Guyana Times - Tuesday, May 12, 2020

See Region 4 SoRs comparison with released SoPs on pages 14, 15 & 16 All SoRs are available on our website Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Issue No. 4283

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2020

APNU/AFC in orchestrated campaign to discredit and then reject recount process

…PSC urges GECOM to stop broadcasting unverified APNU/AFC complaints See stories …says unverified objections causing delays, mischief on pages …APNU now says elections “flawed” but results “credible” 3, 8 & 9

US Democratic Congressman attacks Trump Administration on behalf of APNU/AFC Page 10

Summary of Ballot Boxes Tabulated as at 11-05-2020

COVID-19 cases climb to 109

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WHAT'S INSIDE:

P11 Guyana Goldfields announces mass termination of employees

…as Union blasts Govt for legacy of huge job losses

P2 Vincent Alexander’s actions warrant immediate dismissal – Nandlall

Page 12

…4 of 5 new cases residents of Palms

APNU/AFC P13 continues to insult Guyanese intelligence – FITUG Woman stabbed to death by P13 son-in-law

… Region 9 reports 1st case

Mingo’s fraudulent declarations stand until replaced with recount results – GECOM Page 7

… Commission meets today to extend 25-day timeline

19 Lindeners fined, given community P13 service for curfew violation

2 NEWS

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Vincent Alexander’s actions warrant immediate dismissal – Nandlall

PPP Executive Member Anil Nandlall

G

overnment-nominated Commissioner of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Vincent Alexander would have been dismissed from that post in any other part of the world for his advocating against a comparison of the Statements of Recount (SoRs) being generated by the national recount exercise of the March 2 ballots cast with the declarations made by Region Four Returning Officer (RO) Clairmont Mingo.

People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Executive Member Anil Nandlall on Monday lashed out at the reports by Alexander, insisting that “Mingo has committed the vilest fraud, electoral fraud over the past three decades in the Western Hemisphere”.

The former Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister under the PPP/C Administration reminded that Mingo “is an agent of GECOM, he is a Returning Officer appointed by GECOM, he is carrying out directions of GECOM”.

According to Nandlall, the Region Four RO “is acting as an agent of GECOM perpetuating a rank fraud against the electorate of this country”.

Nandlall told reporters encamped at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), “in any part of the world a commissioner saying something like that would have been dismissed immediately”.

The PPP Executive Member recalled that the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change

(APNU/AFC) Commissioner had also openly advocated for Mingo’s declaration to be retained and to be held in abeyance.

According to Nandlall, it is Alexander who is “embracing the fraud and that is quite unfortunate and the population should know that”.

He was adamant his party would “continue to expose all these irregularities and all these frauds that are being exposed and hopefully

the APNU/AFC’s ‘Operation Eagle Eye’, said it was, in fact, now uncovering the fraud that was perpetrated by the Region Four RO and that “we are transmitting it to the public, so that they can see the fraud that is being perpetrated”.

Nandlall, one of the PPP/ C’s party agents in the recount, revealed on Sunday that “today alone, several boxes that were counted vividly illustrated and demonstrated the fraud

“Mingo has committed the vilest fraud, electoral fraud over the past three decades in the Western hemisphere… he is an agent of GECOM, he is a Returning Officer appointed by GECOM, he is carrying out directions of GECOM” – Anil Nandlall in the end, the electoral process would be vindicated”.

The Attorney used the occasion to also reiterate that political parties and observers had all said the process on polling day had been free and fair, “now all of a sudden, you are very well aware of the recently- launched orchestrated agenda by APNU/AFC to discredit polling day activities”.

Nandlall, in a quip over

that Mingo perpetrated in those declarations. Today, in particular, several of the boxes that Mingo dealt with and produced false figures in that spreadsheet were today debunked by the actual ballots that were reckoned and counted. As we go deeper and deeper, every day Mingo’s fraud is going to be revealed and is being unravelled as the days progress”.

The Party has since been demanding that GECOM re-

GECOM Commissioner Vincent Alexander

lease the Statements of Poll that are in its possession and have those compared publicly against the SoRs being generated at the recount exercise and the declarations used by Mingo.

Speaking with members of the media on Monday, PPP/C GECOM Commissioner Sase Gunraj used the opportunity to remind that it was the APNU/ AFC “that was protesting and making noise out there and insisting that the declarations of Mingo be accepted”.

Gunraj said supporters of the incumbent had demanded its presidential candidate be sworn in based on those declarations, adding “it is this very stakeholder that is now coming to raise issues about the process”.

The PPP Commissioner reminded too that, “on Election Day, you didn’t hear a big hullaballoo raised by any side about persons who are migrated or dead and were voting. You heard no allegations. We are two plus months into this process, almost two and a half months, and now you are hearing that”.

According to the Attorney, “in law, they call that a recent fabrication and the weight to be assigned or the weight to be put on recent fabrications is none, because it is highly questionable at most.”

He was adamant “doing that denigrates the process that they heralded as a free, fair and free from fear and credible and transparent on March 2”.

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APNU/AFC in orchestrated campaign to discredit and then reject recount process

T

he Opposition – People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) – said it will today raise with the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), the matter of repeated ludicrous and unsubstantiated claims being used by agents of the coalition A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC), to not only delay the National Recount exercise underway, but to completely discredit the process in a bid to have the results discarded, whenever it is concluded.

This is according to PPP/C Executive Member, Anil Nandlall, who briefed media operatives on Monday evening at the conclusion of day six of the recount exercise, underway at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC).

Briefing media operatives on his party’s agenda for the meeting with GECOM’s full Commission, the former Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs said, “we are going to raise frontally the unsubstantiated allegations which continue to be raised by APNU/ AFC without a shred of evidence.”

Calling on GECOM to “deal with the ridiculous allegations that are continuously being made by the APNU/AFC,” Nandlall said this is the party’s position since it was, GECOM that “ran the elections”.

“They had exclusive management and conduct of the elections and they must say to you and to the people of Guyana whether they permitted dead people to vote, whether they permitted migrated people to vote because these allegations continue to be made,” He suggested that this inherently continues to consume valuable time, detracting from the main purpose of the exercise which is to recount the ballots cast on March 2, last.

“Irregularities”

APNU/AFC in a press statement on Sunday said that through the work of its agents at the recount exercise, “clear and unmistakable patterns of irregularities, discrepancies and worse have emerged.”

In qualifying its pronouncement, the coalition cited as an example, “countless instances of dead persons being recorded as voting exclusively in PPP strongholds; Countless instances of persons who have long migrated from Guyana and who were not in Guyana on Election Day being recorded as voting.”

Additionally, the coalition made claims ranging from “countless instances of persons who did not uplift their ID cards from GECOM for many years being recorded as voting in PPP stronghold areas but with no corresponding Oaths of Identity being found in the ballot boxes” to “Countless

instances of unsigned Oaths of Identity in PPP stronghold areas.”

Speaking with members of the media on Monday evening, however, Nandlall in debunking the allegations said, “it is clear that APNU/

coalition agents refusing to comply with GECOM’s orders to continue opening ballot boxes at 17:00h.

According to Nandlall, APNU/AFC agents on Monday — as they did on the previous day—refused

“…they have an orchestrated plan, that at the end of the day, they will accumulate all these, what they are calling irregularities, and they will use that as a basis not to accept the outcome of the results here” – Anil Nandlall AFC, they have an agenda to derail the process.”

According to the PPP recount agent present at ACCC, now that the ballot boxes are being opened “they are realising that the Statements of Recount are matching with Statement of Polls [from Elections Day] and that is consistent with the number of ballots in the boxes; they are realising that their lie that they won the election is being unravelled and uncovered.”

He was at the time referencing initial claims by the APNU/AFC—including in a dossier it submitted to the international community— that it had won the March 2 General and Regional Elections and that the polls had been free, fair and credible.

Citing examples qualifying his party’s position, Nandlall pointed to instances where agents had been making objections in relation to names on the list of electors only to find out that the names being referenced are for persons that did not even vote.

Additionally, he noted,

to turn over their party keys to have the containers opened.

This, according to Nandlall, led to GECOM having to cut open the containers in order to access the ballot boxes and have the count continue.

Nandlall’s claims were also corroborated by other

party agents in various social media posts denouncing the refusal of the APNU/ AFC agents to turn over the keys.

He was adamant that the actions on the part of the agents of the APNU/ AFC continue to consume time which should instead be used recounting the ballots cast.

As such, Nandlall posited, “they have an orchestrated plan, that at the end of the day, they will accumulate all these, what they are calling irregularities, and they will use that as a basis not to accept the outcome of the results here.”

He suggested that as long as the process “continues smoothly, fairly and transparently it is moving in one particular direction, that is confirming the accuracy and integrity of the SoPs, once that continues then they would have lost the elections.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

4

guyanatimesgy.com

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2020

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

Open letter to Congressman Hakeem Jeffries

Speed up the recount process

T

he pressure is mounting from all quarters for the Guyana Elections Commission (GEOM) to immediately take the necessary steps that would see the national recount of the votes cast in the March 2 polls move faster in order to bring the electoral process to finality soon.

At the end of Day 6, 261 ballot boxes were completed and if the current pace continues, it is projected that the process would take more than double the 25-day timeline envisaged in the Recount Order. This is unacceptable by any measure considering it is now more than two months after the elections were held and a credible winner is yet to be declared.

It would be a travesty if the electoral body were to ask the nation to wait longer for a credible winner to be announced.

The nation is almost a full week into the recount process and by now all stakeholders, more so GECOM, would be well aware that given the current pace at which the process is moving, urgent steps would have to be taken to finish the exercise in good time.

The GECOM Chairperson, Retired Justice Claudette Singh must act now. As we have said several times before, she has all the power to do what is necessary to ensure the process is carried out in a transparent and expeditious manner. The perception of many is that Justice Singh has allowed certain elements to hijack the process who are bent on doing their own thing. As we race towards the proposed 25-day timeline, Justice Singh and the entire Commission are well aware that it would be an indictment on the part of GECOM, if they just sit quietly and allow the process to be dragged on for several more weeks.

On this basis, we urge the Commission to convene an urgent meeting to review what is taking place and take corrective steps immediately. To begin with, we suggest the Commission expand the number of work stations to have more persons working at any given time. From the beginning, we had said that 10 work stations were inadequate and would certainly not accomplish the task set out in good time.

We are almost certain that the venue of the national recount – the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) could easily accommodate at least four or five more work stations.

Secondly, the Commission could immediately expand the working hours from 11 to about 16, using a shift system where two sets of workers could be utilised. Here again, this would allow for a larger number of ballot boxes to be counted at the same time, resulting in more boxes being completed each day.

At the moment, the A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) agents are hell-bent on creating confusion and dragging out the process unnecessarily.

From what we have seen so far, they are raising all sorts of issues which do not fall under the purview of a vote recount but rather an elections petition. This, we know, is deliberate as it has a direct relation to the push by Commissioner Vincent Alexander and others to have an ‘audit’ instead of a recount.

When the matter regarding the elections recount first surfaced, it was meant to do just that – a recount of the votes.

No one ever called for an audit. It was the understanding of all the stakeholders, including the Court, the international community, and observers that a recount of the votes was needed in order to arrive at credible election results which would be accepted by all parties and which could stand scrutiny of the international community and international observers.

However, there is now a pattern unfolding where APNU/ AFC agents are raising as many issues as possible via the ‘Observation Reports’ to discredit the March 2 elections and then demand that fresh elections be held.

We have said before that following the massive negative publicity she faced for her actions, or inaction, in relation to attempts by Clairmont Mingo in collusion with others, to declare fraudulent results for District Four, Justice Singh has another opportunity to stand up to the forces that do not want what is best for the country.

With the recount ongoing, Justice Singh has a duty to seriously monitor and intervene in the process whenever necessary, by taking corrective actions not only to see the process through to its finality, but to ensure that it is done in an expeditious manner. The nation has already waited too long; the recount process must not be further delayed.

Dear Congressman Jeffries, Subject: Remarks attributed to you regarding the US position on opposing fraudulent ballot count in Guyana’s March 2, 2020 Regional and National Elections Greetings! We, the executive and members of New York Guyana Democracy Project (NYGDP) that comprises some members in your congressional district take note of your remarks in a virtual (web) interview with Rickford Burke, a Guyana Government political activist residing in Brooklyn, in which he issued a statement attributed to you condemning the US position on promoting credible and transparent elections in Guyana.

We do not know if you have been able to check the veracity of Burke’s release relating to this interview. We believe that it’s important that you fact-check the relevant information as some of the contents are very misleading, mischievous, and propagandistic. This could put you on a collision course with pro-democracy activists and international observers as well as with US and other western diplomats in Guyana.

We note you have indicated a readiness to assail the US Administration for advocating credible and transparent elections and for warning that a departure could lead to serious consequences against those engaged in electoral fraud in Guyana. We thought you, like other democratic colleagues in Congress, are a defender of democracy and would adopt a strong position to protect electoral rights of the Guyanese as well as other peoples elsewhere. As you may know, the de facto Government has adopted a position to undermine the democratic choice of the people. Burke’s political party, APNU, has put the country in a prolonged constitutional crisis since elections were held on March 2, 2020. That was preceded by another major constitutional crisis when the APNU Government failed to step down from Government within 3 months after the successful passage of a No-Confidence Motion (NCM) against it on December 18, 2018.

We recognise that your ascent to high office means that you are an accomplished person and one who can separate

facts from fiction and political propaganda. Here are some facts as obtained from US reports on Guyana. The US has been involved in Guyana’s politics for decades. It was responsible for putting Burke’s party in office in 1964 after the toppling of a democratically elected PPP Government that constitutes the opposition today. Burke’s party institutionalised a de facto one-party dictatorship (1966 to 1992) and was subsequently pressured by the US into restoring democratic governance, including free and fair elections in 1992.

In 2015, Burke’s party won the Regional and General Elections by a small margin of 4500 votes. In 2020, Guyanese have become more sensitive to their democratic rights and the increasing role of the State in their lives and livelihood. Guyanese turned out (73 per cent) to vote and look forward to a new beginning. The Statements of Poll (SoPs) clearly show that the PPP/C won the 2020 elections by a wide margin of 17,000 votes. (Please see examples of poll results below). All the regions’ votes, except Region Four, were tabulated and accepted. Region Four, the last to be tabulated, was where a blatant attempt was made by GECOM’S Clairmont Mingo to depart from the legal process and begin to announce figures from a fictitious spreadsheet and not from the statutory SoPs. The western diplomats, including the US Ambassador, international observers including The Carter Center, Caricom, the European Union, the Commonwealth and the OAS condemned the fraud in the tabulation process. This universal condemnation has irked Burke, who sought you out for an interview with the expectation for you to issue a statement, criticising the statements of the US Ambassador and the State Department about their warning of sanctions should the process continue to be tainted with fraud.

The people of Guyana welcome the involvement of the diplomats, the US Administration, international organisations and governments in the protection of democracy, including the people’s voting rights. Surely, you

would have no problem with the people’s right to their votes and to choose a Government of their choice in free and fair elections. We thought that we should bring this important issue to your attention. Earlier, Guyana’s apex court, the CCJ (Caribbean Court of Justice), ruled that the Government was defeated in a “NoConfidence Motion” (NCM) and that they must demit office within three months. Instead, the Government called elections after 18 months following the passage of the NCM on December 18, 2018. This was in clear defiance of our democratic values.

Very importantly, in last January a high-level delegation of members of Congress under the leadership of Chairman Albion Sires, of the Foreign Affairs Western Affairs Hemispheric Sub-Committee, that included your New York colleagues Yvette Clarke and Gregory Meeks, met with President Granger and the Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo. Both leaders agreed to honour credible and transparent elections.

Sadly, it seems thus far that the President has failed to deliver on his commitment to the members of Congress.

Just for the record, the original Statements of Poll in Guyana’s elections in the custody of all political parties and observers show that the PPP/C won the elections. The APNU claims that it also won the elections but has failed to release or publicise their (identical with the PPP/C’s) copies of the SoPs to support their claim to victory.

Currently, the APNU party is taking every step to frustrate the ongoing recount and audit of the votes at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre.

This recount of ballots will be validated by a high-level Caricom team that is monitoring the process. So far, the Statements of Recount (SoRs) correspond to the vote tabulation of the original SoPs and support the PPP/C’s claim to victory.

Given the APNU (PNC) background in rigging elections (from 1966 thru 1992) that is known internationally, and now with its efforts to block accredited observers, how can any reasonable person not believe that something sinister is likely to happen?

Guyanese are very apprehensive at this point. This is the main reason (rigging) why observers have been invited to monitor this and past elections since 1992. Sadly though, the APNU party has found it convenient to block accredited observers from reputable institutions like The Carter Center to participate as observers in the ongoing recount.

We hold the view that Burke and others would like to see the US, western diplomats and observers disengage themselves from the recount process. The APNU members are afraid that any further attempt that they make to rig the recount would be quickly exposed and condemned both locally and internationally by these observers.

The US Ambassador and the State Department, as well as the diplomats of other countries and the Prime Ministers of the Caribbean region, have stood firm in defence of democracy, and they do not support Burke’s party for obstructing an agreement for a recount of the ballots agreed to by APNU’s David Granger and PPP/C’s Bharrat Jagdeo. Western diplomats have only asked that there be credible and transparent elections. This attitude by diplomats is not different from the positions taken for previous elections in 2011 and 2015, when the APNU not only applauded but also embraced them. APNU won the 2015 elections. Diplomats calling for credible and transparent elections merely reflect what the APNU leader, the PPP/C leader, and other political leaders have been advocating. This is not interference. It’s good diplomacy.

Burke is involved in a propaganda campaign of disinformation to sully the US reputation as a neutral observer in defence of democracy. We suggest you should not allow your good office and/or your reputation as a man of principles, to become tarnished. Perhaps it would be prudent if your office could also call for credible and transparent election results in Guyana!

Thank you.

Sincerely, Executives and members The New York Guyana Democracy Project

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TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2020

5

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Further unravelling of Mingo’s fraud – evidence mounts on day 5 of the recount Dear Editor, The painfully slow recounting process has, at the end of day 5, completed 208 boxes of the 2339 boxes to be recounted. Thus far, for all 208 boxes, the Statements of Recount (SoRs) have fully validated the Statements of Poll (SoPs) that were prepared by GECOM on E-Day, March 2. These SoPs were published by the PPP on March 6, although GECOM and APNU/AFC have steadfastly refused to make public these public documents, leaving the open question - why or what are they afraid of?

On March 6, the Returning Officer of Region Four abandoned the legal SoPs and made an illegal declaration for Region Four based on a mysterious spreadsheet with fake numbers. The acting Chief Justice declared the use of the spreadsheet illegal and, in throwing out the declaration, ordered Mingo to return to the tabulation using the legal SoPs. The spreadsheet he used was only in his and GECOM’s possession. None of the participating political parties, other than APNU/ AFC, nor any of the local and international observers had a copy of the spreadsheet.

Ordered by the CJ, Mingo and his GECOM colleagues returned with a bogus show of reading from SoPs, but actually used another spreadsheet and again pretended to show the numbers on a bedsheet screen. On March 13, he made a second declaration

with totals different from the first declaration, very different from the tabulation of the SoPs. The political parties and observers made copious notes of these numbers read from the spreadsheet. In addition, parts of the proceedings were videotaped. At the end of day 5, there is mounting evidence showing Mingo falsified the numbers for at least 15 of the 50 boxes recounted for Region Four so far, that we have evidence for.

From these 15 boxes, as shown in the table below, Mingo inflated the numbers for APNU/AFC by between 25 to 109 votes each, an average of 74 votes per box, amounting to a bogus increase of 1104 votes. Instead of a total of 1925 votes from these 15 boxes, Mingo gave APNU/ AFC 3129 votes, an increase of 63 per cent. In each case, the SoRs and the SoPs correlate, but are very different from Mingo’s spreadsheet. With inflated numbers for 300 boxes, the increase is 22,500.

The thieving of votes was not only by inflating APNU/ AFC numbers, as shown in the table below, but also by reducing the votes of the PPP. In four of the 15 boxes in which Mingo inflated APNU/AFC’s numbers, he also reduced the PPP’s numbers by a total of 77 votes.

Reduction in 150 boxes would reduce the PPP’s votes by more than 3000 votes. This was their strategy for thieving the election.

As we survey the video and our notes during the reading out of the numbers for Region Four, we will find many more examples from the recounted boxes. This is how Mingo fabricated an extra 22,000 votes for APNU/ AFC and at the same time reduced the PPP’s votes by about 3000. Every day, as more boxes from Region Four are counted, we will update this table to show the extent of the Mingo fraud.

As the recount unravels the fraud, each of these being a separate charge, it is important to note that Mingo could not do this fraud by himself. In fact, I wager that Mingo is just a small player in this major crime.

He is merely the frontman, the pawn that was used by more powerful individuals.

It is clear that he was carrying out instructions from the highest levels of the GECOM Secretariat. It is also clear that some of the Commissioners were complicit and even might have been directing the show. It is also clear that the rigging cabal in GECOM was not merely a rogue outfit, working for themselves, for their own benefits. They were being centrally directed by elements in APNU/ AFC, thus the signature of Volda Lawrence on the illegal, fraudulent Region Four declaration.

Sincerely, Dr Leslie Ramsammy

Legitimate hopes Dear Editor, I have always wondered why so many people are disengaged from politics.

Everything is clearer now; many people choose not to be involved because of the types of politicians and the political parties in power. Most parties are not ‘for the people’ and do not portray equality. They are not transparent and truthful.

They prefer to rig and cheat electoral processes and fabricate results.

Personally, politics is not my cup of tea, mostly because I am still young and learning, but it is time I expressed my thoughts on our current, never-ending issues.

Politics may be seen as ‘dirty’ and ‘corrupt’ for many people, but society simply expects ‘democracy’ and ‘honesty’ from a Government.

I have seen my friends, who were first-time voters, hopeless and strong-headed on never voting again due to the saddening result of our March 2020 General and Regional Elections. I could not cast my vote this election and I am 100 per cent convinced I may never want to after what occurred and is in process currently.

Thousands of Guyanese came out on March 2, 2020, to cast their vote. Pregnant

women, old feeble individuals, excited first-time voters stood in the piping hot sun for hours, tired, hungry, even ill.

I know of three people one who had a surgery done prior to Elections Day and the other two showed up with crutches, despite their pain.

Regardless of their situation, they stood optimistically, confidently, and vigilantly to vote for a political party that will guarantee development, transparency and democracy in their eyes. Whichever box they inserted their “X” in, they expected and hoped for a free and fair elections.

It has been more than 68 days without an acting President or a Government for our nation. The electoral process for countries holding millions of people are often finalised between the span of 1 to 3 weeks and a winner is declared immediately. For Guyana, a country of approximately 600,000 voters, our electoral process was expected to be completed within a week, however, it has been over two dreadful months and counting.

We can all perceive the blatant ignorance, disregard and robbery of our votes - the votes of our fellow Guyanese.

If a party is claiming victory, then produce fair elections re-

sults without delays, prevarications, excuses and making immature objections. Show the citizens the truth, declare a winning party. It is what every citizen of a country deserves. We practiced our civic duty and we expect a legitimate and lawful winner. We expect a Government that won rightfully and fairly.

We practiced our right as citizens and we were all promised and guaranteed a quick, hiccup-free, credible, fair and transparent elections. This has been going on way too long and I speak for everyone when I say: I am exhausted from hearing conversations, family debates and discussions about Guyana’s politics.

It is not entirely easy on us youths; we have to hear and feel it from our parents and family members who are often taking out their stress on us.

The entire world is witnessing our deplorable and disgraceful situation. It is extremely shameful and absolutely embarrassing. Let democracy, transparency, credibility and honesty prevail, but most importantly, let the rights, voices and struggles of the Guyanese people be heard and respected!

Yours truly, Hadiyyah Mohamed

Table comparing APNU/AFC votes in the SoPs, SoRs and Mingo’s spreadsheet #

Division #

Original Count (SOP)

Recount (SOR)

Mingo’s Spreadsheet

Total Stolen Votes

COMMENTS

1

411212 A(i) Yarrowkabra/ Kuru Kuru

188

188

247

59

SOR = SOP

2

411212A(ii) Yarrowkabra/ Kuru Kuru

160

160

215

55

SOR = SOP

3

411212B Yarrowkabra/ Kuru Kuru

48

48

73

25

SOR = SOP

4

411213 Kuru Kuru/Hauraruni

147

147

246

99

SOR = SOP

5

411221A Madewini/Marudi

69

69

140

71

SOR = SOP

6

411221B Madewini/Marudi

45

45

80

35

SOR = SOP

7

411222A(i) Kuru Kururu/Badarina

187

187

287

100

SOR = SOP

8

411222A(ii) Kuru Kururu/Badarina

211

210

311

101

APNU LOST 1 VOTE IN RECOUNT BECAUSE 1 VOTE WAS NOT VALID

9

411222A(iii)

228

229

338

109

APNU/AFC GAINED 1 VOTE

10

412131B (i) Land of Canaan

105

105

165

60

SOR=SOP. Mingo reduced PPP votes by 20 from 70 to 50

11

412131B (ii) Land of Canaan

93

93

163

70

SOR = SOP. Mingo reduced PPP’s vote by 20 -from 91 to 71

12

412131C Land of Canaan

61

61

161

100

SOR = SOP. Mingo reduced PPP’s vote by 20 -from 85 to 65

13

412131 E Sarah Johanna/ Caledonia

139

139

229

90

SOR = SOP. David Granger voted here

14

412132B(i) Relief/Brickery

199

199

289

90

Mingo reduced PPP’s vote by 17 - from 30 to 13

15

412222 J (ii) Golden Grove

145

145

185

40

SOR = SOP

TOTAL

1925

1925

3129

1104

While adding 1104 votes to APNU, Mingo reduced PPP’s votes by 77

Rebounding from defeat Dear Editor, From all indications, it would appear that the leaders within the APNU/AFC coalition believe that conceding defeat in the March 2, 2020 Elections will effectively end their political career. It would appear that these individuals do not believe that they have in themselves the will to fight back and regain the confidence and the trust of the Guyanese people and be re-elected into Government.

True leaders never give up, and always are willing to fight back after facing defeat.

History is replete with great leaders in business and politics who suffered defeat and then used that defeat to learn and came back with greater resolve and ultimately triumphed.

Right here in Guyana, we can use the example of Dr Cheddi Jagan, who unfairly was removed from leading Guyana, and through several fraudulent elections kept in opposition for 28 years. Dr Jagan never gave up and was eventually triumphantly returned to power in 1992, re-

SEE ADDITIONAL LETTERS ON PAGE 20

turning democracy to Guyana.

If the coalition leaders don’t want to use Dr Jagan as inspiration, they can use the example of Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln lost his initial bid to be a Senator, he eventually won after several tries. He lost several times in his bid to become a Congressman, eventually winning. He lost his first bid to become President.

He lost in his bid to become his party’s Vice-Presidential Candidate. Despite all these failures, Abraham Lincoln never gave up and he eventually became the President of the United States and is now arguably the most popular President they ever had and has gone down in history as one of the most admired persons in the world.

The leaders in the coalition can look at the successes gained by other persons after experiencing failures. Steve Jobs, Martha Stewart and even Donald Trump can be used as inspiration.

This is just to let the persons in the coalition who seem hell-bent to hold on to power, come what may, see that

there is hope after defeat.

Conceding defeat gracefully is the first step. Assess the reasons for your loss and work on correcting them and regaining your support. Be a responsible opposition, and like what the PPP/C did whilst in opposition, expose the failings of the new Government if your true interest is the representation of the Guyanese people.

I, therefore, call on the APNU/AFC coalition leaders, please accept defeat gracefully and don’t work on dragging the country down with you.

Show your supporters how to rebound from defeat and be an inspiration to them, as opposed to continuing along the current path of undermining and frustrating the recount process.

This process has been and will continue to expose the fraudulent nature of the results (results being held onto by the coalition as the basis for its so-called electoral victory) declared by the Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo.

Yours truly, S Greaves

6

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2020

Page

Foundation

Guyana Times is pleased to publish the Education Ministry’s National Grade Six Assessment Past Papers. Below are English Paper 2, 2019 and the conclusion of Social Studies Paper 1, 2010.

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

NATIONAL GRADE SIX ASSESSMENT

ENGLISH

Reading Time: 10 minutes Writing Time: 50 minutes

2. This paper consists of two sections: Section A and Section B.

Read these instructions carefully before you attempt to answer the questions.

Section A consists of four letter topics. Section B consists of four composition topics.

1. Write your candidate number clearly on each page.

Answer one question only, either from Section A or Section B. Each question is worth 20 marks.

SECTION A Answer ONE question in this section OR ONE question in Section B. In about 120-150 words, write a letter based on the information below.

1. Your birthday is fast approaching and you would like a bicycle as your present.

Write a letter to your parents giving three reasons why a bicycle would be the perfect present for your birthday.

OR 2. Your school plans to host a market day to raise funds for the annual prize-giving exercise.

Write a letter to a citizen or business owner in your community asking for a donation for this activity. Give three reasons to support your request for the donation for this activity.

OR 3. The playground in your community has become overgrown with bushes and the children can no longer enjoy the use of this playground.

Write a letter to the councillor for your village giving three reasons why it is necessary for the children to have the use of the playground.

6. If you have to erase, do so cleanly.

4. Write your letter or composition on the pages provided in this booklet.

8. Do not take away any part of this booklet.

5. Ensure that your handwriting is clear.

Write a letter to the head teacher in which you explain three reasons why sports day should be held.

OR

7. Look over your work when you have finished.

DO NOT TURN THIS PAGE UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO. OR

8. Write a story based on the pictures below. Give your composition a suitable title.

SECTION B Answer ONE question in this section if you have not answered a question in Section A. In about 120-150 words, write a composition based on the information given below.

5 . Roy hopped out of bed excitedly. The day he was anxiously awaiting had finally arrived. He ran to his father, “Daddy, are you all set for our fishing trip?” His father appeared worried and pointed to the dark clouds in the sky.

Write a story about what happened that day. Give your composition a suitable title.

OR 6. Write a story which includes the line below.

“Lisa beamed with pride as she received the award for bravery from the mayor.”

Give your composition a suitable title.

OR

OR 4. Sports day is one of the most exciting events at your school because it allows the different houses to compete against each other. Your head teacher is planning to cancel sports day this year.

3. You have 50 minutes writing time and 10 minutes reading time. Writing may begin during the reading time.

7.

Write a story which begins with the line below.

“I searched all over the yard but I could not find my puppy anywhere.” Give your composition a suitable title.

(20 marks)

END OF TEST SOCIAL STUDIES PAPER 1, 2010 CONCLUSION Use the information below to answer question 31.

Sita lived with her mother. Her mother died and she now lives with her grandmother, aunts and cousins.

31. Which one shows the movement of Sita from one family type to another?

(A) Nuclear family to an extended family.

(B) Extended family to a single parent family.

(C) Single parent family to an extended family.

(D) Extended family to a nuclear family.

32. Which of the following are ways of stopping discrimination in our country? (i) Showing appreciation for each other’s culture (ii) Ignoring the views of others (iii) Reporting incidents of discrimination (iv) Creating a loving and caring environment (A) i and iii only (C) i, ii and iii

(B) ii and iv only (D) i, iii and iv

END OF TEST

NEWS

7

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Mingo’s fraudulent declarations stand until replaced with recount results – GECOM …Commission meets today to extend 25-day timeline

cise “was not being able to meet the 25-day timeline and to understand from the Commission what is the plan to really ensure that that timeline is revisited and how soon that they can advise on what’s the approach that will be taken to either accelerate the process to meet that timeline or whether they would be an extension.”

As such, the GECOM PRO disclosed that the meeting did not close on a definitive position since the Commission will be meeting today to discuss the matter.

With regards to the request for a meeting with the Commission by the coalition A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC),

Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo

T

he fraudulent declarations that were proclaimed for Region Four by Clairmont Mingo on March 13, at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) headquarters stand on the Commission’s record until they are replaced by results from the National Recount exercise currently underway at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.

The results were never vitiated as fraud since the court had ruled on the procedures used which means that according to the Commission’s records, those results are not fraudulent and would have to be replaced. However, now that the recount has started, the Statements of Recount (SoRs) are showing a vastly different figure than those which were announced by Mingo.

GECOM’s Public Relations Officer (PRO) Yolanda Ward provided the clarification for members of the media on Monday as numerous public analyses being done on the figures presented by Mingo revealed them as heavily inflated in favour of the incumbent.

“The decision of the Commission is that those declaration remain in place until they are re-

placed by a count,” she told the media.

According to the PRO, this would mean that at the completion of the tabulation of Region One (Barima-Waini), there would be a declaration of that result after which it would “take the place of what currently exists.”

Ward told media operatives “until such time that when the declarations of these counts by the respective regions are completed then is when those declarations will be set aside.”

She told media operatives that when the recount process is completed with results for each of the regions, at that time the Commission would direct the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) to prepare a report for the final declaration of results of the March 2 General and Regional Elections.

Ward reminded that the declarations for the entire country which includes those delivered

by Mingo had been set in

abeyance, pending the results of the recount process.

She insisted that for each region, at the end of the recount exercise, “there will be a declaration that will be generated” The PRO was unable to say who would be doing the declarations for the regions for the recount and that this would have to be pronounced on by the Commission.

Additionally, the GECOM PRO told media operatives that following a meeting of the Commission and six of the small parties that contested the elections to listen to their concerns, a decision was taken to meet today in order to revise the initial 25-day deadline that had been set by the Commission to complete the National Recount exercise.

According to Ward, the primary concerns of the newer parties with regard the duration of the exer-

GECOM’s PRO, Yolanda Ward

Ward told reporters that the GECOM Chairperson, Retired Justice Claudette Singh asked that their concerns be listed in writing.

8 NEWS

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

APNU now says elections “flawed” but results “credible”

T

he coalition A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance for Change (APNU/ AFC) is now questioning the credibility of the March 2 polls by pointing to discrepancies such as ‘dead’ and ‘migrated voters’ even after the party’s Presidential Candidate and supporters had already declared the elections credible and that David Granger should be sworn in.

In fact, APNU/AFC’s position now is to question the credibility of the Election Day process, even as the party maintains that the results are credible.

The conflicting positions came on Monday, as day six of the National Recount continued at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) venue, when APNU/AFC floor supervisor for the recount, Leonard Craig, in speaking to media operatives said the coalition agents had made note of a number of the anomalies during the voting process on Election Day. He was at the time responding to concerns raised by People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) GECOM Commissioner, Sase Gunraj, who on Monday lamented that the party’s agents had been fabricating allegations to attack the credibility of the voting process without substantiating some of the claims that were raised.

It should be noted that prior to this recount, the party— including President David Granger—had dubbed the elections free and fair.

Briefing media operatives on Monday, Craig insisted that on Election Day, “…our agents are not allowed to disturb the electoral process on the day so if you notice a person without ID came in to vote and they did not take an oath of identity, you can’t get up and say let this election stop now and these kinds of things.

What you do, raise your objection, allow the process to con-

Caretaker President David Granger

tinue and then you make a note.”

According to Craig, during the period that followed polling day, the reports from the APNU/AFC agents “were scanned with fine-tooth combs.”

“And when we scan that, we are able to pick up, based on all the objections that were made, we are able to pick up these things. And then we corroborate the information based on information that is available, for example, there is the register of deaths, there are information being kept about people who depart, right down to their flight number and destination. All those kinds of things. We have that information.”

It was noted, however, that these issues were not raised when the declarations were being made, nor were they raised prior to the commencement of the national recount.

Commissioner Gunraj had previously indicated that the two major parties—APNU/ AFC and PPP/C—both had agents present at all Polling Stations.

Scrutineers serve the purpose of overseeing the voting process and raising objections to diversions from the process as required by law.

According to Section 70

of the Representation of the People Act, as it pertains to the voting process, “The Presiding Officer upon receipt of the identity paper and other documents as directed under Section 69(5) and upon application made to him for a ballot paper the Presiding Officer shall satisfy himself as to the following – that the applicant has not already voted; the identity of the applicant and his entitlement to vote at the polling place.”

Further, the Act stipulates, “For the purposes of Subsection (1) the Presiding Officer may – examine the applicant’s fingers to ascertain if there appears on them any stain of electoral ink; compare the signature of the applicant with that on his identity paper; compare any photograph on his identity paper with his face; compare the thumbprint or other fingerprint recorded on his identity paper with that of the applicant; compare the height recorded on his identity paper with that of the applicant; examine his notice of appointment (if any) to vote as a proxy on behalf of another elector and compare the particulars in the notice with those recorded in the copy of the list of proxies; make such further comparisons as are reasonably necessary between the particulars recorded on his identity paper and those of the applicant; require the applicant to take an oath of identity in Form pursuant to Section 69(3).”

According to Craig, the People’s Progressive Party should not be afraid of the recount as, “the process will reveal the truth and we are going to take this process to its logical conclusion. Let’s go with the process.”

Further, the APNU/AFC agent disclosed too that the coalition’s position is that the recount is also adopting the function of an election petition.

“Normally, this information that we are providing will

APNU/AFC in orchestrated...

The PPP Executive said, “the people of Guyana at the end of this process will have to face another ordeal of getting them to accept this results and eventually give up Government because they are clearly moving in the direction where they would want to denounce the credibility of this process because it will not suit their political agenda.”

Meanwhile, the PPP in a formal statement to the media on Monday reminded that the coalition leaders are on record congratulating GECOM for an excellent job in holding free and fair elections.

On May 4, President Granger in a public statement described the elections as “free, fair and orderly.”

This, in addition to the fact that “every accredited observer team, both national and international that observed Election Day activities, endorsed it as free and fair.”

According to the PPP, now

that recount process is “unravelling the vile fraud perpetrated by Clairmont Mingo in relation to the results” APNU/AFC has since embarked “upon an orchestrated and ludicrous campaign to undermine and discredit Election Day’s activities by concocting a series of reckless and unsubstantiated allegations.”

Recklessness The party noted that “in their recklessness, they objected to a serial number at Pearl Nursery School and when that serial number was checked on the marked list of electors, it was David Granger’s.”

It was noted too that, other “inconsequential, false and frivolous objections they are making,” include, absence of poll books and persons voting without ID cards among others.

“Now that the recount ex-

Turning…

D APNU/AFC floor supervisor for the recount, Leonard Craig

form part of an election petition because an election petition goes straight to the credibility of the elections. Now, this recount process has two main objectives, and one of those is to determine the credibility of the process. So, this is kind of a hybrid process— it is both a recount and a determination of credibility so it’s part of an election petition and part of an election day activity,” he said.

The coalition agent said that they plan to accumulate all their allegations in relation to improprieties on Election Day, and approach GECOM to conduct a verification of these allegations, such as confirming deaths and migration of voters.

Despite all these concerns over the credibility of the votes that were cast, the party agent insisted that the results that were declared—which have since been declared as lacking credibility by the courts, international observers and the international community—are not lacking credibility.

“We are not saying that it was not credible,” he stated and argued that the incumbent President should have been sworn in based on those results, then the results should have been challenged by way of an election petition.

FROM PAGE 3

ercise is revealing the cold hard truth, which is that the APNU/AFC have abysmally lost the elections, they are bawling hysterically that the elections were tainted with irregularities and they are concocting these nonsensical allegations to which reference has been made above.”

According to the PPP, “these allegations, they are insulting the collective intelligence and competence of not only the Presiding Officers, Assistant Presiding Officers but their own polling agents, some of whom were their candidates to the poll - all of whom, were present in Polling Stations throughout the country and who scrutinised the process from beginning to end.”

Rebuff The Opposition has since called on the electoral body “to diligently rebuff these bizarre allegations as they are

being manufactured by the rigging cabal…It must not be the responsibility of Yolanda Ward—GECOM’s Public Relations Officer—alone who should be tasked with this obligation.”

The party has since called on Chairperson of GECOM, Retired Justice Claudette Singh and the Chief Elections Officer, Deputy Chief Elections Officer and Commissioners to “defend the integrity of the elections which they exclusively conducted and managed.”

The party intimated that “there is no doubt that at the end of this process, the people of Guyana will be burdened with the ordeal of getting the rigging cabal to accept the results of the recount and to give up Government.’

As Guyana awaits the results of the elections, Monday, May 11 marked five years since the APNU/AFC have taken Government.

…(crazy) backflips avid Granger’s seventy-five years old – so he shouldn’t be surprised when he does all these backflips, he’ll hurt much more than his back.

Like that squeaky-clean image he cultivated since 2011 by kissing babies’ bottoms and dropping on his knees in church pews. Not to mention that inane smirk so reminiscent of Alfred E Neuman from MAD Magazine. If he keeps this up – and he shows no sign of letting up – his name will soon be “mud”. If it isn’t that already!!

But Granger doesn’t care about all that now…and Guyanese better stuff that in their pipes and smoke it.

It’s “back to back, belly to belly; ah don’t give a damn, ah done dead a’ready”!! So here it is, ever since March 3rd when they received their SoPs – like every other party and observer – Granger and Co have been shouting to the skies that they won the elections, which were the most orderly ever. And now suddenly, forced into a recount which they resorted to the Courts to stop, the election’s the most corrupted ever – by the PPP? So, the PPP actually rigged the elections to hand the PNC victory??

Now let’s not gloss – or rush – over this point. Did the SoPs in their possession show the PNC won or not? They can’t have it both ways. This isn’t that thought experiment in quantum physics – Schrodinger’s Cat – where the poor cat could be both dead and alive – depending on your perspective!! SoPs are pieces of paper – not quantum particles – with numbers on them that you add up to decide whether you or the PPP got more votes. They didn’t even have to invoke their “half-man” theory!!

They repeated they won even after the world-aswitnesses swore Mingo changed numbers on his copies of Reg 4 SoPs. So, what about the Mingoed numbers that gave them their win – and which Claudette has kept in “abeyance”?? If the ballots were so screwed up at the polling stations in front of all their polling agents

by PPP’s serial skulduggeries, how come Mingo got the right numbers?? Wasn’t the recount supposed to verify Mingo’s allegedly pristine numbers??

But the Granger didn’t stop with backflips of the recount. For the longest while, after the Carter Center wasn’t allowed back for the recount, they were all singing Shaggy’s “Wasn’t Me” in acapella. But now Cummings – of “all observers are hereby unaccredited” fame – has confirmed it was Granger who told the US Ambassador “no can do”!!

Finally, to cap it all off, after issuing a statement asserting there were “countless” irregularities, a spokesman still insisted the elections were “credible”.

Your poor Eyewitness’s head’s spinning like that girl’s in “The Exorcist”!!

…satire on its head If the PNC keeps this up, your Eyewitness gonna definitely be out of a job. He’s supposed to take a satirical look at the news. But how’d you satirise what’s already satire of the highest order. Take this release: “APNU+AFC sees clear emerging pattern of PPP contamination of the March 2 elections As the fifth day of the recount process has been completed, clear and unmistakable patterns of irregularities, discrepancies and worse have emerged.

The recount process has uncovered, among other things: 1. Countless instances of dead persons being recorded as voting exclusively in PPP strongholds.

2. Countless instances of persons who have long migrated from Guyana and who were not in Guyana on Election Day being recorded as voting.

3. Countless instances of persons who did not uplift their ID cards from GECOM for many years being recorded as voting in PPP stronghold areas but with no corresponding Oaths of Identity being found in the ballot boxes.

4. Countless instances of unsigned Oaths of Identity in PPP stronghold areas.”

“Countless” instances in a finite count??

…in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned.

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

NEWS

9

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

PSC urges GECOM to stop broadcasting Hydromet Office issues unverified APNU/AFC complaints flash floods warning …says unverified objections causing delays, mischief

T

he Private Sector Commission (PSC) has urged the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to reconsider broadcasting the litany of unsubstantiated complaints being brought up by the incumbent party during the recount.

In a letter to GECOM on Monday, PSC Chairman, retired Captain Gerry Gouveia complained that reading these complaints is a time-consuming process and moreover, A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) does not present any evidence when making them.

“We have observed that the tabling of these lengthy, unverified allegations is the cause of inordinate and unjustified delays of the recount,” Gouveia wrote.

“We wish to point out that the election process on March 2, 2020, was observed and confirmed by both local and international observers as entirely credible and most recently, in an official broadcast to the nation by President David Granger.”

Among the claims that APNU/AFC has made is that the dead and migrated voted during the election. This is despite the heavy presence of international and local observers at the Polling Stations. In addition, both

PSC Chairman Gerry Gouveia

PPP and APNU/AFC agents were present in stations across the country.

“It is our considered view that it is extremely dangerous to be publicising unproven allegations for public consumption. We consider it most unfortunate that the observation reports are being used to disseminate unverified information and urge that you instruct that the reports not be broadcast unless or until it’s contents are verified.”

“We further urge that GECOM respond appropriately, promptly and regularly to these allegations made against GECOM’s conduct of the elections, which are being placed before the media as a matter of fact,” Gouveia stated, going on to urge GECOM to make a concerted effort to clear the tabulation backlog.

Stakeholders, most notably the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) have long lamented the slow pace of the recount. Among the issues they have cited as contributing to this slow pace, is the reading and streaming of the observation report.

They have contended that the broadcast of an observation report was never contemplated in the recount order. Not only would the reports be verbally read out, GECOM has said, but sign language interpreters would be used for good measure.

PPP leaders, headed

by Presidential Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali, previously met with the GECOM Chairperson and requested a review of that decision. Ali, on Saturday, lamented the fact that the pace at which the exercise is being conducted is very slow.

He noted that considering the 25 days scheduled, which was outlined in the gazetted order, the counting agents should be doing about 94 boxes per day. However, the pace of the count is moving at about 40 boxes per day.

He added that further analysis has shown that over four hours is deducted from the actual counting time when one considers all the administrative issues that are taking place simultaneously.

A

flood warning has been issued for floodprone areas over the next few hours. According to the Agriculture Ministry’s, Hydrometeorological Service weather forecast model, rainfall accumulation is expected to be between 10.0mm and 40.0mm into Monday evening.

Pomeroon-Supenaam Region Two and Essequibo Islands-West Demerara Region Three were expected to be mostly affected on Monday while all other areas will experience cloudy skies with brief showers.

Frequent showers and thunderstorms are expected on May 12, 13, and 14, 2020. Rainfall is expected to range from 30.0mm to 70.0mm.

Due to the prolonged precipitation period, flood-

prone areas are expected to experience floods while hilly areas may experience landslides.

The Mayor of the City of Georgetown, Ubraj Narine has since informed the Commission that all pumps in the city are fully equipped and functioning.

During the months of May, June and July, the Hydromet Office’s extended forecast predicts that all regions will experience above normal rainfall with some extreme events during these months.

The Civil Defence Commission is urging residents in high-risk communities to take the necessary precautions: • Place sandbags where needed.

• Unplug all electrical items which may come

into contact with floodwaters.

• Elevate all household furniture and appliances situated on the ground floor.

• Relocate livestock to higher ground.

• Use purification tablet as prescribed.

• Ensure children and the elderly stay clear of floodwaters.

The Commission also reminded persons to adhere to the COVID-19 precautions.

If you must render assistance, remember to wear a mask correctly and sanitise after rendering aid.

Further, kindly call the Civil Defence Commission’s 24-hour National Emergency Monitoring System (NEMS) on 6231700, 600-7500, or 226-1114 to report flooding.

10 NEWS US Democratic Congressman attacks Trump Administration on behalf of APNU/AFC T TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

he comments of Democratic Congressman Hakeem Jeffries about Guyana's politics has raised eyebrows, particularly as his statements have put him at odds with United States (US) policy regarding the state of Guyana's elections.

In a correspondence directed at the Congressman, who is Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, two New York-based organisations were highly critical of the way the interview was conducted. According to one of them - the International

Center for Democracy (ICD) – Jeffries’ failure to objectively analyse the protracted delay in concluding the election is troubling.

ICD noted that it strongly condemned the statements made by United States Congressman Hakeem Jeffries on May 8, 2020, in an online interview with Rickford Burke, a known APNU activist who resides New York.

It added that the “blatant fraud by Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) in cahoots with prominent members of the

APNU/AFC regime to fraudulently declare the Region Four tabulation results in favour of APNU/AFC by using falsified data from an Excel spreadsheet instead of the actual Statement of Poll (SoPs) was witnessed first-hand and condemned by representative from the ABCE countries, EU, OAS, Caricom, international and local observers, representative from all competing parties and the world at large."

According to the ICD, Jeffries turned a blind eye to a number of issues, including the Guyana Government's

refusal to allow The Carter Center into the country.

They also urged that Jeffries publicly denounce electoral fraud and express support for free and fair elections.

Due diligence

Meanwhile, the New York Guyana Democracy Project (NYGDP) in a letter to the Congressman informed him that he should have done due diligence before appearing on Burke's interview.

"We believe that it’s important that you fact-check the relevant information

Democratic Congressman Hakeem Jeffries

as some of the contents are very misleading, mischievous, and propagandistic.

This could put you on a collision course with pro-democracy activists and international observers as well as with US and other western diplomats in Guyana."

NYGDP in its letter noted that “you indicated a readiness to assail the US Administration for advocating credible and transparent elections and for warning that a departure could lead to serious consequences against those engaged in electoral fraud in Guyana.

We thought you, like other democratic colleagues in Congress, are a defender of democracy and would adopt a strong position to protect electoral rights of the Guyanese as well as other peoples elsewhere."

They recalled that it is APNU/AFC that has put Guyana in political crisis after political crisis, first by not holding elections three months after the no-confidence vote and now the current political imbroglio.

The letter added that the western diplomats, including the US Ambassador, international observers in-

cluding The Carter Center, Caricom, the European Union, the Commonwealth and the OAS condemned the fraud in the tabulation process.

“This universal condemnation has irked Burke, who sought you out for an interview with the expectation for you to issue a statement, criticising the statements of the US Ambassador and the State Department about their warning of sanctions should the process continue to be tainted with fraud,” the letter stated.

It added that the people of Guyana welcome the involvement of the diplomats, the US Administration, international organisations and governments in the protection of democracy, including the people’s voting rights. “Surely, you would have no problem with the people’s right to their votes and to choose a Government of their choice in free and fair elections," the letter noted, urging the Congressman not to allow his reputation to be tarnished.

Jeffries is a high-ranking US Congressman who has also previously been linked to A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC), having attended their victory party in New York back in 2015.

Jeffries had written the then US administration to intervene in Guyana’s political affairs after President Donald Ramotar had constitutionally prorogued Parliament.

Note also the letter was released by Burke’s outfit.

A few days ago, he criticised the US Government for what he called "foreign interference" in Guyana's affairs. This is despite widely documented complaints of rigged tabulations on the part of the Guyana Elections Commission.

NEWS

11

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Guyana Goldfields announces mass termination of employees …as Union blasts Govt for legacy of huge job losses

A

mid COVID-19 and Guyana’s economic and social woes, Guyana Goldfields has taken an abrupt decision to terminate what some are projecting to be hundreds of its staff at several levels and move forward with a skeleton staff.

This was communicated in a letter from Goldfields Chief Executive Officer, Alan Pangbourne, dated May 11, 2020. In defence of the decision, Pangbourne cited issues with COVID-19 and other difficulties over the past few months.

“Today, with great regret I am writing to all employees to inform you that we will be reducing the size of AGM’s workforce. This reduction in the workforce will take place at all levels including both national and expatriate employees as the company will transition its mining operation into a state of care and maintenance for an undetermined period,” the CEO’s letter to employees stated.

“The reason our timeline is undetermined is because it depends on multiple variable factors. These factors include financial conditions, COVID-19 issues, travel restrictions, and pending approval from Guyana’s EPA of our Revised Environmental and Social Impact Assessment permit for underground mining,” he further explained.

Hindrances, loss of income, lack of funding

According to Pangbourne, these factors include hindrances to mining, the loss of income projected from ore shortage in their our open pits and an overall lack of funding to recommence operations in some areas.

Another factor the CEO cited is the continued negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to him, the pandemic has forced them to stop underground mining development.

“These reasons have unfortunately made it impossible to ensure business continuity and, therefore, we have reached the point where we need to institute manpower adjustments,” the letter stated, adding that mining operations at the Aurora Mine site will be interrupted and will require some downtime to transition from open pit to underground mining, which is the future of the Aurora Mine.

When it comes to the issue of severance payments, Pangbourne promised that workers’ rights and local laws would be respected. According to the CEO, these laws include the Termination of Employment and Severance Pay Act. “Those of you affected will be paid their statutory notice period and severance entitlements in keeping with the Act. This will include recognition of your

Guyana Goldfields Chief Executive Officer Alan Pangbourne

years of service with AGM, as applicable. We will ensure that each of you will be treated in a respectful and thoughtful manner.”

“The reduction in workforce is expected to take place between mid-May 2020 and end of June 2020.

This upcoming timeline is driven by the completion of mining and milling activities, and subsequent preparation requirements for transitioning the Aurora Mine site into care and maintenance status. Some of you will be asked to continue with AGM during the care and maintenance period.”

No mention was made of exactly how many workers would be affected. This publication reached out to senior management at AGM but was unable to get clarity on this. However, persons have posited that considering AGM employs over 500 personnel, the number of workers being let go will be significant.

Unsatisfactory

The National Mining Workers Union (NMWU), which is the recognised representative of workers at AGM, has since lambasted this decision and the effects it will have on hundreds of employees.

In a statement to the media, NMWU President Sherwyn Downer was also critical of the Labour Department, noting that this is the latest in a series of mass layoffs in the extractive sector to happen under their noses.

“Mass employment termination continues under the incompetent David Granger-led Administration and coalition Government.

Even after assuring the workers after the announcement of the takeover of Guyana Goldfields Inc by Silvercorp Metal, today both [Guyana] Goldfields and AGM have announced that they will be sending home their employees.”

“While [Labour officials] remain in their hibernation, hundreds of mining workers continue to go on the breadline. Troy resources sent 300-plus packing in December 2019.

RUSAL [sent home] 300plus between January and February 2020.”

AGM is Guyana’s largest mining company and for years has accounted for the lion’s share of gold declarations. But only weeks ago, it was announced that Silvercorp, another Canadian company, would be buying over Guyana Goldfields and AGM. According to Downer, it is as if Guyana’s mining sector is collapsing before everyone’s eyes.

“The mining industry seems to be collapsing, the largest and second-largest mining companies are becoming history. The last five years of the David Grangerled Administration, Guyanese has been [one of] the worst in terms of employment termination in history… from GuySuCo, RUSAL, Troy Resources, AGM, Ohlendorf.”

12 NEWS

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

COVID-19 cases climb to 109 …Region Nine reports 1st case …4 of 5 new cases residents of Palms

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wo months after Guyana recorded its first case of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the number of cases has grown to 109, after five new persons tested positive.

Caretaker Public Health Minister, Volda Lawrence disclosed during Monday’s COVID-19 update that the cases increased by 12 within three days.

In one day, the Ministry conducted 16 tests. This contributed to a total figure of 930 tests thus far, of which 821 returned negative. Deaths from COVID-19 remained at 10, with 36 persons recovering and 63 in institutional isolation. This time around, one person was intubated.

In April, the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) had predicted that Guyana was likely to have 20,000 cases if measures were not implemented against the pandemic. As a result, stay at home advisories, a national curfew among other mechanisms were introduced to flatten the curve.

However, Lawrence once again called on the public to practice social distancing, and abide by the curfew. She also requested persons to report any suspected case that they may come across.

“Guyanese, a disaster is at our very back door and unless we exercise caution and adhere to the control measures, the model figures of 1400 and 20,000 can become a reality,” the caretaker Public Health Minister cautioned.

Palms new cases

“We have constantly been pleading with you to come forward if you have been in contact with a positive case. We have also listed the areas where confirmed cases have been identified but still, there is a reluctance for you to disclose your contacts. We must seriously think about flattening the curve and containing the spread of the virus so that we all can return to normalcy. Therefore, we ask you to put aside fear and stigma and come forward and provide the information.”

The World Health

Organisation has reported that there are 3,917,366 confirmed cases worldwide with 274,361 deaths. In the Americas, the number of confirmed cases has increased by 18,536 with the number of deaths increasing by 6830.

Guyana’s southwestern neighbour, Brazil saw an increase in positive cases by 10,222 within one day as the deaths also rose by 751. Alarmingly, Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) which shares the border with Brazil reported its first case.

Meanwhile, four new persons have tested positive for the deadly coronavirus at the Palms Geriatric Home following the death of Bhaneshwar Ramdial, who was a resident at the facility.

The elderly man was admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) on May 1 after he was suspected of having the virus. It was reported that he presented all of the symptoms and because of his age and other factors, those symptoms became severe. But he died a few hours after he was admitted as a patient in the hospital. A test conducted posthumously revealed that the elderly Ramdial was positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19). However, the Public Health Ministry did not make the death public until May 5 – four days after.

The man’s death has raised many questions, with nurses staging a protest in front of the home on Friday last calling on the Public Health Ministry to provide

Palms Geriatric Home

protective gear as they are fearful of contracting the disease.

It is still unclear as to how he might have contracted the disease, but there are 102 nurses employed at the home with three on-call doctors that care for 198 patients.

Last week, Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr Shamdeo Persaud noted that most of the persons tested positive for COVID-19, to date, are males with a ratio of 49:44 and this statement is no different from the Palms, as out of the four persons, three are male and one female.

Director of Social Services at the Ministry of Social Protection, Wentworth Tanner stated that following the death of the 64-year-old man, the Health Emergency Operating Centre (HEOC) commenced contract tracing where 12 individuals were placed on quarantine.

In light of this, the Public Health Ministry has ramped up testing within the facility.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) had said that older persons and those with underlying medical problems, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer, are more likely to develop the serious forms of the deadly virus.

Ten persons have died as a result of COVID-19. They were identified as 52-yearold Ratna Baboolall; 38-yearold Jermaine Ifill; 78-yearold Osa Collins; 59-year-old Shadrach Stoll; 38-year-old Deryck Jaisingh; 45-year-old Lennox Williams; 49-yearold visually-impaired Sydney Trellis; 77-year-old Colonel John Percy Leon Lewis, 67-year-old Samuel Morris, and Bhaneshwar Ramdial.

Renita Singh and pleaded not guilty to the charge.

It is alleged that on May 8, 2020, Police ranks acting on information received went to his Ankerville, Port Mourant home and conducted a search for narcotics.

During a search of one of the bedrooms, a bulky parcel along with 174 small Ziplock

bags were found containing the cannabis that amounted to 230 grams.

Benn along with his wife were arrested. He was charged but she is still in custody.

Magistrate Singh released Benn on $200,000 bail. The case will continue on May 29, 2020.

Corentyne labourer on $200,000 bail for ganja trafficking

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n Ankerville, Port Mourant, Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne) labourer was hauled before the Whim Magistrate’s Court on Monday for allegedly trafficking 230 grams of marijuana.

Akim Benn, 20, of Ankerville, Port Mourant, appeared before Magistrate

2 remanded for attempted murder, robbery

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wo men were hauled before the Whim Magistrate’s Court where attempted murder along with robbery under arms charges were read to them.

Ryan DeHart, 26, also known as “Crapo” and 31-year-old Krisindat Ganga called “Yankee” appeared before Magistrate Renita Singh and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Police stated that on April 19, 2020, at Lot 88 Free Yard, Port Mourant, Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne), at about 20:10h the duo, one armed with a gun and the other with a cutlass, pounced on the family demanding cash and jewellery.

The homeowner, 45-year-

Remanded: Krisindat Ganga

Remanded: Ryan DeHart

old Joel Benn, resisted the robbers by striking one of the intruders with a spade to his head. His accomplice, who was armed with the gun, retaliated by shooting

Benn’s wife, Roshnie Singh.

The bandits left the scene empty-handed. Magistrate Singh remanded the duo to prison and the case will continue on June 1, 2020.

NEWS

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TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

APNU/AFC continues to insult ANSA McAL makes donation Guyanese intelligence – FITUG to orphanage A

s local and international organisations continue to pay keen attention to the current recount of votes from the March 2 polls, the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) has called out the APNU/AFC for their continued attempts to discredit the process.

FITUG on Monday said that reports suggest that the process has been progressing smoothly but on the slower side. However, it went on to highlight attempts by the caretaker Government to ‘cast doubt’ on the process now, despite stating that it was free and fair.

“While we are pleased, somewhat, with those developments, we are simply aghast to see the unvarnished attempts by officials of the coalition to sought to bring the process into disrepute. We recall previously that the coalition had conveyed that voting proceeded without any hitch or controversy. Similar sentiments

FITUG President Carvil Duncan

also came from the various parties and local and international observers. It, therefore, now is confounding that we see officials of the Administration seeking to cast doubts on a process that President David Granger a few days ago said it was free and fair,” the statement noted.

It went on to list these accusations coming from the coalition, which recent-

ly claimed that deceased persons and Guyanese who have migrated would’ve exercised their franchise on Election Day. However, FITUG labelled the stir as ‘feeble’ attempts on the Administration’s part, positioning that persons who migrated are still listed on the Official List of Electors and are eligible to vote.

“We see the coalition’s accusations as nothing more than futile and feeble attempt as an act of unadulterated desperation. For those who are familiar with the electoral process, it is a most robust system which has several built-in safeguards. The system, of course, evolved out of the dark period of rigged elections. The entire spectrum of finger-pointing brings indeed into great question of role of the coalition’s agents on Elections Day.” Questions were raised as to why these issues were not brought up initially, as the Government claimed they

19 Lindeners fined, given community service for curfew violation

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everal Lindeners appeared before Magistrate Wanda Fortune on Friday and were either fined or given community service for breaching the countrywide COVID-19 curfew.

While a total of 40 matters were presented before the court via Zoom, only 24 violators showed up for their cases to be tried at the Regional Police Headquarters at Mackenzie, Linden.

A total of eight persons were charged for breach of restriction on social activities while the others were charged with breach of curfew. Overall, a total of 13 persons were fined with the amount ranging from $10,000 to $16,000.

Each, however, comes with a default sentence of two to three months’ imprisonment. Six persons were given community service.

Meanwhile, five offenders were reprimanded and discharged based on explanations given to the court.

The other 16 outstanding matters are expected to be heard before Magistrate Fortune on Wednesday, May 13, 2020, at the same court.

Regional Commander, Superintendent Hugh Winter has stated that anyone who attempts to make their way into the community from Georgetown via the Bamia-Soesdyke-Linden Highway route after the curfew time will be redirected to their location or may be re-

quired to wait until the following morning.

Additionally, there are Police roadblocks set up at various areas across Linden, including the Bamia checkpoint, Amelia’s Ward, the Mackenzie-Wismar Bridge and the Five Corner area.

There are also patrols traversing all areas and according to the Regional Commander, anyone found to be in violation will have their names placed in the curfew book and escorted to the nearest police station.

For drivers, their vehicles will be lodged until the next morning. Henceforth, violators are given return dates to facilitate prosecution and virtual court appearances.

Woman stabbed to death by son-in-law

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56-year-old woman is now dead after her son-in-law stabbed her during a heated exchange over his treatment of her daughter.

Dead is Velma Pickering of Lot 257 South Vryheid’s Lust, East Coast Demerara (ECD), while her assailant is a 28-year-old security guard of Sideline Dam, Buxton (ECD).

Reports are on Monday sometime between 14:30h and 14:45h the woman’s sonin-law went to her house and she admonished him about his attitude towards her daughter. This led to a heat-

Dead: Velma Pickering

ed argument. According to Police, the man attacked the woman and dealt her several stabs about her body with an ice pick. She, however, managed to flee the

house and ventured into her neighbour’s yard where she collapsed. The 56-year-old woman was picked up and rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

The suspect escaped but his freedom was short-lived as public-spirited citizens apprehended and handed him over to the police. The suspect is known to law enforcement as he was wanted in connection for unlawfully wounding Shamar Roberts.

That incident occurred on May 9 at Sideline Dem, Buxton.

were heavily guarding all activities. This, the Federation said, does not add up.

FITUG expressed, “Certainly, one would have thought they [would] have looked at the process with an eagle eye and would have caught these ‘issues’ as they arose. It also begs the question, that the coalition having knowledge of such ‘issues’ never prior to the recount sought to make them known, publicly at least. Or why it was willing to benefit from a process which tilted the votes in its favour yet, at the same time, apparently worked against it. They simply do not add up, lack logic or even coherence.”

As such, Guyanese were cautioned not to get sidetracked by attempts to ‘hijack the process’. The organisation said this election process has been hinged on many issues which later arose, the most recent which “descended into an audit of the elections”.

“The continued ploys being deployed by the coalition are nothing more than an insult to the collective intelligence of all Guyanese. We are not as asinine as the coalition wants to think.”

A representative receiving the donation from ANSA McAL

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NSA McAL Trading Limited last week donated several cases of Smalta to the Joshua House Children Centre at South, Thomas Street, Georgetown.

This gesture is part of a series of donations that will target orphanages and homes during this COVID-19 pandemic.

AMTL, through its NonAlcoholic Department, identified orphanages and less fortunate homes as places that can be under some pressure during this time because of the pandemic, and made it their duty to aid these organisations with Smalta, which aids in build-

ing the immune system.

Smalta Brand Coordinator, Gabrielle Lopes noted, “as the world faces a health crisis, ANSA McAL, under the Smalta brand, is committed to reaching out to those most affected at this time. Our focus is primarily on our healthcare workers and various orphanages across Guyana. This pandemic comes at a challenging time, and our hope is that our small contribution can have a positive impact on the fight against COVID-19.”

Further, this was the first of many donations, with several more set to take place over the next month.

14 ELECTIONS 2020 RECOUNT TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Comparison of Monday's SoRs with PPP’s SoPs DISTRICT 4 STATEMENTS OF RECOUNT

DISTRICT 4 STATEMENTS OF POLL RELEASED BY PPP/C

ELECTIONS 2020 RECOUNT

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TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Comparison of Monday's SoRs with PPP’s SoPs DISTRICT 4 STATEMENTS OF RECOUNT

DISTRICT 4 STATEMENTS OF POLL RELEASED BY PPP/C

16 ELECTIONS 2020 RECOUNT TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Comparison of Monday's SoRs with PPP’s SoPs DISTRICT 4 STATEMENTS OF RECOUNT

DISTRICT 4 STATEMENTS OF POLL RELEASED BY PPP/C

ELECTIONS 2020 RECOUNT

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STATEMENTS OF RECOUNT

18 ELECTIONS 2020 RECOUNT TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

STATEMENTS OF RECOUNT

ELECTIONS 2020 RECOUNT

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STATEMENTS OF RECOUNT

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guyanatimesgy.com

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2020

You can send your letters with pictures to: Guyana Times, Queens Atlantic Investment Estate Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown, Guyana or letters@guyanatimesgy.com

Will the recount be credible until the end? PNC’s trickery is up

Dear Editor, When The Carter Center withdrew its electoral experts and international observers from Guyana, it pledged its commitment to promote democracy in Guyana and stated its willingness to return to Guyana when the electoral process resumes. This pledge can be traced back to its 1992 Elections report. However, The Carter Center was forced to abort its mission when the caretaker Government began to frustrate the electoral process using the Court, GECOM and COVID-19. The coalition has since banned the Center from returning to observe the recount.

Until that time, The Carter Center had noted that “the polling observed on March 2nd was well-administered and reflected international standards for democratic elections”.

The Center went on to state that, “the process was sound and capable of delivering results that credibly reflect the will of the people”. It also highlighted the fact that it was only with Region Four, “the credibility of the tabulation process deteriorated”. This caused the Center and other international observer groups to denounce the Region Four results as not credible. The OAS Observer Mission’s Head, Bruce Golding

shared similar views and stated that the election was well organised.

It is vitally important to note that the caretaker President David Granger had stated on March 3 that he was satisfied with the electoral process despite a few anomalies and abuses such as the “six-digit stamps were only stamping four digits”. These ‘anomalies and abuses’ were rectified by GECOM officials in an efficient manner. Granger was ‘satisfied’ at that time and at no time did he claim that the polling observed on March 2 would not deliver credible results.

This was echoed by GECOM’s Chairperson, Justice (retd.) Claudette Singh who unequivocally stated that “GECOM has delivered free, fair and credible elections”.

She emphasised that “the elections were well run” and “the CEO and his hardworking Secretariat did a fantastic job”.

A headline caption in the Stateowned Guyana Chronicle read, “Elections was free and fair”.

Indeed not any of the political parties disputed that the polling on March 2 was not imbued with those characteristics.

However, after the failure of the coalition to block the recount and swear-in Granger based on fraudulent elections results, there is now a sinis-

ter move to discredit the polling activities which took place on March 2 in an effort to abort the entire elections results and call fresh elections which would probably give them another year or more in office.

The Region Four recount has exposed the massive fraud perpetrated by Mingo and his team, therefore, the only alternative now is to attack the credibility of the elections. But the time for that has long gone. The coalition is now raising frivolous objections which they had ample time to address during ‘the claims and objections period’ and furthermore, it begs the question whether their ‘polling/ counting’ agents were sleeping during the elections day process. It is also crystal that many PNC loyalists were employed as Presiding Officers and Returning Officers and the entire GECOM Secretariat, including the CEO and the DCEO, is PNC-controlled. It is impossible to accept that these people who controlled GECOM will allow ‘anomalies and abuses’ to be in favour of the PPP/C. The APNU/AFC lost the 2020 Elections ‘fair and square’ and have so far refused to accept that fact and have embarked on a demolition course. They have blocked The Carter Center by installing Harmon as the CEO for the COVID-19 Task Force,

they have neutralised Timothy Jonas, they have been creating fake ‘Breaking News’, they have blocked cell phone use for live streaming, they have used their infamous female thug, they have used COVID-19 to curtail the counting time, and they are trying desperately to realise Lowenfield’s ‘156-day count’.

The APNU/AFC claimed to have won the elections yet they cannot provide their SoPs and neither can GECOM’s CEO but the questions are, will a credible recount be allowed to be completed in its entirety? Will there be some more frivolous and time-buying Basil Williams style ‘legal’ challenges before or after it ends? As I have said before, there will be many ‘twists’ in this 2020 Elections.

At each stage, GECOM is providing the opportunity to rig the elections and now it seems that it will provide the opportunity to abort the elections.

The Election Day process was free and fair but what has taken place since the Region Four tabulation fiasco and the lies and deceit peddled by the coalition during this recounting process have made credible results dubious.

Dear Editor, Permit me to respond to an article I read yesterday in which US Congressman Jeffries said, among other things, that the US should not interfere in Guyana’s political situation and that this country should solve its own problems.

I must say that I am truly surprised and shocked that a person of the Congressman’s calibre, who is an advocate for justice and equality, has made such remarks.

For the past five decades, leaders of the developing nations have been poor examples of leadership to those who govern third world nations.

Where was the Congressman when LFS Burnham left a legacy of corruption and racial injustice in Guyana? Burnham nationalised the sugar and bauxite industries and kicked the British out.

He banned basic food items which were the staple diet for East Indians. Thanks to some resourceful Indians in the Upper Corentyne who established a contraband trade with Suriname and provided these basic food items which were transported from one end of the country to the other, both East Indians and Africans benefited.

Where were you, Congressman Jeffries when a female Cabinet member was recently punched by a policeman in the Guyana Parliament when she spoke up for justice? What would you have done if she was your wife?

Where were you when Police were placed in Parliament to silence Opposition members who were peacefully expressing their views and standing up for democracy? The politics of Guyana has always been about race, and anyone who says otherwise is not being honest. Editor, I think the Congressman, because of his ethnicity is biased against the

Opposition party, which consists predominantly of East Indians.

Guyana’s recent elections have been fraught with fraud.

The Congressman must be reminded that the current President Granger of Guyana was voted out of office on a No-Confidence Motion in December of 2018. Elections were supposed to have been held three months after this occurrence. But the President illegally stayed in power for another year because of greed. He refused to hold elections as the Constitution mandated, and only did so on March 2 of this year.

He defied his own Constitution as well as the decision of the Caribbean Court of Justice. Then he goes on TV, even now, and says how he abides by the Constitution, and that he is transparent in whatever he does. What a travesty of governance! During the extra year he stayed in office, the machinery for rigging the next elections was set up.

Unfortunately for him and his party, the dishonest act was discovered in broad daylight by observers when the ballots were first counted on March 2, 2020.

I wish to let the Congressman know that the people of Guyana, both Africans and East Indians, who make up the nation’s majority population, are being politically and economically suppressed.

They have endured this for a long time. Such suppression and discrimination resulted in the brain drain from the seventies to the present day.

They are defenceless against a Government that controls the Police Force and the Army.

East Indians have always been constantly harassed and intimidated more than Africans, for no just cause.

Politicians who have the best interest at heart for the Guyanese people have sought intervention from North American and European leaders. Here you are, advising the US not to get involved. The Congressman reminds me of the Priest and the Levite in the story of the Good Samaritan.

He sees someone suffering and in need of help, and he walks to the other side. The Congressman is really practicing social distancing for the wrong reason, and he wants others to do the same. If you don’t want to help, don’t stop others who are willing to do so.

God is not going to be pleased with you or anyone who refuses to help and still claim to love God and be God-fearing.

East Indians are hardworking and educated people. They are humble, patient, and resilient.

But in this century, they are not going to stay quiet when an atmosphere of freedom and justice is absent.

Your remarks, Mr Congressman can incite civil unrest in Guyana. In the same way you are fighting for justice in the US, Guyanese are attempting to

do the best for their country. Fortunately for you, over there you are guaranteed freedom of speech and Police protection for your political views.

They are not so fortunate.

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf

Dear Editor, I really feel sorry for my friends who are loyal supporters of the PNC. They now find it shameful to defend the behaviour of some of the PNC leaders who they place their complete trust in.

My friends are aware that PNC should no longer rely on the tale of “PPP marginalisation of Afro-Guyanese”, to justify rigged elections. The make-up of the population, (Indo 40 per cent, Afro 30 per cent, Mixed 20 per cent, and Amerindians 10 per cent), opens up the race to be the Government. PPP, PNC or any other party has to get support from the other groups to win an election. In the 2015 election, the PNC would not have gotten into power with votes just from its traditional base.

While in power, the PNC was expected to do the best for its supporters and every other section of the population.

Had the PNC done so, voters would have rewarded it by putting it back into office. Though my friends are aware that the PNC did not focus on doing its best for the nation and it was punished at the 2020 Elections, (like the PPP experienced in 2015), my friends stayed loyal.

Despite all PNC’s trick-

ery up to, and just after the March 2 elections, my friends continue to make excuses for it. PNC’s continuing immoralities to deny the true result of the March election has brought disgrace to my friends, and I presume to very large numbers of other PNC supporters too.

My PNC-supporting friends are forced to bury their heads in the sand. Enough is enough.

Mr Granger and other leaders in the PNC can bring an end to their supporters’ dilemma. Mr Granger and the other leaders in the PNC can show their respect for the feelings of their devoted supporters. Mr Granger and other leaders in the PNC can restore the dignity of their ardent followers.

And as the final election declaration still lays in the uncounted boxes for Region Four, Mr Granger and other leaders in the PNC should bring a swift end to the full recount and agree to the less time-consuming Region Four count completion.

Mr Granger and other leaders in the PNC have enough time to give their followers and the rest of Guyana to jointly organise for May 26.

Yours sincerely, Faiyaz Alli

The pursuit of the Response to Congressman Hakeem’s remarks on Guyana’s politics preservation of life and economic growth during the pandemic I would like to suggest, Congressman, that you focus on the corruption and the cover-up in the White House.

I have seen you during the Trump impeachment trial and heard your convincing arguments which were expressed so eloquently.

You know, as well as I do, that all is not well over in the US. Guyana, a country with less than three-quarters of a million people, cannot be of any help to you. But here you have all the available material and human resources that can be helpful to them.

In the interest of peace and goodwill within, and among nations, I encourage you to retract the opinions you have recently expressed and do your best to help a nation that reaches out for freedom, justice, and democracy.

Yours respectfully, Rev Dr Joel Chinapen

Dear Editor, The recent decision to bring in supplies from Brazil needs to be done with the necessary precautions. Today on BBC News, there was a lengthy discussion about the Brazilian difficulties associated with the coronavirus and how maintaining social distancing in many highly populated areas of Brazil is extremely difficult. In addition, many Brazilians are disregarding the necessary precautions recommended to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

To prevent increased infection in Guyana, it will be necessary to also quarantine all supplies brought into the country. Sanitising of all goods will be required before distribution, and having a location just across the border to carry out such a process is probably best to ensure that in the case of contamination of the goods by the virus, these goods are prevented from prematurely getting into our soci-

Justice Singh: Take the fraudulent Region 4 declarations down from GECOM’s website Dear Editor, We cannot with any shred of good intentions or integrity - continue to keep the fraudulent declarations made by Mr Clairmont Mingo for Region Four on the Guyana Elections Commission’s (GECOM) website - it is a national embarrassment that escalates with each passing day.

Justice Singh, to have these revolting declarations posted on GECOM’s website

and simultaneously claim that the declarations are being held in abeyance - both decisions stink to the high heavens.

From its fraud filled and abhorrent birth on March 13, 2020, to the daily revelations from GECOM’s mandated recount, we have seen with more clarity, the extreme deceit and unpalatable nature of the declarations.

Let us not render further

disrespect upon the good people of Guyana, the Caribbean Community and the international community.

Please Madam Chairperson, take the Fraudulent Region Four declarations down from GECOM’s website and treat it as null, void - ab initio and invalid.

Sincerely, Nigel Hinds

ety and it’s supply chain.

The taking of a very intentional and cautious approach to the maintenance of the health of our supply chain will be necessary. Safety first and foremost must continue to be the guiding principle being embraced in all decisions and actions taken over the duration of the virus. It is unfortunate to see that some other economies are starting to choose the pursuit of money at the neglect of its people’s lives. Guyana cannot afford to make such a precipitous mistake.

We must all help find solutions that allow both the preservation of life and economic growth. A joint public forum in the near future via a web conference with key stakeholders, including the coronavirus teams organised by the two major political parties, in the pursuit of such solutions would be a great next step.

Considering the implied length of the elections recount, a bipartisan approach is best at this stage. Please do not hesitate to contact me for advice and assistance in this matter as the need develops.

The Guyanese public cannot afford to wait for a lengthy conclusion to the current fight for power while our family’s lives are stuck in limbo. Now is the time for all stakeholders to act in a mature and cordial manner so we may develop a joint solution to the current crisis.

Best regards, Jamil Changlee Chairman The Cooperative Republicans of Guyana

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TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2020

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You can send your letters with pictures to: Guyana Times, Queens Atlantic Investment Estate Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown, Guyana or letters@guyanatimesgy.com

Either GECOM has no common sense Totally misleading: or simply supporting PNC’s playbook apply some ethics Dear Editor, It’s either GECOM needs a massive dose of common sense or it’s simply playing along with the Alexander/PNC playbook of maximum delay of the counting process.

How can an agency and a Chair charged with delivering fair, credible elections in a speedy manner, do all it can to do the opposite, and not care about its reputation or irreparable harm to the whole nation?

I listened to the recount audio but it’s totally meaningless since I have no idea as to which box or polling place is being counted, and the voices are mostly inaudible.

That context of which box is being counted is important for the audio to be meaningful. Does nobody in GECOM have the common sense to add the Polling Station name for each box on the audio screen? Further, if GECOM is arguing that video and audio are important for the blind and deaf for the tabulation process, how about shifting from audio to video for the recounting process? Don’t we care about the deaf and blind for that too? They are simply adding things to appear compassionate and caring but it’s all choreographed to slow down the process. But to quote the WPA when Walter Rodney was assassinated by the PNC, “This act in itself will not delay their day of judgment.” The PNC is going down, as they have lost to the PPP. The PNC must concede now! Game over! Swear in

Dr Irfaan Ali now with the promise to the PNC that there will be no recriminations.

At a time when more speed is needed and the counting needs to be on steroids or Viagra, GECOM is instead prolonging the national torment and trauma by adding unneeded steps to the process. Every added step makes the process less efficient. Take, for instance, the Observation Report. At first, they were displaying for 10 seconds, then they added 5 seconds more. So even if there are no comments noted, why do you need to wait 15 seconds, instead of moving on? Why do you need to wait 15 seconds if there are only 2 lines of comments? Common sense would say you use a sliding scale of time for no comments, a few lines of comments and longer time for longer comments up to 15 seconds. Now they are reading the comments, taking up more time. But this whole activity is totally unnecessary and useless. GECOM could simply post all the SoRs, tabulations and Observation Reports on its website, as this is all public information. It’s the peoples’ business.

Good to see some commonsense prevailed in starting the tabulation process an hour earlier that would let them catch up with all the boxes counted so far. However, it’s one step forward two steps back with the GECOM we have. How does it make sense to close off counting at 5:00 pm, if

you want to push to get close to the 25-day assigned for recounting? There were some boxes with 10 votes, 15 votes, 50 votes, etc.

Why could they not arrange the containers in a manner to access the smaller boxes to use up the 2 hours? If each station closes at 5:00 pm, we are losing 20 hours of counting per day. How does that make any sense or have any logic if the goal is to expedite the count? Does GECOM think the Caricom folks and other observers would stay on beyond 25 days? We should add 5 or 10 more counting stations now.

The Commission must be more pragmatic and flexible to do what is reasonable and expedient to move the process forward. The Commission can go beyond the Gazette and do more as long as it is enhancing the process. We are doing a recount of boxes because the Chair failed to do her job in the Region Four count. After the Chief Justice ruled his fraudulent rigsheet to be illegal, the Chair should have censured Mingo and turned him over to the police for fraudulent numbers, and continue the Region Four count using other personnel.

Why is the Chair allowing the PNC to prolong our long national nightmare by adding more time-eating shenanigans? This is simply unacceptable!

Sincerely, Jerry Singh

Wilful ignorance

Dear Editor, Once again, APNU/AFC representatives are engaging in a game of ‘willful ignorance’; last year May it was the majority of 65, presently there is a daily dose of ‘migrant’ votes.

APNU/AFC agents are currently objecting to names on the Official List of Electors to have negative ‘observations’ noted for every ballot box examined.

On Christmas Eve 2018, Nigel Hughes posited that 34 constituted a majority and not 33 as previously accepted by mathematicians; after that day, APNU/AFC leaders discarded their pride and have embraced the image of themselves as a collective of idiotic clowns and have never stopped since. Is it that none of these ‘leaders’ has ever worked in the trenches of activism as a polling agent? For their ignorance is so well feigned it appears all too real.

Anyone who has worked in a Polling Station will know that ‘dead’ people cannot vote, there is a folio with detailed information on each person on the OLE including a picture. Should someone get past this hurdle, there is the inked finger riddle; if Tom votes for the deceased Jack, Tom’s finger is inked during the process, who then votes for Tom? One man, one vote, why waste it impersonating a dead Jack and thereby risking imprisonment when you can cast your legitimate vote? APNU/AFC logic defies me so often that I have given up on attempting a deciphering of the code.

Migrants come back home to vote, that is a fact and well within Guyana’s laws – should Ramlall be in New York and cousin Seelall chooses to vote for him, see the inked finger riddle above. A polling day is usually 16-18 hours and people get sloppy with counting which typically begins 14 hours after the day began, the same happens during the packing

jackass will eat yuh’ springs to mind.

On the 11th May 2015, there was an election, five days later, on the 16th, David Granger was sworn in as the 9th President of Guyana; his refusal to accept his loss in 2020 has Guyanese pandering to his willful ignorance of the results in a bid for a peaceful transition of Administration 70 days later. As Granger’s intransigence hardens, it is clear that Granger has no care for the future of neither his party nor the country; it is also obvious he never learned the Guyanese lessons that ‘every rope has an end’ and ‘hard ears will feel’.

Respectfully, Robin Singh

Dear Editor, I hardly ever respond to the articles penned by Freddie Kissoon for many reasons.

However, my attention was drawn to his May 5 column in the Kaieteur News titled “On Indian Arrival Day, African Guyanese must denounce injustice”.

In passing, the headline is totally misleading. The article was mainly another PPP bashing and the self-glorification of Mr Kissoon.

That though is not the purpose of this response. It is to set the record straight on some of the charges he made against the PPP/C. He accused the PPP/C Administration of dismissing his wife from her job at GOInvest on many occasions previously. In his May 5 article, he again implied this, it is totally false and he knows it to be untrue.

I was President at the time when Mrs Kissoon resigned from her job at GO-Invest. I recall that Mr Keith Burrows, the then Chair of GO-Invest, brought it to my attention in one of our meetings. He went on to tell me that she was a very good and competent officer and he was going to ask her to withdraw her resignation.

I encouraged him to do so, since all the reports I had about her work were very positive.

Subsequently, Mr Burrows told me that Mrs Kissoon did not accede to his request. He said she told him she had gotten a better job. That is simply the truth.

Mr Kissoon should desist from perpetuating this falsehood. Making that false accusation, even when he has to know the truth, is most unethical.

The other point that Mr Kissoon keeps misrepresenting and misleading the public on is the circumstance that led to his separation from the University of Guyana. He claimed that he was dismissed. This is far from the truth.

The fact is, Mr Kissoon had reached retirement age at the

end of December 2010. He was allowed to continue to the end of the academic year, which was August 2011.

The Appointments Committee did not recommend any extension for Mr Kissoon, a retiree and a Lecturer II because he failed to meet the University policy with regards to retention of academic staff, which was; i) have a healthy academic record with research and publications reviewed by academic peers and; ii) to face a competitive process with other applicants.

All fourteen members of the UG Council, including the UGSS and his fellow colleagues of the academic staff, supported the position of the Appointments Committee not to renew his contract. It is true that some PPP members were on the Board, but were only a part of the 14-member Council.

At this stage, let me also say that this was the same charge made against Mr Kissoon by former Vice-Chancellor, Mr Dennis Craig in the 1990s. Mr Kissoon showed no improvements over the years.

In the same article of May 5, Mr Kissoon implied victimisation of his daughter. It is the first time I am hearing this and Mr Kissoon did not state anything concrete on this matter, therefore, I can’t comment on this. It would be good for the public to know what he was referring to.

There are many more things that I can say about his article. For instance, his talk of being viciously attacked is, in my view, highly exaggerated.

However, I would not dwell on that since those are opinions of mine. In regard to his departure from UG and his wife’s resignation form GO-Invest, those are facts that can be verified.

Mr Kissoon should apply some ethics in his writings.

All for the public’s information Sincerely, Donald Ramotar Former President

Condemnation of statement

by US Congressman

of the box with counterfoils, stamps, votes, signs and used OLE’s after the period of concentration for counting ballots ends. Polling Stations are manned by humans and voting is not yet electronic, until such time, a signature may be absent from a form, there may be uncrossed T’s and un-dotted I’s, but the ballots are usually counted and stored as sacred.

The recount procedures allowed for by the Representation of the People Act have proved adequate as it has already exposed the fraudulent actions of Clairmont Mingo, Returning Officer for District Four, and provides for charges, prosecution, and imprisonment if found guilty by a court of law.

That ‘irregularity’ seems to be overlooked by APNU/AFC as it is never mentioned.

In the meanwhile, APNU/ AFC agents are making objections which are being marked down earnestly by GECOM staff; in one instance (Box 3038) Ms Coretta McDonald objected to voters’ numbers 273, 275, 277 and 334, when informed that the station only had 257 voters on its OLE, Ms Mc Donald refused to sign the SoR. These and similar ‘objections’ form the basis for an APNU/AFC statement alleging widespread irregularities.

It is an exercise in deception with the sole intention of convincing the persons who voted for APNU/AFC that they were disenfranchised. They believe that people who willingly believed that 33 was not the majority of 65, will believe anything they are fed. The epigram ‘mek yuhself grass and

Dear Editor, The International Center for Democracy (ICD) strongly condemns the statements made by United States Congressman Hakeem Jeffries on May 8, 2020, in an online interview with Rickford Burke, a known APNU activist who resides New York. The blatant fraud by Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) in cahoots with prominent members of the APNU/AFC regime to fraudulently declare the Region Four tabulation results in favour of APNU/AFC by using falsified data from an Excel spreadsheet instead of the actual Statements of Poll (SoPs) was witnessed firsthand and condemned by representatives from the ABCE countries, EU, OAS, Caricom, international and local observers, representatives from all competing parties and the world at large.

Congressman Jeffries’ failure to recognise or query why after two months Guyana still does not have a final election declaration is concerning and troublesome. Congressman Jefferies failed to inquire and address why the Guyana Government refused to allow The Carter Center to return to Guyana for the recount. The ICD would like to caution Congressman Jeffries that his comments were reckless, openly displayed his bias and impartiality in support of a specific political party in Guyana.

Hundreds of US-based Guyanese registered voters have bombarded the ICD to voice their concerns and displeasure with Congressman Jeffries’

“biased and distasteful” comments in which they felt he “promoted division and increased tension” to undermine democracy in Guyana.

The ICD demands that Congressman Jeffries immediately issue a public statement to denounce the Rickford Burke post on social media, denounce electoral fraud, support the recount of ballots to be free, fair and transparent, demand that no political party use their authority to influence or sway GECOM staff from doing their job, demand that GECOM releases the SoPs from the March 2, 2020 elections, promote democracy in Guyana, willingness to support the next democratically elected President and Government and demand that those that were found to be involved in the election fraud be brought to justice.

The constitutional rights of Guyanese to vote and choose their President and Government must be respected by all Guyanese and the international community. The ICD awaits Congressman Jeffries’ issuance of his public statement and welcomes his support to the restoration of democracy in Guyana as we ensure that the recount of the ballots is completed and done in a free, fair and transparent manner and for the next democratically elected President and Government to be sworn in expeditiously.

Sincerely, International Center for Democracy

22

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2020

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World Rugby publishes COVID-19 return to rugby guidelines – Dey says GRFU will abide by MoH guidelines

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orld Rugby has published guidelines for the safe return to rugby activities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Developed by medical experts following consultation with union chief medical officers, competition owners and players, the guidelines are intended to assist unions, clubs, and competitions in creating a framework and policy for return to rugby activity within their respective jurisdictions.

Unions and competition owners will need to comply with local laws and policies implemented by Government or local authorities in relation to COVID-19, including social distancing and travel measures. For the avoidance of doubt, this does not mean that matches will have to be played behind closed doors until a vaccine is available – the strategy will be determined by the respective national government directives.

The guidelines have two core sections containing important information. The first section provides safety information to everyone involved in the game including players, coaches, and support and administrative

staff. The second section provides a framew o r k around w h i c h national unions can prep a r e best-practice policies and guidelines for return to activity that are appropriate to their local setting, complying with national guidelines on social distancing and travel restrictions.

The guidelines, which are World Health Organisation (WHO)-compliant, outline three dedicated time-bound return-to-training phases – small group training, full group non-contact training and full-contact training. It also documents the environment for returning to match action in domestic, cross-border and cross-continent con-

t

ng an international engagemen

Guyana’s senior rugby team duri

texts and processes for facility and stadium preparation.

In an interview with Guyana Times Sport, GRFU President Ryan Dey said, “This is a giant step in the right direction. It means that there might be a light at the end of the tunnel sooner than later for rugby to begin playing. In terms of what the GRFU will have to do to ensure certain measures are taken for a possi-

ble restart of rugby in a safer way – well, the players’ well-being is the top priority of the Union and with cases still rising in Guyana, it would be careless for the GRFU to initiate a conversation about playing rugby at this moment.

“We will work with the guidelines provided by the Ministry of Health (MoH).

When they say it’s safe to be outside, then rugby will be played in Guyana. For now,

the players just have to keep fit and stay safe.”

The guidelines were authored by Falvey, Dr Martin Raftery (World Rugby); Prav Mathema (Welsh Rugby Union); Professor Mary Horgan (consultant physician of infectious diseases) and supported by data collected through regional COVID-19 steering Group Chairs who consulted with World Rugby’s 124 national member unions.

GBA, Bris O Promotions distribute "It would be like regional cricket" 65 hampers to boxing fraternity - empty CPL stadiums no issue for Walsh Jr

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223-7230-1 (Ext 55)

NOW! GBA President Steve Ninvalle (far left) along with the hampers and some of the recipients

A

223-7230-1 (Ext 55)

s promised some two weeks ago, the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) in collaboration with Seon Bristol of Bris O Promotions on Saturday last presented 65 hampers to boxers and officials of the Association.

The hampers were made possible, following donations from several companies and avid supporters of the Association. The USAbased Bristol said that it was the first but not the last time that he would be seeking to pursue such a noble venture and he would be providing assistance during

the "difficult COVID- 19 period."

Bristol, who has been a huge supporter of the sport over the years: sponsoring several pugilists and initiatives, added that there will be further dialogue with the GBA on if and when a similar exercise would be held.

On the other hand, GBA President Steve Ninvalle explained that in such trying times it is only fitting that the Association attempted to minimise the burden of its affiliates. He urged other sporting associations to follow suit as there was a present and urgent need.

Ninvalle also shared that hampers were delivered to the families of the four boxers stranded in Cuba, Colin Lewis, Dennis Thomas, Keevin Allicock and Desmond Amsterdam.

Hampers were distributed to boxers, referees, judges, and coaches.

Meanwhile in Cuba, those stranded boxers are also expected to receive hampers through the Department of Public Service, which sought to assist Guyanese students, the boxers, and other officials on the Spanish-speaking island.

indies spinner Hayden Walsh insists he would have very little issue playing in front of an empty stadium for the upcoming edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) as it would be like playing regional cricket.

The CPL is slated to get under way in August of this year but there is a lot of uncertainty, not just regarding its staging, but also the format it will take as well. One of the ideas being floated around suggests a ‘social distancing’ version of the tournament, which would be held at Barbados' Kensington Oval.

While some players have claimed an empty stadium could be awkward, Walsh, who is a part of the defending champion Barbados Tridents, has insisted it would be business as usual.

Unlike the massive crowds associated with the CPL, the regional competitions do struggle at times to attract any significant crowd following.

“We still have quite some time to try and get ready while we are waiting for the tournament to come around.

We see some progress with

Hayden Walsh Jr

the region recovering from the virus, and probably at the start, it may affect the tournament where the social distancing is concerned, and it might not, but I am used to playing in front of an empty stadium in regional cricket where pretty much no one comes sometimes, so I guess it would be business as usual,” Walsh told the Antigua Observer.

Walsh, the tournament’s top wicket-taker last season, was one of nine Barbados Tridents retained. The list also includes captain Jason Holder, Johnson Charles, Shai Hope and Raymon Reifer, Ashley Nurse and Johnathan Carter.

(Sportsmax)

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2020

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

guyanatimesgy.com

“It would be like World Rugby publishes COVID-19 return to regional cricket” rugby guidelines Pg 23

– Dey says GRFU will abide by MoH guidelines

– empty CPL stadiums no issue for Walsh Jr

Guyana’s senior rugby team during an international engagement

GBA, Bris O Promotions distribute 65 hampers to boxing fraternity

GBA President Steve Ninvalle (far left) along with the hampers and some of the recipients

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Pg 23