Guyana Times - Thursday, October 6, 2022

Govt to construct massive judicial complex in Demerara

…to amend law to increase complement of Court of Appeal Judges – AG

By Feona Morrison

The transformation of Guyana’s legal land scape is moving apace and will soon see the construc tion of a central courthouse in Demerara with a full-ser vice consolidated facility for criminal, probate, Family Court, Land Court and Court of Appeal matters, complete with registries and support staff.

This is according to Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall, SC, who, while speaking to reporters on Wednesday at the Demerara High Court, boasted that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has one of the most aggressive legisla tive agendas in recent times.

Speaking about the time frame for the construction of the modern and massive ju dicial complex, he said, “…we want to move ahead as quick ly as possible, because the sys tem requires great speed in the disposal of cases for there to be justice efficiently and in accordance with the law”.

More Judges

He said that the Government was propos ing after consulting with the Judiciary and Bar to amend the law to increase the com

plement of Judges at the Court of Appeal in Kingston, Georgetown.

“Currently the comple ment is not less than two and not more than five. That, ob viously, is inadequate, hav ing regard to the caseload that is leaving the High Court… The Government is propos ing to increase that comple ment from not less than five to not more than nine. The Government is proposing and

we hope that the consultation will find the agreement.”

The Court of Appeal has one courtroom and is presid ed over by acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards and Justices of Appeal Dawn Gregory and Rishi Persaud.

From time to time, the Chief Justice, who is an ex-of ficio Justice of Appeal, along with High Court Judges, are called, if necessary, for a full

bench sitting.

Itinerant court

“We believe also that the Court of Appeal should be come itinerant,” the Attorney General added.

Once the appellate court becomes itinerant, while there is a complement of Judges sit ting in Georgetown, there will also be a complement sitting continuously in Berbice and Essequibo if the need arises.

“After 50 years of indepen dence, we cannot continue do ing things the way we have been doing them convention ally. The litigation load has increased one thousand times from independence to now and therefore as an institution, the Judiciary will also have to be innovative,” said Nandlall.

Construction works are on going at the Court of Appeal to accommodate another court room.

According to the Senior Counsel, the judicial officers will be provided with the nec essary resources and “backup staff” for them to proficiently discharge their duties.

“It's an all-encompassing exercise,” he pointed out, add ing, “So, we intend to do that, because our Government con siders the administration of justice central to our country and an important factor in the democratic, economic and so

cial equation of our country…”

JSC

Since taking office, the Dr Irfaan Ali-led Administration has been bombarded with calls to swiftly establish the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to appoint more High Court Judges and to increase the number of Judges at the Court of Appeal to deal with the backlog of cases.

There has been no JSC since 2017. The last JSC was appointed by former President Donald Ramotar on September 11, 2014. The tenure of each appointed member is for three years, therefore, the tenure of the last Commission expired on September 12, 2017.

Among other things, the function of the JSC is to ad vise the President on the ap pointment of Judges, with the exception of the Chancellor of the Judiciary and the Chief Justice.

There is also a shortage of Judges at the High Court. Guyana Times understands that while the required num ber of High Court Judges is 20, there are only 12, and one of them is due to retire shortly.

The findings of a recent United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report highlighted that the backlog in cases that has been plagu ing the criminal justice sys tem for years was the result of, among other things, a shortage of Judges. “If the present cad re of Judges is not increased, then the issue of backlogs will not be addressed. It is recom mended that further options for increasing the human re source capacity including for judicial legal research assis tants, Judges, Prosecutors, and trained mediators be ex plored,” the report had noted.

Last week, Nandlall an nounced all preparatory works have been done for the establishment of the JSC and that once Parliament resumed this month, the process would move swiftly.

Substantive appointments

Another issue the judicial system has had to deal with over the years is the non-ap pointment of a substantive Chancellor and Chief Justice.

The A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) has filed legal proceedings in this regard and has called it a

gross dereliction and abdica tion of duty by President Ali.

But the Head of State has indicated that he would deal with the substantive ap pointments “when the time is right”, and after the various service commissions are set up.

The Opposition wants the High Court to compel the President, through the Attorney General, to initiate the process contemplated by the Constitution to fill the va cancies.

Justice CummingsEdwards has been acting as Chancellor since 2016 while Roxane George, SC, has been acting as Chief Justice since 2017.

Opposition Member of Parliament (MP), Vinceroy Jordan, who filed the action, submitted that Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton has ex pressed to President Ali that he was committed to agree ing to the immediate confir mation of Justice CummingsEdwards and Justice George, in their respective positions.

The procedure for the ap pointment of the Chancellor and Chief Justice is out lined in Article 127 (1) of the Constitution which 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 over 21 and 17 years, respectively, since Guyana has had a confirmed Chief Justice and Chancellor. The last confirmed Chief Justice was Desiree Bernard who served from 1996 to 2001; she also served as Chancellor from 2001 to 2005.

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.

The Attorney General has conceded that the current for mula that requires consen sus between the President and the Opposition Leader has not worked in the more than two decades it was put in place and that a constitu tional amendment is needed to remove the gridlock. (G1)

Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC

Court of Appeal

BRIDGE OPENINGS

The

Berbice

FERRY SCHEDULE

“We're working hard to give you the best environment” – President Ali to teachers …says will introduce clerical support for teachers, day-care centres

A

ssuring teachers that his Administration was working hard to create the best possi ble environment for them, President Dr Irfaan Ali on the occasion of World Teachers’ Day saluted their work while talking about the systems the Government was putting in place.

The theme for this year's celebration world wide is “Transformation of Education: Starting with Teachers”. And the President, whose parents are retired teachers, said that since his Government took office two years ago, it has worked on transform ing the lives of both teach ers and students.

"On this very import ant day – World Teachers' Day, I want to assure our teachers that your time will come, that we're working hard to give you the best environment that you can work in; more importantly, as the years progress that you will be in a profession that you will be very proud of,” he said.

According to the President, he understands the commitment of teach ers, as well as their chal lenges such as the number of hours spent on clerical duties. He revealed that a policy decision has been taken to provide every school with clerical support to remove the burden of re cord keeping from teachers and give them more time in the classroom.

In the coming year, he said the Government will also be establishing day-care centres across the country to provide much-needed support to teachers and young moth ers. This initiative will also be supplemented with 86 guidance counsellors, one of whom will be posted at ev ery school.

When it comes to the situation of trainee teach ers receiving a stipend of $11,000, President Ali said that this would be revamped into a system where they were now placed on the payroll and given a salary of $80,000.

"In the last Government, what occurred is that the salaries of teachers, new teachers were based on the previous year's salary and not the current year's sala ry. I've instructed that this situation be corrected. As a result, more than 1300 teachers across the coun try will benefit when this correction is made," the President said.

Human resource improvement

Meanwhile, the President also highlighted that an important part of development was the im provement of opportuni ties for teachers to advance their professional careers.

So far, thousands of teach ers have benefited from the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) and other scholarship opportunities in pursuit of higher educa tion.

The system that pro hibited some teachers from getting time off to train has also been removed. The re moval of this system, he said, now gives the oppor tunity to all teachers to fur ther their education in a format of their choice:

"More than 5000 teach ers are now in training over the last two years. We've removed the quota system, and the removal of the quo ta system is because of the application of technology. The University of Guyana Education Programme has now migrated online. We have many online ed ucational programmes for teachers, whether it's de

gree programmes and di ploma programmes."

To complement this, President Ali said that the Government was working on establishing a platform to ensure there was 100 per cent access to train ing for all teachers across the country, making online training modules and man uals.

"We are building out the infrastructure to ensure that schools are connected, that they have data connec tivity, teachers could have that connectivity also to use that technology avail able, deploy the technology to ensure that they're deliv ering in a modern environ ment,” he said.

When it comes to the ex isting backlog in teachers waiting to receive their per manent training certificate from 2016, President Ali said that he has instruct

ed for it to be cleared by the end of the year. Overall, he said that his Government intended to continue work ing closely with all teachers to ensure their growth and that of the country's stu dents.

"I want to take this op portunity to congratulate all teachers across our coun try for their continued hard work, their commitment and dedication, and their own personal upliftment as we, as a Government, work closely with them and with the sector to ensure we give them the right en vironment, to ensure that we give them the tools that can help them, that can aid their transformation so they can be in a better po sition, to be nimble, to be flexible, to adapt to this new environment in which teachers must operate,” President Ali said. (G3)

President Dr Irfaan Ali interacting with some teachers

V iews

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Significance of October 5

October

5th is a date synonymous with the “return of free and fair elections” to Guyana after the 28-year-long darkness of dictatorship through rigged elections by the People’s National Congress. It culminated a long struggle waged by Guyanese here and abroad, in which the international community was lobbied to help Guyanese to have their fundamental right to choose their Government returned. The PNC fought those efforts tooth and nail, often through brutal means that included murder and assassination. While the world is aware about Dr. Walter Rodney’s assassination because of his fame as a historian and his activism, he was only one of several killed among hundreds imprisoned and tortured.

But, so many years later, in 2020, we were once again in the throes of fighting for democracy’s survival in our land, as the PNC remains hell-bent on refusing to accept the fundamental rule of democracy. To wit, that each vote should count, and that an agglomeration of the majority of votes of the populace confers the legitimacy for the winning party to govern on behalf of all the people. They blatantly attempted to rig the March 2, 2020 elections in front of literally the world – not via news reports, but directly by the representatives/observers of Caricom, the Commonwealth, the OAS, EU, US and other embassies, like India’s. They scrutinised both the count and recount that went to the Caribbean Court of Justice, but the PNC still insisted they won and the PPP was “illegally installed”.

Wednesday was the 30th anniversary of the first free and fair general election in Guyana.

That day, October 05, 1992, under the scrutiny of international observers, led by former President of the United States of America, Jimmy Carter, a once unimaginable change in Government was effected through a democratic process. The significance of that day in the context of Guyana’s subsequent development must not be allowed to be diminished.

The end of an oppressive regime was realised on that day, much to the delight of a wary nation and its beaten but not broken people.

What followed that date is historic, as the nation subsequently experienced unprecedented development.

As the local landscape was being transformed, international respectability was restored, and the nation reclaimed its place within that community. Its voice was heard, so did the voices of Guyanese. It was liberated following the political change that that October 05 precipitated, so much so that public criticism of Government became routine; reflective of a democracy. With a newfound voice, a renewed mindset aided by the creation of enabling environments, poverty began to be reduced through job creation, and eventually prosperity and self-empowerment were infused.

The have-nots got, as exemplified by the realisation of another dream; owning a home. Something as fundamental as a self-owned abode was beyond the reach of the masses prior to that historic October 05.

Guyanese from all strata of society were able to benefit as their once broken nation was being rebuilt.

Phones were no longer for the ‘appeared privileged’, and public transportation was no longer a burden in the context of availability of the requisite vehicles.

A plethora of media outfits were established, predominantly electronic, and sales for appliances boomed. No longer could information be withheld; aided by the Internet, Guyana comfortably slipped into the global village as real-time communication was achieved within that transformative period. Those who lived through both eras, the 1964-1992 and post, would not only be in the best position to compare, but to best value what October 05, 1992 signifies.

Teenagers today have grown up in a society far more advanced than what their parents had experienced. It is common knowledge that parents toil and make untold sacrifices to give their children a better life, but that can be rendered almost impossible in an era of oppression, shortages and despondency. Whilst there was more to be done, the enabling environments created as a result of October 05, 1992 allowed Guyanese to not only realise dreams, but to dream bigger.

Every country has various dates of significance. For Guyana, May 26, 1966 was when the shackles of colonialism were unchained; February 23, 1970 heralded a Republic. What is significant of October 05, 1992? It returned freedom and dignity, restored respect and self-worth, and made the unachievable achievable.

Data on suicide tells only a part of the story

Dear Editor,

Policy-makers and social activists felt relieved in early 2022 when the reported suicide rate declined (by 21 .7%) between 2016 (23.4 per 100,000) and 2021 (18.3 per 100,000), part ly in response to initiatives linked to the Government’s National Suicide Prevention Strategy 2015-2020 (NSPS), and National Mental Health Action Plan 2015-2020, as well as to the work of NGOs; but the suicide problem persists, and remains signif icant.

When “suicides” are combined with “suicide attempts” (e.g., for ev ery suicide, there are 7 attempts), not to mention suicidal ideation (which ranges from 14% to 40%), the picture of the suicide problem is altered con siderably.

The combined data on “suicide” and “suicide attempt” show that fe males have a higher rate than males, even though fewer females die of sui cide than males. Suicidal acts of wom en are often spontaneous, and women are more likely than men to take less potent substances (such as kerosene, OTC drugs, and sleeping tablets) as well as lower dosages of toxins.

Blocking the access to poisonous substances, like Gramoxone or carbon tablets, to men, who plan their suicid al acts, makes some of them turn to hanging. Using sample data (2014), the “suicide attempts” were com bined with “suicides”, and a different picture from what has been usually portrayed emerges: the rate among Indo-Guyanese and Afro-Guyanese was almost similar (Indo-Guyanese had a rate of 36.33 per 100,000 com pared with 36.2 per 100,000 for AfroGuyanese). The data also show that, for Indo-Guyanese, suicide attempts were 6.7 times more than suicides, while, for Afro-Guyanese, the at tempted suicide rate was 7.9 times

more than suicides.

Data on suicide attempts for 2018, though deficient, indicate similar trend in two areas: females contin ue to have a higher rate of attempt ed suicide than males (1.52 times), and 2/3 of all suicide attempts were reported for Regions 2 and 6. Data on other relevant variables, like propor tion in each ethnic group, were lack ing.

The difference in ‘suicides+sui cide attempts’ rates between AfroGuyanese and Indo-Guyanese is sta tistically not significant at <.05 level (X=2.7526). These data show that us ing proportions (%) alone provides an incomplete picture of the suicide problem, especially from a compara tive perspective. Rate is a better ba rometer of suicidal behaviour. While data (2018-2021) on suicide attempts are grossly under-reported partly because of constraints imposed by COVID-19, whatever exists reinforc es the historical trend in few areas, such as gender disparity, ethnic pro portion, and youthful age; but the re ports are devoid of other important analytic information, such as region al distribution, and methods used.

The suicide problem is much deep er than what is usually portrayed in reports on suicides. Suicidal ideation, a process by which persons develop and harbour suicidal thoughts either actively or passively, is a major grow ing concern. Active ideation could re sult in suicide or suicide attempts, while passive ideation remains at the thought level.

A report by Charlotte Shaw et al indicates that suicidal ideation is more pronounced in females than in males. While data on suicide at tempts and suicidal ideation could lead to analytic refinement, what ap peals most to people are not abstract data, but the real-life stories of sui

cide victims, and how families and communities are impacted.

The gruesome murder-suicide in a village on the East Coast of Demerara and another brutal mur der-suicide on the Essequibo Coast have rocked their villages as well as the country. Several months before, a University Lecturer died by suicide. These and other suicide stories point to the nagging underlying conditions, like marital conflicts, family/domes tic problems, infidelity, hopelessness, depression, loss of status, that result in suicidal behaviour.

Studies on suicide show that pro portionately (i) more Indo-Guyanese (80%) die of suicide than any other ethnic group; (ii) the youthful pop ulation are at greater risk of sui cide than the older folks; (iii) males have a higher rate than females; (iv) more suicides occur in rural areas; (v) a higher proportion of Hindus die of suicides compared with other reli gious groups: of the 101 suicide cas es in which religious affiliation was identified, Kay Shako reports that Hindus comprised 49.5%, Muslims 8.9%, Christians 35.6%, and Others 5.9%. (The Hindu rate of 23.9 per 100,000 was 1.4 times higher than the Muslim rate of 17 per 100,000 and 1.5 times higher than the Christian rate of 15.5 per 100,000); (vi) poison ing and hanging were the most com mon methods used in the suicidal act.

Data on suicide for 2017-2021 as well as on suicide attempts alter the conventional profile of suicides among Guyanese. The national pro portion of Indo-Guyanese that died of suicide fluctuated from 65.2% in 2018 to 50.7% in 2019, to 63.9% in 2020 and to 73.1% in 2021. There have been significant changes in age struc ture of persons of all ethnic groups who died of suicide.

In observance of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, First Lady Arya Ali hosted a tree-wrapping exercise in the avenue along Main Street, Georgetown. The exercise was done in partnership with Impressions Branding and the Guyana Cancer Foundation. In photo, the First Lady watches as her son, Zayd Ali and a little girl cheerfully paste one of the posters (Office of the First Lady photo)

From dictatorship to democracy

Dear Editor, Monday, October 5, 1992 is a day to remember in Guyana, and by Guyanese wherever they live. It marked the return to democracy af ter nearly three decades of dictatorial rule by the People’s National Congress. It marked the first free and fair elections since 1964. It marked the return of the People’s Progressive Party to Government. It marked the return of progress and prosperity to a land defined by acute sufferings, hard ships, poverty and hunger for 28 years. And, above all, it marked the return of dignity and self-respect to Guyanese, who were tired of escaping to all parts of the globe in an effort to earn three square meals.

On that day, the PPP end ed 28 years of PNC dictator ship. It was the first free and fair elections since 1964. The People's Progressive Party ended the People's National

Congress's 28-year rule, win ning 28 of the 53 seats in the National Assembly, and 53.5% of the votes cast. The PNC managed just 42.31%.

I will give just one exam ple of the shameless and bla tant rigging which took place in the past. When the results of the 1985 Elections were announced, the PNC, un der the late Hugh Desmond Hoyte, gave the PNC a land slide victory with 228,718 votes, or 77.6 percent of the votes cast. The PPP was giv en 45,926 votes or 15.6%. Thus, the PNC rigged itself to 42 seats, gave the PPP 8 seats, the UF 2 seats, and the WPA 1 seat in the National Assembly.

This was the worst rigged Election in Guyana. Similar riggings took place in 1968, 1973, and 1980, but what was crystal clear was that the rig ging became increasingly worse. In 1968, the PNC had 55.8%; in 1973, it was 70.1%; in 1980, it was 77.6%; and in

1985, it was 78.5% of the to tal votes cast.

It defies logic and imag ination that, having ‘won’ 78.5% in 1985, the PNC’s votes fell to 42.3% in 1992. It’s quite remarkable that its support fell by 36.2% a mere 6 years later.

What more proof is need ed to prove PNC’s massive rigging?

However, the PPP wast ed no time in rebuilding the country, and, in 23 years, Guyana moved rapidly from a low income and highly in debted country to a mid dle-income developing coun try.

Unfortunately, in 2015, when the Coalition deceived some Guyanese with false promises and managed a oneseat majority, Guyana once again rapidly descended into bankruptcy, and a budding dictatorship began to emerge, not unlike the old PNC.

However, the PPP nev er balked in its fight against

Data on suicide tells only a

2018, the age group 79+ had the highest rate (40.84 per 100,000). In 2019, the 65-69 age group had the highest rate (57.82 per 100,000). In 2020, the age group 70+ had the high est rate (44.93 per 100,000): and in 2021, the age group 65-69 had the highest rate (43.37 per 100,000).

The suicide hotspots have been thought of as being Regions 2 and 6, but Region 5 had sur passed them in suicide rate in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. Also, the meth ods used in suicides and attempted suicides are changing. In 2010, 28% of Afro-Guyanese (suicides and suicide attempts) used kerosene, compared with 6.3% for Indo-Guyanese.

In 2011, the proportion of Afro-Guyanese that used kerosene was 29.9% com pared with 7.1% for IndoGuyanese. Malathion, a common method in the 2000s, has given way to Gramoxone, carbon tablets, other toxins, and hanging. At an annual average (2017 and 2021), the proportion

of persons that died of sui cide from poison was 55%, while the annual average proportion for hanging for the same period was 37.7%.

Isolation, genetic, poor health, over-regulation, hopelessness, faulty social isation, and depression are some of the underlying rea sons for ‘suicides,’ ‘suicide attempts’ and ‘suicidal ide ation.’ However, analysis of case studies shows that just one component (such as rejection, alcohol/ drugs, witchcraft/obeah, shaming, poor health, hopelessness, and depression) could trig ger the suicidal behaviour.

A comparative study of suicidal behaviour with Trinidad & Tobago (T&T) could generate insight ful explanations on causes or correlations. Although T&T and Guyana have a similar demographic struc ture and a common his tory, the existing suicide rate (18.34 per 100,000) of Guyana is 2 times higher than that of TT (9.12 per 100,000). Is the differential level of modernisation be tween the two countries an

important variable in sui cidal behaviour?

The long-term study by Columbia University is ex pected to determine the magnitude, pattern, caus es, intervention techniques and preventive measures relative to the suicide prob lem. The new National Suicide Prevention Strategy (2020-2015) and the National Mental Health Action Plan (20202025) are likely to include the Gatekeepers, the Safety

the PNC, but this time Dr Jagdeo, as the new Leader of the Opposition, managed to do the impossible in just 5 years, after 5 months of in tense struggle against the most blatant attempted rig ging by the PNC and its ally, the AFC. Ironically it was the same leaders of the AFC, Khemraj Ramjattan and Moses Nagamootoo, who fought against the PNC rig gings from 1968 to 1985.

March 2nd, 2020 and the 5-month aftermath will also go down in Guyanese history as a period when it was pow er at all and any cost, with no consideration that the entire world was looking on.

Guyanese owe an eternal debt of gratitude to the lead ers of the PPP, past and pres ent, and the indefatigable freedom lovers who relent lessly fought the PNC behe moth and its later hybrid (the Coalition) and ensured that our democracy prevailed. It was a long and hard battle,

which began with Dr Cheddi Jagan in British Guiana fighting against the colonial masters, then the PNC dic tatorship, and then the PNC hybrid.

In closing, I must pay tribute to an Iron Lady who fought for and helped win our democracy and free dom. Mrs Philomena Sahoye-

Shury, aptly nicknamed ‘the Fireball’, has earned her place in the annals alongside the freedom fighters of the world. What we are enjoying and what the future genera tions will enjoy is as a result of unselfish people like her.

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf

What issue could have evoked such a deadly response?

Dear Editor, The attack on the GTI stu dent was brutal and swift, and the intended outcome was seemingly deadly. A young life has been senselessly snuffed out.

One wonders what issue, related or unrelated to the de ceased, could have evoked such a strong and nasty response?

Law enforcement, it is not ed, is allegedly on the hunt for one of the perpetrators of this heinous crime. It is hoped the family gets justice for their loved one. My condolenc es to the grieving family and friends.

(poison) Box programme, and a National Suicide Prevention Commission. The result of the Columbia University study could be incorporated into these health plans whenever this becomes available.

Suicidal behaviour de serves priority attention by the Government, and it should continue to engage the national consciousness.

Sincerely, Dr Tara Singh

Sincerely, Shamshun Mohamed

Page

Triangles cont’d

CONTINUED FROM WEDNESDAY

INSECTS IN ACTION

By The BroThers Grimm

How Partlet died and was buried, and how Chanticleer died

Claims & objections

Over 3000 new registrants, 18 objections recorded by GECOM

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has com pleted its Claims and Objections period, captur ing more than 3000 new applicants who will be el igible to vote by October 31, 2022, as well as a total of 18 objections to names on the Preliminary List of Electors (PLE).

In an interview with Guyana Times on Wednesday, GECOM Public Relations Officer Yolanda Ward gave up dated statistics on claims and objections. There were some 3000 new applicants who were registered and in excess of 1800 requests for transfers.

“For new registration we were able to register ap proximately 3011 persons. These are new applicants, who were eligible electors, as in they will be 18 years and older by October 31, 2022. We had over 1800 re quests for transfers. These are persons who would have changed their ad dress. They moved from one location to the next. So, we would have had 1859 such applications.”

“And objections, we would have had 18 objec tions. During that period also, we facilitated change correction transactions and we would have had just about 1123 persons who requested such trans actions,” Ward said.

The GECOM PRO noted that all 18 objections went through hearings where evidence was presented and the objections upheld. These hearings, she said,

are in various stages of be ing completed.

“It’s mandatory… so af ter you make an objection, you have a period for hear ing where you must pro vide the authentic docu ments to prove your case. And based on that, the re spective officers make a determination in terms of whether they’re upheld or not.”

“The 18 that we’ve re ceived have been upheld or I think they’re still go ing through that process in terms of the hearing. They’ll finalise that. So, as it is, we’ll stick with the 18 objections that we re ceived,” she said.

She explained that claims came to an end on September 21, while objec tions ended on September 25. According to Ward, the exercise ran with little to no hiccups and the exten sions allowed for maxi mum participation of the

population.

At the time the claims and objections exercise had been extended, GECOM had explained that the de cision to do so by a week was for persons to have further opportunities to make changes to the vot ers’ list.

Those wishing to make a claim for inclusion on the Official List of Electors had until September 21, 2022 to do so. Meanwhile, those wishing to make an objection to someone on the voters’ list had until September 25.

“Further, objec tions against the inclu sion of names in the PLE can be tendered to the Registration Officer of the Registration Area. Objection(s) can be sub mitted by an Elector who is listed in the same Division list/Sub Division list in which the person being ob jected to is listed.

“Objections can also be made by approved Scrutineers of political parties, provided that any such Scrutineer has moni toring responsibilities for the Division/Sub Division in which the person being objected to is listed,” the elections body had further said, explaining that orig inal documents must be presented at the hearing,

to support the objection be ing made.

It is unclear exactly when Local Government Elections (LGE) will be held, although GECOM is looking at a workplan with a possible date of March 2023. GECOM had orig inally been working on holding LGE by this year end.

LGE, which are usu

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

“Satan” for trial over murder of Ann’s Grove teen

The trial of Alvin Reid, also called “Satan”, over the mur der of 14-year-old Malika Hamilton, is due to com mence next Tuesday be fore Justice Simone MorrisRamlall at the Demerara High Court.

Reid, 37, who has re tained defence coun sel Konyo SandifordHolder, was arraigned on Wednesday to answer the murder indictment pre sented against him by the State. He denied murdering Malika Hamilton between August 8 and 9, 2016.

The case for the pros ecution will be presented by State Counsels Simran Gajraj, Muntaz Ali and Taneisha Saygon.

Reid, of Nimrod Street, Ann’s Grove, East Coast Demerara (ECD), was com mitted to stand trial for the murder of the teen girl in 2018. However, in 2019, he was mistakenly released from prison while awaiting

trial, and was recaptured only on September 21, 2022.

It has been reported that Hamilton and Reid, who had been known to each other, had gone for a swim in the Hope Canal on the ECD on August 8, 2016, but she was never again seen alive. Her body was subse quently found by residents of the community floating in the canal several miles away from the Hope Canal

Bridge. Hamilton, of Two Sisters Village, ECD, had left home following an argument with her father over the tele phone, and had never re turned home.

Reid, who had managed to evade the Police after be ing identified as a suspect in her murder, was eventu ally found hiding in a bar rel in the Ann’s Grove cem etery a few days later. (G1)

GECOM PRO, Yolanda Ward

Dead: Malika Hamilton Murder accused Alvin Reid

Parika wife-killer to spend 10 more years in jail

woman was said to have suf fered abuse at the hands of Dhanraj for approximately 12 years.

Determined to end the reported verbal and phys ical abuse, Ram had left Dhanraj’s home with her three children four days pri or to her death, and had gone to live with her relatives in Parika.

On April 4, 2017, Dhanraj visited the home where Ram was staying, and demanded that she return home with him. She reportedly refused, and this angered him to the point where he allegedly physically assaulted her be fore leaving the premises.

Having been on re mand since April 11, 2017, awaiting trial for killing his reputed wife, 33-year-old Ganesh Dhanraj, called “Andre”, a farmer of Parika, East Bank Essequibo (EBE), will have to spend another 10 years and seven months in prison.

Initially indicted for the capital offence of murder committed on 29-year-old Dhanwantie Ram, Ganesh Dhanraj last month opted to plead guilty to the lesser

count of manslaughter, and the custodial sentence was handed down on Wednesday by Justice Jo-Ann Barlow at the Demerara High Court.

Ganesh Dhanraj has ad mitted to killing Dhanwantie Ram, his reputed wife and the mother of three, on April 5, 2017.

Dhanraj was represented by defence lawyer Ravindra Mohabir, while State Counsel Latifah Elliott appeared for the prosecution.

In calculating a sentence

for Dhanraj, the Judge com menced at a base of 24 years. Eight years of the base sen tence were deducted for the man's early guilty plea, and another five years, five months, and four days were deducted for time he spent in pre-trial custody, bringing his final sentence to 10 years and seven months.

This newspaper had previously reported that Dhanraj had strangled his reputed wife with a bed sheet at their Parika home. The

The following morning, the woman was on her way to report the assault to the Police station when Dhanraj reportedly intercepted and forced her into his vehicle, taking her to his home.

Neighbours heard her screams as the man assault ed her in his house, but upon entering the yard, they saw him running towards the Parika backdam. Ram’s life less body was subsequently found by her sister, in a sit ting position on a chair, with a sheet knotted around her neck. (G1)

Freedom…

…Day??

As you, dear reader, would know by now, when it comes to commemorative days, your Eyewitness mostly waits (lurks?) till the day has passed, to see how things went down with the rest of his countrymen, before putting in his two cents’ worth. Giving the citizenry “fair play”, so to speak!! Being such a great “influencer”, he wouldn’t want to change the flow of history, would he?!!

Now, having written the preceding sentence, he wonders, since he ain’t on social media, whether he can be described as an “influencer”!!

Anyhow, October 5th passed almost without comment!! Can you believe this?? That the PPP bigwigs passed up the opportunity to remind the PNC it was on that day in 1992 that democracy was returned to this great land of Guyana!! After 28 years of PNC dictatorship by Burnham and Hoyte, the people’s fundamental and inalienable right to choose their Government, which had been viciously and callously stolen, was then returned!?! Guyanese could now sing along in unison with Johnny Nash – “(We) can see clearly now the rain is gone…all the dark clouds have disappeared!!”

So, what happened to all the celebrations the PPP usually unfurled and unleashed?? It ain’t just about the past…surely, they could’ve connected Oct 5 to the PNC’s May 2020 attempt to return us to those dark days!! So, what’s really going on in the Government’s camp? Were they too worn out by their Cricket Carnival exertions?? Or…GASP!! – have they concluded that the PNC’s given up on their riggin’ ways - and it’s time for the PNC lion to lie down with the PPP lambs??!

Now, that might not be as farfetched as it sounds. Even though it might not be out of some epiphany the PNC leaders had on the way to Parliament Buildings - but more like pure laziness!! You can’t even get a purr from these PNC lions, much less roars - they seem lost, and it’s not because their leader was off to the US and Canada in Region 11. They’re just dazed that they’ve lost the opportunity to dip their hands in the cookie jar!! No longer can they put in plums and pull out diamond-encrusted gold bands!!

Anyhow, back to Oct 5 and its inauguration of “free and fair” elections. Surely, it couldn’t have escaped the attention of the powers-that-be that all this agitation by the PNC about “clean voters list”, elections petitions, biometrics, GECOM Chair etc simply mean that their leaders haven’t accepted that elections means that either party could lose? With them, they’ll settle for nothing less than controlling the Government – it’s a birthright thingy!!

And with their support in the Public Service, army and Police, that means having absolute power!! No democrats them!!

…from dear gasoline

And the heading certainly DOESN’T signal “affection” – but outrageous price gouging that constrains our recently acquired right to motorised transportation. A car in every driveway is now a birthright after our find of 11 billion barrels of oil under the Atlantic!! So, to bring the price – and availability - of the dear gasoline that it takes to move our now indispensable cars within our means, the Government just announced that they’ll allow the construction of a 30,000 barrel-per-day refinery. This will use our Atlantic oil to produce the 2600 barrels of gasoline we use daily – plus other products, like diesel.

Now, you may say that this is a free enterprise economy, so why wasn’t a refinery established before? And the answer, dear reader, is we’ve been trying to save the planet from climate change, and the Government hadn’t given permission for the refinery!! That’s right!! Now, can you see how ridiculous this is?? The US alone use 8.6 MILLION barrels of gasoline daily – and they ain’t cutting back!! Freedom of movement!!

…for Uigurs and Tibet

Nothing’s wrong with participating in the Chinese commemoration of the foundation of their state in 1949. But just as we criticise the US for its shortcomings in race relations, why are we quiet on the aspirations of Uigurs and Tibetans for autonomy??

Dead: Dhanwantie Ram

Wife-killer Ganesh Dhanraj

“Obsessed” ex-boyfriend brutally chops mother of 2

A31-year-old fa

ther went berserk on Sunday evening, chopping the mother of his two children in the face after she ended their recently-re newed relationship. The man then made good his escape.

In an interview with <<<Guyana Times>>> on Wednesday, 23-year-old Rezana Rahaman, a vendor at the Corriverton Municipal Market, said that she has two children with her ex-boy friend and they were togeth er for eight years, but sepa rated some two years ago.

She said although the man had moved on and was living with another woman, both she and he did not fully end things.

“It’s been two years now he has been living with some one else, but it’s been two months since I cut off from him and stopped talking to him, stop having any contact with him,” she said.

The woman said since she discontinued all communica tion with the man, he began stalking her and sending her various threats. On Sunday,

she said she was told that the man had been looking for her all day, but she paid no heed.

However, around 11:40h on Sunday, she went to a bar and was hanging out with friends when the man ap peared at the location. She said he told her that he had left his motorcycle at her house and he wanted to col

lect it.

“I went home and I didn’t see the motorcycle and after I did not see the motorcycle, I got into an argument with him and I told him that his motorcycle is not there and I don’t want him at my house; I can’t encourage him there and because of that, he start ed to pull a knife on me,” she explained.

Rahaman added that she was accused of having anoth er partner, but she did not respond to the allegations.

“I took out my phone to call the Police and he scram ble the phone from me and run away. I open the door to go to my next-door neigh bour, because my neighbour is the Police and he run in back upstairs and take a knife and push it between his two fingers and came and slashed me on my face and run to my brother’s bicycle and get away,” she said.

Rahaman said after she was chopped, she began bleeding profusely, and peo ple started coming to her rescue. She was taken to the Skeldon Public Hospital where she received 28 stitch es for the injuries. A report was subsequently made to the Springlands Police Station. Pictures seen by this publication of the wound re vealed that it was close to one inch in depth almost ex posing her cheekbones.

Since the incident, the woman has now moved to the courts to secure a re

straining order against the man, whom she claims is still stalking her.

On Wednesday, the wom an approached the Number 51 Magistrate’s Court to get a restraining order prevent ing the man from coming into contact with her two children .

The court has also issued an arrest warrant for the suspect whose address was given as Port Mourant.

Regional Commander Shivpersaud Bacchus said the Police were on the hunt for the suspect who remained in hiding.

Meanwhile, the woman said she was hoping that the man was arrested soon, since she was fearful for her life.

“I want to get justice and I want them to find him, because he is walking out there free and I have to make moves. I have to go to the hospital every day to get dressing and I have to go to the station, because I want something to come out of this story.”

“I can’t even sleep good in the night, because I don’t

know if he creasing [spying on]me. He can even come and kill me, because I don’t know when he got my face if he was aiming for my throat.

“The Magistrate sent out an arrest warrant for him and told me to return on November 7, and if they catch him before they would keep him in remand un til that date,” Rahaman de tailed.

Not true

Meanwhile, in a Facebook post on Wednesday, the sus pect claimed that all that Rahaman was saying was not true, and he wanted his side to be heard.

“Will talk my story later she lie ok. We went out and drink together and go home together, but her old man make her pushing things on me.

Me will never do that to her: she have kids for me but will talk about everything before coming suicide or get jail,” the post read.

Rahaman in response to the post said the man was fabricating stories to cover himself.

the night”

Rezana Rahaman

Gas-to-shore project

Govt pursuing consensual agreement with landowners

The Guyana Government contin ues to engage land owners in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), who will be re quired to give up their lands in order to facilitate the pipelines of the gas-toshore project, and accord ing to Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC, all efforts will be undertaken to ensure that consensual agreements are made with the residents.

This commitment fol lowed another meeting last weekend with a group of landowners, this time from along the West Bank of Demerara (WBD), to be gin negotiations. The meet ing was held at the Belle West Multi-Purpose Centre, WBD.

During his weekly pro gramme, Issues In The News, AG Nandlall on Tuesday evening posit ed that these negotiations would end in the consensual acquisition of the lands.

“As a Government, we pledge to ensure that we work with every single land owner to arrive at a con sensual position: respecting their proprietary interest, respecting the value for their land, ensuring that they are adequately and properly compensated, and, most im portantly, ensure that we ar

rive at consensual positions, amicable resolutions as the State doesn't wish to exer cise its powers under the Doctrine of Eminent Domain and seize anybody's land us ing any form of force or ap propriating mechanisms.

“We prefer to separate every single citizen, work out an arrangement that they find acceptable – if they want money, they will get money; if they want alterna tive lands, they will get al ternative lands, so, we want to arrive at consensual posi tions,” he stressed.

It was for this reason, the Attorney General explained, that the law was changed to

make the State responsible and not investors for recov ering private lands from citi zens for developmental proj ects in the oil and gas sector.

“We felt that no investor would take the care that the Government would and no in vestor would exercise the pa tience that the Government would in ensuring that these people’s rights are respect ed and to ensure that we ar rive at amicable resolutions in relation to these transac tions. The Government took on that power legally and is discharging that power, and I dare say, is discharg ing it well, and to the satis faction, most importantly,

of the persons whose propri etary interests are affected,” Nandlall noted.

The path that has to be cleared for the pipelines is in the vicinity of Nouvelle Flanders, West Coast Demerara, to Wales, WBD.

Already, Government has met with the West Coast landowners and a team of lawyers was put together to negotiate with each proper ty owner or their legal repre sentative to reach an agree ment.

The gas-to-shore proj ect, which is pegged at more than US$1 billion, will fea ture approximately 220 ki lometres of a subsea pipe

line offshore from the Liza Destiny and Liza Unity Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) ves sels in the Stabroek Block to onshore.

Upon landing on the West Coast Demerara shore, the pipeline will continue for approximately 25 kilo metres to the Natural Gas Liquid (NGL) plant to be constructed at Wales. The pipeline would be 12 inches in diameter and is expected to transport some 50 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of dry gas to the NGL Plant, but has the ca pacity to push as much 120 mmscfd.

The main feature of the gas-to-shore initiative is a power plant that will gen erate 250 to 300 megawatts of power using natural gas from offshore, which will sig nificantly reduce the cost of electricity in Guyana.

The aim is to deliver rich gas by the end of 2024 for the power plant while the NGL facility is slated to be online by 2025.

The gas-to-shore project, which has a 25-year lifes pan, is expected to employ up to 800 workers during the peak construction stage, as well as some 40 full-time workers during the opera tions stage, and another 50 workers during the decom

missioning stage.

According to AG Nandlall, this billion-dollar project is transformation al not only for Guyana but the Caribbean and Latin American region as well.

“This is, by no means or measure, a small project. This is one of the largest un dertakings to be executed in the Caribbean region, one of the largest investments in decades to be executed in the Caribbean region. And there fore, that is why we have to ensure that nothing stands in the way of this project. The investors are investing billions of dollars here and the Government has to work with the investor to ensure that the project becomes a reality, and who will benefit the most from the project –the ordinary Guyanese. It is intended to reduce the cost of energy, the cost of cooking gas, the cost of natural gas to a fraction of what it current ly is,” Nandlall said.

Currently, Guyana, Suriname, and Brazil are in talks on the establishment of an energy corridor and unlocking the potential for a series of manufacturing and industrial developments. Other Caribbean nations, such as Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados, are also look ing to tap into this initiative.

(G8)

AG Anil Nandlall, SC, and Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat along with other officials over the weekend engaged WBD residents who will be affected by the gas-to-shore project

48 of 328 matters disposed of at June Demerara Criminal Assizes

The June Demerara

Criminal Assizes com menced on the sev enth day of that month with a total of 328 cases listed to be heard. Of those cases, only 48 were completed – 29 of them were presented at the Demerara High Court while the other 19 were noll prosequi by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

This is according to a report from the DPP’s Chambers.

During the June Criminal Assizes, Justices Priya Sewnarine-Beharry, Jo-Ann Barlow, Simone Morris-Ramlall and Sandil Kissoon sat.

Of the 29 cases present ed, 16 were for the offence of murder, 12 were for sexual offences, and one was for the offence of attempt to commit murder.

A total of 34 persons ap peared in those 29 cases.

ln three of the cases, two accused were indicted to gether, while, in one other case, there were three ac cused indicted together.

There were 12 guilty pleas, nine convictions, six not guilty verdicts by jury, three formal verdicts of not guilty, one discharged mat ter, and a quashed indict ment.

State Counsel Cecilia Corbin, State Counsel Caressa Henry, and State

Counsel Paneeta Persaud presented 12 matters in the Sexual Offences Court before Justices Sewnarine-Beharry and Morris-Ramlall.

In six of those, the ac cused were all found guilty by jury verdicts; one of them was given two life sentenc es for rape and robbery-un der-arms.

Another person, who was charged with two counts of sexual activity with a child family member, was sen tenced to a total of 32 years in prison. One other, who was indicted on three counts of rape of a child under 16 years, was sentenced to a total of 45 years’ imprison ment. Their respective sen tences are to run concur rently.

Another convict was jailed for 16 years, while two others are awaiting sentenc ing.

In the other five matters, two accused entered guilty

pleas and were respectively sentenced to nine years’ im prisonment and three years and four months’ imprison ment. In another two mat ters, both accused were ac quitted by jury verdicts of not guilty.

Two of the virtual com plainants in the sexual of fences matters testified in open court that they did not wish to testify against the accused, resulting in the tri al Judge directing the jury to return formal verdicts of not guilty.

Meanwhile, Senior State Counsel Lisa Cave, State Counsel Latiffa Elliot, State Counsel Marissa Edwards and State Counsel Simran Gajraj completed seven mat ters — five for the offence of murder, and one each for the offence of attempt to commit murder and manslaughter.

These matters were heard by Justice Barlow.

In one of those cases, the

accused pleaded guilty as charged and was sentenced to life imprisonment. In an other matter with three ac cused indicted together, the jury returned a majori ty verdict in a proportion of 10 guilty to two not guilty for the numbers one and two accused. They were re spectively sentenced to four years, five months, and four days in jail. The number three accused was acquitted by the jury.

In one other matter, the accused pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of man slaughter and was sen tenced to four years’ impris onment after the court made deductions for time he had spent on remand and for his early guilty plea.

In the other three cases, the accused were all acquit ted by jury verdicts of not guilty.

In the one matter for the offence of attempt to commit murder, the accused plead ed guilty, and is awaiting sentencing, which has been fixed for October 25.

In addition, State Counsel Muntaz Ali and State Counsel Taneisha Saygon presented 10 mat ters for the offence of mur der before Justice Kissoon.

The accused in one of those matters was sentenced to death after the jury re turned a unanimous verdict

of guilty. In three other sep arate cases with a total of six accused, they all pleaded guilty. One of them plead ed guilty to murder and was sentenced to life imprison ment. The other five persons pleaded guilty to the less er offence of manslaughter. While one of them was sen tenced to life imprisonment, three were each sentenced to 10 years in prison, and the other to 12 years and 10 months’ imprisonment.

In another two matters, both accused also pleaded guilty and are awaiting sen tencing. In another case, the trial Judge upheld a no-case submission and directed the jury to return a formal ver dict of not guilty.

And in two extraordi

nary cases, the trial Judge discharged one accused and stayed all criminal proceed ings arising from the mat ter. In the other matter, Justice Kissoon changed the accused’s guilty plea to not guilty and quashed the in dictment and committal.

One matter is ongoing.

In the 19 matters nol le prosequi by the DPP, 17 were for sexual offences, one for robbery-under-arms/re ceiving stolen property, and one for attempt to commit murder/ felonious wound ing.

The virtual complain ants in these matters sub mitted written statements that they did not wish to proceed with their matters. (G1)

Guyana-Venezuela border controversy

Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs reaffirms US support for a peaceful resolution

Inlight of Venezuela re newing its spurious claims over Guyana’s territory amid the matter currently be fore the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United States has reiterated its sup port for a peaceful resolution of the border controversy.

This statement was made by US Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Ambassador Brian A. Nichols. In a post on his official Twitter platform on Tuesday, the State Department offi cial reaffirmed his country’s support for a peaceful reso lution between Guyana and Venezuela.

“The 1899 arbitral award determined the land bound ary between Guyana and Venezuela and should be re spected unless or until oth erwise determined by a com petent legal body. The US supports a peaceful resolu tion to this issue,” the tweet from Ambassador Nichols stated.

His support comes two days after Guyana Government also reiterated its commit ment to peaceful resolution of the controversy.

President Dr Irfaan Ali’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) last month had apparently ruffled feathers in Venezuela. In his address at the 6th UN plenary session, the Guyanese Leader had made reference to the border con troversy with Venezuela. At the time, President Ali quot ed UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres when he said that they were “commit ted to make the most of every diplomatic tool for the pacif ic settlement of disputes, as set out in the Charter of the United Nations.

“Those tools include ne gotiation, enquiry, media tion, conciliation, arbitra tion and judicial settlement – relevant tools in the mat ter of Guyana’s sovereign ty and territorial integrity –challenged and threatened by Venezuela.

“In this case, ‘judicial set tlement’ as determined by the Secretary General him self. The world’s nations can be assured that Guyana shall remain true to those peace ful processes, and deny every effort to depart from them.

The International Court of Justice has already affirmed its jurisdiction in the matter,” President Ali had informed the General Assembly.

However, those words seem to have caused some unease in Caracas, and the Spanish-speaking repub lic issued a statement on September 30 in which it re peated many of their spuri ous claims regarding the bor

der controversy.

In response last week end, Guyana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stood behind President Ali’s words. The Ministry also held up the words of the UN Secretary General, and pointed out that the judicial settlement route to settle the controversy was determined by the Secretary General himself.

“The world’s nations can be assured that Guyana shall remain true to those peaceful processes, and deny every ef fort to depart from them. The International Court of Justice has already affirmed its ju risdiction in the matter,” the Ministry had said.

Campaign

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, there was a widespread campaign on social media, with many Government officials and other stakeholders sharing a map of Guyana to declare

that everything within the country’s border is “we own”.

Venezuela is laying claims to more than two-thirds of Guyana’s landmass, which is in Essequibo, and a portion of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), in which almost 11 bil lion barrels of oil have been discovered over the past sev en years and oil production activities are ongoing.

Guyana approached the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2018, seeking a fi nal and binding judgement to reinforce that the 1899 Arbitral Award remains valid and binding on all parties, as well as legal affirmation that Guyana’s Essequibo region, which contains much of the country’s natural resources, belongs to Guyana, and not Venezuela.

Guyana moved to the World Court after exhaust ing all means of negotiation with Venezuela and the failed Good Offices Process between the two South American neighbours. The Spanish-

speaking nation had initially refused to participate in the proceedings, and had even challenged the court’s juris diction to hear the matter.

But in December 2020, the ICJ established that it has jurisdiction to hear the sub stantive case – something which Venezuela did not ac cept.

Back in March of this year, Guyana submitted its written arguments for its me morial to the ICJ, which was a requirement by the court following its December 18, 2020 decision that it had the jurisdiction to hear the case against Venezuela.

Venezuela has since filed an objection, which, accord ing to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, is nothing more than a bid to delay the sub stantive hearing of the 1899 Arbitral award case before the ICJ, after refusing to join the proceedings since 2018.

Various countries and or ganisations have already

thrown their support behind the judicial settlement of the case. In March, the United States (US) had expressed support for Guyana’s territo rial border controversy case, and its stance was reiterated during a meeting between US Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) for Caribbean Affairs and Haiti, Barbara A Feinstein, and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo.

The Caribbean Community (Caricom) has also reaffirmed support for Guyana in its border contro versy with Venezuela, urg ing the Spanish-speaking country to participate in the judicial process before the ICJ.Support also came in June of this year from the Commonwealth.

In a major decision com ing out of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2022 in Kigali, Rwanda, the Commonwealth Heads all threw their support behind the judicial process. (G8)

US Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Ambassador Brian Nichols

Guyana Basin Summit

Industry leader touts benefits of countries collaborating on energy corridor

Collaboration between countries on an en ergy pathway could maximise the benefits of nat ural gas for producers. This is according to International Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP) Executive Director Iman Hill.

The IOGP Executive Director was at the time speaking at the Guyana Basin Summit being held at the Pegasus Hotel. Hill not ed that the possibilities of a bloc of countries shaping their energy policies as a col lective are endless.

“In the Americas, each country has its own strat egies for gas as it does for emissions and carbon cap ture and storage. So, it’s a long way from an integrated energy pathway. Currently, the approach is based on lo cal level policy. Just imagine another energy bloc of coun tries that can shape their economic development col lectively.”

According to Hill, carbon mitigation should be a con sideration in any investment decision to explore for oil, as it was in the Stabroek block, when it was agreed that ExxonMobil would make gas available for Guyana’s Gasto-Shore project. The indus try leader explained that en ergy security would hinge on attracting investments, and according to her, part of that would relate to incentives.

“To build resilient eco-systems of any kind, there needs to be collabora tion. We should strive to cre ate a new normal, where in creasingly we only explore and produce new oil and gas, where we assess every op portunity to attach an inte grated carbon solution to it. Whether that’s carbon cap ture and storage, hydrogen,

or some other meaningful option,” she said.

“If you construct a com petitive tax regime with sup porting regulatory frame work, you’ll set yourself on a strong path, developing a strong industry that will not only drive your region’s so cio-economic development, but will also lead to secur ing energy independence. Energy security has certain ly shot up the priority list of all Governments,” Hill add ed.

Guyana is currently in talks with a number of coun tries on an energy corridor, with a regional energy strat egy being crafted. The coun tries expected to partici pate in that strategy include Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), Brazil, and even Barbados, which has natural gas potential.

Ahead of a state visit to T&T in August, President Dr. Irfaan Ali had told re porters that he would be having extensive discus sions with Trinidad Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to advance bilateral relations in a number of areas, includ ing in the energy sector.

“The Prime Minister and I, in our discussions

“As you know, Trinidad has some ideas in relation to the gas with Guyana and Suriname, and they want ed to be part of the discus sion in terms of building up of this [energy] corridor,

and how what they’re doing also can be integrated into what Guyana and Suriname can do, so we can have a broad development concept in terms of the gas strategy for the region,” President Ali had also stated.

…says carbon mitigation should be a factor in new exploration activities [prior] discussed this, and the Prime Minister has ex pressed Trinidad willing ness to work with Guyana and Suriname in the devel opment of our gas resource, and look at other opportuni ties in the energy sector. So that has been communicat ed,” President Ali had said.

The first time President Ali spoke of Trinidad’s in terest in the energy corridor initiative was back in June at the Suriname Energy, Oil & Gas Summit & Exhibition, when he had disclosed that a regional energy strategy that would connect the oil

and natural gas producers in the region is being crafted.

At the time, the Guyanese Leader had said that while Guyana, Suriname and Brazil had already start ed talks on combining their abilities to create an energy corridor and unlock the po tential for a series of manu facturing and industrial de velopments, Trinidad is also interested in working along with them in unlocking some of this potential.

There has been talk of an energy corridor for

some time, with the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) conducting both baseline and pre-feasibili ty studies. Guyana is in fact a party to a Memorandum of Understanding on the Northern Arc (Arco Norte) Interconnection Project which seeks to evaluate the feasibility of a possible col laboration on the energy transmission system for the electric interconnection of Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and the northern cit ies of Brazil. (G3)

Quindon Bacchus’s murder PI to commence on Valentine’s Day next year

The Preliminary Inquiry (PI) into the murder charge against Police Lance Corporal Kristoff De Nobrega for the death of Quindon Bacchus will com mence on February 14, 2023, and continue the following day. The accused, 22, is be ing represented by Attorneyat-Law Bernard Da Silva.

Magistrate Fabayo Azore will preside over the proceed ings at the Cove and John Magistrate’s Court. Bacchus, 23, a father of one, of Golden Grove, East Coast Demerara (ECD), was fatally shot to the body several times during a Police sting operation on June 10, last.

It was reported that on the day in question, ranks were conducting an intelli gence-led operation in the Haslington New Scheme, ECD after receiving some in formation earlier in the day.

The ranks went to Bacchus’s home, where he was seen with a firearm in his possession.

He had reportedly in tended to sell the illegal fire arm to the ranks. The plain clothes rank, De Nobrega, who was armed, made ar rangements to purchase the firearm from Bacchus.

In the process of handing over the firearm to the rank, an alarm was raised and Bacchus reportedly ran away from the ranks. A chase en sued during which Bacchus reportedly shot at the ranks,

who returned fire, shooting him several times about his body.

Police said that Bacchus was picked up in a conscious state and escorted to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, where he was seen and examined, but sub sequently died.

Police Headquarters had said that a .380 pistol with a magazine that contained one round and a .380 spent shell and two 9mm spent shells were re covered at the scene.

The incident was in vestigated by the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) which had recommend ed that the Police rank and two of his colleagues be charged, a decision that was endorsed by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack, SC.

Meanwhile, Lance Corporal Thurston Simon and Sergeant Dameion Mc Lennon were charged with attempting to obstruct the

course of justice for alleged ly giving false information to investigators.

Sergeant Mc Lennon, 35, of Lot 175 ‘B’ Field, South Sophia, Greater Georgetown, who was initially remand ed to prison by a Magistrate, was in August, granted $250,000 bail by a Judge.

It is unclear whether Lance Corporal Simon, 24, of Bareroot, ECD was admitted to bail.

Dead: Quindon Bacchus

Murder accused: Lance Corporal Kristoff De Nobrega

IOGP Executive Director, Iman Hill

CANU finds over 9lbs cocaine during raids

Five men are cur rently in custody of the Customs AntiNarcotics Unit (CANU) af ter its ranks discovered some 4.33 kilograms (9.5 pounds) of cocaine in three separate operations on Tuesday.

In the first instance, CANU officers conducted an operation at Bagotstown Public Road, East Bank Demerara, where they in tercepted a white motor car bearing licence plate number HD 1446.

A subsequent search of the vehicle was conducted

in the presence of the two occupants, which led to the discovery of two brick-like parcels – suspected to be cocaine.

The occupants – 34-yearold Latchram Parmesh of Lot 1775 Zeelugt, East Bank Essequibo (EBE) and 56-year-old Mohamed Yusuf Persaud of Lot 1088 Tuschen New Housing Scheme, EBE – were ar rested and escorted to CANU headquarters.

The suspected narcotic tested positive for cocaine and had a total weight of 2.14 kilograms, with a

street value of approxi mately $2.1 million.

Meanwhile, on the same day at Goed Fortuin Public Road, West Bank Demerara (WBD), CANU ranks also intercepted a motor van, GAC 8942, and subsequently carried out a search. This search also led to the discovery of two brick-like parcels of sus pected cocaine.

The two occupants in that vehicle – 51-year-old William Mittelholzer of Lot 179 Republic Gardens, Georgetown and 42-yearold Anthony Cadogan of

Guyanese urged to pursue careers in hydrometeorology

As Guyana contin ues to strengthen its weather and cli mate services, more per sons are being encouraged to join the hydrometeoro logical field.

Chief Hydromet Officer, Dr Garvin Cummings said that it was a rewarding profession, especially now as the agency embarks on a number of technological ad vances.

The Hydrometeorological Office in Guyana is celebrat ing 57 years of operations and according to the Chief Hydromet Officer, more persons should pursue ca reers in this field.

“It is to bring aware ness to the young people, especially in this time of climate change and cli mate variability. It is re ally to make young people aware of the impact of cli mate change and what ac tions they should take to reduce the impact of cli mate change.

“So, a career in hydro meteorology is to real ly bring awareness to the young people in Guyana. So, as we move forward as a nation, we want to make sure that our young people are educated and informed on climate and climate sci ence,” he said.

Dr Cummings added that hydrometeorology –which encompasses meteo rology, hydrology, and cli mate sciences – impacts many lives and with more

hands, it would make a sig nificant difference.

“Having a career in hy drometeorology really al lows you to make a contri bution to the global trust, to ensure that our country, our nations are resilient. We are very equipped and we can adapt to climate change…even though it is a small field, it is a way to make a contribution to the entire world,” he said.

He said specifically in Guyana they were seeing a shortage in the workforce and would love for those positions to be filled.

“We have a lot of vacan cies in Hydromet at all lev els; at the entry levels if you have your sciences at CSEC, you have a universi ty degree in Mathematics, physics, chemistry, envi ronmental studies, engi neering, Hydromet have a place for you,” the Chief Hydromet Officer said .

Additionally, he encour

aged more women to join this field.

“Hydrometeorology is everybody’s science, it af fects everybody. I also think it is one of those de partments where we have more females than men. Women are equally bril liant as men, and I believe that hydrometeorology can sometimes sound com plicated, but women are equally capable of work ing in this field and we wel come them,” Dr Cummings said.

The Hydrometeorological Service’s general respon sibility is to monitor and evaluate the weather and water resources in Guyana and to actively support the Government in disas ter risk management and aeronautical, water, agri culture, engineering, and other agencies for the so cio-economic development of the country. (G9)

Lot 84 Adelaide Street, Charlestown, Georgetown – were arrested and escort ed to CANU headquarters along with the suspected cocaine.

The substance tested positive for cocaine and weighed 2.174 kilograms, with a street value of ap proximately $2.2 million.

Also on Tuesday, an other group of CANU of ficers intercepted a mo tor car bearing licence plate number PXX 3869, on the Goedverwagting Public Road, East Coast Demerara (ECD).

A search of the vehicle was carried out, but noth ing was found. However, a subsequent search con ducted on the driver, who was the lone occupant of the vehicle, unearthed a quantity of suspected co caine hidden in his pants crotch.

The suspect, 63-yearold Roy Thomas of Lot 188 Atlantic Ville, ECD, was arrested and escorted to CANU headquarters, along with the suspected nar cotic, which subsequently tested positive for cocaine.

It had a total weight of 16.8 grams.

CANU said investiga tions were ongoing in all three matters as the five suspects remain in custo dy.

In its Second Quarter Report for 2022, the AntiNarcotics Unit revealed back in August that there was a reduction in narcot ics seizures during the re porting period this year compared to last year.

Between April and June, a total of 201.738 kilograms of narcotics was seized.

Cannabis continues to be the most-frequent ly seized drug and in the

largest quantity with a to tal of 161.21kg netted by the Unit within the three months, followed by cocaine of which some 40.37kg was seized and ecstasy of which approximately 0.15 grams was seized.

According to the re port, these narcotics seized between April and June amounted to approximate ly $206 million worth of il licit drugs taken off the streets.

Back in April, CANU had destroyed over 1500kg (almost 3400 lbs) of canna bis valued over US$2 mil lion that were seized in the previous year. (G8)

Chief Hydromet Officer, Dr Garvin Cummings

GRA slaps 10 charges on Ramps Logistics for false declarations

The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) on Wednesday institut ed 10 charges against Ramps Logistics (Guyana) Inc over al leged false declarations made.

According to the GRA, these charges, which are in accordance with the provi sions of the Customs Act. Chapter 82:01, stemmed from a recently complet ed investigation carried out by its Law Enforcement and Investigations Division.

“The investigation deter mined (among other things) that during the period of 2021 to 2022, the said Company made several untrue dec larations to the Revenue Authority,” GRA has said. The 10 charges were filed in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

As it continues to operate in accordance with its man date, thereby allowing for a ‘level playing field’ for legiti mate businesses and for the collection of revenue, GRA is encouraging individuals and companies involved in any such illicit activity to cease and desist therefrom, and bring their businesses into compliance with the nation’s tax, trade and border laws.

This is not the first run-in Ramps Logistics, a Trinidadbased company, has had with the Revenue Authority. It was revealed in June this year that the company was fined $20 million by GRA for violat ing local customs laws.

Ramps acts as the agent of motor vessel Seacor Mixteca,

and has failed to report the vessel departing Guyana, which is in violation of the Customs Act, hence the fine was paid in lieu of court pro ceedings being instituted against the company by the GRA.

Meanwhile, these 10 charges against Ramps Logistics, which has been pro viding freight forwarding and supply chain management services in Guyana since 2013, come days after the compa ny moved to the High Court over its application for Local Content certification.

Back in June, the company had requested answers from the Local Content Secretariat after its Certificate – one of the requirements of the Local Content Act that was passed last December – was denied. The following month, Ramps resubmitted its documents to the Secretariat for approval in hope of being allowed to con tinue offering support services to the local oil and gas sector.

Respects local laws, operates with high integrity

In a statement on Wednesday, Ramps Logistics noted that the charges were filed by GRA just five days pri or to the company filing an ap plication for Judicial Review against the Local Content Secretariat regarding its cer tification.

Nevertheless, the com pany pointed out that the charges would be reviewed and responded to by its law yers through the court system.

The company went on to outline that on July 12, GRA wrote, informing Ramps of an investigation into alleged false declarations. In response on July 25, Ramps, through its lawyers, wrote the GRA, ex plaining why the allegations had no basis in law and clear ly outlining the sections of the Guyana Customs Act that it relied on to form this opinion.

According to Ramps, eight weeks later, September 29,

GRA responded to the compa ny but did not address any of the legal points raised by the company’s lawyers.

It was further pointed out by the company that it filed for Judicial Review against the Local Content Secretariat on September 30, and GRA dis closed on October 5 that it is filing charges against Ramps for false declarations.

“We have always respected the laws of every country we operate in, and have always been transparent in every thing we do. We will contin ue to operate with the highest levels of integrity. We contin ue to be committed to Guyana, and hope for a fair and speedy resolution of this situation,” Ramps Logistics contended.

Ramps Logistics Guyana had claimed that it followed all the requisite guidelines, but the Government had denied its Local Content Certificate, via an “automated” email, without any explanation.

The company said while it was not making any asser tions as to why it was denied entry into the Local Content Registry, this move would negatively affect the company and ultimately threaten the more-than 400 Guyanese em ployees’ livelihoods.

At a subsequent press conference, Ramps Logistics Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Shaun Rampersad relat ed that the company divest ed 51 per cent ownership

of its Guyana operations to Trinidad-based inves tor Deepak Lall, who has Guyanese parentage, to bring its operations in com pliance with the Local Content Laws.

Guyana’s Local Content Act defines a local compa ny as one incorporated un der the Companies Act, and is beneficially owned by Guyanese nationals.

Beneficial ownership is defined as owning 51 per cent of the company. Additionally, a local company is expected to have Guyanese in at least 75 per cent of executive and senior management posi tions, and at least 90 per cent in non-managerial and other positions.

Lall’s grandfather and fa ther are both Guyana-born, but migrated in 1961, and the family now operates one of the largest oil and gas

$1.4B enhancement project

companies in the Caribbean out of Trinidad. In fact, Lall’s grandfather was in the petroleum business in Guyana, operating a gas sta tion – Lall’s Esso Station in Vreed-en-Hoop, West Bank Demerara during the 1950s.

According to the CEO, Lall bought 51 per cent shares for $210 million, and the monies were earmarked for two major projects for the company – a new car go airline for additional air lift into and out of Guyana, and a new shipping line to move cargo among Guyana, Trinidad, and Suriname.

He noted that the com pany felt it was playing its part in bringing not just in vestments, but network and skills from the Guyanese Diaspora back into Guyana, in keeping with charges and pleas from President Dr Irfaan Ali. (G8)

Residents of the Georgetown ward of Albouystown who had built illegal structures on the Government reserve and were in the path of the Government’s $1.4 billion Enhancement Project along Independence Boulevard and Cemetery Road met with Public Works Minister Juan Edghill on Tuesday.

Those residents, whose names were previously re corded by the Ministry’s team on the ground, were invited to meet with the Minister, along with those who had ap plied for house lots the day af ter the Minister had met with them in the area.

“I counted how many apartments are there, includ ing the man that got the box ing gym. I [already] counted them. We have to be care ful and a little sensitive, [be cause] if we had allowed it, a few people wanted to take advantage of the situation, [and] it will not be allowed,” Minister Edghill has said, adding that his decisions are based on principle.

“This meeting is for the people who have not moved, and I would like to hear what are the reasons, what are the issues, and why you have not moved,” he told the residents.

Many of the residents re sponded that they had no where to go; however, the Minister advised that once

they were allocated land, based on what category they fell into income-wise, some assistance could be forthcom ing.

“I am laying down some clear principles: the land that you are dwelling on belongs to the state. It is Government reserve, whether you are here 30 years, 40 years, 50 years. Consult with any lawyer in the country, or you can take a firm of lawyers, nobody can get prescriptive rights on Government reserve, you can get prescriptive rights from your family land,” the Minister made clear.

“I am not offering any body no money, nothing as an inducement to move. Fair enough, the human factor is that people were living there because they did not have any land, nowhere to go. Now you apply for your place to move, and there are factors in

moving; and when that time comes and you have to move, I am not offering anybody inducement to move. But if there is assistance that is re quired, whether it is the truck or workmen to move the ma terial and be re-erected wher ever, we will try to see what can be accommodated.”

Multiple applications have already been submit ted to the Housing Ministry on behalf of the residents. Edghill has reiterated that the project will continue, and that there is no turning back.

“Nobody is stopping it. This is not about a group of people, this is about nation al development, and I made that very clear on the after noon we launched the 1.8-ki lometre project,” he has said.

Caption: Public Works Minister Juan Edghill meet ing with Albouystown resi dents on Tuesday

THERE IS NO TURNING BACK – Edghill to persons living on Abouystown reserves …as Govt seeks to regularise illegal structures

Public Works Minister, Juan Edghill meeting with Albouystown residents on Tuesday

Ramps Logistics Chief Executive Officer Shaun Rampersad

"Stray catchers" impound cattle despite revocation of licences by Home Affairs Ministry

after Police

ACorentyne cat tle farmer is seek ing the intervention of senior Government offi cials after his cattle were allegedly taken to a pound by persons who were previ ously licensed to impound stray animals.

A few months ago, Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn has announced that the Stray Catcher’s Unit was disbanded, noting that the unit faced a pletho ra of allegations relating to wrongdoings, and had

caused tremendous trouble.

However, on Tuesday, a group of persons who were attached to the unit on the Upper Corentyne, Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne) impounded twelve head of cattle be longing to a farmer.

Jagdesh Dinnauth of Number 56 Village, who has between 40 and 50 head of cattle, told this pub lication that on Tuesday he was grazing his cattle in the backlands at Number 57 Village, and had some

with him while 12 others were a short distance away.

“The front set was by the bridge, and some guys come and start to circle up the cow them. Another cat tle farmer come and tell me that some guys hold up my cows.”

Dinnauth said he con fronted the men, who told him they were taking the animals to the pound.

“I tell them that none of them planting rice here, and they say is ‘Black Boy’ pounding the cows, and I

tell them that ‘Black Boy’ not planting rice here.”

According to the cattle farmer, who also cultivates 70 acres of rice, the men tried to make a deal with him, suggesting that he gives them half of the mon ey which the pound would take and they will lose the animals.

The fee at the pound is $8000 per head of cattle im pounded, and an addition al fee is charged for each day the animal stays in the pound. That fee is charged

for feeding of the impound ed animals.

Dinnauth has said he did not strike a bargain, but allowed the animals to be taken away.

The Number 51 Police Station refused to accept the animals’ sighting pro visions in the law, which allows for anyone who had suffered as a result of ani mals that were not under control to get an officer of the law and estimate the damages, and then have the animal owner prosecuted.

The animals were tak en to the pound at Number 55 Village, which is owned and operated by the 52-74 Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC).

Dinnauth says the men are claiming the cattle was at ‘Black Boy’s farm, which is situated at Number Naught Village.

“To get from Number Naught, you have to jump six trenches, and none of the cow foot get mud and all the trenches the water dry out and is sheer mud. Is since this morning I with my cows,” he said he related to the ‘cow catchers’.

Dinnauth said he

contacted Region Six Chairman David Armogan after the animals were tak en to the NDC pound, and was advised to contact the Agriculture Minister. He said he was advised by the Minister to contact the Police, which he did.

Meanwhile, this publi cation understands that on Wednesday afternoon the NDC was advised by the Police to release the ani mals after meeting with the various parties. However, the NDC has not heeded the advice.

When contacted for a comment, Chairman of 52-74 NDC, Nandcham Gancham, said he was waiting at the NDC on Dinnauth to have the mat ter investigated. After be ing reminded that this pub lication was speaking to him on his home landline, Gancham said the animals will be released after an in vestigation.

Dinnauth, who had gone to the NDC to meet the Chairman, who was not There, said he was told that the animals will only be re leased after the pound fees are paid. (G4)

Some

the

in the pound

Jagdish Dinnauth

Regional

Haiti faces a “cholera time bomb”, UN official warns

Surging violence and insecurity have turned Haiti into a “time bomb for cholera”, the UNICEF representative in the country told Al Jazeera, as aid groups and local au thorities ramp up their re sponse to an outbreak in Port-au-Prince.

In an interview on Wednesday, Bruno Maes said 1.2 million Haitian chil dren are threatened owing to the resurgence of the ill ness in the capital, where lo cal health authorities have reported dozens of suspected cases since the beginning of October.

“Many of the poor est Haitian families, they have no option but to drink and use unsafe water … Garbage is not collected in the streets. Hospitals are closed or unable to operate,” Maes said.

“All these ingredients have turned Haiti into a time bomb for cholera, and now it is exploding.”

Haiti’s Public Health and Population Ministry said on Wednesday that five

cholera cases had been con firmed between October 1 and October 4, along with one death at a health facil ity. It also reported 52 sus pected cases, of which 15 were among children aged four and under.

Maes said seven fatali ties were under investiga tion in various neighbour hoods of Port-au-Prince, including areas where wide spread violence and a lack of access to potable water and other services puts residents

at heightened risk.

“Access to basic, es sential care is lacking — crucially lacking — on a big proportion of the territory now of Port-au-Prince,” he added.

Haiti had last report ed a cholera case more than three years ago, after a 2010 outbreak linked to United Nations peacekeep ers caused approximate ly 10,000 deaths and more than 820,000 infections. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Classes suspended at San Juan North Secondary after falling concrete slab injures student

Venezuela's Opposition seeks US consultations on Chevron licence

Opposition Leader

Juan Guaidó asked the United States for de tails of Chevron Corp's ex panded license request to operate in the South American country, accord ing to a letter sent to a se nior U.S. official on Monday that also asked to be con sulted before any US deci sions.

Guaidó's team is con cerned an agreement be tween Chevron and Venezuela's State oil com pany PDVSA underly ing the licence request would not be legal under Venezuelan law, according to people familiar with the matter. Guaidó's envoys are expected to meet this

V enezuelanmonth with US officials in Washington and lay out those reservations.

Chevron, the last ma jor US oil producer still in Venezuela, reached a pre liminary technical service agreement with PDVSA this year to revamp their joint ventures. The pact would give Chevron a great er say in operations, trad ing and procurement, aim ing to expand oil output.

However, no action can be taken until the US Government reviews the agreement and rules on Chevron's request for a broader licence to oper ate in Venezuela under US sanctions on PDVSA and President Nicolás Maduro's Administration. Chevron's

existing US authorisation expires December 1.

The United States and other Western na tions called Maduro's 2018 re-election a sham, and rec ognised Guaidó's interim government as rightful.

A senior US State Department official declined to comment on the request. However, a spokesperson said: "We have previously signalled that we would re view our sanctions policies in response to construc tive steps by the Maduro regime to restore free and fair elections in Venezuela" through negotiations with the US-recognised in terim Government and Opposition parties. (Excerpt from Reuters)

About 101,000 still without power in Puerto Rico 2 weeks after Hurricane Fiona

Anestimated 101,000 homes and business

es were still with out power in Puerto Rico on Wednesday, more than two weeks after Hurricane Fiona caused an island-wide out age for its 3.3 million people.

The

San Juan North Secondary School compound was empty after school was dismissed early following an incident on Tuesday.

A 13-year-old San Juan North Secondary School stu dent was on Tuesday night recovering from injuries he sustained after he was hit on the head by a piece of fall ing concrete.

What started out as an innocent stroll around the school at lunchtime Tuesday, turned into a di saster for the student.

The young boy, who was accompanied by a friend, was

walking along the ground floor when a slab of concrete from the second floor gave way, hitting both him and his friend. However, while the other student suffered minor injuries, he was not so fortunate.

The student suffered a deep gash to his head which required six stitches.

Speaking with Guardian Media hours after the in cident, the child’s mother, Natasha Alexander, said she received a call from the school informing her of the injury her child had suf fered.

She said, “They said that

my son was injured, some thing fell and hit him, so I came immediately to them and when I got there, his head was already bandaged up but his school shirt and pants were covered in blood.”

Alexander said after he was hit by the concrete slab, “he looked and he saw his blood running down his face, so he just held his head and walked to the office and told whoever he met there that he’s bleeding and they at tended to him afterwards.” (Excerpt from Trinidad Guardian)

Appeal Court settles

trademark dispute

For the owners of Japs Fried Chicken Ltd, ev erything.

On Friday, the Appeal Court ruled in a hard-fought, decades-old trademark dis pute between businessman Nicholas "Japs" Thomas, 63, and Bhagwatee Maraj and her children, overturning a 2016 decision of the High Court.

Both parties claimed the right to ownership of the “Japs” name. Thomas claimed to be the original “Japs” while Maraj, who died in 2021, said she was known as “Madam Japs”.

The trademark battle be gan in 2010 when the compa ny – Japs Fried Chicken Ltd

– applied for the registration of “Japs Fried Chicken… The Best Taste Around & Device.”

Thomas also applied to register the trademark “Japs And Device”. With two strik ingly similar submissions, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) registrar stayed both ap plications until the court deter mined who had the right to the trademark.

In that decision, Justice Margaret Mohammed ruled in Thomas’s favour. She said Thomas was the “originator” of the Japs brand although not the sole proprietor of the busi ness as both he and Marajwho were in a relationship in

the 70s – were the joint owners and had exclusive rights to the name.

She held the company was not entitled to register the trademark and also declared the name was an asset of the business owned by the two and Thomas’s half share was held by Maraj for their children.

The company and Maraj appealed the decision and on Friday, the Appeal Court di rected the IPO registrar to register the trademark “Japs Fried Chicken: De Best Taste Around! And Device” in the company’s name and refuse Thomas’s application. (Excerpt from Trinidad Newsday)

Fiona hit Puerto Rico on September 18, about five years after Hurricane Maria also knocked out all power on the island.

After hitting Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, Fiona turned north and slammed into eastern Canada on September 24, leaving more than a third of Nova Scotia without power.

Nova Scotia Power, a unit of Canadian energy compa ny Emera Inc, said about 7700 customers were still without power in the prov ince early on Wednesday, down from about 13,800 ear ly on Tuesday.

PowerOutage.us said about 101,000 custom ers were without service in Puerto Rico on Wednesday, down from 109,000 on

Tuesday, based on informa tion from LUMA Energy, which operates its grid.

That pace of restoration – though slow – was faster than after Maria when al most all 1.5 million custom ers had no power for a week. At that time the now bank rupt Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) was still operating the grid.

It took PREPA about 11 months to restore power to all customers, but Maria

was a much more powerful storm than Fiona.

Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017 as a Category 4 hur ricane with winds of 249 kilometres per hour (155 mph), while Fiona hit as a Category 1 storm with winds of 85 mph.

LUMA Energy said it re stored service to 1.384 mil lion, or about 94 per cent of all customers by late Tuesday. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Mexico to file new gun trafficking lawsuit in US, Foreign Minister says

Mexico will file a new lawsuit in the United States seeking responsibility for cross-border gun flows after a US Judge last week dis missed a separate US$10 billion lawsuit against US gun manufacturers, Mexico's Foreign Minister said on Wednesday.

The lawsuit will be filed in Arizona, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said during a speech before Mexico's Senate.

Mexico's Foreign Ministry last week said it would appeal the September 30 decision of a federal judge in Boston to

dismiss the lawsuit Mexico filed last year seeking US$10 billion in damages from US gun companies, including Smith & Wesson Brands Inc and Sturm, Ruger & Co.

Mexico had accused the companies of reckless busi ness practices that enabled the flow of guns to Mexico, un dermining local law and lead ing to thousands of deaths.

During his speech on Wednesday, Ebrard referred to a bipartisan package of gun safety measures passed by the US Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden in June. The law blocks gun sales to those con

victed of abusing unmarried intimate partners and cracks down on gun sales to pur chasers convicted of domestic violence.

"Illicit arms trafficking is already a crime in the United States," Ebrard said.

"You have to start estab lishing criminal responsibil ities because the companies that are selling these weap ons in these counties (in Arizona), which are very few, of course they know where those weapons are going," he added, but did not speci fy which companies he was referring to. (Excerpt

An ambulance arrives at a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on October 4, 2022 [Ralph Tedy Erol/Reuters photo]

People walk on a street affected by the passing of Hurricane Fiona in Penuelas, Puerto Rico, September 19, 2022 (Reuters/ Ricardo Arduengo file photo)

NEWS

OPEC+ cuts oil production by 2M barrels a day despite US pressure

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) has agreed its deepest cuts to oil production since the coronavirus pandemic, curbing supply in an already tight market despite pressure from the United States and others to pump more.

In a statement after a meeting in Vienna on Wednesday, the global cartel of oil-producing countries announced it would produce two million fewer barrels a day.

The move could spur a recovery in oil prices, which have dropped to about US$90 from US$120 three months ago on fears of a global economic recession, rising US interest rates, and a stronger dollar.

Al Jazeera’s Dominic Kane, reporting from Berlin, said the effect of the decision is expected to take three weeks to be reflected in consumer prices.

He also said that “some analysts suggest that the US might seek to free up some of the stocks of oil that it holds to try to counteract what OPEC+ is trying to do”.

The US had pushed OPEC not to proceed with the cuts, arguing that fundamentals do not support them, a source familiar with the matter told the Reuters news agency.

Later on Wednesday, the White House said it was “disappointed” in the OPEC+ decision and called it “shortsighted”.

“At a time when maintaining a global supply of energy is of paramount importance, this decision will have the most negative impact on lower- and middle-income countries that are already reeling from elevated energy prices,” it said in a statement attributed to US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Director of the National Economic Council (NEC) Brian Deise.

Sources said it remained unclear if cuts could include additional voluntary reductions by members such as Saudi Arabia, or if they could include existing under-production by the group.

Shortly after the announcement by OPEC, US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken said his country’s government was working “to ensure that energy is on the market and the prices are kept low”.

Asked at a news conference in Chile if he was disappointed in US ally Saudi Arabia for agreeing to the cuts, Blinken said Washington has a “multiplicity of interests with regard to Saudi Arabia”.

OPEC+ fell about 3.6 million barrels per day short of its output target in August.

“Higher oil prices, if driven by sizeable production cuts, would likely irritate the Biden Administration ahead of US midterm elections,” analysts of Citi, the leading global bank, said in a note.

In their statement, the Biden Administration’s Sullivan and Deese said the US Department of Energy will release 10 million barrels from the country’s strategic petroleum reserve next month to “protect American consumers and promote energy security”.

Saudi Arabia and other members of OPEC have said they seek to prevent volatility rather than to target a particular oil price.

Benchmark Brent crude rose towards $93 per barrel on Wednesday, after climbing on Tuesday.

Weaponising energy

The West has accused Russia of weaponising energy, creating a crisis in Europe that could trigger gas and power rationing this winter.

Moscow accuses the West of weaponising the dollar and financial systems, such as SWIFT, in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine in February.

Part of the reason Washington wants lower oil prices is to deprive Moscow of oil revenue, while Saudi Arabia has not condemned Moscow’s actions.

Relations have been strained between the kingdom and the Administration of President Joe Biden, who travelled to Riyadh this year, but failed to secure any firm cooperation commitments on energy.

“The decision is technical, not political,” United Arab Emirates Minister of Energy Suhail al-Mazroui told reporters ahead of the meeting.

“We will not use it as a political organisation,” he said, adding that concerns about a global recession would be one of the key topics.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who was put on the US special designated nationals sanctions list last week, also travelled to Vienna to participate in meetings. Novak is not under EU sanctions.(Al Jazeera)

Around the World

Putin vows to “stabilise” annexed regions as Ukraine makes gains

The situation in four regions annexed by Russia will be sta bilised, Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed.

The Russian President announced the annex ation of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson last week after self-pro claimed referendums, not recognised internationally.

His vow came as Ukraine said it retook villages in Luhansk and Kherson.

It controls significant parts of the other two re gions, and has made recent gains in Donetsk.

However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would retake any territory that had been lost.

Facing questions over the recent losses, he told re porters: "There is no contra

diction here. They will be with Russia forever, they will be returned."

In a speech to teachers on Russian teachers' day, Putin said he would "calm ly develop" the annexed ter ritories.

But Andrey Kartopolov, the Chairman of the State

Duma defence commit tee, told State media that Russia needed to stop lying about what was happening on the battlefield, saying that Russians were not stu pid.

Ukrainian forces are making gains in both the south and the east.

Serhiy Haidai, Ukrainian governor of Luhansk, told the BBC on Wednesday that six villages in the region had been recaptured.

And President Zelensky later said Ukraine had lib erated three more villag es in the southern region of Kherson.

It comes after a series of gains in Kherson the pre vious day, including the strategically key village of Davydiv Brid.

Russia is still working to mobilise reservists, after Putin announced a call-up last month of 300,000 peo ple who had completed com pulsory military service.

But Putin has rowed back on which groups will be affected, after strong opposition and protests in Russia against the move.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

South Korea, US fire missiles to protest “reckless” North Korean test

South

Korea and the US military conduct ed rare missile drills and an American supercarri er repositioned east of North Korea after Pyongyang flew a missile over Japan, one of the allies' sharpest responses since 2017 to a North Korean weapon test.

US Secretary of State,

Antony Blinken warned that nuclear-armed North Korea risked further condemnation and isolation if it continued its "provocations".

However, Russia's deputy United Nations envoy told a UN Security Council meeting called by the United States that imposing sanctions on North Korea was a "dead

Astronaut becomes 1st Native American woman in space

end" that brought "zero re sult", and China's deputy UN ambassador said the council needed to play a constructive role "instead of relying sole ly on strong rhetoric or pres sure".

North Korea test-fired an intermediate-range bal listic missile (IRBM) farther than ever before on Tuesday, sending it soaring over Japan for the first time in five years and prompting a warning for residents there to take cover.

Washington called the test "dangerous and reck less," and the US military and its allies have stepped up displays of force.

South Korean and American troops fired a vol

ley of missiles into the sea in response, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Wednesday, and the allies earlier staged a bombing drill with fighter jets in the Yellow Sea.

The aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan, a US Navy ship that made its first stop in South Korea last month for the first time in years, will also return to the sea be tween Korea and Japan with its strike group of other war ships. The South Korean military called it a "high ly unusual" move designed to show the allies' resolve to respond to any threats from North Korea. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Ethiopian Government, Tigray rebels accept peace talks invitation

Colonel Nicole Mann has accumulated more than 2500 flight hours in 25 types of aircraft

AUSastronaut has be come the first Native American woman in space following a NASA launch on Wednesday.

Marine Colonel Nicole Mann, 45, is one of four as tronauts who blasted off from Florida at midday bound for the International Space Station (ISS).

The SpaceX Falcon rocket put them on a path to catch the orbiting outpost in about 29 hours' time.

Colonel Mann told the BBC that she hoped the mis sion would inspire future gen erations of Native Americans.

"[I hope it] will inspire young Native American chil

dren to follow their dreams and realise that some of those barriers that are there or used to be there are being broken down," she said.

"Anytime we are able to do something that is a first, or wasn't done in the past, it's so important," she added. "They have these opportunities."

A registered member of the Wailacki of the Round Valley Indian Tribes, Colonel Mann has extensive experi ence flying a variety of air craft for the US Marine Corps. She has been awarded six medals for her service and has deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ethiopia’s Government and rebels from the country’s Tigray re gion say they have accepted an invitation by the African Union (AU) to participate in peace talks in South Africa.

The AU invited the rival parties to negotiations aimed at ending a two-year conflict that has left thousands of ci vilians dead and millions up rooted.

Both sides had previous ly said they were prepared to participate in AU-mediated talks, but intense fighting has continued to rage across Tigray, a northern region bor dering Eritrea.

The region of six million people has been facing des perate shortages of food, fuel, medicines, and other emer gency supplies, with the United Nations’ World Food Programme warning of rising malnutrition even before the

latest fighting halted aid de liveries.

The talks headed by AU Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat and slated for this weekend will be the first formal negoti ations between the two sides since the war broke out in November 2020.

The Ethiopian Government “has accept ed this invitation which is in line with our principled po sition regarding the peaceful resolution of the conflict and the need to have talks with out preconditions”, Redwan Hussein, the national securi ty adviser to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, said on Twitter on Wednesday.

In a statement, the leaders of rebel-held Tigray said they were “ready” to send negoti ators, but raised questions about invited participants, observers and guarantors.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would "calmly develop" the annexed territories

HOROSCOPES

Simplify your life. Stop the chaos and start to put things in order. Take the ini tiative to do something your way, and others will see the merit in your words and actions.

SUDOKU

21-April

Take nothing for granted. Leave nothing to chance, and don’t take a risk with money, health or contracts. Use your intelligence to revise what isn’t working for you anymore.

Put yourself and your talents on the line and do what you do best. Opportunities are apparent if you show up and present what you have to offer. Share your feelings with a loved one.

21-June

21-July

Work quietly behind closed doors. Minimal outside interference will be crucial if you want to get things done. A last-minute change will impact a situa tion that is causing uncertainty.

Adjust your life based on new infor mation. Socializing and attending re unions, conferences or seminars will mo tivate you to enjoy life more. Concentrate on updating your look.

23-Aug.

23-Sept.

Take a moment to digest what’s hap pening, and you’ll find it easier to come up with a solution. Walk away from tense situations. Don’t fuel the fire when a for ward-thinking plan is what you need.

Don’t wait for someone to get the bet ter of you. Put everything you’ve got into what you are trying to achieve, and you will learn a valuable lesson. Don’t waste time on deadbeats.

23-Oct.

Don’t let uncertainty hold you back. Ask questions and discover what’s pos sible. Don’t let negativity stand between you and what you want. Be willing to compromise if necessary.

24-Nov.

Don’t send mixed messages. Be frank, offer facts and don’t sugarcoat in formation if you want to get things done correctly. Put your emotions on the back burner.

23-Dec.

Think about how to stretch your money. A domestic change that lowers your overhead will ease stress and en courage you to find other ways to save money. Simplify your daily routine.

22-Jan.

Keep working toward your goal and enjoy the fruits of your labor when you reach your destination. The satisfaction you gain from your accomplishments will impress others.

20-Feb.

Stay focused on what’s important and refuse to let others unnerve you. Angry flare-ups will put a wedge between you and someone you love. Don’t say any thing you’ll regret.

Captain of

GCB Senior Male 50-Over Inter County Tournament for 2022…

Johnson to lead DCB team, Griffith to lead President’s XI team

Christopher Barnwell

Ashmead Nedd

Richie Loaknauth

Ronaldo Ali Mohamed

Singh

RESERVES:

Yearwood

Guyana

Harpy Eagles Captain Leon Johnson will lead the Demerara Senior Male team in the GCB Senior Male 50-Over Inter County Tournament for 2022, which is expected to commence on Monday, October 10, 2022.

This full team, which would be managed by Puneet Jaigopaul and coached by Ryan Hercules, reads as follows:

Leon Johnson (Captain)

Tagenarine Chanderpaul

Chandrapaul Hemraj

Tevin Imlach

Jeremiah Scott

Akshaya Persaud

Steven Sankar

Mohabir

Parks

Rose

Persaud

President’s XI team National opening batsman Trevon Griffith has been named captain of the GCB President XI for the GCB Senior Male Super50 Inter-County tournament, which commenced on Monday, October 5, 2022. Exciting young West Indies Under-19 opening batsman Matthew Nandu will serve as Griffith’s deputy.

Guyana Under-19 batsman

Prime Minister’s T20 Cup…

Preparations by GSCL Inc on track, John urges players to be disciplined

already started to pay their down payment for participation in the tournament, since we had our launch in September the response has been very high. We are in the process of organizing grounds and hoping to have them in close proximity in and around Georgetown. We are hoping to have teams in close proximity to ensure

the players and officials to carry themselves with discipline on and off the field. He relayed that there is a large support base for the teams in the competition and thus he is urging the supporters to respect the decision of the officials and let cricket be the winner. John further clarified that with the growing industry

involvement will grow from strength to strength.

Marvendra Dindyal, who scored a century in the recentlyconcluded CWI Regional Under19 tournament, is expected to support Griffith and Nandu in the batting department, while Jonathan Rampersaud, who was the leading wicket-taker for Guyana in the CWI Regional Under-19 tourney, is expected to lead the bowling along with Guyana Harpy Eagles reserve pacer Shamar Joseph, left arm spinners Raj Nannan and Akini Adams, off-spinning allrounder Kwesi Mickle and fast bowlers Joshua Jones and Keyron Fraser.

The President’s XI play their first match against Essequibo on Monday, October 10, at Everest.

Their full squad reads: Trevon Griffith (Captain), Matthew Nandu (ViceCaptain), Zachery Jodah, Mavendra Dindyal, Jonathan Rampersaud, Kwesi Mickle, Garfield Benjamin, Raj Nannan, Ricardo Peters (wicketkeeper), Avinash Persaud, Akini Adams, Shamar Joseph and Keyron

Fraser.

The reserve players are Suresh Dhanai and Leo Rayan Ramlakhan. The team will be coached by Esan Crandon and managed by Andre Percival, who will also be the assistant coach.

Raj Jewellery donates Gy$100K to GCF’s ChessKid programme

By TimoThy Jaikarran

The buzz is in the air as the Prime Ministers T20 Cup is set to kick off on November 11-13, 2022. The softball extravaganza is set to light up various grounds in Georgetown during the preliminary stages and then lead directly to the National Stadium for four glorious grand finales. According to President of the Georgetown Softball Cricket League Inc (GSCL Inc.)

Ian John the preparation for the tournament is on track as teams gear up for the games.

In an interview with this publication, when asked his view on the preparation John said, “The preparation is going okay, you no the focus was on CPL for the past weeks. So, the pace is expected to pick up again with the conclusion of that tournament. Teams have

the games start on time and finish in good sunlight, all preliminaries and semifinals will be played during the day.”

The GSCL Inc president further noted that he expects

he expects the tournament to enhance the tourism industry. He further divulged that it is a great welcome to the females to be apart of the sixth edition of the tournament as their

“We are hoping and praying that the weather continues in the same vein, we have never had a disruption with rain to cause cancellation of matches, thus we are hoping that everything continues to workout for us. Once again, we are thankful to the sponsors, we are hoping to have enough sponsorship to cover the various cost and expenses that will incur during the playing of the matches,” John shared.

John also went on to state that some time during the course of the week they will have word on the participation of teams from Florida and New York as the GSCL continues to follow up on the teams that indicated their intention to participate. In closing John wished the teams much success and urged them to play in good comradery and let cricket be the winner at the end of the day.

Raj Jewellery has supported the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) with a donation of $100K towards the ChessKid programme. This will aid in boosting chess development among youths across Guyana.

FM Anthony Drayton was on hand to accept the cheque on behalf of the Federation on Saturday October 1st, during a chess exhibition at the Giftland Mall.

ChessKid.com is a virtual platform used by the GCF to introduce young players to the game of chess with puzzles, lessons, educational videos, and unlimited live chess. It also allows children to play against players from other schools around their age and skill level. More than 200 local youths are actively engaged on the platform.

A normal ‘gold’ licence

allows children to access an unlimited number of learning resources. Donations such as this one allow the Guyana Chess Federation to provide more children with access to chess free of cost. This contribution is significant to the development of junior players in Guyana. The Guyana Chess Federation has seen membership more than triple this year due to efforts of the Federation’s hard-working team to bring chess to more schools outside of Region Four.

Raj Jewellery was established in 1992, and has since retailed the finest hand-crafted luxury jewellery items using all highquality gold and diamonds. Raj has over 25 years of experience in hand crafting breath-taking and authentic items of jewellery.

The Federation is elated to partner with Raj Jewellery as the sport of chess continues to develop in Guyana.

GCB President’s XI Captain Trevon Griffith (Sean Devers Photo)

Christopher Barnwell

Anthony Drayton was on hand to receive the cheque on behalf of the GCF

Sophie Devine's last-ball six in Super Over breaks WI hearts

“Who wouldn’t want to play in the World Cup tournament?”

Legendary

West Indies fast bowler Sir Curtly Ambrose has expressed surprise at the unusual cir cumstances that have led to the dropping of explosive bats man Shimron Hetmyer ahead of the team’s campaign for the upcoming T20 World Cup.

According to a release is sued by Cricket West Indies (CWI), which roiled the crick eting world on Monday, the body opted to replace Hetmyer with Shamarh Brooks after Hetmyer missed a resched uled flight after having been advised of the consequences of doing so.

to Monday due to family reasons, but did not mention whether Hetmyer had given a reason for being unable to catch the second flight.

Sophie

Devine started and ended the Super Over with sixes as New Zealand hunted down 16 to seal the series and break West Indies' hearts in the fourth T20I in North Sound. Devine faced all but one ball in the Super Over, bowled by West Indies captain Hayley Matthews, and ushered New Zealand home under pres sure.

How did it even come down to a Super Over? West Indies were cruising at 52 for 2 in the tenth over as they chased down 112, but wicketkeep er-batter Rashada Williams's run-out triggered a collapse, as the hosts lost their last sev en wickets for 59 runs to level the scores in regular time.

Then Hayley Jensen, who was also recently in action in the Caribbean for Trinbago Knight Riders Women, took the wickets of Chedean Nation and Afy Fletcher in a three-run final over to drag the game into overtime.

Super Overs are a famil iar territory for Devine. She has hit 87 runs off 26 balls in Super Overs without being dismissed. Devine had also contributed handsomely with the ball by removing West Indies' top three.

Much like Devine, Matthews had played a role with both bat and ball - she even did the dual job in the Super Over. She helped West

SCOREBOARD

New Zealand Women (20 ovs maximum)

Sophie Devine (c) run out (Ramharack) 13 Suzie Bates c Grimmond b Fletcher 8 Amelia Kerr not out

Maddy Green c & b Fletcher 14 Lauren Down c Gajnabi b Matthews 17 Georgia Plimmer not out 1 Extras (b 2, w 7) 9

TOTAL 20 Ov

(RR: 5.55, 75 Mts) 111/4

Did not bat: Hayley Jensen, Jess Kerr, Isabella Gaze †, Eden Carson, Fran Jonas

Fall of wickets: 1-20 (Sophie Devine, 4.3 ov), 2-38 (Suzie Bates, 8.1 ov), 3-66 (Maddy Green, 12.5 ov), 4-107 (Lauren Down, 19.3 ov)

BOWLING O-M-R-W

Aaliyah Alleyne 2-0-14-0

Hayley Matthews 4-0-15-1 Sheneta Grimmond 4-0-25-0 Karishma Ramharack 4-0-22-0

Afy Fletcher 4-0-16-2 Shabika Gajnabi 1-0-7-0 Cherry-Ann Fraser 1-0-10-0

Indies score 15 in the Super Over, bowled by Jensen, but her all-round effort went in vain.

After being asked to bat, New Zealand lost both Devine and Suzie Bates early. However, Amelia Kerr's un beaten 49 off 47 balls hauled them to 111. Amelia and pre vious match-winner Maddy Green (14 off 13 balls) were

West Indies Women (T: 112 runs from 20

Hayley Matthews (c) c

Kerr b Devine

Aaliyah Alleyne c Plimmer b Devine

Kyshona

Cherry-Ann

Afy Fletcher

TOTAL

(RR: 5.55,

The release stated that the player's original flight was changed from Saturday

“I must say I am a bit sur prised, because who wouldn’t want to play in the World Cup tournament? And who wouldn’t want to represent their country?” Sir Curtly declared on the Mason and Guest radio programme.

“What I heard in the me dia is that he had some fam ily issues. So, I take it that if you are going to miss playing for your country, or playing at the World Cup, then he has some serious issues to deal with. I reckon that if that’s the case, you want to ensure that whatever issues he has with his family are being sorted, so he has to miss the World Cup. I wish him well.”

(Sportsmax)

BCB/Kevin Sinclair Under-17 cricket tournament…

Arch-rivals Port Mourant and Albion to clash in the finals

111/9

Did not bat: Karishma Ramharack

Fall of wickets: 1-23 (Aaliyah Alleyne, 5.1

(Hayley Matthews, 5.3

(Rashada Williams, 9.1

(Kyshona Knight,

(Natasha McLean, 11.2

6-91(Shabika Gajnabi, 16.5

7-91(Cherry-Ann Fraser, 16.6

8-109 (Chedean Nation, 19.3 ov), 9-111 (Afy Fletcher, 19.6 ov)

BOWLING O-M-R-W

Fran Jonas 4-0-17-0

Hayley Jensen 3-0-18-2 Jess Kerr 4-0-13-2

Sophie Devine 4-0-29-3

Eden Carson 1-0-9-0

Amelia Kerr 4-0-0-0

the only New Zealand batters to strike at over 100.

Fletcher was the pick of the bowlers for West Indies, returning 2 for 16 in her four overs. Amelia's sister Jess and Jensen picked up two wickets each, to assist Devine pull off a stunning win.

The fifth - and final T20I - will be played at the same venue on Thursday. (Cricinfo)

In an exciting semi-fi nal match of the BCB/ Kevin Sinclair Under-17 cricket tournament played at the Jai Hind cricket Ground on the Corentyne, Albion Community Centre Cricket Club (Albion CCCC) squeezed past Rose Hall Canje by two wickets.

Rose Hall Canje scored 83 all out in 28 overs, with Avishkar Persaud contribut ing 20, Zadeen La Rose 17, and Lakeram Singh 10.

Bowling for Albion, Berbice Under-15 left arm spinner Kumar Deopersaud grabbed 4 for 16 off 10 overs, 2 of which were maidens, and Tameshwar Manga took 3 for 15 off 6 overs, while Afraz Budhoo took 2 for 22 off 7 overs.

In reply, Albion scored

84 for 8 in 24.2 overs, after losing early wickets. AriAfraz Kaidr’s 27 and Damion Cecil’s 20 were the only two contributions in double fig ures in the chase.

Bowling for Rose Hall Canje, Enrique Mickle took 4 for 22 off 4 overs, and Sanjay Algoo took 3 for 25 off 9.2 overs.

And Port Mourant Cricket Club (PMCC) brushed aside Cotton Tree by 10 wickets at the PMCC Ground. Batting first after winning the toss, Cotton Tree scored 78 all out in 28 overs, with Trevis Dookharan contributing 17.

Bowling for Port Mourant, Salim Khan took 2 for 18 off 6 overs, Rampertab Ramnauth took 2 for 18 off 6 overs, Romeo Deonarine took 2 for 2 off 2 overs, and Ravin

Joshua Denny Memorial Football final on this Friday

…Petra donates trophy

In a fitting memorial of the first year of the death of former youth footballer Joshua Denny, an under-20 football competition has been organised to honour a talented and ambitious young athlete who lost his life under tragic circumstances in 2021.

As the tournament moves into the final round this Saturday, it has been disclosed that the intention is to keep the tournament going concom itant with the cherished mem ory of Joshua Denny. This was revealed by his mother Aferya Denny during a sim ple ceremony on Tuesday af ternoon, at which the Petra Organization presented the

Champions Trophy.

“Yes, this will be an an nual initiative, trying to get the message over, ‘Mothers against gun violence’ and the support has been overwhelm ing,” the Denny matriarch ex plained.

On September 30th 2021, the young and upcoming Joshua Denny was robbed and gravely injured while on his way to work; he suc cumbed to his injuries soon after. Coupled with his birth anniversary, September holds special significance for his mother. She highlighted, “It [the tournament] will be in September every year, be cause that’s the month of his

birth and that’s the month that he died. So, I would like it to be in September every year.”

The two-day Joshua Denny Memorial Under-20 Football tournament, be ing played at the Ministry of Education (MoE) Ground on Carifesta Avenue, has al ready witnessed riveting ac tion on its first competi tion day. Santos FC downed Camptown FC 6-1, while Georgetown FC (GFC) edged Fruta Conquerors 2-1.

Touching on what she ex pects for Friday’s final, Aferya Denny articulated that the tournament has already lived up to expectations.

“I think the teams have put their best foot forward. They showed up at game time and all was well,” Aferya Denny commented.

The grand finale of the memorial tournament is set for Friday, October 7th at the aforementioned ven

ue on Carifesta Avenue, Georgetown.

Joshua Denny repre sented the Lodge School team at the Milo and KFC tournaments, and also the Camptown Football Club from under-11 players up to the senior level.

Boodwah took 2 for 12 off 4 overs.

In reply, Port Mourant raced to 82 without loss in 9.4 overs, with Guyana Under-19 opening batsman Rampertab Ramnauth scor ing 50 not out and Romeo Deonarine scoring 19 not out.

Arch-rivals Albion CCCC and Port Mourant Cricket Club (PMCC) are set to clash in the final match of this tournament.

This tournament has been organised by the Berbice Cricket Board with sponsor ship from West Indies and Guyana senior player Kevin Sinclair.

Hayley Jensen's double-strike set up a Super Over finish

Port Mourant U17 team

–Sir Curtly Ambrose surprised by Hetmyer saga, but wishes him all the best in sorting out family issues

Petra’s Nareeza Latif presenting the trophy to Aferya Denny

Wade and Finch secure untidy, narrow win for Australia

Matthew

Wade con tinued his golden run as Australia's finisher, and Aaron Finch - batting at #4 for the first time in his internation al career - scored a wel come half-century to nurse Australia to an untidy three-wicket win with a ball to spare in their T20I match against the West Indies, played on the Gold Coast.

In a rather chaotic finish, it came down to Australia needing 11 off the final over from Sheldon Cottrell. Wade swung the first ball for four, and West Indies had a chance to take his wicket with the next deliv ery, but he was dropped in the deep by Raymon Reifer.

Mitchell Starc was also missed two balls later, be fore scampering back for the winning run off the penulti mate delivery and almost having a nasty collision with wicketkeeper Johnson Charles.

Quite how much there is

stay as opener, remains to be seen, but his perfor mance followed the encour aging signs from the India tour. Even amid the horror run that ended his ODI ca reer, Finch's T20 form had not taken the same hit, but having a captain in the runs would remove one issue heading into the World Cup.

Given that seven mem bers of the West Indies' squad had been in Australia for barely 24 hours, some rustiness could be forgiv en. There were times when the West Indies were on top, and to take it to the fi nal over and be in a position to snatch the game can give them heart.

Some of their six-hitting was breathtaking. Yannic Cariah had a very encour aging debut with 1 for 15 from four overs, and Alzarri Joseph was a handful with his slippery pace.

Mayers's wow moment

It's early in the

Australian season, but you'll do well to see a bet ter shot than the one Kyle Mayers produced in the fourth over against Green. Against a short delivery, he drove it magnificently off the back foot more than 100 metres into the stand over deep point. It was an aston ishing show of power and timing, and it quickly went viral.

He had shown intent from the start of the innings with early boundaries off Starc and Josh Hazlewood, but, as was the case with

over the stumps.

When the DRS was called for in the 11th over, it had what appeared to be a curious moment when the ball tracking showed that a very full delivery from Starc, which speared into Nicholas Pooran's pad and looked to be sliding down, was in fact taking out leg stump.

Boundaries dry up

Alongside Mayers's memorable effort, there was no shortage of well-struck sixes from West Indies, not least Odean Smith's mon

SCOREBOARD

West Indies (20 ovs maximum)

Kyle Mayers b Cummins

Johnson Charles †b Hazlewood

Brandon King lbw b Hazlewood

Raymon Reifer c †Wade b Green

Nicholas Pooran (c)lbw b Starc

Rovman Powell c & b Hazlewood 7

Jason Holder b Cummins 13

Odean Smith run out (†Wade) 27

Alzarri Joseph c David b Starc 7 Yannic Cariah not out 1

Extras (lb 3, nb 1, w 11) 15

TOTAL 20 Ov (RR: 7.25) 145/9

Did not bat: Sheldon Cottrell Fall of wickets: 1-14 (Johnson Charles, 1.1 ov), 2-48 (Brandon King, 5.2 ov), 3-66 (Kyle Mayers, 9.1 ov), 4-75 (Nicholas Pooran, 10.5 ov), 5-88 (Raymon Reifer, 14.1 ov), 6-101 (Jason Holder, 15.2 ov), 7-106 (Rovman Powell, 16.2 ov), 8-122 (Alzarri Joseph, 17.6 ov), 9-145 (Odean Smith, 19.6 ov)

BOWLING O-M-R-W Mitchell Starc 4-0-40-2

Josh Hazlewood 4-0-35-3

Pat Cummins 4-0-22-2

Cameron Green 2-0-16-1

Adam Zampa 4-0-21-0

Glenn Maxwell 2-0-8-0

West Indies' whole batting display, the momentum was lost after the powerplay.

Non-review and review Brandon King, the lead ing run-scorer in the CPL, played one lovely stroke in lofting Adam Zampa over long-off, but was left ruing not taking a review when he was given lbw against Hazlewood. The ap peal looked good live, but replays showed the bounce in the pitch had it going

Australia (T: 146 runs from 20

David Warner c King b Cottrell

Cameron Green b Joseph

Mitchell Marsh c †Charles

b Cottrell

Aaron Finch (c) c Holder b Joseph

Cariah

There was a 54-ball period after the field ing restrictions which went with out a boundary, be fore Jason Holder cleared the ropes. On the larger grounds in Australia, it feels like an area that would have to be improved, regardless of how long they

In T20Is, his last six in nings read: 19, 16, 1, 0, 6, 0. His value as a bowler in the set-up is as high as ever, and he's the type of player who can flick the switch at any moment, but it is some thing to keep an eye on.

Glenn Maxwell c Pooran

Tim David c Smith b Holder

Matthew Wade †not out

Pat Cummins b Smith

Mitchell Starc not out

Extras (lb 5, w 3) 8

TOTAL 19.5 Ov (RR: 7.36) 146/7

Did not bat: Adam Zampa,

BOWLING O-M-R-W Kyle Mayers 1-0-11-0 Sheldon Cottrell 3.5-0-49-2

Alzarri Joseph 4-0-17-2 Jason Holder 4-0-30-1 Yannic Cariah 4-0-15-1 Odean Smith 3-0-19-1

ster effort in the 19th over. However, in what is not a new talking point about their batting, the skill of working the ball around in the middle of the innings was lacking.

They made 53 in the powerplay and 50 in the last five, which meant just 42 runs came in the other nine overs. The six overs between Zampa and Glenn Maxwell cost just 29 and included one boundary, which was the powerplay six by King off Zampa.

hit the ball.

Do we need to talk about Maxwell?

Australia were intent on going hard from the start of the chase. Cottrell found the edges of David Warner and Mitchell Marsh in the sec ond over, but they were can tering along at 10s. On ei ther side of the powerplay, the wheels nearly came off. Green gave himself room once too often, Maxwell swiped high into the off side, and Tim David picked out deep square leg.

Maxwell's dismissal con tinued a lean patch: since the start of the Zimbabwe ODI series, albeit a differ ent format, he has had a top score of 32 in nine innings.

Guyana endures another day of mixed fortunes

Haynes in the opening round.

In the first Guyanese out ing of the day, at the Estadio Leon Condou in Asuncion, Paraguay, things did not go the way of Ramdhani and Haynes in the Men’s Doubles.

Pitted against Alejandro Avalos and Leo Lee of Paraguay in the opening round of the category, the Guyanese duo offered some resistance in the first set against the home boys, but eventually lost 20-22. The Paraguayans won the second set 21-13.

Wade there again

When Wade came in, Australia were wobbling at 58 for 5, and he joined Finch as the last pair of frontline batters. Since taking on the middle-order role for the last World Cup, he has en joyed phenomenal success: in 12 innings he has made 310 runs, being dismissed just three times, with a strike-rate of 160.10. This time, back-to-back bound aries off Cottrell in the 12th over, which cost 18 runs, brought the requirement close to a run-a-ball.

After Finch fell, Wade struggled to get the strike - facing just six of the last 17 balls - but it didn't cost Australia. (Cricinfo)

day of

er brother Narayan in the Round of 16 and the quarter final, and the men’s doubles team of Narayan and Akili

Fortunes were the same in the women’s singles category for Priyanna Ramdhani, who played well to reach the quar ter- final round. However, in opposing Fernanda Saponara Rivva of Peru in the quarterfi nals, Priyanna lost 21-9, 21-8.

The Mixed Doubles catego ry was a breath of fresh air for

the

Badminton team, as they found suc cess. Priyanna and Narayan teamed up to defeat Ecuador’s Baque and Zambrano in two sets, 21-13, 21-16, to reach the quarterfinals.

In the next round, they battled Davi Carvalho Marinho Da Silva and Jaqueline Maria Lopes Lima of neighbouring Brazil. In that match, the Guyanese missed out on a favourable result, as the Brazilians pre vailed 21-6, 21-9 in a two-set match.

The South American Games began on October 1st and will run until October 15th, 2022. 13 other Guyanese athletes are billed to go into action in the disci plines of Boxing, Squash and Table Tennis.

as they competed at the 2022 South American Games. On the cards on Wednesday were the women’s

singles, featuring Priyanna Ramdhani in the quarterfi nals, the mixed doubles fea turing Priyanna and her old

The Badminton team posing with Coach Naeem Haque

Wade and Finch secure untidy, narrow win for Australia

Matthew Wade continued his golden run as Australia's finisher, and Aaron Finch - batting at #4 for the first time in his international career - scored a welcome half-century to nurse Australia to an un tidy three-wicket win with a ball to spare in their T20I match against the West Indies, played on the Gold Coast.

In a rather chaotic finish, it came down to Australia needing 11 off the final over from Sheldon Cottrell. Wade swung the first ball for four, and West Indies had a chance to take his wicket with the next delivery, but he was dropped in the deep by Raymon Reifer.

Guyana endures

day of