of crops, the farmers can rise to the challenge of largescale production thereof.

Guyana’s rice-producing capacity has grown to the point where, it was revealed in August, Guyana is helping Trinidad and Tobago develop its rice sector through technical support. During a telephone interview with this publication, Mustapha had said technical officers in Guyana are advising Trinidadian technical officers on the best practices used in order to grow rice successfully.

The Minister had also shared at the time that, about two months prior, Guyana had supplied Trinidad with some 100,000 tonnes of rice seed, which was distributed among local rice farmers in that country.

(G-3)

FEATURE

13

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

launched on his 95th birth anniversary

ssman and philanthropist, posing with Dr. Yesu Persaud, a well-respected Guyanese busine a and a copy of ‘Reaching for the Stars’ his Honorary Doctorate from the University of Guyan

O

n what would have been his 95th birth anniversary, the highly-anticipated second volume of Dr. Yesu Persaud's autobiography, "Reaching for the Stars – The Life of Yesu Persaud, Volume 2" was launched on Wednesday, October 18, at the Demerara Bank’s Head

Office on Camp Street, Georgetown.

Edited by Professor David Dabydeen and Lynne Macedo, an Honorary Research Fellow of Dr. Persaud’s, the book continues the captivating narrative of the iconic business mogul's extraordinary life’s journey.

The launch was attended by notable figures, including the Ambassador of Chile to Guyana, H.E Francisco Sepúlveda; Chairman of Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL), Komal Samaroo; Director of Demerara Bank Limited, Hemraj Kissoon; CEO of

CEO of Demerara Bank, Pravinchandra Dave, making remarks during the launch of the book

Demerara Bank Limited, Pravinchandra Dave; Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana (UG), Dr. Paloma Mohamed; Director of Technical Services at DDL, Sharon Sue-Hang; and Group Finance Director/ Deputy Chief Executive Officer of DDL, Vasudeo Singh.

In this second volume,

Dr. Persaud provides a deeper insight into his life, both in the professional and personal spheres. His story is one of resilience, entrepreneurial spirit, and unwavering dedication to the development of Guyana's private sector. The book also offers a unique perspective on the political landscape of Guyana over the

past seven decades, as Dr. Persaud shares his candid and sometimes humorous encounters with key figures in the country's history.

Professor Dabydeen noted, “Some of the best parts of the book are about his friendships and acknowledging the role of his team in making things happen.”

TURN TO PAGE 14

14 FEATURE

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

FROM PAGE 13

Dr. Yesu Persaud, one of Guyana’s most powerful business leaders, is celebrated for his remarkable achievements in building Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) from the ground up, and making the El Dorado brand an award-winning, world-renowned spirit.

His vision extended to the

founding of Demerara Bank Limited and the Institute of Private Enterprise Development (IPED), further solidifying his position as a prominent figure in the country’s private sector.

The first part of Dr. Persaud's autobiography was launched on May 14, 2014, and received resound-

ing praise for its unique portrayal of a rags-to-riches story. This second volume, arriving posthumously, provides readers with an intimate look at the life of a man who continued to make significant contributions to business and philanthropy until his passing on January 16, 2022 at the age of 93.

Officials and Persaud family members displaying Volume 2 of “Reaching for the Stars”

Notably, DDL Chairman Komal Samaroo has penned a heartfelt tribute to Dr. Persaud within the pages of the autobiography. In his tribute, Samaroo reflected on Dr. Persaud's enduring legacy and the profound impact he made on the business landscape of Guyana, adding, “Dr Persaud was a people-oriented business leader - an indefatigable promoter of people-centered policies”.

Samaroo’s words pay homage to a visionary leader who has left an indelible mark on DDL and the entire nation.

Sharing his thoughts on the launch, Samaroo expressed, "This is an occasion to do some reflection on the 45 years that I have had the privilege of working alongside Dr. Yesu Persaud.” He added, “On the occasion of his 95th birthday, it is ap-

propriate that we reflect on his work during his life, some of which are recorded in Volume 2 of “Reaching for the Stars”.

The daughter of Dr Yesu Persaud, Urmie Persaud, was also in attendance, and spoke on behalf of the Persaud family. She described her father as a humble man - one ahead of his time. She expressed, “He was an extremely unique person, who thought of the big picture and not just of himself and/or of his own family, but of the country as a whole” CEO of Demerara Bank, Pravinchandra Dave, described Dr. Persaud as disciplined, humble, and courageous.

“He embodied simplicity and humility, and was fearless when it came to taking risks and extending himself,” Dave said.

Dr. Paloma Mohamed

said, “This story is a multifaceted, monumental story of a human being who is close to what I consider to be a saint.” She added that Dr. Persaud was a genuinely humble, decent, and caring human being, who “lives through his work and the lives that he has touched”.

Volume One of Dr. Persaud's memoirs recounted the struggles of his family during and after the abolition of indentureship in British Guiana. In Volume Two, he delves into his life from the mid-1970s, providing a detailed account of his business and professional life, as well as his personal experiences with family and friends.

This autobiography is a significant contribution to Guyana's historical and cultural narrative, and is a tribute to the rich legacy of Dr. Yesu Persaud.

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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

16 FEATURE

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

competition to spotlight new, emerging DJs countrywide

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fter some 15 years of being hosted in Jamaica, the Guinness Sound of Greatness compe-

tition has made its way to Guyana, offering a chance for up-and-coming DJs across the country to showcase their

talents and win $1.5 million in cash and prizes.

During a recent media launch of this competition,

Keevin Belfield, aka DJ King Keev

Guinness Brand Manager Lee Baptiste explained that the activity would last for nine weeks, and a total of 19 sub-meets are to be held at Guinness bars countrywide.

“It was birthed in Jamaica, and it was made to support DJs within the communities and music at large.

As you know, Guinness has supported music globally and throughout the Caribbean for a very long while,” Baptiste explained.

The first event of this promotion is expected to be held in New Amsterdam, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) on October 28.

“We expect DJs to walk with their community support and give the patrons a Guinness experience. All participating DJs will receive stipends to assist with their

preparations for each submeet,” Baptiste has said.

“A total of $1.5 million in cash and prizes will be up for grabs among the top four finalists…the top finalist will also have a chance to join the Guinness team after this event. Guinness consumers will also have the chance to win cool music gifts and one grand prize at every sub-meet of a Guinness boombox,” Baptiste related.

Additionally, consumers can purchase six-packs across supermarkets and win prizes, including Guinness-themed caps, T-shirts and speakers.

Baptiste clarified that this competition caters towards honing the skills of new DJs, with the expectation of having more experienced DJs mentor these emerging talents.

Deon Marks, also known as “DJ Breeze, the Real Guyanese”, who has been working as a DJ for two decades, commended this initiative.

“The Sounds of Greatness is ideal for those persons who love music generally; and during this promotion, we’re celebrating everything through music. And as it relates to the community, every young DJ gets a chance to be recognised and to showcase their skills-set musically,” Marks has said.

Guinness Brand Manager Lee Baptiste

Reiterating these sentiments, Keevin Belfield, otherwise known as “DJ King Keev”, applauded Guinness for providing this opportunity for young creatives.

“I think this is a wonderful venture -- having all the local talent in terms of DJs coming together and showcasing [their talents], all courtesy of Guinness. I think it does well for those young persons who are looking to get that opportunity to be shown on the big stage…so that persons can see what they’re capable of; and Guinness is making all of that possible,” Belfield said.

The final showdown in the Guinness Sound of Greatness competition is expected to be held in Georgetown within the second week of December.

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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

18 FEATURE Local agricultural products take centre stage at Agri-Investment Forum & Expo 2023 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

all over and I realise that the Government alone cannot do it; no Government alone can do it. So, we have to work hand-in-hand, together to create jobs for others,” Luke said.

By Pooja Rambaran

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s the Agri-Investment Forum and Expo 2023 continues throughout this weekend, some 150 exhibitors are taking the opportunity to showcase their products to a wider market and seek out distributors.

Guyana Times on Saturday had a chance to speak with some of the business owners displaying their products and services at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre (ACCC).

Luke’s Manufacturing

Recognising that a large amount of the country’s raw materials often goes to waste, John Luke established Luke’s Manufacturing to create products that counter this loss of potential.

“I think it’s time that we should put an end to that and bring our raw materials into the production section

Green Diamond Foods

Dixie Jordan, of Dixie’s Punch De Crème, specialises in cream liqueur

because…we can feed the world with our raw materials,” Luke said.

Among Luke’s Manufacturing’s 21 products are cassava seasoning, pepper sauce, cassareep, and fruit and coffee wines.

Luke further explained that his intention is to provide jobs for persons, young and old.

“If we manufacture our raw materials, it then brings more income and

also will create more jobs,” Luke said.

Currently, the Pomeroonbased company has some 20 employees, with Luke explaining that work is in progress to attain a farming group and land from the Government to eventually create jobs for over 100 persons by 2024.

“What really inspired me about getting into this business is because I need people to have jobs. The job crisis is

Based in Upper Pomeroon River, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), husband-wife duo, Michellina and Oscar Richmond head Centaur Holdings – the manufacturing body of Green Diamond Foods’ products.

“Our business was started five years ago and basically we came out of the farm – we are farmers so to speak – so we started to manufacture, first, plantain flour, and then we diversified and went more into teas and Carambola fruits,” Oscar Richmond said.

As first-time participants at the expo, the Richmonds

John Luke of Luke’s Manufacturing

see this as an opportunity to enlighten Guyanese about their range of locally made products as well as seek out foreign investors.

Michellina Richmond explained that their eight currently available products include Capadulla, lemongrass and ginger teas aimed to boost the immune system, Carambola fruit mix used to make black cake and fruit cake, cassava bread and plantain flour porridge.

were three flavours of cream liqueur – original with local white rum and full cream milk; coffee; and the best seller, Capadulla, which also includes Sarsaparilla and Granny backbone.

“I was here [at the AgriInvestment Forum and Expo] last year and it was amazing. So of course, when we were given the opportunity to come again, it was a no-brainer,” Jordan said.

“Being a part of this event

Karen Nelson of The Secret Garden

“We have the power mix porridge – a combination of plantain, banana, sweet potatoes, sweet cassava and eddoes,” Richmond said.

“All of our products are naturally made – nothing added to it, no preservatives, all organically produced from the farm to the manufacturing sector, packaged at a

helps us to reach new customers and also gives us the exposure that we need so people in Guyana would know about us and know about our company and what we have to offer,” Jordan said.

The Secret Garden

Another component of the Agri-Investment Forum and

Michellina and Oscar Richmond representing Green Diamond Foods

high standard and quality,” she added.

Dixie’s Punch De Crème

In March 2020, Dixie Jordan created Dixie’s Punch De Creme as her way to use local produce to create great flavours.

“So, it’s to bring awareness to our agriculture sector, to show what we have here, and to develop products that people can enjoy and also package it where it could go outside and represent Guyana and the international community could have a feel of Guyana and our culture,” Jordan said.

On display at her booth

Expo is a farmers’ market, allowing attendees to purchase not just fresh fruits and vegetables, but also a range of plants.

Karen Nelson of The Secret Garden started her business some three years ago and specialises in flowering and non-flowering, indoor and outdoor plants.

“I have herbs, like mint, fine thyme, rosemary and bay leaf. And then I have ornamental plants, I have bougainvillaeas for flowering plants. I have crotons, peace lilies, Chinese evergreen and I even have vining plants also,” Nelson said.

TURN TO PAGE 20

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20 FEATURE

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Local agricultural products...

Nelson, who participated in last year’s Agri-Investment Expo as well, described the experience as excellent and is looking forward to a greater response as this year’s event continues.

“Most people prefer flowering plants and I am big on fo-

liage plants – plants with nice leaves – and the cactus and succulents. But you know, you have to reach everyone out there so I started doing a lot more flowering plants now,” Nelson said.

As the Region works towards decreasing its food im-

FROM PAGE 18

port bill by 25 percent by 2025, the Agri-Investment Forum and Expo 2023 presents an opportunity for local and international entities to advance Guyana’s agriculture sector through innovative techniques.

The three-day event comes to a close today.

Some of the plants The Secret Garden has on offer

NEWS

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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Woman, 58, perishes in N/A fire caused by overheated fan

Dead: Sharron Austin

The gutted N/A house

n early morning fire that devastated a two-storey home at Lot 21-37 St Magdalene Street, New Amsterdam Berbice on Saturday has led to the demise of 58-year-old Sharron Austin and to seven other family members being rendered homeless.

Austin had reportedly lived in the two-bedroom upper flat of the house with her husband, son and two grandchildren. Her daughter Brenda Johnson, the Sergeant in charge of the Reliance Police Station in East Canje, had occupied the lower flat with two of her children.

The Guyana Fire Service (GFS) at New Amsterdam, upon being informed about the fire, had immediately dispatched water tenders, a water carrier and their respective

statement.

At the scene on Saturday, Johnson recalled hearing stomping in the upper flat of the building, and said she thought it might have been burglars. “So, my sons run out and say, ‘Mommy, like thief upstairs!’, but the two girls were trying to open the door. And then my small daughter said, ‘Fire! Fire!’ and my second son ran upstairs and pulled the two girls down, and they said that their grandmother turned back in the house,” Johnson explained.

At that time, the fire had not reached the door of the burning structure.

“My second son ran back to save mommy, but the fire was too much for him to get to her, and she collapsed right at the entrance of the front door, due to the smoke,” Johnson further

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Brenda Johnson and her teenage daughter

crews to the location of the fire.

Upon their arrival, the firefighters were greeted with the sight of the two-storey, wooden-and-concrete structure being engulfed.

Based on preliminary investigations, the fire resulted

detailed.

Thus it was that this 17year -old lad could not save his grandmother from perishing in the fire.

“The smoke was already coming through the windows.

He cuffed the window to break

An interior section of the damaged house

from an overheated electrical fan becoming energised as it came into contact with nearby combustible materials, thus causing them to be ignited.

“As a result of the fire, 58-year-old Sharon Austin perished. The ground floor of the building was slightly damaged, while the first floor was severely damaged and the contents were completely destroyed,” the GFS detailed in a

it and jump through and get to her, but the fire was too much!”

Johnson further explained.

Obviously in great distress, the Policewoman said all she had managed to save was a chair set, a microwave, and a gas stove; while everything in the upper flat was destroyed by the fire.

She opined that had the Fire Service been more responsive, the destruction

would have been less devastating. “Neighbours called the Fire Service, and I called the operators at the station, who also called. I jumped in the car and drove to the Fire Station…When I reached back, they reached after me.

They could have saved the house if they (had) responded from the time we called!” she lamented.

“I am living about two minutes away from the Fire Service! The house would not have burnt so much if they had come on time; we would have saved a lot. Everything destroyed!” Johnson lamented.

This building is situated about 300 metres from the New Amsterdam Fire Service.

According to Johnson, her seven-year-old daughter,

who had been sleeping in the same bed with her late grandmother, claimed she felt the room was getting hot, and she opened her eyes and was confronted with a ball of fire on the clothes rack. That was how

her grandmother and elder sister were alerted to the fire.

“For me, that is my everything gone! Because since I was young, everything I had to do (I did) with my mother, because I did not really have

my father playing a role in my life. Everything is mommy; and now, my kids, everything for them is their grandmother.

She was jovial and very loving,” a devasted Johnson related (Andrew Carmichael)

22 NEWS

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Policewoman, family homeless after fire guts ECD home

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The house that was destroyed as a result of the fire

fire on Saturday morning destroyed a two-storey concrete house located at Lot 4 Graham's Hall, Mission Ground, East Coast Demerara (ECD), rendering a family of four homeless.

Natyor Carbon, a 32-year-old policewoman, her young son, her reputed

husband, and her differently-abled aunt resided at the house. The fire reportedly started in the upper flat of

aunt out of the house because she was downstairs eating breakfast.”

The policewoman fur-

the house at about 10:30h.

According to Carbon, she was in the yard washing clothes when she was alerted by her child that there was a fire. She immediately rushed upstairs and managed to evacuate her son along with her aunt from the burning building as flames spread rapidly.

“While washing and cooking, I sent my son up-

ther explained that upon exiting the building, the blaze engulfed the entire upper flat within minutes, leaving her family with nothing but the clothes they were wearing at the time the fire started.

Firefighters swiftly responded to the scene, but despite their efforts, the house was destroyed.

The woman added that

stairs because he does get to attend scout every Saturday at 1:00h. I told him to go prepare for scout and come downstairs back. He said he went into the bathroom to bathe and all I heard was ‘mommy, mommy there is fire in the hall where the flat-screen TV is,” she said.

“I dropped everything and I ran upstairs. I didn’t even get to make it upstairs.

I saw the whole front of the house consumed in smoke.

So, I ran downstairs, pulled out the two gas bottles and I tried to get my disabled

millions of dollars have gone up in flames. She said the property is owned by her 67-year-old aunt, Joylyn Sealy, who has been living at the property for over 20 years. She was unaware if the house was insured.

“She [her aunt] lost her leg for about a year. She doesn’t have anyone and no children so I moved in the house with her to take care of her,” Carbon said.

The fire is suspected to be electrical in origin but a full investigation is currently underway.

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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

NEWS

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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Timehri man gets 3 years on break and enter and larceny charge

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wenty-six-yearold Ken Gomes of Timheri, East Bank Demerara (EBD), was on Friday sentenced to three years’ imprisonment on a break and enter and larceny charge.

Gomes was reportedly arrested by a Police rank of Grove Police Station for breaking into the property of Terrence Cummings of Kaneville, EBD, during which he stole several items.

However, he appeared before Magistrate Judy Latchman at the Diamond/ Grove Magistrates’ Court

Jailed: Ken Gomes

where he pleaded guilty to the charge when it was read to him.

As such, the Magistrate imposed the prison sentence.

26 NEWS

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Diamond man busted with ganja hidden in wall divider

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Arrested: Kevin Simpson with the ganja

Diamond, East Bank Demerara (EBD) resident was on Friday evening arrested following the discovery of a quantity of cannabis at his property.

The suspect, 37-year-old Kevin Simpson of Block X Diamond, EBD, was taken

into custody after 117 grams of cannabis was found hidden in a wall divider in ziplock bags.

Upon his arrest, he admitted ownership of the marijuana. He is expected to make a court appearance in the new week.

NEWS

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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Boyfriend re-arrested for shooting Corentyne fiancée - to be arraigned on attempted murder charge

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n engineer attached to the Regional Democratic Council of Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne) was on Friday re-arrested after investigators were able to obtain new evidence in relation to the shooting of his fiancée earlier this month.

Thirty-two-year-old Ashmin Mahadeo was shot at her Lot 25 D

Williamsburg, Corentyne home on October 1, 2023, and Police had arrested her fiancé, Neil Madramootoo.

However, the 29-year-old engineer of Lot 13-13 Shoe Lane, New Amsterdam, was subsequently released on $300,000 station bail after the legal 72-hour detention period had expired and the case file was sent to the Director of Public

Prosecutions (DPP) for legal advice.

On Friday, Police re-arrested the suspect after they were able to get a statement from Mahadeo, who confirmed to investigators that it was her fiancé who shot her.

Even though Mahadeo is still hospitalised and cannot move any of her limbs, she provided investigators

with details of what transpired during the October 1 incident.

Regional Commander Shivpersaud Bacchus told reporters on Saturday that Madramootoo was re-arrested on Friday as the prime suspect and is expected to be placed before the court on Monday, charged with attempted murder.

Ashmin Mahadeo and the suspect, Neil Madramootoo, in happier times

Mahadeo was discovered with a gunshot wound to her neck and rushed to the hospital in an unconscious state. Reports are that the bullet entered from the back of the neck and exited through the jaw. She was subsequently transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where she remains.

Police have since gathered evidence in relation to an illegal firearm that was found in the house where the shooting incident took place. Ballistics tests were also done while detectives also checked the hands and clothes of the fiancé for gunpowder residue.

At the time of the shoot-

ing, the couple was packing items in Madramootoo’s company vehicle to be taken to a location in Port Mourant where the couple’s bridal shower/reception was expected to take place.

The injured woman’s fiancé initially told her relatives that he did not know what transpired and initially suggested that it might have been a robbery.

He had claimed that he did not know where Mahadeo’s cell phone was.

He also claimed that his cell phone was missing.

However, both phones were subsequently discovered in a vehicle which the engineer had access to.

28 NEWS

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

New Caribbean Trade Center to serve as revolutionary hub for business innovation, partnership

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ctionINVEST C a r i b b e a n Incorporated on Friday evening introduced its revolutionary Caribbean Trade Center, which aims to serve as a cornerstone for business innovation and partnership across the Caribbean.

Nestled in Mc Doom, Greater Georgetown, the Caribbean Trade Center is said to be more than a physical space; it offers a full-suite solution for businesses of all sizes aiming to scale, innovate, and integrate within the dynamic Caribbean market.

CTC features fully furnished office spaces, meeting and conference rooms, coworking spaces, business support services, networking opportunities, and training facilities. It aspires

The new Caribbean Trade Center

to catalyse economic transformation in the Caribbean, bringing together entrepre-

neurs, investors, and business leaders in a vibrant community committed to

building a more prosperous Caribbean.

Meanwhile, ACI also unveiled the fifth edition of the Who's Who in Guyana Business, designed for organisations seeking to invest in strategic alliances within Guyana. The directory is meticulously organised by economic sectors, offering a tailored layout of company profiles, contact information, and photographs of key players within their organisations, including directors, senior executives, and management.

“This publication is more than a directory; it's a guiding light for investors, a roadmap to strategic collaborations, and a comprehensive overview of Guyana's vibrant business landscape. Over 1000 companies and organisations

across 14 key sectors are showcased, testifying to the diversity and dynamism of the Guyanese economy,” ACI outlined.

This new trade centre comes on the backdrop of larger preparations to establish a World Trade Centre (WTC) in Guyana – the first in the Caribbean Community (Caricom) region. In fact, work is moving apace for a formal opening scheduled for February 2024. Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) acquired the licence earlier this year to set up the facility in Georgetown.

The local beverage giant had revealed that it would be transforming its building on High Street into the WTC, which will provide a range of opportunities for local businesses and organ-

isations to enhance their networking capabilities globally. Since then, work has commenced on the interior redesign of the building.

The World Trade Center Association stimulates trade and investment opportunities for commercial property developers, economic development agencies, and international businesses looking to connect globally and prosper locally.

There are over 320 World Trade Centres in more than 100 countries on every continent globally.

The Association serves as an “international ecosystem” of global connections, iconic properties, and integrated trade services under the umbrella of a prestigious brand.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023

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Inter-Guiana Games confirmed for Nov 17/19 in Suriname – after Oct 26/31 postponement

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he 2023 edition of the Inter-Guiana Games (IGG) will now officially be staged from November 17th– 19th, following confirmation from the host nation Suriname.

Confirmation of the hosting of the IGG by the Surinamese Government has resulted in the immediate confirmation of their participation by Guyana and French Guiana.

Hosting of the IGG, which was initially set to occur from October 26th–31st, was deferred for several weeks owing to a dearth of fiscal resources from the Surinamese administration. This development was initially related by the Surinamese Director of Sport, Gordon Tjouw Ngie Touw, to his counterparts in Guyana and French Guiana, but the sit-

Director of Sport, Steve Ninvalle

uation has now been remedied.

Suriname had staged the 2017 edition, which was the last iteration before the four-year hiatus.

Inspection of the facilities in conjunction with an official meeting among the directors of sports of the participating nations will occur on Thursday in

Paramaribo. This is being done to concretize the game's logistical apparatus.

The eight disciplines that would be contested are: chess, futsal, football, lawn tennis, swimming, basketball, volleyball, and athletics.

The two disciplines that have been removed from the initial list of 10 sports, following a request from the hosts, are table tennis and badminton.

The staging of respective international competitions in the aforesaid disciplines during the same window is the primary reason for their removal from the competitive list.

Delegations travelling from participating countries to contest in the IGG are expected to arrive in Suriname on November 16th, and depart

therefrom by November 20th.

The National Sports Commission will on Monday convene a meeting with representatives of the associations and administrators of the competing sports.

Guyana's Director of Sports, Steve Ninvalle, said, “The confirmation of this important platform is welcome news to all the participating nations, which understand that its overall importance goes beyond the competitive realm, as it acts as a vital unifier amongst a historically and culturally- linked people.”

He added, “The Government of Guyana is fully committed to maintaining this avenue, given its developmental and social value, and this is evident and unequivocal, given

the role played in its resuscitation after five years of dormancy.”

Traditionally staged on an annual basis, the IGG were first held in 1967, before having a four-year hiatus from 2018 -- a period that encompassed the COVID-19 pandemic. The Games were rekindled last year by the People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government, and the 2022 edition was held on local soil. Over 400 athletes and coaches participated.

The IGG not only showcase the future young athletes of the three countries, but also serve as a cultural and educational platform. The IGG help forge unity, trust and understanding among the peoples of the Guianas.

ICC World Cup 2023: Sri Lanka vs the Netherlands…

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n unbeaten 91 from Sadeera Samarawickrama saw a tricky chase resulting in victory for Sri Lanka, as they overcame a resilient Netherlands outfit and finally got points on the board.

This means Sri Lanka join Afghanistan, Netherlands, Bangladesh and England on two points after four games.

They did, however, go past Afghanistan on net run rate, before England plummeted later in the evening and they moved off the very bottom of the table.* Set a target of 263, the chase was built around key partner-

Sri Lanka finally open their account ships, the first being a counter-attacking 30-ball 34 between Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka to recover from the early loss of Kusal Perera. This was followed by more substantial stands of 52, 77 and 76, with Samarawickrama being a key cog throughout.

On a surface that offered something for the spinners, Aryan Dutt was the pick of the Dutch bowlers, ending with figures of 3 for 44; while for Sri Lanka it was the seamers - utilising some early movement - that did the damage, Kasun Rajitha and Dilshan Madushanka each grabbing

SCOREBOARD Netherlands (50 ovs maximum) Vikramjit Singh lbw b Rajitha 4 Max O'Dowd b Rajitha 16 Colin Ackermann c †Mendis b Rajitha 29 Bas de Leede c Perera b Madushanka 6 Teja Nidamanuru lbw b Madushanka 9 Scott Edwards (c)† b Theekshana 16 Sybrand Engelbrecht b Madushanka 70 Logan van Beek c Asalanka b Rajitha 59 Roelof van der Merwe c †Mendis b Madushanka 7 Aryan Dutt not out 9 Paul van Meekeren run out (†Mendis/Madushanka) 4 Extras (lb 1, nb 1, w 26, pen 5) 33 TOTAL 49.4 Ov (RR: 5.27) 262 Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Vikramjit Singh, 3.4 ov), 2-48 (Max O'Dowd, 9.6 ov), 3-54 (Colin Ackermann, 11.6 ov), 4-68 (Bas de Leede, 16.5 ov), 5-71 (Teja Nidamanuru, 18.4 ov), 6-91 (Scott Edwards, 21.2 ov), 7-221 (Sybrand Engelbrecht, 45.1 ov), 8-244 (Roelof van der Merwe, 47.2 ov), 9-252 (Logan van Beek, 48.4 ov), 10-262 (Paul van Meekeren, 49.4 ov) • BOWLING O-M-R-W Dilshan Madushanka 9.4-1-49-4 Kasun Rajitha 9-0-50-4

Chamika Karunaratne Maheesh Theekshana Dushan Hemantha Dhananjaya de Silva

9-1-58-0 10-0-44-1 8-0-42-0 4-0-13-0

Sri Lanka (T: 263 runs from 50 ovs) Pathum Nissanka c †Edwards b van Meekeren 54 Kusal Perera c de Leede b Dutt 5 Kusal Mendis (c)† c van Meekeren b Dutt 11 Sadeera Samarawickrama not out 91 Charith Asalanka b Dutt 44 Dhananjaya de Silva b Ackermann 30 Dushan Hemantha not out 4 Extras (b 13, w 11) 24 TOTAL 48.2 Ov (RR: 5.44) 263/5 Did not bat: Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Dilshan Madushanka Fall of wickets: 1-18 (Kusal Perera, 4.3 ov), 2-52 (Kusal Mendis, 9.3 ov), 3-104 (Pathum Nissanka, 16.1 ov), 4-181 (Charith Asalanka, 32.4 ov), 5-257 (Dhananjaya de Silva, 46.5 ov) • BOWLING O-M-R-W Aryan Dutt 10-0-44-3 Logan van Beek 10-0-57-0 Paul van Meekeren 8-1-39-1 Bas de Leede 3-0-29-0 Roelof van der Merwe 9-0-42-0 Colin Ackermann 8.2-0-39-1

four wickets.

That the Dutch even got as much as they did was down to a record seventh-wicket stand of 130 between Sybrand Engelbrecht and Logan van Beek, which had dug them out of the considerable hole in which they had found themselves, courtesy of Sri Lanka's seamers. Indeed, for the second game running, Netherlands’ lower order were called in for a rescue job, and for the second game running, they delivered.

And this time it was arguably more impressive than the one against South Africa, as they managed it without any significant input from talismanic captain Scott Edwards, who had dragged one on from Maheesh Theekshana early in his innings.

At that point, Sri Lanka might have felt the danger man was back in the pavilion, but Engelbrecht and van Beek took centre stage as they took their side from 91 for 6 to 221 for 7. Engelbrecht eventually fell in looking to play a premeditated shot against a Dilshan Madushanka yorker that homed in on the base of middle stump. van Beek, however, hung around for a while longer to take the total to a competitive if not match-winning 262.

Between the wickets of Edwards and Engelbrecht, Netherlands showcased a masterclass in rebuilding and consolidation. With scarcely any margin for error, after early bursts from Kasun Rajitha and Madushanka had removed their top order, Engelbrecht and van Beek were content to keep risks to an absolute minimum. Between the 10th and 30th overs, not a single boundary was scored, while the run rate hovered around four an over. Even when they sought to up the scoring, it was incre-

Sri Lanka celebrating Dilshan Madushanka taking two wickets in quick succession

mental rather than explosive, with boundaries never paired in a single over; being spread out instead between overs that were largely littered with ones and twos.

Indeed, following the scale of the top order collapse, batting out the full 50 overs was the primary goal, with the end total being a byproduct of that singular focus. Even so, getting to as competitive a total as they did was no mean feat, considering the malaise they had found themselves in with less than half the innings played.

The trouble began in the fourth over, when Rajitha trapped Vikramjit Singh leg before with one that pitched on middle and tailed in. It was the first ball Rajitha had bowled to the left-hander, but the wicket itself was a just reward for the nagging lines and lengths both he and Madushanka had exploited in the early overs.

Despite this early loss though, the pair of Max O'Dowd and Colin Ackermann looked to be working their way into the game with a stand of 41, be-

fore Rajitha struck for a second time, as O'Dowd dragged a full and wide outswinger onto his stumps. Two overs later Rajitha had his third, with Ackermann nicking through a loose cut.

Suddenly the Dutch were on the ropes, the scoring slowed down to a crawl. Kusal Mendis decided to press home the advantage at this point by keeping Rajitha for an extended seven-over opening spell and delaying the introduction of Theekshana until the 16th over.

After a couple of Chamika Karunaratne overs had afforded Madushanka a rest, the left-arm seamer was brought back in the 17th, and struck almost immediately, as de Leede ramped a short one to Kusal Perera at third man. Then, in his next over, he had half the Netherlands back in the pavilion, trapping Teja Nidamanuru leg before on referral.

Edwards, in his brief stay, was his industrious self, picking up five twos in a run-a-ball 16; but Theekshana sent him packing.

Sri Lanka, however, had no

more joy after that, until death, but by then the Netherlands had done enough to make a game of it.

Samarawickrama played the crucial hand, and ensured Sri Lanka did not fall apart as they had so devastatingly done against Australia. Entering at the fall of Mendis's wicket -the Sri Lankan captain falling foul of Dutt, as he could only top edge a slog sweep -- Sadeera and Nissanka set about in a controlled pursuit.

Nissanka fell after picking up his third successive fifty, but Sadeera continued in the same vein with Charith Asalanka. And when Asalanka fell, going for an unnecessary slog sweep in Dutt's final over, Sadeera repeated the feat with another solid stand alongside Dhananjaya de Silva.

Dhananjaya fell with single digits required, but by then the game was done, Dushan Hemantha having heaved a four over long-on to register the winning runs and kickstart Sri Lanka's campaign.

(ESPNCricinfo)

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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023

ICC World Cup 2023: SA vs England…

Klaasen puts England's title-defence hopes in jeopardy C

rumpling to his haunches in a dripping mess after every shot, Heinrich Klaasen flayed England's bowlers for a 61-ball century to set up an emphatic South Africa victory at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium.

The brutality of Klaasen's 109 from just 67 balls all told matched the harshness of the heat and humidity, which also left England bowler David Willey cramping throughout South Africa's innings. South Africa ended on 399 for 7, requiring England to attempt the second-highest successful run chase in ODI history. England capitulated instead, crashing to 170 all out in 22 overs, and suffering their heaviest ODI defeat.

Klaasen's innings included 12 fours and four sixes, as he shared a 151-run sixth-wicket

partnership with Marco Jansen from just 77 balls. It was one of two century stands for South Africa, with Reeza Hendricks in the side for an unwell Temba Bavuma - and Rassie van der Dussen putting on 121 for the second wicket, after Quinton de Kock fell on the second ball of the match.

Hendricks ended up as his side's second-highest scorer with an excellent 85 from 75 balls, while Jansen was incredibly damaging in his own right with a 42-ball 75 not out.

England lost their top three for just 24 runs inside six overs of their reply, Jansen dismissing Joe Root and Dawid Malan with consecutive balls at the end of his second over and start of his third. Ben Stokes, back after missing his side's first two matches with a hip injury, tossed his bat into the air in

frustration after he spooned a Kagiso Rabada delivery straight back to the bowler to become the third England batter in succession to fall for single-figures, as England slumped to 38 for 4.

Gerald Coetzee conceded 16 runs off his first over, but Jos Buttler's four, four and six were as good as it got, as Coetzee responded with two wickets in the first three balls of his second, when he had England's skipper caught behind and Harry Brook lbw for 15 and 17 respectively.

Only #10 Mark Wood, with an almost farcical 17-ball unbeaten 43, and Gus Atkinson, who scored 35 in just his fourth ODI, fared better for England with the bat, Reece Topley being unable to come in after he was injured while fielding.

The result returned South Africa to their winning ways, after their shock defeat at the

hands of Netherlands blighted victories from their opening two matches, and left England's hopes of featuring at the business end of the tournament on a knife edge.

A f t e r winning the toss, Buttler opted to bowl first. It was a decision that looked increasingly dubious, as South

grabbing his chance and helping himself to four fours in eight balls from Atkinson and Willey; so that, by the end of it, South Africa were 59 for 1.

Meanwhile, Topley had left the field 3.5 overs into his spell, after injuring his finger in attempting to stop a ball struck back at him by van der Dussen. Adil Rashid, who spent the first part of the match off the field with a stomach upset, entered the attack in the 18th over, and with his 10th delivery, broke the stand between Hendricks and van der Dussen when the latter

Stand and deliver: Heinrich Klaasen at his belligerent best

Africa's batters cashed in on an excellent batting surface. Sam Curran and Chris Woakes were left out after their struggles with the ball, and Willey and Atkinson came in.

Topley started well, responding immediately to being struck for four off the very first ball of the match with an excellent outswinger that invited de Kock to drive. He found an edge which was snaffled by Buttler behind the stumps, although it took an England review to secure the dismissal.

Hendricks, who had been shut out of South Africa's T20 World Cup side last year in favour of Bavuma, despite being an in-form member of the squad leading into that tournament, faced 13 dot balls before getting off the mark with a square drive to the boundary off Willey. But after that sedate start, South Africa scored 41 off the last four overs of the opening powerplay, Hendricks

botched a slog sweep and sent a top edge sailing high to Jonny Bairstow at midwicket.

Hendricks pummelled Root for twin sixes over long-off in three balls, but then Rashid struck again with a sublime googly, which Hendricks attempted to cut and ended up chopping onto his stumps to depart for 85 off 75 deliveries.

Topley returned in the 35th over with the index and middle fingers on his left (bowling) hand strapped together, and with his sixth ball back, he removed the dangerous Aiden Markram for 42, thanks to an excellent catch by Bairstow.

Bairstow couldn't contain his delight, pumping both fists in celebration after he had run to his left from deep backward square, and backpedalled as he lost his footing on the patchy outfield, all the while watching that he didn't fall back onto the boundary rope. It was no mean feat for a man who, just three

SCOREBOARD South Africa (50 ovs maximum) Quinton de Kock † c †Buttler b Topley 4 Reeza Hendricks b Rashid 85 Rassie van der Dussen c Bairstow b Rashid 60 Aiden Markram (c) c Bairstow b Topley 42 Heinrich Klaasen b Atkinson 109 David Miller c Stokes b Topley 5 Marco Jansen not out 75 Gerald Coetzee c sub (LS Livingstone) b Atkinson 3 Keshav Maharaj not out 1 Extras (b 2, lb 3, nb 1, w 9) 15 TOTAL 50 Ov (RR: 7.98) 399/7 Did not bat: Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Quinton de Kock, 0.2 ov), 2-125 (Rassie van der Dussen, 19.4 ov), 3-164 (Reeza Hendricks, 25.2 ov), 4-233 (Aiden Markram, 34.6 ov), 5-243 (David Miller, 36.3 ov), 6-394 (Heinrich Klaasen, 49.1 ov), 7-398 (Gerald Coetzee, 49.5 ov) BOWLING O-M-R-W Reece Topley 8.5-0-88-3 David Willey 9-1-61-0 Joe Root 6.1-0-48-0 Gus Atkinson 9-0-60-2 Mark Wood 7-0-76-0 Adil Rashid 10-0-61-2

England (T: 400 runs from 50 ovs) Jonny Bairstow c van der Dussen b Ngidi 10 Dawid Malan c †de Kock b Jansen 6 Joe Root c Miller b Jansen 2 Ben Stokes c & b Rabada 5 Harry Brook lbw b Coetzee 17 Jos Buttler (c)† c †de Kock b Coetzee 15 David Willey c Rabada b Ngidi 12 Adil Rashid c Hendricks b Coetzee 10 Gus Atkinson b Maharaj 35 Mark Wood not out 43 Reece Topley absent hurt Extras (lb 9, nb 1, w 5) 15 TOTAL 22 Ov (RR: 7.72) 170 Fall of wickets: 1-18 (Jonny Bairstow, 2.3 ov), 2-23 (Joe Root, 3.6 ov), 3-24 (Dawid Malan, 5.1 ov), 4-38 (Ben Stokes, 8.1 ov), 5-67 (Jos Buttler, 11.1 ov), 6-68 (Harry Brook, 11.3 ov), 7-84 (Adil Rashid, 15.1 ov), 8-100 (David Willey, 16.3 ov), 9-170 (Gus Atkinson, 21.6 ov) • BOWLING O-M-R-W Lungi Ngidi 5-1-26-2 Marco Jansen 5-0-35-2 Kagiso Rabada 6-1-38-1 Gerald Coetzee 4-0-35-3 Keshav Maharaj 2-0-27-1

months ago, had revealed that the badly broken leg he had suffered in September last year still gave him problems.

Then Topley struck again to remove David Miller cheaply, slapping the ball straight down Stokes's throat at mid-off.

Klaasen thrashed Rashid well back into the stands beyond deep midwicket, then took 19 runs off Topley in the next over. Klaasen was felled by a yorker from Wood which struck him on the boot, and he required some time to recover, lying on the pitch in a drenched and exhausted heap. He had brought up his century in stirring style, punishing Wood's low full toss over the fence at long-on, then pulling a four wide of deep fine leg to reach the milestone.

Jansen then brought up a 35-ball fifty with a run of six, four, six off Atkinson down the ground, behind deep point, and over midwicket. Jansen, whose ball-striking was sublime, smashed Topley for three sixes in the penultimate over, which went for 26 runs in all.

Klaasen fell in the last, bowled by an Atkinson yorker which crashed into leg stump, but his work was done and he walked off to a standing ovation. Jansen made the same journey a few moments later, unbeaten and with South Africa having posted their highest ODI total against England.

Following his exertions, Klaasen remained off the pitch during England's innings, where he could be seen looking the worse for wear, draped in a towel with his feet up and head bowed in the changeroom.

No doubt, he managed to muster one last skerrick of energy to celebrate South Africa's win, and his part in it, and he reappeared on the ground to accept Player of the Match honours in fresh kit, spent but smiling.

(ESPNCricinfo)

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GUYANATIMESGY.COM

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023

31

Gloomy Saturday for Team Guyana Story and photos by Jemima Holmes

S

aturday was a tough day at the office for Guyana’s Pan American Games team in Santiago, Chile, as athletes in four sporting disciplines bowed out of competition.

The day began with Raekwon Noel hitting the pool in the Men’s 400M freestyle heat. After leading the heat for about 300M, he was overtaken by Costa Rica’s

A look at Raekwon Noel in action

the third round, I think it should’ve been more closer; but it is what is. That’s how boxing goes, you know, you win some, you lose some. But it was a nice fight, I enjoyed it,” Amsterdam shared.

The boxer continued, “I appreciate the work that the coach, that we done together to change up things, change my tactics. But just have to go back to the drawing board and focus on the next two qualifiers. Yes man, I have

Ceili Peterson (red) came close to victory on her first Pan Am outing for Guyana

Alberto Vega Sancho, who won in 4 minutes, 5 seconds. Noel was second in 4 minutes, 7 seconds, while Cayman Islands’ James Allison was third just milliseconds behind Noel.

Although Noel finished second in the heat, he failed to qualify for the next round of the Men’s freestyle. After the heat, the 17-year-old swimmer declared he was satisfied with his performance.

“Actually, I am.

Desmond Amsterdam battled valiantly

Priyanna Ramdhani was forced to retire due to injury

Although I added a few seconds, it was fine. I executed the race exactly how I wanted to, versus with Japan.

With Japan, I started a bit faster, so I learned from that experience that I had to, you know, conserve my energy for the rest of the race,” Noel

related.

The swimmer added, “The 400 free is a very tricky race; you don’t know if it’s a sprint or a distance, but my way of getting through it is, you know, just pushing through all four hundreds.

But, I’m pretty satisfied with the race otherwise.”

However, in a positive twist for the teenager, he obtained more competition time in the pool on Saturday afternoon after gaining qualification to the Freestyle B final, being among the next best 8 finishers after the heat round. In that race, Noel clocked 4:05.82 for 7th

place.

Then over in the contact sports arena, Ceili Peterson made her Pan Am Games debut for Guyana in the Women’s 49Kg Kyorugi division of Taekwondo. Peterson lost the first round 2-3 to Costa Rica’s Laura Sancho Cartin, but the Guyanese rebounded in the second to win 13-12, setting up an entertaining final round.

However, Peterson lost the third round 6-4 following a tense video review that could have given her the upper hand if it had gone her way.

Peterson summed up the outing by saying, “I did my best. The other athlete is a very experienced fighter, so she did a good job today. You know, we’re going to go back to training and keep working on the things that I did wrong today, and hopefully, next time it will go my way.

“It’s a privilege to represent Guyana. My mom’s parents are both born and raised there, and it’s nice to be able to represent their home country,” she added about representing Guyana for the first time.

Later in the day, Desmond Amsterdam suffered a unanimous points decision loss to Argentina’s Abraham Buonarrigo in the Men’s 80Kg class. While the duo went pound for pound, Buonarrigo’s stature gave him the upper hand over the Guyanese.

In his assessment of the fight, Amsterdam revealed that it was one he enjoyed.

“First of all, I have to give praise and thanks, you know, for health and strength.

Well, going into the fight, I think the first round, the Argentina guy win the first round, but the second and

faith, and I’m determined,” he added about his Paris 2024 Olympics dream.

In the evening, a lingering injury forced Priyanna Ramdhani out of the Women’s Singles contention over on the Badminton courts.

Ramdhani was up against Brazil’s Juliana Viana Vieira in the Round of 32. The Brazilian won the first set 21-6, and looked well on her way to taking the second set when Ramdhani alerted her coach about her injury during the break. The Guyanese eventually retired with the set left 11-0, as Vieira took the victory.

The Pan Am Games action will continue today with Guyanese athletes competing in Boxing and Weightlifting.

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

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023

guyanatimesgy.com

CG United Super50 tournament

leads to Harpy Eagles’ loss T

– as Red Force win by 114 runs

he Guyana Harpy Eagles have suffered their first loss of the Regional Super50 tournament. It came at the hands of hosts Trinidad and Tobago Red Force last evening, when GHE were defeated by

Yannic Cariah scored a half-century and took five wickets for Red Force (CWI photo)

114 runs at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.

Asked to bat first, Red Force posted a towering 290 for eight in their allotted 50 overs, and GHE could manage only 176 in 33.3 overs.

Yannic Cariah propelled the Red Force innings close to the 300-run mark after ending on 71 not out, the 31-yearold left-hander scoring his third List A half-century after hitting two sixes and seven fours. Cariah added 45 for the fifth wicket with Jason Mohamed, who made 26 from 34 balls.

Meanwhile, Kjorn Ottley followed up his unbeaten 134 in the previous match with 52 from 57 balls, highlighting his innings with six fours and one six. Having lost his opening partner Evin Lewis for 16,

Ottley went on to add 64 runs for the second wicket with Joshua Da Silva, who made 27.

Darren Bravo was also able to bring up his 41st List A half-century, the second of the tournament. His 60-ball 51 featured six boundaries and saw him sharing in a 58-run partnership with Mohamed for the fourth wicket.

The Harpy Eagles bowlers shared the wickets, with Romario Shepherd (2-43), Sherfane Rutherford (2-55) and Veerasammy Permaul (257) being the standouts.

In the chase, Cariah returned to clip the wings of the Eagles’ batsmen with his

second five-wicket haul. The leg-spinner wrecked the batting order and picked up his best bowling figures of 5-34, including the wicket of top-scorer Sherfane Rutherford, who made 30 from 28 balls and added 45 for the fifth wicket with Kevin Sinclair (20).

While the other batsmen got starts, none was able to carry on. Hemraj, who was lucky to survive a dropped catch early, went on to make 21; while Tevin Imlach (26), Shimron Hetmyer (24) and Tagenarine Chanderpaul (19) all got starts.

Veteran spinner Sunil Narine was among the wickets with 2-18.

Caribbean Clash of Champions’ title W

ith Guyana’s fastest telecommunication network, Enet, in his corner, Superstock biker Matthew Vieira is supremely confident of emerging victorious in the highly-anticipated ENet Caribbean Clash of Champions event, playing out at the South Dakota Circuit on November 5.

Vieira’s Yamaha R6, fully branded by ENet, was unveiled with much pomp and ceremony on Friday evening at the Outside Lounge of MovieTowne, at Liliendaal, ECD. The unveiling was followed by an official tuneup party hosted by Vieira, dubbed ‘Pit Stop.’

“ENet has the fastest service right now, and the best service; so, it’s only fitting to have the best rider right now in Guyana… So that’s why they chose me,”

Matthew Vieira with his Enet-branded bike moments after it was unveiled on Friday evening at MovieTowne

the #48 biker boasted.

Joined by Chief Executive Officer of Enet, Vishok Persaud, at the unveiling, Vieira is a firm favourite to win the Superstock category, having accumulated 118 points, 50 more than his nearest rival and cousin, Stephen Vieira. Kevin Persaud (60),

Heemand Boodhram (45) and Shem Chattersingh (20) round out the top five heading into the season’s finale.

Fuelled by Guyana’s leading telecoms provider, Vieira is determined to stay at the peak of the points table, and his sole aim is to repay ENet’s investment by copping the championship.

Biker Matthew Vieira (right) and CEO of Enet, Vishok Persaud, posing with the bike

“That’s what we’re really working for,” he said.

Fans are in for a hugely competitive showdown, with overseas riders expected from Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, the United

States of America and the United Kingdom to challenge the locals.

Close to 20 bikers have registered for the event, which will get underway at 11:00h with rivalry in Group

4, Group 3, Group 2, Starlet Cup, Sports Tuner, Street Tuner and Superstock and Supersport bikes.

Pre-sale tickets are available at G$3,000 (adults) and G$1,000 (children).

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