Guyana Times - Thursday, November 24, 2022

Guidance counselling, more TVET programmes to tackle school dropouts – Manickchand

The Education Ministry is looking to intro duce guidance coun sellors and have more TVET programmes in secondary schools as part of efforts to reduce the number of stu dents who drop out.

During a recent appear ance on the Globespan 24x7 programme, Education Minister Priya Manickchand said that the Guyana Government was working on capping school dropouts through the implementation of new initiatives to retain children in schools.

“Shortly, we’re going to have in every single high school, which is where the majority of the dropouts come from, a staff dedicat ed to guidance and counsel ling… And that means we’re able quicker … to determine the children who are vul nerable to dropping out and vulnerable to leaving school, and fix that not only aca

demically but it could be a whole host of different rea sons that a child is leaving,” she stated.

Another step being taken is to provide more space in schools so that students are able to finish their second ary education. For instance, Minister Manickchand ex plained that students in Kamarang, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) current ly attend school up to Grade Nine, as the school is a pri mary top, and so they would be considered dropouts be cause they never complete secondary school.

However, Government is now in the process of build ing a secondary school in Kamarang so that the stu dents there can be able to complete their secondary ed ucation.

Expansion of TVET

The Education Minister also spoke about the ex

pansion of Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) pro grammes in schools.

“We’re also expanding the kinds of offerings that we have at different schools so you have a wider variety of things children can do –more TVET subjects… be cause if you become bored doing only Math, English, Social Studies and Science, and this does not inter est you and you know you want to be a mason at some point, then it’s easy to drop out and just go start doing a trade. So, we’re trying to retain young people so that we can properly and offi cially, formally train them,” Manickchand noted.

Back in May, the World Bank had reported that the attendance of Guyanese schoolchildren during the height of COVID-19 pan demic dropped by one third and had called for interven

Education Minister Priya Manickchand

tions to aid in learning re covery efforts.

The Bank had estimat ed that attendance rates in Guyana dropped from 97 per cent in February 2020 during the early stages of the pandemic to about 64 per cent in July 2021.

However, Minister

Manickchand remind ed that the Education Ministry had rolled out sev eral measures to address school dropouts, including “Mission Recovery”. This saw Ministry and school of ficials going to the homes of students who were not at tending school following the

re-opening for face-to-face classes in April this year with the aim of getting them back in the system.

In fact, the Ministry had also engaged civil society members including religious leaders in helping to identi fy and engage early school leavers along with their par ents or guardians.

“Every country has drop outs. If you go online, you will see we were celebrated in 2014 for having reduced, significantly, the number of dropouts we have had. But we still have too many for our liking and that is some thing we’re going to be ac tively working on. Like I said, a guidance and coun selling person in every high school, more spaces so people can actually stay in school and a wider variety of cours es should see us being able to retain more students,” the Education Minister posited. (G8)

BRIDGE OPENINGS

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

Thursday, November 24 –04:00h-05:30h and Friday, November 25 – 04:15h-05:45h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Thursday, November 24 – 16:35h – 18:05h and Friday, November 25 – 05:05h-06:35h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

WEATHER TODAY

There will be light rain showers and thundery showers during the day and night. Temperatures should range between 22 degrees Celsius and 28 degrees Celsius.

Winds: North North-Easterly to North-Westerly between 1.34 metres and 3.57 metres.

High Tide: 16:40h reaching a maximum height of 2.85 metres.

Low Tide: 10:14h and 22:43h reaching minimum heights of 0.52 metre and 0.32 metre.

Govt working to protect cyber assets from attacks – PM

…“no country or organisation is immune” – NDMA Head

The Guyana Government has em barked on an initia tive aimed at developing a robust cybersecurity system that will protect against at tacks that have the poten tial to devastate economies and inconvenience thou sands of people.

This was revealed during the National Cyber Risk Assessment (NCRA) work shop, which is being fa cilitated by the United Kingdom at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) in Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown. The workshop saw about 100 representatives of various Government agencies gath ering to enhance the secu rity and resilience of the country’s critical national infrastructure (CNI).

Delivering remarks at the opening ceremony, National Data Management Authority (NDMA) General Manager Christopher Deen explained that workshop participants would be edi fied on national and trans national cyber risks.

Moreover, he said policy makers would be able to bet ter allocate resources to ap propriately manage these risks.

“As ICT [Information and Communication Technology] becomes more intertwined in our daily lives, we cannot ignore the ensuing threats that are associated with its use,” Deen stated.

The NDMA Head went on to emphasise that no coun try or organisation was im mune to cyberattacks, as he outlined a few global exam ples that caused widespread and long-lasting impacts on economies and citizens.

As such, he contended that as the country contin ued its digital transforma tion journey, stakeholders must embrace prudent cy bersecurity practices to en sure sustained provision of vital services and economic stability.

“No country or organi sation is immune to cyber attacks. It is crucial that Guyana implements mea sures to prevent and miti gate such occurrences… As a nation, the identification of our critical assets and ser vices is the first crucial step in securing our national critical infrastructure. The goal here is to implement a Cyber Risk Assessment Framework with specif ic guidance on cybersecuri ty postures, standards for all of our operators whether it’s Public or Private Sector,” Deen stated.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister, Brigadier (Retired) Mark Phillips, who also de livered remarks at the open ing of the workshop, high lighted that Government would support investments aimed at strengthening its cybersecurity.

“It is our aim to develop a

robust cybersecurity posture that will not only enable the protection of Guyana’s peo ple, digital assets, and digi tal reputation, but also im prove our country’s cyber resilience while fostering a culture of good online be haviour,” Phillips asserted.

The Prime Minister went on to state that Guyana must be capable of capitalis ing on the economic and so cial opportunities of digital isation in a secure way while simultaneously protecting national security and public values.

To this end, he reassured that Government remained committed to developing the required infrastructure and providing an enabling envi ronment to promote the use of ICTs across the country in keeping with the drive to enhance global digitisation and to eliminate the digital

divide.

In the same breath, how ever, PM Phillips added that technological advancements could lead to vulnerabilities and cyber threats that can potentially endanger life.

“Cybersecurity is key to securing our digital as sets. To achieve this, we [the Government] will continue to make and to support in vestments that provide op portunities for all Guyanese, especially organisations that make up our Critical National Infrastructure. This will ensure that rele vant skills are attained to safely access and leverage ICTs,” he stated.

Additionally, Prime Minister Phillips ex pressed gratitude to the Government of the United Kingdom for the initiative which strengthens cyber re silience by protecting CNI

assets from cyberattacks.

In this regard, the British High Commissioner to Guyana, Jane Miller, OBE, explained that the UK has been working with many countries and sup porting their NCRA ef forts since 2018. She lauded the involvement of various stakeholders from both the Private and Public Sectors.

“It is important that we continue to share our learn ings with one another if we have any chance in secur ing our national assets from those who wish to exploit them. We can never be 100 per cent secure, but we do need to stick together… As Guyana grows, this provides an incredible opportunity to see how we can strengthen our cybersecurity and pro tect from those risks,” the British diplomat posited. (G8)

Prime Minister Mark Phillips and British High Commissioner Jane Miller with other officials and participants of the National Cyber Risk Assessment workshop

Editor: Tusika Martin

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Elimination of Violence Against Women: UNiTE!

On Friday, November 25, Guyana will observe International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Every year, this day serves as a global advocacy effort aimed at preventing and eliminating violence against women. This year’s theme is “UNiTE!”

It is no secret that women worldwide, including those in Guyana, continue to face unacceptable levels of violence in various forms. The World Health Organization has estimated that nearly 1 in 3 women worldwide has experienced physical and/or sexual violence, mostly by an intimate partner.

Here, in Guyana, the issues of domestic and intimate partner violence are very topical. Only on Sunday of this week did a young mother and teacher lose her life after the father of her child stabbed her over 30 times.

This escalation of violence is cause for concern.

A 2020 report from the University of Guyana showed that the “incidence of domestic violence by an intimate or previously intimate partner in Guyana increased from 74.8% in 2011 to 89% in 2017”, with more than 80% of the victims being female.” Many of those “intimate partners” are mothers.

The males inflicting that horrendous level of violence on persons supposed to be their “better halves” had to have been socialised in homes where such behaviour was normalised. A report from the year before claimed, “Half of all women who experienced Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in Guyana never sought help. Victims, community members and stakeholders attributed this to lack of knowledge of available help, perceptions of being blamed or stigmatised by their situation becoming known throughout the community, and inadequate support structures to ensure victim safety after reporting violence to the Police.” The LAPOP poll explained that indifference when it showed that 62% of Guyanese feel that intimate partner violence is a “private matter”. In Guyanese parlance, a “man and wife thing”.

Violence against women and children has tremendous costs to communities, and can remain with women and children for a lifetime. If not dealt with effectively, it can also pass from one generation to another. Over the years, the UN has been pushing countries towards implementing proactive measures to combat domestic violence. These measures have included criminalising gender-based violence, massive public awareness campaigns, and providing training to equip both men and women to act as first responders and to support victims of the scourge at the community level.

With effect from 25 November to 10 December, during the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, Guyana will join the WHO and other partners to raise awareness about the global need to prevent and respond to violence against women, and provide support to survivors.

However, not many women admit to being victims of violence. Some time ago, Human Services and Social Security Minister Dr Vindhya Persaud had said: “domestic violence remains a taboo, shuttered behind closed doors, and only emerging as bloody faces, bruised limbs, broken spirits and dead bodies. Fear of societal judgement, insecurities about children and finances, family pressure and manipulation keep this a hushed conversation or result in an overwhelming silence”.

As pointed out previously by Human Services and Social Security Minister, “Violence against women is a heinous crime and a pervasive breach of human rights. Yet it continues to be one of the longest, hardest challenges to the world, and involves psyches, attitudes, poverty, cultures, emotional manipulation, substance abuse and lack of education”.

We echo the call by the Minister that better can and must be done. Everyone must work in every home, school, office, community in every part of our country to expose violence against women where it exists, support the women, work with the perpetrators, create safe spaces, educate persons, and share solutions.

That said, we again urge the Government to reconvene a stakeholders’ engagement to tackle the issue of domestic violence. The aim should be to reassess and modify current strategies by taking into account the lessons learnt from past experiences.

Condemning APNU/AFC’s desire for civil unrest

Dear Editor, The APNU/AFC cabal and affiliated groups contin ue with desperate attempts at race-baiting, which they hope would incite civ il unrest against the dem ocratically elected People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government, and end the tremendous bene fits being experienced by all Guyanese.

It is against this back drop that I offer my response to a most mischievous letter issued by a group calling it self the Institute for Action Against Discrimination, in which the purported author, Lelon Saul, who identifies as the secretary of the group, makes incredibly fraudu lent and misleading state ments that the Government is pushing Guyana to the ‘brink of civil unrest’.

Since the letter is ad dressed to a United States (U.S) Representative, one can only conclude that the author is under the illu sion that using false claims would trigger a U.S. intru sion into the affairs of a democratic sovereign state such as Guyana.

I wholeheartedly believe that whom the gods would destroy, they first make stark crazy.

Mr. Saul is like so many of the delusional men and women in the failed APNU/ AFC regime, who failed to deliver a ‘good life’, especial ly to Afro-Guyanese, whom

they now misguidedly seek to exploit for political rele vance.

I wish to also remind Guyanese that the author is a former senior officer of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), who later served as Chief Executive Officer of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA), where he failed to imple ment a viable Government housing programme.

In less than two and a half years in office, our Government has rescued the housing development programme and turned it around where, to date, we have issued over 11,000 house lots and low- income houses. The beneficiaries are over 50 per cent AfroGuyanese.

Every relief grant paid by Government saw AfroGuyanese benefitting. Payments made in the sug ar industry benefitted over 20% of Afro-Guyanese, which is contrary to what the APNU/AFC would have Guyanese believe.

Many Afro-Guyanese are involved in rice, other crops’ production and live stock, and benefitted from flood relief and other sup port programmes for farm ers.

Recently, this author was the only person who hid behind a mask among a group that received agricul tural equipment less than 96 hours after President

Irfaan Ali’s recent visit to Belladrum on a political outreach to the MahaicaBerbice region. He had the temerity to ask questions of the President about se curity when visiting PNC strongholds, as if to suggest that the President should not visit these areas.

The author is obvious ly a confused individual, who also serves as VicePresident of the Guyana Veterans Legion, an orga nization that was addressed by President Ali at last Friday’s wreath-laying cere mony at GDF Headquarters, Camp Ayanganna. During his address, the President promised to have the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) deployed this week to address all issues relat ed to benefits for veterans. That promise was kept by our President, as employees of NIS are working at Camp Ayanganna to resolve issues for veterans that the APNU/ AFC inexplicably chose to ignore while in office.

The author is an obse quious tentacle affixed to the scheming, manipula tive and depraved APNU/ AFC, that plunged Guyana into chaos and put Guyana on the brink of civil un rest following a clumsily hatched plan to strangu late our democracy at the 2020 Regional and General Elections.

They would have got ten away with the heist of

our country through stolen elections, had it not been for the vigilance of contest ing political parties, the me dia, and the diplomatic mis sions of the ABCE countries in Guyana.

The APNU/AFC are on a treacherous road that they hope would create civ il unrest and allow for the breakdown of democracy in Guyana, which happened under the PNC in the 70s and 80s.

Leaders in the APNU/ AFC continue to push for civil unrest through attacks on the media, physically blockading Government of ficials from engaging with whole communities, unruly behaviour in the National Assembly, and adopting a confrontational approach to the President when there should be discussions on key national issues.

Plans to railroad the country were not real ised in 2020, and certain ly, law-abiding Guyanese, along with civil society, would continue to forcefully reject the deceptive actions of the APNU/AFC, and call for political maturity which would ensure greater uni ty and prosperity for all Guyanese.

Yours truly, Brigadier (Ret’d)

Mark Phillips Prime Minister, Cooperative Republic of Guyana

Ranks of the Guyana Police Force’s Mounted Branch on patrol on Wednesday (GPF photo)

Guyanese must continue to be vigilant against PNC’s Machiavellian tactics

Dear Editor,

Most young Guyanese who were born after 1992 are now grown up, and many have reached the age at which they can vote in free and fair elections.

These have not expe rienced the horrors that took place in the PNC dic tatorship under Burnham and Hamilton Green. Those two ruled Guyana as if it was their personal prop erty, and anyone who op posed them was deemed an enemy of the state. Many were hounded by PNC goons; many were arrested and threatened; many were killed.

The Burnham regime kept itself in power by rig ging successive elections. The rigging was crude. There was open stuffing of ballot boxes by PNC goons; ballot boxes and ballots were switched. Some ballot boxes went missing. Horses, donkeys, and dead people… all voted in those elections.

The PNC counted the votes and declared themselves the winners.

The crooked rigging has been well documented. The young people of today must understand that, regardless

of their voting preferences, the rights they enjoy today were denied to generations of their fellow Guyanese. That is why they should un derstand the country’s his tory, and defend their dem ocratic rights, especially the right to vote.

A signal achievement of the then-opposition PPP & others was the counting of ballots at the places of poll. This was not the case under the PNC. This was a long and difficult struggle, and entailed enlisting pow erful friends, such as the Carter Center. Under tre mendous pressure, the then President, Desmond Hoyte, caved in and agreed to the counting of votes at the places of poll.

There have since been many more safeguards put into law, thus making it impossible to manipulate votes.

The PNC, however, have not given up on their at tempt to steal elections. Young people saw for them selves in 2020 to what ex tent the PNC would go to remain in office by dishon est means. When it became clear that they lost the 2020 elections, they brought up

Guyanese should recognise, congratulate Govt

Dear Editor,

I am pleased to com mend and congratulate H.E. President Ali and his Government on their rapid achievement of the transfor mation that is occurring in Guyana.

I have paid keen atten tion to the Government since it assumed office, and I can clearly see that the vi sion and promises laid out in its election manifesto have become part of our reality.

As a young Guyanese, I have never seen a Government achieve so many tangible things with in such a short period, and with this achievement, it is my belief that we, as Guyanese, should recog nise and congratulate the Government for its achieve ments and the progress it has since made.

Instead of daily preach ing about racism and polit ical victimisation, I believe focus should mainly be upon supporting the Government and its plans in an effort to take Guyana forward. There are so many things we can achieve if we were to work under the ‘One Guyana’ vi sion. Most specifically, this Government is known to recognise young Guyanese by vesting opportunities at

all levels.

I can honestly recognise that your vision -- which is to enhance, elevate and re integrate young Guyanese into society in order to make them part of the deci sion-making – has achieved maximum results in this country. I have never before seen so many young peo ple being placed in so many great positions, especial ly from the policy level and parliamentary level.

You have clearly shown that you are a very caring President by your involve ment and visionary actions. This Government has rolled out so many plans to im prove the lives of Guyanese despite their geography, ethnicity and religion.

In closing, permit me to say I believe this is Government with a great vi sion, and with no hesitation we should all pledge our support to this movement. Guyana is on a trajectory of growth. Let us embrace our Motto “One People, One Nation, One Destiny”.

Best regards, Ceion Rollox Guyana Society for the Blind Guyana Blind Cricket Association

the issue of dead people vot ing. The PNC are trying to give the impression to their supporters that some how the PPP are using the names of the dead to win elections. They have failed to identify a single case of someone voting on behalf of a dead person.

Now that Local Government Elections are imminent, the PNC are now pushing for a clean list. This “clean list” campaign is one with sinister mo tives. While claiming that the list is “bloated” by hav ing Guyanese voters who died overseas, their real in tention is to remove from the list all Guyanese living overseas. It is a ruse to dis enfranchise.

This sinister move has been exposed by the PPP and many others. GECOM has made efforts to remove those registered persons who died in Guyana and whose deaths have been re

ported to the authorities. The PNC, as was pointed out on many occasions can not present any solution to removing those who died overseas. Their solution is to remove all Guyanese liv ing overseas through a new house-to-house registra tion, an act that the court ruled would be illegal.

Another question they are avoiding is: given all the safeguards at polling stations on polling day, how it is possible for anyone to vote for a dead person? The High Commissioner of the United Kingdom has pointed out the robust safe guards in place according to law, and the present list is workable. The PNC have not responded. They cannot give answers to these ques tions because their hidden agendas would be exposed.

The PNC are now trying to get the PPP Government to agree on discussions in regard to changing the

Constitution to remove the right of Guyanese liv ing overseas to vote. The PPP have already indicat ed that, having fought for democracy for decades, they would never connive with the PNC to disenfranchise Guyanese.

The People’s National Congress have been adept at deliberately creating false realities to achieve politi cal power. That party have used diabolical schemes throughout their history to incite their supporters to vi olent behaviour, especially after losing elections.

Younger generations born after the Burnham dictatorship had a taste of the PNC’s dirty tactics be fore, during, and after the 2020 elections. Recall their devious tricks after the No Confidence Motion. During the Caricom-supervised re count, they brought up the bogeyman of dead people voting. These were just wild

claims. They have now el evated these bogus claims and accusations as if they have been proven as actual ly happened.

The PNC, like a drown ing man, are clutching at straws. They know that they face a sound beat ing at the upcoming Local Government Elections, and so they are trying to bring into disrepute the integrity of those elections. Recently, in a published letter, onetime PNC strongman Hamilton Green cunning ly tried to insert another bogeyman when he called for an “examination of the many aliens who are being baptized ‘Guyanese’ and may very well be part of a bloated Voters’ List.”

The people of Guyana will continue to be vigi lant against the PNC’s Machiavellian tactics.

Yours truly, Alvin Hamilton

Archaic law still being used by NIS; time to change it

Dear Editor, Recently, I was watch ing the news on local tele vision, and the President was addressing veterans on Remembrance Day cel ebrations when, given the opportunity, a veteran by the name of Colonel Gomes asked the President why pensioners who had no sick ness or illness when they were working cannot claim NIS medical care benefits

now that they are sick?

Editor as you are aware, the NIS has a policy or law that if you do not have a particular sickness while you were working, you can not claim NIS benefits for that same sickness now that you are a pensioner. What hogwash in this age and time! How can such ar chaic law still be in the NIS statutes?

The NIS should be

thankful that a person had no sickness or ill ness during their work ing life, which would have put more financial strain on the Scheme; yet now, when that person is old and would have all kinds of complications, the NIS is saying that person is not entitled to anything? Give me a break, NIS! I know

many poor people who are in this predicament, and I am calling on this caring Government to change this law, so that NIS pension ers can get some help from the NIS to offset their med ical expenses in their hour of need.

Yours faithfully, Imtiaz Baccus

Panicked pepper

In this popular and fun lit tle science experiment, you will explore surface tension using pepper and a drop of dish soap. Watch the pepper run in a pan ic when the dish soap breaks the surface tension.

Materials: Pepper Bowl Water Cotton swab Liquid dish soap

Instructions: Fill the bowl with water. Sprinkle a thin layer of pep per onto the water. Dip the cotton swab into the liquid dish soap. Then dip the end of the cot ton swab with the soap into the water.

Observe the pepper.

How it works: When the pepper is sprin kled in the water, it stays on top because of the surface ten sion of the water. When the liq uid dish soap is introduced, the surface tension breaks sending the pepper in all directions.

Make this a science project: What happens if you use a different spice such as cinna mon? What happens if you use a different liquid instead of wa ter? Test different things to see if they break the surface tension of the water. (sciencefun.org)

By The BroThers Grimm

CONTINUED FROM WEDNESDAY

Charrandas Persaud not representing Govt at any event in India – Foreign Minister

Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Hugh Todd has clarified that Charrandas Persaud is no longer representing the Government of Guyana in India, and is currently wrapping up his affairs in that country in order to re turn home.

This statement was made in response to claims that have been made on Wednesday by the Alliance For Change (AFC), minori ty party in the Coalition Opposition, that Persaud continues to function as Guyana’s High Commission to India, and is slated to attend an upcoming event even after being recalled.

Persaud is a former AFC member and Member of Parliament under the APNU/AFC administra tion. He was expelled after he took that infamous “con science vote” on a no-confi dence motion that toppled the Coalition Government in December 2018.

The AFC has said it con firmed that Persaud contin ues to function as Guyana’s High Commissioner to India. “The AFC re ceived reports of this, and was able to confirm that Persaud is scheduled to be a “guest of honour” at the India Economic Trade Organisation’s (IETO) reception on Friday, November 25, 2022,” the party stated in its missive.

The IETO is an official organ of the Government of India, and according to

the AFC, both President Dr Irfaan Ali and Minister Todd are allegedly “aware” of this, and have even “ap proved” Persaud’s atten dance at the event.

When contacted on Wednesday for a response, the Foreign Affairs Minister told Guyana Times that the invite being circulated is not accurate, since Persaud is not aware of the event or who is hosting it. He added that Persaud has already ceased attending events on behalf of the Guyana Government.

“Mr Charrandas is not attending any event. In fact, he is not even aware of such an invitation, be cause he is really not check ing the office emails. He is not representing Guyana, and has not represented the Government of Guyana at any function following

his conversation with His Excellency the President,” Todd related.

According to the Minister, Persaud is in the process of wrapping up his engagements and preparing to return home. However, he explained that this is a process that takes some time. Nevertheless, the Minister is hopefully that Persaud would be able to have this done at the ear liest opportunity in order that he might return home.

Persaud, who also served as Guyana’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, was recalled from his diplo matic postings last month by President Ali after a vid eo began circulating of him verbally abusing a Muslim Indian woman at his official residence in New Delhi.

The Head of State has said that Persaud has

agreed to accept “full re sponsibility” for his actions, and will return home.

The incident report edly occurred in August 2021, and Persaud claimed, during his conversation with President Ali, that it was not a complete demon stration of what exactly had taken place, and that this matter was already dealt with by the relevant authorities in India, and he was vindicated of any wrongdoing.

In the video which made its rounds on social media, Persaud, while standing at the gate of his residence in India, is heard telling a woman: “You probably want the dog to f**k you, that is what you want. And I don’t care. I don’t care who you are…f**k you.”

This issue had sparked widespread condemnation of Persaud’s action and be haviour, with agencies such as the Women & Gender Equality Commission not only expressing its ut ter dismay at Persaud’s “vile and disgusting” ac tions, but also bashing the Foreign Affairs Ministry over its handling of the matter. Nevertheless, the Commission said it was pleased with “swift and decisive” action taken by

President Ali to immediate ly recall Persaud from his post.

Meanwhile, President Ali’s announcement on Persaud’s recall has also been lauded by some APNU/ AFC Opposition members.

Out of fear for his life, after he had received death threats, Persaud had de parted Guyana immediate ly for Canada on the night the coalition Government was toppled.

Persaud returned to Guyana following the swearing-in of President Ali, and was subsequent ly accredited as High Commissioner to India in March 2021. He was ac credited as Guyana’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka last December. (G8)

Charrandas Persaud

Foreign Affairs Minister Hugh Todd

APNU/AFC challenge to non-appointment of Chancellor, CJ

Oral arguments put off to January 2023

Oral arguments which were initially set for Wednesday in the APNU/AFC’s challenge to President Dr Irfaan Ali’s non-appointment of a sub stantive Chancellor of the Judiciary and Chief Justice (CJ) have now been deferred until January 11, 2023 at 13:30h.

The adjournment was granted on Wednesday by High Court Judge Damone Younge following a request from Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC, the lone re spondent in the case.

In a letter to Justice Younge on Nandlall’s be half, Solicitor General Nigel Hawke explained that the Attorney General, who was at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague, The Netherlands, repre senting Guyana in the bor der controversy case against Venezuela, would like to ap pear in person, given the im portance of the case.

Nandlall returns to Guyana today.

But Opposition lawyer Roysdale Forde, SC, has objected to Nandlall’s re quest for an adjournment, and stated the following in a missive to the Judge: “The Attorney General could appear remote ly by Zoom. The Attorney General could assign a mem ber of his Chambers to pro vide oral arguments. Nigel Hawke, Solicitor General; Ms Shoshanna V. Lall; and Mr Chevy A. Devonish [both State Counsels], among oth ers, have appeared for him in this case thus far.”

When the case was called on Wednesday, Oppositionaligned lawyer, Canadabased Guyanese Selwyn Pieters, also raised objec tions to the commencement of arguments being de layed, given the “public in terest” nature of the matter, but the Judge still granted the adjournment. In light of the matter being delayed, Pieters asked that the case be dealt with expeditiously.

The Opposition had ear lier this year filed legal pro ceedings over permanent appointments to the offic es of the Chancellor of the Judiciary and Chief Justice, calling the non-appointment of the two judicial officers a gross dereliction and abdi

cation of duties by President Ali.

A fixed Date Application (FDA) filed in the name of APNU/AFC Parliamentarian Vinceroy Jordan wants the High Court to direct the President, through the Attorney General, to forth with initiate the process con templated by Article 127 of the Constitution of Guyana to make appointments to the two top judicial posts.

The procedure for the ap pointment of the Chancellor and Chief Justice is out lined in Article 127 (1) of the Constitution, and it states: “The Chancellor and the Chief Justice shall be ap pointed by the President after obtaining the agree ment of the Leader of the Opposition.”

It has been more than 21 and 17 years respective ly since Guyana has had a confirmed Chief Justice and Chancellor. The last con firmed Chief Justice was Desiree Bernard, who served from 1996 to 2001; she also served as Chancellor from 2001 to 2005.

Member of Parliament (MP) Vinceroy Jordan com plained that Dr Ali assumed the office of the President on August 2, 2020, and from then to present, the Head of State has failed to initiate any pro cess contemplated by Article 127 of the Constitution to make permanent appoint ments to the offices.

He told the court that President Ali has public ly stated that he would not initiate the process to make the appointments until the Opposition recognises the legitimacy of the PPP/C Government.

“Since the 2nd day of August 2020, the President has stated that he would not initiate the process under Article 127 of the Constitution until the Leader of the Opposition and the Opposition recognises him and his Government as

a legitimate Government,” Jordon has submitted.

Referencing an article published in the Guyana Chronicle on April 3, 2021, he said the Head of State was quoted therein as say ing: “As you are aware, the [then] Leader of the Opposition [Joseph Harmon] has still not issued any state ment recognising the legit imacy of the Government. So, I don’t know who I am consulting with. I am sure Harmon definitively knows who also is the Leader of the Opposition, and who is the President, so the ball is in his court to do the right thing, and I’m hoping – I’m a very positive person – I’m hoping that very soon he will stop his reckless statements about the Government and do what is right in the inter est of the people of Guyana.”

Jordan pointed to a let ter sent by Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton to the President in which he, Norton, expressed that he was committed to agreeing to the immediate appoint ment of Justices Yonnette Cummings-Edwards and Roxane George-Wiltshire, SC as the Chancellor and Chief Justice respectively.

The two judicial officers are currently acting in their re spective posts.

Considering this, the MP argued that President Ali has no valid and constitu tional excusable basis and/ or reason for failing to ini tiate the process contem plated by Article 127 of the Constitution, so that the of fices of Chancellor and Chief Justice may be held with permanent appointments.

Regrettable situation

The country’s inabil ity to appoint a substan tive Chancellor and Chief Justice for an extended pe riod has been a cause for concern for several bodies, like the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), the Caribbean

Association of Judicial Officers (CAJO), and the Bar Association of Guyana.

President of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Justice Adrian Saunders, in April of this year, expressed his views on this impasse, calling on Guyana to remedy this re grettable situation with ut most urgency, recommend ing that the country should do so by the end of 2022.

Meanwhile, the Attorney General had previously said that, regrettably, some 20 years after Guyana’s Constitution was amend ed to facilitate the appoint ments of top judicial officers by the President with the agreement of the Opposition Leader, there is yet to be a substantive appointment of a Chancellor and Chief Justice.

He conceded that the current formula that re quires consensus between the President and the Opposition Leader has not worked in the more-thantwo-decades it was put in place. Luckily, he added, an adjustment was made for an alternative if there is no agreement between the President and the Opposition Leader under Article 127 (2) of the Constitution; that is, for the President to make acting appointments. And with consultations between Presidents and Opposition Leaders being unsuccessful over recent years, Nandlall had signalled there may need to be constitutional amendments.

“When we are going to consider constitutional re forms, we should consider whether we should change it again, because Guyana is the only country in the Commonwealth that has this provision, and we have great difficulty filling it,” he had said.

“When the time is right” In September of this year, President Ali indicated that he would deal with the substantive appointments of the Chancellor and Chief Justice “when the time is right”, and after the various service commissions are es tablished.

Creating trouble…

…in Georgetown

Sometimes we’re our own worst enemies! Take alcohol: nobody puts a gun to our heads and commands us to drink!! Yet we pour it down our throats, become alcoholics, and destroy not only OUR lives, but the lives of those around us! And this self-destructive behaviour occurs at every level of our social lives.

Take our towns and villages where we live on the Atlantic Coast. Now, all of this “land” was once mangrove swamp, hence its early name, the “Mosquito Coast”. It was pretty much created from the mud brought down by our rivers and creeks – but most of all by the mighty Amazon 1000 miles away across the Atlantic!! Imagine that!! Now you know why we don’t have blue-water beaches!!

The Dutch drained the swamps – all under sea level!through an intricate network of dams, canals and kokers, to create plantations on which they grew sugar cane, cotton and coffee. Let’s not forget that Georgetown wasn’t created on any highland or such like, but from plantations created from those swamps!! Yep---La Penitence; Werk-en-Rust, Cummingsburg, Thomas Lands etc were ALL plantations with canals leading to kokers draining them at low tide - like all the other plantations, such as, say, Enmore!!

But somehow, we insist on pretending that the law of gravity acting on water falling on these former plantations has ceased to operate - just because we baptised them “towns” and now “CITY”!! So, we filled up most of the canals that once divided East Street; Main Street etc, to create those oh-so-pretty walkaways where we can hold hands and stroll! EIGHTY PERCENT of the waterways draining Georgetown have been filled up – and the remainder is filled with debris!! And we expect that it won’t be flooded when you have four inches of rain in as many hours??

Also, those canals didn’t just drain the land, but acted as reservoirs between tides. And the now totally concreted one-square-mile basin doesn’t allow any water to percolate into the soil. We expect to pump a one-square-mile flooded basin using pumps?? Isn’t that sorta like the reverse of plugging a hole in the sea wall with your pinky?? Or pi55in’ in the wind with all your might?? Ain’t gonna work!! And the rising seas due to Climate Change – which the polluting big countries declared – “FULL STEAM AHEAD!!” -- ain’t helping none!!

So, all your Eyewitness can say is: Pres Ali should take the offer by the self-same big polluting countries to compensate countries affected by their profligacy, and get going pronto with Silica City. And knowing where the (city) shoe pinches, make sure we also don’t repeat mistakes like vending!

You gotta know when to hold it and know when to fold it!! Time to fold it!!

…with symbols

Well, it’s not actually the symbols that have to be submitted by those wishing to participate in the LGE that create trouble – but those SUBMITTING them!! You see, dear reader, your Eyewitness believes that Local Government should be handled by LOCALS in its entirety. And the big NATIONAL parties prevent this from happening - even though the law says they gotta select locals.

But you, me, and those same parties know that the locals they select have to toe their line to the “T”! And this not only defeats the purpose of empowering locals who’re most familiar with where the shoe pinches and can fix things – but export the vicious national fights to the local level. Without that insistence of identification of loyalty, the locals - who may vote for different parties nationally –might’ve taken common approaches to local problems!!

Now, your Eyewitness knows that “independents” can also run. But we know how that ends up, don’t we?? Maybe we can have a referendum on this issue??

…in financial tailspin

The integrated financial system that ties our globalised world together – so we’re really run by Central Banks –have been blindsided by the Crypto-currency implosion!! So much for decentralised “democratic” means of creating money!! Greed always wins!!

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

Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton

Acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Yonette CummingsEdwards (right), and acting Chief Justice Roxane George, SC

President Dr Irfaan Ali

Duo freed of Gafoors manager’s murder charge

no-case submissions

…as Judge upholds

David Outar and Patrick Ross, the two men who were ac cused of the 2016 murder of Terry Lackhan, a manag er at Gafoor’s, walked out of the Demerara High Court as free men on Wednesday after trial Judge Simone Morris-Ramlall upheld nocase submissions made on their behalf by their law yers.

Following submissions made by defence attorneys Adrian Thompson and Stacy Goodings, Justice MorrisRamlall directed the mixed 12-member jury to return formal verdicts of not guilty in favour of the two accused men. Accordingly, they were discharged.

State Counsels Muntaz Ali and Simran Gajraj had presented the prosecution’s case.

In upholding the no-case submissions, the judge not ed, among other things, that there were issues with the identification parades con ducted by the Police. An al leged caution statement giv en by Ross was thrown out after the Judge ruled that it was not freely and volun tarily made. Moreover, a “crucial eyewitness” in the case, ‘Beyonce’, walked out of the courtroom before testifying. As such, she was deemed a hostile witness, and her evidence was there fore considered not credible.

This publication under stands that Justice MorrisRamlall did not grant the prosecution an adjournment to contact this witness, nor did she issue an arrest war rant for her.

Outar, 29, of Foulis, East Coast Demerara (ECD); and Ross, 32, for merly of

Demerara (EBD), had been accused of murdering 53-year-old Terry Lackhan on July 21, 2016 during the course or furtherance of a robbery. Reports are that the lifeless body of Lackhan was discovered by a neigh bour on the night of July 21, 2016, shortly after a man was reportedly seen exiting his Herstelling, EBD home with several bags.

According to reports, Lackhan’s body was found next to a wardrobe, and a rope had been tied around his neck. Several bottles of tablets and photographs of his family members were also found close to his body. From the evidence, Lackhan’s killers were at tempting to stage the scene to make it appear as though he had committed suicide.

Lackhan and Outar had been co-workers. (G1)

Herstelling, East Bank

Freed: David Outar Freed: Patrick Ross

Dead: Terry Lackhan

Boat mishap at Imbaimadai Decomposing body of 2nd land surveyor found

One week after the body of 29-year-old Land Surveyor Terrence Thomas of Meadow Brook Gardens, Georgetown was found in the Mazaruni River at Imbaimadai in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), officials have reported find ing the body of 34-year-old Germain La Rose of Canvas City, Wismar, Linden, the second missing Land Surveyor, in the Mazaruni River at Imbaimadai.

That body, reportedly found just after 10:00h, was in a decomposed state.

La Rose and his col league Terrence Thomas dis appeared in the Mazaruni River after the boat in which they were travelling sank on November 10. Romell Ramlakhan, the Mines Officer in charge of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission at Imbaimadai Landing, has said that he and two other colleagues had returned from a field trip at Kamarang Landing, and he was on his way to the GGMC station when Thomas and La Rose approached him on the Imbaimadai airstrip and re lated that they had arrived at Imbaimadai Landing to do work, but they did not elab orate.

Information obtained re vealed that La Rose request ed to be accommodated at the GGMC living quarters, and Ramlakhan agreed, since La Rose was a former employee.

However, Ramlakhan said, the following day, at about 03:00h, he observed La

Rose and Thomas preparing to go on their journey, and he suggested that they wait un til daylight. He said Thomas declined, noting that the journey was a lengthy one, and he used an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) to drop the duo on the hill by the river side, and he returned to the GGMC station.

Boat captain Romain Reece told investigators that he, La Rose, Thomas and another man board ed a metal boat, property of Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), and headed for Kako Village, Upper Mazaruni, along with approximately 40 gallons of fuel and 10 signs to be erect ed at the mining claim they were going to survey.

Some two minutes into their journey, while he was trying to plane off the boat,

Reece said, the boat began to take in water, and Thomas and La Rose panicked and jumped overboard, causing the boat to take in water and sink.

Reece said that he and the other man attempted to swim to safety, and got to the river’s bank by holding on to fuel tanks, but upon reach ing the river’s bank, he dis covered that Thomas and La Rose were missing and the other colleague was a few feet away. Reece said an alarm was raised and Police were notified.

It was revealed that none of the occupants of the boat was wearing a life jacket at the time of the incident. It was also reported that the Mines Officer Ramlakhan did not know, and had not authorised anyone to use the GGMC boat and engine. (G9)

Sophia man absconds from trial, found guilty of raping girl with disability

A36-year-old man who absconded his trial several days before the jury was set to deliber ate was on Tuesday found unanimously guilty of rap ing a girl who has a disabil ity.

Rondell Chappel, called ‘Devil’, a 36-year-old resi dent of Section “A” Sophia, Greater Georgetown, has been charged with the of fence of engaging in sexual penetration of a child under the age of 16. He had been on trial for the offence at the Sexual Offences Court in Demerara before Justice Sandil Kissoon. Guyana Times understands that the man got away from his trial sometime last week, caus ing the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to issue a wanted bulletin for him.

Following delibera tions on Tuesday, a mixed 12-member jury found Chappel unanimous ly guilty of the crime. He raped a 15-year-old girl be tween September 5 and 6, 2020.

Chappel was repre sented by Attorney-at-Law Ravindra Mohabir, while

State Counsels Cecilia Corbin, Caressa Henry and Marisa Edwards prosecuted the matter.

According to the prosecu tion’s facts, the teen girl is a special needs child. Chappel broke into the girl’s home between the dates men tioned in the charge, while she was at home alone, held her at knifepoint, and then raped her. At the time of the

incident, the girl’s mother was at work.

A sentencing hearing for the convicted child rapist has been set for December 16. Anyone who has infor mation on the whereabouts of Chappel is asked to con tact the Police on telephone numbers: 225-6940, 2258196, 225-2317, 226-7476, 227-1149, or at the nearest Police Station. (G1)

Dead: Germain La Rose and Terrence Thomas

Wanted: Rondell Chappel, aka Devil

16 years’ jail for Corentyne man who beat wife to death

Raywatram Mooloo, called Adesh and “Cow Curry”, of Lot 36 Number 58 Village, Corentyne, Berbice, who beat his wife to death in 2017 was sentenced to 16 years in prison on Wednesday by Justice Navindra Singh in the Berbice High Court.

Earlier this year, Mooloo pleaded guilty to the less er count of manslaughter, which stated that he un

lawfully killed 37-year-old Gomattie Ramsingh on May 26, 2017. As such, he was sentenced to 16 years in prison. However, he would only send 11 years in pris on as time on remand was deducted from his sentence.

Based on reports, on the fateful day, Mooloo wanted money to buy rum and, as such, went into his wife’s purse and took out some money. This caused her to hold onto him, and a fight

“Ratty” jailed for 17 years for repeatedly raping girl, 9

Mario Heywood, the 42-year-old man who repeatedly raped a nine-year-old girl who was left in his care, has been jailed for 17 years by Demerara Sexual Offences Court Judge Sandil Kissoon.

Following deliberations last month, a jury panel re turned majority guilty ver dicts in condemnation of Heywood, called “Ratty”, who was indicted for three counts of the offence of en gaging in sexual penetration of a child under 16 years old.

Heywood, who was represented by attorney Damien Da Silva, raped the child on three separate occa sions between October and November 2018.

State Counsels Cecilia Corbin, Caressa Henry and Marisa Edwards, who repre sented the prosecution, said that after raping the child, Heywood threatened that he would kill her mother if she told anyone about what he had done to her.

At the sentencing hear ing of the father of one on Wednesday, a probation of ficer presented a detailed report on the convict’s life, which, inter alia, revealed that he was forced to discon tinue pursuing an education due to financial constraints his family was facing.

According to the pro bation officer, residents in Heywood’s East Ruimveldt, Georgetown community de scribed him as a “respect able, quiet, and easygoing” man, and as such were sur prised at his involvement in the crime.

During an interview with the officer, Heywood insist ed that he was innocent, claiming that the allega tions against him stemmed from an altercation between the victim’s mother and an other woman with whom he had shared an intimate re lationship.

When asked by Justice Kissoon if he had anything

to say before sentence was passed, Heywood, who ap peared in court virtual ly, said: “I’m innocent…I’m here and I can’t do anything about it.”

The probation officer re lated that the victim, who is now 13, expressed that after the incident she felt “pain”, and that she was fearful to disclose to her mother what had happened to her be cause of Heywood’s threats.

The girl also had suicid al thoughts, the officer in formed. As such, she rec ommended psycho-social support for both the victim and perpetrator.

Asked by the proba tion officer for a reaction to Heywood’s convictions, the victim’s mother stated: “When you do the crime, you have to do the time.”

Justice Kissoon, in his sentencing remarks, admon ished Heywood for abusing his position of trust. The Judge stressed the prev alence of child rape cases in Guyana, alluding to re marks by Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) Judge Peter Jamadar, who in 2020 had noted that the alarming ly high statistics relative to sexual offences against chil dren in Guyana are escalat ing to a crisis.

In sentencing the con vict, the Judge, among other

things, considered the fre quency of such offence, the fact that the victim was only nine, that Heywood used

threats to drive fear into the girl, his prior unblemished criminal record, his “favour able” probation report, as well as his capability for re habilitation for reintegra tion into society.

In keeping with the ob jectives of sentencing, as well as the guidance by the CCJ on sentencing in sexu al offences matters, Justice Kissoon sentenced Heywood to 15 years in prison on the first count and 17 years on the second and third counts respectively. The three sen tences will run concurrent ly.

It was further ordered that the convict must take part in counselling for sex offenders during his time in jail.

ensued between them.

Mooloo then held onto his wife’s head and knocked it thrice on the verandah, after which he pulled her off the steps, causing her to

tumble several times down the stairway.

He then picked up Ramsingh and soaked her head in water, and left to buy the alcohol. Upon his return, the two got into an other argument, but this time over a woman.

Mooloo’s wife be gan chucking him, but he pushed her back, resulting in her falling off the stairs and onto two concrete blocks in their yard.

Mooloo and another in dividual then assisted his wife into bed. On May 26, 2017, she was taken to the Skeldon Public Hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

Oral arguments put...

“We’re not at the stage of addressing those issues as yet,” the Head of State explained when asked for an update on the top judi cial appointments, adding, “There’s nothing stalling it. It’s just that we’ve not com menced addressing that as yet.”

According to President Ali, other matters are engaging his atten tion. “I am trying to com plete the Judicial Service Commission; these things must be in place almost in stantaneously now that we

have the clearance. We’re hoping to have the Teaching Service Commission fully constituted, and in effect we’re hoping to have the Public Service Commission fully in effect…then we’ll move our focus…,” he fur ther explained.

The Head of State had previously told the me dia, “We have no issues ap pointing (the Chancellor and Chief Justice), but when the right time comes, we will have the consulta tions on the Chancellor and the Chief Justice.” (G1)

Raywatram Mooloo and his murdered wife, Gomattie Ramsingh

Child rapist Mario Heywood

Corentyne fisherman loses home to fire

dam to fish, but experienced a puncture to one of the wheels of his bicycle, and was forced to return home before he had reached his destination. He said that as he reached within vicinity of his house, he noticed the building on fire. Ayana said he had lived there for more than 20 years.

After he raised an alarm, one unit from the Rose Hall Fire Department respond ed, along with one from the Albion Sugar Estate, but by the time they arrived, the building was already en gulfed.

Afire of unknown origin that oc curred at 01:30h on Wednesday has complete ly destroyed the two-storey home of Shivnarine Ayana, called Sashi, a Corentyne fisherman who was out ply

ing his trade at the time of the disaster.

The 47-year-old fisher man, who was the sole occu pant of the house at John’s, Port Mourant, has said he left home just before mid night to go into the back

Shavine Rampersaud, a neighbour, explained that she realised that Ayana’s building was on fire when she looked at her camera. She said she likewise raised an alarm, but neighbours were unable to put out the

fire.

According to her, no one knew the number for the Rose Hall Fire Service, and so they called Georgetown, but it was difficult to give the location to the person taking the call. However, af

ter making a few more calls, she was able to get a num ber to contact the Rose Hall Town Fire Station.

The Fire Service has since said nothing could have been done to save the building. When Fire Officers

arrived on scene, they had to concentrate their efforts on preventing the fire from spreading to other build ings.

An investigation has since been launched. (G4)

Linden teacher stabbed over 30 times – PME report reveals

The post mortem exam ination on the body of Kelly Charlotte, who was killed by the father of her child, has revealed that the man stabbed her more than 30 times.

On Sunday evening, Charlotte was brutally stabbed by her former part ner, Leston Baynes, who has since died by suicide.

Police in a statement said the PME was conducted at about 08:32h on Wednesday by Government Pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh at the Memorial Gardens Funeral Home and Crematorium in Georgetown.

At the conclusion there of, Dr Singh gave the cause of death as “multiple incise wounds (30 stab wounds).” The body was later handed over to relatives for burial. Meanwhile, at about

10:03h on Wednesday, a PME was performed on the body of Leston Baynes. The cause of his death has been given as “asphyxiation due to hanging.” His body has also been handed over to relatives for burial.

One day after kill ing Charlotte, the body of 28-year-old Baynes was found in an abandoned house at Blueberry Hill,

Wismar, Linden. The couple had recently separated, and the woman had sought ref uge from the man at her sis ter’s residence at One Mile Wismar, Linden, where the stabbing occurred.

Guyana Times under stands that the couple had a recent physical alterca tion, prompting the wom an to get the Police in volved. Afterward, she and

her child moved to her sis ter’s residence. While there, the suspect showed up un der the pretext of wanting to spend some time with his child. However, as he was returning the child to Charlotte, the man whipped out a knife and stabbed the woman brutally about her body before making good his escape.

GPHC gets $25M laser lithotripter for kidney stone removal

The Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) has, for many years, uti lised conventional surgery for the treatment and remov al of kidney stones. Patients can now look forward to ac cessing laser treatment with the procurement of a laser lithotripter worth a total of $25,280,705.

Using laser lithotripsy offers a completely non-in vasive approach, meaning that no incision is required to treat patients with kid ney stones who once re quired major surgery. This technique uses a high-in tensity laser beam to pul verise stones through an en doscope.

Patients who are eligi ble for laser treatment not only benefit from a non-in vasive procedure, but may have shorter recovery times and hospital stays, allowing them to resume their reg ular routines earlier. This service is free of cost, and is being offered for the first time in the public health care sector.

GPHC, in a release on Wednesday, said kidney stones affect 10% of the pop ulation during their life time, and place a significant burden on the healthcare

system. Almost 50% of the workload of the Urology Department is related to kidney stone disease, the hospital said, adding that by using this modern laser technology, stone surgery is performed using a camera in the urinary tract.

“There is no cut or scar on the abdomen, and the patient is discharged, in most cases, on the same day,” GPHC has said. “Traditionally, with open surgery, people had a large scar on the abdomen, spent days in hospital, and re quired 1-2 months of recu peration.”

Specialist Urological

Surgeon Dr. Rajendra Sukhraj has conveyed pro found gratitude to the hospital’s CEO, Robbie Rambarran, and his team, “for their confidence and commitment to providing healthcare that is second to none by taking the leap and bringing this technology to GPHC, since it is long over due”.

The GPHC’s Administration, in a state ment, has said it remains dedicated to continued in vestment in all resources, equipment, and staff that are required to provide mod ern care that is on par with international standards.

Shivnarine Ayana

The fisherman walking through the debris following the fire

Dead: Kelly Charlotte

Dead: Leston Baynes

Urologists Dr Ravi Purohit (third from left) and Dr Rajendra Sukhraj (second from right) with the Urology team

Visually-impaired persons in Region 5 receive computer training

Visually-impaired per sons in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) are now able to use a com puter to create documents and surf the internet.

The new skill training was imparted during a fourmonth training programme organised by the Board of Industrial Training (BIT).

The programme, which sought to help visually-im paired persons to become more independent through the use of technology, com menced in July and conclud ed last week.

Orientation and Mobility

Officer of the Guyana Council for Persons with Disabilities, Schemona Sugrim, has said the aim of the four-month programme was to teach blind and visu ally-impaired persons how to use the computer using a software called JAWS. Job Access With Speech (JAWS) is a screen reader developed for computer users whose vision loss prevents them from seeing the screen.

“The software enables the computer to speak. We would first teach orienta tion to the keyboard. So, basically, have them learn

all the keys and then teach them the different functions and different combinations and how to get stuff done,” she explained.

Some of the participants, of the training programme do so effectively, whereby the others might need a lit tle bit more work,” she ex plained.

Participants were taught how to create a document, how to use the internet, and basic skills of manoeuvring on the computer. According to Sugrim, after four months, about half of those who participated can now access the internet using a computer, and can also cre ate documents using JAWS.

“We were able to achieve what we set out to achieve; so, about 50 per cent can

Despite vacillation tactics over LGE participation APNU submits symbol

The A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) coalition is among the parties that submitted their symbols to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to indicate their interest in contesting the upcoming Local Government Elections (LGE).

The deadline for par ties to submit their symbols to GECOM was supposed to be November 21. One party that had previous ly not confirmed its partic ipation in upcoming Local Government Elections was APNU. During a press con ference on Tuesday, how ever, Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton confirmed that the party has submit ted its symbol to GECOM.

“When it comes to sym bols, we have submitted a symbol, and we have en couraged groups to submit symbols so that whenever decisions are being made, there are options. The only given we know is that we’re not going to allow the PPP to take our strongholds. That is clear,” Norton said.

With March 13, 2023 set as the date for Local Government Elections, the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) is the only major political party that has publicly signalled a clear intention to partici pate in these elections. On the other hand, one party has publicly ruled out par ticipating in LGE, and that party is the Alliance For Change (AFC). That par ty announced recently that it would not participate un less its demands concerning

the voters’ list are met.

The party has claimed that the list of electors is ‘bloated’, an often-repeated claim of its coalition part ner APNU. The party has echoed concerns of its part ner, that the list contains the names of Guyanese who migrated. APNU is yet to confirm if it would partici pate in LGE.

According to the Constitution of Guyana and previous court cases, howev er, Guyanese who have mi grated cannot be removed from the list of electors since residency of Guyanese citi zens is not a requirement to vote. This was demonstrat ed since 2019, when Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George ruled that removal from the list of registrants of the names of persons who were not resident in Guyana and could not participate in the house-to-house registration exercise would be unconsti tutional. Her decision was

subsequently upheld in the Court of Appeal.

The requirements for a person to vote, as set out in Articles 59 and 159 of the Constitution, are that that person must be 18 years or older, and must be a Guyanese citizen or a Commonwealth citizen resident and domiciled in Guyana.

The AFC also said in its statement that the elector al system is not perfect, and that it is not willing to “per petuate a deception”. The AFC further said it would support postponing LGE un til its definition of a “clean” voters’ list is arrived at.

The AFC has pulled out of contesting the LGE at a time when that smaller par ty is already receiving di minished returns when ever it goes to the polls. Such was the case in 2018 when the party, then part of the APNU/AFC coalition Government, was forced to contest LGE on its own. It ended up securing just four per cent of the total votes cast.

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has already designat ed December 12, 2022 as Nomination Day for the up coming LGE, which are set to be held next year March. On Nomination Day, parties make their way to a desig nated location, where their representatives are usually required to submit their list of candidates to the Chief Election Officer, as well as sign on to the required doc uments, such as a code of conduct to contest the elec tions.

She also said that acces sibility features on a smart phone, while also a screen reader, are different from JAWS in that the accessi bility feature uses the touch while JAWS uses a key board.

Mark Archibald, who has zero visibility, referred to the programme as very beneficial for persons living with a disability, who refer to themselves as blind. He said many of them were of the view they would never have been able to use a com puter.

“As we got the opportuni ty, we tried to make the best out of it, but in the whole scenario, we are grateful for such, because we are in a technology world and we

don’t want to be left behind with persons with disabili ties,” he said.

The programme was a collaborative effort between the Guyana Council for Persons with Disabilities and the Ministry of Labour. It was run under the Board of Industrial Training (BIT).

Archibald has said that with the skills he has ac quired, he is now in a posi tion to train others from the Disabled Peoples’ Network of Region Five.

Meanwhile, DPN Coordinator Premaught Sookdeo, in thank ing BIT and Programme Coordinator of the Guyana Society for the Blind, Ganesh Singh, for giving them the opportunity to be trained, said: “I could say that I have benefitted from it. I can go on my laptop now and type a document and I

can save it and go back and get it. I can go on the inter net, and it is very good for me. At first I could have done nothing like that.”

Sookdeo has said he is looking forward to contin ued training, and he is ap pealing to persons who are living with disabilities or may have dependents who are living with a disability to join the organisation. The meeting place is at Seafield, Number 42 Village, West Coast Berbice, or contact can be made with him by telephone number (592) 330-2218. Prior to this pro gramme, an ExxonMobilfunded programme allowed members of DPN to be able to use a smartphone so as to use social media and other apps on the device – making many of them somewhat in dependent for the first time in their lives. (G4)

Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton

US tourist missing after fishing trip in Rupununi

tion of the review, I urge the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana, the Private Sector Commission, and other Private Sector bodies to join our call for persons to only use opera tors and facilities that are approved by the GTA,” the Minister said.

This is the second person who has gone missing while on tour in Guyana, within a matter of weeks.

Govt ended contract of World Bank-debarred consultant hired by APNU/AFC …had been debarred for soliciting bribes

AUnited States tourist who is so far uniden tified has gone miss ing after he went on a fishing expedition in the Rupununi River near Apoteri in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) on Tuesday.

The man reportedly went missing around 10:30h, and Police ranks in the region have commenced a search for him.

On Wednesday in a state ment, Tourism, Industry, and Commerce Minister Oneidge Walrond warned that persons should ensure that their tours and tour op erators were approved by the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA).

“A list of approved op erators is published on the website of the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce (mintic.gov.gy/ approved-tour-operators) and the Guyana Tourism

Authority’s Facebook page”, the release said.

She said that tours that were unregulated and not approved by the Authority many times did not have the necessary safety systems and protocols in place.

“Following the unfortu nate events at Orinduik in October and now this report of a missing person in the Rupununi, the Government commenced a search inqui ry into these tragic incidents, in which the operations of all stakeholders, including the relevant authorities, will be examined,” she said.

The Minister stated that a key feature of this review was a consultation with tour operators and related regula tory agencies, scheduled for December 13, aimed at de veloping Standard Operating Procedures and emergency measures for all tours.

“Pending the comple

An overseas-based Guyanese man who was part of a group of tourists visiting Orinduik Falls in October was found dead af ter he went missing at the popular tourist destination. His death was attributed to drowning.

The man was identified as Gladstone Haynes, an of ficer attached to the New York Police Department (NYPD) in Brooklyn, United States. He had boarded an Air Services Limited plane from the Eugene F Correia International Airport to the Region Seven (CuyuniMazaruni) destination.

However, at the end of the tour, it was realised that one person was missing and an alarm was raised. From all indications, the man went missing while swimming in the water. Sometime later, his body was pulled from the water. An autopsy has since confirmed that he died as a result of asphyxiation due to drowning which was com pounded by blunt trauma to the head (G9)

An international con tractor that the World Bank recently an nounced had been slapped with a three-year debar ment for corrupt practices in Guyana was, in fact, boot ed from the project soon af ter the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) as sumed office.

This was announced by the Natural Resources Ministry on Wednesday, responding to the recent news articles that Carlos Barberán Diez, a Spanish consultant that the then A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government hired in 2020, has been de barred for three years.

Barberán Diez was contracted by the former Government as a Natural Gas Negotiations Specialist on January 31, 2020. He was tasked with providing technical support towards the natural gas negotiations in the then Department of Energy and was employed during the period when the APNU/AFC was illegiti mately clinging to power during the election period.

“Owing to Mr Diez's con flicts of interest and solic itation, his contract was terminated on September 13, 2020, by the current Government of Guyana in accordance with Clause 19.1.1 (e) of the General Conditions of the grant ed contract. As a result, the World Bank Group an nounced a three-year de barment with condition al release, which results in Mr Diez's ineligibility to en gage in World Bank Groupfinanced projects and activi ties beginning November 16, 2022.

“The Government of Guyana and the Ministry of Natural Resources re main committed to the sus tainable, transparent, and accountable management of Guyana’s petroleum re sources in compliance with international standards and best practices,” the Ministry said in its statement.

In its recent state ment, the World Bank an nounced that Barberán Diez and his affiliates, AC Oil

& Gas SL, and AC Oil & Gas Emirates LLC, had all been debarred owing to cor rupt practices as part of the Petroleum Governance and Management Project in Guyana.

“It is part of a settlement agreement under which Barberán Diez acknowledg es culpability for the under lying sanctionable practice and agrees to meet specified integrity compliance condi tions as a condition for re lease from debarment,” the World Bank said in a state ment.

This means that Barberán Diez and his affil iates are ineligible to partic ipate in projects and opera tions financed by institutions of the World Bank Group. In explaining the facts of the case, the World Bank had said that Barberán Diez so licited bribes from various consulting firms.

“According to the facts of the case, in 2020, Barberán Diez approached four con sulting companies involved in the oil and gas business, and used his position in the project to directly offer his services and solicit future payments from each of these companies.

“In exchange, he offered to influence procurement processes under the project in their favour. Although INT found no evidence of

payments made to Barberán Diez by any of these com panies, such a solicitation constitutes a corrupt prac tice under the World Bank’s Procurement Regulations and Anti-Corruption Guidelines,” the World Bank said.

According to the World Bank, a settlement agree ment was reached for a re duced period of debar ment due to Barberán Diez’s cooperation and voluntary remedial actions. As a con dition for release from sanc tion, Barberán Diez also committed to undertake cor porate ethics training.

Additionally, any affil iate of Barberán Diez, op erational during the period of World Bank Group sanc tion, will be required to im plement appropriate integ rity compliance measures in consultation with the World Bank Group Integrity Compliance Officer.

According to the World Bank, Barberán Diez also committed to fully cooper ating with the World Bank Integrity Vice Presidency.

Barberán Diez and his affiliates are also liable to be cross-debarred by oth er multilateral develop ment banks (MDBs) under the Agreement for Mutual Enforcement of Debarment Decisions that was signed on April 9, 2010. (G3)

The World Bank debarred the Spanish consultant only recently

Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat

AG Report 2021

Almost $500M spent on energy diversification, grid improvement programme last year

Almost $500 million in funds sourced from the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) was spent last year on the Energy Matrix Diversification Programme, which, among other things, aims to improve the stabil ity of the Demerara Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS).

The Auditor General, in his 2021 Report, made ref erence to the programme, which is being funded by an IDB loan. Specifically, it was noted that the IDB had agreed to lend US$21.1 mil lion to the programme.

It is a programme that is being jointly executed by the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) and the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA). A sum of $750 million was al located for the programme, but $482.1 million was ex pended last year. The AG Report notes that $267.8 million was not spent in 2021, owing to the late ar rival of equipment and ma terials.

“The GPL will execute and implement Component Two – Reinforcement of Transmission Infrastructure and

Component Four – sub-com ponents being management and contingencies in the to tal sum of US$6.637 mil lion.”

“The Guyana Energy Agency will implement Component One – Renewable Energy Solutions for the Hinterland Programme and Component Three –Institutional Strengthening and Governance of the Energy Sector,” the AG said in the report, adding that project costs would be split by both agencies.

An agreement for the

Consultations underway for National Budget 2023 – Finance Minister

project was entered into in 2019. It encompasses invest ments in sustainable and cleaner energy solutions to diversify the energy matrix in the hinterland while con tributing to climate change mitigation.

Additionally, money will be invested in reinforcing transmission infrastructure

to improve the reliability and stability of the DBIS, the grid providing power throughout the applicable administrative regions.

The project, which has a duration of four years and will have a final cost of US$25.1 million, is also geared at strengthening the Department of Energy to

develop a regulatory frame work and improve insti tutional capacity and gov ernance of the oil and gas sector. According to the AG, GPL will be contribut ing counterpart resources of US$3.9 million towards the project.

With the Christmas sea son beckoning, all eyes will be on GPL as it seeks to de liver power during the peak season. The diversification of Guyana’s energy sourc es is also important in the context of climate change. Guyana is currently aiming to reduce its carbon emis sions by 70 per cent in 2030 through a progressively cleaner energy mix.

The previous target of 100 per cent renewable en ergy by 2025, which was set by then President David Granger during a visit to Paris in 2016, has been derided by the current Government as a wholly unrealistic target. Indeed, back in 2018, the Office of

Climate Change (OCC) had admitted that Granger’s target was not achievable and would have to be re viewed.

In September, it was announced that fund ing had been secured by Guyana from the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) for renewable energy proj ects. The GEA had said the funding was for the cost of the “Small Hydropower Project”, and some of that money would go towards consultancy services.

In fact, the GEA started tendering for consultants, issuing a notice inviting bids from firms for “Design Review and Construction Supervision of two hydro power plants”. One project entailed the construction of a new 0.5-megawatt (MW) hydropower plant at Kumu in the Rupununi and the other, the rehabilitation and upgrade of the Moco hydro power facility, to 0.7 MW. (G3)

Over 200 Burma residents allocated house lots at Region 5 housing drive

Ministerial consulta tions have already begun in prepara tion for the 2023 National Budget, Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh revealed during an interview.

“That work has started. As you know, the budget cy cle is an ongoing one. We is sued the budget circular some months ago; we have already started internal work in Government across Ministries, Ministries have already prepared their pre liminary submissions, and we are having inter-ministe rial meetings right now, in ter-ministerial consultations.

So, the work has started, and is ongoing,” the Minister is quoted by the Department of Public Information (DPI) as saying.

He explained that the Government has been pre paring for the 2023 budget

since the tabling of the 2022 budget, and has recently been intensifying its efforts, as it usually does towards the end of the year.

“People are working very hard. My team, and, of course,, the teams in the var ious Ministries are working very hard to push that work along. So, work is ongoing on the budget,” Singh said.

In January, the Government unveiled a $552.9 billion transforma tive budget, with the theme “Steadfast against all chal lenges, Resolute in building our One Guyana”.

It saw several measures implemented to improve the lives of Guyanese while help ing them to build wealth. The budget succeeded the $383.1 billion national bud get in 2021 and was the larg est fiscal plan to date.

Close to 250 residents of Burma, Region Five (MahaicaBerbice) were allocated residential house lots on Wednesday, at the “Dream Realised” Housing Drive hosted by the Housing and Water Ministry’s Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA). The exer cise was held at the MARDS Complex, Burma Road.

The activity was led by Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal and a team from the CHPA, with Regional Chairman Vickchand Ramphal; Regional Member of Parliament (MP), Faizal Jafarally and MARDS General Manager Bindrabhan Bisnauth.

Before the commence ment of the allocation ex ercise, Regional Chairman Ramphal lauded the Ministry’s effort in deliver ing serviced lots to persons who have been waiting for years. He noted that the ac tivity has been long in the making, as the commitment was made since 2020, but af ter much planning persons could now start the first phase of their homeowner ship process.

In his remarks, the Housing Minister spoke of

the efforts made to make the exercise a reality. He not ed that while there was an initial plan for a scheme in the Burma area, these plans were abandoned post 2015, leaving residents in limbo. The Minister further stated that after assuming office in 2020, this plan was revisited and the scheme would soon be realised. He, however, called for the new allottees

and east of the main access road to the Burma housing development. This scheme provides for residential, res idential-commercial, indus trial and other land use pur poses. More importantly, the development caters for four residential income cat egories: low, moderate, mid dle and high-income lots. Lands in the new develop

multaneously working on matching those with infra structure development as a means of ensuring occupan cy in the new schemes. On this note, a call was made for contractors who have been tasked with executing these works to honour their obli gations in a timely manner. He also outlined other devel opment plans for the Region,

to be patient as the budget ary allocation for the neces sary infrastructural work would be provided for in the 2023 National Budget. The new scheme is located east of the existing housing scheme

ment have also been ear marked for a recreational facility, and other social and infrastructural facilities.

According to Croal, while these allocations are be ing done, the Ministry is si

including the upgrading of water infrastructure. Over the past two years, the sum of $80 million was expended on infrastructural projects in Region Five which bene fited some 1615 residents.

Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh

A section of the GPL grid

RegionalBrazil's electoral court rejects Bolsonaro election challenge

The head of Brazil's electoral court

Alexandre de Moraes on Wednesday rejected a complaint from President Jair Bolsonaro's party to challenge October's run-off vote, which the incumbent lost by a narrow margin, according to a court docu ment.

Moraes, who's also a Supreme Court Justice, also fined the parties in Bolsonaro's coalition to the tune of 22.9 million reais for what the court de scribed as bad faith litiga tion, the document showed.

In a complaint filed with the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) on Tuesday, Bolsonaro's allies argued that votes from some ma chines should be "invali dated," citing signs of "mal function" and calling into question the win by his leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Giuseppe Janino, one of the creators of Brazil's elec tronic voting system, said the complaint appeared fo cused on machine logs that have no bearing on the vot ing results.

"This is no more than

another attempt to dis credit the electronic vot ing system that has worked well, electing Governments for 26 years in our coun try, and contributed to our democracy," Janino told Reuters.

The complaint was met with scepticism by election authorities and other polit ical figures who have rec ognised Lula's victory.

The Head of Brazil's

Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, said the election result was "unquestionable", while the centre-right Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB) called Bolsonaro's challenge "senseless". When the PSDB challenged the result of the 2014 pres idential election, the in vestigation took one year and no irregularities were found.

(Excerpts from Reuters)

Al-Rawi lashes back as lawsuits pile up

Whatever hap pens after Karen Nunez-Tesheira's court matter on Wednesday over the People's National Movement's internal elec tion, the party is destined for another 100 years of be ing great, and the United national Congress (UNC) needs to get ready to pay costs on its court matter against Government, says Local Government Minister Faris Al-Rawi.

Al Rawi, the party’s Public Relations Officer (PRO) aimed these messag es to PNM leadership can didate Nunez-Tesheira and UNC leader Kamla PersadBissessar when he spoke at Tuesday night’s Leaders in Service (LIS) meeting in Point Fortin.

This was ahead of Nunez-Tesheira’s case seeking to delay the par ty’s internal elections. It was also after PersadBissessar said on Monday the UNC's filed further court action to expedite its recent court matter against the postponement of Local

Government elections.

The LIS is seeking to win the executive elections in this weekend's voting and also on December 4, but is awaiting the outcome of Nunez-Tesheira's case. The LIS planned campaign

meetings over Wednesday in Tacarigua, on Thursday in PNM leader Dr Keith Rowley's Diego Martin and a rally on Friday in general secretary Foster Cummings' La Horquetta constituency.

Boy, 5, survives fall from Maloney building

Afive-year-old boy is in stable condition after he fell from the fourth floor of a Maloney apartment building on Wednesday after noon.

Police said the boy was

walking up the staircase to his apartment on the north ern side of the building, at around 14:25h, when he fell over the railing.

The boy fell in a puddle of water on the ground floor.

His mother took him to the Arima Hospital where X-rays showed no broken bones.

The boy was transferred to another hospital where he is expected to be examined further. (Trinidad Newsday)

US talking to Mexico, other countries to facilitate return of Venezuelan migrants

The United States is in talks with Mexico and other countries to facilitate the return of Venezuelan migrants to their homeland, a senior US official said in a call with re porters on Tuesday.

"We're in discussion with Mexico and other countries to see what can be done in that sense," said Blas Nunez-Neto, the act ing Assistant Secretary for US border and immigration policy.

Nunez-Neto declined to provide details when asked which other countries were in talks with the United States. Mexico's Foreign

Ministry did not immedi ately reply to a request for comment.

The discussions like ly involve deporting Venezuelans to a third country and flying them back to Venezuela from there, though Nunez-Neto did not specify.

The talks come as Washington has said it needs time to wind down Title 42, a COVID-era or der that allows authorities to rapidly send migrants at the US southern border back to Mexico.

The future of the poli cy is unclear. A US Federal Judge invalidated Title

42 last week, but then a Republican-led legal chal lenge was filed seeking to keep it in place.

Luis Miranda, a spokesperson for the US Department of Homeland Security, said any discus sions with other nations were aimed at continu ing a US effort launched in October that allows border agents to expel Venezuelans to Mexico un der Title 42 while also of fering the chance for 24,000 Venezuelans to apply for temporary entry into the United States through a hu manitarian programme.

(Excerpt

from Reuters)

Children account for 40% of cholera cases in Haiti –

UNICEF

Approximately two in five cholera cas es are among chil dren in Haiti, the United Nations children’s agen cy, UNICEF said, as the Caribbean nation grapples with a deadly outbreak made worse by widespread violence and instability.

UNICEF said on Wednesday that about 40 per cent of confirmed chol era cases have been in chil dren while nine in 10 were reported in parts of the country also hardest hit by malnutrition and hunger.

“In Haiti right now, there is a triple threat to children’s lives – mal nutrition, cholera, and armed violence. And some times all three together,” Manuel Fontaine, Director of UNICEF’s office of emer gency programmes, said as he concluded a four-day visit to Haiti.

“I was shocked to see many children at risk of dying in the cholera treat ment centres. In just a few hours, acute watery diar rhoea and vomiting dehy drate and weaken them so much they may die without timely and adequate treat ment. Cholera and malnu trition are a lethal combi nation, one leading to the other,” Fontaine said in a statement.

Last month, the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) said nearly half of the Haitian population –a record 4.7 million people – were dealing with “acute hunger”.

Haiti’s response to the hunger and cholera cri ses has been complicat ed by increased gang vio lence, which skyrocketed in the aftermath of President Jovenel Moïse’s assassina

tion in Port-au-Prince last year.

Caused by drinking wa ter or eating food contam inated with cholera bacte ria, the illness can trigger severe diarrhoea, as well as vomiting, thirst and other symptoms. It also spreads rapidly in areas without adequate sewage treat ment or clean drinking wa ter.

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Barbados: Attorney sentenced to 7 years in prison

Attorney

been sentenced to seven years for stealing his clients’ money and mon ey laundering.

However, with the 214 days on remand deduct ed, he will only serve six years and 151 days at Dodds Prison.

Jackman, of Wiltshire

Plantation House, St Philip, had denied stealing $678 414.75 belonging to HEJ Ltd, between June 23, 2006, and March 5, 2007.

He had also pleaded not guilty to engaging in mon ey laundering in that he dis posed of sums totalling $678 414.75, being the proceeds of crime.

When the matter

was called before Justice Pamela Beckles in the No. 5 Supreme Court Wednesday morning, Alrick Scott KC, Attorney for complainant John Huggins said no part of the outstanding money had been repaid as indicated by Jackman on the last occa sion, who has already repaid half of the amount of money. (Excerpt from Nation News)

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro (Reuters file photo)

Ernest Winston Jackman has

Patients receive treatment for cholera at the Gheskio Center Hospital supported by UNICEF in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, October 14, 2022 [Ricardo Arduengo/Reuters]

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley (second from left) sits with his Leaders in Service team during the launch of their PNM internal election campaign at the Belmont Community Centre earlier this month. The other candidates are, from left, Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, Stuart Young, Faris Al-Rawi, Maxine Richards and Kazim Hosein ( Courtesy Maxine Richards' Facebook page)

Oil slides on Russian price cap talks, US gasoline build

Oil prices fell Wednesday, continuing a streak of volatile trading, as the Group of Seven (G7) nations considered a price cap on Russian oil above the current market level and as gasoline inventories in the United States built by more than analysts’ expected.

Brent futures for January delivery fell US$3.57, or four per cent, to settle at US$84.79 a barrel. US crude fell US$3.50, or 4.3 per cent, to US$77.45 per barrel. In early trade, both contracts had risen by over US$1 a barrel.

US gasoline stocks rose by 3.1 million barrels, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), far exceeding the 383,000-barrel build that analysts had forecast.

“The build in gasoline is kind of a shock,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures group. “The increase in gasoline supplies suggests that maybe we’re seeing demand weakening or that gasoline is going on the rack ahead of the holidays.”

EIA data also showed a 3.7-million-barrel draw in crude inventories, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.1-million-barrel drop.

Prices were hit further by reports that the G7 price cap on Russian oil could be above the level it is trading.

G7 nations are looking at a price cap on Russian seaborne oil in the range of US$65-US$70/bbl., according to a European official on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Urals crude delivered to northwest Europe is trading around US$62-US$63/bbl, although it is higher in the Mediterranean at around US$67-US$68/bbl, Refinitiv data shows.

Because production costs are estimated at around US$20 per barrel, the cap would still make it profitable for Russia to sell its oil and in this way prevent a supply shortage on the global market.

A senior US Treasury official said on Tuesday that the price cap will probably be adjusted a few times a year.

The news added to concerns about demand from top crude oil importer China, which has been grappling with a surge in COVID-19 cases, with Shanghai tightening rules late on Tuesday.

Further pressure came from an Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) economic outlook anticipating a deceleration in global economic expansion next year.

“On the bright side, the OECD does not envisage a global recession and maybe this helped oil prices and stocks strengthen further,” said analyst Tamas Varga at PVM Oil Associates.

Price found some support after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s November meeting showed most policymakers agreed it would soon be appropriate to slow interest rate hikes. (Reuters)

There is now an immi nent threat of mea sles spreading in var ious regions globally, as COVID-19 led to a steady decline in vaccination cov erage and weakened sur veillance of the disease, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the US pub lic health agency said on Wednesday.

Measles is one of the most contagious human vi ruses and is almost entirely preventable through vacci nation. However, it requires 95 per cent vaccine coverage to prevent outbreaks among populations.

A record high of nearly 40 million children missed a measles vaccine dose in

2021 due to hurdles creat ed by the COVID pandem ic, the WHO and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a joint report.

While measles cases have not yet gone up dra matically compared to pre vious years, now is the time to act, the WHO's measles lead, Patrick O'Connor, told Reuters.

"We are at a crossroads," he said on Tuesday. "It is go ing to be a very challenging 12-24 months trying to miti gate this."

A combination of fac tors like lingering social distancing measures and cyclical nature of measles may explain why there has

Around the World

US Walmart shooting: Manager kills 6 at Virginia supermarket

Alongtime manager at a Walmart store in the US state of Virginia has shot dead six people and injured six oth ers.

Officers were called to the busy branch in Chesapeake after the gun man opened fire on col leagues in a staffroom.

He then turned the gun on himself and died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, officials said.

There is no clear motive for the shooting. Police are not searching for anyone else in connection with the attack.

The Police have identi fied the gunman as 31-yearold Andre Bing. They said he was armed with a hand gun as well as multiple

magazines.

Walmart said he was an "overnight team lead" who had been employed there since 2010. "We are focused on doing everything we can

Blackouts across Ukraine amid wave of Russian strikes

President Volodymyr

Zelensky has accused Russia of "crimes against humanity" after a bombardment caused black outs across Ukraine.

At least six civilians were killed in the barrage, and of ficials were forced to shut down three nuclear reactors due to power outages.

Neighbouring Moldova also experienced blackouts, but it was not directly hit.

With winter setting in, Moscow has stepped up strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

Officials say Russia's missile strikes on energy stations has caused "colos sal" damage and left more than half of the country's power grid in need of repair.

Addressing an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council in New York, Zelensky said the latest strikes had forced "millions of people to stay without energy sup

plies, without heating, with out water" as temperatures started to drop below zero.

"That's the Russian for mula of terror," he told del egates in New York via vid eo link.

On Wednesday, an airraid alert was issued across Ukraine, followed by reports of explosions in a number of locations – including in the capital Kyiv and in the Western city Lviv.

In the southern Zaporizhzhia region, a new born baby was killed when a missile hit a maternity unit, emergency services said.

General Valeriy Zaluzhniy – the commander of Ukraine's armed forces –said 67 cruise missiles were launched by Moscow, with air defences successfully in tercepting 51 projectiles.

But the attack has caused significant damage to infrastructure across the country.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

to support our associates and their families," the company said.

Of the six injured, two are known to be in critical condition while one is in

stable condition.

The first call to Police was made at 22:12 local time on Tuesday (03:12 GMT Wednesday) and offi cers arrived at the super market within two min utes.

They entered the build ing shortly after, and the scene was declared safe around an hour later once it had been cleared of the 50 people who were inside at the time, and all the vic tims had been located.

Processing the crime scene would probably take several days, Police Chief Mark Solesky told a news conference on Wednesday, adding that the investiga tion was being carried out with the help of the FBI. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Democrats weigh options after Supreme Court decision on Trump taxes

US congressio nal Democrats on Wednesday grap pled with the daunting task of reviewing six years of former President Donald Trump's tax returns as Republicans prepared to take control of the House of Representatives in less than six weeks.

Members of the Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee said they hope to receive Trump's returns as soon as next week after the US Supreme Court on Tuesday denied Trump's bid to shield the records from congressional scrutiny.

While the documents, first sought by the commit tee in 2019 while Trump was still President, will remain subject to feder al confidentiality restric tions, Democratic lawmak

ers could make some details public, possibly after a vote by the full House.

Democrats have until January 3 to review the doc uments before Republicans take control of the House, af ter winning a slim majority in the November 8 midterm elections, and shut down the investigation. Ways and Means Democrats have said they need to see Trump's re cords to assess whether the Internal Revenue Service is properly auditing presiden tial tax returns and to gauge whether new legislation is needed.

Representative Lloyd Doggett, a Ways and Means Democrat, said members of the panel may have to work through weekends and the holidays to review Trump's tax returns. (Excerpt from Reuters)

African leaders have declared a cessation of hostilities in the east ern Democratic Republic of Congo starting Friday, ac cording to a joint statement released after talks in the Angolan capital Luanda, with the aim of ending fight ing between Congolese troops and M23 rebels.

and Angola, and by former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who has mediat ed the crisis.

Earlier this month, Kenyan troops were de ployed to eastern DRC as part of a peacekeeping oper ation from the seven-nation East African Community (EAC) bloc.

not yet been an explosion of cases despite the widen ing immunity gaps, but that could change quickly, said O'Connor, pointing out the highly contagious nature of the disease.

he WHO has already

seen an increase of large dis ruptive outbreaks since the start of 2022, rising from 19 to almost 30 by September, O'Connor said, adding that he was particularly worried about parts of sub-Saharan Africa. (Reuters)

An agreement was reached for an “imme diate ceasefire” in the DRC at 18:00h on Friday, Angolan Foreign Minister Tete António announced on Wednesday.

An East African re gional force will inter vene against the M23 fighters in case of noncom pliance, said the statement signed by the leaders of DR Congo, Rwanda, Burundi

DR Congo has accused neighbouring Rwanda of backing the armed group M23, which Rwanda has de nied. Kinshasa also expelled Rwanda’s Ambassador over its alleged backing of M23 rebels, who have seized towns in the east DRC prov ince of North Kivu.

An M23 spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

A manager at a Walmart Inc store in Virginia opened fire on fellow employees in a break room, killing six before turning the gun on himself, eyewitnesses said on Wednesday after the country's latest mass shooting [Reuters]

Measles now an imminent global threat due to pandemic, say WHO and CDC

African leaders agree on “immediate ceasefire” in eastern DRC

DAILY HOROSCOPES

Put on your thinking cap and devise a lucrative plan. Look over documents, update whatever needs it and change whatever isn’t working for you anymore. Make a promise to a loved one.

(March 21-April 19)

(April 20-May 20)

What’s the rush? Slow down, look over your options and put your energy where it counts. Have a heart when it comes to helping those less fortunate, and you’ll learn something valuable.

Pick up the pace and get things done. Look at situations clearly and make an honest assessment of what’s possible. Refuse to let anyone rope you into a du bious scheme. Protect your reputation.

(May 21-June 20)

(June 21-July 22) (July 23-Aug. 22)

Set your sights on something differ ent and see where it leads. A taste of an exotic lifestyle, activity or belief will increase your awareness and help you make better decisions.

You’re in the groove and ready to do your thing. You can’t please everyone, but you can follow your heart and do what makes you happy. Let experience guide you to do what’s right.

Take a moment to assess what’s hap pening before you make a move. Don’t count on what others say. Verify infor mation and stay on top of what everyone is doing. A change is necessary, so make it.

(Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

(Sept. 23-Oct. 23)

What you do will have a far more sig nificant impact than you realize. Lift up your peers and inspire them to be their best. Be a strong leader, and success will follow.

SUDOKU

(Oct. 24-Nov. 22) (Nov. 23-Dec. 21)

SOLUTION FOR LAST PUBLISHED PUZZLE

Take a different approach and see what happens. Find the humor in situa tions that don’t go according to plan, and you’ll see a way to turn a negative into a positive. Seek out people who can help you.

Take nothing for granted. Preparation is critical if you want to outsmart some one who doesn’t play fair. Don’t let in consistency and uncertainty lead to fail ure. Stand tall.

Take pride in your ability to discern what’s legitimate and apply your mag ic. Your innate ability to find solutions and willingness to help others will open doors to new opportunities.

(Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

(Jan. 20-Feb. 19)

Don’t let inconsistency or uncertain ty take control. Stay focused on what’s important and necessary to your suc cess. Let your charm and innovative con cepts lead the way.

Monitor what everyone around you is doing before you make a move. A few tweaks will put you in a good position to outmaneuver anyone who gets in your way. Proceed with caution.

(Feb. 20-March 20)

ARCHIE PEANUTS

CALVIN AND HOBBES

DILBERT

FIFA WORLD CUP 2022 ROUNDUP…

Japan, Spain, Belgium record wins on Day 4

…Morocco-Croatia end in draw Asia on the march as Japan come from behind to stun Germany 2-1

Astunning late comeback from Japan saw fourtime winners Germany fall to a shock defeat in their opening World Cup game in Qatar.

Germany dominated a fre netic match for large spells, but failed to capitalise on their pressure - before Japan caused the Khalifa International Stadium to erupt in a mix of celebration and surprise.

Substitute Takuma Asano squeezed in a thumping strike from a tight angle to make it 2-1 to Japan, and ran over to the photographers in the cor ner of the stadium in sheer de

light. There was a collective pause in the arena as the ball rolled down from the roof of the net, before supporters re alised it had gone in.

Manchester City's Ilkay Gundogan had given Germany the lead from the penalty spot in the first half, before Japan substitute Ritsu Doan equal ised in the 75th minute. The equaliser came after a string of stunning saves at each end - Japan's Shuichi Gonda pull ing off a double stop to deny Serge Gnabry and Jonas Hofmann, before Germany's Manuel Neuer got his finger tips to Junya Ito's effort.

Germany, who finished bottom of their group in Russia in 2018, had missed several chances to extend their lead when the score was 1-0. They face stiff opposition in Group E, with 2010 winners Spain to come on Sunday, then a fi nal group game against Costa Rica.

Before kick-off, Germany's players put their hands over their mouths during a team photo, and in the stands, German Government Minister Nancy Faeser wore the OneLove armband. It comes after news the German Football Federation (DFB) is

Spain hammer Costa Rica 7-0

Gavi announced him self on the global stage with a brilliant volley as Spain produced a sparkling passing perfor mance to outclass Costa Rica and start their World Cup in sensational style.

Ferran Torres scored twice in what was a stroll from start to finish for the 2010 champions, but the pick of their seven goals was Gavi's outstanding volleyed finish, with the Barcelona teenager using the outside of his foot to steer a drop ping ball home via the post.

This has been a tour nament full of surprises, with Spain's Group E ri vals Germany the latest victims with their late de feat by Japan earlier on Wednesday, but there was never a hint of another shock happening here.

La Roja were complete ly dominant from the start, with Costa Rica unable to live with their pace, move ment and precision when they came forward.

The Euro 2020 semi-fi nalists went close twice in the first 10 minutes, with Dani Olmo and Marco Asensio both firing wide, but they did not have to wait long to take the lead.

Olmo had work to do when he met Gavi's delicate chipped pass into the area, but he used his strength to hold off Oscar Duarte, then span into space to expert ly slot past the onrushing Keylor Navas.

It was an ominous start for Costa Rica, and things quickly got worse for the 2014 quarter-finalists, who were the last team to qualify for Qatar.

Again, Spain advanced up the middle of the pitch unopposed, before the ball was spread left to Jordi Alba, and his driven cross was met

powerfully by Asensio - al though Navas should have done far better with his at tempted save.

Victory was sealed just after the half-hour mark, when Torres sent Navas the wrong way from the spot af ter Duarte had hacked at Alba in the box.

But there was more mis ery to come for Costa Rica after the break, with Spain still hungry for goals.

Torres capitalised on more poor defending to make it 4-0, collecting a loose ball

after bursting into the box and then calmly firing home.

Gavi's superb strike add ed gloss to an already glit tering display, with the 18-year-old finding a finish to match his impressive per formance after meeting a cross from substitute Alvaro Morata.

Another substitute, Carlos Soler, made it six af ter Navas failed to deal with a cross, and Morata rounded off the scoring in injury time after playing a one-two with Olmo. (BBC)

Croatia kept at bay by Morocco

Croatia, runners-up four years ago, start ed their World Cup campaign with a goalless draw against a well-drilled Morocco at Al Bayt Stadium.

Only four players from their final defeat by France in 2018 started this game, and they lacked an attack ing spark throughout, but came closest through Nikola Vlasic's toe-poked effort.

Morocco were impres sive, but failed to create clear-cut opportunities.

Belgium play Canada in the other Group F game at 19:00 GMT on Wednesday.

Croatia, who are 12th in FIFA's world rankings, dom inated possession as expect ed, but were unable to create opportunities or break down Morocco, who have only lost two of their past 40 games across three years.

The best chance of a

match that had only two shots on target from each side came in first-half stop page time, when a left-wing cross was diverted towards goal by Vlasic, but the mid fielder on loan at Torino from West Ham was denied by the right leg of Yassine Bounou, who spread himself

Belgium pip Canada 1-0

Belgium laboured to victory in their open ing World Cup game, as they were pushed all the way by an outstanding ef fort from Canada.

Canada dominated large portions of this Group F game, but were wasteful in front of goal, particularly when Alphonso Davies saw a first-half penalty saved by Belgium keeper Thibaut Courtois.

Courtois also had to save well from Alistair Johnston, but Canada were undone against the run of play on the stroke of half-time when

Borjan.

Jonathan David wast ed a glorious headed chance to draw Canada level, and Courtois also saved from Cyle Larin. Canada were also left nursing a sense of injustice after they had two presentable penalty appeals ignored in the first half.

Canada continued to push forward in the sec ond half, but it was Roberto Martinez's side who closed out the win, despite a per formance that made a mockery of their status as second in the world rank ings. (BBC)

to close down the angle.

Morocco, who are ranked 22nd, came closest when Noussair Mazraoui followed in a deflected shot and saw a back-post header saved.

Paris St-Germain fullback Achraf Hakimi also tested Dominik Livakovic, but the Croatia keeper dealt with his dipping, swerving 35-yard strike with ease.

It was a game largely played in the middle third of the pitch, with both sides potentially wary of losing and damaging their chances of progressing to the knock out stages from a group that also contains Belgium and Canada.

The goalless draw is the third of this World Cup, after Denmark's opener against Tunisia and Poland vs Mexico on Tuesday. There was only one in the entire 2018 tournament in Russia.

Croatia will play Canada in their next match on Sunday (16:00 GMT kickoff), while Morocco face Belgium on the same day (13:00). (BBC)

Michy Batshuayi collected Toby Alderweireld's long ball and fired a powerful left-foot finish past Milan

Japan stunned Germany 2-1

investigating whether it is le gal for FIFA to threaten play ers with sanction for wear

ing the OneLove armband in Qatar. The DFB later tweet

ed that human rights are "non-negotiable" and "we stand by our position". (BBC)

Belgium pipped Canada 1-0

Morocco managed to keep Croatia at bay

Spain dominated Costa Rica 7-0

WI tour to Australia 2022…

West Indies fight back

-after Matt Renshaw, Marcus Harris lead PM’s XI with the bat

West Indies final ly have some hope ahead of their Frank Worrell Trophy se ries against Australia, fight ing back from an early hole to take the challenge up to the Prime Minister’s XI.

They were staring down the barrel of another disas trous day with the ball when the PM XI were 134 for 0, but showed spirit to take six wick ets in the evening session and finish the day at 297 for 9 at the Manuka Oval.

The PM’s side resumed af

ter the dinner break at 198 for 3, but the visitors found a spark through spinner Roston Chase, his two wick ets swinging the game slight ly in their favour at stumps.

Chase first produced a gem that turned plenty and clean bowled Aaron Hardie, while another great delivery spun past Peter Handscomb and had him stumped for 55.

session of the four-day, daynight clash, and immediate ly found some reward, with Alzarri Joseph knocking over Michael Neser and Joel Paris. And he found a third with the last ball of the night, with Ashton Agar chopping on to his stumps after a quickfire 33.

“This is a game of pa tience,” he told reporters. “You could bowl well in this session, but you have to stay patient and your reward might come at the end the game. You get your opportu nity with a new ball, with the lights on, it takes a bit more

effect and does a bit more.

“The pink ball is pretty easy to bat during the day, but when it gets down to may be 7pm or 8pm, twilight starts to come in and the light starts taking effect, that’s when you know the bowlers have a bet ter chance.”

2022 INBF WNBF World Championships in USA…

Green earns gold in Masters, Clarke bags 4th in Men’s Open

SCOREBOARD

Prime Minister’s XI 1st Innings

Matt Renshaw c †Da

Silva b Reifer 81

Marcus Harris

c Mayers b Seales 73

Henry Hunt c sub (JO Holder)

b Mayers 13

Peter Handscomb st

†Da Silva b Chase 55

Josh Inglis (c)†c sub (JO Holder) b Roach 0

Aaron Hardie b Chase 23

Ashton Agar b Joseph 33

Michael Neser b Joseph 10

Joel Paris b Joseph 2

Mark Steketee not out 0

Extras (b 1, nb 3, w 3) 7

TOTAL 89.3 Ov (RR: 3.31) 297/9

Yet to bat: Todd Murphy

It was the lifeline they needed after a dismal after noon that saw PM’s XI open ers Marcus Harris and Matt Renshaw cruise through their triple-figure partner ship. Harris, the only PM’s XI player in Australia’s squad for the first Test in Perth next Wednesday, continued his strong form and made 73 before a loose slash saw him caught at second slip.

Fall of wickets: 1-134 (Marcus Harris, 41.4 ov), 2-162 (Henry Hunt, 49.3 ov), 3-190 (Matt Renshaw, 55.6 ov), 4-202 (Josh Inglis, 59.1 ov), 5-250 (Aaron Hardie, 75.3 ov), 6-253 (Peter Handscomb, 77.1 ov), 7-278 (Michael Neser, 83.1 ov), 8-294 (Joel Paris, 87.6 ov), 9-297 (Ashton Agar, 89.3 ov)

BOWLING O-M-R-W

Kemar Roach 16-6-40-1

Jayden Seales 16-2-60-1 Alzarri Joseph 17.3-3-52-3 Roston Chase 21-2-72-2

Raymon Reifer 6-0-38-1

Kyle Mayers 8-2-11-1 Kraigg Brathwaite 5-0-23-0

Renshaw took over, and thumped ten boundaries in his 81, but also fell short of a century when he edged Raymon Reifer to the slips.

“It was an enjoyable day, challenging yourself against a pretty good bowling at tack…they kept coming and kept coming,” Renshaw said. “They bowled really well, ob viously they’ve got a couple guys on the sidelines as well who could come in.

“We always know the night sessions where you can come out and something can start happening. They’re an excit ing young group, and they’ve got some pace and they’ve got

Top Cop commends Police athletes for top performances

…GPF receives football, cricket gear from NYPD Cricket Team

Police Commissioner(ag)

Clifton Hicken has commended several Police boxers who participat ed and performed exceed ingly well in the recently held Lennox Blackmoore National Intermediate Boxing Championships.

The 2022 INBF WNBF World Championships were held on November 19, 2022 at the Warner Grand Theater in San Pedro, California, and athletes from over 45 affiliated countries battled in the Amateur & Pro Worlds.

Guyana’s very own Rawle Green secured gold in the Masters category, while his countryman Kerwin Clarke came in 4th in the Men’s Open Middle weight catego ry.

In a statement Green is sued upon gaining gold at the competition, he said, “It is always a good feeling to get gold. The other competi tor was from the USA. It was nothing new leading up the worlds; I would have com peted with the other guys. For me, next is to see what next year brings. Thanks to my posing coach, training partner, family, clients and friends.”

Clarke also issued a state ment; he said, “The experi ence was a wealthy one for me to know how strategic my implementations would be

going forward. It was breath taking, and certainly the kind of test I embrace for myself competitively.”

In terms of where he fell short, Clarke explained that re-acclimatising was a ma jor deficit, as he experienced cramps several times before and during rigorous compari sons. While he had not gotten the results he had wanted, he clarified that the experience and thirst and hunger to col lect that top spot was one pos itive he took away, and he is very thankful to have made his debut against seasoned campaigners.

Clarke is thanking his sponsors for embracing his craft and consistency of prog ress within the disciplined sport of Bodybuilding. “Much gratitude is extended to: Fitness Express, Fitness53, Space Gym, The Guyana Olympic House Association, W.J Enterprise, It’s our Life YouTube channel, Max Accounting and Consultancy Services, Travellers Sounds, NeuroSpine Inc. Champfitness”, Clarke shared.

And he has also com mended those Police ath letes who dominated the 2022 South American 10K Classic Race which was re cently held.

Last Tuesday, November 22, 2022, in his Conference Room at Eve Leary, Commissioner Hicken met and commended boxer Maheen Scott, who won gold after defeating Greenville Harris, and Jowart Thomas, who copped silver after defeating Kartel Cort in the Cruiserweight divi sion. Donovan Richardson also won gold in the Welterweight division, af ter defeating GDF's Kerion Vossey. In the Flyweight division, Deron Williams copped gold after a clini cal performance against fellow teammate Carlton Wong, who gained the sil ver medal in the bout. The Superheavyweight divi sion saw Police boxer Tulsi Persaud placing 2nd, for which he won a silver med al.

The Lennox Blackmoore National Intermediate Boxing Championships were organised by the

Guyana Boxing Association (GBA). Proceedings start ed on Friday, November 18 and ended on Sunday, November 20.

The overall performanc es of the boxers saw the Police Boxing Gym finish ing as joint champions of the competition with the Guyana Defence Force.

Police Coach Dexter Marques also received an award for being the 'Best Coach' of the competition.

SOUTH AMERICAN 1OK CLASSIC

Commissioner Hicken also congratulated Winston Missingher who copped 1st place, and Joanna Archer who placed 3rd overall, in the 2022 South American 10K Classic Race which was held in Guyana on Sunday, November 20, 2022.

EQUIPMENT

The Guyana Police Force on Tuesday, November 22, received a quantity of football and cricket gear from the New York Police Department (NYPD).

The donation of sports gear was done by longstand ing supporter and member of the NYPD Cricket team, Mr. Shariyaar Hussain, to Deputy Commissioner 'Operations' (ag.) Mr. Ravindradat Budhram in his office at Police Headquarters, Eve Leary.

D/C 'Operations' Budhram, in a comment in vited by this publication, has said the gear would be given to the various Police Youth Groups to keep the youths meaningfully en gaged while keeping them active. (GPF)

some skills. It will be an in teresting watch for the Test matches over the summer.”

Future Test hopeful Henry Hunt couldn’t show the form that made him last season’s Sheffield Shield “Player of the Year”, falling for 13. (Cricinfo)

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Bowling adjustments key for West Indies in pink-ball warm-up

The visitors took the new pink ball late in the evening

Lennox Blackmoore National Intermediate Boxing Championships…

Rawle Green won gold in the Masters’ category and Kerwin Clarke came in 4th in the Men's Open Bodybuilding as a middle weight

Coach Wright of Enterprise eyes player development after Pee-Wee win

Last Saturday, November 19, scores of supporters erupted in celebration as the under dogs, Enterprise Primary, clinched the Courts’ PeeWee U11 football title.

Having been locked in a tense battle with St. Pius Primary School at the Ministry of Education (MoE) Ground on Carifesta Avenue, Enterprise Primary held their nerve to earn themselves a 2-1 victory.

St. Pius were the first to strike, Carlon Robinson finding the back of the net in the 13th. However, Jashan Haynes of Enterprise, even tual MVP and highest goal scorer of the tournament, netted a double in the 15th and 30th minutes for the Enterprise victory.

That victory, according to Coach Troy Wright, was something he had promised the school’s Head Mistress he would deliver before the

tournament even began.

“Since I stepped in the office at Enterprise and I reach the Headmistress, I told her my mission is to come to this school and lift the football standard; and when the football standard lift, the education standard is going to lift,” Wright said, as he explained that his son is a student of that school, hence his motiva tion to coach the team.

“So, I said it’s a chal lenge for me, but I’m here to take the school to the other level. Once they lis ten to me and follow my instructions, they will be the next champions. The Headmistress’s words were, ‘Deliver for me’. Well, the HM of Enterprise, I have delivered for you,” an elat ed Wright added.

Wright has emphasised that his singular goal in winning the final game was to secure resources that

would assist the school ac ademically.

“I teach them; in prac tice we sit and talk a lot. I said, ‘Whenever a goal is scored against you, it’s a mistake. We are all human, ya’ll are children, you’re not playing without mistakes’. So, I said, ‘If they score a goal, never panic. We can come from behind and do it.

Don’t panic! Don’t panic!” Coach Wright related.

With two Pee-Wee ti tles now under his belt, Coach Wright has detailed that his plan for the future would see development of younger players.

“I have coached for many years, but this is the hardest part of coaching for any coach. Pee-Wee foot ball is the hardest to any coach, because it’s like ba bies you’re taking to play football; it’s not easy,” he explained.

Then he divulged, “I’m

planning to open my acad emy next year, where I can take school children from primary, secondary, and even private schools; where they could come Saturday and Sunday, register, have sessions and develop their skills. So, when the next

school football tournament is around, we would have proper players who fully know about the game, so you’ll see competitive foot ball.

“That is my aim,” he said. “To open an academy to develop football from the

school, and we’ll see better competition in school foot ball,” Coach Wright has as serted.

The Pee-Wee tourna ment was supported by Courts, Sterling Products, MVP Sports and the Ministry of Education.

emerge victorious

Local practical shooters have displayed both speed and accuracy in competing for top hon ours at the Guyana Sport Shooting Foundation’s yearend match last Sunday, 20th November.

Held at Camp Stephenson, the GDF’s Timehri Shooting Range the competition, sponsored by El Dorado Security Service of Lot 136 Young Street, Kingston, comprised four challenging but fun stages.

The match was conduct ed by Match Director Mrs. Vidushi Persaud-McKinnon, who declared it open. Shooters participated in 3 divisions, namely: Limited, Production, and Open. Each division had its unique re quirements and restrictions, as prescribed by the United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA). Since each division has its own regulations, shooters do not directly compete with each other across divisions. As such, prizes were awarded for 1st to 3rd place in each division.

As is customary with a GSSF event, strict adher ence to firearms’ safety was followed. Match Director Vidushi Persaud-McKinnon noted that all four stag es were holiday-themed and encouraged a rap id-fire shooting style. She commended stage designer Imam Baksh for designing the stages, and for the props he personally worked on to transform the range into a festive atmosphere.

‘Christmas Present Ambush’ was the fastest stage. The shooter started by holding a gift box with his/her back to the targets. Upon the start signal, he/ she then turned and en gaged all targets from a hol ster draw. Four paper tar gets were at close range, with a steel plate sitting above a small Christmas

tree being at medium range. The paper targets each re quired two hits in the centre A-zone for maximum points, a task made harder because it was partially obscured by ‘hard cover’ paint. (Shots in

der, but each cluster had to be engaged from a different shooting area, so competi tors needed to move quickly between shooting views, and then rapidly settle into a stable shooting stance once

sion created by the small openings made shooters bend and twist to get a good firing angle at the targets beyond, which required two shots each.

The right-side section

McKinnon (325.0000 Points)

2nd Place – Pravesh Harry (204.1082 Points)

3rd Place – Vidushi Persaud-McKinnon (147.8643 Points)

Production Division:

the paint do not earn points, and are considered to have been stopped short of the target.)

Given the small number of targets, a fast draw was essential for doing well.

The stage, ‘Thanksgiving Turkey Shoot’ featured nine paper targets hidden on the ground behind barrel obstacles, and four distant mini-popper steel targets. Upon the start signal, competitors need ed to move down a winding path, shooting from within the fault lines while lean ing left and right to find the best angles to see the tar gets around the obstacles, and hit their ‘turkeys’.

The best performers on this stage were able to shoot accurately while moving and turning smoothly, as indeci sion cost valuable time.

For ‘New Year’s Chimes Ring Twelve Times,’ shooters were re quired to knock down twelve steel mini-popper targets arranged in three clustered arrays of four. The targets could be engaged in any or

they got there.

The stage also tested fire arm handling, as it required retrieving the firearm safely and quickly from a resting position on the top of a bar rel, and performing a speed reload before engaging each new array, using magazines that were also set down on the tops of barrels at sepa rate sides of the stage.

A few steel targets re fused to fall when first hit, forcing follow-up hits to earn the points, much to the frus tration of the shooters and the amusement of the crowd.

The longest stage was ‘Boxing Day Duck and Weave’. With 10 paper sil houette targets and 2 fall ing steel plates, the shooters were required to start in a boxing stance set back 3 me tres from the shooting areas, with their firearms loaded and holstered.

At the signal, shooters would run forward and en gage the targets in any or der. The main shooting challenge forced shooters to engage 4 paper targets through low ports. The re stricted movement and vi

of the stage featured ‘speed trap’ targets, which used No-Shoot penalty targets to partially cover the paper targets. The reduced target area forced shooters to take their time at aiming, or suf fer a 10-point deduction for each hit on the No-Shoots.

The left-side array paper and steel targets were sep arated by a vision obstacle to force shooters to use foot work and sideways move ment to engage them all.

Shooters’ reaction to the day was overwhelmingly positive, with many praising the fast-paced and instinc tive nature of the shooting created by the stages.

When the smoke cleared, the competition results were promptly computed because of the use of electronic scor ing methods by way of a special application called Practiscore, under the ef ficient eye of designated Stats Officer for the day Dr. Pravesh Harry.

Match results were announced as follows:

Limited Division: 1st Place – Ryan

1st Place – Rajiv Latchana (283.6327 Points)

2nd Place – Satya Dayaram (262.6409 Points)

3rd Place – Lancelot Khan (239.0757 Points)

Open Division:

1st Place – Mohamed Qualander (313.7305 Points)

2nd Place – Dallas Thomas (225.5197 Points)

At the Closing and Presentation Ceremony at the Range, Mr. Alvin Holladar, Chief Security Officer of El Dorado Security Service, delivering remarks on behalf of El Dorado Security Service, congrat ulated all the winners and the Foundation for a job well done. He also admitted to being particularly pleased to see the high level of shoot ing and the emphasis put on safety.

Messrs Alvin Holladar and Marwin Layne, Senior Supervisor of El Dorado Security Service, presented trophies to the winners.

The GSSF hereby ex tends its sincerest gratitude

to the Management and staff of El Dorado Security Service for the kind spon sorship and support of the Foundation’s Year-end com petition, and for support ing the shooting sport in Guyana.

El Dorado Security is now the exclusive dealer for Slovakian firearm manufac turer Grand Power and their premier X-Calibur pistol, which looks and feels like many of the High Power/ CZ-75 guns currently vying for the competitors’ trophies at sport shooting events.

Range Master for the day, GFFS Vice President David Dharry, noted that the past year has seen a re vival of GSSF activities af ter the restrictions that had been imposed by the pan demic, and the Foundation has been busy on boarding and training new members in safety and fundamentals. He praised the efforts of the instructors and coaches who have conducted multiple training sessions in 2022.

Training for shooters will continue in the new year, and no firearm expe rience or ownership is re quired to join the GSSF. More information about the GSSF is available at www. GuyanaSportsShooting.com

The Board of Directors wishes to commend the Match Director, Range Master, Stats Officer, Range Officers and the shooters for ensuring an efficient event.

Special thanks also to the Guyana Defence Force, Chief of Staff Brigadier Godfrey Bess, Commissioner of Police Mr. Clifton Hicken, Deputy Commissioner of Operations, Mr. Ravindranauth Budhram, OC Mr. Lowenfield, ranks of the TSU and the Guyana Police Force, the Media, and GSSF members for their support in promoting practical shoot ing locally. Thanks also to Mr. Rajiv Latchana and the Management of Aquafina.

Enterprise Primary revelling in their Courts’ Pee-Wee victory

Prize Winners and participants of the 2022 El Dorado Security Service-sponsored GSSF Practical Shooting Match

Review of 2022 CG United Super50 tournament…

Caribbean batsmen need to score more centuries

By Brandon Corlette

The 2022 CG United Super50 tournament has recently been concluded. It was won by the Jamaica Scorpions, who defeated the Trinidad & Tobago Red Force in the ultimate game played at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.

While it was good to see some of the region’s top players in action, there is room for improvement rela tive to the quality of cricket that was played. In an era wherein 300 runs per team is around par in 50-over games, this Super50 tournament saw only five scores per team in ex cess of 300.

And while the pitches in the Caribbean are not the greatest for batsmen, teams were in position to score in excess of 300 runs, but lost their way. Only seven centuries and 48 half-centuries were recorded in the tournament.

It was a good season for Rovman Powell. The Jamaican skipper led his team to glory, and scored 346 runs in the process -- the most runs scored by an individual in the season. He had an average of 69.20, with one century and one half-cen ry. He showed

maturity in a batting order that lacked star-studded players.

Nicholas Pooran, the Red Force captain, scored two fifties and one century, finishing with 342 runs in seven innings at an average of 114.

Brandon King, who failed to score a century, had two half-centuries and an aggregate of 337 runs. Shai Hope of Barbados Pride scored 311 runs at an average of 51, with three fifties under his belt.

With most teams playing seven matches, only four batsmen were able to score in excess of 300 runs this season. Kjorn Ottley, who got starts in most of his matches for Trinidad and Tobago Red Force, finished with 297 runs at 49.5.

Alick Athanaze of the Windward Islands, who started the tourna ment with back-to-back centu ries, faded in the end, as he fin ished with 292 runs at an average of 48.66. Guyana's shining light with the bat, Tevin Imlach, made 268 runs at an average of 44, while Kaveem Hodge, who received the “best all-rounder award” with ten wickets, scored 261 runs at an av erage of 52.2.

Darren Bravo, who is looking for a West Indies recall, scored 240 runs at an average of 48, with three fifties to his name. Bravo, along with Hope and King, would have wanted to score at least one century.

Meanwhile, the veteran Shannon Gabriel showed his class and pace with 15 wickets at an av erage of 14.20. Gabriel, Odean Smith and Nicholson Gordon have each claimed 15 wickets. In addi tion to Odean Smith, who claimed a five-wicket haul, Jonathan Carter had a five-wicket haul.

The off-spinner Kofee James had 14 wickets, while Dennis Bulli and Gudakesh Motie each had 14 wick ets. Jeavor Royal and Yannic Cariah each had 12 wickets, while Romario

Shepherd, Kaveem Hodge and Akeal Hosein each had 10 wickets in the season.

King, who dropped catches in the crunch matches, ended with the most catches by a fielder in the sea son, with eight catches, while the vet eran Chadwick Walton, who played a match-winning 80 in the final, had the most dismissals. He finished with nine in the season.

The 2022 Super50 season had

only one 200-plus run partnership, with Alick Athanaze and Hodge scor ing 208 runs for the second wicket for Windward Islands Volcanoes.

For most of the matches, fans were not out in their numbers, and this shows the lack of interest in re gional cricket in the Caribbean, in contrast to the earlier days where fans showed up and supported.

Kudos must be given to Cricket West Indies for organising this tour

nament and giving Caribbean people the opportunity to live stream match es on YouTube. Another bright light that emerged from the tournament was the involvement of the West Indies Academy. However, some fans in the United States of America were not able to livestream these match es, and the US$250 “Player of the Match” prize money, especially in the finals, should be reviewed for future tournaments.

GSSF/El Dorado Security Service Inc. Practical Shooting Match…

McKinnon, Latchana, Qualander emerge victorious

Rovman Powell was the leading batsman

Shannon Gabriel claimed 15 wickets in the season

Nicholas Pooran finished with the best batting average

Team Jamaica Scorpions

trophy from Mr. Alvin Holladar, Chief

1st Place Winner in Production Division, Mr. Rajiv Latchana (on right) receiving trophy from Mr. Marwin Layne, Senior Supervisor of El Dorado Security Service (on left)

1st Place Winner in Limited Division, Mr. Ryan McKinnon (on right) receiving trophy from Mr. Alvin Holladar, Chief Security Officer of El Dorado Security Service (on left)