Guyana Times - Thursday, July 14, 2022

Mining, quarrying sectors set for massive expansion –…saysGMSA President forestry, services sectors

P15

also on upward trajectory Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

Issue No. 5069

THE BEACON OF TRUTH THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2022

“Absolutely no need to go through any middleman” –…could Pres Ali to investors be held accountable for engaging middlemen, lobbyists Page 3

Govt withdraws another $41.7B from Natural Resource Fund Page 15

Cocaine-laden aircraft at Mahdia

Local Content Law

Companies Brazilian, Colombian using junior fined, jailed for 12 staff to meet years senior management quota – Jagdeo …but junior staff salaries remain

PRICE

$100 VAT INCLUDED

WHAT'S INSIDE:

Home Affairs Minister asks court to dismiss challenge P11 to Hicken’s appointment …says President acted in interest of national security

GDF rank P16 who stabbed girlfriend, her mother surrenders to Police 2 nabbed with illegal gun in car on Regent P8 Street

Page 7

Page 17

same despite ‘new’ job titles

3 cops to Charge recommended be charged for senior cop over order to trail Opposition Leader over burning of teen in lock-ups Page 7

Page 2

Opposition paddling in multiple directions on consultation with Govt – AG …says coalition undermining constitutional, democratic processes See story on page 10

Sophia man P8 found guilty of repeatedly raping teen

Development of Amerindian communities paramount – Ali

…urges NTC participants to identify core issues, plan way forward P17

2 NEWS

THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

3 cops to be charged over burning of teen in lock-ups

T

wo days after the Police’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) said it had launched an investigation to determine what transpired involving the burning of a teen detainee in the Vigilance Police

Station lock-ups on Sunday, advice was given for three Guyana Police Force (GPF) ranks and a civilian to be charged.

The legal advice that has since been received states that Police Constable 25324 Nazier is to be

charged with the offence of failing to perform his duties with diligence, contrary to Section 4(e)(ii) of the Police (Discipline) Act, Chapter 17:01, Corporal 18165 Thomas is to be charged with the offence of neglect of duty, contrary to

Injured: Jahiem Peters

Section 4(e)(i) of the Police (Discipline) Act, Chapter 17:01, while Corporal 20876 Bissessar is to be charged with the offence of omitting to make a necessary entry, contrary to Section 4(e) (viii) of the Police (Discipline) Act, Chapter 17:01.

Meanwhile, Keron Williams, the injured teen’s friend, is to be charged with the offence of Introducing prohibited articles into prison, contrary to Section 54(1)(a) of the Prison Act, Chapter 11:01.

According to the Police, Jahiem Peters, a 17-yearold of Annandale, East Coast Demerara (ECD), had accused a GPF rank

stationed at the Vigilance Police Station of torturing him. As such, the OPR decided to look into his claim.

“The inquiry has so far shown that on July 10, 2022, at around 10:30hrs, Peters was arrested pending an investigation into an allegation of an alleged robbery under arms in which he was recognised as one of the attackers and was assisting the Police with the said investigation,” the statement read.

Peters told investigators that while he was detained, two of his friends were also brought into custody. Police said the teen was sitting on the prisoner’s bench in front

of the lock-ups with another male detainee when he, Peters, asked one of them for a cigarette lighter and his friend gave him a lighter.

The other prisoner admitted to seeing when Peters’s friend gave him the cigarette lighter but claimed that he only heard Peters screaming while he was alone in the cell. The Police Officer on duty at the Vigilance Police Station allegedly rushed to the cell and removed Peters while his shirt was still on fire.

Peters, who was subsequently questioned by Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), claimed that he had been smoking in the lock-ups when he fell asleep and the cigarette caught on his shirt.

Two other civilian witnesses informed the investigators that they heard Peters screaming from his cell while they were at the station and that when the Police on duty took him outside, they saw fire on his shirt.

Meanwhile, the young man stated that he was beaten to say he set himself on fire and what the Police were claiming was not true.

The teen had reportedly left his home on the ECD on Thursday and was heading to Georgetown when he, along with two others, was picked up by Police and taken to the Vigilance Police Station. (G9)

NEWS

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THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS OPENINGS BRIDGE

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

Thursday, July 14 – 03:00h-04:30h and Friday, July 15 – 04:00h-05:30h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Thursday, July 14 – 17:00h-18:30h and Friday, July 15 – 05:15h-06:45h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

WEATHER TODAY

Sunshine is expected in the morning hours followed by light to thundery showers into the evening hours. Temperatures should range between 23 degrees Celsius and 30 degrees Celsius.

Winds: Northerly to Westerly between 1.78 metres and 3.57 metres.

High Tide: 17:17h reaching a maximum height of 2.59 metres.

Low Tide: 10:48h and 23:04h reaching minimum heights of 0.45 metre and 0.64 metre.

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“Absolutely no need to go through any middleman” – Pres Ali to investors …could be held accountable for engaging middlemen, lobbyists

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resident Dr Irfaan Ali has cautioned investors coming to do business in Guyana that there is no need for them to engage middlemen and lobbyists in setting up operations here, declaring that they could be held accountable if caught in any illegal act.

The Head of State made this remark in light of allegations made during a broadcast done by the US-based VICE News. In an extended video published last week, a VICE News Journalist went undercover and spoke with several persons from within the Chinese community here and they discussed “working the system”.

According to the Journalist, middlemen are allegedly paid money to get projects or other business done.

But President Ali told reporters on the sidelines of an event Wednesday evening that there was no need for investors to be getting involved with middlemen.

“This economy is going to expand. There are going to be more and more carpetbaggers coming in here; more persons claiming to be much more than they are. I am saying this very clearly to the public and to the investors, there is absolutely no need to go through any middleman; there is absolutely no need to engage any lobbyists, and there is absolutely no need for anyone coming to you [with shortcuts in setting up business in Guyana],” the Head of State contended.

He went on to point out that his Government would be going after those who continue to use middlemen to get things done illegally.

“We will have to deal with this situation because if you engage middlemen and lobbyists who want to claim that they have more than what they have, then you are also accountable and liable. Because it means that you are prepared to engage in something illegal.

So, I’m warning [investors],” the Guyanese Leader noted.

According to President Ali, he has already instructed Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC, to look at ways to further strengthen Guyana’s laws to clamp down on those middlemen as well as those who engage them.

Only last weekend, stateowned China Railway First Group Co Ltd (CRFG), the firm that won the contract to revive the highly-touted 165-megawatt Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP), denied corruption allegations made by VICE News.

In addition to shining the spotlight on the Amaila

President Dr Irfaan Ali

Falls Project – a flagship initiative of the governing People’s Progressive Party/ Civic regime – the Journalist mentioned being shown a contract between embattled Chinese businessman Su Zhirong and China Railway for a major road project.

CRFG had won the contract for “East Coast Demerara Public Road Widening and Improvement Project – Better Hope to Belfield Village” back in 2014.

But according to China Railway, in a statement over the weekend, the news piece is “misleading the public… on the groundless fabrication of so-called factors in an attempt to defame Chinese enterprises here in Guyana”.

The State-run Chinese construction firm solemnly stated that it has never

signed any agreement with Su, nor has it conducted any actions that were shown in the footage.

“Since its presence in Guyana from 2008, CRFG strictly abides by the laws and regulations of Guyana in conducting its business operations in the country.

We express strong indignation on the behaviours that VICE News and Su Zhirong deliberately fabricated stories and spread such untruthful information on the Internet to mislead the public and damage the reputation of our company. We strongly condemn such behaviours of defaming Chinese enterprises,” the company said in the statement.

Already, the Ali-led Administration has criticised the news agency

for attempts to paint top Government officials and the country at large as corrupt, specifically accepting bribes from Chinese investors, following the release of parts of the broadcast prior.

Moreover, in addition to the bribery scheme, the broadcast also claimed an alleged elaborate money-laundering scheme within the local Chinese community. On Monday, President Ali told reporters that the “self-confession” in the docu-series warranted a probe by local security forces.

Following on this remark on Wednesday evening, the Head of State explained that he could not instruct any of the security forces to conduct such an investigation, but noted that the onus was on them to look into it.

“I support any investigation into that person [who made the confession]…

There is a self-confession where somebody said they are involved in something illegal and any security force or Police force would want to investigate that, but don’t ask me to direct anyone. I am a President that would never get involved in directing anyone. Everyone can rest assured that this President is going to work within the constructs and constraints of the Constitution of the Republic of Guyana,” President Ali posited. (G8)

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THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2022

Views Editor: Tusika Martin News Hotline: 231-8063 Editorial: 231-0544, 223-7230, 223-7231, 225-7761 Marketing: 231-8064 Accounts: 225-6707 Mailing address: Queens Atlantic Investment Estate Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown Email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, marketing@guyanatimesgy.com

Teen moms and reintegration in school

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arlier this year, this newspaper reported that 38 adolescent mothers completed the reintegration programme though the Education Ministry.

These young mothers have a chance and opportunity to be gainfully employed and take care of their children. This opportunity, like the reintegration into the formal school system, gives adolescent mothers a prospect to a good education, thus providing them with the foundation to have a better life.

Sometime ago, after reports surfaced in the media that teenage girls, aged 13 and 15, from the Lower Pomeroon area, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), had become pregnant and had subsequently given birth to twins, there was much uproar about the lack of will at the level of policy-makers, and the lack of guidance at the social level, to help prevent teenage pregnancy. Also, this publication had reported, some time ago, of a 14-year-old girl, also from the Pomeroon River, who was hospitalised after she had tried to abort her unborn baby and had injured herself. This is a typical example of what happens when one becomes pregnant at a very young age, and possibly gets into a state of depression due to that pregnancy.

The fact that our students, who ought to be at school educating and preparing themselves to face life’s challenges, are engaging in such unwholesome and life changing activities is very worrying. Our adolescents would certainly have to face the consequences of these poor choices later down the road. The resulting problems could be many; for example: severe health complications for both the mother and child, and serious social and economic problems.

The World Health Organization (WHO), in one of its reports, had stated that adolescents aged 10-19 years account for 11 per cent of all births worldwide, and for 23% of the overall burden of disease due to pregnancy and childbirth.

The Organization has reported that 14 percent of all unsafe abortions in low- and middle-income countries are among women aged 15–19 years. About 2.5 million adolescents have unsafe abortions every year, and adolescents are more seriously affected by complications than are older women.

Many health problems are particularly associated with negative outcomes of pregnancy during adolescence. These include anaemia, malaria, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, postpartum haemorrhage, and mental disorders such as depression.

Likewise, the social problems, both on families and the community, are many. Many girls who become pregnant have to leave school. This has long-term implications for them as individuals, their families, and communities. For example, when an adolescent girl becomes pregnant, her entire life is affected, as her focus can no longer be her academic studies; she would now have to dedicate all her energies and resources to child rearing and caring. In most cases, the male partner is also similarly affected.

That said, we believe that in many of these cases, especially in girls under 15, such pregnancies are not the result of a deliberate choice, but rather an absence of choices, and of circumstances beyond a girl’s control. Early pregnancies reflect powerlessness, poverty and pressures – from partners, peers, families and communities. Hence, there is need for approaches that build girls’ human capital; help them make decisions about their lives, including matters of sexual and reproductive health; and offer them real opportunities, so that motherhood is not seen as their only destiny.

Girls need to have access to both sexual and reproductive health services, and to the right kind of information, so that they can make informed choices about their own lives. In many communities, especially in the hinterland areas, these services are lacking.

In May 2011, the World Health Assembly adopted a resolution urging member states to accelerate actions to improve the health of young people. It included these specific measures: reviewing and revising policies to protect young people from early child-bearing; providing access to contraception and reproductive health-care services; and promoting access to accurate information on sexual and reproductive health.

It is very commendable that the Education Ministry continues to help teen moms through the Re-integration of Adolescent Mothers programme. This affords teen mothers the opportunity to be productively employed, and for those who choose to re-enter the formal school system, they can do so successfully.

Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo viewing items on exhibition at the National Toshaos Conference (NTC), being held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal (Office of the Vice President photo)

MMA-ADA now better able to serve farmers

Dear Editor, Many may say, ‘Do not compare the past with the present,’ but I will speak as to the APNU+AFC’s five years in office, and about the PPP/C, in office presently for about 20 months.

Editor, during the five years of the former Government (APNU+AFC), the MMAADA was almost destroyed and brought down to nothing, all because of the AFC Executive member who was put to head the Agriculture Ministry, one of the most important Ministries in Government here in Guyana.

Agriculture was not only the backbone of our economy then, and even now, but all of Guyana depends on it for survival.

It employs tens of thousands, and feeds our nation. Billions and billions of dollars are being poured into this sector by private investors.

Under the APNU+AFC’s term in office, hundreds of farmers almost become crippled in their investment. Why? The then Minister of Agriculture had no vision to enhance the sector, or to do any-

thing to better the work of MMA-ADA. Many times, calls were made by farmers for assistance, be it in D&I works or for aid in reduction in taxes, rates, and VAT on agri products and machinery, but those calls went answered. The dams and drains within the MMAADA Scheme were very badly deteriorated, and MMA-ADA could not have done anything, because there was no equipment available to assist the farmers.

Many times, farmers would request a lowering of their rates and taxes, so that they can take care of the D&I within their farmlands, but nothing was given. Instead, the Minister and his Ministry, along with the APNU+AFC, raised the rates and taxes on the farmers.

Farmers refused to pay the raised rates because MMA was doing nothing to better their drainage canals and dams, because they had no equipment.

The Ministry and Central Government paid no heed to the farmers.

Instead, they demanded what they wanted from

the farmers. I can go on and on, but, in a nutshell, and we all know - and there is no doubt in this - the entire APNU+AFC Government, and in particular the Agriculture Ministry, failed Guyana and the farmers, who are the ones feeding our nation to survive.

The PPP Government was elected to office about twenty months ago, and MMA-ADA and the farmers within the region are very much pleased and appreciate the many positives done by the Ministry of Agriculture headed by Hon. Zulfikar Mustapha, MP, so that they can continue farming.

MMA-ADA is now equipped with several pieces of machinery, to the tune of about Gy$100M. Farmers already see their drainage systems and dams within the scheme being made better. Yes, there will be some who would complain, but all the drains and dams can’t be done at the same time.

Farmers have benefited from free fertilisers and a waive in land fee rental due to the episodes of heavy rainfall that left

them to suffer the losses of their crops. Farmers have also benefited from the removal of VAT on agricultural products and machinery. Ministerial visits for the past few months by the Hon. Mustapha outnumber those of the former Minister’s five years in office as the Agriculture Minister.

Officials from MoA are very much more visible in the region, and technical assistance is being given to farmers. Farmers’ concerns are now being addressed in a timelier manner, and MMA-ADA officials can now better function in executing their duties and services to those within the authority. Farmers now feel a sense of expanding and investing more in their farmlands than during the APNU+AFC years in office.

I talk to farmers in this region daily, and they are praising the Government for its input in the sector.

Many thank the Minister of Agri for his vision for this sector, and also for ensuring that MMA-ADA is better equipped to serve.

Respectfully, Abel Seetaram

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THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2022

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Remembering the Ballot Box Martyrs

Dear Editor, On July 16, we will be commemorating the brutal murder of our two exemplary comrades, Bholanauth Parmanand and Jagan Ramessar, two young men who were ruthlessly and brutally gunned down as they were among their villagers who were struggling for free and fair elections in Guyana.

On that fateful day, July 16, 1973, forty-nine years ago, Bholanauth Permanand and Jagan Ramessar were shot and killed by a Guyana Defence Force officer. Guyanese were fully aware of the People’s National Congress’s wicked approach to national elections, specifically their heinous intentions to rig the elections.

Investigations by the Justice Dhanessar Jhappan Commission of Inquiry revealed the high likelihood of a PPP victory if the elections were run in a free and fair manner. The Commission cited the massive public meetings held by the People’s Progressive Party, and the overwhelming pub-

lic display of support for Dr. Cheddi Jagan as evidence of this. The PNC, in order to ensure their victory by any means necessary, deployed the security forces, both army and Police, to all parts of the country.

In addition to the regular strength at the Police Stations in Berbice, a battalion was deployed from the Guyana Defence Force under Captain Johnson.

Captain Johnson had his headquarters in the compound of the Central Police Station in New Amsterdam.

Captain Johnson’s men were further broken up into smaller groups, and a platoon under the command of Lieutenant Henry was sent to the Upper Corentyne on June 7, 1973. The section consisted of two Sergeants, three Corporals, five Lance Corporals and nine Privates; that is twenty men in all, including Lieutenant Henry.

The platoon pitched camp at #51 Backdam, and remained there until June 19, 1973. From there they went to Plantation Skeldon, where they remained until June 27, 1973, when they

moved on to #63 and bivouacked on the beach. On June 14, 1973, they left #63 Beach and set up camp in the compound of the #51 Police Station. They had with them self-loading rifles, submachine guns, tear smoke grenades, and steel helmets.

Bholanauth Parmanand and 17-year-old Jagan Ramessar were shot by armed agents of the PNC dictatorship at #63 Village, Corentyne during the 1973 Elections, while peacefully protesting the illegal removal of the ballot boxes from the place of poll at the end of voting. Yours truly worked on that polling day in Pouderoyen, and I recall seeing GDF soldiers crawling on the roadside with their guns as we were coming out at 5:30am.

A physical manifestation of the PNC’s heinous intention to terrorise the population was unleashed in the form of thugs, Police, and the Army.

It is not by chance that Private London of the Guyana Defence Force was later known to Guyanese

as “Blackie”! He was one of the masterminds among the criminal gangs that terrorised the Guyanese people. “Blackie” was killed in a shootout with the Police, and the PNC draped his coffin with the National Flag and gave him a PNC farewell funeral.

July 16, 1973, with Corporal Collins, Privates Mc Kenzie, Layne and London (Blackie) of the Guyana Defence Force, Sergeant Ross and Police Constable Seecharran of the Police Force, Lieutenant Henry took along with him tear smoke grenades, respirators, steel helmets, two submachine guns, rifles and bayonets. He himself was armed with one of the submachine guns, Corporal Collins had the other.

The PNC thugs, with all their armed might, descended on the Corentyne with the clear intention to take full control of the ballot boxes and remove the representatives of the other three political parties from around the ballot boxes.

Bholanauth Parmanand was killed, and his dear wife

We are optimistic about our future

Dear Editor, On behalf of our fellow Amerindian brothers and sisters, we want to thank His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali and the PPP/C Government for hosting this year’s National Toshaos Conference.

After listening to President Ali’s speech, we are optimistic about our future. Thank you, Mr. President, for letting the nation know we Amerindians are not second-class citizens, and that you and your Government would listen to our ideas for our community development and work with us to ensure we achieve our goals.

We are, however, disheartened by the contents of a letter published in the local media on July 12, 2022 by the former Chair of the National Toshaos’ Council, Nicholas Fredericks, and the decision of some of the Executives of the former National Toshaos’ Council to boycott the ongoing National Toshaos’ Conference.

While you claim that the current Government has hijacked the conference, your absence is viewed as sinister.

The NTC is a forum for all Toshaos to voice their concerns and express their ideas for the development of our Amerindian communities; how will your absence help our people?

President Ali and all his Government Ministers are at all the sessions, to address all of our concerns and work together with all our Toshaos to find the best possible solutions for our development. It is even more interesting that we, as

Amerindian people in our different communities, can follow the presentations at the NTC via social media, so the truth is told at every level.

According to the letter published, Mr Fredericks claims that he is abstaining from the NTC because of a lack of communication on his travel arrangements and confirmation to address the NTC as the outgoing chairperson. In our view, these concerns - while they might be valid on a personal level - are not sufficient enough reasons to justify his absence, thereby depriving his community of representation, and, even more so, lending to the discussion of ideas for our Amerindian peoples’ development.

There are systems in place at the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs for all Toshaos to be reimbursed for their travel expenses according to the allotted subvention for the NTC. Further, as the outgoing NTC Executives, all the members have a commitment to represent their communities, to let their voices be heard for their development.

The allegation of the PPP/C hijacking the NTC is even more ludicrous given that the agenda was online for all to view. Every day during the five-day conference, Toshaos have the opportunity to discuss issues affecting their communities with Ministers in the presence of President Ali. These sessions are currently being chaired and facilitated by the newly elected Chair of the NTC. Where were the voic-

es of the outgoing NTC Executives when Keith Scott referred to us Amerindians as “greedy people”? When the APNU+AFC fired 2000 of our young CSOs? Where were their voices when the APNU+AFC halted land titling, and refused to address issues related to it?

How convenient is it for those former Executives to now abstain from attending, while forgetting the neglect by APNU+AFC in ensuring our elderly are given their pensions and our children are offered the best available resources to continue their education? Why were they silent when our health systems in the hinterland were neglected badly?

The records of this country would show that there were some Amerindian leaders who colluded with the former APNU+AFC Government to deprive and deny development for

Amerindians, while they enriched themselves from the largess of the state.

Today, we Amerindians are willing to work together with the PPP/C Government led by Dr Ali to move our development forward. We want to urge our fellow Amerindians to speak up on issues affecting us, and not be led astray by persons whose objectives are questionable. Let us use the opportunities offered by President Ali to have our voices heard, and push for our development as ‘One Guyana’. As President Ali confirmed too, ‘We have equal opportunity to development’ in Guyana.

Sincerely, Sonia Latchman: Bethany, Region Two Shane Cornelius: Karrau, Region Seven Timothy Andrews: St Cuthbert’s Mission, Region Four

and four children had to endure the death of the breadwinner of their home as their loving husband and father was ripped from them in the most brutal manner possible.

Young Jagan Ramessar was shot and killed, and the Army threw him in their vehicle and drove him around as he was kicked and stomped upon. He was paraded to send a message to the people in Berbice.

Approximately five hours later, after his corpse was unspeakably desecrated, he was taken to New Amsterdam Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Jagan Ramessar, only 18 years old, was brutally murdered, and his parents and other relatives are today still crying.

Parmanand’s immediate family and his comrades, forty-nine years later, still vividly recall the unbelievably brutal and monstrous debacle that was the 1973 elections.

My Dear Comrade Rishi Ram Motie and his friends tearfully recounted for me what they witnessed on that fatal day. Motie suffered a broken nose. His body was black and blue as he was cuffed and kicked. Scores of persons were badly beaten and threatened. Families were humiliated and separated. Rishi Ram Mote was a genuine activist with the PPP. During the campaign before July 16th, it was clear that the People’s Progressive Party meetings attracted massive support, while the PNC had a sprinkling of people. Motie, as he sobbed, told me that when the election results were an-

nounced and the PNC was the winning Party, nobody accepted the results. The PNC terrorists continued to terrorise the Berbicians, as hundreds of people fled their homes and went across to Suriname, while others went into hiding for weeks and months. As a result, thousands of Berbicians and other Guyanese were forced to leave Guyana.

Guyanese must never forget that many eminent persons, such as Dr. Walter Rodney, were assassinated and murdered during the dark days of the PNC rule. Today we must draw strength, unite, and work together for the maintenance and further development of the democracy we now enjoy.

We must ensure that the memories of Bholanauth Parmanand and Jagan Ramessar live on in us, and let their sacrifice inspire us to rally with Comrade Cheddi Jagan’s People’s Progressive Party.

We must never forget that the Guyana Elections Commission was fully under Burnham-PNC control.

It was the then Chairman of GECOM who allowed the staff to rig the Elections.

However, in 2020, it is the astute leadership of Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo and his powerful guidance that was able to unite this country, and with the help of the international observers, democracy triumphed in 2020.

As we are preparing for Local Government Elections, let us work resolutely to ensure free and fair elections.

Sincerely, Neil Kumar

Thursday, July 14, 2022

06:00 06:30 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 11:30 12:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 20:30 21:00 22:00 23:00 23:30 00:00

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THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2022

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Foundation ◄

Dividing Whole Numbers W

hen you divide, you have to know which number is the dividend and which number is the divisor. The dividend is the number to be divided. The divisor is the number that goes into the dividend. The answer, called the quotient, is the number of times the divisor can go into the dividend. If there is something left over when you are finished, you call that the remainder.

Begin by looking at the highest place value in the dividend, the digit on the left side. Can that number be divided by the divisor? In this case, the answer is yes, 3 ÷ 3 = 1. Put the 1 above the line as the beginning of the quotient. Since 1 x 3 = 3, place this 3 under the 3 in the dividend.

Next, subtract 3 – 3 = 0. Now carry down from the dividend the digit in the next place value, 4. Can 4 be evenly divided by 3. This time the answer is no, but there is one 3 in 4. So write 1 in the quotient, and subtract again. Keep repeating these steps until you get to the last digit in the dividend. How many times can 17 be divided by 3? 17 ÷ 3 = 5, with 2 left over. The 2 is the remainder.

Remember: When dividing, always begin on the left side of the dividend.

By

Exercises

the

Brothers Grimm

Then they went to bed, but Dame Ilsabill could not sleep all night for thinking what she should be next. At last, as she was dropping asleep, morning broke, and the sun rose. "Ha!" Thought she, as she woke up and looked at it through the window. "After all I cannot prevent the sun rising." At this thought she was very angry, and wakened her husband, and said, "Husband, go to the fish and tell him I must be lord of the sun and moon."

The fisherman was half asleep, but the thought frightened him so much that he started and fell out of bed. "Alas, wife!

Cannot you be easy with being pope?"

"No," said she, "I am very uneasy as long as the sun and moon rise without my permission. Go to the fish at once!"

Then the man went shivering with fear, and as he was going down to the shore a dreadful storm arose, so that the trees and the very rocks shook. All the heavens became black with stormy

CONTINUED FROM WEDNESDAY

clouds, and the lightning played, and the thunders rolled. You might have seen in the sea great black waves, swelling up like mountains with crowns of white foam upon their heads. The fisherman crept towards the sea, and cried out, as well as he could, "O man of the sea!

Hearken to me!

My wife Ilsabill Will have her own will, And hath sent me to beg a gift of thee!"

"What does she want now?" Said the fish. "Ah!" Said he.

"She wants to be lord of the sun and moon."

"Go home," said the fish, "to your pigsty again."

And there they live to this very day.

The end

WORD SEARCH

NEWS

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THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Local Content Law

Companies using junior staff to meet senior management quota – Jagdeo …but junior staff salaries remain same despite ‘new’ job titles

D

espite the Local Content Act, oil and gas companies continue to come up with new ways to bypass the law. According to Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, companies have now taken to using their junior staff to fill up the legally-mandated quota for senior management staff, all while the junior staff continue to collect their original salary.

According to Jagdeo during the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) Mid-Year Dinner, the fact that Guyana was able to get the Local Content Act passed very early into the development of the oil and gas sector is significant since many countries only pass their local content laws decades into the business. However, Jagdeo noted that even with the Act, there were companies still trying to dupe the authorities.

“There are many people who are trying to bypass the provisions of the legislation.

It has been brought to my attention, for example, that a company that may have had maybe three foreign directors/ managers in the old dispensation, now to get past the legislation since there is a 75 per cent management team (requirement),” Jagdeo said.

“To get past that position, they simply take junior staff and change their designations. So, the management team now becomes larger. So, they fulfil that requirement.

But it’s just a designation for junior staff. When you look at their salary structure, their salaries have not changed.”

According to Jagdeo, the

Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo during the GMSA dinner

Government is keeping a close eye on this. He noted that other companies have also gone the route of giving a Guyanese company 50 per cent ownership, but also charge a large contract fee for management services.

Jagdeo noted that the Government’s experiences with managing local content in the oil sector, as well as Guyana’s affiliation with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and Caribbean Community (Caricom), have dissuaded it from implementing similar policies in other productive sectors.

“So, the profit margin is smaller, to be distributed based on the shares structure.

So that is why, to a large extent, if we start going to every sector, it’s not desirable.

Because we’re also part of the WTO, Caricom,” the Vice President said.

“And if we start shutting down every sector to foreigners or imposing requirements for their investment in every other area, we can also have reciprocal behaviour for our investors abroad. Or alternately, they can put up trade

Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat

Minister

barriers to prevent our products going into their market.”

Local Content

According to the Local Content Act passed last year, oil and gas companies operating in Guyana, as well as their contractors and sub-contractors, must procure from Guyanese companies by the end of 2022, 90 per cent of office space rental and accommodation services; 90 per cent of janitorial, laundry and catering services; 95 per cent of pest control services; 100 per cent of local insurance services; 75 per cent of local supply of food; and 90 per cent of local accounting services.

These are just some of the 40 different services outlined in the first schedule.

The Act also defines a local company as one incorporated under the Companies Act and beneficially owned by Guyanese nationals.

Beneficial ownership is defined as owning 51 per cent of the company. Additionally, a local company is expected to have Guyanese in at least 75 per cent of executive and senior management positions

and at least 90 per cent in non-managerial and other positions.

In a recent interview with Guyana Times, Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat assured that the Government was committed to taking action against defaulters. He noted that as long as companies fail to satisfy all the criterion for their Local Content Certificates, these would continue to be denied to them.

“We have a Local Content legislation. And like all laws, you have to abide by the laws.

And if companies are not acting in keeping with the laws, then obviously there will be consequences as we have seen the non-approval of a few companies because of the fact they did not reach the criteria set out in the legislation,” Bharrat posited.

“You know there are more than one criteria, one criteria speaks to 51 per cent

ownership by Guyanese or a Guyanese company, there is another criteria that speaks 75 per cent managerial staff, there’s another criteria that speaks to 90 per cent of general staffing. So, companies need to satisfy all criteria, not only one criteria too, so once the Secretariat is not satisfied that companies are not acting in keeping with the legislation, obviously they will take action,” Bharrat further said.

Charge recommended for senior cop over order to trail Opposition Leader

A

Superintendent within the Guyana Police Force (GPF), who reportedly instructed junior ranks to trail Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton will face a disciplinary charge.

On Wednesday afternoon, legal advice was provided to the acting Commissioner of Police, Clifton Hicken, and Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum, for a charge to be instituted.

The charge was initiated after a complaint was made of Police ranks trailing the Leader of the Opposition on June 13 when he visited the family of Quindon Bacchus on the East Coast of Demerara. Bacchus was shot dead by a Police rank during a sting operation.

On Thursday, the GPF said that the Superintendent would be charged with the offence of

Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton confronting the officers who were trailing him

acting in a manner likely to bring discredit to the reputation of the Force. This is contrary to Section 4(d) (vii) of the Police (Discipline) Act, Chapter 17:01.

It is being alleged that he gave his junior ranks the instructions to escort the Leader of the Opposition and was not being truthful about it.

In a video that was posted on Facebook, Norton was seen being followed by two

masked ranks on motorcycles. The Opposition Leader stopped his vehicle and confronted the ranks. He was heard asking the ranks who gave them instructions to follow him.

As such, the ranks responded that they were only following orders.

After the incident, the Force’s Office of Professional Responsibility launched an investigation into the incident. (G9)

8 NEWS

THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Sophia man found guilty of repeatedly raping teen A

31-year-old man was on Wednesday found guilty of repeatedly raping a 13-year-old girl.

Collin Venture of Sophia, Greater Georgetown, had been on trial before Demerara Sexual Offences Court Judge Simone Morris-Ramlall for three counts of sexual penetration of a child under 16.

After deliberating for over two hours, the jury returned unanimous guilty verdicts on each of the three counts, finding that Venture had raped the

Child rapist Collin Venture

child between September and October of 2020.

Following the verdicts, Venture, who had been out on $150,000 bail, was remanded to prison pending his sentencing hearing, which is fixed for July 27 at 11:30h.

State Counsels Cecilia Corbin, Caressa Henry and Paneeta Persaud prosecuted the case, while Venture was represented by Defence Counsel Alaira MurphyGoodman.

According to the facts, Venture is known to the

teenage girl, and was in the habit of taking her into a toilet behind a shop near her home, where he would rape her. The matter came to light only after the girl’s stepmother had searched her phone and discovered some very disturbing messages exchanged between her and Venture. The young girl was confronted, and she admitted that Venture had raped her.

A report was made to the Police, and Venture was arrested and prosecuted. (G1)

2 nabbed with illegal gun in car on Regent Street

T

wo men are now in Police custody after they were nabbed with an illegal firearm on Regent Street, Georgetown.

Reports are that the men were arrested on Sunday between 03:45h and 04:00h, after the firearm was found in the motorcar in which they were travelling.

It has been reported that a party of Policemen from Regional Division 4 ‘A’, acting on information received, intercepted black Toyota 192 motorcar PJJ 1870 on Regent Street, while it was

The gun and ammunition found in the car

parked in the vicinity of Camp Street. At the time, two occupants were in the

vehicle, and Police have said that the motorcar, which is owned by a woman, was be-

ing driven by a 30-year-old relative, a health and safety worker of Middle Street, Sparendaam, East Coast Demerara (ECD).

In the car with the 30-year-old was a 22-yearold security officer attached to Kayla Gold Mining Services (KGM), also of Middle Street, Sparendaam, ECD. A search was conducted on the motorcar in the presence of the driver and passenger, and it unearthed a 9mm pistol without a serial number on the frame, along with one magazine and seven live matching rounds of ammunition under the driver’s seat.

The driver and passenger were arrested. After being questioned, the 22-year-old admitted that the firearm is owned by him, while the driver remained silent.

Both men were escorted to the Brickdam Police Station, where the firearm and ammunition were lodged. The car was also taken into Police custody. An investigation is ongoing. (G9)

223-7230-1 (Ext 55)

Removed...

S

…by their “own”

o the President of Sri Lanka, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has fled his country, after his palace was overrun by waves of Sri Lankans. It seemed to be a modern storming of the Bastille…that seminal uprising in 1789 in Paris, where a mass of French citizens invented that term (citizen) by asserting their authority over their “monarch”, and declaring the values of “Liberty, fraternity and equality” were paramount. That uprising was on July 14, while the Sri Lankans’ fury boiled over a few days earlier, on July 10.

Rajapaksa probably remembered that King Louis XIV had been beheaded four years after the Bastille’s storming, so he didn’t take a chance: he commandeered a military jet and jetted off to the Maldives!!

But what Rajapaksa’s rule did demonstrate was that man’s inhumanity to his fellow man is probably so deeply imbedded in our human psyches that none of the institutions invented after 1789 to keep it in check have succeeded. Republicanism – where the people were supposed to rule, rather than monarchism - was imitated by so many countries, only to have elected leaders like Rajapaksha behaving worse that the old kings and queens.

But we shouldn’t be surprised, should we?? Didn’t we throw up a Burnham who shamelessly wrote a constitution that gave him even more authority than Louis XVI??!!

With his ostentatious Queen’s College French, Burnham would’ve fancied himself more like Louis XIV - epitomising the absolute ruler - when he declared 'L'etat c'est moi' ('I am the state!)!

Like Guyana, Sri Lanka was a British colony that was divided ethnically – there between 75% Sinhalese and the Tamils. The latter had emigrated thousands of years before, but were joined by more recent arrivals from Indian Tamil Nadu during British colonial rule. After independence in 1947, the Sinhalese ran roughshod over the Tamils, who finally resorted to guerrilla warfare in the 1980s to create their own independent state, led by the “Tamil Tigers”.

It was Gotabaya’s brother, Mahinda Rajapaksha, who, as President in 2009, ended the Civil War by launching a brutal near-conventional mode military campaign, with Gotabaya as Defence Secretary commanding the Sri Lankan army. Back in the day, Gotabaya had been an officer in the army, but he violated every human rights article in the book against the Tamil people to destroy the Tigers. Over 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the latter months of Gotabaya’s campaign.

But life went on, as the Rajapakshas became heroes to the Sinhalese majority – especially to the Buddhist monks who (violently!!) pushed Sinhalese nationalism which excluded the mostly Hindu and Muslim Tamils. The Rajapakshas, however, used their popularity to create a virtual monarchy, with their corrupt relatives running the Govt.

Payback’s a bi*ch!! Especially for the Buddhists monks!! …but why??

So, why were the Rajapakshas ousted? Sri Lanka’s a cautionary tale about giving too much slack to leaders just because they are “our own”!! They never followed up their victory with a pragmatic programme to address Tamil concerns, and assumed the Sinhalese would never turn to another party. But after they made the Government into a Rajapaksha fiefdom, they made economic decisions that made no sense – save that some siphoned off billions into their pockets.

There was the Hambantota port and the Mattala Rajapaksa Airport - constructed with loans from China at a cost of over $2 billion - that became white elephants, since they had almost zero utility. But the loans gotta be repaid.

Money was printed, and inflation exploded!! Then there was the decision to ban fertilizers in an agricultural country, to make Sri Lanka into the first purely organic farming nation!!

Just to please some environmental crazies!! Production of rice (domestic demand) and tea (export earner) crops collapsed, creating a food and forex crisis.

COVID was the clincher!! Ouch!! …by scabs??

When workers go on strike, folks brought in to replace them – temporary or not – are called “scabs”. Doesn’t matter what’s the reason. So this is what they are, whom the managers etc brought in to break the Uitvlugt factory strike!!

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, JULY 14, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Govt prepared to support, sell crude to small refinery …several proposals submitted

V

ice President Bharrat Jagdeo has revealed that the Government, which presently has several proposals before it for setting up a refinery, is prepared to support the establishment of a small refinery, and even sell limited amounts of Guyana’s crude to such a refinery.

During the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association’s (GMSA’s) mid-year dinner, on Tuesday at the Ramada Princess Hotel, Jagdeo, who was the feature speaker, explained that the Government, in theory, does support the setting up of a small refinery.

“We have a lot of proposals here for refineries.

Right now we have several, and we said we’re prepared to sell, because I don’t know which one will go forward. So that if it will lend itself to greater energy security - which is a crucial matter for us - so that we have, in situations of crises the same way we have food crises, that we can have our own domestic supply of gas and everything else; for that reason, we’re prepared to support a small refinery,” Jagdeo said. “But we’ve had discussions with several groups, and we’re prepared to sell a limited number of barrels of crude to the refinery to make that work.”

There is, however, a darker side to refineries that Jagdeo alluded to in responding to questions from the audience. Besides the pollution that comes from refineries, Jagdeo

noted, most of the proposals also wanted tax holidays.

Jagdeo also debunked the belief that refineries should be set up on the basis of job creation. In fact, he noted that even with a refinery and a gas-to-shore project complete with a Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) facility, there would not be enough jobs retained to cater to the needs of Guyanese. Those facilities will, however, provide a much-needed boost to Guyana’s push to be industrialised and to have enough gas to export.

“My point is that we’re bringing in a pipeline.

The gas will come in. The gas will be used to generate power, the first 50 million cubic. We will have an LNG facility that will supply enough LPG for us to export. We’d have to find an export market for LPG, cooking gas. Then we have another 70 to 80 million cubic feet of gas that will come in. That will be utilised for other industries.

“So, we are going to utilise gas to industrialise and to do a lot of things.

We’re talking about fertiliser, fibre, a whole range of other products, downstream industries.

So, we’re going to do that. My point was that when you look at all of those investments, you still cannot absorb the number of young people who are looking for jobs,” Jagdeo explained.

As such, the Vice President stressed the importance of expanding the services industry, mining, forestry and other sectors

that are more job retentive.

Refinery

Even as Guyana receives growing interest for small refineries here, Trinidad and Tobago has been touting the availability of Petrotrin – it’s stateowned refinery that is currently under negotiations for sale or lease – to refine Guyana’s oil.

This was revealed by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley during a press conference in Port of Spain shortly after returning from a week-long engagement in Guyana, for the Agri Investment Forum and Expo that was held from May 19 to 21. According to Rowley, discussions were held on the possible use of this Trinidad refinery during his engagements in Georgetown.

“If Guyana has oil and Guyana is interested, with someone who we have selected here or are selecting, then those conversations should take place,” Rowley has said.

“It all has to do with a supply of oil to the refinery, which exist and can, with some not insignificant effort, be brought back into operation, if only there is an entity with a supply of oil. That entity is not the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, it’s not Petrotrin,” the T&T Prime Minister posited.

Petrotrin (Petroleum Company of Trinidad and Tobago) was closed back in 2018. At the time, the unavailability of a sufficient supply of oil being pro-

An example of a refinery

duced locally to keep operations going had been cited.

At a press briefing in Guyana before he had departed after the close of the Agri Expo, PM Rowley had explained that due to the lack of an adequate supply of oil locally, the country had to import as much as 120,000 barrels per day to be refined; but, in that process, would incur losses. This situation led to the closure of the facility.

S u c c e s s i v e Governments in Guyana have been cautious on

the matter of building in Guyana a refinery that is State-owned, resulting in the only takers for this initiative coming from the Private Sector.

The former A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government

had previously hired a consultant, Pedro Haas, to carry out a feasibility study into constructing an oil refinery. The results of the study did not favour building a refinery, particularly one with a capacity to produce over 100,000 barrels per day. (G3)

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THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Opposition paddling in multiple directions on consultation with Govt – AG …says coalition undermining constitutional, democratic processes

A

ttorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall, SC, has called out the A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Opposition over their conflicting position on the issue of consultation.

This comes on the heels of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government currently facing a series of legal actions on several constitutional appointments, mounted by the Opposition, who are citing the lack of consultation.

According to Nandlall, Khemraj Ramjattan, Leader of the AFC – the minority party in the Coalition Opposition – is now chiding the Government for seeking to consult with the APNU+AFC in the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Constitutional Reform.

The Attorney General noted in a post on Facebook on Wednesday that Ramjattan

Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall, SC

is accusing the Government of nit-picking and making excuses about a process as a way of avoiding constitutional reform.

“They don’t want constitutional reform, so they will place the blame at our doorsteps. There was a quorum…if you want constitutional reform, proceed with the quorum that you have…” Ramjattan is quoted as saying in a Kaieteur News article.

Paradoxically, howev-

er, Nandlall pointed out that, at the very meeting of the Constitutional Reform Committee, the other Opposition Committee Members, AFC’s Raphael Trotman and APNU’s Geeta Chandan-Edmond, are on record pleading for more time to proffer recommendations from the APNU/AFC. “At the same time, Mr Aubrey Norton, MP, the Leader of the Opposition, is suing the Government for failing to CONSULT on

certain constitutional appointments, although the President has consulted when possible, and Norton has failed to turn up to the consultation meetings to which he was invited…

Anyway, Ramjattan’s enlightened advice is being noted for future reference,” AG Nandlall asserted.

Moreover, the Legal Affairs Minister outlined that the APNU/AFC Opposition want to create an atmosphere that is not conducive to constitutional and democratic governance and government, and are using a series of legal challenges to do so.

Creating atmosphere of animosity

During his weekly programme “Issues in the News” on Tuesday evening, Nandlall spoke about the Coalition going to the court to challenge the appointment of constitutional bodies, Clifton Hicken as Police Commissioner, their attempts to block the promotion of Police ranks, and the fact that they are asking the court to block further consultations between the President and Opposition Leader as those relate to critical appointments.

“The sum total of this, if they are able to successfully execute their objective, is to grind constitutionality and constitutional governance to a halt. Their actions are clearly designed to undermine the Constitution, undermine the democratic process of the state.

Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton

“We have many more consultations to do with the Leader of the Opposition, but after creating this atmosphere of animosity, after creating this environment of antagonism, of contention, of controversy, how are those consultations going to take place?” the Attorney General argued.

He further reminded that it was Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton who refused to show up for a second round of consultations with President Dr Irfaan Ali, and when the Head of State went ahead to appoint several constitutional bodies, the Opposition is now challenging those appointments.

“I believe that these actions are deliberately filed to precipitate this animosity and this antagonistic environment, so that the constitutional processes are going to be sabotaged, so that the constitutional rule is going to be undermined, so that the Constitution itself is going to be subverted. I believe

that that is the intention behind these series of court actions and the public posture that follows,” the Minister stated.

Nandlall outlined that, unlike the PPP/C while in Opposition, when it took to the courts to fight for people’s rights, the APNU/AFC Opposition have sought to create and fabricate the opportunities to file cases in the courts.

“They refuse to attend the consultation, and when you proceed to make the appointments in their absence, they sue you… That has been their modus operandi, and we need to go through these things slowly, so that people understand the type of Opposition we have in this country and the challenges we face as a Government,” he said.

“They want to create an atmosphere that is not conducive to constitutional and democratic governance and government, so that they can create havoc on the streets,” AG Nandlall contended.

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THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Home Affairs Minister asks court to dismiss challenge to Hicken’s appointment …says President acted in interest of national security

H

ome Affairs Minister Robeson Benn has defended President Dr Irfaan Ali’s appointment of Clifton Hicken as acting Police Commissioner, insisting that in the absence of an Opposition Leader with whom the Head of State must consult, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) could not have been left headless in the interest of national security.

Benn advanced these, along with other grounds, in an Affidavit in Defence in response to Opposition Chief Whip Christopher Jones’s application in which he is asking Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George, SC, to declare that the appointment violates Article 211 (1) and 211 (2) of the Constitution because there was no consultation between the President and Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton.

Article 211 (1) mandates that “the Commissioner of Police and every Deputy Commissioner of Police shall be appointed by the President acting after meaningful consultation with the Leader of the Opposition and the Chairperson of the Police Service Commission [PSC] after the Chairperson has consulted with the other members of the Commission”.

Benn deposed that the tenure of the previous PSC expired on August 8, 2021, and Joseph Harmon, who at that time, was Leader of the Opposition, resigned on January 26.

National security

Considering this, Benn said that President Ali informed him that it would be

Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn

inimical, if not catastrophic to the public’s interest, law and public order, national security, and the territorial integrity of Guyana, to leave a vacuum in the office of the Commissioner of Police while he awaits the appointment of an Opposition Leader with whom he would be required to consult.

According to Benn, the process and procedures to reconstitute and appoint a Chairperson of the PSC and then again engage in meaningful consultation to appoint a person to act in the office of Commissioner of Police could take months to be properly completed.

Based on those circumstances, Benn submitted that rather than leaving a vacuum in the office of the Commissioner of Police and having regard to the preponderance of statutory functions and duties which devolve upon the Police Force, including the preservation of law and order, the public’s

best interest and the interest of national security” and there being no Opposition Leader and members of the PSC, President Ali appointed Hicken on March 30.

Importantly, Benn noted that during its 183 years of existence, the Police Force, which is widely regarded as a paramilitary force and currently has a raft of 7035 ranks, has never been without a Police Commissioner.

As it relates to national security, the Home Affairs Minister referenced Venezuela’s longstanding claim to a large portion of the sovereign territory of Guyana, which has, over the years, been followed by actions in certain border communities, including unlawful presence in Guyana’s territorial waters.

“This threat to Guyana’s territorial integrity is compounded by the fact that there is a constant flow of persons from Venezuela into Guyana, which requires both the Police Force and the Guyana Defence Force to be engaged in daily monitoring of the situation, as well as be ready to take action, when necessary, in order to protect Guyana’s territorial integrity, as well as to protect national security and public order,” Benn argued.

Qualified

According to the Minister, he is familiar with the personal life of Hicken, who joined the GPF in August 1986 as a Special Constable, and thereafter, has held the ranks of Lance Corporal, Corporal, Sergeant, Inspector, Assistant Superintendent, Superintendent, Senior

Commissioner of Police (ag), Clifton Hicken

Superintendent, Assistant Commissioner, and now Commissioner (ag).

Having examined the relevant records, Benn said that the acting Police Commissioner is currently the longest serving member of GPF. Having regard to his experience and the ranks he has held over the years, Benn said, “I am of the considered view that Mr Hicken is qual-

ified to act in and perform the functions of the office of Commissioner of Police.

“His Excellency, the President choose Mr Clifton Hicken as a fit, proper, and duly qualified person, holding the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police, to act temporarily in the office of Commissioner of Police,” submitted the Home Affairs Minister.

Moreover, he said that he believed that the vacancy which existed in the Office of the Leader of the Opposition was in no way occasioned by the President nor the public, but rather through acts or omissions of the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition. He further said that Hicken’s appointment was intended to be transient until the appointment of the PSC and its Chairman and an Opposition Leader.

As such, Benn deposed that he was advised

by Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC, and believes

Chief Justice Roxane George (ag), SC

that “it would have been a gross dereliction of constitutional duties on the part of the President to undermine and jeopardise the public’s interest, national security, public order, the rule of law and the territorial integrity of Guyana, to have left the office of the Commissioner of Police without an occupant.”

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15 Govt withdraws another $41.7B from Natural Resource Fund NEWS

THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

T

he Government has withdrawn another US$200 million, equivalent to G$41.7 billion, from the Natural Resource Fund in accordance with the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) Act 2021.

On Thursday evening, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh announced that, pursuant to Section 16 of the NRF Act 2021, a further

US$200 million, equivalent to G$41.6 billion, has been transferred from the Natural Resource Fund to the Consolidated Fund to finance national development priorities.

“It would be recalled that in May of this year, Government made its first withdrawal of $200 million, equivalent to G$41.7 billion. This brings the accumulated withdrawals

to date from the NRF to US$400 million, equivalent to G$83.3 billion,” the Minister said in a statement.

This transfer was made in accordance with the strengthened legal architecture of the NRF Act 2021. The International Monetary Fund, which recently concluded the 2022 Article IV mission to Guyana in May-June

of this year, commended Government on the amendments made to the NRF Act, and the staff concluding statement highlighted: “The recent amendments to the 2019 Natural Resource Fund Act set clear ceilings on withdrawals from the Fund for budgetary spending, and promote transparency in the management and use of oil resources.

Staff praised the authori-

ties’ thorough review of the 2019 NRF Act before making amendments, and the restraint in using any oil revenues before the passage of the amendments,” the statement noted.

The NRF Act 2021 came into operation on 1st January 2022, and as part of the Budget 2022 process, Parliamentary approval was granted for a total of US$607.6 million to

be transferred during fiscal year 2022. Budget 2022 has been the first budget to be financed partly by Guyana’s oil revenues.

Since Exxon found crude in commercial quantities offshore in 2015, there have been 31 oil finds to date in the Stabroek Block, and an estimated recoverable resource of over 11 billion oil-equivalent barrels.

Mining, quarrying sectors set for massive expansion – GMSA President …says forestry, services sectors also on upward trajectory

R

ecent developments in the gold mining sector, as well as the quarrying sector, augur well for Guyana’s economic prospects and growth in these sectors. This is according to Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) President Rafeek Khan.

During the GMSA’s mid-year dinner on Tuesday, Khan gave his outlook on the economy.

For one, he was optimistic about the recent news that two gold companies in Guyana are either slated to start exploration soon or are currently doing preparatory work. Khan was also optimistic about the forestry sector, in which he is personally involved.

“We’re going to see the mining sector (increasing). Today I saw on the news, two new companies coming in to build capacity. The mining sector has been down. The gold production has been down.

But we anticipate, with the building of capacity and investments coming in to the country, we’re going to see those sectors increasing,” Khan said.

“The forestry sector, which I’m actually part of, has actually increased its production, despite the challenges, by 25 per cent to date. We have increased exports by 30 per cent. So, those are some good indicators that we see happening.”

It was revealed by Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat recently that Barrick Gold would be starting exploration soon. Further, ETK Incorporated in partnership with Gran Colombia would also be doing work on the Toroparu mine.

Khan meanwhile also spoke about the pharma-

year is St Vincent and the Grenadines, at 7.3 per cent.

When it comes to the forecast for 2022, the World Bank had projected an economic growth rate of 47.9 per cent for Guyana. In this case, only Barbados, with a projected growth rate of 11.2 per cent for 2022, also crosses

GMSA President Rafeek Khan

ceutical sector, noting that with eight hospitals planned for the country and US$180 million expected to be spent on hospitals, the pharmaceutical sector is likely to be increased.

According to Khan, the oil and gas sector will drive economic expansion in the non-oil sector, including in agriculture and construction.

“As the President has been promoting bilateral trade within the Caribbean, food security and housing, apart from oil and gas, those two sectors are going to drive the economy. Food security moves into a whole array of services, not just the manufacturing and production of food.”

“I heard the quarry sector, the Government has issued 10 quarry licences.

The country has an annual demand of 1.5 (million) metric tonnes. And we’re importing 300 (thousand) metric tonnes of that.

Eventually, we’re going to see the quarry sector increasing,” Khan further said.

The GMSA President

also touched on the services sector, which he noted encompassed from tourism to consultancies.

In fact, he noted that the GMSA has seen increased membership in the services sector, including in consultancies, accountancy, and environmental or architectural services.

This sector, he noted, is one that is also on a rapid growth path.

The World Bank had estimated earlier this year that Guyana’s 2023 economic growth rate would be over 34 per cent.

According to its semi-annual report for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) called “Consolidating the Recovery; Seizing Green Growth Opportunities”, which was released in April, Guyana will register a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 34.3 per cent in 2023.

This rate of growth is actually the most in the LAC region and the only one in double figures, once again highlighting the importance of oil exploration to the economy. The second highest growth rate projected for next

over into double figures.

Since these projections, however, the Government, through Senior Minister with responsibility for Finance in the Office of the President, Dr Ashni Singh, has actually upped the growth projections.

While addressing the Guyana-Saudi Arabia Investment Engagement

that was held in the dome of the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) on Saturday, Singh had revealed that the projected growth for Guyana is now 57.8 per cent. According to him, Guyana’s economic growth will outperform both regional and global averages.

16 NEWS

THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Trial into 2008 murder of soldier

Closing arguments to be presented on Monday C

ome Monday, State Prosecutors Latifah Elliott and Muntaz Ali will present closing arguments to the jury as to why Mark Royden Williams – the man charged with the 2008 murder of Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Corporal Ivor Williams – should be held criminally liable for his actions.

Before Demerara High Court Judge Sandil Kissoon, the Prosecutors and Williams’s lawyer, Nigel Hughes, will present their closing arguments as the trial, which commenced two weeks ago, comes to a close.

The defence is expected to discuss the presumption of innocence and the prosecution’s burden of proving that the accused is guilty beyond reasonable doubt.

The murder accused, called “Smallie”, who is currently on death row for killing 12 persons during the 2008 Bartica, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) Massacre, while leading his defence, adamantly denied fatally shooting the soldier, claiming that “they [investigators] got the wrong man”.

The defence closed its case on Wednesday.

Corporal Williams was shot dead on January 23, 2008 by gunmen while he and other soldiers were carrying out a military opera-

“Mango Man”, of Cove and John, ECD, was shot and killed by bandits.

In May 2013, Mark Williams and another man, James Hyles, called “Sally”, were found not guilty of murdering 11 persons, including children, in the January 2008 Lusignan, ECD Massacre.

Following the men’s discharge, the State appealed their acquittals to the Court Murder accused Mark Royden Williams

tion at Buxton, East Coast Demerara (ECD).

Meanwhile, in 2017, Mark Williams and Dennis “Anaconda” Williams were sentenced to death by hanging for their involvement in the 2008 Bartica Massacre, which left 12 persons, including three Policemen, dead.

They were found guilty of the killings by a jury.

The two men have since filed an appeal against their conviction and sentence. That case is yet to be called at the Court of Appeal of Guyana.

On February 17, 2008, gunmen carried out a brazen attack on the community of Bartica while members of the mining community were watching a game of 20/20 cricket on television.

On that fateful night, Police Lance Corporal Zaheer Zakir and Constables Shane Fredericks and Ron Osborne

Killed: GDF Corporal Ivor Williams

were fatally shot. Edwin Gilkes, Dexter Adrian, Irving Ferreira, Deonarine Singh, Ronald Gomes, Ashraf Khan, Abdool Yasseen, Errol Thomas, and Baldeo Singh were the civilians killed.

Then, in 2021, Mark Williams was found not guilty by a jury of the December 16, 2007 murders of 35-year-old Rajesh Singh and 25-year-old Fazal Hakim, which occurred at Triumph, ECD. Another man, Michael Caesar, called “Capone”, was sentenced to 13 years in prison after pleading guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter over the deaths of Singh and Hakim.

In February 2019, Mark Williams and Sherwin Nero, called “Catty” or “Pussy”, were both found not guilty of the murder of businessman Kumar Singh, which occurred on August 30, 2007.

Singh, 51, also known as

of Appeal, arguing, among other things, that several material irregularities had rendered the not-guilty verdicts unsafe and unsatisfactory.

The appellate court unanimously allowed the State’s appeal, thereby remitting the matter to the High Court for a new trial. But Mark Williams and Hyles appealed that ruling to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), which, in May

2018, restored their acquittals.

In 2017, Mark Williams was among the high-profile prisoners who escaped after a fire gutted the Camp Street Prison in Georgetown. He was, however, apprehended weeks later by Police ranks while he was on a public minibus on the Weldaad Public Road, West Coast Berbice (WCB). (G1)

GDF rank who stabbed girlfriend, her mother surrenders to Police

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ne week after James Cadogan, a former member of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), had stabbed his girlfriend and her mother at his home on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD), he has surrendered to the Police.

Guyana Times has been informed that Cadogan turned himself in to the custody of the Police on Monday, at about 16:00h. The 26-yearold resident of Haslington, ECD had been evading Police after he had allegedly stabbed and injured his girlfriend, 23-year-old Zenida April, a GDF rank, and her mother Nevorn April.

The suspect and his girlfriend were living together, and were having relationship issues prior to the stabbing.

In fact, one day before that incident, the couple had had

a heated argument during which the man had allegedly threatened to stab the woman.

As such, the girlfriend had gone to stay with her mother, and a report had been made to the Police.

However, the following day, the two women and a relative had gone to the man’s home at Paradise, ECD. As the women entered one of the bedrooms, the ex-soldier locked the door, preventing the relative from gaining access, and soon after, screams were heard.

In retaliation, the relative had forcefully gained entry into the house through a window, and had found the two women covered in blood. The suspect had already made his way out of the house and escaped.

The girlfriend was

stabbed to her chest, neck, arms and back, while her mother was stabbed once to the shoulder.

Meanwhile, last Sunday, the family released to Guyana Times a recording of the alleged suspect telling the injured woman’s mother that her daughter has to die, and he would hunt her down “like Police hunt thief”. The voice messages came just after the man had sent a message to the injured woman, pleading for her forgiveness.

The family have said it was only last month that they realised that Cadogan had an issue that kept getting worse, hence the girlfriend was planning to leave him.

However, after Guyana Times published the threats made by the man, he turned himself in to the Police. (G9)

Home Affairs Minister asks court...

FROM PAGE 11

Consultations ongoing

With Norton having been elected Opposition Leader on April 13, Benn said that President Ali commenced a process of meaningful consultations on April 29 with him for the appointment of several constitutional commissions, including the PSC. Those consultations, he said, concluded on May 30, and led to a four-member PSC, inclusive of a Chairman being appointed on May 31.

They are Attorney-atLaw Mark Conway, businessmen Ernesto Choo-a-Fat and Hakeem Mohammed, as members; and Pastor Patrick Findlay, who will serve as Chairman.

Pastor Findlay, Benn pointed out, after consulting with other members of the PSC, indicated that they had no objection to the President’s nominee, Hicken.

A mere week after the PSC was appointed, Benn pointed out , the President acted with “promptitude” to initiate a process of meaningful consultations with Norton to appoint a person to act in the office of Commissioner of Police; that process is still ongoing.

In the circumstances, the Home Affairs Minister said he was advised by Nandlall and believes that the President’s decision is in-

tra-vires and reasonable as Hicken is qualified to function, making his decision in that regard, a matter of executive policy which is not subject to judicial review.

As such, Benn is asking the High Court to dismiss Jones’s application with costs.

Doctrine of necessity

On the heels of criticism from the People’s National Congress (PNC) – the largest party in the coalition – Nandlall had defended the Head of State’s decision to appoint Hicken.

“The President is completely justified in proceeding to put someone to perform the functions of the Commissioner of Police.

National security and public safety and the need for there to be an administrative head of the [GPF] would trump the need for procedural regularity and the doctrine of necessity would justify a departure from what is required by the Constitution in this case, because there is an impossibility in securing constitutional compliance…” he had argued.

He had said, “It cannot be the law that the process would grind to a halt or the country must go without a Commissioner of Police if a recalcitrant Opposition cannot get its house in or-

der and appoint a Leader of the Opposition.” Since those with whom the President was supposed to consult were not available for consultation, his actions of going ahead with making the appointment are justified under this legal principle.

Jones, in his application, argues that when President Ali assumed office he had refused to engage with Harmon until the APNU/AFC recognised the legitimacy of the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Government.

The parliamentarian complained that there is no publication in the Official Gazette or any other published legal document which attests to or substantively proves that Hicken is legally in office.

Against this backdrop, Jones, among other things, is seeking an order compelling Hicken to show under what authority he is discharging the functions of the office of the Police Commissioner in an acting capacity, and a declaration that President Ali’s invocation of the “doctrine of necessity” in appointing Hicken is not only unreasonable but ultra vires the Constitution, and Common Law. The acting Chief Justice will hear arguments on Jones’s application on July 20. (G1)

NEWS

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THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Development of Amerindian communities paramount – Ali …urges NTC participants to identify core issues, plan way forward

President Dr Irfaan Ali interacting with Amerindian leaders at the NTC on Thursday

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resident Dr Irfaan Ali on Thursday urged the participants of the National Toshaos Conference (NTC) to work together to identify issues within their communities and to come up with core plans to address them.

The Head of State made this call as he interacted with Indigenous leaders on day three of the NTC at the

Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCCC).

"Having reviewed every single thing that you have said so far, I will suggest to you a methodology for us to achieve some results. In this methodology, I want us to spend the rest of this afternoon (Thursday) defining some core issues and come up with some core plans that could come to acceler-

ate your needs and accelerate the implementation of your ideas," he said.

The main aim, he emphasised, is for the participants to devise an action plan to accelerate the projects identified. These projects, with the agreement of the participants, have been grouped into nine categories: food security and agriculture, women's affairs, pension-

Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, Finance Minister Ashni Singh along with President Ali examine a document at the NTC

ers and the elderly, children and youth, human resources, facilities, services, economic activities and empowerment, and infrastructure.

"As leaders, that is what I want us to think about; what is it we want to achieve?"

President Ali tasked Cabinet Ministers and their technical teams to work along with the Indigenous leaders and community rep-

resentatives to identify their needs in these areas and to present their plans for discussions before the end of the day.

The President also pointed to the importance of monitoring and evaluating projects in hinterland communities, and announced that a team would be set up to oversee the implementation of needed projects. The

aim, he emphasised, is to ensure that Indigenous communities have equal developmental opportunities.

The NTC is being held this week under the theme "Good Governance and Fast-Tracking Amerindian Development". It brings together Indigenous leaders from over 200 Amerindian communities across the country.

Cocaine-laden aircraft at Mahdia

Brazilian, Colombian fined, jailed for 12 years

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atheus Vinicius Tontes Alberto, 23, a Brazilian national, and Rodrigues Canon Dandes Estiven, 43, a Colombian national, who were on Sunday arrested after landing a drug-laden light single-engine aircraft at the Mahdia Airstrip, Region Eight (PotaroSiparuni) were both jailed for 12 years each on Thursday.

On Thursday, the men admitted to trafficking 290.2 kilograms of cocaine, and were fined $435,380,640 and sentenced to four years and six months’ imprisonment respectively.

Also on Thursday, the men admitted to trafficking 54.6 kg cannabis and were fined $49,171,680 and sentenced to four years and six months’ imprisonment.

They also pleaded guilty to operating a civil aircraft without an airworthiness certificate and were each fined $2,000,000 and sentenced to one year’s imprisonment.

Additionally, they were charged and pleaded guilty to interference with an aircraft and were each fined $2,000,000 and jailed for one year.

They also admitted to operating an aircraft without insurance and were fined $3,000,000 and sentenced to one year’s imprisonment respectively.

The men also admitted to

Matheus Vinicius Tontes Alberto

Rodrigues Canon Dandes Estiven

having a false or misleading aircraft marking and were both fined $2,000,000 and jailed for one year. The sentences will run concurrently.

The aircraft landed about 15:00h without the necessary permission and clearance from the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).

A source told Guyana Times that the aircraft is a Cessna 172 with a fake registration number (N5470Z).

The aircraft and its contents were then taken to the Eugene F Correia Airport and then to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters, where the men were questioned.

Back in November 2021, a foreign pilot and his co-pilot were arrested in Mahdia after they landed at an airstrip in the area.

Reports are that the men – a Colombian and a Venezuelan – landed in a twin-engine Piper Seneca plane. Following their detention at the Mahdia Police Station, several personal items, along with a GPS, were seized by Police.

In June of that year, another aircraft was seen circling the Bissaruni trail (12 miles east of Kwakwani), Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) and subsequently landed, but when it was found, it had been completely burnt.

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Regional

Thousands trapped as gangs battle Ecuadorean Govt, Indigenous groups begin talks after protests for control in Port-au-Prince

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housands of people are trapped without access to food, drinking water and medical care in an isolated part of the Haitian capital, Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF) has said, as clashes between rival gangs in Port-auPrince’s Cite-Soleil neighbourhood escalate.

In a statement, the humanitarian aid group said residents have been unable to leave an area in CiteSoleil known as Brooklyn, while trucks that bring drinking water into the neighbourhood have been unable to enter.

Jean Hislain Frederick, the Deputy Mayor of Cite Soleil, said earlier this week that the fighting erupted on Friday in a battle between members of two rival gangs and that at least 50 persons had died and more than 50 were wounded.

“People have no access to water, no access to electricity, and there is a great need for healthcare and latrines. Because of the current fighting, the situation

E

Haitian protesters blocked roads and shots rang out in the downtown area of the capital of Port-au-Prince on Wednesday as anger mounted over fuel shortages that have intensified in recent days as a result of gang violence

has worsened,” MSF’s head of mission in Haiti, Mumuza Muhindo, said in the statement.

Muhindo also said “corpses that are decomposing or being burned” line the only road into Brooklyn.

The violence began just a day after the first anniversary of the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, which worsened an already fraught political situation in the Caribbean nation and sent gang violence soaring.

The clashes in Cite-Soleil also have forced the closure of the nearby Varreux fuel terminal, a source famil-

iar with the matter told the Reuters news agency.

During the past year, Haiti has suffered from fuel shortages, including some that were exacerbated by gang blockades on fuel terminals in Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas.

Haitian protesters blocked roads in the downtown area of the capital on Wednesday morning in anger over the lack of supplies.

Groups of motorcycle drivers blocked intersections and some were setting tyres on fire, witnesses told Reuters. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Dogs shut down Trinidad airport runway

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he Piarco International Airport was forced to suspend runway operation just after 07:00h on Wednesday. The cause? Two dogs in the vicinity of the runway.

Several flights were grounded as a result of the runway closure – including flights to Tobago, the US, St Vincent & the Grenadines, and Jamaica.

BW1503 departed Crown Point, Tobago at 07:17h but was forced to return after circling for over 30 minutes over the Gulf of Paria. That flight was only able to de-

part for Trinidad at 09:20h.

D51320, a DHL cargo flight inbound from Curacao was also forced to divert to Bridgetown, Barbados.

C o r p o r a t e Communications Manager for the Airports Authority Zola Joseph confirmed the incident, telling Guardian Media the situation was “quickly contained”. According to AATT, flight operations were halted in the interest of safety and it resumed at 08:37h.

BW1504 was the first plane to depart the airport. It remains unclear how the dogs

were able to access the airport grounds.

It remains unclear how the dogs were able to access the runway, as well as their current state.

This is not the first time a dog has caused an airport to halt flight operations. In 2020, a rescue dog named Crystal caused Canada’s Toronto Pearson Airport to close temporarily after it escaped from a British Airways plane. It took 13 hours before Crystal could be recaptured.

(Excerpt from Trinidad Guardian)

c u a d o r ’ s Government and leaders from Indigenous groups on Wednesday began talks on subsidies, debt forgiveness, and other agreements, the result of weeks of anti-Government protests.

Demonstrations erupted on June 13 and ran for more than a fortnight, leaving eight dead and severely impacting Ecuador’s oil industry, its main source of income. Demonstrators forced immediate fuel price cuts and promises to modify oil and mining policies.

A deal to end the demonstrations requires some 90 days of negotiations take

place on 10 topics, beginning with efforts to focus gasoline subsidies on sectors which need them most and a review of debts held by small-scale farmers at public and private banks.

Also to be discussed are employment and labour rights, price controls and Government efforts to expand oil and mining development to raise national income, which Indigenous groups oppose.

President Guillermo Lasso, a conservative ex-banker, has said protests were financed with money from drug trafficking and the Government is investigating possible criminal connections.

“We repeat our willingness to dialogue...but we need to stop the denigrations,” said Leonidas Iza, who heads the CONAIE Indigenous organisation, as talks opened. “We came with humility but we cannot be humiliated.”

Previously, governments have discussed implementing limited gasoline subsidies, but because rising prices affect many vulnerable groups they have had to enact acrossthe-board cuts. Between January and May this year subsidies on gasoline and diesel cost the Government US$1.7 billion, according to the Energy Ministry.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Venezuelan gold legal battle resumes in London

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long-running legal battle between Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Opposition Leader Juan Guaidó over who should hold the key to more than US$1.5 billion of gold stored at the Bank of England resumed at the London High Court on Wednesday.

The United Kingdom Supreme Court ruled last year that Guaidó should be recognised as the Latin American country’s Head of State, taking a lead from the British Government’s position, and that he had the authority to determine the future of the 31 tonnes of bullion.

The High Court will now grapple with the novel question, over a four-day trial, about how to treat rulings by the Venezuelan Supreme Tribunal of Justice (STJ) that say Guaidó’s appointments to an “ad hoc” central bank board are invalid.

“At stake is the question

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro at the Miraflores Palace, in Caracas, Venezuela, July 11, 2022 (Reuters/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria)

of whether the English courts can sit in judgment on the validity of decisions made by another sovereign nation’s highest court,” said Sarosh Zaiwalla, a partner at law firm Zaiwalla & Co., who is representing the Maduro-led Banco Central de Venezuela.

“This case has always sat at the intersection of law and politics, and this hearing is no different.”

Lawyers representing

Guaidó’s Board declined to comment.

The lawsuit, brought after the Bank of England refused to allow access to the gold until the dispute over authority was resolved, will be heard along with a similar case that hinges on who in Venezuela should get access to about US$120 million, currently held by court receivers, after a gold swap by Deutsche Bank. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Peruvian Air Force accidentally shot down a plane after mistaking it for one belonging to drug traffickers, killing two US citizens.

Efforts to uproot coca plantations – the plant used to make cocaine – have been undermined by growing global demand for the drug, said Ricardo Soberon, head of the national anti-drug agency DEVIDA, at a conference.

He added that it was time to review the “principle of shared responsibility.”

“The process now is strictly one of bilateral negotiation. The Peruvian Foreign Ministry has it in

its hands, so we hope to finish that as soon as possible,” said Soberon.

Production in Peru has been mostly growing along the border with Brazil in the Ucayali region, where coca leaf crops have almost sextupled in size in two years, adding 10,229 hectares (25,276 acres) in 2021, Soberon said.

He added that the national growth of coca leaf crops is expected to have risen in 2021, although official figures have yet to be published. In 2020, Peru estimated there were 61,700 hectares of coca leaf crops.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Jamaican Government extends maternity leave for public workers Peru wants US help to stop cocaine trafficking planes

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he Jamaica Government on Tuesday announced that maternity leave for public sector workers will increase from 40 days to three calendar months.

Finance and Public Service Minister, Dr Nigel Clarke told a news conference that the Government was also moving to provide leave for adoptive parents who are bringing a new child into the home.

“We are working to modernise Jamaica public service and modernisation is multifaceted. It includes pursing efficiency and certification. It embraces fairness and equity in compensation. It involves the application of technology

Finance and Public Service Minister, Dr Nigel Clarke

to boost access to enhance productivity,” Dr Clarke told reporters, adding “it also embraces changes in terms and conditions that better reflect our values”.

Clarke said to give effect to these changes, the “appropriate circular “will

be sent out to members of the public service by September 30, noting that the cost of the new leave entitlements will be made public at a later date..

Clarke said that the Andrew Holness Government was working to assist public sector workers who are the bottom rung of the compensation ladder.

He said the modernisation of the public service system “could not have come at a better time” and that the Government‘s action came out of the compensation restructure exercise, which reviewed the terms and conditions of service. (Excerpt from CMC)

P

eru wants to secure a deal with the United States as soon as possible to help it tackle the use of planes to smuggle cocaine at a time when coca cultivation has been growing, the Andean nation’s anti-drug chief said on Wednesday.

Peru, one of the world’s top producers of cocaine, has been seeking an agreement with the United States since March for “non-lethal” support in intercepting planes transporting illegal drugs.

That support was once in place, but the US suspended its programme two decades ago when the

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THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2022

19

Around the World

OILNEWS OIL NEWS Oil edges up after US stock build, big inflation figure

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il prices rose modestly on Wednesday even after US oil inventories rose and after US inflation figures bolstered the case for another big Federal Reserve interest rate increase.

Brent crude settled up eight cents at US$99.57 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 46 cents to US$96.30 a barrel.

Global benchmark Brent is down sharply since hitting US$139 in March, which was close to the all-time high in 2008, as investors have been selling oil of late on worries that aggressive rate hikes to stem inflation will slow economic growth and hit oil demand.

Prices fell by more than seven per cent on Tuesday in volatile trade to settle below US$100 for the first time since April, and are in an oversold condition based on the relative strength indicator, a measure of market sentiment.

"I wouldn’t say this uptrend is over yet," said Thomas Saal, Senior Vice President at StoneX Financial. "Inventory levels are still pretty low worldwide, and that’s been a big factor in this rally."

The physical market remains tight. Key benchmarks, such as Forties crude and US Midland crude, are trading at premiums to the futures market, painting a different picture than what is happening in futures, which have been affected by inflation data that augurs for more rate hikes from big central banks.

Forties crude, one of the grades underpinning Brent futures, was bid at a record high premium to the benchmark of plus US$5.35 a barrel on Wednesday. US Midland crude was at a premium of US$1.50 a barrel to WTI, also reflecting tightness, though below premiums reached in late February after Ukraine was invaded.

US oil inventories rose more than expected in a mild respite from the tightness in markets. US commercial crude stocks rose by 3.3 million barrels, Government data showed, versus expectations for a modest draw in stocks.

US consumer prices accelerated by 9.1 per cent in June as gasoline and food costs remained elevated, cementing the case for the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates by 75 basis points later this month.

Expectations for lower growth have also sparked a flight to the US dollar for safety reasons. The dollar index hit a 20-yearhigh on Wednesday, which makes oil purchases more expensive for non-US buyers.

Renewed COVID-19 curbs in China have also weighed on the market, as Chinese imports of crude dropped to their lowest in four years in June.

"Demand issues are catching up to high prices. The US dollar is causing downside pressure on all commodities. There’s been a shift in mentality over the last couple of weeks," said Tony Headrick, energy markets analyst at CHS Hedging.

This week, both the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and International Energy Agency, in monthly reports, warned that demand was weakening, particularly in the largest world economies. (Reuters)

Breakthrough at Ukraine grain export talks as heavy shelling continues

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kraine, the United Nations, and Turkey hailed progress at talks in Istanbul with Russia designed to resume Black Sea grain exports and ease the risk of starvation faced by millions, but an end to the war remained far off as heavy shelling continued.

Turkey's Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said an agreement would be signed next week. He said Ankara will ensure the safety of shipments in transit and the parties will jointly check grain cargoes in ports. But UN chief Antonio Guterres said more work was needed before a deal was signed.

"We have seen a critical step forward," Guterres told reporters in New York. "We still need a lot of goodwill and commitments by all parties," he said.

S

selling alcohol to underage children.

The liquor licence board filed a complaint with the Police following the deaths.

The owner of Enyobeni, aged 52, is due to appear in court next week, while two of his employees have been given the option of paying a fine of about US$120 for allegedly selling alcohol to people under the age of 18.

The other two persons who were arrested are aged 33 and 34.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appeared optimistic in late-night comments: "The Ukrainian delegation has reported to me that there is progress. In the coming days we will agree on the details with the UN Secretary General."

Turkey and Ukraine said

a joint coordination centre with Russia and the United Nations would be set up.

"Its task will be to carry out general monitoring and coordination of safe navigation in the Black Sea," Zelenskiy's Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak said on Twitter.

Sri Lankan President flees to Maldives, protesters storm Prime Minister's office

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ri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives on Wednesday, driven out after an economic collapse unleashed a popular uprising that appeared to end his family's near two-decade dominance of the country.

His decision to leave his ally Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in charge as acting President trig-

gered more demonstrations, with protesters storming the premier's office demanding that he go too.

Rajapaksa, his wife, and two bodyguards left the main international airport near Colombo aboard an Air Force plane early on Wednesday, the Air Force said in a statement.

After arriving in the Maldives, he was expected

to head next to Singapore, a Government source said.

Authorities declined to reveal the whereabouts of Wickremesinghe, who declared a nationwide curfew until this morning in a bid to prevent further unrest after protesters invaded his office.

Police stationed outside had fired several rounds of tear gas, but the protesters were not deterred and

surged into the compound.

"It feels pretty marvellous, people were trying to take this place for about three hours," said college student Sanchuka Kavinda, 25, standing next to a mangled, open gate of the Prime Minister's office. "No matter what, everyone in this crowd will be here until Ranil also steps down."

(Excerpt from Reuters)

US annual consumer inflation posts largest increase since 1981

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S annual consumer prices jumped 9.1 per cent in June, the largest increase in more than four decades, leaving Americans to dig deeper to pay for gasoline, food, healthcare and rents, and the Federal Reserve most certain to hike interest rates

South African arrests made over mystery teen deaths outh Africa Police have arrested three people in connection with the deaths of 21 people, mostly teenagers, at an East London tavern last month.

They died mysteriously after collapsing, and Police are still investigating the cause.

The victims were found strewn across the floors and tables.

The suspects, including the Enyobeni tavern owner, were detained in connection with allegedly

Farmers harvest wheat as Vuhlehirsk's heat power plant burns in the distance after shelling, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the Donbas region, Ukraine, July 13, 2022 (Reuters/Gleb Garanich)

Russia did not immediately offer comment.

Apart from being major global wheat suppliers, Russia is also a large fertiliser exporter and Ukraine a significant producer of corn and sunflower oil.

Clinching a deal to unblock exports is seen as vital for food security, notably among developing nations, and for stabilising markets.

But Guterres warned there was still "a long way to go" before there would be peace talks to end the war.

Several Ukrainian cities have reported heavy Russian shelling and, while not linking a grain deal to progress in talks to end the war, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba was earlier downbeat on prospects for peace.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

The youngest of the victims, who were at a party to celebrate the end of midyear exams, was aged just 13 and most of the others were younger than 18, so they should not have been allowed in the venue.

"The venue was packed.

Entrance was free... and free alcohol was also being dished out. We started drinking and having fun with others," a 16-year-old girl who did not want to be named previously told the BBC.(Excerpt from BBC News)

by another 75 basis points at the end of the month.

The bigger-than-expected rise in the year-on-year consumer price index reported by the Labour Department on Wednesday also reflected higher prices for a range of other goods and services, including motor vehicles, apparel, and household furniture. The CPI increased by the most in nearly 17 years on a monthly basis.

The inflation data fol-

lowed stronger-than-expected job growth in June and suggested that the US central bank's aggressive monetary policy stance had made little progress thus far in cooling demand and bringing inflation down to its two per cent target. With rents surging by the most in 36 years, inflation could become entrenched.

Though a global problem, stubbornly high inflation is a political risk for US

President Joe Biden and his Democratic Party heading into congressional elections in November.

"Despite the Fed's best intentions, the economy looks to be moving into a higher inflation regime," said Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS in New York. "The Fed is even further behind the curve after today's sizzling report." (Excerpt from Reuters)

Rishi Sunak tops 1st round of voting in UK leadership contest

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ormer British finance minister Rishi Sunak won the most votes in the first round of voting to succeed Boris Johnson as leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister, as two candidates were eliminated.

Sunak scored 88 votes, ahead of Junior Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt

Former British Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister) Rishi Sunak

on 67 and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on 50.

Finance minister Nadhim Zahawi and former Cabinet Minister Jeremy Hunt were eliminated.

Lawmaker Kemi Badenoch received 40 votes, Tom Tugendhat received 37 and Suella Braverman received 32.

(Reuters)

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THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2022

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Embrace a challenge with clarity, and you'll find a simple solution.

A modest, moderate attitude will help alleviate interference from someone overbearing. Go about your business.

(March 21-April 19)

DILBERT

(April 20-May 20)

(May 21-June 20)

PEANUTS (June 21-July 22)

(July 23-Aug. 22)

CALVIN AND HOBBES

(Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

(Sept. 23-Oct. 23)

SUDOKU (Oct. 24-Nov. 22)

Speak up and gain support.

Incorporate change and improve your position. An open mind will lead to educational pursuits and ways to use your skills to reach your goals. Mix business with pleasure.

Explore the possibilities and strive for perfection. Trust in your ability, experience and knowledge to help you choose what's best for you. Refuse to let someone intervene and ruin your plans.

Impulsive spending and decisions will disrupt your day. Think before you choose to impact a partnership, your lifestyle and your future. Do what's best for you now so you can avoid regret later.

Don't get angry; get moving. You'll never recapture time you've spent arguing. Put some muscle behind what you want to accomplish. Hard work and discipline will pay off and give you the boost you need.

Draw on your resources to make things come to fruition. Speak up, share information and take the initiative to make a difference. What you contribute will turn heads. Discipline will be key. tay calm, be cool and put on a happy face. Opportunities will surface if you keep a positive, helpful attitude.

You can be the person everyone wants to be around if you have the right attitude.

Slow down, consider your options and keep your emotions under wraps.

Don't leave yourself open to criticism or abuse. Make decisions that are in your best interest once you get the facts.

Address issues that don't feel right, and make changes that simplify your life. Stop worrying about what others do or think. Take responsibility for your happiness and eliminate regret.

(Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Make home, family and relationships your priorities. Work as a team player and get your house in order.

Improve your surroundings and be open to suggestions.

SOLUTION FOR LAST PUBLISHED PUZZLE

(Dec. 22-Jan. 19) A little time to yourself will be revitalizing. Pick up the pace, get in shape and enrich your life with relationships that offer support and encouragement.

Love and romance are on the rise.

(Jan. 20-Feb. 19)

(Feb. 20-March 20)

Make your home function better, but don't go over budget. Call on people who owe you or are willing to do something to help. Join a group that stimulates your mind and encourages you to branch out.

THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2022

21

Mc Gill complete successful tour of Barbados 2022 …Persaud grateful for experience team gained

members would be engaging in personal training to keep in top condition.

“I think it was a great exposure for the guys,” he declared. “Many times, we talk about adapting to different conditions locally, so it was nice for them to experience the different conditions in Barbados. That way, it will

Mc Gill walked away with a 3-2 tour result

By Timothy Jaikarran

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he Mc Gill Superstars Sports Club have completed a successful tour of Barbados, emerging with three victories and two losses.

And although the sixth game, against the Barbados Defence Force, was washed out, McGill batsman Travis Persaud has said he is grateful for the outing and experience the team has received.

In an exclusive interview with this publication, Persaud detailed the team’s journey, the challenges they faced, and what they learnt in walking away with a 3-2 result. Persaud said, “I think the tour went fairly well. We

won three of the five games, and it was tough for me, and for the other guys it was more difficult. Some of them never played cricket in Barbados, as the tracks are pacey and bouncy compared to those in Guyana. I still think we did a fairly good job (in) coming back with three wins and two losses.

“Having said that, I think we could have won one more game, which was against Wanderers, but I think we threw that one away. But, overall, I think we had a good tour.”

Persaud noted that one of the high points of the tour was the team’s victory over Cupid Cavaliers, the 2022 T20 champions in the inter-

mediate and secondary divisions.

In regard to what the team could have improved on, Persaud explained that batting was a major factor.

While the team did record excellent performances with the ball, they lacked same in batting, which shows that adapting to conditions around the world is not easy.

Nevertheless, it is his belief that the team could have done better with the bat.

Further, he mentioned that adapting to conditions was key, and the team did not adapt to conditions as well as they thought they would, but despite failures, he still believes they performed well, giving one hundred percent

Sterling bids heartfelt farewell to Man City ahead of Chelsea move

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s he bade farewell to the club ahead of his transfer to Chelsea, Raheem Sterling has said he is leaving Manchester City "as a man".

Sterling is set to end his seven-year association with City and join Premier League rivals Chelsea in a reported £50m move.

The former Liverpool forward is said to have flown out to Los Angeles to complete the transfer and link up with Chelsea's pre-season tour.

Sterling won four Premier League titles, the FA Cup, and four EFL Cups during his time at the club. He has also developed into one of the most dynamic attacking threats in European football under Pep Guardiola, scoring 85 Premier League goals since the former Barcelona boss took over as manager in 2016.

The England international would look to have a

Ganesh Puran walked away with 9 wickets, with a best of 4-25

Prahalad Singh scored 129 runs from his four matches, with a high score of 97

effort on the field.

Question on what is next for the team, Persaud relayed that, at this point in time, things are uncertain, due to the weather in Guyana. However, he noted that, as of now, the team would go back to the drawing board and fix “the little kinks in their armour” and head out to win another title for the club.

While the team is patiently waiting on the weather, Persaud said, they would be putting in as many net sessions as are possible, and

help them to adapt and become versatile in any condition; so, I think the exposure has done them well. Some of them have matured, they are like sponges, they sucked up everything they (could) in Barbados; so, coming back here, we expect a lot from them, especially some of the younger guys who toured for the first time. So, I hope they can take whatever they learnt and put it into practice in Guyana, and go out and be successful.”

At the end of the five-

match tour, the award for most runs was given to Prahalad Singh, who blasted 129 runs from his four innings, with a high score of 97. The award for most wickets was given to Ganesh Puran, who bagged 9 wickets from five games, with a best of 4-25. Other notable performances came from Narendra Persaud, who scored 40 and bagged 3-5 against Barbados Police Force; Travis Persaud, who scored 43 and took 3-23 against Barbados Defence Force; and Abdul Razack, who scored 47 against UWI. The executives and members of the Mc Gill Super Stars SC would like to extend heartfelt gratitude to their sponsors, as, without them, the tour would not have been possible. The sponsors are SP Construction, NAMILCO, Farm Supplies, Genequip; Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport; Anand Persaud, Nankishore Persaud, Deodat Persaud, Ganesh Persaud; Ramroop Parsram, Jagat Parsram; Liloutie Bahadur; Shines Beepat, Amanda Beepat, Karan Beepat; Rocky Goordeen, Nick, Anil, Randy, David, Keeno and Shanna Manram; Rameshwar Persaud, Gangaram Lochand, Rockey Persaud and Anil Beharry.

Additionally, Guyanese based in Barbados were very hospitable to the Mc Gill Super Stars SC. The club extends many thanks to businessman Mr. Biso, Mr. Bacchus, Mr. Ram Singh, and numerous other individuals who made their stay in Barbados a memorable and comfortable one.

GFF referees excel during first Caribbean Games futsal tourney

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similar impact for Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea, but he has made clear his affection for City in a post on Twitter on Wednesday. He wrote: "To the coaching staff who have played a massive role in my development over the years, to my team-mates who have become more than just those I share a pitch with, to the backroom staff, to the office staff, to the fans who have tirelessly supported the team, and to everyone involved with Manchester City, my respect for you

couldn't be greater. What a ride it's been.

"I am thankful for the ups and the downs, as it's the downs that have, at times, tested my strength and resolve, and enabled me to stand here in front of you as the best possible version of myself.

"I arrived in Manchester a 20-year-old, today I leave as a man. Thank you for your endless support. It's been an honour to wear the shirt of Manchester City."

(Sportsmax)

wo Guyanese referees have impressed FIFA and UEFA futsal instructors during the inaugural Caribbean Games in Guadeloupe, and it has culminated in their selection as part of the match official team for the final of the competition.

Colin Abel and Lenval Peart have been singled out for praise by FIFA futsal instructor Wilson Da Costa, who has said the feedback received for the two officials had been “amazing”.

“In a nutshell, both referees were exceptional on and off the field of play,” Da Costa has said. “They officiated the finals, and that speaks volumes. I want to congratulate

the football association for keeping these officials interested in the game.”

Abel has been praised for his “superb personality, good foul recognition, and very good movement”. “I would like to see him as a FIFA referee for futsal by the end of the year,” Da Costa has said. “That is the impact he made on myself and on the UEFA instructor from France.”

Peart has been singled out for his “expertise and knowhow”. “Peart is someone who leads futsal in your country,” Da Costa has said.

GFF Head of Refereeing, Executive Committee member Dion Inniss, has said he is extremely proud of the two

officials. “We are particularly happy with the performances of Colin Abel and Lenval Peart,” Inniss has said. “From all reports, they have acquitted themselves exceptionally well, and this augurs well for our match officials for future appointments.

“We would like to encourage other match officials who have an interest in becoming a futsal referee to step forward,” he added. “We will do our best to create opportunities. We are hopeful that other opportunities will present themselves in the near future.”

The inaugural 2022 Caribbean Games in Guadeloupe featured seven disciplines, including futsal.

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THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2022

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

GFF/DBU/UEFA Assist/Women Development League…

Vincent’s 6 secures big win for Police against Orealla Falcons -Police continue unbeaten run in competition Latest Points Table Team P Fruta Conquerors 5 Guyana Police Force 5 Guyana Defence Force 3 Pakuri Jaguars 3 Santos 4 Coomacka United 1 New Amsterdam United 2 Bartica All Stars 1 Essequibo All Stars 1 Orealla Falcons 3 Swan 1 Foxy Ladies 2 Potaro Strikers 2 Action in the match between the Guyana Police Force ladies and Orealla Falcons

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nother huge performance from the competition’s leading

goal-scorer, forward Annalisa Vincent, has ensured the Guyana Police Force (GPF)

steamroll the Orealla Falcons 12-0 on Monday afternoon last at the GFF’s

Project “Cricket gear for young and promising cricketers in Guyana”…

Ravi Etwaroo of Cricket Zone USA again on board

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ransport Sports Club and National Under-17 captain Alvin Mohabir have again benefited from the project “Cricket gear for young and promising cricketers in Guyana”.

Alvin Mohabir, the extremely talented all-rounder, left-handed batsman and right-arm off spinner, has received another E4 bat, along with a pair of batting pads and one pair of batting gloves, all through the generous contribution of Ravi Etwaroo, owner of the popular sports store Cricket Zone USA, located in the Bronx borough of New York City.

Mohabir was selected by the Guyana Cricket Board to participate in the CWI trials for possible selection on the West Indies Under-19 team that contested the recently concluded ICC Under-19 World Cup held in the Caribbean. He impressed all and sundry with his level of maturity, skill, commitment and discipline, and has decidedly been marked as one for the future. He will lead Guyana in the upcoming Regional Under-17 Tournament to be held in Trinidad.

At a simple but significant ceremony held recently in the USA, Etwaroo handed over the gear to Kishan Das, a partner in this initiative with Anil Beharry of Guyana.

“Thank you for your continued support of this project, Ravi” said Das. Etwaroo’s first donation to the project was a branded E4 bat, which was also presented to Mohabir. On that occasion, Etwaroo had said he is really impressed with the work of the initiative, and its reach across Guyana. “I am also very pleased with the level of accountability and the noble purpose of this project, and will continue to support young cricketers in Guyana,” he had added.

This initiative is to help identify and nurture young talents, and at the same time encourage them to educate

themselves.

Total cricket-related items collected so far: $170,000 cash, two trophies, eleven cricket boots, eighteen pairs of batting pads, twenty bats, fourteen pairs of batting gloves, nineteen thigh pads, one wicket-keeping pad, one arm guard, six cricket bags and two helmets. In addition to the above, $600,000 worth in gear was donated by Sheik Mohamed, former National wicket-keeper/batsman.

To date, thirty-seven young players from all three counties of Guyana have already benefited from three junior gear bags, two trophies, one arm guard, fourteen bats, one box, two helmets, ten pairs of cricket shoes, ten pairs of batting pads, one bat rubber and twelve pairs of batting gloves.

In addition, two clubs in the Pomeroon area have benefited from two used

Guyana. Skills, discipline and education are important characteristics of the recipients. Talent spotting is being done across the country, and club leaders will also assist to identify talent. Progressive and well managed clubs would also benefit.

“We take this opportunity to thank Javed and Imran of West Indian Sports Complex; Option Group of USA; Hilbert Foster, Bish Panday of P and P Insurance Brokers, Sean Devers, Trevis Simon, Årïêl J. Tïlkú, Aaron Beharry, Leanna Bachan and Imran Saccoor, Devon Ramnauth, Teddy Singh, Romash Munna, Ravi Etwaroo, Kelvin Brijlall, Ravin Harkishun, Surendra Harkishun, Allan Mangru, Vishal Mahabir, Sherman Austin, Huburn Evans, Rajendra Sadeo and Ramesh Sunich of Trophy Stall, Sheik Mohamed of Star Sports Awards and

Ravi Etwaroo (left) and Kishan Das

bats. Pomeroon, Leguan and Wakenaam Cricket Committees and Cotton Tree Die Hard have also each received one box of red cricket balls, while RHCCCC have received two, fifteen white cricket shirts, one pair of junior batting pads, one pair of wicket-keeping gloves, and a set of stumps and bails.

Cricket-related items, used or new, will be distributed free of cost to young and promising cricketers in

Trophies, and Ajay Gainda of Cricket Equipment Guyana, Gajanand Singh, Chin Singh, Peter Ramkissoon, Rabindranath Saywack, Roshan Gaffoor, Ameer Rahaman, Denesh Chandrapaul and Dr Cecil Beharry.

Distribution will continue. Anyone interested in contributing can contact Anil Beharry on 623 6875 or Kishan Das on 1 718 664 0896.

National Training Centre at Providence, and maintain their unbeaten run after four matches.

It was the latest match in the Guyana Football Federation / Women Development League sponsored by the Danish Football Union (DBU) and UEFA Assist, and the win for the GPF ladies has taken their points tally to 12, the same

W 4 5 3 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

D 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

L 1 0 0 1 2 0 1 1 1 3 1 2 2

as leaders Fruta Conquerors, who enjoy a better goal difference of +50 to the GPF’s +37.

Vincent’s match-winning performance has seen her now scoring a total of 19 goals in her team’s four matches so far, two more than Conquerors’ Nikisa Wayne.

Orealla Falcons have suffered their third loss in as many matches, and in this match against the Police, Vincent

GF 55 38 12 10 12 1 3 1 0 1 0 0 2

GA 5 1 0 5 18 1 11 2 7 19 19 21 26

GD +50 +37 +12 -5 -6 0 -8 -1 -7 -18 -19 -21 -24

Points 12 12 9 6 6 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

was the one who orchestrated their defeat with goals in the 12th, 13th, 22nd, 38th, 78th, and 79th minutes.

Supporting well with a brace each were Siasi Adams (18th, 44th) and Tiandi Smith (34th, 61st), while one goal was registered by Imani Maxwell in the 21st minute and another came from Alleia Alleyne in the 70th minute.

Summer Regatta to set Bartica alight next week

…Organizing Committee hoping to push tourism product

BBDC Chairman Chunilall ‘Vulture’ Baboolall (4th left), Regional Representative to the Prime Minister, Erwin Ward (4th right), and power boat icon Dave Scott (right) share a photo opportunity with several models during last Sunday’s Regatta launch

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he township of Bartica in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) is slated to be the ‘hot spot’ on the Essequibo River from July 17 to July 24 with the hosting of the Bartica Summer Splash Regatta 2022.

Intention to host the Regatta was revealed some weeks ago with the official launch of the event, hosted at one of Region Seven’s premier attractions, Aruwai Resort White H2O, on Sunday last (July 10).

While anticipation for the Regatta and accompanying activities was built by the organizers, Bartica Business Development Committee (BBDC), it was punctuated with cultural presentations from popular entertainers and a fashion show.

In remarks, Chairman of the BBDC, Chunilall ‘Vulture’ Baboolall, a businessman and proprietor of the Aruwai Resort, had spoken of the intentions of the BBDC. “As the name suggests, the BBDC is founded upon the aim of promoting the development of business within our town, through education, strategic collaborations, and the organising of big social events like

this one, heavily geared towards our athletes showcasing their talents.”

He had added that it is the BBDC’s aim to fuel growth of this town, officially considered the gateway to Guyana’s gold and diamond-mining regions.

A long list of sporting activities would precede the grand power boat racing on July 24, inclusive of cricket, football, river swimming, grass track and road races.

According to reports from the Organizing Committee, some Gy$12M in cash and prizes would be up for grabs.

In addition, the entertainment aspect of the event would include comedic and karaoke competitions.

Baboolall has envisioned, “For such a young committee, this is quite an ambitious undertaking.

However, we have placed great faith in our corporate partners, friends, the community of Bartica, and the Government of Guyana, to join hands with us in making this event a remarkable success.”

Also sharing remarks was Regional Representative of the Prime Minister, Erwin Ward, who congratulated the BBDC on behalf of His Excellency

President Dr. Irfaan Ali and the Government of Guyana, whom he said are in full support of the event, as it complements the “One Guyana” initiative.

On the list of activities, the cricket final is set for July 17th; Karaoke competition for July 19th; Comedy Explosion for July 21st; Football final for July 22nd; Grass Track for July 23rd; and Power Boat Races at the Bartica Golden Beach on July 24th.

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Must be living on the East Bank or in Georgetown. CALL: 622-6297 FOR MORE INFO.

THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2022

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

23

West Indies lose ODI Series against Bangladesh -undone by poor shot selection on challenging surface

Kyle Mayers is bowled for the second time in as many matches

Shai Hope survived a near stumping

By Brandon Corlette

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he West Indies team slumped to a series defeat -- their tenth successive defeat against Bangladesh in ODI cricket -- when the Tigers, led by Tamim Iqbal's unbeaten fifty, won the second match of their three-match ODI Series by nine wickets at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence yesterday.

This string of losses in ODI matches against Bangladesh began in Sylhet back in December 2018.

Bangladesh wrapped up yesterday’s match, early ended on 112-1 in 20.4 overs.

Bangladesh had restricted West Indies to 108 all out in 35 overs, their second lowest ODI total at home. The lowest home total in this format had also come at Providence back in 2013, against Pakistan, when the men in maroon had made only 98.

Bangladesh began the chase with a 48-run opening stand in which Najmul Shanto, who made 20, was dismissed by being caught at mid-wicket off the impressive bowling of Gudakesh Motie after facing 35 balls.

That was all the inroads that Lady Success had written for the West Indies, as Iqbal sealed the match with a sweetly-timed boundary down the ground to reach his fifty. He ended the match on 50 from 62 balls in an innings

that had seven fours, while Litton Das made 32.

Bangladesh spinners made merry at Providence.

Earlier, Bangladesh won the toss and opted to field first.

West Indies made two changes, Keemo Paul and Alzarri Joseph returned, while Jayden Seales and Anderson Phillip missed out.

Openers Kyle Mayers and Shai Hope started cautiously, and lived dangerously while running between the wickets.

The usually attacking Mayers was the first to be dismissed, falling for 17 when he was again bowled by an off-spinner. The score was then at 27-1 after 10.3 overs.

Scoring runs freely proved difficult for the West Indies with the Bangladesh spinners coming hard at them.

Shamarh Brooks came and struck a boundary, but was then bowled all ends up by left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed, with the score at 39-2 after 13.5 overs.

Hope, also struggling to play his usual free-flowing drives, was given out caught behind, but review showed that the ball had missed the bat. He was also mis-stumped on four. His struggles came to end when he hit one in the air and was caught for 18 from 45 balls.

It quickly became 45-4 in 18 overs when Nicholas Pooran was out for a golden duck. He attempted to reverse-sweep the first ball of

his innings, but was bowled by the left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed, who was turning the ball into the left-handed batsmen.

Jamaican duo Brandon King and Rovman Powell added 24 runs to the tally for the fifth wicket. For a moment, the duo used their feet to the spinners, but Powell was caught for 13 after hitting two fours, and King, who was charging down the track to a straight ball, was bowled all ends up for a 44-ball 11.

Akeal Hosein, who was run out in the first ODI, was dismissed in similar fashion for two, and West Indies h a d fallen in a hole at 72-7 after 27 overs.

Romario Shepherd then joined Alzarri Joseph, and the duo took West Indies to 86 in 30.2 overs. Shepherd attempted a reverse sweep and was bowled by the off-spinner Hasan; and one ball later, Joseph edged one and was caught behind for a golden duck, as West Indies

slumped to 86-9.

Gudakesh Motie and Paul added 22 runs for the final wicket, before Motie was given leg-before.

Paul showed his home experience and adjusted well on

the slow Providence pitch. He was left not out on 25 from 24 balls, an innings decorated with four boundaries.

West Indies ended on 108 all out from 35 overs. Hasan was again the pick of the bowlers with his off-spin, claiming 4-29 in eight overs. The leftarm spinner Ahmed had 3-19 from ten overs. Bangladesh bowled seven overs of seam bowling, while 28 overs were all spin, yielding eight wickets for 85 runs, inclusive of five maidens.

This was Bangladesh's best bowling performance against a Test playing nation away from home. The West Indies will have a lot of thinking to do as they seek to avoid their longest streak of losing ODI matches against an opponent.

Final ODI will be played on Sunday July 16 from 9:30h at Providence.

SCOREBOARD WEST INDIES INNINGS Shai Hope †c Mosaddek Hossain b Nasum Ahmed 18 Kyle Mayers b Mosaddek Hossain 17 Shamarh Brooks b Nasum Ahmed 5 Brandon King b Mehidy Hasan Miraz 11 Nicholas Pooran (c) b Nasum Ahmed 0 Rovman Powell c Mahmudullah b Shoriful Islam 13 Akeal Hosein run out (Mustafizur Rahman/†Nurul Hasan) 2 Keemo Paul not out 25 Romario Shepherd b Mehidy Hasan Miraz 4 Alzarri Joseph c †Nurul Hasan b Mehidy Hasan Miraz 0 Gudakesh Motie lbw b Mehidy Hasan Miraz 6 Extras (lb 2, w 5) 7 TOTAL 108 35 Ov (RR: 3.08) Fall of wickets: 1-27 (Kyle Mayers, 10.3 ov), 2-39 (Shamarh Brooks, 13.5 ov), 3-44 (Shai Hope, 17.4 ov), 4-45 (Nicholas Pooran, 17.6 ov), 5-69 (Rovman Powell, 25.2

ov), 6-72 (Brandon King, 26.5 ov), 7-72 (Akeal Hosein, 26.6 ov), 8-86 (Romario Shepherd, 30.2 ov), 9-86 (Alzarri Joseph, 30.3 ov), 10108 (Gudakesh Motie, 34.6 ov) BOWLING O-M-R-W Mosaddek Hossain 10-0-37-1 Mustafizur Rahman 4-0-12-0 Mehidy Hasan Miraz 8-1-29-4 Nasum Ahmed 10-4-19-3 Shoriful Islam 3-0-9-1 BANGLADESH INNINGS Tamim Iqbal (c) not out 50 Najmul Hossain Shanto c Hosein b Moti-Kanhai 20 Litton Das not out 32 Extras (lb 1, nb 1, w 8) 10 TOTAL: 112/1 20.4 Ov (RR: 5.41) Fall of wickets: 1-48 (Najmul Hossain Shanto, 12.1 ov) BOWLING O-M-R-W Alzarri Joseph 3-0-7-0 Akeal Hosein 6-0-35-0 Gudakesh Motie 7.4-1-39-1 Nicholas Pooran 2-0-14-0 Keemo Paul 2-0-16-0

Tamim Iqbal led Bangladesh with a fine batting display (Getty Image)

“Teach them Young” swim programme likely to surpass 1000 applicants

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It is anticipated that the “Teach them Young” programme would surpass 1000 registrants this year

uperseding the interest that was shown for the Easter Holiday version of the programme, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport’s (MCYS) “Teach Them Young” summer swimming programme has now gone up to a whopping 700 registrants.

Earlier this week, the numbers lingered at around 450, but in the matter of two days, the number of parents registering their children for the life-skill programme has gone to 700.

Sharing a bit on the programme, Director of Sport (DoS) Steve Ninvalle expressed both his shock and appreciation for the reception that the programme is having.

“That has, more or

less, outstripped all participants of the last Easter Programme, meaning from Linden, Georgetown and Berbice,” Ninvalle told Guyana Times Sport on Wednesday afternoon.

Ninvalle further indicated that, should the number of registered applicants continue to grow, there would need to be a shift in plans to accommodate all the children.

“Registration will close on Friday (July 15) and I expect it to be over 1000 from the Georgetown area.

If that is the case, then we may have to move that programme from starting at the Colgrain Pool and push it to the National Aquatic Center. So, we’re awaiting word on registration,” he re-

vealed.

The “Teach Them Young” swim programme is an annual one, catering to children 9-18 years of age. The programme will be held in Georgetown at the Colgrain Pool, and on the East Coast of Demerara at the National Aquatic Center, both beginning on July 18 and running until August 12.

In Linden, the programme will be hosted at Watooka House from July 19 to August 10, and in Berbice at the Albion Estate Pool from July 19 to August 5.

Interested persons are asked to contact the National Aquatic Centre on telephone 222-1306, Colgrain House on 226-0387, or Coach Paul Mahaica on 615-5714.

THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2022

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

Page 23

West Indies lose ODI Series against Bangladesh

Page 21

Nasum picked up three wickets for Bangladesh

Mc Gill batsman Travis Persaud

Mc Gill complete successful tour of Barbados 2022

…Persaud grateful for -undone by poor shot selection on challenging surface experience team gained

“Teach them Young” swim programme likely to surpass 1000 applicants Page 23 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.