PM meets new Surinamese President, vows stronger GuyanaSuriname ties
PPP/C’s track record shows fiscal strength without burdening future generations
Jagdeo
Housewife charged with murder of mother-in-law
Police seize over 4lbs of ganja during raids
“Don’t take set-up” –official warns public against smuggling contraband into prisons
Driver wanted for mother, baby deaths caught
Guyana’s education system took a major leap forward with the commissioning of a cutting-edge Practical Instruction Department (PID) at Bartica Secondary School, a $360M investment designed to equip the next generation with job-ready technical and vocational skills.
The facility is the
sixth of its kind under the Guyana Skills Development and Employability Project (GSDEP), a joint initiative between the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Government of Guyana aimed at modernising education and addressing workforce gaps. The project has already delivered similar centres in Fellowship, Hopetown,
Beterverwagting, St Ignatius, and Mabaruma.
At the commissioning ceremony, Education Minister Priya Manickchand called the facility a beacon of opportunity and inclusion, highlighting the ministry’s success in delivering five such centres in under three years, even amid post-pandemic challenges.
“We are not just building schools; we are building futures,” Minister Manickchand said. “TVET
outfitted for arc, MIG, and acetylene welding, while the furniture-making workshop features high-grade
der GSDEP, which is funded through a US$14.04 million partnership between the Caribbean Development
is no longer an alternative path – it is an essential one.”
Constructed by KP Thomas and Sons and supervised by CEMCO Engineering, the Bartica PID includes a commercial food preparation kitchen with all the necessary
saws and woodworking equipment. There is also a masonry and plumbing workshop with everything from tile cutters to concrete vibrators. Additionally, the facility boasts a rehabilitated smart classroom equipped with computers, a smartboard, and Starlink
Bank (CDB) and the Government of Guyana. Of this, US$11.7 million came from the CDB loan facility, US$552,000 from a grant, and US$1.79 million in counterpart funding from the Government of Guyana.
The Minister also weighed in on the global
equipment found in a professional culinary environment. The motor vehicle and small engine workshop includes hydraulic lifts, a digital wheel alignment system, and diagnostic tools capable of servicing everything from family cars to heavy-duty machinery.
The welding workshop is
internet to support digital learning.
In total, $273 million was spent on construction and supervision, with an additional $87 million on outfitting the facility with modern tools and equipment, bringing the total investment to more than $360M. The project falls un-
shift toward valuing skilled trades on par with traditional degrees, noting that demand for TVET competencies is growing across sectors from construction to renewable energy.
The Bartica PID is now open and will begin welcoming students in the new academic term.
The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Thursday, July 17 –21:30h-23:00h and Friday, July 18 – 22:30h-00:00h.
The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Thursday, July 17 –08:50h-10:20h and Friday, July 18 – 09:50h-11:20h.
Parika and Supenaam departure times – 05:00h, 10:00h-12:00h, 16:00h, 18:30h daily.
Thundery showers and late-afternoon sunshine are expected during the day, and cloudy skies with late-night showers are expected at night. Temperatures are expected to range between 23 degrees Celsius and 30 degrees Celsius.
Winds: North-Easterly to East South-Easterly between 1.34 metres and 3.12 metres.
High Tide: 09:17h and 21:42h reaching maximum heights of 2.48 metres and 2.47 metres.
Low Tide: 15:12h reaching a minimum height of 0.77 metre.
future generations
Jagdeo …says the Party’s creative governance sets it apart from visionless rivals
eneral Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Bharrat Jagdeo, says this is the only party that has been able to create a sustainable and creative policy framework to manage the country over the years.
Jagdeo was at the time speaking with stakeholders during the PPP 2025 manifesto consultation held at the Ramada Princess Hotel. He pointed out that other political parties are cam-
is being used for climate adaptation initiatives such as replicas of the Hope Canal across the country to address flooding woes, especially in farming regions.
“We are the only party that has been able to do that – set out a framework and then use creativity to fund a lot of what other countries are looking for funding for and can’t find because they have fiscally stressed budgets. We’ve been able, without recourse to the treasury,
paigning on unsustainable policies for the upcoming September 1 General and Regional Elections.
However, Jagdeo noted that the ruling PPP/C has demonstrated, through various Governments, responsible management of Guyana’s economy – hauling the country out of heavy indebtedness in the past.
According to Jagdeo, who also serves as Vice President, this is already reflected in the current administration’s efforts to build out a post-oil and gas economy with sustained prosperity that would create wealth for the future.
He pointed out the PPP’s creativity in the management of the country’s natural and other resources that has laid the foundation for sustainable prosperity for future generations.
The Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), which was crafted under Jagdeo’s presidency, positioned Guyana as one of the few countries that sought to monetise the safeguarding of its natural patrimony. Today, the revised LCDS 2030 is being used to transform the country.
Under the LCDS 2030, Guyana signed a historic deal back in December 2022 to sell 30 per cent of the country’s forest carbon to Hess Corporation – a US$750 million transaction that saw 20 per cent of the earnings going towards hinterland communities and is already transforming the lives of citizens in those villages. The remaining money
to be able to finance and safeguard our country in that regard,” Jagdeo stated.
Wednesday’s manifesto consultation was attended by representatives from various institutions and stakeholders from different economic sectors who were invited to engage the party’s leaders on policy ideas for the next years. The feedback from that engagement
will be added to the 7000 submissions the party has already received from the public.
Document of commitments
Back in April, the PPP had invited the public to make suggestions via WhatsApp towards its manifesto, and over 2000 submissions were received. Another 5000-plus sugges-
tions were also presented to the party. Jagdeo said some submissions were repetitive, but they were all condensed into what he described as a ‘Document of Commitments’ that was shared with attendees at Wednesday’s consultation.
“Today, we’re looking to elaborate on these and update our manifesto,” the general secretary stated.
The PPP 2025 Manifesto is expected to be launched later this month as the party, through frontrunners President Irfaan Ali and Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips, seeks a second term in office.
Assured stakeholders that their input is important, Jagdeo stressed “Don’t think for a moment that we would not take into consideration details of your submission… So, if you don’t see every idea reflected, know there is a commitment to addressing these and elaborating on them.”
Editor: Tusika Martin
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The impending rollout of a national alert system by the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) represents a major step in strengthening Guyana’s security framework. Announced by NISA Director Colonel Sheldon Howell during the Government’s “Safeguarding the Nation” programme, this development signals a long-awaited upgrade to the country’s emergency response infrastructure. Once implemented, the system will provide real-time notifications to citizens across multiple platforms, including mobile phones, radios, televisions, and social media, during emergencies such as missing persons cases, natural disasters, security threats, and major accidents.
This initiative is timely and necessary. It reflects a growing recognition of the importance of rapid, coordinated communication in safeguarding public welfare. In an age where disasters and threats can unfold in minutes, the ability to alert the population instantly and accurately is both strategic as it is essential. Delays in information dissemination can cost lives, fuel panic, and complicate emergency response efforts. A system that bridges the gap between incident and awareness stands to significantly reduce those risks.
Moreover, the new national alert system is not an isolated development. It forms part of a broader, integrated national security architecture currently being reinforced by the Government. This demonstrates an understanding that national safety is not solely dependent on policing or intelligence gathering, but also on public readiness and cooperation. By equipping citizens with timely and reliable information, the Government is empowering communities to respond appropriately during crises, thereby increasing overall national resilience.
The system’s value is particularly evident in cases involving missing persons, especially children, where every minute matters. Colonel Howell confirmed that the response mechanism for such situations has already been upgraded, underscoring the Government’s prioritisation of vulnerable populations. When a child goes missing, the difference between a swift alert and a delayed one could mean the difference between recovery and tragedy. Public participation, guided by real-time information, can prove decisive in these situations.
The inclusion of multiple communication channels –mobile devices, television, radio, and digital platforms, reflects a well-thought-out strategy to ensure no one is left behind. In a country with varying levels of technological access and media consumption habits, this multifaceted approach ensures that alerts can reach a wide and diverse cross-section of the population. Whether in urban centres or remote hinterland communities, citizens will have access to critical information when it matters most.
This approach is consistent with global best practices. Established systems such as Canada’s National Public Alerting System and the United States’ Emergency Alert System have demonstrated the effectiveness of mass notification systems. These international examples offer useful benchmarks for what Guyana can expect once the platform becomes operational. Importantly, the local system is being designed to adapt to the unique context of the country –addressing specific national vulnerabilities, communication infrastructure, and population needs.
Another noteworthy aspect of this development is the attention being paid to accuracy and speed. According to NISA, alerts will be issued as swiftly as possible after an incident occurs, ensuring that the public receives not just early warnings but also accurate guidance. In times of crisis, misinformation can spread rapidly, sowing confusion and undermining coordinated responses. A reliable, centralised alert system can act as a bulwark against such disruptions by serving as the definitive source of emergency communication.
The forthcoming national alert system marks a commendable advancement in Guyana’s journey towards a more secure and prepared society. It illustrates future thinking leadership, inter-agency coordination, and a people-centred approach to national security. By embracing technology and aligning with international standards, Guyana is taking a decisive step in safeguarding its citizens. When emergencies arise, and they inevitably will, a modern, realtime alert system ensures that the country will be ready to respond swiftly, coherently, and collectively.
Why the future of AI may be open (and Chinese)
…DeepSeek’s rise shows how Beijing
By yik Wai Chee
he release of
TDeepSeek’s R1 –China’s powerful new open-source AI model – has sent shockwaves through the global tech industry. Offered for free and royalty-free, it has disrupted financial markets, challenged the United States’ dominance in artificial intelligence, and prompted fears that Silicon Valley’s tightly-guarded business model may no longer hold.
DeepSeek’s open-source launch is widely seen as a key trigger behind a trillion-dollar tech sell-off in the US, signalling deep investor anxiety over the commodification of AI and China’s growing competitiveness. Dubbed “China’s answer” to OpenAI’s GPT 4, R1 has unsettled investors and shifted global AI geopolitics.
Reports suggest R1’s compute costs were less than $$6 million, using Nvidia’s H800 chips. While full development expenses remain undisclosed, this points to a markedly more cost-effective model than proprietary counterparts. It suggests R1 may have been built for a fraction of OpenAI’s GPT 4 expenses – rumoured at hundreds of millions. This cost efficiency, paired with open access, makes DeepSeek’s model uniquely disruptive.
Chinese firms like Alibaba, releasing the Qwen3 Embedding series freely, and France’s Mistral AI (with Europe’s first reasoning LLM) are following suit. The US risks losing ground unless it embrac-
is using free AI to outmanoeuvre the West
es open-source strategies. After all, early Internet giants such as Google and Facebook leveraged free, user-centric services (like Gmail and Maps) to drive adoption before monetising.
In a field where secrecy is standard and models are often locked tight, giving away valuable tools seems counterintuitive. Yet OpenAI, once a trailblazer with GPT 4, now appears cautious. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sam Altman has defended the US$500 billion Stargate Project, designed to lock in AI leadership. However, practical expansion beyond ChatGPT has been slow, with only a nascent shopping feature launched. US competitors (Google Gemini, Meta Llama, Anthropic Claude) have yet to drive faster or cheaper innovation.
Initial US dominance grew on incremental gains, supported by export curbs on Nvidia chips and other tech that slowed Chinese progress. Yet Nvidia’s Jensen Huang warned these restrictions could backfire, catalysing China’s chip industry and ultimately weakening US control.
Open-sourcing has become China’s strategic workaround: Legal, scalable, and globally collaborative. It mirrors how Android thrives via external developers. AI improves through iteration, and Chinese firms now leverage open-source ecosystems to refine and scale models without shouldering all costs, just like the Google Play model.
Meta’s chief AI scientist, Yann LeCun, described
DeepSeek’s rise as an opensource triumph, not merely China overtaking the US. Still, geopolitical stakes are clear: Free access debases proprietary models’ monetisation path. If open-source achieves parity, commercial models lose leverage.
China’s industrial strength lies in speed and scale. By saturating the market with low-cost, capable models, it pressures competitors until only the dominant, widely-adopted model remains valuable – monetised via advertising, data, or premium add-ons, a route well-trodden by Google and Facebook.
US investors are acutely aware. The reported US$1 trillion dip following DeepSeek’s release reflects systemic concern. For China, open-sourcing is another facet of a national industrial strategy: Subsidise, dominate, and claim benevolent intent via “AI for good”.
Open-sourcing isn’t riskfree: If US tech is freely available, global rivals – including Chinese firms – can repurpose and surpass it. The reverse could also be true.
China, too, faces limitations. Its strict Internet censorship regime raises questions about how open-source models trained in that environment can adapt to global content demands. This has already surfaced on RedNote (Xiaohongshu), a Chinese social media app that recently attracted many American users fleeing a potential TikTok ban. While the cross-cultural exchange has been largely positive, tensions have emerged
– particularly around content moderation and censorship of politically sensitive topics like Taiwan and Xinjiang.
These constraints could disadvantage Chinese AI models when competing for trust and relevance in international markets.
Nonetheless, opensource AI has allowed China to compete without access to cutting-edge US chips, recalibrating the global AI landscape. Even in the US, leaders – from Elon Musk’s Grok-1 to OpenAI’s evolving stance – have begun to recognise that long-term AI dominance depends not just on proprietary control, but on adoption, accessibility, and innovation at scale.
In the end, the path to US AI supremacy may not lie in guarding models behind closed doors, but in embracing the very principles of openness and decentralisation that China is now leveraging to reshape the global playing field.
The great irony is that the next leap in US tech dominance may come as an (un)intended consequence of China’s so-called “socialist AI” approach. (Al Jazeera) Yik Wai Chee is the Head of Communications for Grafilab, a Malaysia-based Centralised-Decentralised Physical Infrastructure Network (CeDePIN) project focusing on AI computing power infrastructures. He previously co-founded sport social enterprise, Crowdsukan. He has published numerous opinion articles on regional news publication on tech, politics and sustainability in Asia
Dear Editor,
In the letter on July 15, 2025, I read from Mr or Ms A Dey, in which he/she lauded the 1976 announcement of “free tertiary education”. Whoever A Dey is, he/she should be advised that sometimes it’s better to let sleeping dogs lie. Because the PNC’s history on education is nothing to be proud of.
In the first place, a section of the PNC was opposed to the creation of the University of Guyana. The then leader of that party, Mr Forbes Burnham, had even promised to close the university down if or when he became leader of the country. He even derogatorily called it “Jagan Night School” because Dr Jagan began the university classes at Queen’s College after three in the afternoon. He was not willing to wait
until the campus was established at Turkeyen. (Read Dr Harold Drayton “Genesis & Early Years” 1963-73).
I say a section of the PNC, because there were some who openly disagreed with Burnham on that score. Mr John Carter (later Sir John) was one such person. He even accepted to serve on the UG Board of Governors in that period.
The university was so popular that Mr Burnham was unable to carry out his threat when he took power in 1964.
It is true that in 1976 Mr Burnham announced free education in Guyana. However, what his supporters never wish to recall was the fact that by 1980 the university was flat on its back. Indeed, education as a whole was in its worst period. The PNC regime
Dear Editor,
“Too many people are going over the top with wild and ridiculous claims in this election season. The latest is from a letter writer who accuses the PPP of lack of transparency but who does not have the courage to sign their full name.” (Media 7/15/2025)
The same “Singh” (only name given) claims that Azruddin Mohamed is being harassed. As usual, not a shred of evidence is produced. Singh is oblivious to the fact that Azruddin Mohamed was sanctioned by the United States, not by the GoG.
I draw Singh’s attention to the following as reported in the media – “Nazar Mohamed and their businesses, namely Mohamed’s Enterprise, Hadi’s World and Team Mohamed’s Racing, on June 11, 2024, were sanctioned by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which oversees sanctions against individuals and entities tied to illicit activities and hostile foreign Governments.” (Guyana Chronicle 7/14/2025)
The OFAC also stated that “Azruddin and Mohamed’s enterprise evaded Guyana’s tax on gold exports and defrauded the Guyanese Government of tax revenues by under-declaring their gold
exports to Guyanese authorities.” (Ibid)
And according to the same source, “Between 2019 and 2023, Mohamed’s Enterprise omitted more than 10 thousand kilogrammes (kg) of gold from import-and-export declarations and avoided paying more than US$50 million in duty taxes to the Government of Guyana.” (Ibid)
The points noted above have been reported in numerous media sources.
Is it harassment to remind readers that Azruddin has signed up some people to his campaign who are not worthy of national leadership?
“Doggie” has been charged with a number of infractions. The man from ANUG has been exposed for professional misconduct that would have forced immediate expulsion from any other decent political party. Here is a direct quotation from Stabroek News – “In December 2024, Dr DeFrance publicly admitted to what he vaguely described as ‘misconduct’ during a party press conference…”
The latest skulduggery appears to be a new ‘blue scrape motorcycle gang’ riding around town in ways that are intimidating. In a few cases PPP supporters have had their vehicles circled; in other cases, their party paraphernalia (flags, hats)
even reduced the qualification for entrance into UG, and that institution was grinding downwards.
At one point it had to be closed for some months to repair some basic facilities such as toilets, etc.
Education and other essential services were sacrificed so that the PNC elite would live well. For instance, more money was spent on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs than on the Ministries of Education, Health, Housing and Agriculture combined during that same period.
So, Mr or Ms Dey, the PNC’s record on education is as bad as it had been with the economy and human rights! Nothing to be proud of!
Sincerely,
Donald Ramotar Former President
snatched and trampled on.
If Singh has any complaints about the sanctions against Azruddin Mohamed, he should lodge them at the OFAC in Washington, DC.
Sincerely, Dr Randy Persaud
Dear Editor,
In one of his weekly press conferences, the General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, made several factual statements about presidential hopeful Mr Azruddin Mohamed which, at the time, did not resonate well with a small number of persons who felt that those statements were hate-filled and meant to denigrate the latter. However, as the days progressed, it is now evident that the general secretary’s predictions or conclusions are not without merit and have been laid bare for the world to see the veracity of his utterings.
Dr Jagdeo had said that Azruddin will find it difficult to coherently put two sentences together, and this has played out time and again but markedly on Nomination Day, July 14th. Dr Jagdeo had also dared Azruddin ‘to face the press and answer questions from the press’ and that he was willing to give him his Thursday slot to facilitate that engagement. This was to prove that Azruddin is incapable of answering pertinent questions about his ability to govern this country. This challenge was never taken up, but as fate would dictate, the press did meet with Azruddin on Nomination Day in front of the Umana Yana (symbolic of our national unity), and the frailties of this aspiring Presidential Candidate were laid bare and naked for all Guyanese to witness. The press posed simple and di-
rect questions related to his party’s policies, his party’s priority, the border controversy, his party’s manifesto, his prime ministerial candidate, why Guyanese should vote for a sanctioned person and plans for integrating the energy sector with the Caribbean and Latin America in terms of security and growth. The answers were one-liners: these will materialise and be presented ‘very soon’, ‘soon’, ‘very shortly’, ‘shortly’, ‘maybe’, and ‘I don’t know’. These punctuated the meeting with the press and afforded no definitive answers to what should have been routine answers.
It was evident that Azruddin Mohamed was unprepared, and he had spent little or no time to even think about his party’s policies and probably felt that running a government is all about meeting the people and listening to their ‘concerns’. He probably felt that his ‘rock star’ status was sufficient. It is evident also that his incompetent ‘team’ were incapable of briefing him on what was to be expected when he faced the press. It was also obvious that the Party has not to date formulated any social and economic policies to govern this country. If such were the case, then the answers to the questions asked by the press would have been automatic and effortless. There would have been no incoherence and stumbling. It is no excuse that the focus was on the nomination process and that his party was only 48
days old.
Azruddin claimed that he travelled the ‘length and breadth of Guyana’ and met with ‘tens of thousands’ of people; thus, I am sure that his ambition was not formed within for the past 48 days. He had his plans to contest the 2025 general elections, and for over a year he had been testing ‘the waters’, and he felt that the presidency would spare him from legal penalties and the US sanctions. Therefore, he had more than ample time to articulate some policies, even mentally. It is a shame that all the other approved parties could have said something about their policies, but not the WIN party. Is this how a party is serious about investing in the lives of the Guyanese people? It is pellucid that Azruddin is trying to ‘bluff his way to the presidency’, as was suggested by a reporter. A Presidential Candidate, among other characteristics, should have a decent track record wherever he worked before, whether in the private or public sector, and should be honest with strong personal ethics and must be law-abiding and have a deep respect for the law, not an OFAC-sanctioned individual. Wisdom, knowledge and experience and strong oratorical skills with a genuine love for his country are what define a good president. Guyanese beware of bluff masters.
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Multiplying decimals and whole numbers is exactly like multiplying whole numbers – except for one important thing. You have to count the number of total decimal places in the numbers you multiply. When you multiply decimals, you don’t have to line up the decimal points
Step 1: Set up your multiplication exercise as you would any other multiplication exercise. Do not line up the decimal points:
Step 2: Multiply. At this time, pay no attention to the decimal points:
Step 3: Count the total number of decimal places in the factors. Factors are the numbers you multiplied. 36.2 has 1 decimal place. 3.22 has two decimal places. 1 + 2 = 3.
Step 4: Starting at the right side of the product and moving left, count off the same number of places. Then place your decimal point. The product of 36.2 x 3.22 = 116.542 three decimal places.
Step 5: But what about if you have fewer decimal places in
Trees cover almost one-third of the land on Earth. A tree can be a home, or habitat, for many kinds of animals and insects. Because it can provide several habitats at once, a single tree can also be an ecosystem – a community of living things in a shared environment. An ecosystem is like a neighbourhood. Plants and animals in an ecosystem provide food for each other in food chains and webs.
A forest creates a bigger kind of ecosystem. A forest is a group of trees growing close together covering a large area, with smaller trees, plants, and animals living under them. A biome is an even bigger region of the Earth with a certain climate, landscape, and certain living things.
the product than the factors? For example .226 x .321? After multiplying without accounting for the decimal points, the product is 72546.
There are six decimal places in the factors, but only five in the product. You have to add enough zeros to make the total number of places in the product equal the total number of decimal places in the numbers you multiplied. Add the needed zeros after the decimal point. So the product of .226 x .321 = .072546 six decimal places.
Forests are a kind of biome (along with deserts, grasslands, and tundra). The three general types of forests are boreal, tropical, and temperate. The evergreen trees of a boreal forest, also known as taiga, are found across Siberia, Scandinavia, Alaska, and Canada. Broad-leaved deciduous trees (trees that lose their leaves) are found in temperate forests, mostly in the Northern Hemisphere in regions with changing
seasons. Tropical forests are found near the equator, and are full of biodiversity. The Amazon Rainforest is the largest forest in the world and is home to more living things than any other place on Earth.
In forests, mycorrhizal networks help trees find and absorb nutrients and water. These networks are made up of fungi that form a relationship with plant roots that benefit both the plant and the fungi. This symbiosis significantly expands the root system’s surface area so that vast amounts of soil can be explored for water and nutrients. This allows trees far, far greater access to resources that just their root systems alone could reach. In return, the fungi get photosynthate, or the sugar that plants make, from the root tissue.
Forests are complex natural systems where different species work together. In doing so, the forest and trees provide a variety of benefits that help keep the Earth healthy, too. Trees and forests play important roles in providing homes for other plants and animals and protecting our planet. (Adapted from startwithabook.org)
By Miguel A VegA
If, even now, I am excited about it: every cow & horse, every canoe on the surface of Pyramid Lake— If, at two hundred miles out, I take a selfie with the Bravoland cowboy, record us driving by the Tule Elk Reserve, record two jet-black crows circling the morning’s blue wrist of light like a scrunchie, then, I can only imagine your excitement three years back: the eldest daughter leaving home; Southern California, a solid white line in the rearview mirror. Today, I’m a regular Sal Paradise—a spider, a rickety bar, a softball game beneath floodlights. Tell me: what did it take for your Amá to let go? To type Chico State into Google Maps? Did she see those blue lines as umbilical cords? Did she feel a blue road being pulled out from deep within her body? I think of my Amá; wish my America larger than Lillian Street. Larger than Don Jones Park, than its bougainvillea. When you left, did yours look up at the sky? Imagine the return trip home without her daughter? O tell me: how did you hide your excitement at grapes? How did you get those dimples on your face to look less like car tires, skidding?
Source: Poetry (January/February 2025)
President Irfaan Ali has outlined several of the policy initiatives that the new People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government will roll out over the next five years in office to continue the development of Guyana.
He, along with the party’s General Secretary Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, on Wednesday held a consultation session at the Ramada Princess Hotel, Providence, with stakeholders on the PPP’s 2025 manifesto, which will be launched later this month.
According to Ali, who is seeking re-election for a second term in office, the 2025 manifesto will guide strategies for job creation, improving livelihoods, expanding economic opportunities and involving young people in this new economy that is being built out.
These grand plans being introduced include more cash grants, the lowering of certain taxes, the creation of new jobs, the opening up of new lands, and the establishment of all-inclusive resorts within the country, among others.
With promises of increases in salary for public servants, in pensions and in public assistance, the Head of State pointed out that the vision is to enhance citizens’ welfare and create new opportunities for them to invest and earn variable incomes.
“That is exactly what we want to pursue: where the ordinary household can invest in various opportunities in the country, diversify their revenue… for themselves and create prosperity,” he stated.
To do this, the president pointed to plans by the PPP to establish a development bank to finance small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), open up 100,000 acres of new lands for cultivation and co-invest in agro-processing hubs.
Expanded scholarships
These interventions, he noted, require requisite skills – something which the PPP/C has already laid the foundation to bolster the local education system into a worldclass one. He noted that it is important for young people to
understand the opportunities that are available in the local economy so that they can pursue those.
It is for that reason the party intends to expand its scholarship programme with a focus on more areas of specialisation. But with the University of Guyana (UG) now tuition-free, there has
to own their own home in five years,” he noted.
In addition to affordable homes, another key priority of the next PPP Administration is modern, safe and stronger communities. This will not only see improved infrastructure but also enhanced security with the use of technology.
been a massive uptake in applications. As such, Guyana is now in talks with private universities – both local and international – to match the rates that the Government is covering.
“Many of the private universities would have written to us and said, ‘Listen, we can offer the same degree programme that UG is offering at universities in the United Kingdom (UK) and other places at the same rate that the University of Guyana is charging.’ So, they want to be involved in that programme, and because of the high demand that is coming in at the University of Guyana now, we will be consulting with those providers to see how we can include them in the free education programme up to that value,” Ali posited.
Homeownership push
Moreover, the PPP plans to continue its aggressive housing drive by fast-tracking house lot applications and expanding the current incentive regimes to encourage home ownership.
“We’re going to continue to find new and innovative ways in which we can make it even easier for you to own your own homes with interest rates, tax incentives, financial incentives [and] subsidies… We are going to expand that existing framework because we want every single Guyanese family
According to Ali, the electronic ticketing (e-ticketing) system rolled out earlier this year will be bolstered by the E-Identification (ID) Card initiative that will come on stream within the year to make Guyana’s security architecture more agile and remove human biases that currently exist.
Moreover, he added that the countrywide street lighting programme, along with leveraging the power of religious organisations, will also form part of this ‘safe community’ agenda. Additionally, the Government is also working on a new technology to support women who are victims of domestic violence and other forms of violence, which will see faster responses from law enforcement.
“So, technology is going to be a major part of what we’re doing: affordable homes and stronger communities,” Ali stated.
Sport tourism
Last weekend, at the PPP’s campaign launch, Ali announced plans to build a massive indoor arena in Guyana. This, he told stakeholders at Wednesday’s consultation, would be crucial to not just the tourism product that the country is creating but also the massive investments being undertaken in the hospitality sector, such as hotel construction.
That arena, he explained,
would host international events like boxing and concerts. In fact, Ali pointed to the ongoing ExxonMobil Global Super League cricket tournament in Guyana – a locally crafted event – that is already attracting worldwide attention and participation in just its second year.
Similarly, the president noted that hosting interna-
woes in the region.
He cited the recent agreement with Bloomberg Grains to build a world-class processing facility and assist Guyana in accessing all the global markets, which will further create opportunities and wealth for locals.
Ali highlighted the PPP’s strong track record of support for the local agriculture
tional events like concerts in Guyana would create the opportunity for local artistes to perform.
“We want our artistes to be performing all over the world. That is why we want to invest in infrastructure to support them, not only the studios but grants, so that they can enhance their own skillset… If we can bring five or six international concerts here and ensure that they are given the opportunity to be showcased on those stages, it gives them presence,” Ali stressed.
All-inclusive resorts
Further, with Guyana having already created a niche as an ecotourism hotspot, the president noted that this will be further boosted.
“Major investments are coming from leaders in ecotourism – ecotourism services, nature-based tourism. We have all-inclusive results that are coming, already in the pipeline, and already in the final stages of discussion. These are the things that will create the next level of opportunities and wealth for our country,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the Head of State went on to talk about the work that is being done to position Guyana as the food hub of the Caribbean through the removal of regional trade barriers and efforts to ease the transport and logistics
industry, assuring that traditional sectors like rice will continue to be given priority. In order to achieve price stability, he spoke about the setting up of a stabilisation fund for rice farmers as well as storage and drying facilities to house the growing production.
“We have worked for years on getting insurance for our rice farmers. Today, we have been successful in getting insurance for 6000 rice farmers, and we’re going to launch insurance very soon,” he added.
Moreover, President Ali underscored the importance of having youths and women in agriculture and reassured the PPP’s commitment to support and encourage these groups to invest in this sector.
“We have to prepare our young people for this opportunity. When we speak to our young people, some of the things that they want [are] access to vehicles. You want low loan taxes on vehicles… We’re going to have a special mechanism through which four-door vehicles, the fourdoor pickup, will come at low taxes,” he declared.
According to Ali, while the new PPP/C Government will pursue a taxation system that is going to lower the tax burden, improve tax compliance, and put more mon-
ey back into citizens’ pockets, this will only work if persons comply and pay their taxes.
“Once this happens, more or less incentives can be given to the population,” he assured.
Among other plans for the future are a massive overhaul of the country’s financial system aimed at removing the bureaucracy in the banking sector and improving online banking services, access to financing for businesses, and investment opportunities.
Updating migration laws
However, with Guyana undergoing an unprecedented development over the past five years, there has been a constant decry within various industries, especially from the private sector, about the storage of workers in the country. In fact, the situation has forced many contractors executing major infrastructure projects to import labour.
To continue this rapid pace of development, Ali said his Government is now in the final stages of reviewing the migration and labour laws, looking at practices in other countries, to create a local migration policy and strategy.
“The Attorney General’s office… [has] already drafted the framework for that new legislation because we need the people to push this development, but we are going to ensure one thing – we maximise what we have here,” the president contended.
Moreover, with much of Guyana’s current transformation propelled by its burgeoning oil and gas sector, President Ali emphasised the importance of creating sustainable, long-lasting wealth through other sectors like mining.
In fact, he disclosed that by 2027, there will be two of the largest mining operations, outside oil and gas, in South America here in Guyana. Already, one of the companies has started recruitment and is looking for over 1200 workers – something that is proving to be a challenge; hence, the president pointed to the need for the importation of labour.
Two men were killed and several others wounded in a late-night shooting at a shop in Buxton, East Coast Demerara (ECD), on Tuesday, in what Police believe may be a gang-related attack.
The incident occurred just before midnight at a shop located at Lot 69 Middle Walk, Buxton, and was reported to the Police around 23:47h. The deceased have been identified as 17-year-old Leon McFarlene of Lot 71 Middle Walk and 38-year-old businessman Mark Anthony Correia of Lot 75 Republic Drive, Beterverwagting.
what looked like blood coming from his mouth, nose, and back. She claimed that she raised an alarm, and neighbours rushed to the scene.
They assisted in transporting the injured men to the hospital. McFarlene was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. According to Police, he sustained suspected gunshot wounds to the right hand, chest, face, forearm, and right foot. His body is at the Georgetown Public Hospital mortuary awaiting a post-mortem examination. Correia was taken to the Enmore Regional Hospital, where he was also pronounced dead. Police said upon investigation, gunshot injuries were observed to his back, left ear, left shoul-
he 2025 elections are proving to be very educational for your Eyewitness. They’ve made him realise he’s getting somewhat outta touch with the goings-on in his dear ole Mudland. Take those folks now evidently at the centre of political mobilisation in Georgetown – and further afield (?) – Scrapeheads or Scrapes. He’d been au fait with the old theory that we’re all “blank slates” – tabula rasa, in Latin – into which information can and will be written to guide our actions. Wanna-be leaders, of course, would do their darndest to get into our heads – where the blank slates were supposedly located – to create slavish followers.
The Scrapeheads – he’d learnt a few months ago –themselves boasted that whatever was in their heads and between their ears was “scraped out” – so voila!! – Scrapeheads!! Your Eyewitness guesses that they weren’t aware that “Tabula Rasa” already described their condition!! Anyhow, looking on from behind his keyboard at the parties’ launches and Nomination Day processions, he thought he detected a whole lotta Scrapes!! So it looks like nothing much has changed from when Burnham had mobilised that strata by filling their “blank slates” with a hodgepodge of economic and racial pie-in-the-sky rhetoric. Being a socialist, he dubbed them “lumpen proletariats”, and they did all his dirty political work – like intimidating the opposition – when they came to town!! So from this tradition, your Eyewitness figures, Scrapeheads, are the new lumpen elements. The name changes, but their function remains the same!!
The other men remain hospitalised at Georgetown Public Hospital, where they are undergoing treatment for gunshot injuries. At least one of them is said to be under Police guard as the investigations deepens.
Crime scene investi-
Several others were injured during the hail of gunfire. Among the wounded are a 60-year-old man from Side Line Dam; a 54-year-old, an 18-year-old and a 26-yearold Special Constable from Middle Walk, and a 35-yearold from Friendship, ECD. A 17-year-old boy, who also resides in Middle Walk, was also hurt.
Investigations so far reveal that McFarlene, Correia, and the injured individuals were gathered at the shop, which is operated by a 41-year-old businesswoman. The businesswoman reportedly told Police that the men were playing cards and dominoes in the shop when she retired to bed around 23:00h, leaving them there. Less than an hour later, she said she was startled by loud noises that sounded like gunshots.
She stated that she went outside and saw Correia slumped over the table with
and two metal fragments on the ground inside the shop. All items were photographed, collected, and lodged as evidence.
Police said they have received additional information that a silver-coloured motor car was seen circling the area before the shooting. Investigators believe the gunmen used the vehicle to carry out the attack and then made their escape in it.
According to Police, one of the injured men is known to have ongoing problems with a gang that identifies itself as “Team Diamond”.
The Guyana Police Force continues to question persons of interest and is urging members of the public with any information to come forward as it works to bring those responsible to justice.
Minister’s visit
Meanwhile, Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn on Wednesday visited the scene of the shooting. He also met with the families of
gators recovered 40 spent shells at the location, including one .40 calibre round, 29 5.56x45mm casings, and 10 7.62x39mm casings. They also found four projectiles
He'd been informed by some middle-class Coloured types – when the present generation of Scrapes rampaged in GT and further afield, burning and looting to “bring justice for Adriana” – that these strata would be the ones to develop Guyana. In fact, several card-carrying members said they’d once been Scrapes!! This assertion jumped out at him this morning from his newsfeed when he saw WIN’s Chief Organiser – a Scrape named “Doggie” who returned from farin – pistol-whipping a member of the WIN procession. She dared complain she’d received only $5000 for her presence rather than the $50,000 promised. A Police Warrant is out for his arrest.
But the biggest eye-opener was another WIN Scrape top executive named Fatta – who, like Doggie, got her fame from social media. She let loose such an expletive-laden denunciation against those who went on social media to voice their displeasure for not receiving their full $50,000 that even your Eyewitness blushed. And if you know your Eyewitness, you’ll know that takes quite a lotta doing since he’s quite melanin-rich!!
But the biggest fallout on Nomination Day was the fallout in support for the AFC!! Their then leader, RumJhaat, had warned they’d be “dead meat” if they hitched up with the PNC.
Well, the carcass has now rotted!!
…from media questions
An interesting discussion followed an exchange between an ANUG exec who linked up with WIN and a reporter. The ANUG fella rushed in where angels feared to tread – to speak for his (sanctioned and tongue-tied) WIN leader on policies. As your Eyewitness had explained, the WIN leader was following in the venerable tradition of the 19th-century American “Know Nothing” party!! ANUG-F claimed that WIN would “diversify” the economy!! Having just joined WIN, he didn’t realise his answer should’ve been “We know nothing”!!
The journalist followed up by pointing out that the PPP Govt had already been “diversifying the economy” – e.g., in agriculture. So, what would WIN do differently? Well, who told her to ask that!! She was pilloried for “debating” with ANUG-F!! It’s rather ironic that a journalist is told she must be a “blank slate” – Scrapehead? – at a time when Rickey Singh is being feted as our greatest journalist ever – for following up on hard questions!!
Hoyte slapped Rickey for a follow-up question!! …from complaints
The Opposition’s determined to challenge every decision of the PPP Government. That places the courts in a critical role to interpret the Constitution for going forward legitimately.
The CJ just ruled the top CoP’s appointment was kosher!!
The Government has commenced preparations for the construction of a modern $5 billion port facility at Parika, Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), promising no disruption to ferry and water taxi services during the construction phase.
This assurance was given by Public Works Ministers Juan Edghill and Deodat Indar during a multi-stakeholder engagement with representatives from the
be as far as is possible to engage residents from the area and in the region so that when you're doing something as magnificent and humongous like we are building here, the community, the skills, and the labourers must get involved. So, it's not just a project, but a community is being empowered while the project is going on. So, you can check with the contractors today, and they will be able to tell you what their needs are in terms of workforce.”
Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD), Maritime Administration (MARAD), Immigration, local businesses, residents, and water taxi operators on Tuesday.
Phase One of the New Parika Modern Port Facility and Waterfront Development includes reclamation and sea defence works on both the north and south sides of the current stelling, as well as construction of a main concrete stelling.
This phrase will be executed by three local contractors, namely GAICO Construction, Toolsie Persaud Limited and A&S General Contractors.
During his address to the gathering, Edghill emphasised these companies were selected through competitive public tendering and are renowned for delivering quality infrastructure within timelines.
“The contractors must
“Even while this port is under construction, the service of the Transport and Harbours Department to Leguan, Wakenaam, Supenaam, and Bartica will be uninterrupted. The steamers will continue to go every single day. So, nobody should have any confusion that you can't get a boat because the men are not working,” the minister explained.
Uninterrupted
Meanwhile, as it relates to operations at the current port, Edghill explained that while Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD) services will remain uninterrupted, vendors and businesses currently operating in the area will be relocated responsibly.
“While we are executing the programme, we must protect lives and livelihoods. So, we're not coming in and breaking down everything and saying, ‘Y'all
move from here, move from there’. Economic opportunities that have been created must not be unnecessarily interrupted. But while I'm saying that, people who are trying to apply their trade cannot use the fact that you've been sitting there since before my father was born and stop the project. People will have to be shifted and adjusted, and we wanted to ensure that you know the scope, and I'm sure you already know, especially the parties that will be affected, where you have to shift over to, and where we have to go,” Edghill told the gathering.
The Parika Port Modernisation Project is one of several critical transport upgrades being implemented nationwide to support Guyana’s economic expansion, regional connectivity, and tourism development.
Back in June, President Irfaan Ali disclosed that the Parika Port will have cold storage facilities and a packaging house, helping the facility to serve a vital function for the farmers of Region Three (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara) and providing a launching pad to export produce directly to the Caribbean.
In addition to this, the facility will be transformed into an international port, which will play a vital role in Guyana’s food security ambitions and boost exports of agricultural products.
“How do we reduce the cost between when the produce was reaped and the time it goes to the market? That is why we’re building back the Parika stelling into an international port, so we can export directly into the Caribbean from Parika.”
“And in that facility, we’ll have international cold storage. This is how the Government supports the farmers. We’ll have packaging houses that you can go to and package your product. Everybody doesn’t need to invest in individual facilities,” the President pointed out.
For some time, plans have been afoot to construct a new Parika Ferry Stelling and Waterfront
Development Project, which will effectively transform the Parika Stelling into a major regional hub for transportation and socioeconomic activities and enhance operational efficiency, prioritise safety and guarantee commuters’ comfort.
Funds were set aside in the Public Works Ministry’s $9.9 billion River Transport
budget for this initiative. Additionally, monies were also earmarked to support the dredging of the Demerara River channels to ensure safe passage of larger ships, as well as the removal of wrecks and obstructions from the Demerara and Essequibo rivers.
The stelling sees much
traffic. For instance, almost nine million repeat passengers were recorded transiting on river taxis between Vreed-en-Hoop and Georgetown last year… further amplifying the need for the Government of Guyana to take steps to clear the river of encumbrances such as logs in order to enhance the travel experience.
THURSDAY, JULY 17, 2025|
Police in Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne) have apprehended the driver who was wanted for a car crash which claimed the lives of a mother and her 9-month-old baby in March of this year.
The incident occurred at Linepath, Corentyne, on March 2 and resulted in the death of 17-year-old Kavita Betsan and the baby, Eli Surnjnarine.
The husband, Tushan Surnjnarine, was also injured in the crash and was hospitalised for four days.
The young family was on an electric bike being ridden by Surnjnarine when they were hit by a speeding car.
The driver fled the scene and has been on the run.
On Tuesday evening, police were able to arrest him
in Corriverton after receiving certain information.
Police had reported that
the father, with his wife and baby as pillion riders, was riding an electric bike when
a motorcar allegedly struck the bike. While the baby died on her way to the hos-
pital following the accident, the man and his wife were both hospitalised in critical condition.
The fire succumbed four days later at the ICU of the Georgetown Public Hospital.
According to the police, the motorcar involved in the accident, a white Fielder waggon, has since been located, but the driver, identified as Avinesh Naidoo of Corriverton, was on the run.
Police had said the owner of the motorcar, Vidawattie Arjune of Crabwood Creek, was contacted, and she provided certain information to aid in the investigation.
Regional Commander Assistant Commissioner Shivpersaud Bacchus said the suspect is in custody and arrangements are being made to have him placed before the court today.
“Don’t take set-up” – official warns public against smuggling contraband in prisons
Members of the Public are warned to be cautious when visiting correctional facilities, warning that seemingly harmless favours, like delivering items to inmates, could land them in serious legal trouble.
The reminder came from Chief Prison Officer Desmond Darlington during a televised discussion on ‘Prisons in Focus’, hosted by the Guyana Prison
Service. Speaking specifically about practices at the New Amsterdam Prison, Darlington warned that some visitors, including those with good intentions, may unknowingly become conduits for contraband.
“I want to know which persons would have visited the prison by some means, in terms of visiting their loved ones or so on. Be focused and don’t take, as they term it, ‘don’t take set-
up,’” he said. “Don’t be influenced by persons in there to smuggle things.”
The term “setup”, according to officers, refers to situations where inmates persuade outside contacts or even unfamiliar persons to carry items into the prison on their behalf, often without disclosing the contents.
“Most of those persons don’t know what they are bringing; if it is ammunition, if it is drugs, or nothing, they are not aware of what they are bringing,” Darlington stated.
He stressed that wheth-
er or not visitors are aware of the contents, the consequences remain severe under prison law. “The offence is a serious one, and the penalty can be really severe,” he warned.
The reminder comes amid increased efforts by prison authorities to reinforce security and reduce contraband entering the prison system. While multiple infrastructure projects are underway at New Amsterdam and other major prisons, officers say the human factor, including staff, contractors, and visitors, re-
mains a key area of concern. Darlington urged visitors to conduct personal checks of any items they may be asked to deliver, especially if the items are not packaged by them directly. “Even if it is something you do daily, self-support or whatsoever, ensure that you search the stuff before you deliver it so that you won’t get in contact with illegal things smuggled into the prison,” he advised. His remarks echoed broader security sentiments expressed by other prison officials on the same panel, who emphasised the balance between managing ongoing construction projects and maintaining control of inmate activities.
The Guyana Prison Service continues to upgrade facilities and implement new security protocols, including on-site virtual courts, vocational training workshops, and staff housing. However, visitor vigilance remains an essential component of its security posture.
Just last week, a 29-year-old school cleaner was charged after allegedly attempting to smuggle nine SIM cards into the Camp Street Prison hidden inside a tube of toothpaste. The woman, Shevaghn Samuels of Hogg Street, Albouystown, told the court she had no idea the bag she delivered contained contraband and claimed she was doing a favour for someone she knew personally. “I didn’t know what was inside,” Samuels reportedly said during her appearance before Acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty. She was granted $50,000 bail, and the matter was adjourned to July 23.
The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has notified three political parties, the Alliance for Change (AFC), the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM), and We Invest in Nationhood (WIN), of defects in their submitted candidate lists for the September 1 General and Regional Elections, giving them until midnight on Thursday to make corrections.
Alliance For Change (AFC) is headed by Presidential Candidate Nigel Hughes, while We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) is headed by Presidential Candidate United States-sanctioned Azruddin Mohamed, and Forward Guyana is headed by former People’s National Congress Reform executive Amanza Walton-Desir.
Representatives of all three parties have confirmed that they were contacted by GECOM about defects in their lists.
When contacted today, AFC’s David Patterson said the issue was
related to two of its regional lists, noting that the issue related to the maximum requirement of candidates not being met. One of the regions is Region Nine.
“We were contacted about some minor issues. They are saying that they wanted the maximum candidates in certain regions; we were one or two short… They’re saying we have to submit no less than 15 and no more than 25… I think by now it’s resolved internally, but we haven’t submitted back as yet,” Patterson said.
According to Patterson, it is only the party’s list for the regional elections that was affected, while the national top list and geographical constituency lists, which are needed to contest seats in the National Assembly, were not affected.
“The geographical list was perfect; the national top-up list was perfect,” Patterson said.
Though the party has until this evening to make the corrections, Patterson noted that he is confident that the party will be able to submit the corrections to GECOM by the end of Wednesday.
With regards to WIN, a spokesperson informed that the issues surrounded the repetition of names on the list.
Meanwhile, though WaltonDesir confirmed that her party was contacted by GECOM about defects to the list, she would not say what the identified defects were and would only say that the party would be releasing a statement shortly.
If the parties are unable to rectify the issues outlined, they will not qualify to contest the upcoming elections on September 1.
AFC, WIN, and FGM are
among the seven parties that have submitted lists of candidates to contest the upcoming General and Regional Elections.
The other parties that submitted lists are the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), with Presidential Candidate Irfaan Ali; A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), with Presidential Candidate Aubrey Norton; and the Assembly for Liberty and Prosperity (ALP), which is headed by former PNCR Minister Simona Broomes. The Horizon and Star Party, led by Hubert Maloney, also made a submission to GECOM. Guyana Times has not been able to confirm if any of the other parties’ lists are defective/require correction.
Parties can submit Regional Lists to contend for seats in respective Regional Democratic Councils (RDC) across the country and must submit a National Top-Up List and Geographical Constituency List to contest the General Electionsand
vie for seats in the National Assembly.
Of the 65 elected members in Guyana’s National Assembly, 25 are elected from the 10 geographical constituencies and the remaining 40 from the national top-up list. Parties have to ensure that one-third of the candidates nominated are female.
Each party’s National Top-Up List should comprise 300-330 nominators, 42 candidates (persons to be elected to sit in the National Assembly), who all need a signed statutory declaration form in the presence of a Commissioner of Oaths or Justice of Peace, and include the name of the presidential candidate.
The Statutory Declaration form is what candidates sign to indicate that they are Guyanese and conform to other requirements set out in the law, such as that they are not a citizen of any other country.
The Geographical Constituency (Administrative Regions) List must include 150-175 nominators from each constituency.
For those contesting the regional elections, the Regional Democratic Council List must comprise 150-175 nominees for each constituency, all residing in the said region, and 12 to 36 candidates also from within the region. They, too, are required to sign a statutory form.
Candidates and Nominators can only appear on one party’s list, including on both the National Topup and Geographical Constituency Lists, but can only appear on one of that party’s geographical lists.
If any of these issues are detected with the lists, the respective parties are informed and allowed to make the necessary amendments.
GECOM has software that it has been using since 2006, which has been fine-tuned over the years, to run the lists from each political party to identify defects such as repetition of names where they ought not to be.
GECOM will give final approval or disapproval of the lists on July 18. Thereafter, provisions are made for any party to take legal action to contest GECOM’s decision.
During this time, parties can make withdrawals or notifications of the death of candidates to GECOM by July 15; submit withdrawals of lists by July 17; and submit notifications of the Joinder of Lists by July 21.
GECOM will then be publishing the final and approved lists, titles, and symbols on July 23 after a rigorous vetting process to ensure that all the submissions are in compliance with the various legal practices and procedures.
Ranks from the Guyana Police Force have arrested two individuals and seized over four pounds of marijuana during a series of anti-narcotics operations conducted on Tuesday in Regions Two (Pomeroon-Supernaam) and Four (Demerara Mahaica).
One of the discoveries was made at an abandoned property located at Henrietta Back Street, Essequibo Coast, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), where police unearthed approximately four pounds of suspected cannabis buried in a five-gallon bucket.
According to police, ranks in Regional Division Two were conducting a search for 33-year-old Charles Abrams of Henrietta Back Street. Abrams is wanted in connection with the alleged assault of a police corporal.
When officers arrived at the location, they reportedly observed a 28-year-old woman, who shares a common-law relationship with Abrams, emerging from a clump of bushes in an abandoned yard just north of her
apartment. Upon seeing the police, the woman allegedly began acting in a suspicious manner. She was questioned about Abrams’ whereabouts but was reportedly reluctant to cooperate.
Police said that officers requested to conduct a search of the apartment she shared with Abrams, and she consented, and nothing
illegal was found inside the home. However, ranks then turned their attention to the area of the yard where the woman had been seen moments earlier. There, they noticed a patch of disturbed earth. Upon digging about one foot below the surface, they discovered a five-gallon bucket.
Inside the bucket, po-
lice found a bulky transparent plastic package containing a quantity of leaves, seeds, and stems suspected to be marijuana. The woman was arrested and transported along with the suspected cannabis to the Anna Regina Police Station. The marijuana was weighed in her presence and amounted to four pounds. She remains
in custody as investigations continue.
Meanwhile, police in Regional Division Four were also engaged in separate drug eradication patrols in the Jonestown, Mahaica area also on Tuesday, where two more cannabis-related finds were made within the span of an hour.
At around 16:00h, motor-
cycle patrol ranks conducted a search of an abandoned shop on Second Street, Jonestown. There, hidden beneath an old zinc sheet, they discovered a black plastic bag containing 33 small Ziplock bags filled with leaves, seeds, and stems believed to be marijuana. The narcotics were taken to the Mahaica Police Station, where they were weighed and amounted to 130 grams. No one was in the area at the time of the discovery. Less than an hour later, around 17:00, the same patrol unit returned to Second Street, Jonestown, where they observed a group of men standing at a shop. The men were searched individually. One of them, a 52-year-old labourer of Good Hope, Mahaica, was allegedly found with marijuana concealed in his backpack. The labourer was arrested and escorted to the Mahaica Police Station. The suspected cannabis, when weighed in his presence, amounted to 14 grams. He remains in custody pending charges.
More than 48 hours after the People's Progressive Party (PPP) submitted its lists of candidates to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), the party has not been informed of any defects.
This is according to PPP Executive Secretary Zulfikar Mustapha, who explained that if there is any error, the parties are usually notified within 12 hours.
In this regard, he expressed confidence that there are no issues with the PPP’s lists, noting that “we are very seasoned in preparing those things”.
So far, at least three political parties have been informed of defective lists.
The parties are the Alliance For Change (AFC), whose Presidential Candidate is Nigel Hughes; We Invest in Nationhood (WIN), whose Presidential Candidate is United States (US)sanctioned businessman Azruddin Mohamed; and Forward Guyana, whose Presidential Candidate is Amanza Walton-Desir.
They have until midnight tomorrow to make the corrections. If the parties are unable to rectify the issues outlined, they could not qualify to contest the upcoming elections on September 1.
The lists include a Geographical Constituency List, a National Top-Up List and a Regional Democratic Council List.
Each party’s National TopUp List should comprise 300-
330 nominators, 42 candidates (persons to be elected to sit in the National Assembly), who all need a signed statutory declaration form in the presence of a Commissioner of Oaths or Justice of Peace, and include the name of the Presidential Candidate.
The Statutory Declaration form is what candidates sign to indicate that they are Guyanese and conform to other requirements set out in the law, such as that they are not a citizen of any other coun-
try. The Geographical Constituency (Administrative Regions) List must include 150-175 nominators from each constituency.
For those contesting the regional elections, the Regional Democratic Council List must comprise 150-175 nominators for each constituency – all residing in the said region – and 12 to 36 candidates also from within the region. They, too, are required to sign a statutory form.
Candidates and Nominators can only appear on one party’s list, including on both the National Top-up and Geographical Constituency Lists, but can only appear on one of that party’s geographical lists.
With Guyana’s National Assembly comprised of 65 elected members, 25 of these are elected from the 10 geographical constituencies and the remaining 40 from the national top-up list. Parties also have to ensure that one-third
The Vice President reminded that the PPP/C fulfilled, and in some cases exceeded, all of its 2020 manifesto promises, including reversing all the taxes imposed by the former APNU+AFC Coalition regime. He noted that the PPP/C’s sound macroeconomic environment is often overlooked.
He said the PPP has consistently had a longterm vision, and this has differentiated it from other parties over the years, which Jagdeo says have no vision or plan but just a series of “unsustainable promises”.
“That's one important thing you can expect from us: continuation of sound macroeconomic management,” the VP declared.
He pointed out that Guyana’s economy has changed, with oil and gas
now demanding the traditional management to be enhanced in order to avoid the risk of Dutch Disease given the windfall of revenue that this new sector brings.
“So, you need to be very careful and deliberate in how you manage this,” Jagdeo noted, highlighting the downfall of other countries that were not cautious.
It is for this reason, he noted, that the current PPP/C Administration led by President Ali has been aggressively laying out a diversification plan for Guyana, building traditional and new industries to create wealth for Guyana in the future.
“Some countries have been producing oil and gas for 75 years, and they don’t have a post-oil and gas strategy. We have al-
ready started working on that because that’s important to sustain any future prosperity so that the prosperity doesn’t become periodic… it’s sustained for generations. So, you can
He went on to assure stakeholders that the PPP’s taxation policy would evolve by lowering taxes and increasing disposable income for people. In addition to wanting more
expect that continued work in the next five years,” the VP posited.
money in people’s pockets, he stressed that this policy has to be family-friend-
of the candidates nominated are female.
If any of these issues are detected with the lists, the respective parties are informed and given an opportunity to make the necessary amendments.
GECOM has software that it has been using since 2006, which has been fine-tuned over the years, to run the lists from each political party to identify defects such as repetition of names where they ought not to be.
GECOM will give final approval or disapproval of the lists on July 18. Thereafter, provisions are made for any party to take legal action to contest GECOM’s decision.
During this time also, parties can make withdrawals or notifications of the death of candidates to GECOM by July 15; submit withdrawals of lists by July 17; and submit notifications of the Joinder of Lists by July 21.
GECOM will then be publishing the final and approved lists, titles and symbols on July 23 after a rigorous vetting process to ensure that all the submissions are in compliance with the various legal practices and procedures.
The other parties that submitted lists are the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Assembly for Liberty and Prosperity (ALP).
The Horizon and Star Party led by Hubert Maloney also made a submission to GECOM.
ly, hence the various interventions that the current administration has made, like tax relief for parents and for persons with second jobs.
“We don’t borrow to eat.”
On the party’s borrowing policy, Jagdeo declared, “We don’t borrow to eat; we borrow to invest in the future.”
Thus far, the country has borrowed for infrastructure projects to create greater wealth and for social programmes like building schools, but Jagdeo says this could soon stop.
“It is our hope that in the future, as we get more revenue, we will have to borrow less to finance the programmes. So, the budget will be supported more from the revenue [earned],” he stated.
In fact, this is already
being done with major road projects done on the East Bank Demerara corridor and in Region Three, funded entirely from the national budget.
“So, our borrowing policy will be attenuated, but we have the capacity to borrow without burdening future generations, but that doesn’t mean we will do it,” he stated.
He also spoke of massive investments in human capital development and the creation of opportunities for all Guyanese with support through a development bank, education and other means so that they can take advantage of the wealth creation.
“We want every Guyanese to get wealthier, whether you have nothing now or you’re a big businessman. We want everybody to grow,” he asserted.
Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips met with the President of Suriname, Jennifer GeerlingsSimons, on the side-lines of her historic inauguration on Wednesday.
During the engagement, Prime Minister Phillips extended congratulations to President Geerlings-Simons on her accession to office, describing the occasion as a significant milestone not only for Suriname but also for the wider Caribbean region.
Phillips expressed appreciation for the opportunity to meet
with President Geerlings-Simons and reaffirmed the Co-operative Republic of Guyana’s commitment to strengthening bilateral ties, with particular emphasis on advancing economic and social co-operation between the two neighbouring states.
He emphasised that Guyana and Suriname are “one people”, bound by shared history, values, and aspirations, and identified several key areas for continued collaboration – including energy cooperation with Brazil, agriculture, and fisheries.
The Surinamese Head of State expressed her intention to work closely with Guyana on bilateral matters of mutual interest. She noted the importance of transparency and co-operation in fostering fruitful relations and affirmed her Government’s readiness to engage in joint projects that will benefit both countries.
Phillips informed President Geerlings-Simons that Guyana will hold general and regional elections on 1st September 2025 and reiterated the Government’s commitment to a process that is free, fair, and democratic. He also not-
THURSDAY, JULY 17, 2025|
The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) executive Anil Nandlall has refuted claims that the sanctions imposed by the United States (US) against businessman Azruddin Mohamed only affect his businesses.
Mohamed, now a presidential hopeful, hinted at this on Monday when questioned by reporters after submitting his party’s list of candidates for the upcoming elections.
“I heard the argument that the sanctions only relate to the business. Now that is far from the truth. The sanction is personal, and it also relates to the businesses, and sanctions also have repercussions for relationships. For associations and those who associate with the sanctioned people or sanctioned organisations can also be sanctioned, and that’s clearly set out in the OFAC publications on this issue,” Nandlall highlighted on Tuesday evening during his programme ‘Issues in the News’.
On Monday, media operatives asked Mohamed if he is concerned about putting the country at risk by running for president as a USsanctioned individual.
To this, he said, “The sanctions matter when it comes to my businesses, Mohamed’s Enterprise and Hadi’s World Incorporated,” adding that he is not putting Guyana at risk.
But in 2024, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that it sanctioned Nazar Mohamed and his son, Azruddin Mohamed, as well as several of their companies.
The sanctions are related to the evasion of taxes on gold exports, noting that between 2019 and 2023, Mohamed’s Enterprise omitted more than 10 thousand kilograms (kg) of gold from import and export declarations and avoided paying more than US$50 million in duty taxes to the Government of Guyana.
Nandlall also refuted Mohamed’s insinuation that the sanctions do not have any impact on Guyanese, noting that “any person who does business with a sanctioned person can be sanctioned.”
In fact, he said it is for this reason several founders of A New and United Guyana, including Ralph Ramkarran and Timothy Jonas, have distanced themselves from the party once it was announced that ANUG had joined Mohamed’s party, We Invest in Nationhood (WIN), to contest the 2025 General and Regional Elections.
“There is a saying that fools often wonder where wise men dare not go. I am not calling anybody fools, but I am drawing reference to that important proverb,” Nandlall said.
He further pointed to the geopolitical implications which must be considered given the significant contributions being made by the US in support of Guyana amid the border controversy with Venezuela.
“The US will not support a Government that its own Government has sanctioned, and there is a body of evidence somewhere in the Congress that has led congressmen and women to label the leader of WIN as a puppet of Maduro,” he explained.
Recently, US Congressman Carlos Gimenez expressed that “in the US Congress we are alarmed by the regime in Venezuela’s attempt to undermine Guyana through its pro-Maduro puppet can-
A23-year-old housewife has been charged with murder following the fatal stabbing of her mother-in-law during a domestic dispute at Kissing Rocks access road in the Mabaruma Settlement, North West District, Region One (Barima-Waini).
Charged: Deborah Williams
Deborah Williams, of Mabaruma Settlement, appeared virtually before Magistrate Judy Latchman at the Mabaruma Magistrate's Court on Wednesday, where she was charged with the murder of 47-year-old Sharlim Anthony, also known as "Sharlene". She was not required to plead to the indictable offence and was remanded to prison. The matter was adjourned to August 5. Reports are that the fatal stabbing occurred on Saturday, July 12. According to police reports, Williams and her husband, Raj Anthony, who is the son of the deceased, were consuming alcohol at their residence when an argument ensued. During the altercation, Williams allegedly struck her husband in the forehead with a piece of wood, rendering him unconscious.
didate Azruddin Mohamed, who is sanctioned by OFAC.”
Additionally, United States Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar recently cautioned that “individuals sanctioned for illicit activities must not be allowed to jeopardise” the important Guyana-US relations.
Beyond the national and international implications, Nandlall highlighted the lack of clear policies coming from Mohamed’s party, especially from the businessman himself, who is putting himself forward for the presidency.
“It has often been said that he cannot string two sentences together, and you saw that for yourself throughout the past six or seven months, but you saw it (Monday) when he was confronted possibly for the first time by a number of reporters. Running a country and forming a Government and going to Parliament is not a show-boy thing, this is not wearing sunshade and fancy clothes and throwing money around that you have never worked for, this is representing people who are putting their trust and their
lives and their livelihood in your hands, and they are expecting you – I mean they may be ignorant to think that you can do it but still, there is a duty that you owe and if you can’t deliver that you should not put yourself up,” Nandlall emphasised. He was referring to Mohamed’s inability to answer any questions asked by reporters. Instead, the US-sanctioned businessman mumbled “very soon” and “very shortly” when repeatedly asked to share some of his plans for the country.
Shortly after, Raj Anthony's parents, who reside nearby, were alerted to the incident. Upon arriving at the home, the victim reportedly confronted her daughter-in-law, asking, "What did you do to my son?"
Williams allegedly responded by attacking her mother-in-law with a broken beer bottle, delivering several stabs to her right arm and upper back.
Both injured parties were rushed to the Mabaruma Regional Hospital with the assistance of relatives and residents. While Raj Anthony was admitted for treatment, his 47-year-old mother succumbed to her injuries around 21:30 that night.
Williams was arrested shortly after and taken into custody at the Mabaruma Police Station. Following investigations, she was formally charged with murder.
The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) held a wreath-laying ceremony on Wednesday to mark the 52nd anniversary of the deaths of Jagan Ramessar and Bholanauth Parmanand, more popularly known as the Ballot Box Martyrs.
On Election Day, July 16, 1973, Bholanauth and Ramessar were part of a crowd gathered
outside a polling station at Number 63 Village, Corentyne, Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne), in protest. They were demonstrating against the removal of ballot boxes from the place of poll at the end of voting.
The protesters demanded that the ballots be counted at the place of poll before being transported elsewhere. During the protest, Bholanauth and Ramessar were shot and killed by ranks of the Guyana Defence Force.
Prison authorities are reporting a significant decline in inmate-on-inmate violence at the Mazaruni Prison in Region Seven (CuyuniMazaruni), where a series of targeted infrastructure upgrades and operational changes have allowed for more effective classification and segregation of prisoners. Assistant Superintendent of Prisons, Roddy Denhard, revealed that the violence rate at the facility now stands at just two per cent, an improvement that he attributes to expanded capacity and better housing arrangements. Denhard made the disclosure during a recent panel discussion on the Guyana Prison Service’s Prisons in Focus programme.
“When it comes to capacity, we are now in a better position to execute our duty, that is to say, classification and segregation of inmates,” Denhardt stated. “We’re now in a better position to do that, and that by itself brings a significant impact in the context of prison-to-prison violence. We’re
not having that at my facility. It is down to two per cent as we speak.”
The reduction in violence follows the completion and opening of a new block at the Mazaruni Prison, which can now accommodate an additional 250 inmates. The expansion has eased overcrowding and given officers greater flexibility in managing high-risk or vulnerable inmates.
The ability to separate inmates based on behavioural history, risk factors, and programme involvement has long been a security goal of the Guyana Prison Service. Denhard said the facility’s layout and upgraded features are now helping to make that possible.
“These new facilities are designed with correctional in mind,” he noted. “The concept of correctional is within
The Guyana Police Force is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying two men who died in separate incidents and whose bodies remain unclaimed at mortuaries on the Essequibo Coast and in Berbice.
In the first case, the body of Dennis De Fratus was discovered on July 8 at the Richmond Housing Scheme, Essequibo Coast. Police said efforts to locate his relatives have so far been unsuccess-
ful.
The deceased is currently at the Suddie Hospital Mortuary, and a public notice has been issued by the police’s Corporate Communications Unit, urging anyone with information that could assist in contacting his family to come forward.
Members of the public are asked to contact the nearest police station or the Regional Division Two Operations Room if they can assist with identifying De Fratus or locating his next of kin.
In a separate case, authorities in Berbice are also trying to identify the relatives of a man known only as Raymond Khan, whose body is lying unclaimed at the New Amsterdam Hospital Mortuary.
Khan is believed to be of East Indian descent, approximately 60 years old, and about 5 feet 9 inches tall. Police say there are no visible distinguishing marks on the body, and attempts to identify him have so far failed.
Anyone who may have known Khan or can provide information about his relatives is asked to call the New Amsterdam Police Station on telephone number 3333876 or report to the nearest police station.
The Guyana Police Force is urging members of the public to share any information that could help bring closure to the families of the deceased.
the design of these new facilities, so we’re having better conditions under which the inmate will have to go through certain trainings on a daily basis.”
He added that the added classroom space and technical training opportunities are playing a role in the behavioural transformation of inmates as well.
The training programmes include skills such as welding, plumbing, electrical installation, and aca-
demic preparation. “As we speak, there are several inmates preparing for CXC,” Denhardt confirmed. “We have CXC classes, and that by itself puts that individual in a better position on his return to society because he’s now marketable.”
This multi-pronged approach, improved housing, structured daily programmes, and targeted education are part of a wider institutional shift within the Guyana Prison Service as it continues efforts to move from a punitive to a correctional model.
Across the country, several other prisons are also undergoing upgrades, though Mazaruni has become the first major facility to publicly report a quantifiable reduction in violence since the reforms began.
At Lusignan Prison, Senior of Prisons, Deoraj Gyandat, said six new buildings now accommodate more than 1200 inmates in safer and more humane conditions. But he acknowledged that managing security in large, complex environments still requires close coordination.
“Security is what we do. That's our business,”
Gyandat said. “What happens is that our location is very complex… The amount of prisoners that we have, it therefore means the amount of persons that are coming to visit their relatives is much larger than most of the prisons.”
The prison also hosts virtual court proceedings, and construction is currently underway on a dedicated inhouse virtual court building to reduce the need to transport inmates.
At New Amsterdam Prison, where over 10 separate infrastructure projects are ongoing, including a male kitchen, officer quarters, and a new infirmary, officials are also noting a cultural shift among inmates and staff.
Mazaruni stands out for now as the most measurable success story when it comes to reducing inmate violence through segregation and rehabilitation. Denhard believes that as the prison service continues to build capacity, more facilities will follow a similar path.
“The infrastructure gave us that capacity to undertake that challenge in preparing that individual for society,” he said.
As Guyana prepares to mark 187 years since Emancipation, the African Cultural & Development Association (ACDA) is calling on all Guyanese to reflect deeply on the significance of freedom, heritage, and identity, especially as this year’s festival marks the 400th year since Africans first arrived in Guyana in 1625.
Speaking at the official launch of Emancipation 2025 at the Pegasus Hotel, ACDA Chief Eric Phillips delivered a powerful message centred on unity, ancestral pride, and cultural awareness.
The theme for this year’s commemoration is
“Highlighting the connection of all peoples through African culture as we strive to build a world where all our children are loved and protected.”
With this in mind, Phillips urged the public to move beyond a narrow view of culture as mere artistic expression.
“Culture is about symbolic meaning, about common aspirations, and about the relationship between individuals and groups within that society. Culture is also about the relationships between ideas and perspectives. Culture is about self-respect and a sense of security, about how individuals are social-
ised and values are formed and transmitted. It is also deeply intertwined with structures of power and wealth. Let Emancipation 2025, which acknowledges the 400th anniversary of Africans in Guyana, not be overshadowed by the cacophony of electoral symbols and slogans and a carnival of hate and division. Let Emancipation 2025 be about recognising that as a nation, a house divided will always fall,” Phillips said.
The 187th Emancipation Festival on August 1, 2025, will take place as a family-orientated celebration at the National Park. It will showcase traditional dress, African cuisine, dance, mu-
sic, and educational exhibits, all rooted in the message of unity and historical acknowledgement.
ACDA’s enduring mantra of Ubuntu, “I am because we are”, will remain a guiding light.
This year’s festival will also spotlight the deep roots and achievements of African civilisation, from the ancient skeleton of ‘Lucy’ in Ethiopia to the advanced civilisations of Kemet (Egypt) and Ethiopia and the enduring contributions of African intellectuals, scientists, doctors and leaders.
According to Phillips, it’s important that citizens, especially those of African descent, reconnect with ancestral roots and acknowledge it, noting that Emancipation Day is not merely symbolic but foundational to Guyana’s existence.
“Emancipation was freedom: freedom from physical harm, freedom from men-
tal harm, and freedom from spiritual harm, but it wasn’t freedom from economic harm. Our theme this year is highlighting the connections of all people through African culture as we strive to build a world where all of our children are loved and protected.”
“We acknowledge this theme today because our children are our generational wealth, both past and future… So, we acknowledge all the children of the world because all people in this world are children of Africa; whether you are Indian, Portuguese, Amerindian, or Chinese, you came from Africa. You’re a descendant from Africa. So that’s why our theme speaks about loving all the children of the world,” he added.
This year’s festival is reportedly pegged at a $30 million bill, and ACDA is making a passionate plea to the country’s largest compa-
nies, particularly the oil giants, to support the authentic celebration of African culture in Guyana. Despite a shortfall, Phillips noted that the festival has secured “more than [what the Government gave]” from the Gladstone family — descendants of the notorious 19th-century British slave-owning dynasty who recently issued a public apology for their ancestors’ role in slavery.
The National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) will soon be implementing a national alert system that sends real-time updates to citizens regarding emergencies such as missing children, natural disasters, security threats, or major accidents.
This was disclosed by Director of NISA Colonel Sheldon Howell during this week’s ‘Safeguarding the Nation’ programme produced by the Government.
“We’ve upgraded the response mechanism to missing persons, especially children. And soon enough as well, we’ll have a national alert system that sends [real] time information to your phones, TVs, radios, and social media platforms,” he noted.
In response to questions from this publication, it was further explained that the system is part of a broader integrated platform that is being reinforced under Guyana’s National Security Architecture.
The alerts will be issued
as quickly as possible once an incident occurs so that people receive timely and accurate updates and guidance.
Once completed, more information will be shared with the public at the appropriate time.
Similar systems are in effect in many countries, including Canada and the
United States of America, which have the National Public Alerting System (NPAS) and the Emergency Alert System, respectively. These systems allow authorised officials to broadcast emergency messages to citizens via cable, satellite and broadcast television and radio.
More seafarers need to get licences so that they can take advantage of available opportunities in the sector. This is according to the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD).
The department, which falls under the Ministry of Public Works, is seeking to ensure all seafarers receive proper training as it relates to safety practices. It is currently engaging fisherfolk.
Registrar Superior of MARAD, Katina Benn, says the current engagement with fisherfolk seeks to have them aware of training opportunities available in the sector.
Speaking with this publication on Wednesday, she said that in Guyana, there are not enough qualified seafarers to meet the demand for personnel in the sector.
As such, the department is offering advanced training programmes sponsored by MARAD that seek to bridge that gap in terms of having more qualified seafarers in the sector.
The aim is to bring persons who have been in the sector with a particular category of licence and upgrade them to the next category of licence so that they can fill the various capacities that are available on ships,” Benn explained.
The training will become available within 2-3 weeks and will last between three months and six months, depending on the category.
“We have training opportunities available for the boat master Grades Three, Two and One. The boat master’s Grades Three and Two should last for approximately 3 months, and the boat master's Grade One will last for six months… One of the foremost
qualifications that they would need is the STCW training, which is the Basic Safety Training, and this training is offered at the AA Maritime Training Institute and the MatPal Marine Institute.
Benn said that the ministry is also looking at the possibility of having the STCW training funded by MARAD.
She pointed out that consultations with seafarers will determine whether the minister will go ahead and fund the STCW training.
Benn agreed that at facilities like the three-door landing site, you would seldom find qualified persons.
“But it is important that we have opportunities like this available for persons within all the regions of Guyana.”
On Wednesday, the department met with fishermen who op-
erate from the three-door Sluice at D’Edward, West Coast Berbice, in Region Five, and on Thursday, they are expected to engage fisherfolk in New Amsterdam at the
New Amsterdam Market Wharf.
Engagements are also planned for next week with fisherfolk at Linden on Thursday and Friday.
Benn says they will also be meeting with fisherfolk in Georgetown and Mabaruma in Region One to have similar engagements.
Meanwhile, with many unlicensed operators working in the industry, Director of MARAD, Courtney McDonald, said this means that they were not trained. He pointed out that knowledge of safety practices at sea is of vital importance.
Safety training can save your life and your other colleagues on board. So, there should be an emergency pop-up. So, it is not just about you going to sea for the past 20 years and nothing happened. We have an old saying that we say, ‘nothing happened, nothing said’, but as a seafarer for the past 25 years, I can tell you it just takes one day for something to happen out there, and then that's when you need all your experience and all your training, and this is where the safety training comes in important,” the MARAD Director explained.
The United States has sent a Jamaican and a Cuban among five immigrants convicted of serious crimes to the African nation of Eswatini, the US Department of Homeland Security confirmed, in “an expansion of the Trump Administration’s largely secretive third-country deportation programme”, the Associated Press reported.
The move comes after the US
Supreme Court lifted restrictions on sending people to countries where they have no ties. The US has already deported eight men to South Sudan. The South Sudanese Government has declined to say where those men, also described as violent criminals, are after it took custody of them nearly two weeks ago, the AP reported.
In a late-night post on X on Tuesday, Homeland Security
Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the five men sent to Eswatini, who are citizens of Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba, Yemen and Laos, had arrived on a deportation plane.
She said they were all convicted criminals and “individuals so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back”.
Acoalition of countries has announced at a meeting in the Colombian capital of Bogota that they will pursue accountability for Israeli abuses in Gaza, including by preventing the transfer of weapons to Israel.
The two-day meeting concluded on Wednesday with two dozen countries agreeing to six measures to “restrain Israel’s assault on the Occupied Palestinian Territories”.
They include Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Indonesia, Iraq, Libya, Malaysia, Namibia, Nicaragua, Oman, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and South Africa.
“We believe in protago-
nism, not supplication,” said Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, the executive secretary of The Hague Group, which organised the summit.
“Today marks an end to the era of the impunity and the beginning of collective state action by Governments of conscience.”
Founded in January, the Hague Group seeks to bring together countries from the “Global South” — a loosely defined region of developing economies — to pressure Israel to end its war on Gaza and the occupation of the Palestinian territories.
Among the steps announced by the group are the denial of arms to Israel, a ban on ships transporting such arms and a review of
public contracts for possible links to companies that benefit from the Israeli occupation.
The six measures also included support for “universal jurisdiction mandates”, which would allow States or international bodies to prosecute serious international crimes, regardless of where they took place.
“The delegates here that have been discussing these measures for two days are calling it the most ambitious, multilateral plan since the beginning of Israel’s war in Gaza 21 months ago,” Al Jazeera correspondent Alessandro Rampietti reported from Bogota. (Al Jazeera)
Approval for Brazilian President Luiz
Inácio Lula da Silva’s Government rose for the first time this year, a new poll showed on Wednesday, after his US counterpart Donald Trump announced a 50 per cent tariff on imports from Brazil starting in August.
Jamaica is currently facing a rapidly-changing dry season, prompting the Government to announce a J$350 million drought mitigation plan aimed at alleviating the growing water crisis across the island.
With rainfall levels falling below predictions, acting President of the National Water Commission (NWC) Garth Jackson confirmed that 44 of the commission’s 450 systems have been impacted, with 23 currently operating at less than 50 per cent capacity.
“Eastern parishes have about 40 systems which are affected by the dry season whereas the western parishes have about three which are affected. The rest of the systems: Hanover, Westmoreland, Manchester all are operating larger at capacity currently,” he explained.
In response, the Government’s mitigation strategy will include J$150 million in water trucking, distributed through
Members of Parliament. An additional J$50 million has been allocated to assist with further trucking support to the NWC to service critical infrastructure, and J$50 million will go towards the purchase of additional water tanks.
Speaking at a press briefing, Minister with responsibility for water in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Matthew Samuda, emphasised the urgency of the sit-
uation.
Farmers can also expect relief through a J$100 million programme under the Ministry of Agriculture, Mining and Fisheries. This initiative will support water delivery, the installation of drip irrigation systems and grass purchases. Agriculture Minister Floyd Green is expected to provide more details on the agricultural component of the plan in the coming days. (Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)
Avisit to Colombia has never been closer, as Antigua and Barbuda prepares to launch direct flight service to Cartagena, Colombia this September, boosting Caribbean-Latin American connections.
According to the poll, 66 per cent of the respondents were aware of President Trump’s letter announcing 50 per cent tariffs on Brazil, while 33 per cent were not.
In the letter, Trump linked the tariffs to Brazil’s treatment of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is on trial over charges of plotting a coup to stop Lula from taking office in 2023.
The poll showed that
The Quaest poll commissioned by brokerage Genial showed that 43 per cent of those surveyed approve of Lula’s Administration, up from 40 per cent in the previous poll in May. Meanwhile, the Government’s disapproval fell from 57 per cent to 53 per cent in the period.
72 per cent believed that Trump was wrong to impose tariffs on Brazil owing to what he sees as persecution of Bolsonaro, while 19 per cent thought the measure was right.
Despite being barred from holding public office until 2030, Bolsonaro insists he will run against Lula in a rematch in next year’s election, arguing he is the only figure on the right who can defeat the incumbent.
Lula, 79, has hinted that he could run for re-election.
(Excerpt from Reuters)
Cuba fires Minister who said beggars were all fakes
The Cuban Government fired its Labour Minister after she was publicly rebuked by the President for saying the country’s beggars were all phonies in disguise.
A brief announcement Tuesday evening said Labour and Social Security Minister Marta Elena Feito had demonstrated a lack of “objectivity and sensitivity on topics that are currently central to political and governmental policy”.
The Minister’s remarks on live television on
Monday were widely circulated on social media and became a lightning rod for popular frustration with years of economic crisis.
“We have seen people who appear to be beggars, but when you look at their hands, when you look at the clothes those people wear, they are disguised as beggars ... In Cuba, there are no beggars,” Feito said.
“They have found an easy way of life, to make money and not to work as is appropriate.”
President Miguel Diaz-
Canel addressed the comments in his own appearance before the committee the next day, saying they showed a lack of empathy and understanding of the roots of poverty.
“These people, who we sometimes describe as homeless or linked to begging, are actually concrete expressions of the social inequalities and the accumulated problems we face,” the President said. “The vulnerable are not our enemies.”
(Reuters)
At Bay Gardens, Hodges Bay, officials from Blue Sea: the Latin American Traveller, and the Ministry of Tourism announced the initiative during a press briefing, with flights set to begin on September 12, 2025.
Maria Consuelo BrittoBettini, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Blue Sea, the destination management company coordinating the initiative, told reporters that an agreement had been successfully reached with LIAT 2020 to host the flights.
Britto-Bettini, who has worked on establishing this
connectivity for five years, said that Blue Sea would provide comprehensive packages for Latin American visitors to the island, including daily guided tours,
ous sectors of the
omy. (Excerpt from Antigua Observer)
Aman who was found guilty of murdering a Jamaican hairdresser with whom he had a relationship has been sentenced to 30 years in prison by an Antiguan court.
Shawn Mussington was sentenced when he appeared in the High Court on Tuesday. Mussington was found guilty of the capital offence following a jury trial in March. The Judge ordered that the sentence be reviewed after Mussington serves 20 years.
Mussington was charged with the brutal killing of his former partner, Simone Whyte-Barrington, an offence which occurred on November 14, 2020.
During the trial, which lasted about a week, the prosecution led evidence which showed that Mussington was unable to get over his break-up with Whyte-Barrington.
The prosecution painted Mussington as a stalker, describing his actions as a cowardly sneak attack. The Crown also pos -
ited that he was obsessed with her and did not want to let go, so he became dangerous.
Mussington stabbed Whyte-Barrington in the chest with a knife during a function.
It is reported that he had been monitoring her movements on the fateful night before he held on to her as she passed him and inflicted the fatal wound. Whyte-Barrington died on the scene.
(Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)
Oil prices settled marginally lower on Wednesday as US fuel inventory builds and concerns about wider economic impact from US tariffs outweighed some signs of increasing demand.
Brent crude futures settled 19 cents, or 0.3 per cent lower, at US$68.52 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 14 cents, or 0.2 per cent, at US$66.38.
US gasoline stocks rose by 3.4 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said. Analysts had expected a draw of one million barrels.?
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 4.2 million barrels, EIA data showed, far surpassing expectations for a 200,000-barrel rise.
Crude inventories fell by 3.9 million barrels to 422.2 million barrels last week, the EIA said, exceeding forecasts for a 552,000-barrel draw.
“I think the market is disappointed to see large builds in gasoline and distillate inventories as refiners are operating at near their highest levels of the year turning oil into refined products,” said Andrew Lipow, President of Lipow Oil Associates, referring to refinery rates of nearly 94 per cent of total capacity.
“I think investors are also disappointed to see gasoline demand fall just after July 4 as we are now in the peak summer driving season,” he added.
The amount of products supplied for gasoline, a proxy for demand, eased 670,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 8.5 million bpd.
US President Donald Trump’s tariff war continued, with the European Commission preparing possible retaliation if talks with Washington fail to secure a trade agreement for the European Union.
On Monday, Trump said the US would impose “very severe tariffs” on Russia in 50 days if there was no deal to stop the war in Ukraine.
Short-term US interest-rate futures rose after a report that Trump was likely to fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell soon, with traders now betting on rate cuts starting in September and at least one more by December.
Trump said he was not planning to fire Powell, but declined to rule out anything. Interest rate cuts typically boost economic activity and energy demand.
Helping keep a floor under prices, US economic activity increased slightly in recent weeks, but the outlook was neutral to slightly pessimistic, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday, as businesses reported the Trump Administration’s higher tariffs were putting upward pressure on prices.
Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ monthly report on Tuesday forecast that the global economy would do better in the second half of the year. Brazil, China, and India are exceeding expectations while the United States and EU are recovering from last year, it added.
Chinese State-owned refiners are ramping up output after completing maintenance to meet higher third-quarter fuel demand and to rebuild diesel and gasoline stocks at multi-year lows, traders and analysts said.
Barclays estimated that Chinese oil demand in the first half of the year grew by 400,000 bpd year-on-year to 17.2 million bpd.
On the supply side, drone attacks for a third day on oilfields in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region have slashed crude output by 140,000 to 150,000 bpd, two energy officials said on Wednesday, as infrastructure damage forced multiple shutdowns. (Reuters)
Israel launched powerful airstrikes in Damascus
on Wednesday, blowing up part of the Defence Ministry and hitting near the presidential palace as it vowed to destroy government forces attacking Druze in southern Syria and demanded they withdraw.
The attacks marked a significant Israeli escalation against the Islamistled Administration of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa. They came despite his warming ties with the US and his Administration’s evolving security contacts with Israel.
Describing Syria’s new rulers as barely-disguised jihadists, Israel has said it will not let them move forces into southern Syria and vowed to shield the area’s
Druze community from attack, encouraged by calls from Israel’s own Druze minority.
The US said the fighting would stop soon.
“We have engaged all the parties involved in the clashes in Syria. We have agreed on specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end tonight,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said
on social media.
The United Nations Security Council will meet today to address the conflict, diplomats said.
Scores of people have been killed this week in violence in and around the predominantly Druze city of Sweida, pitting fighters from the Druze minority against Government security forces and members of Bedouin tribes.
Reuters reporters heard warplanes swoop low over the capital and unleash a series of massive strikes mid-afternoon. Columns of smoke rose from the area near the Defence Ministry. A section of the building was destroyed, the ground strewn with rubble.
Meanwhile, an ultra-Orthodox party quit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet on Wednesday, but said it would remain within his coalition for now, giving the Government more time to resolve a thorny dispute over military conscription. Another ultra-Orthodox group abandoned the coalition on Tuesday over the deeply divisive issue, leaving Netanyahu with just a one-seat majority in Parliament.
(Excerpt from Reuters)
Russia attacked cities across Ukraine overnight with hundreds of drones and a missile strike, hitting energy infrastructure and wounding at least 15 persons, authorities said on Wednesday.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 400 drones and one ballistic missile, primarily targeting Kharkiv, Kryvyi Rih and Vinnytsia –three cities in different parts of Ukraine.
The large-scale longrange attacks targeted energy infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on X.
Power was cut for 80,000 families in Kryvyi Rih and other locations in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine’s largest private
Smoke and flame rise following the Russian drone attack on the Vinnytsia region of Ukraine on July 16, 2025. Some of the drones struck facilities of civilian industrial infrastructure. At least eight persons were injured (Vinnytsia Military Admin/Anadolu/Getty Images)
energy company DTEK said on the Telegram app.
The air force said it had shot down most of the drones, but that 12 targets were hit by 57 drones and the missile.
Russia has stepped up attacks on cities across Ukraine this summer, regularly sending several hundred drones accompanied by ballistic missiles. The attacks were cited by US
President Donald Trump this week as a reason for his decision to approve more weapons for Ukraine, including air defences. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Parliament voted to dismiss Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on Wednesday, lawmakers said, part of a government overhaul aimed at strengthening wartime economic and military management. The move effectively dissolves the Cabinet, and lawmakers are expected to approve new members today. First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, tapped by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy this week, is the only candidate to chair the new Government. (Excerpt from Reuters)
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said that Canada will introduce a tariff rate quota on countries it has free trade agreements with, excluding the United States, in order to protect its domestic steel industry. Carney announced the new measures on
Wednesday.
The plan includes a 50 per cent tariff that will apply to imports from relevant countries that surpass the 2024 volumes, though Canada will honour existing arrangements with its United StatesMexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade partners, Carney said.
Canada will implement additional tariffs of 25 per cent on steel imports from all countries containing steel melted and poured in China before the end of July.
Carney is responding to complaints from the domestic industry, which had said
that other countries are diverting steel to Canada and making the domestic industry uncompetitive due to US tariffs. The Canadian steel industry had asked the Government to introduce tougher anti-dumping measures to protect the domestic industry. (Excerpt from BBC News)
Republicans in the US Senate have said they will spare the US-backed HIV/AIDS programme Pepfar from cuts, amid a larger effort to reduce Government spending.
Senators said they would end a plan to cut US$400 million from the Pepfar –
President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief – programme, leaving total proposed cuts at US$9 billion.
The proposition was made in a Senate amendment to a rescissions package – meaning a bill that allows lawmakers to cancel previous funding approved
by Congress. The planned cancellations also include funds for international aid and public broadcasting. If the Pepfar amendment is approved, the bill will go back to the House of Representatives for another vote ahead of a Friday deadline.
Multiple Senators from both parties had expressed concern with cuts to Pepfar, which was launched under President George W Bush and has been credited with saving tens of millions of lives around the world, especially in Africa.
(Excerpt from BBC News)
Pay attention, think and decline an offer if you feel uncertain. Keeping a low profile will help you avoid trouble and provide the peace you need to pursue your interests.
Take pent-up energy and apply it to challenging physical activities. If you take on debt and responsibilities, it will be tough to achieve your objective. Making a change at home can boost your morale.
Follow your heart, but don’t share personal information or feelings with others. Give yourself time to digest and rethink your next move. Choose peace and love over discord.
Keep your thoughts and emotions to yourself. Offering too much personal information will put you in a vulnerable position. Concentrate on taking care of your responsibilities and your finances.
Participate in groups making a difference. The people you meet and the things you learn will encourage you to become a leader. Work hard and take pride in your accomplishments.
Stop before you do or say something you will regret. Look inward and finetune your attitude and goals. You cannot put a price tag on loyal connections fighting for the exact cause or results.
Visual learning will change your perspective on how educational pursuits impact you. A charismatic instructor will hold your attention and encourage you to be more entrepreneurial.
Hands-on learning is the best kind. To gain ground, you must open your mind and be willing to try new things to see if they help or spark ideas that work for you.
Speak up and exude charm, and you’ll have a positive impact on others. Craft a distinctive style that sets you apart from the competition. Being at the forefront will help you gain notoriety.
Listen and dissect what you hear; it will help dismiss confusion and mistakes. Believe in yourself and your attributes. Leave nothing to chance or in someone else’s jurisdiction.
Point yourself in a good direction and get going. You can make headway if you maintain focus, drive and insight into your goals. Make an effort to spend some time with a loved one.
Put yourself first. Arrange your schedule to ensure you have time to relax and pamper yourself. Change may be daunting, but settling for less than what you want will lead to regret.
Career-best contributions from Mahedi Hasan and Tanzid Hasan powered Bangladesh to a series-winning eight-wicket win against Sri Lanka. The home side had blown away Bangladesh in the first game in Pallekele, but the visitors fought back in the second game in Dambulla, before this win in Colombo. Bangladesh have previously only once turned around from 1-0 down to win a three-match T20 International (T20I) series, against West Indies seven years ago.
Mahedi took 4 for 11, in a spell that never let Sri Lanka change gears owing to con-
Andre Russell, who was included in the 16-member West Indies squad against Australia, is set to hang up his boots from international cricket during the T20I series, starting from July 20.
The all-rounder will play his final international match against Australia at his home ground, Sabina Park, which is scheduled to host the first two T20Is.
The Jamaican was a two-time world champion, having been a part of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cupwinning squads in 2012 and 2016. Having played only the
stant wickets. This was an apt reward for a bowler who had been out of the side for Bangladesh’s previous four T20Is. By the time his spell was over, Bangladesh were in control, and they seldom looked in trouble thereafter.
Tanzid cracked an unbeaten 47-ball 73, ensuring Bangladesh strolled through their 133-run chase. He struck six sixes, all of them with a bit of class and nonchalance.
Sri Lanka had earlier chosen to bat at the toss – an unusual decision given the lopsided results for sides batting first at the R Premadasa Stadium. After the quick boundar-
two international matches on home soil at Sabina Park, on July 20 and 22. Russell, who has repre
ies Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis hit in the match’s first over, Captain Charith Asalanka may have thought he had made the right call. As it turned out, by the end of the evening, the home side has lost every time they decided to bat first at this ground in night matches.
Mahedi makes a comeback statement
The game began at top speed. Shoriful Islam removed Kusal Mendis in the first over, caught at the deep backward square leg boundary. Mahedi, who had replaced Mehidy Hasan Miraz
kid, I did not expect to get to this level, but the more you start to play and get to love the sport, the more you realise what you can achieve. This inspired me to become better because I wanted to leave a mark in the maroon colours and become an inspiration to others.”
He spoke about the rare opportunity of being able to close off his international chapter in familiar conditions, in front of his home fans.
“I love playing for the West Indies, and I love playing at home in front of my family and friends, where I get to showcase my talent performances. I want tional career on a high while being a role eration of cricketers coming
for this game, jumped into action from the other end. He had Kusal Perera caught at slip for a duck.
Dinesh Chandimal, returning to the T20I side after more than three years, survived two out of three chances in the space of six balls – Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Mustafizur Rahman dropped catches off his bat. Soon after, Chandimal topedged Mahedi with a slog
The Corentyne roadways will ignite on Sunday, August 3, with the Big Star Youth and Sport Club Emancipation Road race.
and was caught at point.
Sri Lanka Captain Asalanka was next to go, on the receiving end of what might have been the ball of the series. Mahedi got the ball to turn just enough to beat Asalanka’s backfoot push, flattening the offstump.
Nissanka was dismissed for 46, Mahedi completing a simple caught-and-bowled chance to claim his fourth
wicket. Sri Lanka were 66 for 5 in the 11th over.
Shanaka’s last-gasp blast Bangladesh kept picking up Sri Lanka’s wickets through the middle and death overs, but could not dislodge Dasun Shanaka. He unleashed his shots in the last over, taking 22 off Shoriful, who finished with 1 for 50 from his four overs. (ESPNcricinfo)
around the world will get to see one of their recent heroes wearing maroon.
This regional outfit will say farewell to two-time T20 World Cup winner Andre Russell, who will suit up for the West Indies in his final
roon colours for more than a decade.
Russell expressed, “Words cannot explain what it meant. To represent the West Indies has been one of the proudest achievements in my life. When I was a
CWI Head Coach Daren Sammy paid tribute to Russell’s career: “Andre has the al and a fierce itor.
I was him or ing him, his hunger to perform and er wavered. I wish him all the best on his next chapter, and I hope he continues to inspire generations to come.”
Russell will be replaced by Matthew Forde for the Warner Park leg of the series. (ICC, CWI)
This event will be a five-kilometre (km) and 10km road race, which will commence at Number 35 Village, Corentyne, Berbice, while the five-kilometre race will commence at Bush Lot Village.
This exciting road race (both categories) is expected to have a grand finish at Ulverston Village, Corentyne, Berbice, at Sparkle Supermarket. According to organisers, there will be categories for male and female athletes between ages 13-16; 17-yearold and above athletes are considered in the open category.
After a successful first hosting of the road race in 2024, the organisers are gearing up for more cash incentives, along with hampers and gift vouchers. This race will serve as early competitive preparation for some athletes in school who are vying for bragging rights in the school’s championship.
Entries are open for this race and will close on July 31. The entry forms are currently available at Sparkle Supermarket, or contact
should be made with a Big Star Club member on 6194070 or 678-4296.
Last year’s race saw a former District Six national athlete, Esan Hooper, claiming top honours in the 10k road race.
In addition to Hooper, Arvin Valenzuela won the 5k road race, while Princes Wong won the female category in the 5k race, which started at Bush Lot Village. Lasandra Davis emerged
as the winner in the female category of the 10k race. The Big Star Youth and Sport Club was founded in 1991.
The club is known for producing cricketers, with Melroy Barkley being the club’s first national youth cricketer, while current Guyana Harpy Eagles selectee Sylus Tyndall also started his cricket career at Big Star Youth and Sport Club.
FTHURSDAY, JULY 17, 2025
our Guyanese are among the 16-member squad for the upcoming five-match T20 International (T20I) Series against Australia, to be played from July 20 to 28 at Sabina Park in Jamaica and Warner Park in St Kitts.
The four Guyanese are Shimron Hetmyer, Sherfane Rutherford, Gudakesh Motie, and Romario Shepherd.
However, Cricket West Indies, in a release to the media, stated that the squad features the core group of players who secured a recent series win against Ireland, along with exciting newcomers Jewel Andrew and Jediah Blades, who have earned maiden T20 call-ups.
Andrew, a highly regarded batting prospect and backup wicketkeeper, has impressed with his intent and range against spin bowling.
At just 18, he is seen as one of the region’s brightest
In less than one week since commencement, the Culture, Youth and Sport Ministry/National Sports Commission teachthem-young swimming programme had more than 100 prospective swimmers.
The annual summer swimming programme, which is free to the public, is currently being held at Albion Estate swimming pool (inside the GuySuCo compound). Qualified coaches from Georgetown are offering swimming lessons for children and adults.
According to Regional Sports Officer for Region Six, Randy Mangru, the turnout has been overwhelming, and the certified coaches are attracting more prospective swimmers. This programme aims to promote water safety and provide basic swimming education while nurturing competitive swimmers in Berbice.
“The coaches are here to teach the kids and adults the basic life-saving techniques in swimming.”
“This programme has been beneficial for the past five years. We were not able to have swimmers prior to the past five years at the Ministry of Education Swimming Championship,” Mangru said.
The adults’ programme is where the swim instructors teach parents, schoolteachers, and lecturers. We have some 50 parents in the swimming programme.
The swimming programme is being held from Monday to Friday for children aged six and above. Interested individuals can contact Mangru on 6878251. This programme, which continues to attract those in Region Six, is being offered weekdays from 9:00
and will conclude on August 8.
The Teach Them Young swimming programme has been an annual event during the school break across Guyana. More than 2000 individuals (kids and adults) benefited from these programmes.
These programmes are usually held nationwide. In addition to the Albion Estate swimming pool, the other venues are the Aquatic Centre and the Colgrain Swimming Pool in Georgetown and the Watooka Swimming Pool in Linden.
The swimming programme, which had a hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic, was reintroduced in 2022. It has developed into a national policy under the NSC and is tailored to children and individuals aged 18 and under.
prospects and will be eager to make his mark on the international stage.
Left-arm seamer Blades, who made his international
debut against Bangladesh in 2024, was one of the shining lights during the inaugural West Indies Breakout League, where he took most of his wickets in the powerplay.
Shai Hope will continue to lead the side as Captain, with seasoned campaigners like Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, and Rovman Powell also named in the line-up.
Looking forward to the five-match T20I series, head coach Darren Sammy said the focus remains on improving West Indies’ ranking and building towards what will be a competitive T20I World Cup in India and Sri Lanka next year.
“Our goals and strategic plans are aligned to winning the T20 World Cup in 2026. We have continuity in the squad from the previous series, and as a unit, we will continue to fine-tune
Three members of the Guyana Police Force – Nichola Argyle, Vurlon Mills and Trevon Lyncott – recently completed the FIFA Elite Youth Coaches Workshop that was hosted in Guyana in collaboration with the Guyana Football Federation (GFF).
The four-day Elite Youth Coach Workshop, which ran from July 8 to 11, was aimed at strengthening youth development structures and enhancing the technical capacity of local coaches working with national youth teams.
The course was designed to provide development coaches with the tools, methodologies, and frame-
works required to identify, nurture, and transition emerging football talent.
The trio of policemen and women who completed the workshop are stationed at GPF’s Sports Secretariat.
Vurlon Mills is the Police’s female football team’s head coach, while Trevon Lyncott is the assistant coach/head coach for the Guyana National U17 boys’ team. Nichola Argyle, a member of the Police’s female football team, is also the head coach for Guyana’s U14 female Lady Jags team.
With the experience and knowledge gained, their involvement is sure to elevate the Police Force’s football talent to new heights.
our style and brand ahead of the World Cup.”
Sammy added that the team will be looking to reconsolidate a winning record at home.
“Our previous two T20 series at home, we were on the wrong end of the results, but starting against Australia, we want to regain our form at home as we build momentum into next year’s World Cup with our exciting and dynamic group of players.”
The full West Indies squad comprises Shai Hope (Captain), Jewel Andrew, Jediah Blades, Roston Chase, Matthew Forde, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Evin Lewis, Gudakesh Motie, Rovman Powell, Andre Russell, Sherfane Rutherford, and Romario Shepherd.
Iftikhar Ahmed’s allround performance has led to Rangpur Riders being unbeaten at this year’s ExxonMobil Guyana Global Super League (GSL), thus securing their spot in the final showdown billed for Friday evening at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, East Bank Demerara (EBD).
It was Rangpur Riders who won the toss and opted to bat first against the Dubai Capitals. Dominic Drakes struck early for the Capitals as he trapped Ibrahim Zadran lbw for 1 on the fourth ball of
the innings. The in-form Kyle Mayers walked out at number 3 and took the attack to the Capitals bowlers. In the 11 balls he faced, he hit 2 sixes and one four as he scored 19. Mayers fell to the bowling of Rohan Mustafa as Drakes claimed the catch. After the powerplay, the Riders were 48 for 2 with Soumya Sarkar and Mahidul Islam Ankon at the crease. Ankon, who made 11 from 15 balls, was caught by leg spinner Qais Ahmad off his own bowling as the batter was trying to inject some momentum into his innings. Sarkar, who was in and settled, played an ill-advised shot to give his wicket away to the bowling of Shakib Al Hasan. Sarkar was dismissed on 36 off 28 balls, and at the halfway stage, the Rangpur Riders were 75 for 4.
In the 14th over, Iftikhar Ahmed brought up the 100-run mark for the Riders with a huge six straight back
over the bowler’s head. Azmatullah Omarzai was dismissed shortly after by Capitals Captain Gulbadin Naib, causing the Riders to lose momentum once again. With the score at 117 for 5 and 3 overs remaining, Iftikhar Ahmed came to the Riders' rescue as the Pakistani all-rounder continued to clear the ropes and find the boundaries. Captain Nural Hasan also had his say as he finished the innings with consecutive sixes. Iftikhar Ahmed remained not out with a score of 41 from 32 balls at a strike rate
of 128.2. Captain Hasan played a superb cameo, finishing his innings with 34 from 18 balls, which included 3 boundaries and 2 sixes. The Rangpur Riders ultimately ended their innings on 158 for 5 in their 20 overs.
With a required run rate of 7.95 needed for victory, Dubai Capitals got off to a horrid start as they were 7 for 2 after 2 overs. Mayers struck in his first over as he bowled Kadeem Alleyne for just 1. Iftikhar Ahmed once again was in the action as he knocked over Capitals'
launching a ball straight to extra cover after the break. The Capitals were at 85 for 6 after 13 overs when Saif Hassan performed an important double strike in the 13th over of the game, trapping opening batsman Atal for 38 and taking the big wicket of seasoned all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan for just 3. Jesse Bootan was beginning to look dangerous, but clumsy cricket saw his demise as he was run out on 15. Capitals needed 31 from 18 balls with Drakes and Rohan Mustafa at the crease. Mustafa was bowled by Khaled Ahmed, swinging across the line of a straight delivery.
From the most un -
likely source, Ahmad smashed 18 off 8 balls to turn the game in the Capitals' favour. Ahmad was caught at long-on trying to clear the ropes once again. At the end of the 19th over, the score was 150 for 9. With 9 needed off 6 balls, Drakes was on strike as he was up against Khaled Ahmed. Khaled Ahmed and Rangpur Riders held their nerve as Drakes smashed the ball straight down to deep mid-wicket. Rangpur Riders stayed unbeaten in the tournament as they won the game by 8 runs
Aberserk blitz from Shimron Hetmyer, magical spin from Gudakesh Motie and another comprehensive win from the Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW) sent the Guyana National Stadium into an uproar on Wednesday night as the local franchise pulled off a 4-wicket win against the Hobart Hurricanes to seal their place in the ExxonMobil Guyana Global Super League (GSL) T20 final.
Brimming with anticipation, the almost-capacity crowd at Providence were treated to some of the best of their local players in the emphatic win.
Their third magical bowling performance on the trot; this time around, the Amazon Warriors were able to display their ability to stifle their opposition early on. It looked to be a beating for the hosts in the powerplay after the Hobart Hurricanes won the toss and opted to bat first, going on to slam 14 runs off Dwaine Pretorius’ bowling in the first over.
was again punished, going for a hat trick of boundaries off Ben McDermott’s bat. However, the South African quick soon had his revenge, rocking back McDermott’s stumps for a feisty 21 off 9 balls.
There was an ensuing drought in the wickets for the Amazon Warriors as the Hurricanes’ Nikhil Chaudhary and Macalister Wright steadied the ship for the visitors.
The Hurricanes were by then striking at an imposing 9 runs an over, an early cause for concern for the hosts. Their solution was found in the Berbician spin magician, Gudakesh Motie, who sent both set batters in Chaudhary and Wright back to the dugout for 21 and 16 runs, respectively. With the Hurricanes on the ropes at 685, Warrior Nation were sent into a frenzy as their billowing roars
make an impact, dispatching his former captain for two boundaries in his third over. But Tahir had the last laugh when his delivery deflected from Smith’s thigh into the stumps, ending his innings at 8 from 7 deliveries.
Moeen Ali, however, was hav- ing none of it, serving up a doozy to Bhanuka Rajapaksa on the second ball of his spell, which carried to Shimron
continuously penetrated the night sky.
Former Amazon Warrior Odean Smith looked to
Warriors again loosened the noose for a brief period, allowing an aggressive-looking pair in Mohammad Nabi and Fabian Allen to strike up a 35-run partnership, the second-highest of their innings. Allen led the charge, blasting 2 sixes and a four for 28 off 20, while Nabi hit an almost run-a-ball 22 before getting out to a cheeky caught and bowled off David Wiese’s bowling; almost an exact replica of his wicket the night prior against the Central Stags.
By the time Tahir had trapped Allen lbw, it only took Motie one ball in his fourth over to clean up the remainder of the Hurricanes’ line-up to end with figures of 3-9 from 3.1 overs. Both Tahir and Ali picked two scalps each.
Warrior Nation experienced the highs and lows of emotions, all in the very first over, when it was the Warriors’ turn to bat. Dubbed a true West Indian way to get out, Johnson Charles launched Billy
Stanlake into the stands for a maximum but had his middle stump uprooted the very next ball while at tempting another big shot.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz, again, did not find favour, falling victim to an LBW de cision, while Evin Lewis departed in an identical manner not too long after.
The highlight of the Amazon Warriors’ inning came when Shimron Hetmyer made his way to the crease, racing to 33 from 8 balls. After taking only a single off his first two deliveries
fore him, pulled out of the shot on the fifth ball, sending the ball down to fine leg for a two. Kicking himself already, Hetmyer took his biggest shot of the night for 5 maximums in the over.
faced, Fabian Allen became the unfortunate bowler to face Hetmyer’s wrath.
Hetmyer launched Allen over the long-on boundary in the first shot, hitting the hospitality boxes. Then, Odean Smith made the grave mistake of misjudging Hetmyer’s shot on the long-off boundary, tipping the ball over for a
Hetmyer compensated for missing the 6 sixes with a shot that disturbed the glass on the Providence Media Centre. However, Hetmyer did as Hetmyer does, resorting to his familiar hook shot, which got him caught on the boundary for an entertaining 39 off 10 balls. By that time, the Amazon Warriors had already put a dent in their required runs; Hetmyer pulled the team from a slump at 43-3 in 9 overs to 87 in 12. With the required runs much more manageable and the jitters of a struggle now behind them, Moeen Ali and Gudakesh Motie cruised along. Though Motie had a soft dismissal for 19 from 13, the damage was already done, and the Amazon Warriors were already within sight of the final spot. Ali finished unbeaten on 30, having played a handy anchor role for the Amazon Warriors, leading them to their target in 16.3 overs. On the other hand, the Hurricanes’ beat bowler was Stanlake, claiming 3-21 in 3.3 overs. He was supported by Usama Mir with 2-29 from 4.
Being the only two teams to have won 3 games thus far in this year’s preliminary stage, the Guyana Amazon Warriors and Rangpur Riders will face each other for a second time this season in the ExxonMobil Guyana GSL grand finale on Friday, July 18, bowling off at 19:00 hrs.