Guyana Times - Thursday, December 28, 2023.pdf

Work on $11B Diamondto-Buzz Bee Dam Road commences P5

Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

Issue No. 5595

THE BEACON OF TRUTH THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023

ECLAC ups projected 2023 GDP growth rate for Guyana to 39.2% …Guyana’s growth rate for 2024 pegged at 28.9% Page 3

Page 11

Dead: Lechan Mangal

7 die, 1 injured in holiday weekend tragedies

Dead: Stephon Anthony Basdeo

Dead: Angelique Lawrence

Dead: Zella Lawrence

Dead: Ronika Lawrence

PRICE $100 VAT INCLUDED

WHAT'S INSIDE:

Armed bandits rob Herstelling Chinese P15 supermarket

Labourer charged for shooting at Policeman P8

Bartica man fined $200,000 for DUI P8

Dead: Rickey Boodram

Special PWD unit to be established at Human Services Ministry P14

Private Sector MV Sabanto operating at full Guyana & Venezuela to work with capacity after extensive repairs Govt to realise remain committed to local oil peace – St Vincent PM refinery …after Venezuela complains over visiting warship …even though UK habitually sends warships to Region to further bilateral relations – PSC Chair Argyle DSeclaration

P14

See story on page 2

…as Govt in talks with US trade mission on acquiring new vessels

Page 7

A Christmas wish comes true: President Ali gifts single mother new house Page 12

Essequibo Coast businessman P7 arrested with illegal gun, ammo …as Police respond to domestic violence report

2 NEWS

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Private Sector to work with Govt to realise local oil refinery – PSC Chair P

rivate Sector Commission (PSC) Chairman Komal Singh has stated that the business community wanted to see the development of an oil refinery here in Guyana and would be working with the Government to ensure this was realised.

“The Private Sector is also very interested to see the development of an oil refinery in Guyana.

Currently, Government utilises in excess of $800 million annually for the importation of fuel. That by itself, when you look at that number, is enormous money that we need to find as foreign exchange to pay for importing the fuel. We’re going to work very closely with the Government, as the Private Sector, to see if we have this re-

PSC Chairman Komal Singh

alised as soon as possible for the development of Guyana,” Singh said while speaking at the PSC’s 31st Anniversary Gala and Awards Ceremony last week.

The Government had

put out a Request for Proposals (RFP) last year for the establishment of a 30,000-barrel per day oil refinery in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne). Back in August, it was reported that four of the 11 com-

panies that had submitted proposals last year have been shortlisted.

In October, President Dr Irfaan Ali had stated that they are looking to finalise this project by the end of this year. “…We are working on the 30,000 refinery – the proposals came in, because we are hoping that before the end of this year, we must finalise the refinery project to be done right here in Region Six that would add and create even more opportunities for Region Six,” the Head of State had posited.

Multiple proposals

Meanwhile, Guyana has been receiving multiple proposals from several other Governments that are interested in setting up oil

refineries here.

But Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has made it clear that the country has the capacity to build only one oil refinery.

During a press conference in August, Jagdeo disclosed that a first-round evaluation was held and Government was waiting for additional information from the four shortlisted companies. But even as they do this, a number of other countries are still sending oil refinery proposals.

“At the end of the day, if it goes forward it has to be on conditions that are good for our country and they have to meet all the financial and technical requirements. We don’t have the capacity for two refineries.

There shall be if that project goes forward, one refinery,” the VP had stated.

Simultaneously, however, the Guyana Government is also looking at a strategic reserve option. Jagdeo explained that the main reason for the refinery here was to ensure national energy security.

On this note, the Vice President disclosed that the Government is also exploring the feasibility of tolling some of Guyana’s light sweet crude and bringing back the refined products to store here. He noted that from the initial numbers, this can not only guarantee national energy security but also allow for a significantly cheaper cost of energy.

“If we are doing a refinery, it will be here, because it defeats the purpose of your energy security and you have the refining done in Trinidad. But if [it] can get a tolling fee, it could be refined anywhere in the world [providing it’s cost competitive] and you then store the refined products here. Then that’s a different concept… If you’re doing the refinery, it has to be done here, because what if there is a disruption in global supplies or regional supplies for an extended period and the refinery is in Trinidad? That doesn’t help us,” VP Jagdeo stressed.

Trinidad and Tobago had offered to let Guyana use its oil refinery – a prospect that was shut down by the Guyanese Government.

Back in October, Government had released the draft National Gas Monetization Strategy to the public for their feedback and Jagdeo said earlier this month that the comments received were being incorporated into

the final document. This strategy will guide the Government’s path towards utilising its gas resources and put the relevant regulations in place to facilitate this.

Joint establishment Only back in August, Guyana and Dominican Republic (DR) signed several agreements, including one for the joint establishment of an oil refinery in Guyana.

In 2022, an RFP was issued for companies to express their interest in constructing a 30,000-barrels-per-day (bpd) refinery. Specifically, companies were asked to submit bids for the design, finance, and construction of the oil refinery, which will be located at the mouth of the Berbice River.

According to the RFP that was issued, construction on the refinery was expected to begin in 2023, with the project expected to be completed within two years.

The plan for the refinery’s construction ties into the Government’s vision of promoting value-added production and securing energy security both for Guyana and the Caribbean.

It is also an integral part of the Government’s developmental plan for Region Six. An oil refinery is an industrial plant that transforms crude oil into various usable petroleum products, such as diesel, gasoline, lubricants and heating oils like kerosene.

Refineries serve as the second stage in the crude oil production process, following the extraction of crude oil from the earth.

Once the refinery at Berbice becomes operational, Guyana will be able to sell crude oil components to various industries for a broad range of purposes, including fuels for transportation, heating, paving roads, and generating electricity and raw materials for chemical manufacturing.

This would attract global investments due to soaring fuel prices worldwide, the increased cost of heating as time goes by, and a lack of adequate refining capacity to process crude into gasoline and diesel.

Neighbouring States including Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, The Netherlands Antilles, Cuba, Jamaica, British Virgin Islands, Curaçao, Barbados, and Suriname all possess oil refineries as well. (G8)

3 ECLAC ups projected 2023 GDP growth rate for Guyana to 39.2% NEWS

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS

BRIDGE The Demerara OPENINGS Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Thursday, December 28 – 04:30h-06:00h and Friday, December 29 – 04:30h-06:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Thursday, December 28 – 05:22h-06:52h and Friday, December 29 – 06:00h-07:30h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

WEATHER TODAY Light to thundery showers, along with sunshine, are expected during the day. Expect partly cloudy skies at night, followed by thundery showers.

Temperatures should range between 23 degrees Celsius and 32 degrees Celsius.

Winds: Easterly to North-Easterly between 2.23 metres and 4.02 metres.

High Tide: 17:15h reaching a maximum height of 2.58 metres.

Low Tide: 10:49h and 23:19h reaching minimum heights of 0.79 metre and 0.64 metre.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2023

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COMMODITIES Indicators

US$

Crude Oil

$79.82 /barrel

+0.21

Rough Rice London Sugar

$315.00 /ton $594.40/ton

-0.17 0.00

Live Spot Gold Bid/Ask Low/High Change

Change %

USD Per Ounce $2086.79 $2087.03 +8.98

$2087.79 $2087.76 +0.43

…Guyana’s growth rate for 2024 pegged at 28.9%

F

ollowing strong performances from Guyana’s oil and non-oil economic sectors, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has upped its 2023 projected Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate for Guyana to 39.2 per cent.

Just a few months ago, ECLAC had projected that Guyana would have a 25.1 per cent GDP growth rate for 2023. It has now revised that projection, with the United Nations economic forum now expecting that Guyana will have a 39.2 per cent GDP growth rate for 2023.

According to ECLAC’s 2023 “Preliminary Overview of the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean” report, Guyana’s GDP growth rate for 2023 will outpace other Latin American and Caribbean countries, whose rates are mostly in single digits.

The trend is expected to continue in 2024, with ECLAC projecting that Guyana will have a 28.9 per cent growth rate, as oil production ramps up. This is significant since in 2024, GDP in Latin America and the Caribbean is projected to grow by an average of 1.9 per cent.

“In 2024, GDP in Latin America and the Caribbean is projected to grow by an average of 1.9 per cent, maintaining the trend of low growth. All subregions are forecast to grow less than in 2023: projections are 1.4 per cent for South America, 2.7 per cent for Central America and Mexico, and 2.6 per cent for the Caribbean (excluding Guyana).”

“Meanwhile, Guyana is

The ECLAC’s 2023 preliminary report on regional markets

expected to outpace other Caribbean countries for 2023 and 2024, with a 39.2 per cent projection for 2023 and a 28.9 per cent GDP growth rate projection for 2024,” the report further explained.

In September, ECLAC had projected in its 2023 economic survey that Guyana would have 25.1 per cent GDP growth rate. Growth projections for 2023 from other sources had also put Guyana’s GDP growth rate at slightly less than the revised rate.

Guyana’s rapid economic growth since the start of oil production in 2019 was highlighted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with

the Fund revealing in its 2023 Article IV consultation staff report that Guyana’s economy has tripled in that time.

At the time of reporting earlier this month, the IMF had related that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has already started to invest heavily in Guyana’s overwhelming development needs, with the help of oil revenues that were first transferred to the budget in 2022.

The IMF further related that the Government’s fundamentals have been strong and there were no signs of inflationary pressures or overheating, associated with the

Government pumping a great deal of oil money into the economy.

Another observation made by the IMF was the Government’s efforts to stave off inflation. The IMF noted that given the medium-term risks of inflation as the economy expands, a continued focus on maintaining macroeconomic stability by sound policies was recommended.

According to the IMF, Guyana’s rapid economic growth owes much to oil production, which started with the Liza Destiny Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel in the Stabroek Block. According to the IMF, Guyana has, per capita, the largest oil reserves in the world and a higher real GDP growth than any other country.

“The Guyanese economy has tripled in size since the start of oil extraction (end2019), from one of the lowest GDP per capita in Latin America and the Caribbean in the early nineties. Oil production is ramping up rapidly, supporting the highest real GDP growth in the world in 2022 (62.3 per cent).

“Going forward, oil production will continue to expand rapidly as four new fields will come on stream by end-2028. Sustained real non-oil GDP growth is also expected, as the Government continues to invest in human capital, lower energy costs, and build infrastructure, including for climate change adaptation. Real GDP is expected to continue to grow extremely fast in 2023 (38.4 per cent) and on average of 20 per cent per year during 202428,” the IMF had said in the report. (G3)

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023

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Thoughts of the new and past year A

s the last days of the year 2023 unfold, thoughts will be turning to New Year’s resolutions – those from last year we didn’t keep and our resolutions for 2024.

In his book, Atomic Habits – Tiny Changes Remarkable Results, James Clear puts forward actionable strategies for creating or reinforcing good habits and discontinuing or minimising unhelpful habits – a strategy for keeping New Year’s resolutions.

He uses the word atomic in a counter-intuitive sense in that it refers to very small (as in the word atom) changes that can have large impacts, rather than great and powerful habits all at once, as the title appears to imply at first glance.

The challenge is that good habits such as exercising daily are harder to maintain than bad habits because of the latency between the habit and the outcome (or reward). For example, exercise leads to longer-term health, but there is a latency between exercising and its long-term benefits showing up.

The six-pack abs take a while to show and the life-long health benefits take many years. Good habits are harder to start and maintain, but have great longterm benefits. Bad habits on the other hand tend to yield instant or near-term gratification, although the longer-term outcomes tend to be bad – such as in the case of smoking.

Bad habits, therefore, tend to persist while good habits are more easily extinguished. Habits, good and bad, become automatic and ingrained over time, or to put it another way, these habits become the essence of who we are.

To illustrate how unconscious automated habits take hold, Clear uses examples from animal studies. In one study, rats were conditioned to associate pressing a lever with being rewarded with cheese. Soon the rats began to associate the lever with cheese even when no cheese was forthcoming on presentation of the lever.

Clear breaks this stimulus-response into 4 stages: Cue (lever), Craving (for cheese), Response (press lever), Reward (cheese) The same continuous feedback loop is observed in humans and smoking.

Cue (stress), Craving (for cigarette), Response (light up), Reward (relief) As can be seen, this works particularly well for bad habits, and explains why they live on. Good habits need a little more help to take root. So Clear suggests a strategy for increasing the odds of persisting through the boring reps to get the longer-term benefits.

He says rather than focusing exclusively on the long-term and far remote goal such as better health, focus more on the immediate processes that will get your there. For example, let your running shoes in obvious sight (rather than at the back of the closet) be the cue to get you out of the door. The first step is always the hardest, but the last mile is always the least crowded. Let the habit of process take hold. One action leads to another and another. This is what takes you to your bigger goal.

His action plan for building the good habits and its corollary for minimising unhelpful habits is to instil routines (or processes) which become automatic or second nature. He labels the 4 elements of his plan as follows: 1. Make it obvious 2. Make it attractive 3. Make it easy 4. Make it satisfying 1) Make the cue obvious: Place little reminders in your environment. Pair a new habit with a specific time and location.

2) Create an attractive association with the cue: Associate something you like or wish for with the cue. Pair an action you want to do with the action you need to do, eg: I will have a warm shower after I exercise. The anticipation gives you a dopamine spike. Reframe your thinking from I “have” to exercise to I “get” to exercise.

3) Make the response easy: The key is repetition not perfection. Repeat the desired habit regularly. Start modestly, eg: I will walk for 10 minutes each day rather than I will walk for 30 minutes. Or in terms of process, think, “open my notebook” rather than “study for class”.

4) Make the reward satisfying: The feeling of making progress is satisfying.

Give yourself immediate rewards along the way. This can be as simple as placing a bead in a glass jar each time you perform the activity of a desired habit.

Once good habits are automated, we tend to perform them easily without conscious effort. You no longer have to exert your will power each time. This is a great energy saver. It frees up your mind for other things. And any good habit contributes to building a base on which more good habits can be stacked.

For younger folk aspiring to peak performance, the automated habits are the foundation. You leverage the automatic habits by combining them with completely focused conscious attention whenever you need peak performance.

For example, the best basketball players would combine “muscle memory” with complete conscious attention to everything occurring on the court in every game each time they come out to perform.

However, to get on any field of play and excel, you have to find your niche by the experience of trying different activities. Each person has different propensities.

To use a sport analogy, the natural attributes of a champion swimmer are not the same as those of an outstanding basketball player or a gymnast. Your niche is likely to be in the area of an activity that you enjoy, but most other people consider work.

To maintain peak flow, you have to continually challenge yourself. Showing up every day, day in and day out, is a huge part of winning the battle. It puts you in contention. It is a prerequisite and the necessary groundwork without which you would never get started, but it is not sufficient by itself. Complacency and boredom have to be warded off. Once you are in your field of choice, the tasks you choose must be challenging enough to require you to perform cognitive functions for the task at the limit of your ability – not below your ability or far beyond your ability, but just far enough above your ability that you have to stretch. This combined with ingrained automated habits produces peak performance.

Sakaika Falls, which is nested on the Ekereku River, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni). This aerial photo of the falls was shared by President Dr Irfaan Ali on his social media pages (Office of the President photo)

The Pope means well, but…

By Dr Raulston Nembhard

P

ope Francis has belatedly, if not gratuitously, issued a decree allowing the blessing of same sex couples throughout the Roman Catholic realm. Priests can now bless same-sex unions. This blessing must not be construed to be a sacrament, as marriage is.

God does not bless sin, the argument goes, and this relates to same sex unions and any union outside of marriage. Thus, the declaration is not meant to be an endorsement of samesex marriages, but allowing the grace of God to be available to all God's creatures.

The declaration — Fiducia supplicans — sought to make clear that what is intended is an endorsement of the person and not sins committed by such individuals.

It was carefully worded to avoid any ambiguities — though one is not sure if it achieved this.

A priest can bless a homosexual couple, but the couple would need to be instructed that the grace that comes to them through this blessing cannot be confused with that which comes through marriage. Is God's grace selective and does one have to tiptoe around God's liberal generosity in extending his grace to anyone in whatever station in life they find themselves?

As I heard one man remarked, help me with this "confusement".

I can understand the pope's ecclesiastical reticence and his adopting a more pastoral than a magisterial, rule-driven approach. It is this rule-driven emphasis that has been

Pope Francis (right) delivers his message as he meets with Vatican employees for the season's greetings at the Vatican, Thursday, December 21, 2023

the problem with churches with highly hierarchical structures like the Roman Catholic Church. In the main, this approach has tended to be more suffocating than liberating. It has made it difficult for people to make a distinction between the liberality of God's grace that flows to the sinner and the judicial assertion of the Church's authority over things deemed to be sinful.

Nonetheless, the latest attempt by the pope is a step in the right direction. In his brief reign he has gone further than any of his predecessors in the last 100 years in pulling back the curtains and allowing some fresh breeze to blow in the monolithic structure of the Vatican.

He has trod where many before him feared to.

Recently, he has been embroiled with some of the leaders in the church who want to maintain the status quo and the musty atmosphere that prevails.

But he is unfazed in what has to be done and one believes that if he had greater physical vitality and energy there is more that he would do to the chagrin of the ultra-conservatives in the church.

In a real sense, every pope, or leader of a church for that matter, is very much a "prisoner" of the post he or she occupies.

The pope is no different where the papacy is concerned. He is bound by the protocols that are centuries-old and any attempt to shake the foundations of long-accepted rules and regulations is bound to cause serious personal discomforts. Thus, any leader wanting to do so must be prepared for a lot of pushback. This is the nature and bane of religious organisations with strong, hierarchical cleavages.

Like the Titanic, they are not easily turned in midocean.

Yet, there needs to be that turning, however imperceptible. For the Roman Catholic Church, this is particularly so in the area of the ordination of women. Just as same sex couples cannot enjoy the grace of God in marriage, neither can women access the grace of God that comes through the sacrament of ordination.

For the church it seems only sufficient for women to be given token responsibilities, such as the lay administration of the

Eucharist and some other elevated roles that were recently allowed, or only to be recognised for their sterling contribution to the church.

But their call to ordination, which is essentially a call of the Holy Spirit, properly understood, cannot be allowed by a male-dominated hierarchy. I say properly understood to underline the fact that a woman's gift for ministry is the prerogative of the Holy Spirit in that person's life. Can such a call be abrogated by the magisterial authority of any religious organisation?

Sure, the call must be tested in community, but where is the possibility of such tests being made when the matter has already been determined by doctrine which may not even comport with the urgings of the Spirit? Just asking.

I am grateful for the ministry of Pope Francis because he has approached his task, first and foremost, as a pastor. This is the task that anyone wanting to be a minister of the gospel must have. I hope that the seeds he is planting for reform will bear good fruits for the future, and that the Church of over one billion adherents will become less fossilised than it presently is.

My prayers are with him.

(Jamica Observer) ( Dr Raulston Nembhard is a priest, social commentator, and author of the books: Finding Peace in the Midst of Life's Storms; The Self-esteem Guide to a Better Life, and Beyond Petulance: Republican Politics and the Future of America)

guyanatimesgy.com

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023

5

News

Work on $11B Diamond-to-Buzz Bee Dam Road commences W

ork has commenced on a new four-lane highway along the East Bank Demerara (EBD) corridor, running from Diamond to Buzz Bee Dam. Contracts to the tune of almost $11 billion were signed for this new road project that will see 4.6 kilometres of asphaltic concrete roads being constructed. This project is divided into five lots and each lot awarded to a different contractor, totalling some $9.4 billion.

Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal told Guyana Times on Wednesday that in addition to the five contracts, there were two other contracts signed to the tune of $995 million for the supply of sheet plies accessories that were used to carry out major and critical revetment works at Buzz Bee Dam. This project is the third phase of a massive road initiative being undertaken by the Government to ease traffic congestion on the East Bank Demerara highway.

The first phase of this project was the $2.6 billion Mandela-to-Eccles Road,

Housing and Water Minister, Collin Croal An aerial shot of the ongoing works on the Diamond-to-Buzz Bee Dam four-lane road

on which construction started in April 2021. This road was commissioned in April 2022.

For the second phase, the four-lane road was extended beyond Eccles all the way to Great Diamond.

The $13.3 billion Ecclesto-Great Diamond highway project saw 12 companies contracted to construct the four-lane road to run from the Eccles Dumpsite Road all the way to Great Diamond, connecting to the already-completed Eccles-to-Mandela Avenue Highway.

This section of the road

was commissioned earlier this month and named ‘Heroes Highway’ in honour of the five Guyana Defence Force (GDF) ranks, who died in a horrific helicopter crash on December 6.

These road projects are a result of efforts by the President Dr Irfaan Ali-led Government to ease traffic congestion on the East Bank, which not only leads to the country’s main port of entry – the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) – but also fields traffic coming from West Demerara.

These projects run

alongside the India-funded bypass road project which would link the East Bank Demerara corridor to the East Coast of Demerara (ECD), creating a new highway in the backlands.

The Indian Government had provided a US$50 million Line of Credit (LoC) for the road link that was initially slated for Ogle, ECD, to Diamond. Under the previous Government, however, the project was at a standstill for several years.

Having taken office in 2020, the People’s Progressive Party Administration has since

redesigned the project in to three phases to fit the LoC. It will now run from Ogle to Haags Bosch at Eccles in the first phase, then from Eccles to Diamond, and finally from Diamond to Timehri to connect to the CJIA. However, the Indian LoC will only cover the first section of the road, that is, from Ogle to Eccles.

President Ali has informed that approximately eight interconnecting roads are likely to be built between Eccles and Diamond, to connect old and new highways.

In Budget 2022, an al-

location of $2.1 billion was made for the widening and paving of the East Bank highway from Grove to Timehri. In January 2023, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved some US$100 million to commence the Diamond-Grove-toTimehri Road project.

Significant investments are particularly being made in advancing the road network to increase better access between the East Bank and East Coast of Demerara, and soon, the two districts will become better integrated into one big metropolis. (G8)

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023 01:00 Movie - Avengers Endgame (2019) 04:00 Movie - The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023) 6:00 Inspiration Time 6:30 Cartoons 7:00 Evening News (RB) 8:00 Stay Woke 8:30 Guy's Grocery Games 9:30 BBC Travel Show 10:00 Stop Suffering 11:30 Divorce Court 12:00 News Break 12:05 Movie - Carrot Cake Murder: A Hannah Swensen Mysteries (2023) 13:35 Wheel of Fortune 14:00 The Really Loud House E2 14:30 The Tom and Jerry Show S3 E15 15:00 Indian Soaps 16:00 Sydney to the Max S3 E4 16:30 Austin & Ally S4 E8 17:00 The Young & The Restless 18:00 CNN 19:00 The Evening News 20:00 Stop Suffering 20:30 Movie - Uncharted (2022) 22:30 Movie - Cobweb (2023) 00:00 Movie -Insidious: The Red Door (2023)

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023

Foundation ◄

Page

CITIZEN JOHN

By Jodina

Citizen John is a positive man; When he gets out he looks around with discerning eyes; Citizen John he never pretends he didn’t see Work to be done but lends a hand.

Citizen John he never says “That’s not my job and I do not care” Citizen John is a positive man He always gives help wherever he can to everyone.

Citizen John is a practical man; He never sits back and leaves all the work for others to do.

New Year’s Eve Star Boppers Upcycle an old headband and add some sparkle and fun to your New Year’s Eve party wearing this star bopper showstopper.

Instructions Fasten one end of gold ribbon to the inside of the headband using double sided tape, and wrap the ribbon around the headband, overlapping slightly as you go around.

Fasten on the inside of the other end using double sided tape and snip off with scissors.

Repeat the thin silver ribbon, with more widely spaced wrapping to give a nice striped effect.

Fold three gold tinsel pipe-cleaners in half and twist around the headband.

Twist the ends around a pencil to make them curly.

Twist the two silver tinsel pipecleaners around the pencil and attach to the headband in between the gold.

Peel the back off of two gold glitter stars and sandwich them around the tip of a silver pipe-cleaner. Repeat with the other silver pipe-cleaner.

Peel the back off the medium silver star stickers and sandwich them around three of the gold tinsel pipe-cleaners.

Top tip The ribbon length will twist up as

Citizen John never ignores the unpleasant tasks That no one else wants but does his share.

Citizen John he never says “That’s not my job and I do not care” Citizen John is a practical man He always makes sure he does his work as well as he can.

Citizen John is a caring man; He never forgets that there is strength in unity.

Citizen John works very hard because he knows That every bit counts to achieve success.

Citizen John, he never says “That’s not my job and I do not care”

you’re using it, so stop to untwist it regularly to make it easier to handle. (bakerross.co.uk)

Citizen John is a caring man who works to make His country the best for everyone.

WORD SEARCH

NEWS

7

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Argyle Declaration

Guyana & Venezuela remain committed to peace – St Vincent PM …after Venezuela complains over visiting warship …even though UK habitually sends warships to Region to further bilateral relations

T

he visit of a United Kingdom (UK) warship, HMS Trent, to Guyana’s waters, has prompted Venezuela to complain despite the fact that the UK habitually sends warships to the Caribbean to further bilateral relations.

However, St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, in his role as interlocutor between the two nations following the recent Argyle Declaration, has said that commitments from both Guyana and Venezuela are that they remain committed to peace and that very declaration.

The Prime Minister was quoted as saying this by the St Vincent Times, following a radio interview he did.

During that radio interview, Gonsalves said that he has

Venezuelan Defence Minister Vladímir Padrino López

been in contact with both President Dr Irfaan Ali and his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro.

“I think we will have things like this over the period, as you would expect.

As an interlocutor, I was in

touch with the President of Guyana and the President of Venezuela, with assurances given from either side of commitment to peace and continued dialogue,” Gonsalves was quoted as saying.

He noted that Western

Essequibo Coast businessman arrested with illegal gun, ammo …as Police respond to domestic violence report

I

The ammo and guns that was found by Police

n a recent series of Police operations, law enforcement officials have made significant strides in uncovering illegal firearms.

The first incident unfolded in Abram Zuil, Essequibo Coast, Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam), where 44-year-

old businessman Pooran Manman, known as Rocky, was apprehended on Tuesday night.

Acting on information related to threats and domestic violence, Police visited Manman's residence; and during a search of his

bedroom, discovered an unlicensed 9MM pistol, a .32 pistol, and a cache of ammunition that included 269 rounds of .32 caliber ammunition; 21 rounds of 12-gauge ammunition, and more.

TURN TO PAGE 16

St Vincent and Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves

countries such as the US habitually conduct training exercises in St Vincent and other countries, though he went on to commiserate with Venezuela’s concern about the UK warship. Gonsalves noted that Venezuela’s response to the UK vessel has not been belligerent, but rather one of concern.

“The US Southern Command has conducted training exercises in St Vincent and other countries of a limited kind, but Venezuela will naturally be concerned…

I read the Venezuelan statement very carefully; they consider this an act of provocation.”

“They didn’t say it was a threat, but what they said was a threat was taken into conjunction with activities with the US Southern Command.

It appears that the conjoined present a threat of force. The statement was firm, but the statement was not particularly belligerent,” the Prime Minister said.

Britain’s Ministry of Defence had announced on Sunday that the HMS Trent, a river-class patrol vessel, would be deployed soon to Guyana.

According to the Ministry, the ship will take part in joint exercises with Guyana after

Christmas.

Not long after the announcement, Venezuela’s Minister of Defence, Vladimir Padrino Lopez had tweeted that they would remain "on alert following provocations that put at risk the peace and stability of the Caribbean and our America."

The ship’s trip comes after a recent visit of UK Under Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, David Rutley, to Guyana where he met with President Ali and other top officials.

That meeting saw discussions on expanding relations between the UK and Guyana, in sustainable and economic development and security.

According to the British Foreign Office, Rutley, while in Guyana, expressed the UK’s unequivocal backing for Guyana against Venezuela’s territorial claims. Further, he expressed that the border between the two countries had been settled over 120 years ago and that sovereign borders must be respected.

“I am in Guyana, a fellow Commonwealth member, to offer the UK’s unequivocal backing to our Guyanese friends. The border issue has been settled for over 120 years. Sovereign borders must

be respected wherever they are in the world,” Rutley said.

Additionally, he welcomed the recent Argyle Declaration in St Vincent and the Grenadines, for non-violence between Guyana and Venezuela. The Under Secretary also expressed that the UK would continue its collaboration with regional partners and international bodies, to help protect Guyana’s territorial integrity.

Venezuela has, in recent months, intensified its threats and aggression towards Guyana, but the two countries recently signed a joint declaration agreeing not to use force or threats amid the controversy.

On Thursday, December 14, 2023, in Argyle, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Presidents Ali and Maduro held discussions on matters consequential to the territory involved in the border controversy.

After more than eight hours of engagements, the two Heads of State agreed that Guyana and Venezuela, directly or indirectly, will not threaten or use force against one another in any circumstance, including those consequential to any existing controversies between the two States.

The Heads also agreed that any controversy between the two States would be resolved in accordance with international law, including the Geneva Agreement dated February 17, 1966.

The two countries have also committed to the pursuance of good neighbourliness, peaceful coexistence, and the unity of Latin America and the Caribbean. It was also agreed that both States would refrain, whether by words or deeds, from escalating any conflict or disagreement arising from any controversy.

8 NEWS

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Labourer charged for Businessman remanded for illegal shooting at Policeman possession of ammo

The large amount of ammunition that was found in Carl Reddy’s vehicle

C

arl Reddy, a 57-year-old businessman of Second Avenue Bartica, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), has been arraigned before Bartica Magistrate Crystel Lambert on a charge of unlawful possession of ammunition.

It is alleged that, on December 22, 2023, he had 30 rounds of 20-gauge ammunition; 20 rounds of 16-gauge ammunition; 57 rounds of 12-gauge ammunition; 130 rounds of .32 ammunition; 29 rounds of .38 special ammunition; 111 rounds of 9mm ammunition; 49 rounds of .40 ammunition, and two rounds of .25 ammunition in his possession when he not the holder of a firearm licence.

After denying the allegation, Reddy was refused bail and remanded to prison. The matter will be recalled on January 19, 2024.

On December 22, 2023, between 18:30h and 20:00h, Police in Region Seven con-

Rajendra Moniram

R

ajendra Moniram, a 23-year-old labourer of Lot 1023 Onderneeming Sand Pit, Essequibo Coast, has been accused of discharging a

Remanded: Carl Reddy

ducted an operation at Kumung Kumung Landing, and several shops and persons were searched. During that operation, ranks intercepted motorcar PTT 3770, which is owned by, and was being driven by, Reddy, called “Brother Carl”. A search was conducted on Reddy and his vehicle, and the large quantity of ammunition was discovered.

A 12-gauge Browning single-barrel shotgun was found in the vehicle, for which Reddy produced a licence. (G1)

loaded firearm with intent at Police Detective Corporal Hakim Atkins on Friday, September 27, 2023 at Onderneeming Sand Pit, Essequibo Coast.

Atkins is stationed at the Suddie Police Station’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

Appearing virtually before Magistrate Esther Sam at the Wakenaam Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, Moniram was not required to plead to the indictable charge, and he was placed on bail in the sum of $500,000.

The case has been adjourned to January 26, 2024, and has been transferred before the Suddie Magistrate. (G1)

Bartica man fined $200,000 for DUI

A

58-year-old man of Fifth Avenue Bartica, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), who pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol, has been fined $200,000.

Lakshmee Bishun appeared last Thursday be-

Lakshmee Bishun

fore Bartica Magistrate Crystel Lambert to answer a charge of driving while his breath alcohol level exceeded the prescribed limit. He pleaded guilty and was fined $200,000 with an alternative of serving six months’ imprisonment.

(G1)

223-7230-1 (Ext 55)

Kvetching… …Venezuelans

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ost of our news outfits were down during the last couple of days; it was Christmas, stupid!!

So, you might’ve missed the Venezuelan Défense Minister Vladimir Padrino López kvetching that the British warship HMS Trent, visiting this week, brings into question Guyana’s sincerity about the Argyle Declaration!! “A warship in waters yet to be demarcated?” queried Vladimir on his X account. “How does that fit with the commitment to good neighborliness and peaceful coexistence? And the agreement not to threaten or use force against each other under any circumstances?” And then he went on to issue a warning to us: “We remain alert to these provocations that put the peace and stability of the Caribbean and our America at risk!”

Now, let’s explain a few home truths to this tinpot henchman of Mad Maduro, who’s obviously totally oblivious to how international agreements work.

“Obviously,” because even though they accepted as “full and final” the Arbitral Award on our Essequibo border in 1899, they not only raised a controversy about it in 1962, but have studiously misinterpreted the 1966 Geneva Agreement on how to settle the controversy!!

It would seem that Venezuelan leaders all follow the Humpty Dumpty school of thought on the meaning of words: “When I use a word,” Humpy Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less”!!!

But the nub of the Venezuelan arrogance is captured in Alice’s retort to Humpy: “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” And that’s what it’s all about, innit?? Because Venezuela’s armed forces are so much greater than ours – on land, sea and air – they feel they can dictate to us whatever they want, and there’s absolutely nothing we can do about it!!

In the same year of the Geneva Agreement - spelling out how the controversy was gonna be dealt with - their army pushed us out of our half of Ankoko Island, and we had to eat humble pie!! And so it’s been throughout the decades: using their navy to chase away an oil exploration ship in 2013; sending criminal syndicatos over the border into Region Seven; and now “annexing” the entire Essequibo!! Talk about being given an inch and taking a mile; here it’s 56,000 square miles!!

So, back to the Argyle Declaration that Vladimir bitched we ignored with the Trent’s visit. Heck… the Declaration’s only 11 paragraphs, so you’d think that even a troglodyte like Vladimir could read it. The 4th paragraph clearly states that if one party thinks the declaration is breached, he should inform the parties who were at Argyle with pressie and Mad Maduro!! Not throw talk like a market huckster!! …about Boxing Day There are some folks who feel we oughta do away with “Boxing Day” - cause it’s a “relic of British Imperialism”!!

Yet these same folks put up Christmas trees, hang mistletoes, and look out for a fat guy from the North Pole riding on a sleigh being pulled by reindeer!! Those ain’t relics of British Imperialism?!! Your Eyewitness believes that many of the customs handed down by our erstwhile colonial masters oughta be reinterpreted for our time, place and circumstances. We eat pepperpot on Christmas Day, rather than turkey and Yorkshire pudding, don’t we?

So here we have it: we’re the “fastest growing economy” in the entire world, but we know we still have lotsa folks who’re dirt poor - cause it takes time for EVERYONE to benefit from the new opportunities etc. So, what your Eyewitness suggests is: all those who HAVE benefitted up to now oughta donate boxes (“Hampers”?) of goodies to the poor during the entire hard-guava month of January!!

Our local noblesse oblige!! …about necromancy Your Eyewitness doesn’t know what all the snickering about Massy execs communing with the dead is all about!! Can’t one of the local Execs who did the course get in touch with LFSB and channel his advice to the PNC??

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

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

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

NEWS

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

7 dead, 1 injured in holiday weekend tragedies

Dead: Angelique Lawrence

O

ver the holiday weekend, Guyana witnessed a series of tragic incidents that resulted in multiple fatalities.

These incidents, spanning various regions, have left several families mourning the loss of their loved ones.

The first incident occurred on Christmas Morning at around 02:00h, when a devastating fire in Central Amelia’s Ward, Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) claimed the lives of 30-year-old Zella

Dead: Lechan Mangal

Dead: Stephon Anthony Basdeo The house that was destroyed by fire

Dead: Zella Lawrence

the parapet.

Mangal and Basdeo were seriously injured in that ac-

Dead: Rickey Boodram

rushed in an unconscious state to the Leonora Cottage

cident, and they were both

of that collision, the pedestrian fell on the road surface and was crushed by the left-

Accident at Windsor Forest

The accident at Le Destin

Lawrence and her relatives, 16-year-old Angelique Lawrence and eight-year-old Ronika Lawrence.

Quick response from the Guyana Fire Service contained the blaze to the bottom flat of the building, but the cause of this fire remains unknown, prompting an investigation by Fire Service officials in collaboration with the Police.

Monday morning brought yet another unfortunate incident, this time on the East Bank Essequibo at Le Destin, Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara).

An accident there has left Lechan Mangal and Stephon Anthony Basdeo dead.

Reports are that motorcar PXX 872 was being driven by Mangal, a 25-year-old resident of Lot 5 De Kinderen Old Road, West Coast Demerara; with Basdeo, a 26-year-old of Lot 1 De Kinderen Old Road, and Aubrey Hardy, a 27-year-old of De Kinderen, being the occupants.

Investigations so far indicate that PXX 872 was proceeding east along the northern side of the road at a fast rate when the driver lost control of the vehicle and it collided with a container on

Their bodies are at the Ezekiel Funeral Home awaiting PMEs. On that same day, 60-year-old pedestrian Shazad Mohamed died in an accident that occurred at about 17:25h on Temple Street at Windsor Forest, West Coast Demerara.

Police have said that accident involved the pedestrian and motor lorry GAF 4320, being driven by a 21-year-old resident of Temple Street, Windsor Forest.

It has been revealed that the lorry was reversing when it collided with the pedestrian, who was walking

Hospital, where they were pronounced dead on arrival.

and pushing his pedal cycle behind the lorry. As a result

side front wheel of the lorry.

The pedestrian was picked up in an uncon-

scious state and taken to the Leonora Cottage Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Meanwhile, on Boxing Day, a fatal collision between two motorcycles on Maria’s Pleasure Public Road on Wakenaam Island claimed the life of 29-yearold Rickey Boodram.

Boodram and 57-yearold Martin Adams have sustained critical injuries from this accident, and despite efforts to save their lives, Boodram was pronounced dead on arrival at the Wakenaam Cottage Hospital, while Adams is recovering from a fractured left foot and head injuries at the West Demerara Regional Hospital. (G9)

12 NEWS

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

A Christmas wish comes true: President Ali gifts single mother new house

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resident Dr Irfaan Ali on Christmas Day visited the Corentyne to donate a house to a single mother of four, who was living under very harsh conditions in a makeshift house.

The Head of State organised the project through the Men on Mission initiative after Guyana Times published an article on Christmas Day about the mother’s hard-

ships.

For 35-year-old Anita Lloyd, a single mother of four, who benefitted from receipt of this brand-new

home, it was a Christmas miracle come true.

It was delivered to her on Christmas Day by President Dr Irfaan Ali. The woman had previously lived in a deplor-

able state at Ankerville, Port Mourant, and the Men on Mission were responsible for constructing Lloyd’s new home at Williamsburg New Housing Scheme, Corentyne.

At the simple handing over ceremony, President Ali spoke of some of the work being done by the Men on Mission initiative.

“For example, they have worked on a very robust plan for mental health medical outreaches, children outreaches; we have more than 350 families that will benefit from home im-

provement or housing projects. We have about 20 communities that will benefit from important pieces of investment that will help the social aspect of their conditions and their devel-

opment; and then we have a major programme that we are launching early in January. That programme is to have more communi-

Anita Lloyd and her children sit at a table in her brand-new home

ty-oriented spirit and more discipline in our public schools,” the President said.

daughter, wearing a masquerade mask, was beating a drum in the vicinity of the

mit that she will take care of her children, and also she will ensure that her chil-

Prior to Christmas Day, the situation was so dire for Lloyd that her 12-year-old daughter had been beating the masquerade drum in order to provide much-needed finances, including fund-

Port Mourant Market after 18:00h. When approached, the young girl said she needed to raise $3000 so she could assist her mother to purchase diapers for her eight-month-old brother.

dren are in school. The community has to ensure that she keeps to this commitment; the region has to ensure that she keeps to this commitment. These children must be in school, be-

ing for her eight-month-old brother’s diapers.

For Lloyd, it is a daily struggle as a part-time worker earning $40,000.

This publication met Lloyd after her 12-year-old

Meanwhile, President Ali said it was not just giving the home to Lloyd, but she, like all who are beneficiaries of such programmes, must make a commitment.

“The mother has to com-

cause education has the power to change the circumstances of families,” the President outlined.

Lloyd and her family had, since 2018, been living on GuySuCo reserve. (G4)

NEWS

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

President Dr Irfaan Ali brought joy to the faces of residents at the Dharm Shala in Georgetown by donating $1.5 million during what has become a traditional Christmas luncheon. This was after he joined Prime Minister Mark Phillips to distribute toys and breakfast to scores of children in Tiger Bay. Also, the First Family hosted a gathering at the One Guyana Kitchen on Main Street for hundreds of children, who received toys from Santa (Office of the President photos)

14 NEWS Special PWD Unit to be established at Human Services Ministry T THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

he Government, under the Human Services and Social Security Ministry, plans to establish in 2024 a special unit to cater for persons living with disabilities.

Given Government’s commitment to increase assistance and accessibility to services for the vulnerable population, this unit would allow for smooth transition of policies, development of targeted programmes, and continue the work currently being managed by the various departments in that Ministry.

In an interview with this publication, Human Services and Social Security Minister Dr Vindhya Persaud disclosed that her ministry would commence consultations with persons living with disabilities early in 2024, in order to get their input on how the unit can improve their lives.

She explained that this would ensure their needs are catered for in a holistic manner; specifically, a manner that blends policy with services.

“One of the very early plans is to have another meeting with them (for them) to give input into our own programme. We’re looking at making those persons who’re living with

disabilities have an opportunity beyond what they’re having. Yes, we’re offering training, and yes, we’re offering ‘Women in Business’, but what are the other areas you see yourself gravitating to? Is it employment? Can we provide any kind of training for you? Is it home ownership? How can we help you? How can we improve their lives?” Dr Persaud has asked.

Speaking on Government’s plans for persons living with disabilities in 2024, the minister revealed that several women within vulnerable communities would benefit from the Women in Business clinic. The clinic would provide finance and business advice to the women as part of efforts to make them more independent, thereafter becoming financially stable.

Additionally, an average of 15 to 20 persons from the vulnerable population would also benefit in 2024 from the Tourism Ministry’s Revolving Fund project. This group would be the first cohort of beneficiaries for that project.

Further, on the issue of improved services, the Ministry would be offering alternate venues for persons living with disabilities to cash their monthly

allowance at various banking institutions, Mobile Money Guyana, Money Gram and Western Union.

“We are going to start talks with those agencies so that we can have that option as well as the banking option; so that, if they wish, we can have the monthly allowance sent through the bank, like what is currently being done through the pension programme,” she explained.

PWD work programme

Some 8,000 applicants benefitted this year from the one-off cash grant initiative, and Government was able to regularize over 5,000 of the children into the Ministry’s database.

The Tourism, Industry and Commerce Ministry disbursed $36 million of revolving fund for persons living with disabilities (PWDs), to foster entrepreneurship and economic independence among persons living with disabilities, specifically dedicated to supporting micro-enterprises initiated by these individuals.

The Government has taken a holistic approach to empower persons living with disabilities through development training to improve their quality of

life. These programmes include basic computer training; job access with speech (JAWS) for the visually impaired; garment construction; adult literacy and numeracy. As a result, nearly 500 persons living with disabilities have received specialised training tailored to their unique needs.

Hundreds were able to access sanitary supplies through ‘Pampers Bank’

initiative, which was initiated to support vulnerable families with infants.

Additionally, the Ministry, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, has developed a well-established referral pathway for persons to access free hearing aids and essential aids such as wheelchairs, walkers, and white canes. Persons can now request these aids

and have them delivered directly to their homes or communities.

Meanwhile, in late 2021, an eye care programme was launched to provide vision care to underserved communities and vulnerable citizens.

The initiative has already made a profound impact, with over 3,000 pairs of spectacles distributed to date.

MV Sabanto operating at full capacity after extensive repairs

…as Govt in talks with US trade mission on acquiring new vessels

T

he MV Sabanto, one of the ships in the fleet of the Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD), has been returned to full operational capacity following the Government’s decision to conduct repairs while the ship remained in service, rather than docking the vessel and leaving commuters inconvenienced.

The vessel had been sailing at less than full engine capacity while work was ongoing to fix one of its engines. Last week, during a parliamentary sitting, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill disclosed that relevant parts for the vessel, which ply the EssequiboParika route, have arrived in Guyana.

“The vessel under question by the honourable member encountered a difficulty with one engine. The normal trip to the Essequibo on the MV Sabanto, or the Kanuwan, is 90 minutes. As a result of the malfunctioning of that one engine, the boat has been taking a longer time…while the boat is sailing, Macorp is on the boat working to fix the engine,” he explained.

“We had a choice of taking the boat out of service and park it until it’s fixed, or we go with a boat that’s not as fast as it used to be but continues to provide a service. Because the trucks with the gas, the provisions, the coconut water, need to get out and the supplies get into the Essequibo, so we made a decision that we’d continue to sail while work is being done,” Edghill said.

It seems the decision to keep the ship in operation during repairs was a fortuitous one. The Transport and Harbours Department subsequently revealed that repairs have been completed on the MV Sabanto, and it is back to operating at full capacity.

According to the T&HD in a notice, the vessel had been operating on one engine while work was ongoing to fix the other. The repairs have now been completed, and travel time will return to the customary 90 minutes.

“As a result of diligent work over the past several weeks, the affected engine was fixed, and travellers will once again experience a shorter travel time. This is in keep-

ing with the Government’s commitment to provide efficient and reliable ferry service to the public, and boost trade between key regions,” the T&HD has said.

“T&HD wishes to assure the public that their interest is of paramount importance to the agency, and it will continue to work towards the provision of a better quality of service. The Department is also pleased to inform the public that vehicle and passenger capacity on the Parika to Supenaam route has been boosted. Therefore, the public is assured of efficient and reliable ferry services during the Christmas season and in the New Year,” the department further said.

New vessels

In an effort to boost its capacity to provide transport services to far-flung areas and improve its ageing fleet, the Government is meanwhile on the lookout for fit-for-purpose ferry vessels, with markets such as the United States (US) being examined.

During a recent sitting of the National Assembly, the state of Guyana’s maritime transport sector was put under the microscope.

Minister Edghill explained to the National Assembly that the Government is looking to boost the T&HD’s capacity.

Edghill noted that during a recent visit by a trade mission from the United States, discussions were had on potentially adding to Guyana’s fleet.

This is a reference to the delegation that arrived in Guyana last month from the bilateral Chambers of Commerce headquartered in Houston, and the Louisiana District Export

Council.

During that visit to Guyana, the delegation members met with key persons in both the Private and Public sectors, and were told of investment opportunities in Guyana while also being urged to form partnerships with local companies. According to Edghill, among the discussions that were held with the delegation was about finding “fit-for-purpose” vessels for Guyana from the US. “Quite recently, we had a distinguished trade mission from the United States visiting here. And one of the engagements we had with them was to help us to find fit-forpurpose vessels that might be available for auction from the US market, because acquiring new vessels takes a year. So, whilst someone might want to say, ‘You buying an old vessel’, to get a new boat is two years or even more.”

The Minister recalled the $2.5 billion spanking new MV Ma Lisha, which only commenced service between Georgetown and Region One (Barima-Waini) in August of this year. According to Edghill, this vessel was built by the Indian firm Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE) in record breaking time only through the bilateral assistance of the Indian Government.

“That’s not normal. This is not a canoe we’re buying.

So, we have to see what the market has to offer so that we would be able to get to the rescue. But we are looking at acquiring fit-for- purpose vessels that will: one, improve consumption. Two, time in terms of travel; and certainly, as the number one priority, safety.”

NEWS

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Ramsammy’s Ruminations Duo on trial for murder of Corentyne

Momentous 2024 could well be Guyana’s most transformative year ever

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his being the last column for 2024, let me wish everyone a happy holiday, and I’m hoping that 2024 brings joy and rewards for each and every single one of us and for our country. By any standard, 2023 was a great year for Guyana, even with the Venezuelan crisis.

The year 2023 sets the stage for a Dr Leslie Ramsammy momentous 2024 for Guyana. In 2024, Guyana will emerge a new country, and whether we live here or are visiting, we will experience and see a different Guyana.

Hopefully, the unique Guyanese hospitality we are famous for will not change. Happy New Year to all my sisters and brothers, and all visitors to Guyana.

While Guyana’s economy continues to expand at a phenomenal rate, estimated to be 40% in 2023, we expect that this rate would be duplicated in 2024, with oil production estimated to surpass an average of 500,000 barrels per day, and maintaining a pace to surpass 1.2M bpd by 2027. The non-oil economy grew at a rate of about 10% in 2023, and this is expected to be improved in 2024 with construction, sugar, rice, coconut, cash crops and mining making significant contributions. Sugar met its target for 2023, and we should expect to see further improvements in production in 2024.

In 2012, we set a production target of 700,000 tons by 2020, and we almost reached that target in 2014, missing it by just 2,000 tons. But mismanagement by the new Government in 2015 saw production reduced year by year, dropping considerably by 2020. Guyana is set to surpass the 700,000 tons in 2024, and Guyana should easily surpass 1,000,000 tons by 2030.

Since 2020, Guyana has evolved into a preferred destination for international events. In 2024, Guyana is expected to host many notable international events. Some have already been scheduled, and others will inevitably emerge. For one, Guyana will again host many important matches, the semifinals and the finals of CPL. This time, Guyana will be defending its championship. If 2023 was a huge success for CPL in Guyana, then 2024 will be phenomenal. Already, thousands are planning to come to Guyana for CPL. ICC Cricket T20 World Cup is also coming to Guyana. Already bread and breakfast facilities are being booked out.

I remembered when Guyana’s Providence Stadium was built for ICC ODI World Cup, the naysayers, dooming the stadium, insisted that it would be a white elephant. Today, the Providence Stadium has emerged as one of CARICOM’s premiere cricket stadiums. But Guyana will see, in 2024, rising out of cane fields, a new stadium in Palmyra. With new football and athletics fields around the country, including in Linden and New Amsterdam, Guyana is positioning itself as the preferred destination for sports in CARICOM. While this would have been seen as a “Don Quixote building castles in the air” move a few years ago, today this is no longer a joke. No country in CARICOM will have more floodlit grounds for cricket, football and athletics competitions than our country. Guyana in 2024 will pronounce, in no uncertain terms, its readiness to be the sporting capital of CARICOM. Minister Charles Ramson is not being hyperbolic with this ambition.

The first set of more than 2,000 new hotel rooms will be ready in 2024. At least two new hotels would be opened in 2024, and several more would have extensive work already completed. In 2024, with hotels rising across Regions 2, 3, 4, and 6, the naysayers will no longer be able to argue that these are just braggadocio, because every single Guyanese will see majestic structures rising from swamps and cane fields.

No CARICOM country is attracting as much investment in hotel construction as Guyana is today. These hotel rooms will support Guyana’s ambition to be the sporting capital of CARICOM. Importantly, however, these hotel investments also recognize that Guyana is becoming the preferred destination for internal events outside of sports. In 2024, Guyana will host the third Energy Conference. Already, hotels are fully booked, and many people tell me they cannot find affordable rooms during the Energy Conference.

By December 2024, Guyana will be almost ready to commission seven new hospitals across Regions 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. These new hospitals will stand out as among the earliest glimpse of the new Guyana. More than twenty new operating rooms, including a new heart OR, more than 700 new hospital beds, seven new CTs and Guyana’s first public sector MRI will be available for improved health in Guyana. These hospitals will be first completed new ones, but 2024 will also see the beginning of construction for new hospitals in New Amsterdam, Moruka, Bartica, Kamarang, Kato, Lethem and Linden.

New Allied Health Training Institutions will begin construction in New Amsterdam and Suddie and Linden.

In 2024, a brand new community, perhaps a new town, will sprout out of the cane fields APNU/AFC abandoned in 2016, creating thousands of jobs. A new airport, a hotel, a hospital, a shopping mall, a stadium, new housing schemes will change the landscape of Region 6, beckoning the new Guyana. And just to the southwest, the chimney smoke will remind everyone how President Irfaan Ali and the PPP Government transformed the whole Palmyra/Canje hub from the ruin and desolation left by David Granger and APNU/AFC into what has become the centerpiece of the new Guyana.

With thousands of new homes, hundreds of new businesses, new highways across several Regions, new bridges across the Demerara and Corentyne Rivers, new hotels and hospitals, new shopping malls, modern banks being seen by the people everywhere, President Irfaan Ali is set to be the steward of the most transformative single year ever in the history of any CARICOM country. God bless everyone.

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

grocer to know fate next week

S

atram Kushlay and Bilall McLennon are presently on trial at the Berbice High Court, before Judge Sandil Kissoon and a 12-member mixed jury, for the murder of Rose Hall Town grocer Lomenzo Johnny of Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).

After a jury deliberates on the case against 30-yearold Kushlay and 33-yearold McLennon on Thursday, January 4, 2024, these two accused persons will probably know their fate. Next Thursday morning has been designated summation day

by Justice Kissoon. After that, he will give the case to the jury for consideration and potential verdict return.

Forty-nine-year-old Lomenzo Johnny, called “Sham”, who operated a grocery store located in the same yard as his home at Lot 11 Portuguese Quarters, Port Mourant Corentyne,

Murder accused Satram Kushlay

was murdered during the course or furtherance of a robbery.

On February 27, 2020, his body was discovered in a yard where a building was under construction; it was located some 400 metres from his home. His feet were bound together with a shoelace. The sweater he was seen wearing the evening before was found a few

Dead: Lomenzo Johnny

feet away from his body. A pair of scissors and a piece of wood were also found near the body. There was a wound to the back, and bruises to his hand, while his head and face appeared to be swollen.

When Police went to Johnny’s home, they found that the front door was not locked.

The inside of the house was ransacked, and a safe

Murder accused Bilall McLennon

and other items were reportedly removed from the building.

Investigators subsequently received information about the whereabouts of the safe, which contained an undisclosed amount of cash.

State Counsel Muntaz Ali is presenting the prosecution’s case.

Armed bandits rob Herstelling Chinese supermarket

I

n a daring incident on Saturday, four armed bandits targeted the Wen Jie Supermarket at Herstelling, East Bank Demerara, and escaped with $500,000.

However, the entire episode has been captured on CCTV cameras.

According to surveillance footage seen by Guyana Times, at about 20:46h, one of the armed men, wielding a handgun, confronted a Chinese national who was the cashier, while he was assisting customers. The bandit forcibly removed the cashier from his seat at gunpoint, and grabbed the cash.

Following this initial confrontation, three other armed suspects entered the supermarket and consolidated their efforts with the first assailant.

After the robbery, the quartet fled the scene on foot.

During their escape, two of the bandits reportedly fired shots at Police officers on motorcycles, who had been alerted to the robbery in progress and were responding to the situation.

The law enforcement officers returned fire, and according to Police, one of the bandits may have sustained

223-7230-1 (Ext 55)

A screen shot of the bandits captured on CCTV robbing the supermarket

injuries. The suspects managed to evade capture by flee-

ing through the bushes at Farm, EBD.

An investigation has been launched. (G9)

16 NEWS

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Aiden by Best Western Hotel 75% completed T

he Aiden Hotel by Best Western at the corners of Robb and Oronoque Streets in Georgetown is 75 per cent complete.

This is according to a social media announcement made by President Dr Irfaan Ali on Wednesday in which he shared photos of the progress so far.

It was reported that the hotel will be completed by March 2024.

The new hotel is an undertaking of Guyaneseowned Arimu Investments Incorporated. The US$20 million Aiden by Best Western Hotel will span nine floors of a 74,000-square-foot modern building.

The vision is to have more than 100 executive rooms, an executive bar and lounge, executive conference rooms, pri-

providing guests with executive chauffeur services, shuttle bus tours around Guyana, and Demerara River tours, and the investor is also engaging the aviation sector for helicopter tour packages. This hotel will be the 12th Aiden Hotel worldwide and the first for the Caribbean and South America.

Construction works ongoing at Aiden Hotel by Best Western, which is located at Robb and Oronoque Streets, Georgetown

vate dining rooms, a stateof-the-art gym, bar, and restaurant.

Initially, the hotel was slated to have a 101-room

capacity, but this has been increased to 150 rooms following the investor’s acquisition of additional land at its Robb and Oronoque Streets, Georgetown location early last year.

On December 16, 2022, Arimu Investments Inc announced that it had signed a contract with a Chinese company, CNQC Engineering and Construction Limited, to take the Aiden by Best Western to its “completion and turnkey stage”.

The company had initially said the hotel would be completed sometime between December 2023 and January 2024 after some delays and hindrances.

Aiden is a boutique-style hotel under the world-renowned Best Western Hotel and Resorts. It is part of a trendy collection of laid-back boutique hotels that blend cool, casual,

and charming with an electric neighbourly feel.

No two hotels are alike, as each is designed to reflect the unique personality of each community/country it serves. Guests would discover local flair and imaginative designs with Aiden as their welcoming and stylish host.

The Aiden by Best Western Hotel would be

Essequibo Coast businessman...

FROM PAGE 7

The ammo and gun that were found by Police

While Manman allegedly claimed ownership of a licence for the .32 pistol, the 9MM pistol was unlicensed, leading to his arrest. He reportedly claimed that the 9MM pistol was purchased from someone who is now deceased.

Manman, along with the confiscated firearms and ammunition, was subsequently taken to the Anna Regina Police Station.

Investigations into the matter are ongoing.

In a separate incident on Sunday, Police responding to an alleged wounding report near the

Seven (Cuyuni- Mazaruni) found a shotgun with eight

The gun that was found at Morowah Trail

Morowah Trail in Region

rounds of ammunition.

Observing a man with a

suspicious white 'salt bag,' two Police ranks initiated pursuit. The man fled into nearby bushes, but dropped the bag in the process. Despite efforts to apprehend the suspect, he managed to escape. Upon inspection, authorities found a 12-gauge shotgun with eight cartridges inside. The serial numbers and maker's names were filed off.

The seized firearm and ammunition were secured at the Police station as investigations into the incident continue. (G9)

NEWS

17

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BPO sector to create 15,000 Russia warns Japan new opportunities in Region 5 over providing Patriot air

T

he Housing and Water Ministry, through the Central Housing and Planning Authority, has invited bids for the construction of two brand-new call centres in Mahaicony and Hope Town, Region Five (MahaicaBerbice).

These centres will be vital communication hubs, enhancing public access to essential services. Eligible bidders are asked to submit their bids (one hard copy and two electronic copies)

by January 3, 2024, to the Chairman of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB). They must meet all requirements, including bid security.

A Department of Public Information (DPI) report stated that bidding will be conducted through the National Competitive Bidding (NCB) Procedures

defence systems to Ukraine

A

specified in the Procurement Act 2003. According to the DPI report, the Government aims to create over 15,000 jobs across the country by 2025 through this booming sector, driving economic growth and local opportunities. With its ideal location near the Americas, favourable time zone, and educated young workforce, Guyana is becoming a mag-

net for BPO companies seeking a competitive edge.

The Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest) conducted studies in several regions including Regions Two, Three, Five, Six and 10 to assess their potential for the expansion of BPO outlets. With positive findings, the Government is undertaking the construction of call centres nationwide.

Cop allegedly shoots man who threw bottle on vehicle …placed under close arrest

A

Police Sergeant attached to Traffic Headquarters has been placed under close arrest after he shot a man who threw a bottle at his vehicle at Middle Road, Pouderoyen, West Bank Demerara (WBD).

The incident occurred around 18:50h on Tuesday, Police said.

According to reports, Phillips Adams, at the time of the incident, was walking past the cop’s car

when a dog allegedly attacked him and he picked up a glass bottle and pelted the dog.

The bottle reportedly hit the officer’s car after which the officer allegedly pulled out his firearm, and shot Adams one time to the lower right-side abdomen.

Adams was rushed to the West Demerara Regional Hospital where he was admitted. His condition is listed as stable.

Meanwhile, Police said that on arrival at the scene, contact was made with the cop where he was told of the allegation made against him. According to Police, he denied knowing anything about the incident. He was cautioned, arrested, and escorted to La Grange Police Station, where he was assisting with investigations.

The Force-issued firearm was lodged, according to the Police.

move by Japan to provide Patriot air defence systems to Ukraine will have "grave consequences" for Russia-Japan ties, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.

Relations between Moscow and Tokyo, already difficult, have deteriorated sharply since Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Japan has joined its Western allies in imposing sweeping economic sanctions on Russia.

Last week, Japan said it would prepare to ship Patriot

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova

its arms export guidelines, in Tokyo's first major overhaul of such export curbs in nine

Patriot missile defence system is seen at Sliac Airport, in Sliac, near Zvolen, Slovakia (Reuters)

air defence missiles to the United States after revising

years.

Although Japan's export controls still

new pre-

vent it from shipping weapons to countries that are at war, it may indirectly benefit Ukraine in its war with Russia as it gives the United States extra capacity to provide military aid to Kyiv.

"The Japanese side loses control over the weapons with which Washington can now do whatever it wants," Zakharova told a weekly briefing. "It cannot be ruled out that under an already tested scheme Patriot missiles will end up in Ukraine."

Such a scenario would be "interpreted as unambiguously hostile actions against Russia and will lead to grave consequences for Japan in the context of bilateral relations", she said. (Excerpt from Reuters)

18

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023

guyanatimesgy.com

Regional

Rapper Canserbero's Mexico asks for border ex-manager confesses crossings to reopen to killing him during Blinken visit

T

he former manager of Venezuelan rapper Canserbero has confessed to killing him in a video statement released

by Venezuela's Attorney General.

The death in 2015 of Canserbero, who had been named best rapper in Spanish by Rolling Stone magazine, had originally been ruled a suicide.

Ex-manager Natalia Améstica said she had drugged the rapper and stabbed him.

With the help of her brother, she then threw the rapper's body from a 10th-storey window, she said.

The death of the 26-yearold rapper, whose real name is Tyrone González, had shocked his fans, especially because it was ruled at the time that the star had killed his friend Carlos Molnar in a knife fight before jumping from a window.

His family and friends always doubted the official version of events and

M

Natalia Améstica confessed to killing her partner Carlos Molnar and rapper Canserbero

the case was reopened last month after much pressure from them.

On Tuesday, Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab released video statements recorded on 19 December by Natalia and her brother Guillermo, in which the two recounted what had happened on the night Canserbero was killed.

Natalia Améstica claims that she had become enraged during a tour of the rapper to Chile, when the rapper's friend and produc-

er, Carlos Molnar, had told her that she would not be reimbursed for plane tickets she had bought, nor receive a share of the profits of the tour, which she claims she had organised.

Améstica and Carlos Molnar, 35, were a couple and had reportedly been in a relationship for more than 10 years.

She also says that she learned during the tour that Canserbero no longer wanted her as his manager.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

exico pressed US officials to reopen border crossings during a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena said on Wednesday, as US officials sought assistance to stem "irregular migration".

President Joe Biden's Administration is seeking help from President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's Government to reduce migrant flows and cope with record numbers of people trying to reach the U.S. border, a key issue ahead of the US presidential election in November.

The meetings come af-

ter more than half a million migrants this year crossed the dangerous Darien Gap jungle into Central America – double last year's record – many fleeing crime, poverty and conflict to seek entry into the United States.

The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) earlier this month temporarily closed two key rail border crossings for five days and shuttered other crossings in order to redeploy enforcement resources elsewhere in response to large numbers of migrants.

Barcena said "the importance of reopening bor-

der crossings is a priority" for Mexico.

"We are talking about the economic part, as well as the structural causes of migration," she told reporters after the meetings.

Lopez Obrador, who last week assured the US that Mexico would help ease migratory pressures, earlier in the day said the US Congress should be investing in poor people in Latin America and the Caribbean "instead of putting up barriers, barbed wire fences in the river, or thinking about building walls".

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Shakira’s Colombian hometown unveils towering statue in singer’s honour

Mottley: Barbados loses cultural C icon in Gwyneth Squires

P

rime Minister Mia Amor Mottley has described the death of “icon” Gwyneth Squires as “a real blow”.

Mottley, who served as Minister of Culture in the Owen Arthur Administration, said Squires’ name became synonymous with both Junior and Grand Kadooment “According to the records of the National Cultural Foundation, Gwyneth is the most decorated bandleader and designer in the history of Crop-Over, with an enviable record for continuous participation in the annual festival. She has won more Band of the Year titles at Grand Kadooment

and Junior Kadooment and Designer of the Year trophies than any other — more than 60 in all.”

To say that my heart is saddened by the news that Gwyneth Squires has passed would be a gross understatement. As the Prime Minister, under whose office the cultural portfolio falls, as Minister of Culture in a previous administration and as a Bajan to whom Crop-Over means the world, the death of Gwyneth is a real blow.

There are few names in this country more synonymous with Junior Kadooment and Grand Kadooment than Gwyneth’s. The number of children who grew up in

her junior band and then graduated to the style, flair and tradition of her Grand Kadooment offering for more than 30 years, must be in the thousands.

She was an icon…But she is also a perfect example of how the lives of people in all of our territories can be enhanced when we embrace each other and see the Caribbean Sea as a bridge rather than a boundary.

Gwyneth was born in Trinidad and moved to Barbados as a teenager more than half a century ago — and I dare anyone to try to convince me that she was not as Bajan as anyone born here.

(Excerpt from Nation News)

Remittances from Nicaraguan migrants mark new record, passing US$4B

N

icaraguan migrants sent relatives back home record remittances this year through November, data from the country's central bank showed on Wednesday, fuelled by massive waves of migration leaving the Central American nation in recent years.

In a statement, the bank noted a record haul of about US$4.24 billion in remittances for the 11-month period, 47 per cent more than the amount sent home during the same period last year.

The money sent home

by Nicaraguan migrants

represent a key lifeline for the economy during the latest year of President Daniel Ortega's Government, which has been marked by growing unemployment and poverty.

Propelled in large part by outflows of migrants seeking better economic prospects, primarily in the United States, as well as those who have fled since deadly anti-government protests broke out in 2018, Nicaragua has seen especially large displacements in recent years along with record remittances so far this year.

US-bound Nicaraguan

migration hit a record last year with 164,600 migrant encounters counted by the US. government, but during this year's fiscal year, which ended in September, migrant encounters dipped to about 139,000.

Last year, Nicaraguan migration to all countries surpassed 300,000, while overall 1.5 million Nicaraguans now live outside their home country, or about 22 per cent of the country's population, according to United Nations data analysed by Dialogo Interamericano researcher Manuel Orozco.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

olombian superstar Shakira’s Caribbean home city of Barranquilla has unveiled a 6.5-metre (21.3foot) hip-swaying statue in her honour.

The towering bronze and aluminium creation depicts the singer in a bikini top, bare middle and a long, flowing skirt, her hands clasped over her head and one hip jutting out in one of her characteristic dance moves.

“Hips that do not lie, a unique talent, a voice that moves masses,” reads the inscription at the base of the sculpture unveiled on the banks of the Magdalena River at a ceremony on Tuesday, attended by Shakira’s parents William Mebarak and Nidia Ripoll.

“Hips Don’t Lie” is the title of one of 46-year-old Shakira’s award-winning songs.

On X, formerly Twitter, the singer thanked sculptor Yino Marquez and his art

A view of a statue of singer Shakira at the Malecon in Barranquilla, Colombia [AFP]

student collaborators for “this example of the enormous artistic talent of the people of my country”.

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, an icon of Latina girl power, has sold some 80 million albums worldwide and won three Grammy

awards.

She has recently been in the news for completely different reasons, investigated over unpaid taxes in Spain and paying millions of euros in settlements.

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Innocent bystander 1 of 4 killed in Curepe shooting

A

Valsayn businesswoman was one of four people murdered in an afternoon shooting on the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway, Trinidad on Wednesday.

Sources said Lana Sahadeo was at her Spring Village, Valsayn, home when the shooting began and was struck by a stray bullet.

Guardian Media visited the scene and was told by neighbours that Sahadeo, who was in her fifties, was the owner of the Silver Spoons Eatery in Akal Trace.

She was expected to leave TT days later to go on a trip to Florida.

Security camera footage of the shooting was circulated on social media which

showed a white car crashing into a barrier at the side of the highway.

One of the men who were in the car at the time was shot and killed while the others were chased by gunmen and killed.

The survivor of the attack was a popular Trinibad artiste who survived another shooting in October.

(Excerpt from Trinidad Guardian)

guyanatimesgy.com

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023

19

Around the World

OILNEWS OIL NEWS Oil drops almost 2% as investors watch Red Sea developments

O

il prices dropped nearly two per cent on Wednesday, eating into the previous day's gains as investors monitored developments in the Red Sea, where shippers are returning despite further attacks on Tuesday.

Brent crude futures settled down US$1.42, or 1.8 per cent, at US$79.65 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell US$1.46, or 1.9 per cent, to US$74.11.

Danish shipping company Maersk said it has scheduled several dozen container vessels to travel via the Suez Canal and Red Sea in the coming weeks after calling a temporary halt to those routes this month after attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militia.

France's CMA CGM also said it was resuming passage through the Red Sea after deployment of a multinational task force to the region.

"I think we have to wait and see whether the increased naval patrols and rerouting of ships lead to a decline in attacks," said Callum Macpherson, head of commodities at Investec.

Both the Brent and WTI benchmarks settled more than two per cent higher in the previous session as the latest attacks on ships in the Red Sea prompted fears of shipping disruption.

The prospect of a prolonged Israeli military campaign in Gaza remained a major driver of market sentiment.

Israeli forces pummelled central Gaza by land, sea and air on Wednesday, a day after Israel's Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi told reporters the war would go on "for many months".

Elsewhere, oil loadings at the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiisk were suspended because of a storm. However, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal near the port was open, Kazakhstan's Energy Ministry said.

U.S. crude oil inventories rose last week by 1.84 million barrels, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Wednesday.

U.S. government data on stockpiles is due today.

Oil output in Russia, the third largest producer in the world after the United States and Saudi Arabia, is expected to be steady or even to increase next year as Moscow has largely overcome Western sanctions, analysts said. (Reuters)

Israeli attacks in Gaza add to heavy Palestinian toll in war on Hamas

I

sraeli forces pounded central Gaza by land, sea, and air, and Palestinian authorities reported dozens more deaths, with the United Nations health agency saying thousands of people were trying to flee the fighting.

Israel remains resolved to wipe out the Palestinian militant group Hamas in response to the militant group's October 7 attack on Israel, despite international calls for a ceasefire and easing of a worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli planes carried out three strikes in Al Nuseirat in central Gaza, killing seven persons and wounding several others, medics said late on Wednesday.

The UN World Health

An Israeli artillery unit fires, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, near the IsraelGaza border, in southern Israel, December 27, 2023 (Reuters/ Violeta Santos Moura)

Organisation said its staff had seen tens of thousands of people fleeing heavy strikes in Khan Younis and the Middle Area on foot, on donkeys or in cars. Makeshift shelters were

being built along the road, it said on Wednesday.

On the diplomatic front, where international pressure on Israel has grown, French President Emmanuel Macron

Jacques Delors, founding Czech mass shooting: father of EU’s single Gunman confessed to currency project, dies at 98 shooting baby in woods

Former European Commission President Jacques Delors [File: Charles Platiau/Reuters]

J

acques Delors, former European Commission chief and a founding father of the European Union’s historic single currency project, has died. He was 98.

The French socialist and ardent advocate of postwar European integration died in his sleep at his Paris home on Wednesday, his family said. end of list Delors served as President of the European Commission for three terms – longer than any other holder of the office – from January 1985 until the end of 1994.

During Delors’s de-

cade as the European Commission chief, the EU completed its integrated single market and agreed to introduce a single currency, the euro, and built a common foreign and security policy.

The then-12-nation bloc also set the conditions on his watch for eventually admitting the former communist states of Central and Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

Delors also served as Finance Minister under French President Francois Mitterrand from 1981 to 1984.

But he declined to run for the presidency in 1995 despite being overwhelmingly ahead in the polls, a decision he put down to “a desire for independence that was too great”.

“I have no regrets,” he said about that decision later. “But I am not saying I was right.”

The current French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to the former EU leader as an “inexhaustible architect of our Europe” and a fighter for human justice.

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

A vigil last Saturday outside the university

T

he gunman who killed 14 people at a university in Prague confessed to an earlier double murder in his suicide note, Czech Police have said.

The note found in David Kozak's home contained a confession he had shot dead a man and his baby daughter in woods near the city on December 15, six days before the Charles University attack.

Police said he had been on a list of 4000 suspects for their murders.

Kozak also killed his father, bringing the total

China is ramping up the pressure for Taiwan's election

T

he December sun is baking on the Heng Chun peninsula, the tongue of land that juts out from the bottom end of Taiwan into the Philippine Sea. A half-smoked cigarette pokes from the corner of Hsu Keng-Jui's mouth. He is part of a network of volunteers – most of them veterans like him – who track the now-constant presence

of Chinese ships and aircraft just outside Taiwan's territorial limit.

Using plastic zip ties, Hsu straps a long radio antenna to a steel railing, then sits down with his portable radios and begins to scan the military channels. At first all we hear is the soft southern lilt of the Taiwan coastguard directing sea traffic. Then a different accent and a dif-

told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a call of the need to work towards a durable ceasefire with the help of regional and international partners, the French Presidency said.

A Gaza Health Ministry statement said an Israeli airstrike killed 20 Palestinians on Wednesday near Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

In central Gaza's AlMaghazi district, five Palestinians were killed in one airstrike, medics said, while to the north in Gaza City, health officials said the bodies of seven Palestinians arrived at Al Shifa Hospital.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

ferent tone comes through the heavy static. It's the Chinese navy.

China has been ramping up the pressure ahead of a pivotal presidential race in Taiwan, an island it has long seen as a renegade province. With just weeks to go, Beijing looms larger than ever before – on the ballot, and at Taiwan's borders.

"We represent all the

people of China," the voice from the Chinese navy intones.

"The People's Republic of China is the only legitimate government of China, and Taiwan is an inseparable part of China."

Dragging on another cigarette, Hsu looks unmoved: "I hear it every day now. It's like they're reading from a script."

For decades the governments in Beijing and Taipei

had an unwritten agreement not to stray across a median line that divides the 110-mile-wide strait between them. Now China is crossing it almost daily, at sea and in the air. On one day in September the People's Liberation Army sent more than 100 aircraft towards Taiwan, 40 of which crossed the median line. (Excerpt from BBC News)

number of his victims to 17.

The attack at the university on December 21 is the worst mass shooting in Czech history.

Kozak, a 24-year-old masters history student at the university, killed himself after being surrounded by armed Police.

As first reported in the newspaper Denik N, the note was discovered by police in Kozak's home on December 21 - the same day as the attack.

It contained a confession he had shot dead the pair in Klanovice woods on the eastern outskirts of the capital a week previously.

The victims are reported to be a 32-year-old man and a two-month-old girl, according to Czech media.

Detectives had said it was "highly probable" that the gunman had also carried out the Klanovice killings. This was later confirmed by ballistics.

They said Kozak had been on a long list of potential suspects whom they wanted to interview and expressed regret they had been unable to get to him earlier.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

20

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023

guyanatimesgy.com

ARCHIE

DAILY HOROSCOPES Travel, communication or a reunion will lead to interesting information that helps you plan your next move. Leave yourself some wiggle room and keep your decisions to yourself.

(March 21-April 19) Don’t wait for someone else to make the first move. Be brave, take control and do your part to keep the momentum flowing, and an unexpected opportunity will arise. Romance is in the stars.

PICKLES

(April 20-May 20) A direct approach will help you avoid a misunderstanding. Truth will be crucial when dealing with matters that influence a meaningful relationship, position or your reputation.

(May 21-June 20) Consider alternatives before accepting something that doesn’t intrigue you.

Don’t fear change. Embrace what’s new and exciting. A social event will lead to personal or professional opportunities.

PEANUTS

(June 21-July 22) Get in the game and have some fun.

Attend events that offer mental stimulation. Watching how others work in a crowd will provide insight into how you can get others to see things differently.

(July 23-Aug. 22) Don’t underestimate what others can do. Be prepared to adjust on the fly. How you handle matters will determine how others respond. Don’t let your emotions or temptation take the reins.

CALVIN AND HOBBES (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

An emotional incident will escalate if you don’t set the record straight. Attend a gathering that offers an introduction to something new and exciting. A connection you make will intrigue you.

(Sept. 23-Oct. 23)

SUDOKU

Don’t hesitate to change if it gets you closer to your objective. Dig up information that offers insight into where your time and effort will make a difference.

Surround yourself with creative people.

(Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Let your imagination lead the way.

Follow your heart and give yourself the go-ahead to indulge in creative ventures that motivate you to put your energy to good use and finish what you start.

(Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Look around you and determine how to make your surroundings work with your lifestyle. Having everything conveniently placed will save time. Romance and personal growth are on the rise.

SOLUTION FOR LAST PUBLISHED PUZZLE

(Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Don’t fold under pressure. Speak up, follow your heart and reveal the truth.

You’ll find what you are searching for if you allow yourself the right to do what makes you happy.

(Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Do something that motivates you to be yourself. An event or activity that allows you to use the skills that bring you joy will point you in a new direction.

Romance is favored.

(Feb. 20-March 20)

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023

21

INDIA VS SA SERIES 2023/24: TEST 1 OF 3…

Elgar’s hundred gives South Africa the lead I

f there is one shot a batter must master, it’s Dean Elgar’s play-and-miss; more so if that batter harbours dreams of opening the batting. It really is a life-saver, and as it turned out, a difference-maker. South Africa, by virtue of having him at the crease for all of their innings so far, are bossing the Boxing Day Test.

India were dismal, particularly just after lunch, when they began proceedings with a debutant and their thirdchoice fast bowler. Those eight overs produced almost as many runs (42) as the 16 that preceded them (49), and by the time Rohit Sharma realised his mistake, it was too

ner, often being squared up, occasionally taking blows on the body. But the thing he did so well was not to follow the seam movement that was on offer. He had a plan, and he was content to look ugly for it, because who cares when it also gives him 140 runs off 211 balls in his final Test series.

The Centurion pitch was still rife with danger. The first over that Kagiso Rabada faced included four back-toback play-and-miss deliveries from Rahul. Later on, Prasidh Krishna got one to rise so far off just back of a length that Elgar was forced off his feet, and even then he couldn’t get high enough to put bat to it.

KL Rahul struck a sublime century as India posted 245 in their first innings on a tough surface

late.

Elgar was beyond set.

There was, however, a period when Elgar was in trouble; it was a time when India could have felt happy about the 245 runs they had put on the board, thanks to a superlative century from KL Rahul.

Their frontline fast bowlers were creating chances with every other delivery. Twelve of the first 30 yielded false shots, and eight of those were to balls that were pitched up.

Aiden Markram fell in the middle of this examination.

But Elgar didn’t, because he doesn’t push at the ball. He fared no better than his part-

This is the kind of setting that helps good batters realise they have a whole other level in them. Rahul, for example, was loving it out there. The biggest smile he flashed was not for his century - which he brought up with a six - but for a ball that beat him outside off stump, because it was a reminder that the odds were against him, and he was still making it count.

Elgar’s moment came a little later, when he clattered a pull shot in front of square leg to mark the completion of an important set. He will now end his career with a century on every ground he has played

a Test at home. Whether that prompted him to leap up and punch the air and scream like he just didn’t care is up for debate. It was a celebration that over-the-top hints at something more than just satisfaction. Could it have been a statement made to a doubter? Whatever it was that was fuelling Elgar, it helped him produce an innings of high impact.

When he raised his hundred, he had 80 runs in boundaries, many of them through the off side, which is atypical for him. It was almost like knowing he won’t be able to play it for too much longer made him let the cover drive off its leash.

South Africa found 145 runs after lunch. That’s more than anything they’ve ever scored in a single session of Test cricket since the start of 2018. They preyed on India’s back-up bowlers. Prasidh and Shardul Thakur were left nursing a combined economy rate of 5.2 in the afternoon as a score that was 49 for 1 turned into 194 for 3 in just 33 overs.

David Bedingham impressed with a half-century on debut. His game, nurtured over 87 first-class games, seems to be built around weight transfer. He doesn’t move a great deal

Kagiso Rabada was at his best

Dean Elgar has hit his 14th Test hundred

to meet the ball. But with what little he does, he makes

SCOREBOARD David Bedingham hit a fifty on debut

Pistons set NBA single season record with 27th straight loss

T

he Detroit Pistons have etched their name into the history books when, on Tuesday, they set the NBA single-season record with their 27th straight loss: 118112 to the Brooklyn Nets.

Cam Johnson scored 24 points and Mikal Bridges added 21 for the Nets, who handed the Pistons their 26th consecutive loss on Saturday.

Cade Cunningham poured in 37 of his 41 points in the second half, and shot 15 of 21, but Detroit broke a tie with the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers and 2013-14 Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers hold the overall mark at 28 straight losses, a skid that started in 2014-15 and carried over into 2015-16.

The Pistons’ next chance

to end the streak is Thursday at league-leading Boston.

Cunnigham made a pair of layups to draw the Pistons within 112-110 with less than a minute remaining, but Dorian Finney-Smith sank a baseline 3-pointer to put the Nets up 115-110 with 38 seconds left.

Alec Burks then missed a 3-pointer, and Bridges hit two free throws for a 117-110 advantage.

Grizzlies win in OT, improve to 4-0 since Morant’s return

Ja Morant scored 31 points, and the Memphis Grizzlies rallied for a 116115 win in overtime against the New Orleans Pelicans, to improve to 4-0 since Morant made his season debut a week earlier.

sure his weight goes into the shot. There was flick off Jasprit Bumrah that typified this strength. It is the kind of ball that right-handers could fall over and end up lbw if they aren’t careful. But Bedingham was careful. He met it late, under his eyes, and didn’t overhit it.

India may yet salvage this situation, because the pitch at SuperSport Park is still tough to bat on. A new ball will be available to them in 14 overs, and when they do

get it right, they have shown, they can be hard to deal with.

It all started in the 27th over, when, fed up with what was happening, Mohammed Siraj extended his follow-through all the way up to the stumps at the batter’s end, and switched the bails around. Stuart Broad had done the same in the Ashes earlier this year, and because he is Stuart Broad, a wicket fell immediately. Siraj is not quite there, so his supernatural powers took a while to kick in; an over, to be exact.

Bumrah removed Tony de Zorzi to end a 93-run second-wicket partnership, and nine balls later, he topped it with Keegan Petersen’s wicket. India struck twice again late in the day, which might, in a way, sting them really, because it was proof of how hard it was to build a partnership in Centurion.

They let South Africa off the hook too often, and too easily, which is why they are now officially playing catchup, trailing by 11 runs when the umpires took everyone off for bad light. (ESPNCricinfo)

Desmond Bane scored 27 points, including a key 3-pointer in the final minute of regulation, and then clinching a free throw with 4 seconds left in overtime.

Jaren Jackson Jr. added 19 points, redeeming his missed free throw at the end of regulation with a pair of baskets late in OT that gave Memphis the lead for good.

Morant has averaged 28.8 points in four games since he returned from his 25-game NBA suspension, after the Grizzlies were 6-19 in his absence.

Zion Williamson had 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Pelicans, who also lost a double-digit second-half lead to Memphis in the previous meeting.

Kings’ Fox scores 43 in loss to Trail Blazers

De’Aaron Fox had 43 points, but it wasn’t enough, as Anfernee Simons scored 29 to lift the Portland Trail Blazers to a 130-113 win over the Sacramento Kings.

Duop Reath added a career-high 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds off the bench for the Blazers, who got 19 points from Malcolm Brogdon and 17 and 11 assists from rookie Scoot Henderson.

Fox was 16 of 26 from the field, and 7 of 15 from long range, while adding eight rebounds and four assists. Domantas Sabonis scored 34 points, but no other Sacramento player was in double figures. (Sportsmax)

India 1st Innings BATTING R Yashasvi Jaiswal c †Verreynne b Burger 17 Rohit Sharma (c) c Burger b Rabada 5 Shubman Gill c †Verreynne b Burger 2 Virat Kohli c †Verreynne b Rabada 38 Shreyas Iyer b Rabada 31 KL Rahul † b Burger 101 Ravichandran Ashwin c sub (PWA Mulder) b Rabada 8 Shardul Thakur c Elgar b Rabada 24 Jasprit Bumrah b Jansen 1 Mohammed Siraj c †Verreynne b Coetzee 5 Prasidh Krishna not out 0 Extras (b 2, lb 8, nb 1, w 2) 13 TOTAL 67.4 Ov (RR: 3.62) 245 Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Rohit Sharma, 4.6 ov), 2-23 (Yashasvi Jaiswal, 9.4 ov), 3-24 (Shubman Gill, 11.1 ov), 4-92 (Shreyas Iyer, 26.6 ov), 5-107 (Virat Kohli, 30.6 ov), 6-121 (Ravichandran Ashwin, 34.6 ov), 7-164 (Shardul Thakur, 46.2 ov), 8-191 (Jasprit Bumrah, 54.3 ov), 9-238 (Mohammed Siraj, 65.1 ov), 10-245 (KL Rahul, 67.4 ov) BOWLING Kagiso Rabada Marco Jansen

O-M-R-W 20-4-59-5 16-2-52-1

Nandre Burger Gerald Coetzee

15.4-4-50-3 16-1-74-1

South Africa 1st Innings BATTING R Aiden Markram c †Rahul b Mohammed Siraj 5 Dean Elgar not out 140 Tony de Zorzi c Jaiswal b Bumrah 28 Keegan Petersen b Bumrah 2 David Bedingham b Mohammed Siraj 56 Kyle Verreynne † c †Rahul b Prasidh Krishna 4 Marco Jansen not out 3 Extras (lb 8, nb 8, w 2) 18 TOTAL 66 Ov (RR: 3.87) 256/5 Yet to bat: Temba Bavuma (c), Gerald Coetzee, Kagiso Rabada, Nandre Burger Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Aiden Markram, 3.5 ov), 2-104 (Tony de Zorzi, 28.6 ov), 3-113 (Keegan Petersen, 30.2 ov), 4-244 (David Bedingham, 60.1 ov), 5-249 (Kyle Verreynne, 61.5 ov) BOWLING Jasprit Bumrah Mohammed Siraj Shardul Thakur Prasidh Krishna Ravichandran Ashwin

O-M-R-W 16-3-48-2 15-0-63-2 12-2-57-0 15-2-61-1 8-3-19-0

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GUYANATIMESGY.COM

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023

not worried about Camille’s Academy tops Janet Bolt world records being broken Jagan Girls’ Windball tourney C amille's Academy of Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara have captured the A. Munroe Sports Officer/Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport (MCYS)/National Sports Commission-organised Janet Jagan Birth Anniversary school Girls’ Windball Cricket East Bank Championship.

Competing at the usual venue, the National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue, in the game for second place, Covent Garden Secondary defeated Yarrowkabra Secondary.

Covent Garden won the toss and sent Yarrowkabra in to bat, and the latter posted a total of 98-1. Deliah Walton hit an unbeaten 64 runs, inclusive of 8 sixes; Shemika Stoll added 14, and Chelsea Benjamin pitched in with 12.

Covent Garden’s turn in the middle was entertaining, as they hit the required runs in 3 overs, reaching 104-3.

Usain Bolt, reputed to be the fastest man to ever walk the earth

T

The team from Camille’s Academy of Soesdyke, EBD Their standout competitors included Malea Johnson top scoring with 41 runs, while Emily Dubre and Deuyani Singh made 22 and 10 runs respectively.

Meanwhile, Diamond Primary School Top received the 4th place trophy.

On the organizers’ behalf, special thanks were extended to the Department of Education of Region 4 for assisting with transportation for the students during the Christmas holidays.

D Walton (red top) of Yarrowkabra Secondary and M Johnson of Covent Garden Secondary

Man Utd 3-2 Aston Villa in Premier League play

- Hojlund’s first Red Devils goal marks start of new era

H

e didn’t know it at the time, but as Erik ten Hag looked across the home dressing room during the interval of his side’s Premier League meeting with Aston Villa, the message he was about to deliver would be a symbolic one for Manchester United.

“I said at half-time: ‘Keep believing and we will win’.”

With his team two goals down and their supporters mutinous, Ten Hag’s words not only proved decisive to his team in their eventual thrilling victory, but were extra pertinent to Rasmus Hojlund, as he scored the winner and served a reminder to the whole club about their eventual aims under new owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

There was added significance to this success, because they did it in front of Sir Dave Brailsford - the Ineos head of sport, who, along with former Juventus chief executive Jean-Claude Blanc, will take up a seat on the football club board when Ratcliffe’s purchase is confirmed in six-toeight weeks’ time.

“I don’t know; you’ll have to ask them,” said Ten Hag, when asked what Brailsford and his colleagues thought of the performance. “I said before the game that we were competitive with Arsenal and competitive with Liverpool; so, if we play our best, we can beat anyone.

“I had several talks with him…he had to believe,” Ten Hag has said.

There was a moment in the first half when Hojlund tried and failed to reach a low Alejandro Garnacho cross. A home supporter seated not far from Brailsford, who was on the back row of the Directors’

Rasmus Hojlund scored his first Premier League goal in his 15th top-flight appearance

Box with United’s interim chief executive Patrick Stewart, yelled in frustration at the striker: “Can’t you make a decent run?”

The 20-year-old was in the middle of his 17th domestic game since a £64m move from Serie A outfit Atalanta.

He was still to score, and was looking less and less likely to break his duck. But Ten Hag has never stopped believing in the Denmark striker, and Hojlund didn’t allow his hand to fall.

When Bruno Fernandes’s 82nd-minute corner was stabbed in his direction by Villa skipper John McGinn, after it had initially been flicked on by Jonny Evans, Hojlund reacted quickest, lashing the loose ball home from eight yards. His relief was obvious as he raced to the corner flag before being submerged by team-mates.

Even goalkeeper Andre Onana raced the length of the field to join in.

“I had several talks with him,” recounted Ten Hag. “I pointed out he scored a lot for Denmark and scored in the Champions League, so that demonstrated ability. He had to believe in it. When strikers don’t score, it is always a problem, but he has a strong character and a big person-

ality, which is what a striker needs. When he keeps investing, the goals will come and he will score more.”

Speaking on Match of the Day, former Newcastle forward Alan Shearer said the goal “could be a game changer” for Hojlund. “He’s had to put up with a lot, fairly at times and unfairly at times, because of the lack of service,” added Shearer.

“Going forward, that could and should mean so much to him. We all talk about goals making the difference for forwards. That should be fantastic for him.”

Man Utd ‘looking forward’ with new investment

The victory eases the personal pressure on Ten Hag at a time of massive change at Old Trafford. Not long after the final whistle, three documents relating to Ratcliffe’s purchase of 25% of the club were published on the club’s website. One of them contained a lengthy email sent by co-chairs Joel and Avram Glazer to United employees.

“We understand this process has taken time and has inevitably created some uncertainty for colleagues,” it said. “But it has been im-

portant to conduct the strategic review thoroughly, and to find the right partner to take us forward. Thank you for your patience. We are excited about the opportunity ahead and realistic about the hard work and commitment that it will require from everyone at Manchester United to help realise it. However, we know from more than 18 years’ experience working with you that we can count on your diligence, dedication, and ability.”

For all the soothing words, many inside United feel the conclusion of the search for strategic alternatives has taken too long.

Brailsford did not comment, and in a letter to fan groups before the game, Ratcliffe said he would not be making any public statements before the deal is complete, so his views on Ten Hag’s future, the current state of the Dutchman’s squad, and where the bulk of the money needed to refurbish Old Trafford is going to come from will have to wait.

It is unlikely Ineos will be able to play any significant role in United’s business during next month’s transfer window, but Ten Hag welcomed their involvement, and is convinced it can lead to significant improvement on and off the pitch.

“We’re looking forward,” he said. “I think it is positive for the club (that) they are stepping in. They have a lot of experience in sport at the highest level - F1, a cycling team, football clubs. They can only help us and support us to get our targets.

“We are looking forward.

They want to work with us, and we want to work with them.” (BBC Sport)

he fastest man to ever walk the earth, Usain Bolt, has said he’s not worried about any of his world records being broken anytime soon.

The eight-time Olympic gold-medalist currently holds both the 100m and 200m world records. Both marks, 9.58 in the 100m and 19.19 in the 200m, were set at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, Germany.

“I knew I was going to break the world record, because I was in such good shape at the time, and I was running great throughout the season,” Bolt said in an interview with World Athletics.

Athletes like Fred Kerley, Ferdinand Omanyala and Noah Lyles have all been vocal about trying to eclipse Bolt’s 100m world record, but nobody has come close to doing so up to this point.

Kerley, the 2022 World 100m Champion, has a personal best of 9.76. Omanyala, the 2022 Commonwealth Champion, has a personal best of 9.77, while Lyles ran his personal best of 9.83 to win 100m gold at the Budapest World Championships earlier this year.

Lyles, however, who has been named World Athletics’ Male Athlete of the Year for 2023 after taking three gold medals in Budapest, is not that far off the 200m world record; he has a personal best of 19.31, done to win the 2022 World title in Eugene.

“Not worried about any of them,” Bolt has said regarding the times. “I think the hundred is going to be harder, because it’s quicker, and if you make a mistake during the race, you’re not going to get it. It’s a lot more technical, so I think maybe the hundred is going to go last,” he added.

Bolt also commented on still being known as ‘the fastest man ever’, as well as his relationship with the fans over the years.

“It’s a great title to have.

It’s something that I enjoy hearing and I enjoy knowing,” he said about the title.

“It’s always been so beautiful for me. They give me so much energy. I remember even through the World

Championships in the pandemic, I was like I could not compete in this. By myself in the stadium, I could not, because I live so much for the energy and the vibes,” he added. (Sportsmax)

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GUYANATIMESGY.COM

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023

‘THE TALENT IS THERE’

– Caribbean coaches in rating Guyana’s school football

O

ne of the most emphasized aims of the Petra-Organized KFC International Goodwill series, the fourth edition of which has been wrapped up just last week, was to gauge where Guyana’s school football sits, as compared to other teams in the Caribbean; having the tournament operate as a benchmark.

This year’s competition gave the biggest indication of where Guyana’s school football is situated, as three Caribbean teams, the most in the competition’s sort history, travelled to Guyana to compete. Jamaican Champions Clarendon College have been the foremost of the lot, given that country’s label as the football powerhouse in the Caribbean region.

Prior to the anticipated final showdown, Jamaican coach Kemar Foster and Trinidadian coach Randolph

Boyce, both assessing what they saw from the Guyanese teams, have noted that the talent is there, but development is needed.

“You guys play real rough. You know, it’s a great experience as a player, as a coach as well, to see how Guyanese players play their football. Yes, you guys can develop a little bit more, as compared to the Trinidad and Jamaica teams,” Jamaica’s Foster shared.

“They definitely have talent in Guyana in terms of individual talent; definitely have that. In terms of technical and tactical aspects of the game, you’re seeing where there’re gaps between certain Guyana teams itself. For example, you see, like Chase Academy, they assemble most of the talent by them, and they’re properly well-structured and put together. So, it have a gap between them and the oth-

Kemar Foster, coach of Clarendon College

Randolph Boyce, coach of St. Benedict’s College

er Guyana teams,” Boyce opined.

“The physical aspect of the game, pretty good, pretty rough, as we experienced with Chase the other night. From the other teams, we saw that night they play an excellent game; so, they’re not far off, but they have some work to do.

Tournaments like these, playing against different countries and getting the experience and exposure would only help develop Guyana football, and I think that is what this tournament is structured and really doing for the country,” the Trinidadian coach added.

However, one factor that

Romel and Robin win inaugural Panko Steel Golf Tournament

both coaches happened to point out is the Guyanese coaching, and how it can be improved, with Foster offering any assistance he could render.

“To get the Guyana, the local coaches, to probably up their game a little more from the experience that they would now encounter; and each year that they come, I am expecting to see Guyana football always on the rise,” Boyce highlighted.

Meanwhile, Foster shared, “This competition clearly opened eyes for a lot of coaches here in Guyana, and I think they’re observing the quality that both teams here bring to the table in every game. So, I wish them all the best with their growth and their preparation for the young group coming up to the senior group.”

The Jamaican coach has assured, “I hope they grasp

23

as much as possible. We’re all open to discussion, if we can help in any way.”

Jamaica’s Clarendon College walked away as Champions of the KFCsponsored tournament, while Trinidad’s St. Benedict’s were the runners-up. Chase’s Academic Foundation put on the best showing among the Guyanese teams, finishing in third place and losing only to Jamaica and Trinidad by 2-0 and 1-0 margins respectively. And in one i n stance, this happened while they were missing 4 key players to international duties.

(Jemima Holmes)

CPL, CWI in talks about secondary T20 tournament

…Ghanpat, Sukhram win chipping and putting competition

and workers walked away with hampers and brand new flat-screen televisions.

The results of the tournament were as follows: Overall 1st: Romel Bhagwandin and Robin Tiwari 2nd: Maurice Solomon and Rabindranath Persaud 3rd: Rakesh Harry and Ravindra Harry 4th: Arnol Deo and Joseph John 5th: Mike Mangal and Rohan Albert 6th: Sonto Dindanauth and Nicholas Dindanauth

I

The winners’ row over the weekend n the true Christmas spirit, the Panko Steel Golf Tournament and Village Fun Day did not disappoint.

Many of Guyana's top golfers showcased their skills in the 9-hole tournament. However, Romel Bhagwandin and Robin Tiwari stood out from the rest, and claimed the title.

There was also a chipping and putting competition, giving each golfer the chance to try their hand at winning additional prizes. Naro Ghanpat won the chipping competition, and Christine Sukhram won the putting competition.

Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandalall, SC, was present at the tournament; and he said, "On behalf of the Government of Guyana, I would like to extend a merry Christmas to everyone. I want to thank Panko for sponsoring and organizing this event; it is truly a kind gesture. Sports are extremely important to the development agenda of our Government, as (sports) keep young people occupied in a beneficial and gainful man-

ner. It is a high-priority item on our Government's agenda.

The LGC is public property, and the Government will do all that we can to ensure that this facility is kept intact.”

Representing Panko

explained that it had always been Panko's (Lakeram Ramsundar’s) dream to give back to the Lusignan community, and through his hard work and dedication, it has become a reality.

Longest Drive Nicholas Dindanauth Closest to Pin Ryan Dindanauth Chipping Competition 1st: Naro Ghanpat 2nd: Maurice Solomon 3rd: Jaipaul Seenarine

Christine Sukhram won the putting competition Steel was CEO Amisha Ramsundar, who thanked the golfers for their strong turnout. She also mentioned that the tournament would be an annual event on the LGC golfing calendar, and

In addition to the tournament, hundreds of children were provided with gifts and food, and had the opportunity to play on the trampoline and bouncy castle. A raffle was also held, and both golfers

Putting Competition 1st: Christine Sukhram 2nd: Rohan Albert 3rd: Kassim Khan Most honest golfers Vishal Changur and Ryan Dindanauth

CPL CEO, Pete Russell

I

f the thoughts and talks between Cricket West Indies (CWI) and the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) are to materialize, then the Caribbean could have another Twenty20 competition.

This as CPL CEO Pete Russell and CWI VicePresident Azim Bassarath indicate that discussions regarding another competition are on course. That competition, which would complement the CPL, would be geared towards unearthing and developing fresh talent for the regional game.

Russell, while declaring CPL's commitment to playing its part in the process, pointed out that it is not their role to unearth the next generation of players for the Caribbean.

“Yes, we’re going to be part of the solution, but I think that (unearthing players) is probably CWI’s remit, not ours,” Russell told Trinidad Express. “We feel that’s an important part of any cricket system, even CPL. So, we want to support that in as big a way as possible. I’m hoping we can get to a place where we can put that tournament on,” he added.

Former West Indies white-ball skipper Kieron Pollard and a CWI independent review committee comprising Patrick Thompson, Brian Lara and Mickey Arthur called for the host-

ing of a secondary T20 tournament to properly develop the next generation of Caribbean T20 players. It is for that reason that Russell and CWI have engaged discussions.

“A lot of planning has gone into it. It’s down, as it always is, to dollars and cents; so, we’re just seeing how best to do it. We’ve got a lot of work to do before we get there, but look, everyone is committed to doing it,” Russell declared.

Meanwhile, Bassarath said CWI and CPL have recognised that the talent is not really coming through in any part of the Caribbean, as was the case when the CPL first started.

“There are discussions going on, and I am quite sure that something has to be done to make sure that the talent we have in the Caribbean is exposed and developed; and it will serve CPL’s interest as well to make sure we continue to produce quality cricketers that are needed to ensure the tournament, which is the second best T20 franchise league in the world, continues to flourish,” Bassarath shared.

“I think they (CPL) will have a part to play in getting involved in the development of the game and helping to produce quality players that (are) needed for the CPL and for West Indies cricket,” he noted. (Sportsmax)

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023

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

– Caribbean coaches in rating Guyana’s school football

Romel and Robin win inaugural Panko Steel Golf Tournament Pg 23

CPL, CWI in talks about secondary …Ghanpat, Sukhram win chipping and putting competition T20 tournament GUYANA TIMES - www.guyanatimesgy.com, email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, NEWS HOTLINE: 231-8063 EDITORIAL: 223-7230, 223-7231, 231-0544, 225-7761 SPORT: sport@guyanatimesgy.com SALES AND MARKETING: 231-8064 - marketing@guyanatimesgy.com - PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY GUYANA TIMES INC.

Pg 23