Guyana Times - Sunday, October 23, 2022

History and significance of Diwali, the Festival of Lights Teen feared dead after plunging into Kara Kara Creek

Climate change is real for us – Mustapha tells Borlaug International Dialogue

in marijuana found during Police operation in Berbice River

CSEC top performer honoured by former ARMS student Dr Kurt Clarke

Guyana, Grenada seek to enhance bilateral ties

Early morning fire guts Regent Guest House – owners, live-in employees rendered homeless

An early morning fire on Saturday com pletely gutted the Regent Guest House and Restaurant on Regent Road, Bourda, leaving the pro prietors and several live-in employees homeless. At the time of the fire, it was un clear if there were any pay ing occupants at the facility.

The fire reportedly start ed at about 02:55h and the Guyana Fire Service was immediately alerted, which saw several tenders from the Central, Alberttown and West Ruimveldt Fire Stations responding. Upon their arrival, thick black smoke and flames were seen billowing from the wooden and concrete structure.

Their quick response re sulted in several nearby buildings being saved from going up in flames.

Situated between Albert and Oronoque Streets, the establishment suffered se

vere damage to its primarily wooden structure.

Based on reports re ceived, the upper two flats of the three-story building were completely engulfed and efforts were made to pre vent the fire from spreading to the immediate business es: Mike’s Pharmacy on the right and 2J’s General Store

on the left. At the scene was Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn.

It took hours to put out the fire, by which time a ma jority of the building was de stroyed. The lower flat suf fered severe water damage. Some furniture from the guest house was salvaged.

The Fire Service noted

that the building was not equipped with fire alarms or extinguishers. Firefighters also had difficulty gaining access to the building due to its design and the fact that it was heavily grilled, which hampered firefighting and delayed the extinguishing of the fire.

“The top and first floors of the building were de stroyed as a result of the fire. Additionally, one black tank, one drum and a quan tity of PVC ceiling and gut tering were also destroyed due to radiated heat from the blaze. Four jets working a water relay system from an open water source along with a hydrant were used to extinguish the fire,” the GFS stated in a release to the me dia.

An investigation was launched to determine the cause and origin of the in ferno.

“The GFS is, however, pleased to report that there was no loss of life and would like to thank the Guyana Police Force for their sup port,” the GFS statement added.

In the wee hours of Wednesday, sections of the Guyana Stores Limited building went up in flames, thus resulting in firefight ers spending several hours averting a total destruction.

The GFS received the report at about 1:29h on Wednesday and a water ten ders and firefighters from the Central, Alberttown, West Ruimveldt and Campbellville Fire Stations

were immediately dis patched to the location.

It was reported that upon arrival, firefighters ob served fire and smoke ema nating from the top floor of the three-storey wooden and concrete building, which is operated as a department store.

“Swift action and expert firefighting resulted in the timely extinction of the fire, which saved more than fif ty per cent (50 per cent) of the building. However, the eastern section of both the ground and top floors, as well as the entire first floor, were severely damaged as a result of the fire,” the GFS said.

To date, the cause of the fire is yet to be released to the media.

The aftermath of the fire at Regent Guest House

Firefighters at the scene (Joseph Allen photo)

WEATHER

FERRY SCHEDULE

Protection in place against exclusive housing developments for foreigners – Minister Rodrigues – includes restrictive covenants in agreements of sale

The RFIs that are submitted would be used to come up with a list of qualified bid ders prior to the issuing of a tender for bids to actually develop the community.

Winds:

Amid concern from some sections of so ciety about housing developments for foreign ers that would exclude lo cals, the Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues, has assured that there is protection to prevent land purchased from the Government being used for such housing developments.

On Thursday, President Dr. Irfaan Ali was cited in sections of the media indi cating that private develop ers acquiring land from the state would not be allowed to convert the land into ex clusive housing develop ments for foreigners.

In an interview with this publication on Saturday, Minister Rodrigues ex plained the safeguards in place to ensure this does not happen.

“The applicants have to come through our system; so, it’s those who have a pending application in our system. And for you to have an application in our system, you have to be Guyanese. In order to prevent that from happening, we would have to state in an agreement of sale what they can use (the land) for,” she declared.

“Just like in any other agreement of sale for any purchase of a piece of land, there can be restrictive cov enants in the title or trans port to prevent such types of developments,” she ex plained.

In an invited comment on the issues, the Minister noted that such an occur rence is unlikely to happen, especially since a clear di rection has been articulated by the President. However, she also explained that any person purchasing a private piece of land has more free dom in what they can do with it. “But as long as it’s com ing through the Ministry of Housing, we will enforce the President’s instructions,” Minister Rodrigues said.

It was only recently that Guyana Deep Water Operations, a subsidiary of SBM Offshore, the Dutch

shipbuilder that has built the Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels being op erated by ExxonMobil in Guyana, indicated its intent to lease a gated community for its employees, along with

“We are seeking resi dential houses, one- and two-bedroom apartments for single persons/families, along with a recreational facility. The location of the gated community must have direct road access, be free of obstacles, and have an ap propriate surface for park ing. Preferably, houses and apartments should be en suite, i.e., each bedroom has a dedicated bathroom,” the notice said.

“Recreational facility must have a gym, swimming pool, bar, tennis court, soc cer field, squash court, and any other amenities rele vant to such a facility. The facility should include secu

tinguishers, alarm system, CCTV system, and smoke detection alarms,” it also said.

President Ali was ref erenced in sections of the media warning that the Government would not al low exclusive housing devel opments for foreigners to be built in Guyana, and noting that these lands should also be available for Guyanese.

The development of housing schemes that are exclusively for foreigners and shut out to locals is a thorny issue. Guyana itself has a history of such devel opments, as was the case with Watooka in Linden (Region 10), where an exclu sive and isolated communi ty for staff of the Canadianowned Demerara Bauxite Company (Demba) and their families was built.

Self-contained, with stores, recreational facili ties, a school with Canadian teachers, cinema and oth er amenities, Watooka was owned and operated by Demba, and systems were set up that have been de scribed as class-based and designed to shut out all but Demba expatriates and their dependents.

Passes had to be is sued for locals to gain ac cess to the community, and only children of expatriates were allowed to attend the Canadian-run school. Locals were reportedly even ex cluded from the swimming pool and the Watooka Club Guest House.

a recreational facility.

A Request for Information (RFI) was is sued, seeking companies with the capacity to develop this gated community, keep ing local content in mind.

rity features such as fenc ing, lighting, security bars for windows and doors, se curity hut with a washroom facility. The facility should include safety features such as emergency egress, fire ex

There were even consta bles to enforce security in the community.

This situation continued until 1971, when Demba was nationalized by the Guyana Government.

Minister within the Ministry of Housing, Susan Rodrigues

The Watooka Guest House

Views

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For constructive national narratives

All democracies demand discussion. But if there is to be a discussion, rather than sterile polemics, there will have to be at least an agreement on our Foucauldian “history of the present” and our “horizon of ends”. Histories are always written within a particular “space of experience” - the ways that the past is remembered in the present, and a “horizon of expectation” – the anticipation of the non-yetknown future beyond the horizon.

A history of our present, in the words of Columbia University Anthropologist David Scott, demands that “histories of the past ought to be interventions in the present, strategic interrogations of the present’s norms as a way of helping us to glimpse the possibilities for an alternative future.” Our “problem space” – the threats and opportunities that confront us in our sociohistorical conjuncture – is inevitable from the different past, even as, concededly, it may have some continuities.

What, then, should be our “horizon of expectation”, towards which we should strive? Criticism is always strategic. What do the critics want as a consequence of their criticisms, narratives, actions, and exhortations? What is their “Good”? While there will never be – for the simple reason that it just cannot be – a single horizon of ends for all of us among the various possibly competing ends; surely, that of a more harmonious society would be there in common in all formulations. Should we not, with the privilege of hindsight, connect the past with the present in a broader narrative that is healing rather than destructive? We cannot change the past, but we can certainly change the future.

Our horizon of expectation must generate strategies that speak to those normative ends, rather than further divide us, as some seem determined to do. They must ask whether their particular narrative of “emerging apartheid states”, or any narrative seeking to connect our past to the present and envision a more positive future, would deliver those normative ends. Another way our problem space is different, even from previous decades, is that the demographics now deny any built-in ethnic majority, and so open up the possibilities of democracy of “in and out”. A constructive narrative cannot, then, picture our opposing groups locked in mortal combat – especially as it was demonstrated in action during elections in 2011, 2015, and 2020.

Crucial to the formulation of a constructive narrative would be what one theorist, Hayden White, labelled the “content of the form” of the narrative – particularly its plot to link past, present, and future. While a popular Opposition narrative of revolutionary romance sets “us” against “them” into a frenzy of nihilistic Fanonian violence – not to mention teleologically promising a future that can never be delivered – Hegel’s famous interpretation of Antigone as the paradigmatic Greek tragedy might be particularly apt to our situation. In this narrative, both “sides” are morally right: the conflict is not between good and evil, but between “goods” on which each is making an exclusive claim. Isn’t this the situation that our mutually exclusive narratives of victimhood, with their facile binary oppositions, have delivered us into? Such employment within a narrative should suggest compromise rather than a battle of one side overcoming. That would be a constructive narrative for our time, place, and circumstances.

In noting the importance of narratives in the task of nation-building, Benedict Anderson has identified the importance of newspapers (now extended to social media) that are read every morning in constructing what he has tellingly labelled “Imagined Communities”. “The significance of this mass ceremony – Hegel observed that newspapers serve modern man as a substitute for morning prayers –is paradoxical. It is performed in silent privacy, in the lair of the skull. Yet each communicant is well aware that the ceremony he performs is being replicated simultaneously by thousands (or millions) of others of whose existence he is confident, yet of whose identity he has not the slightest notion.”

Let us use our media for nation-building, rather than tearing us apart by narratives that are fighting long-gone terrors.

LGE timeline must be kept

Dear Editor,

A definitive position on the advancement of our de mocracy at the local level has been concretized by Hon Nigel Dharamlall, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development. The minister responded to a letter from Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice Claudette Singh, who wrote informing of GECOM’s readiness to hold the Elections between March 13 and April 24, 2023.

The pronouncement and communication be tween the Chairman of GECOM and the Minister is in keeping with the Local Authorities (Elections) Act, Chapter 28:03 which em powers the Minister of Local Government to ap point a date for the holding of LGEs. Certainly, the indi cated selection of March 13, 2023, is the earliest option of the date range provided by GECOM. This choice sig nals the strongest commit ment of the Government, to ensure delivery of the in tent of our nation’s constitu tional position in action and spirit. Testimony to the driv ing commitment is the bud get-by-budget provision of fi nancial support to approve GECOM needs toward this end.

More recently, Government has committed $2.9B to GECOM for prepa ratory works and to ensure the successful planning and execution of LGE. Minister Dharamlall’s response mir rors the message of His Excellency President Dr. Irfaan Ali, who is consistent in his public clarification

that the PPPC is committed, focused and obligated to de liver on this critical and nec essary requirement, not only as a part of the Party’s core manifesto agenda, but also in keeping with the motto of having our citizens intimate ly involved in key decisions concerning the advancement of the communities where they reside.

Indeed, President Ali has been at the forefront of com munity empowerment, and it is clear that his undertak ings are not clouded by emp ty promises.

On the contrary, the na tion is witnessing the indi cation of excuse-driven with drawal of support syndrome by Opposition elements. Recently, the Alliance For Change (AFC) said it would be boycotting the March 2023 Local Government Elections (LGE) over concerns about a padded voters list, while the People’s National Congress Reform-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) stayed clear of saying what it would do. It is widely known that anyone reacting to Cathy Hughes’ submis sion of the Ramjattan-led co hoots could practically make a no-case submission. The party has practically become a ‘dead-wood small group’ that cannot prevent its own erosion.

Likewise, it is not that there is much potency from the PNC at the local lev el, except for some central areas that they may wish to hold on to. Although the PNCR have not confirmed, one would believe that there are greater considerations in knowing where their sup port base stands at this key

juncture. Their representa tives participated in the up date process for the List, and have not done much with in the applicable legislation to truly discredit its verifi cation standings. Further, without this mid-term guide line, the Norton adminis tration is genuinely aware that they would be shooting themselves in the foot as it relates to effective planning.

The preparation and ex ecution of a proper work plan is essential for avoid ing pitfalls in the roll out of transparent processes is very important for the hold ing of successful and cred ible LGEs, where the re sults stand for verification on a strong platform of in tegrity. The Chief Executive Officer Vishnu Persaud and his team did an excel lent job in preparation of a work plan with detailed day to day preparation and holding of the Elections. It is anticipated that with the Minister’s announcement of the Elections date, the in teresting ‘Parties’ will work along and align activities with GECOM Nomination Day for their representa tives.

Notably, GECOM is in the process training and pre paring Election Day staff. It follows that key employ ment functions will have to be finalized, particular ly as it concerns Presiding Officers, Assistant Presiding Officers, Poll clerks, Ballot Clerks along with informa tion Officers at every polling booth.

Notwithstanding, the Commission will have to be extremely careful with the ‘Management Staff’

at GECOM. Although the 2020 National and Regional Elections went smooth ly during Election Day, the cause for concerns emerged from the inefficacies of some members of the Secretariat and particularly, some mem ber of the ‘Management Staff’ that really made gen uine effort to derail and thief the Elections. Hence, it is im perative that the Leadership at GECOM be absolutely careful with the employment of men and women with in tegrity who will be honest and willing to hold free and fair elections.

The build-up to the 2020 National and Regional Elections was filled with PNC Commissioners mak ing all sorts of excuses in their effort not to go to the polls. They questioned the Voters List, they created is sues in respect to ID Cards, they catapulted a dead wood as Chairman of the Commission, and started an exercise of House-to-House Registration with the in tent of delaying time in pow er, but this was subsequent ly aborted. It is recognized that they also installed Secretariat staff that were not inclined to uphold a free and fair elections process.

The PNC never genu inely wants to face the polls under a transparent set ting. All the efforts to delay the LGE’s must be prevent ed and we must have LGEs as scheduled by GECOM. Guyana is on the rise, and we must have democracy at the grassroots level, so let us have the LGEs on schedule.

Sincerely, Neil Kumar

Home Affairs Ministry walked home with both the first and second-place trophies in the Grand Diwali Rangoli Exhibition and Competition held on Main Street by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport.

The first-place trophy was awarded to the Ministry’s Secretariat team, while the second-place trophy went to the Community Policing Team. In this photo, staff members of the Ministry pose with the winning entry.

PNC now deceitfully crying foul

Dear Editor,

Suddenly, the PNC is ‘re jecting’ the PPP’s Electoral Reform process and true to its nature is crying foul. In a Press statement released on 17th May, 2022, the Party stated that the ‘nation’ has rejected the amendment to the Representation of the People’s Act and the pub lic consultations on elector al reform. It claimed that ‘it fails to address key system ic and structural flaws and weaknesses in our elector al system’. The APNU con tends that ‘it totally avoids any consideration of major constitutional, statutory, administrative, operational and technological reforms’.

The ruling PPP has apt ly described the claims made by the APNU as ‘wild, un substantiated and duplici tous’.

What if the Coalition has successfully rigged the 2020 Elections would they have addressed the ‘flaws’ in the Electoral system?

The APNU is now call ing for a ‘clean voters list’.

Let me transport Mr Norton back in time. In March 2015, the then Opposition lead er, David Granger claimed that the voter’s list is ‘dirty and bloated’ and urged his supporters to be vigilant on polling day. The then PPP’s General Secretary Mr Clement Rohee had asked Mr Granger ‘to come clean on true intentions and de sist from making statements that could do harm to the in tegrity of the elections pro cesses. Mr Rohee further challenged that,’ Rather than hiding under the fig leaf of broad statements and hasty generalizations, Granger ought to come clean and be specific as to exact

ly what his concerns are re garding the authenticity of the list.

But Granger was cun ningly laying the foun dation to create doubts, mischief, conflicts, and con troversies in the minds of his supporters should they lose the 2015 Elections. He had vowed then that if the Coalition was voted into Office on May 11th, 2015, it will overhaul the voter’s list. Unfortunately, by ped dling lies and making fake promises they won. The Coalition went to Office but was this promise kept? The PPP is keeping its promise to embark on meaningful Electoral reforms.

The APNU Press in its Press Statement on 17th May stated that’ results must accurately reflect the will of those who voted, and every step of the election process must win the trust and confidence of the pub lic, participating parties, and other relevant. Having tried for 5 long months to rig the 2020 Elections and thwart the will of the peo ple of Guyana, the PNC sud denly realized that election results must reflect the will of the voters. What did the Returning Officer for Region 4 do? He pulled numbers from a bag and gave the Coalition victory by 15,000 votes. How come the PNC’s general Secretary’s signa ture appeared on the SoPs? Thankfully they are before the Court facing charges of electoral fraud. Such bare facedness! Imagine the bal lot boxes had to be guarded against tampering and dis appearing which the PNC is competent enough to make happen.

The PNC wants the elec

The Holy Lights of Diwali

Dear Editor, We must light up our hearts as a people, as a na tion, as humanity, and then the world will light up. So, brightness must start with me.

I, Hajji Dr. Roshan Khan, and the Guyana Islamic Forum for Education, Peace and Religious Solidarity, the Electric Mosque’s Presentation of the Teachings of Islam, would like to take this op portunity to extend Diwali greetings to our Hindu brothers and sisters and our beautiful nation of Guyana, His Excellency President Irfaan Ali and family, distinguished mem bers of the Government and the Opposition.

The holy lighting of the divine Lakshmi universal lights of peace, internal wealth, universal wealth and brightness of the uni verse starts with me. It

starts with us as a nation, and in tandem of brilliant, wise hearts, all of human ity.

Diwali, founded by our ancestors of Ancient Bharat/ Hindustan/India, was conceptualised by the ancient ancestors to light the paths of the exiled Shri Ram, who went on a four teen-year exile to demolish evil. For millions of years, the tradition persisted.

It has spread the world over, and is recognised as a symbol of internal peace firstly, national peace, and the ushering of wisdom in love of the world to all of humanity.

Hajji Dr Roshan Khan Snr President/Chairman Guyana Islamic Forum for Education, Peace and Religious Solidarity

tion process to ‘win the trust and confidence of all stake holders but what did they contribute towards achiev ing this goal? They illegal ly appointed the Chairman of GECOM, blatantly flout ed the Constitution, they ensured that GECOM was filled with their support ers to rig the process, they made a mockery of the ju dicial system and our laws by making spurious claims and embarked on a spend ing spree of taxpayers’ dol lars in an effort to remain illegally in office. One could recall the numerous months of litigation to prove wheth er or not 33 is the majority of 65. Fortunately, the legal system worked.

The Electoral reforms seek to correct all the am biguities and deficiencies which the Coalition sought to undermine the results of an Election that was free and fair and consultations are underway. The Attorney General’s statement reflect ed what the electoral reforms will address. He stated that ‘Whatever weaknesses were in the law, they were exploit ed to their hilt. Wherever there was discretion, it was abused. Wherever there was latitude, interpretative lat itude, it was vulgarized. Wherever there was an op portunity to bend the law to the repulsive end, it was ex ploited’.

Come on Mr Norton, are you afraid to face the polls? Let the public hear about the APNU’s ‘achievements’ when they were in Office!

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf

Big boost for law enforcement

Dear Editor, I recall in India, back in Dec 03, 2020, that the Supreme Court (SC) or dered the Centre, states, and union territories, “… to put in place an effective mechanism to deter viola tion of civil rights, torture, and deaths in custody in po lice stations.” Thus, the or der was to install CCTV (closed-circuit television) cameras in every police sta tion across the country. This move was aimed at checking on allegations of ‘crimes’ in many categories, by the po lice. The ruling detailed that “The governments should ensure that CCTV cameras be installed in each and ev ery police station.”

In addition, CCTV cam eras and recording equip ment were to be installed in all the offices and agen cies that carry out interro gations and have the pow er of arrest. Why this move? Well, the answer resides in the case of custodial tor ture in Punjab, and we have had this kind of situation in Guyana.

So, I am very happy that here, in our growing Guyana “Surveillance cameras (will) be installed at all police sta tions,” as Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn seeks to improve responsiveness from the Guyana Police Force.

This is indeed a most welcomed move, and it is a bold step forward “In an ef fort to ensure members of the public be treated ap propriately when engag ing with the Guyana Police Force (GPF),” is how the Minister put it over.

As we are all aware, there have been far too many complaints against the GPF, and far too many

times, the issues usually re main unresolved, as no kind of corroboration was possi ble. So, with the cameras, accusations, one way or the other, will get an eviden tial examination. This will definitely remove fabrica tions of mischief and those of false defences. Congrats to the Minister of Home Affairs.

In this initiative, the Minister explained that “… where there is con tact between the police and the population, there will be cameras which will be recording those engage ments.” He added that “We are talking the talk about when people come to the po lice station, how they are treated-whether they are chased out, whether their information is taken down, whether there is a safe space for women who may be suffering (from) domestic abuse, or for children, who may be having issues under the law.”

This, as far as I can see, is a bold and neces sary ‘step-up.’ It is bringing Guyana’s security sector on

par with international best practices. I surmised it is bound to stimulate plosive changes.

I close by reminding all that the number of robber ies and thefts overall, in the areas with CCTV installed, reduced by 47.4%, while the areas without CCTV showed practically no change in the number of crimes. This kind of data will definitely keep our police stations on pro fessional alert, knowing that whatever is happening will be available if and when the need arises. Overall, this will have far-reaching implications for the general functioning of law enforce ment agencies by making them accountable for any rights violations in criminal investigations. It will also benefit the victims of cus todial violence in the coun try. Likewise, it will keep civilians in proper décor, as many still believe they have the right to ‘provoke’ police operatives, so long as no one can disprove them.

Yours truly, H Singh

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CANINE HEARTWORM

– final episode Heartworm Control

Well, we have sure ly exhausted this topic, and per haps even supersaturated you with facts about Canine (and Feline) Heartworm.

We have dealt with the transmission, life-cycle, symptoms, laboratory di agnosis and treatment. This last episode – the se ries’ finale, so to speak, will deal with the control of this dreaded disease.

Note that I referred to “control”, and not “preven tion”; to try to totally pre vent this disease is truly being ambitious. We will, instead, today offer sugges tions which will go a long way in putting a halt to the possibility of your dog con tracting the Heartworm Disease. In fact, even a truly effective control of Canine Heartworm is doubtful, for the simple

Veterinarian.

Consequently, these untreated dogs could be har bouring the disease as a reservoir from which could originate the transmission to others.

Secondly, you will recall me writing that the low ly (but deadly) mosquito is the courier. The microscop ic microfilariae (immature stages of the Heartworm) are in the mosquito’s mouth parts, and are deposited on the animal’s skin, from

which they ac tively enter the animal, growing all the time un til they reach the right-side heart cham bers, where they become sexually ma ture and pro duce an abun dance of new offspring (microfilari ae).

Obviously, our first line of attack, within the context of control, would be to reduce the mosqui to population in the ar eas surrounding the dog’s residence. This would not always be possible in parts of the country, where hygiene and sanita tion of our living environ ment leave much to be de

sired. Also, I dare say that our Malaria Prevention Units, with their Vector (Mosquito) Control per sonnel, are doing as good a job as they can, in spite of being strapped for ade quate cash, like so many other agencies. We cannot ever hope to have a mos quito-free Coast while un treated stagnant waters (the breeding grounds for mosquitoes) abound.

On top of all of this is the fact that mosquitoes are true survivors. They were around together with the dinosaurs, and over the millions of years, they have not even found it neces sary to change their shape. Mosquitoes, we have been informed, can survive in high (ergo cold) altitudes as well as in tropical (hot) zones.

The point being made

is that mosquito prolifera tion is difficult to control. Yet, we must try – not only because of human health problems (e.g., Malaria), but because of diseas es like Canine and Feline Heartworm, which attack our companion wards. Of course, I have not even mentioned the nuisance factor in mosquitoes. We must use all the weapons at our disposal:-

i) Getting rid of all stag nant pools of water in the immediate environment of our habitations.

ii) Treating – e.g., with kerosene oil – areas where pools of water tend to accu mulate.

iii) Fogging the area with chemicals that would kill mosquitoes and their immature forms.

The logic, of course, is that once the mosquitoes cannot reproduce, the spe cific mosquito-borne dis eases cannot be transmit

The second meth od of control of Canine Heartworm is to ensure the microfi lariae (once they are in the dog’s body) do not reach adulthood, when they would be able to reproduce. This means that we

must kill these immature forms when they are cir culating in your pet. This can be done on a routine monthly basis.

Here we are lucky. The drug manufacturers have accommodated us by pro ducing tablets, oral liquids and injectables containing an active microfilaricide (Ivermectin) which we had mentioned and discussed previously. They have even made different strengths of the medication accord ing to the dog’s weight. This means that, after we have checked the blood on at least two occasions in the space of four weeks, and found that there are no immature states of the Heartworm circulating, we can begin to administer the medication once a month. Every month! This way, we can hope to achieve some great degree of prevention.

Lastly, mosquitoes tend to feed mostly in the late afternoon and during the evening. One could there fore keep the dogs in a mos quito-proof kennel during these periods, especially in those areas where we know the Canine Heartworm dis ease to be endemic.

So, enough is enough! By now you may not want to hear the word Heartworm. Sorry, but it was necessary. The last word: Listen for the soft, deep cough which may indicate a Canine Heartworm infection.

GECOM in preparatory mode for LGE; parties will soon be invited to submit symbols – PRO – polling day staff currently being trained

Readiness

Earlier this week, Justice Singh had written to the Local Government and Regional Development Minister, advising him that based on GECOM’s work plan, March 13, 2023, was the earliest date that LGE could be held. In fact, the Commission indicated that the elections could be held anytime between March 13 and April 24, 2023.

been set aside in Budget 2022 for the prepara tions to be undertaken by GECOM for the hosting of LGE this year.

This money is part of an overall $4.1 billion alloca tion to GECOM in Budget 2022 and was exam ined and approved by the National Assembly during its consideration of the 2022 Budget Estimates.

Preparation mode for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to carry out Local Government Elections (LGE) is in full swing, par ticularly since a date has now been set for the hold ing of the polls.

In an interview with this publication, GECOM Spokesperson Yolanda Ward explained that the secretariat is currently in preparatory mode. She not ed that now that a date has been fixed, the next step will see GECOM advertis ing for contesting parties to submit their symbols.

“We’re currently con ducting training and I think that the next steps will be advertising for sym bols of parties contest ing elections. But we have started training… for poll day staff,” Ward explained.

An important aspect of GECOM’s preparations is training. According to Ward, they have already completed training for elec tion managerial staff such as Returning Officers and further training is ongoing for the more junior staff.

“We would have already conducted training for man agement staff, which would include Returning Officers and Deputy Returning Officers and so on,” she ex plained, noting that the

polling day staff currently receiving training number in the thousands.

On Thursday, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Nigel Dharamlall, wrote GECOM Chairperson, Retired Justice Claudette Singh, announcing March 13, 2023, as the date for LGE.

According to Dharamlall, Government is committed to upholding de mocracy and believes that the holding of local polls is an important pillar in Guyana’s democratic polit ical system. It was against this backdrop that the date for hosting the LGE was decided.

“Please be informed that pursuant to Section 35 (1) of the Local Authorities (Elections) Act, Chapter 28:03, I appoint March 13, 2023, as the day on which elections of Councillors for Local Authorities shall be held,” Minister Dharamlall wrote to Justice Singh.

The Local Authorities (Elections) Act, Chapter 28:03, states that elections are held according to the date set by the Minister.

Moreover, it was noted that an order under Section 35 shall be published in the Gazette appointing March 13 next year as the date for the LGE.

The work plan in ques tion was arrived at by Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Vishnu Persaud, who was tasked by GECOM with coming up with a work plan for the holding of LGE. At first, that work plan was supposed to be limited to this year-end. However, that has since had to be extended amid successive weeks of what has been de scribed by the Governmentnominated GECOM Commissioners as delay ing tactics at Commission meetings.

LGE is constitutional ly due every two years in Guyana and was last held in 2018.

While the polls were due in 2020, the elections fiasco that played out following the March 2 General and Regional Elections that year resulted in LGE being deferred.

It was only in December last that the Commission finally completed the appointment of a new Chief Elections Officer in the person of Vishnu Persaud. Then, only last month, GECOM appointed Beverley Critchlow as the Assistant Chief Elections Officer (ACEO).

Nevertheless, over the past months, the Elections Commission has been in preparatory mode for the holding of the local polls. More than $750 million has

Included in the $783 million for LGE is a more than $300 million increase in “other goods and ser vices purchased”, which jumped from $250.8 million in 2021 to $575.9 million in the 2022 budget.

GECOM only recently concluded its Claims and Objections exercise, which captured more than 3000 new applicants who will be eligible to vote as of October 31, 2022, as well as a total of 18 objections to names on the Preliminary List of Electors (PLE).

Additionally, there were

more than 1800 requests for transfers.

At the last LGE held in November 2018, the then People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Opposition had secured 52 of the 80 Local Authority Areas (LAAs). This followed the holding of the LGE in 2016, in which the PPP/C also claimed the majority of the LAAs.

The A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), the now main Opposition political party, meanwhile remains tight-lipped on its participation in the next LGE and its minority coa lition partner, the Alliance For Change (AFC), is yet to communicate whether or not it would be contesting the polls together.

GECOM PRO Yolanda Ward

The Guyana Elections Commission

Teen feared dead after plunging into Kara Kara Creek

Relatives of 14-yearold Kenneitha Angela Graves of Lot 24 Kara Kara, Linden have been left in a state of despair on Saturday after she reportedly plunged into the Kara Kara Creek and never resurfaced.

Greaves had reportedly gone to the creek for a swim at about 10:00h. The Police have said that the teen had left home at about 09:30h un knowing to her mother, and had gone to a house at Lower Kara Kara where she nor mally goes to play with chil dren living there.

Devika, whose house the

teen would normally visit, has said the teen was stand ing by a creek located at the back of her yard when she told the teen, "If you cannot swim, move from next to the creek."

Devika has said she left the teen standing there, and was about to go into her home when she heard someone shouting, "Help! Help!".

As such, she rushed to the scene, and saw the teen in the water, helpless and sink ing.

Devika said she began to shout for help, because she does not know how to swim

either, and a short while af ter, the teen's body sank un der the water.

She said that persons in the area rushed to the creek and immediately started to search for the teen, but the strong current in the creek prevented them from locat ing her.

An investigation of this incident is underway.

Only about a month ago, 17-year-old Nazana Samaroo of Lot 33 Little Diamond Squatting Area, East Bank Demerara drowned while swimming at a creek at Wismar, Linden.

Still flipflopping...

…his AFC

When it comes to the PNC, you’d think the AFC leaders would’ve wised up by now. But what can you say? Looks like they’ve either been stricken by Stockholm Syndrome or suffering from congenital masochism!! When, before the 2015 elections, Granger and the PNC started wooing them and their seven seats gleaned from the PPP’s Indian-Guyanese base, leader Ramjattan exclaimed, “No way, Jose!! We’ll be dead meat!!” But yet he went along, thinking that the “Cummingsburg Accord” the PNC signed would make them keep their word!! And lo and behold, dead meat they became!!

Now, if for decades the PNC didn’t respect the Constitution – even the one they wrote, supposedly a contract between them and the people of Guyana - why in the world would a big man, and a lawyer to boot, take their word that they’d do the right thing?? So, the Cummingsburg Accord becomes toilet paper to clean the sh*t dumped on Ramjattan and Nagamootoo for the next five years by the PNC!! Towards the end of their humiliation, the AFC went on their lonesome at the Local Government Elections (LGE), to test the waters; but received such a drubbing they had to rush back into the arms of the PNC to save face, and claim with a straight (even though bruised!) face they were an “Opposition Party”, whose doings would then receive some coverage in the press.

Well, they’re still in the wilderness, and while insisting that they “wuz robbed”, they’re trying to make up their minds whether to contest the next LGE, that’s been scheduled for March 13, 2023. First, Ramjattan bloviated that no way in hell would his party contest - since the Voters List was “bloated”. But before the day was out, he did a complete somersault – which can’t be easy at his age!! He’s now hanging on to the PNC’s coattails, and will go along with their decision on participation!! Now, the question is whether the PNC need a party that’s lost the only charm it ever had – those wayward PPP voters!!

Nagamootoo has completely disappeared from the scene, and Ramjattan has done nothing to bring back the disgruntled sugar workers they’d sweet-talked into supporting the AFC.

In the meantime, the PPP hasn’t been idle!! It’s using the benefits of incumbency to dole out reliefs not only to sugar workers and their base, but that of the PNC, and their outliers who’d tested AFC’s waters with Trotman!! The AFC’s only hope is not to be dumped by the PNC – which will contest the LGE so that they’ll have some leverage in Georgetown, Linden, and New Amsterdam. Can’t afford to lose corn and husk, can they??

In the meantime, the PPP Juggernaut keeps rolling full steam ahead!!

…in China??

It’s time for the Chinese leadership to decide whether it is fish or fowl - capitalist or communist. Mao didn’t leave any doubt he was a communist, and didn’t mind millions dying in his Great Leap Forward, because he thought communal labour of the masses could substitute for machinery - so China WOULD produce more agricultural and industrial goods simultaneously. Unfortunately, they ended up with a great famine, and lost corn and husk!!

Mao then launched his Cultural Revolution as he regrouped to again take centre stage, but created urban chaos and mass deaths and upheavals. After Deng changed course in the 1980s with his pragmatic “use whatever cat once it caught mice”, China saw unrivalled progress. Now Xi Jinping looks like he’s not comfortable with the inevitable consequences of capitalist development and billionaires in the party. The humiliating treatment of former President Hu Jintao of the old guard signalled a house-cleaning. With his third term, can he take them on without bringing down the house??

…in the PNC?

The now-not-so-new PNC leader also can’t make up his mind on the strategy to be used to return to power. Assuming he’s not thinking of some armed onslaught, how’s he gonna beat the PPP at the polls if he alienates “outsiders”??

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

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

Keneitha Greaves is feared dead

Over 300 Bare Root residents to get land titles/transports by year-end

water treatment plant announced for Bachelor’s Adventure

After20 years, 312 res idents of Bachelor’s Adventure (Bare Root), East Coast Demerara, are expected to receive their certificates of title/transport by this year-end.

This was announced by Minister within the Housing and Water Ministry, Susan Rodrigues during a commu nity meeting on Friday.

The Minister was ac companied by the Director of Community Development at the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), Gladwin Charles; Head of CH&PA’s Legal Secretariat, Hannifah Jordan and a team from the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC) and the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI).

The area consists of two

parcels of land: Parcel 976 – State Land and Former Parcel 914 – Government Land, which was regular ised.

In 2004, a survey was completed by GL&SC, how ever, due to omissions of parcel numbers, bearings,

and incorrect acreages, re surveys were done in 2009 and 2017. A final survey was then completed on June 12, 2022, to rectify discrepan cies, and Former Parcel 914, which contains 312 lots, was verified through an exer cise conducted by CH&PA.

While some lot numbers re main the same, others have changed along with the acre age.

Minister Rodrigues stat ed that the Ministry under stands the inconvenience the issue has caused resi dents over the years and the need for this chapter of their land ownership journey to be closed.

With the final survey plan, issued Certificates of Titles will be amended and allottees with new parcel numbers will be given new allocation letters.

“Before the end of this

year it is our intention that we take you through the doc umentation process and that we finish this regularisa tion,” the Minister affirmed.

She further emphasised the Government’s commit ment to working with all communities and ensuring that the needs of Guyanese are met. To this end, she en couraged residents to cooper ate with the agency.

The Minister also an nounced the construction of a new water treatment plant at Bachelor’s Adventure to the tune of US$7.8 million.

The water treatment

plant will serve communities from Coldingen to Nabaclis, East Coast Demerara.

Additionally, Bachelor’s Adventure will benefit from a $407 million investment to upgrade six roads.

During the meeting, res idents were given the op portunity to raise important concerns with the Minister and team, peruse the new area plan and initiate their registration process.

With regards to Parcel 976 (104 lots) GL&SC will be completing a survey to allow the other residents to move forward.

Staff of the CH&PA attending to residents during the outreach

Some of the residents at the meeting on Friday

Minister within the Housing and Water Ministry Susan Rodrigues addressing the gathering

Linden teen dies after drunken driver crashes car

and it flipped several times before coming to a halt. As a result, Forde, who was seated in the left front seat, sustained injuries and was picked up by an am bulance in an unconscious state and rushed to the Linden Hospital Complex, where she was pronounced dead on arrival. Her body is presently at the Linden Hospital mortuary, await ing a post-mortem exam ination.

Ateenager has died along the Coomacka Mines access road in Region Ten (Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice) in the wee hours of Saturday after the allegedly speeding car in which she was travel ling turned turtle.

Based on reports re ceived, the accident oc

curred at about 2:30h on Saturday as 19-year-old Tiffany Forde and 22-yearold Joel Rawlins, both of Coomacka Mines, were travelling in motor car PXX 7789, being driven by a 28-year-old male, also of Coomacka Mines.

The Police have said that the car was proceed

ing north along the east ern side of the Coomacka Mines access road at a fast rate of speed when the driv er lost control of the vehicle

Rawlins and the driv er also sustained injuries, but were treated at that hospital before being hand ed over to the Police, who are continuing their inves tigations. A breathalyzer test conducted on the driv er proved that he was above the legal limit of alcohol consumption. His readings were .29 and .31.

The car that was involved in the accident on the Coomacka Mines

access road

Dead: Tiffany Forde

Divali and Dharma

Tomorrow will be the celebration of “Diwali” or “Deepavali”, which means “a row of light”. Divali has gained wide acceptance in our multicultural, multireligious and multiracial nation. Unfortunately, apart from a perfunctory and stereotypical “good over evil” motif, even many Hindus do not appreciate the significance of the event commemorated.

The Hindu calendar is punctuated by “Parvas” –pronounced “Parbs” by our Bhojpuri ancestors – which means “part”. It is translated into English as “festivals” but as with all concepts, there are aspects that may be lost or added in translation. Hindu Parbs emphasize that events commemorated should help integrate individuals into the social institutions they are part of - family, community, nation, etcby stressing particular moral values that should be inculcated into their lives. Hindu festivals are thus always concerned with transmitting moral behavioral rules. The celebratory aspects are secondary and are only meant to highlight the victory of morality over immorality.

Hindus have four goals of life – one of them being “Dharma”, which is to live a righteous life even as they pursue pleasures (“Kama”), economic and social success (“Artha”) so that they can finally achieve liberation (“Moksha”) from the cycle of life and death (samsara). The Parbs are reminders of the need to live in accordance with Dharma.

Divali is one of the most ancient and sacred of the Hindu Parbs and arose out of their early lived experience of lengthening darkness at this time of the year. This seemingly threatened to permanently dispel the sun’s lifegiving rays and they mimetically acted to reverse the threat by burning lights and offering prayers during the darkest night of the year. This use of light to dispel encroaching darkness was later used metaphorically to convey the message that when evil increases, (symbolized by the increasing darkness) it must be confronted by the forces of righteousness (light) if the implicate order of in all creation (Dharma) is to prevail. This use of narratives to convey lessons of life to generally illiterate members of society through symbolic language has become characteristic of Hindu pedagogy.

Over the millennia, several narratives have become attached to Divali because they occurred at this propitious time. One of them is the Samudra Mantan – the great churning of an Ocean of Milk (Kshirsagar) by the Devas to regain their powers through the Amrit or nectar that would be produced. It is important to remember that this churning was performed by all of the celestial beings coming together – even those who opposed the Devas. During the churning, several wonderous creations were manifested in addition to the Amrit. Among them was Mother Lakshmi, who represents fortune, prosperity, wealth, good luck, success, accomplishment, beauty, grace, etc. In a word, all that our worldly desires. Hindu Dharma covers actions in all aspects of life so that Mother Lakshmi’s light can emanate from churning of our own minds to do what is right by our own Dharma (Svadharma) to dispel whatever darkness that envelopes us in the here and now. By our own actions, we achieve.

On Divali night, every Hindu would have cleansed their home and performed worship (puja) with their front door open to welcome Mother Lakshmi. They would churn their minds over specific challenges they, the community, and the nation confront and vow to play their part in addressing those challenges in a Dharmic manner. The universal ground for Hindus is Dharma – there is the dharma of all man (Manav dharma), the rulers (Raj dharma) individuals (Sva Dharma and for each position one occupies – father, mother, child etc. citizen. And what is Dharma?? That which sustains, that which upholds whatever institution we are talking about – our family, community or country.

Over the millennia several other auspicious occasions have become linked with Divali and also commemorated. The most noteworthy for Guyanese Hindus, the overwhelming majority who originated in North India, is the return of Sri Ram to his home on Divali night. He was the SEVENTH incarnation (avatar) of Vishnu whose consort is Lakshmi, and who always incarnates with him – then, as Mother Sita

The significance of His nexus with Divali should be obvious. When his consort was kidnapped, his Dharma led him not to wring his hand and moan, but to assemble an army, confront his enemy and cut his ten heads off.

16,453 cases made out for speeding along new Mandela to Eccles 4-lane highway – 36,479 persons failed to wear seatbelts

The Traffic Department of the Guyana Police Force, in an effort to monitor and detect traffic of fences, has recorded sever al traffic breaches along the new Mandela to Eccles fourlane highway.

For the month of October, a total of 16,453 drivers were found to be above the speed limit while 36,479 drivers failed to wear seat belts when traversing the highway.

“Drivers are reminded that speeding and failing to wear seatbelts are offenc es according to Section 34 (1) and Section 45 E (3) of the Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic Act 51:02 of the Laws of Guyana, respectively,” the

Police stated in a release to the media.

As such, the Traffic Department said drivers are cautioned to adhere to speed limits and wear seat

belts. The speed limits vary along the new Mandela to Eccles four-lane highway – 30kmph, 50 kmph, and 80kmph.

Therefore, drivers failing

to comply will be prosecut ed, according to the Traffic Department. The Guyana Police Force has not con firmed if the errant drivers were taken to court.

Recently, speed camer as were positioned along the new highway connect ing Mandela Avenue in Georgetown to Diamond, East Bank Demerara.

These cameras were placed to automatically pho tograph vehicles that are go ing faster than is allowed. The photographs can be used as evidence in a court of law.

Since the placement of the cameras, scores of driv ers are being caught daily, breaking traffic laws.

Ravi Dev

The Mandela Avenue to Eccles Highway

$489M in marijuana found during Police operation in Berbice River – 2 shotguns, matching ammo also discovered

Ajoint services’ oper ation conducted on Friday in communi ties along the Berbice River in Region Six has led to the discovery of a large quan tity of marijuana and two firearms at separate camps.

This narcotics’ eradi cation exercise, conduct ed at DeVeldt Savannah by officers and ranks of the Guyana Police Force’s Marine Section and Narcotics Branch, along with ranks of the Coast Guard section of the Guyana Defence Force, commenced at about 5:00h and lasted for some nine hours.

During the exercise, one marijuana farm, two camps, and two drying ar eas were located. The farm measured about four acres, and had approximate ly 20,000 cannabis plants ranging in height from six inches to two feet.

A 37-year-old farmer of Stewartville, West Coast Demerara and Wiruni,

Berbice River was found on the farm attending to the cannabis plants, and he has been arrested.

During a search on the first camp, a 12-gauge shot

gun with three live car tridges was found, along with one Guyana Passport, one Identification Card, and one birth certificate in favour of the farmer who

was arrested. At the second camp, another 12-gauge shotgun, along with four matching rounds of ammu nition, was found.

The ranks also searched the two drying areas and un earthed a quantity of dried cannabis with an estimated weight of 800 pounds, while

the weight of the live can nabis plants was estimat ed at 400 pounds. The total street value of the canna bis found during the oper ation is estimated at $489 million.

A gasoline plow, sev eral farming tools and a spray bottle were also

found in one of the camps. The plants, camps, drying areas, farming tools and spray bottle were all de stroyed by fire.

The farmer who was arrested was escorted to the Central Police Station, where he has been placed in custody, pending charges.

The camp that was destroyed by Police

The shotguns that Police discovered

The ganja that Police found

Environmental Guidelines for Poultry Rearing

In this week’s article, we continue to look at the EPA’s Environmental Guidelines for Poultry Rearing. As was stated in last week’s article, poorly managed poultry rearing operations can result in odour nuisances, water and land pollution and lead to human health conditions of the skin, eyes and ears. Additionally, waterborne diseases such as diarrhea can be caused by polluted water emanating from poultry-rearing facilities. Hence, the relevance of these guidelines.

Preventing diseases

Diseases can enter a facility through new animals, equipment, or, people and can weaken or kill birds. Poultry manure and carcasses also contain pathogens that can affect human health. To reduce diseases, the following tips should be considered:

• Store feed properly to prevent wild birds such as sparrows, crows, etc., from interacting with it;

• Quarantine new animals before they mix with the existing population; Wash and disinfect equipment, e.g., crates, clothing, before entering livestock zones;

Vehicles that go from farm to farm should have special precautions such as limiting their operation to special areas, spraying tires and treating parking areas with disinfectants;

Have a veterinarian carry out regular checks on the animals for parasites and other disease vectors. Any sick birds should be kept away from the healthy ones and systems for the proper removal and disposal of dead birds should be put in place;

Where possible, establish all-in and all-out systems with only one age group farm. On farms with multiple-aged birds, workers should always work with the youngest first before moving on the older birds. Workers should be trained on how to apply animal health products; and

• No slaughtering should be done on site, unless approved by the Environmental Health Officer of the NDC/RDC.

Handling condemned carcasses

While death can be reduced through proper animal care and disease prevention, it is inevitable that a few birds will die. In such cases, carcasses need to be properly managed and quickly disposed of in order to prevent the spread of diseases and odours and to avoid the attraction of organisms that can spread disease.

Collect carcasses regularly to prevent decay.

Carcasses should be buried on property owned by the owner, or at a site approved by the relevant authorities, e.g., NDC.

The area for burial should be at least 100 metres away from houses and water resources. The area should be stable, clay soil and burial should be deep enough to avoid disruption by animals such as dogs, vultures, etc. When burying carcasses, use lime to eliminate odours and assist in making the carcass decompose faster.

• If carcasses are to be burnt, this should only be done in permitted facilities operating under national and/or international standards.

• Persons handling carcasses should be properly equipped with protective clothing such as gloves, long boots, respirator, apron and other safety gear.

Disease-free carcasses may be used for animal feed.

Managing wastewater

Wastewater can be generated from cleaning pens and while feeding water to birds. Manage wastewater by applying the following:

Prevent overflow of watering devices to reduce spilling of water.

Install plants that can act as filters to absorb and trap sediments around surrounding trenches or ponds, e.g., vetiver grass.

Maintain a good drainage system around the holding house. Drains for rainwater should be diverted to avoid the contamination of rainwater.

Treat wastewater before releasing it into the environment.

Wastewater can be treated in one of the following ways:

Sedimentation using settling ponds, e.g., black tanks or constructed lagoons.

Bio-digesters to treat the sludge and produce biogas.

Dewatering of residuals and using wastewater treatment residuals in compost or as fertiliser.

Controlling air emissions

Apply chemicals to litter weekly to reduce conversion of nitrogen to ammonia.

• Using aluminium sulphate (alum) is recommended. Alum can be applied to poultry litter when changed, at a rate equivalent to 5-10% the weight of manure. Where possible, manure can also be used in compost to reduce odour emissions.

Collect dust: To prevent dust emissions, areas where dust will be created, e.g., feed grinding, should have systems in place to collect dust.

Dirt roads should be wetted frequently to control dust.

When wire mesh is used for construction pens, the sides exposed to neighbouring residences should be blocked to prevent dust from affecting residents.

Managing hazardous waste

Pesticides need to be managed carefully to prevent pollution and health hazards.

Ensure there are systems to keep out pests, e.g., plug holes, seal gaps around doors and windows, use traps, barriers, etc. This will help to reduce the number of pesticides needed.

• Control pests by using natural predators.

• Practice good housekeeping in pens and other facilities to prevent the breeding of pests.

• Improve drainage to control mosquitoes.

• Assess whether or not the use of pesticides is necessary and the impact they have on the environment.

Choose the pesticide that has the least negative impact.

We advise all poultry operators to take these Guidelines into consideration. If you are operating without a permit, we advise you to visit our office. Additionally, you can find the complete Guidelines on our website: www.epaguyana.org.

Remember, if you plan to set up or are operating a poultry rearing operation with more than 500 fowls then you need to apply to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for Environmental Authorisation.

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

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

History and significance of Diwali, the Festival of Lights

Deepawali, Deepavali, or Diwali is the biggest and the brightest of all Hindu festivals. It is the Festival of Lights: deep means "light" and avali "a row" to become "a row of lights". Diwali is marked by five days of celebration, which literally il luminates the country with brilliance and dazzles people with joy.

The Diwali festival occurs in late October or early November. It falls on the 15th day of the lunar Hindu month of Kartik, so it varies every year. Each of the five days in the festival of Diwali is marked with a dif ferent tradition. What remains constant is the celebration of life, its enjoyment, and a sense of goodness.

Historically, Diwali can be traced back to ancient India. It most likely began as an important harvest festival. However, there are various legends pointing to the origin of Diwali. Some believe it to be a celebration of the marriage of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, to Lord Vishnu. Others use it as a celebration of her birthday, as Lakshmi is said to have been born on the new-moon day of Kartik.

Diwali also commemorates the return of Lord Rama (along with Ma Sita and Lakshman) from his 14-year exile and van quishing of the demon-king Ravana. In joy ous celebration of the return of their king,

the people of Ayodhya, the capital of Rama, illuminated the kingdom with earthen diyas (oil lamps) and set off firecrackers.

Each day of Diwali has its own tale to tell. The first day of the festival, Naraka

Chaturdasi, marks the vanquishing of the demon Naraka by Lord Krishna and his wife, Satyabhama.

Amavasya, the second day of Diwali, marks the worship of Lakshmi when she is in her most benevolent mood, fulfilling the wishes of her devotees. Amavasya also tells the story of Lord Vishnu, who, in his dwarf incarnation, vanquished the tyrant Bali and banished him to hell. Bali is allowed to re turn to earth once a year to light millions of lamps and dispel darkness and ignorance while spreading the radiance of love and wisdom.

It is on the third day of Diwali, Kartika Shudda Padyami, that Bali steps out of hell and rules the earth according to the boon given by Lord Vishnu. The fourth day is re ferred to as Yama Dvitiya (also called Bhai Dooj), and on this day sisters invite their brothers to their homes.

Some people refer to Diwali as a five-day festival because they include the festival of Dhanteras (dhan meaning "wealth" and teras meaning "13th").

Kheer (Sweet Rice) Milk Barfi

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup white rice

• 1 tbsp ghee

• 2 cans evaporated milk

1 can condensed milk

• 1/2 cup milk powder

• Raisins

• Maraschino cherries

• Pistachio (optional)

• Cinnamon spice

• Grated nutmeg

• Cloves

• Cardamom

• Vanilla extract, rose water, almond extract

Directions

1. Wash rice until water runs clear and soak over night.

2. In a heavy bottom pan heat ghee and add one cinnamon stick and heat for 2 minutes. Drain rice and add to pan. Sauté on medium flame for five minutes.

3. Add water to cover rice to about three inches. Boil rice until it is fully cooked. Use a heavy spoon and mush rice.

4. Add evaporated milk, a pinch of grated nut meg, cardamom, vanilla or rose water. Simmer for 10 minutes then add condensed milk. Bring to a boil and taste for sweetness.

5. Cook on low flame until mixture thickens. Finish off with raisins and maraschino cherries.

6. Serve chilled, topped with chopped pistachios.

Ingredients

• 400 gm condensed milk

• 8 cup milk powder

• 2 tablespoon ghee

• 1 cup water

• 1 teaspoon powdered green cardamom

• 1 handful pistachios

Directions

1. Take a large bowl and add milk powder in it along with condensed milk. Make a rigid dough using these ingredients. Once done, keep the dough in freezer and freeze it for at least for 20 minutes.

2. Take the dough and grate it in a bowl. Keep this grated dough aside for further usage. Take a deep bot tomed pan, keep it on low flame and heat ghee in it.

3. Add the grated dough to this pan with water. Mix well and stir in cardamom powder in the pan, cook this mixture until the water dries out and the mixture accumulates in the center of the pan.

4. Pour this prepared mixture in a pan and add pistachios to it. Let the mixture cool and cut the barfi into desired shapes. Garnish it with silver vark and al monds and serve!

Gulab Jamun

• 1 cup Sugar

Ingredients:

• 3 Green Cardamom pods

• 1 1/2 cups Water

• 2 cups Milk Powder

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour

• One pinch baking poweder

• 4 tablespoons Ghee

• 1/4 cup Milk

• Oil or Ghee, for deep frying

Directions

1. In a pot add water, sugar, cardamom pods and bring to a boil until 1/2 string consistency. (About 8-10 min utes on high heat). Let cool.

2. In a bowl mix milk powder, flour, baking powder and ghee. Use fingers to evenly distribute ghee while grad ually adding liquid milk. Mixture should be soft and sticky. Do not over mix or knead mixture.

3. Grease palms with oil/ghee and roll into smooth balls. There should be no cracks.

4. Heat oil/gee and on low heat fry jamun until dark brown. Drain oil/ghee and soak in cooled sugar syrup, pref erably overnight. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

History and significance of Diwali...

This celebration of wealth and prosperity oc curs two days before the Festival of Lights.

The tradition of gambling on Diwali also has a legend behind it. It is believed that on this day, Goddess Parvati played dice with her hus band, Lord Shiva. She de creed that whosoever gam bled on Diwali night would prosper throughout the en suing year.

All of the simple rituals of Diwali have a significance

and a story behind them. Homes are illuminated with lights, and firecrackers fill the skies as an expression of respect to the heavens for the attainment of health, wealth, knowledge, peace, and prosperity.

The spiritual signifi cance of Diwali

Beyond the lights, gam bling, and fun, Diwali is also a time to reflect on life and make changes for the upcoming year. With that, there are a number of cus toms that revellers hold

dear each year.

Give and forgive. It is common practice that peo ple forget and forgive the wrongs done by others during Diwali. There is an air of freedom, festivity, and friendliness everywhere.

Rise and shine. Waking up during the Brahmamuhurta (at 4 am, or 1 1/2 hours before sun rise) is a great blessing from the standpoint of health, ethical discipline, efficien cy in work, and spiritual ad vancement. The sages who instituted this Diwali cus tom may have hoped that their descendants would re alise its benefits and make it a regular habit in their

lives.

Unite and unify. Diwali is a unifying event, and it can soften even the hardest of hearts. It is a time when people mingle about in joy and embrace one another.

Prosper and progress. On this day, Hindu mer chants in North India open their new account books and pray for success and pros perity during the coming year. People buy new clothes for the family. Employers, too, purchase new clothes

for their employees. Homes are cleaned and decorat ed by day and illuminat ed by night with diyas. The best and finest illumina tions can be seen in Bombay and Amritsar. The famous Golden Temple at Amritsar is lit in the evening with thousands of lamps.

This Festival in stils charity in the hearts of people, who perform good deeds. This includes Govardhan Puja, a celebra tion by Vaishnavites on the fourth day of Diwali. On this day, they feed the poor on an incredible scale.

Illuminate your inner self. The lights of Diwali also signify a time of inner illumination. Hindus be lieve that the light of lights is the one that steadily shines in the chamber of the heart. Sitting quietly and fixing the mind on this su preme light illuminates the soul. It is an opportunity to cultivate and enjoy eternal bliss.

From darkness unto light...

In each legend, myth, and story of Diwali lies the significance of the victory of good over evil. It is with each Diwali and the lights that illuminate our homes and hearts that this simple truth finds new reason and hope.

From darkness unto light – the light empowers us to commit ourselves to good deeds and brings us closer to divinity. During Diwali, lights illuminate and the scent of incense sticks hangs in the air, mingled with the sounds of firecrackers, joy, togetherness, and hope.

Diwali is celebrated around the globe. If you are away from the sights and sounds of Diwali, light a diya, sit quietly, shut your eyes, withdraw the senses, concentrate on this supreme light, and illuminate the soul. (Patil, SM. "Diwali: Festival of Lights Light Up Your Life)

Soft mithai Vermicelli cake Goja (Gujiya)

Ingredients

*For the Dough

• 4 cups flour

• 1 tsp white sugar

• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 1 cup freshly grated coconut

• 1 1/2 sticks butter, chopped

• 3 tsp anise seed

• 1 12oz tin evaporated milk

Vegetable or canola oil for frying

* For the sugar syrup:

• 1 cup white granulated sugar

• 3/4 cup water

• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Instructions

Mix the flour, baking powder, anise seed, and chopped butter together. Keep mixing by hand until the dough is crumbly or you can put everything into a food processor.

Add coconut to the dough and mix well.

Pour entire can of evaporated milk into the mixture and knead to form a dough ball. Add flour/ water if needed, to bring everything together. Cover with a damp paper tow el and set aside and let it sit for about 30-40 minutes. (the damp napkin keeps the dough from forming a crust)

Roll out dough and cut into desired size. Heat oil and fry until golden brown.

Combine sugar, water, and vanilla, if using. Boil on low for about 35 minutes, or longer depending on your stove.

When sugar is ready, pour over mithai and toss until sug ar is no longer clear and has become white.

Ingredients

• 200g (1 pack) vermicelli noodles

• 14 maraschino cherries, roughly chopped

• desired amount of currants (I used 1/4 cup)

• 4 tbsp salted butter (1/2 stick)

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 1/2 tsp almond essence

• 1 12oz can evaporated milk

• 3 1/2 cups whole milk

• 1/2 cup water

Instructions

1. Melt butter in a deep pot on low heat. Add vermicel li noodles and parch it until some of the noodles become brown, this will happen fast so do not walk away from the stove.

2. Once some of the noodles are brown, add all the milk, extracts, and spices, add the water.

3. Keeping the stove on low heat, let the noodles boil in the milk until they start to soften up, add cherries and currants.

4. About 15 minutes in, the mixture should start to clump together (everyone's stove temperature is differ ent so if it has not reached this stage as yet, just wait until it starts to look like a really thick pudding).

5. The mixture will look dried out, the liquid would have absorbed, if the mixture coats the back of a spoon thickly without dripping, then remove from heat and pour into a dish that will allow your vermicelli to be about 1 1/2 inches in thickness.

6. Let this sit out for about 2-3 hours to firm up, or you can put it into the refrigerator to firm up faster. Cut and enjoy.

Ingredients

Pastry:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 tsp white sugar

• 1 tbsp shortening

• 1 cup ice cold milk

Few drops vegetable oil (for top of dough ball)

Filling:

• 3-4 cups desiccated coconut, grated (about 2 coconuts)

• 2 heaping tbsp fresh ginger, grated

• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

• 1 tsp almond essence

• 2 tsp vanilla or mixed essence

• 3/4 cup brown sugar

• 1/4 cup water for sealing dough

• Flour for fork, when sealing

• Oil or ghee for frying

Instructions

1. Make the dough. Mix flour, baking powder, and sugar to gether. Rub in shortening until fine crumbs form. Add cold milk a little at a time until dough comes together. Knead until dough is smooth.

2. Rub a little oil on top of dough ball and cover with damp paper towel. Let rest for minimum one hour.

3. Using a standard box grater- Crack coconut, drain wa ter. Remove coconutmeat from shell. Cut into small pieces. Grate coconut on fine side, set aside. Grate ginger, add to bowl with coconut. Add remaining ingredients. Mix well, set aside until ready to assemble.

4. Pinch off small pieces of dough, golf ball sized. Cover all dough balls with damp paper towel to keep from crusting.

5. Roll dough ball thinly to 1/8inch thickness. Dip finger or pastry brush in water and rub the edges of dough. Place 1 1/2 tbsp coconut mixture in center. Fold dough over coconut, press with fork to seal edges. Dip fork in flour to keep from sticking to dough. Repeat until all dough has been used up.

6. Heat oil for frying. Deep fry goja until light golden brown.

CSEC top performer honoured by former ARMS student Dr Kurt Clarke

Dr. Kurt Clarke, a for mer student of Anna Regina Multilateral School, has honoured one of the country's top CSEC students, Daniel Dowding, with a monetary reward.

Dr. Clarke, who gradu ated from the Anna Regina Secondary School, joined the list of individuals who provided cash donations to Dowding. Dr. Clarke said he has had a keen interest in education, and has con sistently supported fami lies on the Essequibo Coast for over thirty years.

One of the significant education initiatives un dertaken over these years was the establishment of a scholarship fund at the 8th of May Secondary School since 1988, through which Dr Clarke has given finan cial assistance and pur chased school supplies for young people in his com munity each year, with a view to motivating them to reach the stars.

Dr. Clarke said he was immensely impressed with Dowding's performance, and is hoping that his hon ouring of the young man would serve as a means of motivating young people to pursue excellence, and to ignite a sense of commit ment by responsible adults to invest in the academic development of our youths.

Dr. Clarke's neph ew, Pastor Exton Clarke, President of the Guyana Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, made the dona tion on behalf of his uncle to Dowding recently.

Meanwhile, Dowding has affirmed that his faith in God was the driving and determining factor in

his success. But he also praised his parents, teach ers, and church family for playing crucial roles in his achievements.

Dowding - a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and student of the Anna Regina Multilateral School, secured 25 subjects at the CSEC examinations, achieving 22 grade ones and 3 grade twos.

In an interview, Dowding was asked what role his faith in God played in his success, to which he responded: “Faith was the driving and determi nation factor for me and my success. I encountered a plethora of issues that I was able to overcome due to my implicit faith and trust in God…the prayers of my

mom and church family and well-wishers also held me together during that time”.

In previous media in terviews, Dowding had hailed the support he re ceived from his family, friends, church and com munity, which he said also helped to keep him pushing through the many sleep less nights, self-doubt, and the pain of grief during the preparation for his exam inations.

Asked what was his greatest motivation as he prepared for his exams, Dowding related that there were many, but noted that “the greatest for me would be to be successful and to make all those who would have placed their faith and

hope in me proud.

“Throughout the years, people would wish me well and give words of support and encouragement; so, my success is dedicated to all who would have positively influenced me.”

An aspiring Marine Biologist, Dowding spoke about his study habits, not ing that he implemented creative methods to max imise learning. “My study habit was one that en sured that I was enjoying the studying period and was having fun while do ing so – whether it includ

ed me changing my voice and accent to relate to a particular history topic in a Caribbean country; im personating the actions of careers in the agricultur al or science fields, or even to pacing up and down my home to ensure that I was truly absorbing the content I was reading,” the young man said.

He added: “Mainly, my studies would start around 9pm and end at 6:30am. Studying in vehi cles was very rare. I would have headaches when I did such. Apart from study ing, co-curricular activities were a must whenever they presented themselves.”

Parental support

On the issue of paren tal support, Dowding said this was extremely import ant. “My parents are my first teachers, so they have always been there for me. They would have encour aged me, and were there in all that I decided to pur sue, especially my mom. I don’t know how she does it, but she inspires me. They were prepared to go pay for the many subjects I wrote, which would have amount ed to a little over $200,000. But thank God, CSEC took off some of the fees due to the ramifications of the pandemic on the education sector, and so I only had to pay one-third of the price.

“Additionally, I count it as a blessing that my mom had retired a good time be

fore my exams, when I was attending lessons; so, she was there to take me home late at nights.”

Weeks before his first examination, Dowding’s grandfather passed away - a loss that took a toll on him. He told reporters that despite his sadness, he kept his focus, which he admit ted was not an easy task.

“I grew up in the Seventh-day Adventist Church all my life. They would have helped mould my character and make me who I am today as a person. I have learned many les sons from them. Also, they are a very supportive group of people; they prayed for me and wished me on.”

For his success, Dowding has received many acco lades, and the Guyana Conference of Seventh-day Adventists recently hon oured him.

At the celebration, Pastor Clarke highlighted the significance of model ling excellence, especially in academia. He expressed pride and commendations to Dowding on behalf of the 65,000 plus members of the local church scattered across the 10 administra tive regions of Guyana.

Dowding has spoken previously about his pas sion for working with ani mals, and hopes to secure a scholarship which will af ford him the opportunity to pursue tertiary education and secure his dream job as a marine biologist.

Pastor Exton Clarke, President of the Guyana Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, making the monetary presentation to Daniel Dowding on behalf of Dr. Kurt Clarke in the presence of his mother, Sarah Dowding

Climate change is real for us – Mustapha tells Borlaug International Dialogue

food crisis, climate change

Agriculture Minister

Zulfikar Mustapha has voiced the strong need for adequate fi nancing and robust actions to lift the world from food crisis and climate change.

As he participated in the Borlaug International Dialogue, in a session ti tled “Food Governance in an Unprecedented Era”, stakeholders discussed how to guarantee an ad equate functioning of the agri-food systems in times of simultaneous crises that have severe consequenc es for individual countries and for the world.

The session was organ ised by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in conjunction with the World Food Prize Foundation (WFP); and Mustapha, sharing his input, detailed that the current global food crisis requires a transfor mation of all points along the food chain.

“Today there are coun tries that suffer from food shortages even though they have money. If we don’t act together, we are all going to suffer the con sequences”, he warned.

The Minister explained that, in his country and across the Caribbean, lead ers are working to reduce the dependency on food imports and exposure to

climate shocks. “Climate change is very real for us. Last year Guyana suf fered one of the most dev astating floods in history”, he explained as he under scored the need to promote insurance that covers the loss suffered by farmers in the face of more frequent natural disasters.

He added, “Guyana’s economy has grown incred ibly, thanks to oil and gas, but it is essential that we diversify. Today we pro duce 60 per cent of the food

we consume, but we are not satisfied.”

The Borlaug International Dialogue, taking place in the USA, is considered the larg est international forum on agriculture, and con sists of a series of discus sions hosted by the World Food Prize Foundation (WFP) with the participa tion of Government offi cials, Private Sector rep resentatives, international organisations, agricultural producers, academics, sci

entists, educators, and stu dents.

This year’s Dialogue is themed “Feeding a Fragile World” due to the severe si multaneous impact on the global agri-food systems of the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Eastern Europe, and climate change. The different sessions focus on the relationship between agriculture, food security, and climate change with the goal of building glob al alliances against hunger and malnutrition.

Mustapha participat ed in the session with Minister Counsellor for Agricultural Affairs of Panama, Carlos Salcedo Zaldivar; Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), Karen Ross; and Minister of State at the Federal Government of Pakistan, Shahryar Ali Khan.

Director General of IICA, Manuel Otero, mod erated the session, in which he posed the discus sion questions, which re ferred to the impact that the current crises are hav ing in each country, and what public policies are be ing implemented to deal with shocks related to health, conflict, and cli mate.

Salcedo detailed the State Policy for Development of the Agricultural Sector, cur rently in discussion be tween the Panamanian Government and different stakeholders.

“Producers have de manded that we hold this debate, to which we have incorporated different in ternational organizations. The IICA played a key role in satisfying this de mand to guarantee a state policy that provides le gal certainty to agricul ture”, commented Salcedo,

who explained that educa tion, financing, productiv ity, market access, tech nology, and institutional strengthening are the cen tral themes.

Secretary Ross also re ferred to the effects of cli mate change. Ross, high lighting the importance of youth and women in rural areas, stated that California would continue to make investments that favour the resilience of ag riculture, the transition to carbon-neutrality, the re duction of methane emis sions from livestock, and the improvement of soil health and energy efficien cy.

“In 2020, we experi enced the worst wildfire season in California his tory. For 30 days, the Central Valley, which is our most productive area, was covered in smoke and ash. This was dramatic for a state that produces onethird of all vegetables and two-thirds of all fruit for the United States”.

In turn, Ali Khan re vealed that 67 per cent of the population of Pakistan works in agriculture, and that the impact of climate change on the country is severe.

“We need more technol ogy for small-scale farm ers, to ensure their resil ience,” he decried.

MoH still monitoring active COVID-19 cases, as variants emerge – Dr Anthony

The gravity of the COVID-19 pandem ic has changed, and preventative measures that had been implemented have now been relaxed, but au thorities are still analysing new cases and variants for mutations and other con cerning trends.

The BA.5 strain of the Omicron variant has been the most prevalent in circu lation, and sequencing done in the United States shows that this variant accounts for almost 70 per cent of in fections. However, in recent weeks, there has been a de cline in the infections caused by BA5, and other types of variants are now emerging, such as BA 4.6, another sub variant of Omicron. Other variants being tracked are BA. 2.75 and BA. 2.75.2. In

Southeast Asia and Europe, the predominant variant cir culating is the XBB, causing three million cases daily.

In the latest COVID-19

update, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony assured that these trends are be ing monitored. “With the current numbers we’re see

ing, it is really an underes timate. The good thing is that these variants are not causing a lot of hospitalisa tion, and that is a very pos itive thing…but we have to keep monitoring, because we don’t know which one of these subvariants can pres ent with mutations that would cause even more se vere hospitalization,” he ex plained.

BQ. 1.1 and BF.7 are also newer variants emerg ing, but they make up only a small percentage of detect ed cases.

Dr Anthony reiterated that these new subvariants tend to evade a person’s immune system. He ex plained, “These new subva riants, one of the challenges we have with them is that they tend to evade your im

mune system, and some of the monoclonal antibodies that have been produced are not effective against these new subvariants. So, in the past, companies have been able to develop monoclonal antibodies, so if you get in fected they can give you these monoclonals to pre vent or reduce the severity of infection. With these new emerging variants, one of the characteristics that sci entists have noticed is that they evade our immune re sponse, so we will have to monitor that and see what is going on.”

It has been observed by authorities that, due to the evolution of the disease to milder symptoms, many persons are not getting test ed. It is recommended that a test be done when such

symptoms arise, and where a home test is done, the pos itive result must be reported to authorities in order that they get to conduct the nec essary contact tracing.

“This really is an under estimate of the cases that are occurring in the world right now. Because a lot of people may have a mild er form, they’re not testing; and if they don’t test and it’s not reported, we wouldn’t know,” Dr Anthony has ex plained.

Meanwhile, statistics re leased by the Ministry on Saturday showed that only three positive cases have been detected within a 24h period. Two persons remain in institutional isolation, while 25 are confined to their homes. The death toll remains at 1281.

Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony

Minister Mustapha and other global leaders at the Borlaug International Dialogue

Guyana, Grenada seek to enhance bilateral ties

Guyana’s Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud has recent ly met with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Export Development of Grenada, Joseph Andall, to discuss enhanced bilater al cooperation between the two countries in several ar eas.

During the engage ment between these two re gional officials, held in St George’s, Grenada, Foreign Secretary Persaud lauded the Guyana-Grenada relations, and highlighted the need for enhanced collaboration in regional integration ef forts within the Caribbean Community (Caricom).

He also addressed Grenada’s support for President Dr Irfaan Ali’s re gional food security agenda, which would see countries within Caricom aiming to reduce their food import bill by 25 per cent by 2025.

President Ali is current ly leading the Caribbean’s

food security drive.

The issues faced by Guyanese living in Grenada were also discussed in the meeting.

During his visit to this

Caribbean island-state, the Foreign Secretary met with members of the Guyanese diaspora, some of whom had migrated from Guyana since the 1970s and 1980s.

2 homeless after fire razes Corentyne home

Grenada has a small Guyanese population which has been contributing to the services and education sectors of that country.

At the meeting, Persaud

also emphasised the op portunities and develop ments currently ongoing in Guyana, as well as the benefits and importance of the collective diaspora. The Foreign Secretary used the opportunity to encourage the Guyanese Diaspora to return home and take ad vantage of the abundance of opportunities available, so that they, too, can con tribute to the country’s de velopment.

Back in July, Grenadian Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell – a law yer-turned-politician, who was elected to office in June – had said that the island nation is looking to learn from Guyana’s experi ence in the development of its own oil and gas sector.

Grenada is currently pur suing exploration activities in the hopes of striking oil to propel its development.

Drawing inspiration from Guyana’s rapid de velopment of its petroleum industry, PM Mitchell told

the News Room during an interview in July that he is confident of his coun try’s oil and gas potential. Moreover, the Grenadian Head of State had also ex pressed interest in collab orating with Guyana in a number of other areas.

“I spent a lot of time discussing with President Ali some of the major ar eas I think we can cooper ate on… As you know, he is very keen on food security, agriculture, and agro-pro cessing; that is one area that we are very keen on in Grenada, and that is a nat ural area for us to cooper ate on,” the Prime Minister told the Guyanese news agency.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Secretary lobbying for the return of the Guyanese Diaspora is a repeat of calls being made by President Ali to ensure that nation als play an integral role in Guyana’s rapidly advanc ing and unprecedented de velopmental trajectory.

$447.8M contract signed for Deeds and Commercial Registries' HQ in Essequibo

Two persons are now homeless after a fire destroyed their Corriverton, Berbice home on Saturday. Up to press time, information was not readily available to the press.

The fire was reported ly spotted at about 13:00h in one of the bedrooms of the two-storey building situated at Lot 21 Section A Goopersaud Avenue, Corriverton, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).

The fire tenders were summoned and arrived sometime later, by which time the building was al ready engulfed.

Stacy Johasan, 23, a Government part-

The Deeds and Commercial Registries Authority (DCRA) on Friday signed a multi-million contract for the construction of a building to house its office on the Essequibo Coast, Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam).

Currently, the agency is housed at the Supreme Court Building in Suddie, Essequibo Coast.

JAICAM Constructions and Services Inc was awarded the contract to the tune of G$447,862,666, which will see the construc tion of a new four-storey building next door to the Supreme Court building at Suddie.

In attendance at the signing were the Region Two Chairperson, Vilma De Silva; Regional Vice Chairman, Humace Oudit; Regional Executive Officer, Sussane Saywack; Chairman of DCRA Board,

Ramesh Seebarran; Board Member, Hemwant Persaud; Registrar of Deeds, Azeena Baksh; Registrar of Commerce, Reza Manraj; Deputy Registrar of Commerce, Anessa Chow; Assistant Registrar, Andrew Muridall, and staff of the Deeds Sub-Registry, Essequibo.

In 2001, the Government of Guyana took the decision to expand the services pro vided by these agencies in Region Two, therefore mak ing it easier for citizens to access information re garding ownership of their lands; process the trans fer of properties held under transport, register powers of attorney, deed polls and other miscellaneous deeds; mortgage their properties and register their business es.

Over the years, it was recognised that due to the growing number of trans actions and the need to ex

pand commercial services there was need for a per manent location with ade quate space.

Back in January 2021, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, SC, had an nounced that the Deeds and Commercial Registry in the Pomeroon-Supenaam region would soon have its own building. The Deeds and Commercial Registry is established to efficient ly and expeditiously ad minister the laws enact ed by Parliament affecting land, whether by way of transport, leases, mortgag es or any other alienation thereof. The entity also deals with laws relating to trademarks, patents and designs, geographical indi cations, copyrights, trade unions, companies, part nership, business names, powers of attorney, bills of sale contracts, and other deeds.

Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud and Grenada’s Foreign Affairs, Trade and Export Development Minister, Joseph Andall

time worker attached to Number 76 Health Centre is said to have been home at the time of the fire.

Divisional Fire Officer

Clive McDonald told Guyana Times that the de partment is still trying to ascertain the cause of the fire.

Officials at Friday’s contract signing for the $447.8 million Deeds and Commercial Registries building in Essequibo, Region Two

Around the World

Ukraine war: Russia air strikes target more power facilities

have been destroyed in a wave of air strikes since Monday last week.

An aide to President Zelensky, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said about a million and a half house holds were now without electricity.

The areas targeted by the latest attacks include the Cherkasy region, southeast of the capital Kyiv, and the city of Khmelnytskyi, further west.

bombardment earlier this month.

President Zelensky said: “The enemy launched a mas sive attack: 36 rockets, most of which were shot down. These are vile strikes on critical objects.”

OIL NEWS

Barclays cuts oil price forecast due to slower demand growth

Air strikes have hit critical infrastructure in central and west ern Ukraine, as Russia con tinues to target the coun try’s energy grid.

Sites to the south and west of Kyiv have been struck and power cuts have

been reported across the country.

President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the “massive attack” but said most of the Russian rockets had been shot down.

Almost a third of the country’s power stations

Air strikes and pow er disruptions were also re ported from Odesa in the south to Rivne and Lutsk in the north-west.

The national electricity operator, Ukrenergo, said the strikes may have caused more damage than intense

The deputy mayor of the western city of Lviv, Serhiy Kiral, told the BBC on Saturday that Russia’s strategy was to damage crit ical infrastructure before the winter, and bring the war to areas beyond the front line.

On Friday Zelensky ac cused Russia of planting mines at a hydroelectric dam in the Kherson re gion of southern Ukraine, which is under the control of Moscow’s forces. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Hurricane Roslyn strengthens to Category 4 as it barrels toward Mexico’s Pacific coast

Hurricane Roslyn in tensified to a power ful Category 4 storm on Saturday and was expect ed to keep strengthening as it churned toward tourist zones along Mexico’s Pacific coast with expected landfall by Sunday, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

Roslyn was forecast to pick up strength as it moves parallel to the southwestern coast of Mexico through mid day Saturday before making landfall along the coast of Nayarit state this morning, bringing damaging winds and a major storm surge, the NHC said.

Nayarit is home to pop ular beach destinations like

Sayulita and Punta Mita.

Although some weaken ing was possible beginning on Saturday night, Roslyn was expected to still be near or at major hurricane strength when it makes landfall, the Miami-based forecaster said.

Maximum sustained winds increased to near 130 mph (215 km), and rain fall of 4 to 8 inches was ex pected on the upper coast of Colima, Jalisco and western Nayarit.

“Heavy rainfall could lead to flash flooding and possible landslides in ar eas of rugged terrain over coastal southwestern and west-central Mexico,” the NHC said.

Boris Johnson returns to UK in bid for rapid political comeback

Boris Johnson re turned to Britain from holiday on Saturday to consider an audacious bid for a second term as Prime Minister in a race that could pit him against his former Finance Minister whose resignation in July helped drive him out of office.

Potential candidates to replace Prime Minister Liz Truss, who quit on Thursday after six weeks in office, were embarking on a fran tic weekend of lobbying to secure enough nominations to enter the leadership con test before Monday’s dead line.

Johnson, who was on hol iday in the Caribbean when Truss resigned, has not commented publicly about a bid for his old job. He has re ceived the support of dozens of Conservative lawmakers, but needs 100 nominations to be considered.

Trade Department

Minister James Duddridge said on Friday Johnson told him he was “up for it”. He said on Saturday Johnson had secured 100 nomina tions, although a Reuters tally put him at just above 40 and Rishi Sunak, a for mer Finance Minister whose decision to resign helped bring Johnson down, at more than 110.

The new Prime Minister, a post that will have changed hands three times in four years, faces a huge inbox af ter Truss’s economic plans caused turmoil in bond mar kets, raised Government borrowing costs and add ed further strains to house holds and businesses al ready struggling with a cost-of-living crisis.

The Sunday Times re ported Sunak, for now the bookmakers’ favourite, and Johnson could meet late on Saturday. It did not give de tails on any planned discus sions. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Preparations to protect life and property “should be rushed to completion” for areas under hurricane

warnings along the Jalisco and Nayarit coastlines from Playa Perula to El Roblito, it said. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Giorgia Meloni sworn-in as Italy’s 1st female Prime Minister

Barclays

lowered on Friday its Brent Crude price forecast for this year and next due to expected slowing growth in oil demand.

The UK bank—which slashed in August its Brent oil price forecast to US$103 per barrel for 2022 and 2023, down from US$111 a barrel—is now cutting its Brent forecast by US$3 per barrel for 2022 and by US$5 a barrel for 2023, CN Wire reports, citing Barclays.

However, the bank remains constructive with respect to the curve and consensus of oil prices.

Yet, if 2023 global oil demand is 1-2 million barrels per day (bpd) lower than expected, there is a downside of between US$15 and US$25 per barrel in Barclays’ price forecast for next year, the bank said.

If the “zero-COVID” policy and the situation with the sudden lockdowns in China don’t improve, this will imply a US$5-US$10 per barrel downside to the Barclays forecast for 2023.

Moreover, “oil demand could undershoot our estimates despite a potential easing of mobility restrictions due to a broader slowdown,” the bank was quoted as saying.

On Thursday, oil prices rose at intraday trade after China signalled an easing of its strict COVID policy, which has battered market sentiment in recent months.

Just this past Sunday, Chinese President Xi Jinping signalled that the country’s zero-COVID policy would remain in place for the time being.

But the Chinese city of Xi’an, home to more than 13 million residents, has said it would implement COVID control measures only in risk areas instead of city-wide “static management,” CN Wire reported on Thursday, citing the city’s health authorities.

In addition, officials in China are discussing the idea of reducing the mandatory quarantine for travellers into China to seven from 10 days, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, quoting sources with knowledge of the discussions.

Oil prices settled almost flat on Thursday as market participants focused again on fears of recessions that could slow oil demand, and were headed to a second consecutive weekly loss on Friday. (Oilprice.com)

Venezuela’s opposition unwilling to back interim Guaido Government for 2023

long history with European institutions and was President of the European Parliament in 2017.

The 45-year-old lead er recited the ritual oath of office before Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Saturday after her par ty Brothers of Italy won more than 25 per cent of the vote in snap elections in late September.

She pledged to act “in the exclusive interests of the na tion” – a promise then re peated by her 24 Ministers, six of them women.

The ceremony took place a day after Meloni along with her coalition partners –hardliner Matteo Salvini of the League party and Forza Italia’s TV tycoon Silvio Berlusconi – unveiled their Cabinet. The Government is expected to face confidence votes in Parliament next week.

Forza Italia’s Antonio Tajani is now the country’s Foreign Minister. He has a

The Economy Ministry will be in the hands of League’s Giancarlo Giorgetti who is considered relatively pro-Europe, and one of the most moderate among party members.

Another key department, the Defence Ministry, is go ing to Brothers of Italy’s co-founder and close adviser to Meloni Guido Crosetto – a defence industry expert who was head of the Federation of Italian Aerospace Companies.

The ceremony comes af ter days of tensions with in the ruling coalition and infighting over who to ap point in key ministries. As the new parliament held its first session last week, a clandestine photo taken of Berlusconi’s notes showed a list of adjectives describ ing Meloni as “overbearing, domineering, arrogant and offensive”. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Venezuela’s opposi tion parties have warned they are likely to withdraw back ing for Juan Guaido’s Washington-endorsed in terim Government in 2023, four people familiar with the matter said, raising ques tions about the future of the country’s overseas holdings.

Guaido has been the public face of the coun try’s opposition since the United States and many other Governments rejected President Nicolas Maduro’s 2018 re-election as a sham.

But most opposition representatives visiting Washington this week told US officials they would not continue backing him or anyone else as their leader for another year of interim Government.

Instead, they want to focus on choosing a can didate to compete against Maduro or whoever rep resents the Government in the next election, tentative ly scheduled for late 2023 or 2024.

Guaido in 2019 invoked the Constitution to assume a rival presidency. But to the frustration of many Venezuelans, he has failed to dislodge Maduro, who has maintained a grip on power backed by the military and allies Russia, China, Cuba and Iran.

Guaido’s loss of leader ship would spell trouble for the Parliament-appointed Boards that supervise Venezuela’s overseas com panies, including Houstonbased oil refiner Citgo Petroleum, considered the crown jewel of Venezuela’s international assets.

US courts have rec ognised the legitimacy of those Boards based on the recognition of Guaido as leader.

The US State Department said it recognised Guaido and coordinates with his Administration “on the steps needed to move forward on a negotiated solution that leads to the restoration of democracy to Venezuela.”

(Excerpt from Reuters)

The latest wave of strikes has also wrecked many homes

Hard-right leader Giorgia Meloni was sworn in as Italy’s first female Prime Minister amid looming ques tions over her coalition part ners’ stance towards Russia.

New Zealand end decade-long wait as Conway, Allen thrash Australia

New Zealand ransacked 14 runs off the first over. Not since the third season of Game of Thrones has a man named Starc been taken down with such ferocity.

How it kept going

Allen is a 360-degree player. More than that, he is pure power. Ever since he made his debut in March 2021, his strike rate of 156 in the first six overs is head and shoulders above everybody else in T20Is (minimum 10 innings).

rate of 187. He's also better against spin than he is against pace. So, when Australia realised they had to slow things down, they fell into his trap. Adam Zampa went for 39 runs in his four overs at the SCG. Conway clattered 32 of them, including two sixes.

SCOREBOARD

Ten years can be a good time to wait for some thingsinspiration, lifetime service awards, the right blend of salt and pepper in your hair - but not a win. New Zealand last beat Australia in Australia in December 2011. They've finally followed it up, 15 matches later, with a performance that maybe makes it all worth it.

Finn Allen announced himself as the new face of this batting line-up. His 42 of 16 balls was the spark that sharpened the iron, which his opening partner then took and promptly plunged into the heart of the defending champions.

Devon Conway batted through the entire 20 overs to make 92 off 58 and posed a question to Australia. Can you make the highest total ever made in this country - 201 - to win a T20I? The answer was, well…

By the end, the Kiwis were

doing things that shouldn't be possible. Like flying.

Glenn Phillips was the man who gut-punched gravity as he ran to his right, about 15 yards, leaped off his feet, got horizontal with the ground, sent his resume to Warner Bros just in case they're looking for a new Superman, and came up with a catch that will become the image of this very one-sided match.

How it began It began like it almost always does in the first over. It ended here too. Just like in that game.

Mitchell Starc once broke New Zealand with the fifth ball he bowled. Here he was sent packing into the crowd beyond the straight boundary. Allen went for the same shot Brendon McCullum did all those years ago. Minus all the hurtling down the track. Turns out, having a stable base, and presenting a straight bat can be fun too.

infrastructure at

Horse racing action will return to the Port Mourant Turf Club on Sunday, November 6, 2022. The Port Mourant track is now equipped with brand new rails, and the surface is now an improved one. Moreover, the construction of a new stand is in the process, and this is expected to be done by Easter next year.

According to race organizers, the interest is high, with seven races on the cards and the winner of the feature race bagging one million dollars. With all races being contested over six furlongs, The first race will be the L Open, for which a top prize of $200,000 would be paid.

Race two will be for two-year-old maiden animals, and the top horse will bag $400,000 while the secondplaced horse would collect $200,000.

The J Class non-starter and unplaced 2022 race will see the top horse bagging $200,000. The H & Lower race, which is the fourth race of the day, would see the top horse being rewarded with $500,000. The K & Lower race will see the top horse bagging $300,000, while the J Class

The problem was he got out too early. Fifty-five percent of his knocks ended within 10 balls. In Sydney, he got to face six more than that, and that was enough. Those brutal swings down the ground off Starc were followed by skillful punches off the back foot off Josh Hazlewood and the most full-blooded of all fullblooded pulls off Pat Cummins.

Australia's big three were lined up one by one and… bang! Bang! Bang!

How it ended Allen fell in the fifth over, but New Zealand already had 56 runs on the board. That gave them so much cushion that Kane Williamson could come in, struggle, look short of the answers everyone wants him to find and still end up on the winning side. The New Zealand captain's run-a-ball 23 wasn't the story on Saturday but it may be one later on in the tournament.

Conway is owed some credit for things turning out this way. Unlike most left-handers, he looks for his boundaries on the off side, which is where he found 58 of his runs tonight at a strike

Mourant

race will see the top horse collecting $300,000.

Race seven, the final race of the day, would be contested over one mile, and in addition to the first-place prize of $1M, the second-placed horse would be rewarded with $500,000 and the third-placed horse with $250,000.

The races would be run under the rules of the Guyana Horse Racing Authority. The club reserves the right to cancel/reframe any race mentioned above. Seven horses are required to start before the fourth prize is paid, and five horses before the third prize is paid.

Horses can be entered by contacting Jingo on 618-7278, Fazal on 657-7010, Dennis Deoroop on 6406396, and Shazeena on 322-0789/3220369. Queries are only allowed before race day, and entries will be closed on October 31, 2022.

Depending on entries, the organizers would be open to framing additional races. The event is sponsored by Banks DIH, KP Jagdeo General Contractors, and by Jumbo Jet.

The final flourish came from Jimmy Neesham, which was very much on brand. Since the 2021 World Cup, he's hit 23 fours and 22 sixes in the last four overs of a T20, putting him in the same calibre of finishers as Andre Russell, Tim David, Dinesh Karthik and David Miller.

How it never really began Bad luck and the bizarre had a baby and it turned into the ball that got David Warner out. One second it was an innocuous change-up, the next, it took the inside edge of a pull shot, bounced up off the thigh and just hovered in the air; in that perfect spot for the bat to catch up with it on the follow-through, and rebound onto the stumps.

Talk about a sign. Warner, who averages 90 in home T20Is since 2019, gone.

New Zealand then did the most New Zealand thing. They logicked a win.

Trent Boult was getting loads of swing, but they stopped his first spell at two overs and went to Mitchell Santner.

Why, because Mitchell Marsh was at the crease and he doesn't do spin (T20 strike rate 110) as well as he does pace (T20 strike rate 140). Also, the other batter, Aaron Finch has been woeful against left-arm spin this year (14 runs in five innings and

two dismissals). Guess what happened…

Finch c Williamson b Santner 13 off 11. Australia 30 for 2, then 68 for 5, then 111 all out.

In the midst of all that, Tim Southee became the highest wicket-taker in T20Is. He has recently realised he can't bowl the same ball over and over again. He needed variation. So, a

wickets: 1-5 (David Warner, 1.1 ov), 2-30 (Aaron Finch, 3.6 ov), 3-34 (Mitchell Marsh, 4.5 ov), 4-50 (Marcus Stoinis, 8.2 ov), 5-68 (Tim David, 10.2 ov), 6-82 (Matthew Wade, 12.2 ov), 7-89 (Glenn Maxwell, 13.3 ov), 8-109 (Mitchell Starc, 16.1 ov), 9-109 (Adam Zampa, 16.3 ov), 10111 (Pat Cummins, 17.1 ov)

man who only turned to change of pace as the last resort (8% of his overs between 2008 and 2017) is now totally committed to them. Since 2018, he bowls his offcutters alone more often (11%). One of them brought New Zealand the all-important Marsh wicket.

Who knew 343 days could make such a difference.

New Zealand celebrating their win over the defending World Cup Champions Australia

Sam Curran’s five-for gets England past Afghanistan in low-scorer

two with a four-over spell with an average pace of 149kph, while Chris Woakes (1 for 24) relied on nous to leave Mohammad Nabi’s side well short of a par score.

England’s World Cup campaign is up and running thanks to a five-wicket victory over Afghanistan in their open ing match in Group 1.

It was very much a per formance of two halves for one of the tournament fa vourites. They were out standing in the field, vindi cating Jos Buttler’s decision to bowl first by dismissing Afghanistan for 112 with a stellar hand from Sam Curran of 5 for 10, becoming the first Englishman to take a T20I five-for.

But a stuttering chase took the gloss off what could have been a complete per formance. They were 65 for 3 at one stage in the 11th over, managing to clear the fence only once, and in turn missing the chance to rub ber-stamp this win with a significant net run rate boost.

Curran stole the head lines with his career-best fig ures and was even on a hattrick at one point, removing Azmatullah Omarzai and Rashid Khan off the last two balls of the 18th over.

Though he missed out on a hat-trick, he did claim three in four when Usman Ghani slapped one to Liam Livingstone at deep point in the 20th over.

If that was a rudimenta ry take for Livingstone, his first was on the other end of the spectrum: charging out from the cover boundary to take a stunning, diving catch at backward point af ter Hazratullah Zazai tried to flay Ben Stokes to the fence.

Stokes went on to take one more wicket, benefit ting again from similar bril liance in the outfield, this time from Adil Rashid.

Mark Wood also claimed

While achieving a tar get of 113 was always ex pected, the manner in which England struggled, par ticularly against Rashid, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Nabi, spoke of a few kinks still to be ironed out. The spin trio conceded just one boundary between them, and emerged with a wick et each. Ultimately, batting depth saw Buttler’s side through, with Livingstone batting till the end to finish unbeaten on 29 off 21 - the only English batter to score double figures at better than a run a ball - with Moeen Ali (8 off 10) for company.

Wood cranks it up, again Wood’s first ball nipped away at 146kph/91mph, tak ing Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s outside edge. The second154kph/96mph - welcomed Ibrahim Zadran to the crease. It’s safe to say Wood was not messing around. Much has been made about pace at this World Cup, and even more on his point of difference in this English at tack. That brought its own pressure, and Wood could not have lived up to the hype and expectation any better.

The two wickets for 23 are what matters from a statistical point of view, but

the other numbers, partic ularly on the speed gun, are jaw-dropping. He looks as fresh and consistent as he has ever been - a cred it to the man himself, and the medical team which has worked tirelessly to help him achieve a level the likes of which England have nev er seen.

Fielding focus

One of the aspects of the Stokes conversation that punctuated discussions on selection matters heading into this first match was his fielding. Whatever role he would occupy with bat or ball, his fielding would play a huge role in Australia: his speed across those vast ex panses of green, that cannon arm, and, of course, those hands. As it happens, he was excellent with the ball (2 for 19), negligible with the bat (2 off 4), and large ly a spectator in the field. The last part was because those around him delivered the stunning grabs this time around.

Livingstone and Adil Rashid pulled off exception al running, diving catchesboth carbon copies of Glenn Phillips’s earlier worldie against Australia. Buttler’s one-handed Superman catch of Nabi was the icing on the cake, and even a late drop from Alex Hales sprawling at point could be marked down as saving a bound ary. England’s undoubted

SCOREBOARD

Fazalhaq

Fazalhaq

Hales

Fareed

Dawid

Nabi

Harry

Stokes

Livingstone

Zadran

wickets: 1-11 (Rahmanullah Gurbaz, 2.1 ov), 2-35 (Hazratullah Zazai, 6.3 ov), 3-62 (Ibrahim Zadran, 11.1 ov), 4-82 (Najibullah Zadran, 14.1 ov), 5-91 (Mohammad Nabi, 15.3 ov), 6-109 (Azmatullah Omarzai, 17.5 ov), 7-109 (Rashid Khan, 17.6 ov), 8-110 (Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 18.2 ov), 9-112 (Usman Ghani, 19.2 ov), 10-112 (Fazalhaq Farooqi, 19.4 ov)

strength is their batting, but their fielding is a close sec ond.

Afghanistan botch upset

The collapse of 5 for 3 off the final 12 deliveries of their innings, the drops off Alex Hales on 4 and 17 (he was eventually dis missed for 19), and the way

drawn in group with France, Brazil

New Guinea on July 29 in Perth, then battling Brazil on August 2 in Melbourne.

“Excitement,” was Reggae Girlz head coach Lorne Donaldson’s reac tion when asked about the draw. “It was a long day of anticipating. The draw it self was a draw with some exciting teams that play good football, so we have to come out and try to match

them.”

Jamaica was also drawn against Brazil in the 2019 World Cup, suffering a 0-3 loss in Grenoble.

“This is a totally dif ferent Brazil side. It’s a younger team with a dif ferent coach. Obviously, we have our work cut out against a fast, skillful Brazilian team, so we have to be ready.”

Rashid

Extras (w

Curran,

of wickets: 1-35 (Jos Buttler, 4.6 ov), 2-52 (Alex Hales, 8.4 ov), 3-65 (Ben Stokes, 10.4 ov), 4-81 (Dawid Malan, 13.5 ov), 5-97 (Harry Brook, 15.2 ov)

BOWLING O - M - R

Fazalhaq Farooqi 4 0 24 1 Azmatullah Omarzai 1.1 0 11 0 Mujeeb Ur Rahman 4 0 22

Rashid Khan 4 0

Fareed Ahmad 2 0

Mohammad Nabi 3 0

England did not need to take risks against their spinners, with Rashid producing a boundary-less four overs. You can see why Nabi said he wanted to defend at the toss, and why that has been Afghanistan’s modus ope randi for the longest time. But you can also see why their fans might rue what might have been. An oppor tunity to catch England cold was spurned thanks large ly to an underwhelming, borderline-naive approach with the bat. Given how the last hour of the game played out, an extra 20 runs would have gone a long way.

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Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz now know their op ponents in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand after the draw on Saturday in New Zealand.

The Girlz have been drawn in Group F, along side powerhouses Brazil, France, and either Taiwan, Panama, Paraguay or Papua New Guinea.

Brazil has been to nine

World Cups, with their best result being runners-up in 2007, while the French have been to five, most notably finishing fourth in 2011.

Jamaica will open their campaign against France on July 25 in Sydney, be fore facing Chinese Taipei/ Panama/Paraguay/Papua

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England did well to restrict Afghanistan

Brazil’s National Women’s Football Team

Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz

ICC

Sinclair shines in 1st practice match

West Indies off-spinner Kevin Sinclair had a good all-round game in the Guyana Harpy Eagles’ first practice match at Providence on Friday. He claimed 3-23 and scored an unbeaten 28 to lead Veerasammy Permaul’s XI to a six-wicket win over Leon Johnson’s XI.

Batting first, Johnson’s XI posted 100 all out in 27 overs. In addition to Sinclair’s three wickets, Nial Smith claimed 2-30. Tevin Imlach top-scored for Johnson’s XI with 29, while the likes of Shimron Hetmyer and Anthony Bramble failed to reach double figures.

In response, Kevin Sinclair and Akshaya Persaud scored 28 runs each, while Kevon Boodie made 14, as Permaul’s XI ended on 103-4 in 16.3 overs. Junior Sinclair had 2-23 in four overs.

The second practice match will be a day/night encounter at Providence com mencing at 14:00h on Tuesday, October 25.

This year’s Regional Super50 Tournament, in which Guyana Harpy Eagles will play Windward Islands on October 31 at Queen’s Park Oval, will com prise two groups in the preliminary rounds as follows:

Zone A- Trinidad and Tobago Red Force, Combined Campuses and Colleges, Windward Islands Volcanoes and Guyana

Harpy Eagles.

Zone B- Leeward Islands Hurricanes, Jamaica Scorpions, Barbados Pride and a CWI Academy team.

The Zone A teams will play their pre liminary matches in Trinidad, and pre liminary matches for Zone B teams will be played in Antigua. The semi-finals and fi

Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’… ECD Qualifiers commence today at Haslington Tarmac

most memorable in the his tory of the zone, which has always been well supported by the surrounding commu nities.”

The release further said, “For scheduling purpos es, the tournament has been condensed, and will utilise an elimi nation format, which will certainly add to the excitement. Essentially, win and continue, or lose and

nal will be played in Antigua.

The teams for the first practice match included the following players:

Veerasammy Permaul XI: Kevin Boodie, Matthew Nandu, Trevon Griffith, Akshaya Persaud, Quentin Sampson, Kevin Sinclair, Romario Shepherd, Kemol Savory, Gudakesh Motie, Veerasammy Permaul, Nial Smith, Ronsford Beaton, Sylus Tyndall, Mavindra Dindyal and

Young talents

Suresh Dhanai.

Leon Johnson XI: Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Anthony Bramble, Shimron Hetmyer, Leon Johnson, Sherfane Rutherford, Tevin Imlach, Junior Sinclair, Antony Adams, Shamar Joseph, Ronaldo Ali-Mohamed, Clinton Pestano, Richie Looknauth, Steven Sankar, Shamar Yearwood and Torrington.

The elimination quali fiers in the Guinness

“Greatest of the Streets” tournament will fea ture multiple teams compet ing for the remaining eight berths in the 16-team tour nament. The eight teams that have already quali fied are defending champi ons Melanie-B, Liliendaal Hustlers, Belfield Warriors, Paradise-A, BV-A, Victoria Church Yard, Buxton Diamond, and Uprising.

Following a two-year ab sence owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the main sec tion tournament is slated to commence on October 28th (Round of 16) at the same venue. The competition, which will utilise an elimi nation format, would last for the duration of three days. The other dates are October 29th and November 5th.

The first night will fea ture the Round of 16 section,

with the second night host ing the quarterfinal round.

The final night would fea ture the semi-final stage, third-place playoff, and championship encounter re spectively.

According to an official release from the tourna ment coordinator, “The ex citement for the resumption of the tournament, following a two-year hiatus, is at fe ver pitch, and the anticipa tion and expectation is this event could be one of the

go home. That is the un written motto that is be ing employed in this edi tion. Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ East Coast Demerara is officially back.”

Presently, the Linden and Berbice legs have been hosted. Defending champion Swag Entertainment suc cessfully retained the Linden title, while Showtime cap tured their maiden Berbice championship.

The Guyana Badminton Association (GBA) this week served off their National Junior Championships, and a num ber of potential talents came to the fore.

The Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) was overtaken by Guyana’s youngest crop of badminton players as they competed in the GBA National Junior Tournament which has more than just a ‘Junior’ ti tle on the line.

Having commenced on Thursday last, five catego ries encompass the tour nament; namely Under-11, U13, U15, U17 and U19 in singles and doubles. However, the first playing day saw avid competition in the U19, U17 and U15 cat egories.

In the U15 boys’ singles, Aiden Bhagwandin took on Ruel Rambirichie and won 21-4, 21-8. Jaquan Nedd also enjoyed a 21-19, 1521, 21-15 win over Nicholas Sawh, while Micah Holder found himself on the win ning side against Nikolas Pollard 21-14, 21-5.

For the girls in the same age group, Gabrielle Felix defeated Genvieve Bookram 21-16, 21-11, while Malia Haley overcame Tanuja Netram 21-5, 21-6. Navaeh Eastman also picked up a 21-2, 21-1 win against Maleeah Hinckson.

Over in the boys’U17 cat egory, Haresh Persaud and Avinash Ramnarine’s con

test was the most entertain ing. Spanning three sets, Persaud eventually won 2116, 18-21, 21-11. Jedidiah Uwagboe defeated Nikolas Pollard 21-3, 21-3, Aiden Bhagwandin won against Gabriel Felix 21-9, 21-10, and Matthew Spooner over came Michael Moorsalin 216, 21-12.

Also joining the long list of winners was Frank Waddell, after he took on Juan Ferreira 21-9, 2110. In addition, Xavio Alexander took on Nathan Morrison and won 216, 21-10, while Jonathan Robinson claimed a victory against Karsen Abrams 2112, 21-16.

The girls’ Under-19 cat egory was sparsely con tested, but witnessed fierce competition. In a threeset encounter, Malia Haley challenged Alyssa Dick and won 21-15, 16-21, 21-16, while Navaeh Eastman de feated Genvieve Bookram

21-13, 21-5.

For the boys’ category, Xavio Alexander enjoyed a win over Frank Waddell 21-10, 21-14, while Aiden Bhagwandin picked up a victory against Michael Moorsalin 21-15, 21-12. Also in the winners’ circle was Jonathan Robinson, who faced Matthew Spooner and won 21-19, 22-20.

Raah Russell won his match against Karsen Abrams 21-17, 21-18, and Haresh Persaud did the same against Juan Ferreira 21-17, 21-18. Viraj Singh defeated Jedidiah Uwagboe 21-12, 21-17, while in the last match of that day, Manav Sharma eased past Nathan Morrison 21-11, 216.

The National Junior tournament is set to con clude this weekend.

Winners are likely to rep resent Guyana at the InterGuiana Games next month.

Kevin Sinclair claimed three wickets and scored an unbeaten 28

Flashback! A scene from the 2019 edition of the Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ East Coast Demerara edition

Part of the action from a previous edition of the East Coast Demerara Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ tourney

Action in the National Junior Tournament hosted at CASH