Guyana Times - Tuesday, December 6, 2022

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Tuesday,

FERRY SCHEDULE

$3B subsidy for Linden electricity, fuel within approved $47B supplementary spending – $1B approved for works at GuySuCo

The National Assembly has approved over $47 billion in supple mental funds for a range of expenses it incurred af ter Budget 2022, including expenses for fuel subsidies and increases, as well as the money for drainage works.

On Monday, the Government brought two financial papers to the National Assembly, $2.9 bil lion covering the period of August to November 2022 and $44.4 billion for the pe riod ending this year-end.

Among the amounts ap proved by the Parliamentary Committee of Supply was $1.7 billion in current ex penses for the Linden Electricity Company. Prime Minister Mark Phillips, who oversees the energy sector, explained that this amount will support the continua tion of the Linden subsidy.

In response to questions from the Opposition Leader, who grilled the Government on the money for the Linden company, Phillips noted that the increase in fuel expens es caused by global factors that include the Russian/ Ukraine war necessitated additional spending.

“It’s obvious that based on our projections, we would have forecasted that by a cer tain time in the year 2022, we will require additional money. All the staff work, all the cheques, and all the analyses were done. And we asked Bosai to submit their invoices and we went to the

Consolidated Fund.”

“And we got the money in time to keep the lights on in Linden. It’s a matter of concern for that communi ty. And that is the essence of my involvement… to en sure the money is available so the lights are kept on in Linden,” Phillips said.

In addition, $1.3 billion was approved to cover ad ditional costs incurred by power companies in Regions One, Seven, Eight, Nine and 10.

Drainage

Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha had to defend $740.1 million

which went towards urgent drainage works. He also committed to providing the list of contractors who re ceived these contracts.

“As I said, these works were executed in conjunc tion with the local bodies, be cause it was necessary and it was urgent. And we had to ensure we did these works, or else we could have had se rious problems around the country.”

“And that is the reason, because of the representa tion made to the Ministry through the NDIA, we were able to execute these works,” Mustapha said.

Additionally, the

Minister revealed that un der the former A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government, many of these structures deteriorated af ter being neglected. This meant that the current Government had to do addi tional spending to fix drain age and irrigation.

In addition, the Agriculture Ministry se cured a total of $1 bil lion which will be inject ed into advancing works at GuySuCo, while the remain ing $2 billion will go towards advancing NDIA’s opera tions.

The mining town of Linden

Editor: Tusika Martin

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Sexual predators

The local media have reported on numerous cases involving sexual assault that are engaging the attention of the judicial system. In quite a few of these court hearings, the nation has been shocked to learn of the details which emerged, of how the victims were sexually and physically abused.

In one of these cases, heard earlier this year, a taxi driver from Tucville, Georgetown, who has since been jailed for 11 years, preyed on a vulnerable sex worker. The victim, who, in her impact statement, said she is a mother of three, described the accused as a “monster”, noting that since the tragic ordeal, “I have a lot of fear, anger, hatred, and helplessness.” She besought the court to lock up the perpetrator for life, so that he could not hurt anyone else.

The rape survivor told the presiding Judge: “I want you to help me to get justice for myself and the other victims, because I wasn’t the only victim of that monster. I would want to kill him with my own hands because that man destroyed our (her family’s) lives.”

This is just one of a long list of cases of women being sexually violated. While life would never be the same again for the victims involved, it is good to see that the perpetrators are facing justice for these despicable and cruel acts. However, this might just be the tip of the iceberg, as it is widely believed that many sexual abuse cases, including those involving children, are deliberately hidden and go unreported for various reasons.

Sexual violence against women and children is considered to be a gross violation of rights. According to UNICEF, sexual violence can take the form of sexual abuse, harassment, rape, or sexual exploitation in prostitution or pornography. It can happen in homes, institutions, schools, workplaces, in travel and tourism facilities; and within communities. Increasingly, the Internet and mobile phones also put children at risk of sexual violence, as some adults look to the Internet to pursue sexual relationships with children. There is also an increase in the number and circulation of images of child abuse.

A UNICEF study, “Hidden in Plain Sight”, estimates that, worldwide, around 120 million girls under the age of 20 (about 1 in 10) have been subjected to forced sexual intercourse or other forced sexual acts at some point in their lives. Boys also report experiencing sexual violence, but they do so to a lesser extent than girls.

Evidence shows that sexual violence can have serious short- and long-term physical, psychological and social consequences, not only for girls or boys but also for their families and communities. Those include increased risks for illness, unwanted pregnancy, psychological distress, stigma, discrimination, and difficulties at school.

In Guyana, the Child Care and Protection Agency (CCPA) and the Human Services Ministry, along with various NonGovernmental Organisations (NGOs), have been on the frontline in bringing some of these cases to light. These agencies must continue to work diligently in ensuring that all such cases are brought to the fore, where they could be properly investigated and prosecuted.

The Guyana Police Force is also a key partner in the fight against sexual violence perpetrated on women and children. The Force must continue to provide the necessary training to its officers in order to properly investigate sexual crimes against women and children. Our women and children need to be assured that when violence against them is reported, the law would act quickly to persecute the perpetrators and that our judicial system would function efficiently and equitably to bring such criminals to justice.

Importantly, too, is that all the necessary support systems must be put in place to ensure victims and their families are provided with counselling, etc, to overcome the trauma of sexual violence.

Women and children, irrespective of their ethnic, religious, cultural or social backgrounds, deserve to live in an environment where they feel safe and are part of loving and nurturing families.

Astute leadership delivers massive carbon credits deal for Guyana

Dear Editor,

On December 2, 2022, Guyana and Hess Corporation signed an agreement for Hess to pur chase 37.5 million “REDD+ jurisdictional carbon cred its” for a minimum of US$750 million between 2022 and 2032 directly from the Government of Guyana. These high-quality credits make up about 30 per cent of Guyana’s Forestry Credits under the ART (Architecture for REDD+ Transactions) facility linked to TREES (REDD+ Environmental Excellence Standard).

“ART and TREES have been designed to help accel erate progress toward na tional scale accounting and implementation to achieve emissions reductions and removals at scale and to achieve Paris Agreement goals” (https://www.artredd. org/trees/). The crux of the deal is that Guyana will be paid for its carbon sink ser vices, a service that is crit ical to climate change miti gation.

Further, “this agree ment will serve to support Guyana’s efforts to protect the country’s vast forests and provide capital to improve the lives of Guyana’s citizens through investments made

by the Government as part of Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030.”

Editor, those who follow our economic strategy over the long term will no doubt recall that the foundations for the Guyana-Hess car bon credit deal go back to the 2009 - 2010 LCDS cham pioned by then President Jagdeo.

At that time critics broke new ground in damn ing the LCDS, and this not withstanding the GuyanaNorway deal on avoided deforestation that yielded US$250 million. Now, the LCDS 2030 under President Ali is getting the same kinds of baseless criticisms.

Only yesterday, Kaieteur News columnist Peeping Tom heaped scorn on the US $750 million deal. Here is ‘Tom’ on the historic agree ment – “The carbon credit deal appears to be a far worse deal than the oil agreement. Not only has the country not been told at what price the credits will be sold, but it appears that like the agree ment with Norway, Guyana will get a fixed sum over a ten-year period regardless of how high the price of carbon crises in the carbon trading markets…”

Nothing could be further from the truth. Contrary to the Kaieteur News colum nist, Hess will pay a mini mum price for 2016 to 2020 credits (a total of 12.5 mil lion credits) at a unit price of US$15 per ton. It will pay a minimum price for 2021 to 2025 credits (a total of 12.5 million credits) at a unit price of US$20 per ton. For 2026 to 2030 credits (a total of 12.5 million credits) it will pay a minimum unit price of US$25 per ton. But more than that, and in diamet ric to the misinformation dished out by the Kaieteur News columnist if prices go above a respective floor price for that year as specified un der Price Levels above, Hess will pay Guyana 60 per cent of the price difference of that year’s credits at the higher market price, and the floor price under contract. It bog gles the mind that a colum nist would not consult the information released by the Government but instead base their writing on ru mour, gossip, or wilful disin formation.

Peeping Tom also thinks that Hess will resell the credits on the open market and that would be a big loss for us. In fact, just the op posite is true. Even if Hess

does that, the floor price for carbon credits will esca late and Guyana will then be able to trade the other 70 per cent of credits start ing from a much higher base price.

In terms of inclusive growth and inclusive gov ernance, it is noteworthy that Amerindian communi ties will receive some 15 per cent of the revenues derived from carbon credit trading. No less than US$112 million will go to these mostly hin terland communities. It is also noteworthy that we will be receiving Legacy Credits for the period 2016-2020, that for resources that went begging under the APNU/ AFC Administration.

Editor, there is a well-es tablished clique in Guyana that is guaranteed to go against any and everything the PPP/C does. They have full access to the press, and without let or hindrance, preach negativity daily. In fact, we have seen that it took astute leadership and determined effort by President Ali, VP Jagdeo, and their team to yield the substantial resources that have now become available.

Sincerely, Dr Randolph Persaud

Guyanese Indigenous dance group Riverside Angels performing at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar (Rehana Emmanuel photos)

The Opposition’s new low

Dear Editor,

The Opposition has reached a new low with its accusations of apartheid. After failing to rig and steal the last elections, which re sulted in sanctions and their losing of international sup port, they are now resort ing to false claims of dis crimination to try to gain pity from the international community. If the truth is to be told, Guyana is a place where the opposite is true. Discrimination by African Guyanese Opposition sup porters against other races is so prevalent that many find injustice in parts of so ciety such as the courts, schools and Police stations, where they are prevalent and have lots of influence.

Every time we have gen eral elections there is a lash

out by African Guyanese Opposition supporters against Indian communi ties. They loot our business es and assault our women. Now they have the au dacity to claim to be victims of the racism that they have been perpetuating for over a half-century. The current Government may choose to close its eyes to the reality of what is taking place and has taken place in Guyana, but everyone is aware of how easily the country erupts when injustice occurs across racial lines. The PNC leader ship was documented in the news as encouraging conflict when there was a Police case in the African Guyanese community. This led to the closure of roads and riots in the streets. Many innocent Indian Guyanese were as

saulted.

Increased participation by other races in predomi nantly African Guyanese civ il sectors of society may help reduce the disparity and in justices that have plagued our country since indepen dence, but the reality is that sincere relations between the races is becoming more difficult as the wealth of the country increases. There is more resentment and more controversy.

People play nice when re ceiving help, but shortly af terward can be heard speak ing badly of those whom they receive the help. The push for recognition of racial injustice at the internation al level by African Guyanese who support the Opposition clearly shows that there is no goodwill to be had from

the Opposition, whose only desire is to regain power at any cost, even if it means tearing the country apart. This was their strategy when the PNC was created and it remains their strate gy today. Independent of the animosity of PNC support ers towards PPP supporters, the current Administration continues to develop all of Guyana.

If the shoe shifts to the Opposition, we all know not to expect any reciproc ity of multi-ethnic devel opment. Discrimination against Indian Guyanese PPP supporters was so prev alent during the Burnham years that many Indian Guyanese families left the country. One only has to go to Richmond Hill in Queens to see where many have set

tled. The new Little Guyana. Apartheid, they say, is the new winning strategy of the Opposition. You may fool someone who doesn't know the true Guyanese ex perience, but you will never fool a Guyanese in Guyana. If you have no value to add to the lives of all Guyanese then you have no place at the table to govern our coun try. It is time for anoth er political presence that can transcend racial con flict and provide solutions to the country's problems with transparency, a high level of integrity, and financial pru dence and can do so effec tively and expeditiously.

Race-baiting is not a solution for the country, it is an old problem-creating tool that has no place in the country's future develop

ment. When the voting hab its of the nation transcend race, then and only then will Guyana experience true transformation. A trans formation that goes beyond wealth, a transformation that is rooted in a peaceful society where crime, espe cially those that are racial ly motivated are negligible and the safety of our citizens is never at risk. A transfor mation where all communi ties matter and the relation ships amongst Guyanese across racial lines are gen uine, and the patriotic spir it amongst our people brings to life the motto of our coun try. We will then truly live as One People in One Nation with One Destiny.

Sincerely, Jamil Changlee

APNU/AFC placed a target on AfroGuyanese professionals in public service

Dear Editor,

It is time that Guyanese confront the dirty washedup wolf seeking to disguise as a sheep, which is seek ing to uproot our democracy through race-baiting cam paigns to divide our country.

The truth has slapped the detractors in the APNU/ AFC in the face. No longer can they keep up the she nanigans and pretence about caring for the advancement of Afro-Guyanese when in fact they have worked silent ly and, in some cases, open ly to destroy Afro-Guyanese professionals in the public service and elsewhere.

Fortunately, the AfroGuyanese who were rail roaded and left to perish during the fascistic coali tion regime that wanted to grab power by the nefarious means of another PNC-led rigged election, are confront ing the baseless lies on race relations from an Opposition coalition in extremis.

Dr Marcel Hutson, an Afro-Guyanese and consum mate professional with no political affiliation to the

best of my knowledge, broke his silence on Sunday about his tempestuous removal as Chief Education Officer (CEO) under the spiteful APNU/AFC cabal.

In a letter to the media, Dr Hutson said, “My career as an educator, and more so as Chief Education Officer (CEO) spanning more than 33 years could have ended disastrously after being sent on extended leave for doing what I do best: Serving the children and people of this nation. There was a deaf ening silence on this matter by those with a penchant for talking.”

It was President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, whose caring and compassionate qualities along with his ven eration for professional per sons regardless of ethnici ty, who was instrumental in Dr Hudson returning to the Ministry of Education where his immeasurable ex perience was key to Guyana overcoming the challenges to education during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

From my count, Dr

Hudson is not the only AfroGuyanese that the coali tion unceremoniously dis missed from the Ministry of Education.

Four former senior staff members readily come to mind in Olato Sam, Mary Luke, Yonette Edwards and Melcita Bovell.

We are aware of AfroGuyanese professionals in other Government posi tions who were targeted and stripped of jobs by a politi cal creature that sought to forcefully re-establish the Forbes Burnham philosophy

of party paramountcy.

Volda Lawrence artic ulated it best for the world to record when she said only PNC members could get jobs under the coalition Administration.

That meant that AfroGuyanese who were non-members of the PNC were obviously sidelined for Government contracts and jobs.

There was silence then from the wolf gang, the likes of wanted man Rickford Burke, Lincoln Lewis, Nigel Hinds, David Hinds, Lelon

Saul, and others, who now claim to be champions for Afro-Guyanese. In light of Dr Hudson’s revelations, we can certainly expect these dogmatists to rush to the defence of the APNU/AFC while their forked-tongues spit vitriol at Dr Hudson with the usual threats and derogatory labels not limit ed to ‘sell out’, ‘house slave’, and ‘dunce thugs’.

The scars of the failed APNU/AFC regime are still fresh and haunt many AfroGuyanese professionals who lost their jobs to PNC mem

bers.

The truth has exposed the wolf that is the APNU/ AFC and its thirst for pow er, even if it means shred ding our beautiful country apart, using race to spread propaganda in furtherance of a narrow political agenda of retaining whatever little remaining relevance it has left.

Respectfully, Kwame McCoy Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister

Page Foundation

Materials

Pie tin Sand Baking soda (1 tsp) Powdered sugar (4 tsp) Mixing bowl – small Lighter fluid – or ethanol Lighter

Instructions

NB: Adult supervision re quired.

Always be careful when con ducting experiments involv ing fire. Be sure to only light the sand on a safe fireproof base in a well-ventilated area. Keep water nearby as a precaution. Remember to tie back long hair and never leave flames unattend ed or unsupervised by an adult.

Step 1: In a bowl, combine 4 tsp of powdered sugar with 1 tsp of baking soda.

Step 2: Fill the pie tin with sand and create a small mound in the middle. Use your knuckle to make an indent in the middle of the mound.

Step 3: Pour lighter fluid on the mound and in the indenta tion. Make sure that the sand is well soaked.

Step 4: Spoon your sugar and baking soda mix into the centre of the mound.

Step 5: Carefully light the sand near the sugar mixture. (An adult should perform or careful

ly supervise this step.) The sug ar and baking soda mix will be gin to bubble and turn black. As this mixture burns, watch as your snake begins to grow and take shape. It is a slow process so be patient! A snake will begin to form after a couple of minutes and can continue to burn for more than 20 minutes!

What is going on?

Your carbon sugar snake is the product of three chemical re actions that are all dependent on heat.

The first of these reactions occurs when sugar combusts (burns) in the presence of oxy gen. This produces carbon diox ide gas and water vapour (also a gas), which pushes more of the sugar/baking soda mixture up wards. Some of this additional sugar heats up, but doesn’t have access to any oxygen, so instead

of burning, it undergoes thermal decomposition, producing solid carbon and more water vapour. This solid carbon now gives the snake some shape, and also gives the snake its black colour. Lastly, the baking soda also decompos es in the heat, producing solid sodium carbonate, and carbon dioxide gas and water vapour. Altogether, these three reactions produce both the solid compo nents of the snake (carbon and sodium carbonate) and hot gas es (CO2 and water vapour) that expand and inflate the snake up and out of the sand bowl.

The sand in this experiment does not chemically react with anything in the growing snake. Instead, it evenly distributes the heat from the burning light er fluid to the sugar and the bak ing soda, ensuring a slow, steady burn and the growth of a long car bon sugar snake. (kiwico.com)

By The BroThers Grimm

CONTINUED FROM MONDAY

Darling, it was only a dream. After that the old woman hid me behind a large barrel. I had scarcely hidden myself there when the robbers came home, dragging a girl with them. They gave her three kinds of wine to drink: white, red, and yellow, which caused her heart to stop beating. Darling, it was only a dream. After that they took off her fine clothes, and chopped her beautiful body to pieces on a table, then sprinkled salt on it. Darling, it was only a dream. Then one of the robbers saw that there was still a ring on her ring finger. Because it was hard to get the ring off, he took an ax and chopped off the finger. The finger flew through the air be hind the large barrel, and fell into my lap. And here is the finger with the ring.

With these words she pulled out the finger and showed it to everyone who was there. The robber, who had during this story become as white as chalk, jumped up and tried to escape, but the guests held him fast, and turned him over to the courts. Then he and his whole band were executed for their shameful deeds.

WORD SEARCH

Govt lays long-awaited Single Window System Bill in National Assembly

The long-awaited Planning and Development Single Window System Bill of 2022 was on Monday present ed in the National Assembly by Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal, and when passed, it will establish a central point at which persons can process con struction documents and expe dite the building process.

According to the particulars of the Bill, it is the creation of a sin gle window electronic processing system to increase business effi ciency, as the housing and con struction industries are expand ing rapidly.

The Bill will also provide for the establishment of the Planning Oversight Committee, the functions of which are defined in the document. It is envisioned that this committee will cen tralise functions relating to land use preparation and development and matters associated with it.

The legislation has been previously referenced by the Government. During a consulta tion session on the Single Window Solution for Planning Permission in October of this year, Minister within the Housing Ministry

Susan Rodrigues spoke about their preparations.

Besides extensive consulta tions, she explained that CH&PA hired experts from the Region for assistance in setting up the sin gle window system. Their prepa ration for activating this single window system also includes in troducing new legislation by the

end of this year.

“At this point, where Guyana is poised for economic take-off, the reform is necessary in re spect of legislative amendments and streamlining procedures so that processing times for plan ning and building permits can be reduced and customer service im proved. Currently, the system is

$3B subsidy for Linden electricity...

Mustapha during his presentation explained that the money will be spent on rehabilitating critical areas in the factories while en hancing and expanding cul tivation in the cane fields.

The Albion Sugar Estate will receive $363 million, Blairmont estate $76 mil lion and Rose Hall estate $561 million. Among the items listed to be procured are five 30-inch disc ploughs and five tilling harrows for the Rose Hall estate.

ART TREES

Just a few days ago, Guyana signed an agree ment with Hess Corporation for its forest carbon. But to certify its forest carbon, Guyana spent $360 million in issuance fees for that cer

tificate. Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat defended this allocation in the National Assembly.

“There is what we call the ART secretariat. The Architecture for REDD+ transactions. There’s a sec retariat and it’s an organ isation that obviously will have a structure, personnel, because they have to come to Guyana to do physical veri fication of Guyana’s forests,” Bharrat explained.

“That’s how it works, ac tually. And they’ve been do ing this over the last two years. We have people in Guyana, verifying the for ests to ensure that when companies are paying for our credits, its actually real credits. Because there have been attempts by others to

sell carbon credits for forests that don’t exist.”

In fact, ART issued 33.47 million trees credits to Guyana for a five-year peri od from 2016 to 2020, which Bharrat noted corrected the former Government’s inabil ity to formulate a strategy to earn money for Guyana’s standing forests. And in the agreement with Hess Corporation, it was agreed that the oil company would purchase a minimum of US$750 million in carbon credits from Guyana.

Financial Paper #3

One of the largest pro visions approved was from Financial Paper No 3 – a to tal of $18.1 billion that was approved for works done on miscellaneous roads and

primarily paper-based.”

“The goal is to have an inte grated electronic permitting sys tem where the agencies will no longer operate as silos… we iden tified possible options in rela tion to legal and administrative frameworks and in fact the draft bill to implement the single win dow, as I mentioned, is expect ed to be ready by the end of the year,” Rodrigues had explained.

Minister Rodrigues had also spoken about the increase in ap plications for permits, a signifi cant portion of which were for the oil and gas sector. This increased workload necessitates an auto mated system.

This system, Minister Rodrigues had assured, is one that will be accessible from all over the world, thus making it easier for the diaspora to in vest. And with Guyana yet to break into double figures on the ease of doing business report, Government has its eyes on im proving the country’s score on this index.

The Ease of Doing Business Index is one of the most com prehensive studies done by the World Bank, in which it looks

FROM PAGE 3

drainage. And as Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill explained, this sum goes to wards construction works ongoing on over 1000 com munity roads across the country… including 27 in Linden, which Norton fo cused on in his questions.

A total of $938.2 mil lion was also approved un der the Ministry for addi tional monies that will go to the Caribbean Development Bank’s programme to facili tate the advancement of civ il works on the Linden to Mabura Road Project.

Other provisions ap

at key indicators such as regis tering, compliance, taxation, ob taining loans, and similar factors such as administrative proce dures. It also looks at legal mea sures such as protection and set tlements.

In its last report, the World Bank ranked Guyana 134 out of 190 countries in its Doing Business Report for 2020 as it relates to the ease of doing busi ness. However, the Government has been embarking on setting up a single window system.

Earlier this year, Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud had reassured investors that Government is working on the single window system as a mech anism to enhance the ease of do ing and setting up businesses in the country.

“What we’ve done, and which the President [Dr Irfaan Ali] has put a lot of emphasis on, is in the issue of a single window system –whereby, for instance, if you want to set up a business and need a number of permits or whatev er paperwork is required, you go to a single window arrangement. So, a lot of effort is being put into that,” Persaud had stated.

proved in Financial Paper No 3 include $6.6 billion which will go towards pay ing off electricity arrears to the Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL).

Back in March 2022, President Dr Irfaan Ali had committed that the Government would absorb the impact of rising fuel prices on the cost of services provided by electricity com panies so that it does not translate into high electric ity bills for the Guyanese people.

Meanwhile, an addition al $275.9 million was ap

proved that will facilitate water supply interventions in hinterland areas and the procurement of a new drill ing rig. This goes towards the Government’s goal of providing 100 per cent wa ter coverage for Amerindian villages across the county by 2025.

When it comes to the se curity sector, $371.1 mil lion was approved to pro cure additional vehicles that will boost the operational ef fectiveness of the Guyana Police Force. This was un der the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Housing Minister Collin Croal

Unity wedding house murder CoA to rule on appeal against 70year jail sentence on Wednesday

Forty-one-year-old Rajesh Guyadeen, who had mounted an appeal against his convic tion and 70-year jail sen tence for the 2003 murder of Nandram Manohar, will know his fate on Wednesday when the Court of Appeal (CoA) of Guyana delivers its ruling.

Following a trial be fore Demerara High Court Judge Navindra Singh in 2018, Guyadeen called “Bricksman” was found guilty of the capital offence by a mixed 12-member jury and a lengthy jail sen tence was imposed on him. Through Attorney-at-Law Brandon De Santos, the murder convict filed an ap peal against his conviction and sentence.

He, among other things, had argued that the trial ad mitted prejudicial evidence, and this, coupled with the misdirection the Judge gave

he was running was to get away from any liability he ought to have faced”.

“When you say he ‘run, run, run’, as a prosecutor you may have fallen into an error of giving the jury a mis

murder charge led… and this running away aspect, in my respectful submis sion, did little, or anything, in terms of proving the ele ments of the charge of mur der.”

For her part, Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Teshana James-Lake had dismissed De Santos’s con tention that the trial Judge did not fairly/adequately put his client’s defence of alibi to the jury.

She had recounted that when called upon to lead a defence, Guyadeen had opt ed to give sworn testimony and called witnesses to sup port his alibi that he was not in the country at the time of the commissioning of the of fence.

caused the death… and there we had the defence in dicating that no we did not cause the injuries, the ap pellant was not there on the night.”

To this end, James-Lake had argued that taking the summing up as a whole, the trial Judge dealt adequate ly with the treatment of the evidence, including the de fence of Guyadeen “so that the conviction in this matter ought to remain”.

This appeal had been heard by Chancellor of the Judiciary (ag) Justice Yonette CummingsEdwards and Justices of Appeal Dawn Gregory and Rishi Persaud, who had thereafter indicated that the court would reserve its deci sion for a later date.

Assets…

…for all people

Ahome is probably the first substantial asset an average person’s gonna own. After slavery, in a remarkable act of asserting their humanity, the newly-freed Africans pooled their hard-earned savings to buy abandoned plantations to build their own houses!!

“Hard earned” wasn’t just an expression because there were no Banks to offer them loans or mortgages.

“Hard earned” is because they were only PAID for work done AFTER they’d completed their assigned tasks for FREE as “apprentices”. The time-expired indentured labourers followed suit with home ownership as wealth.

Well, in Guyana, there’s a big brouhaha – not no DEBATE – about who’s getting all the WEALTH in Guyana. Now, this wasn’t unexpected – cause after two centuries of fighting for scraps from the master’s table, when we hit that unexpected oil bonanza, $$$signs appeared before everybody’s eyes!! Hadn’t we seen what oil $$$ could do for previously poverty-stricken backwater colonies?? Think the entire Arabian Peninsula!! Especially Abu Dhabi with its skyscrapers literally scraping the skies and its artificial beaches giving our Caribbean ones more than a run for their money!!

But we gotta be real – if Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither was Abu Dhabi!! Their oil started flowing back in the late 1930s and with careful planning, they only started transforming their country in the sixties – over TWO DECADES LATER!! Now, this doesn’t mean that we gotta wait two decades for us to share in our new wealth!! But for sure we shouldn’t listen to the Opposition that after three years we should all be tooling round in Lamborghinis!! Even if your Eyewitness is exaggerating a tad, the US$5000 ANNUALLY EVERY HOUSEHOLD IN GUYANA – all 230,000 of them – would amount to US$1,150,000,000 a year!! What’ll be left to develop the country??

to the jury, rendered his conviction unsafe. As such, he had asked the appellate court to quash his convic tion.

At the appeal hearing in April, Guyadeen’s law yer had advanced that the trial Judge admitted prej udicial evidence. For con text, he had submitted that during the trial proceedings, Prosecutrix Abigail Gibbs told the jury that his client “run, run, run”.

According to counsel, in her closing address to the jury, the prosecutor, among other things, had said that Guyadeen had fled to neigh bouring Suriname after committing the crime and was only arrested some 11 years after.

De Santos had contended that whether this is true or not, it is of little importance in terms of proving the ele ments of murder. According to the defence counsel, the prosecutrix’s assertion is prejudicial because it “would invite the jury to draw the conclusion that the reason

conception that he ran away to escape”, said De Santos as he maintained that his cli ent did not run away.

The defence lawyer had said that other inferences could have been drawn from his client’s absence from the jurisdiction. Where other in ferences can be drawn from the evidence, De Santos had reasoned that as a matter of law, the inference most fa vourable to the accused per son must be drawn. While this evidence was prejudi cial, he had said, “It may have some probative value.

When one was to exam ine what the probative val ue was, about him running away, it does little, if any thing, to establish the ingre dients necessary for a mur der charge.

“It may have established the reason why it took so long for the charge to have been brought and for the tri al to have commenced. But that is not relevant…in a murder trial you need to have the ingredients for the

In putting Guyadeen’s defence to the jurors, the prosecutor had recalled that the Judge indicated to them that this was a defence of al ibi. Apart from summaris ing Guyadeen’s defence of him being in Suriname at the time of the incident, the prosecutor had said that Justice Singh also analysed the evidence of the two wit nesses he called in support of his case.

Considering this, the Assistant DPP had insist ed that Guyadeen’s de fence was extensively put to the jury by the trial Judge. “Equal treatment was given to the prosecution’s case and the defence’s case,” she had argued.

According to her, the tri al Judge was “very clear” in his general directions that it was the prosecution that had the burden to prove the elements of the offence.

“The jury would have been clear because we had two cases that were com pletely opposite: the prose cution was saying that this is the appellant (Guyadeen) that caused the injuries…

Reports state that on the night of May 4, 2003, at Unity, Lancaster, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara (ECD), Guyadeen and 26-year-old Manohar were at a wedding house when someone alleged that Manohar punctured Guyadeen’s bicycle wheel.

Shortly after, Manohar, called “Nando” was report edly heard crying out that he had been stabbed.

The injured man was pronounced dead on ar rival at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). His cause of death was given as perforation of the aorta and kidney as a result of a stab wound mea suring some 16 centimetres in length.

According to reports, Guyadeen, who had been the prime suspect in the man’s murder, fled the coun try and had been reportedly hiding out in Suriname.

He reportedly returned to Guyana in December 2013 and was apprehend ed two months later when Police ranks raided a hotspot where they found him smok ing marijuana.

Was that the way Abu Dhabi did it?? No siree Bob!! Since they were living in a desert where there wasn’t even water – in fact, they struck oil while looking for water!! – they first built all the infrastructure that it takes to live like the rich folks up north!! Yep…the Europeans and the Yanks were THEIR models too!! But isn’t this what the PPP Government’s doing?? Just take a walk in your village or ward – ANY VILLAGE OR WARD - and you’ll stumble across some bridge, road, building, or factory going up!! Not to mention mega bucks being pumped into agriculture etc to short-circuit that dreaded Dutch Disease!!!

But the individual family hasn’t been left behind. The Government announced that that basic unit of wealth was made possible for over 11,000 families by giving them house lots – plus providing the wherewithal to construct houses!!

With over 50 per cent going to African-Guyanese and 7000 to women!! What discrimination??

…in forests

Some people don’t just look at gift horses in the mouth – they kick them in their nuts!! Take for instance the US$750 million deal in Carbon Credits the Government just signed with Hess. With 15 per cent going to our Indigenous Peoples – who take care of those carbon-sequestering forests!! Already there are some who’re claiming this was a sweetheart deal and the Government could’ve gotten more!! Up to US$70/ tCO2!!

It just shows how our own people are always poised to stab the PPP Government in the back. They clearly don’t know that all carbon credits aren’t the same. The Hess price is among the highest-ever paid for FOREST carbon credits. The most recent published pricing for global forest carbon credits in 2020 was between $2 and $10 per credit. For instance, one report states: “average price for African forestry credits – $10.38/tCO2 – is the second highest regional average, with Oceania taking the lead at $12.97”.

In comparison, the Hess price ranges between US$15 and US$25/tCO2!!

…in health

One of our positive features has been our diversified private health sector. Even when Burnham’s PNC nationalised 80 per cent of the economy, they didn’t touch the private hospitals that had been around for decades.

Kudos to the group launching the one in West Demerara!!

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

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

L-R: Acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards, Justice of Appeal Rishi Persaud, and Justice of Appeal Dawn Gregory

Murder convict Rajesh Guyadeen

Govt probing purchase of suspected refurbished CT machine for US$1M by APNU/AFC

over 3-year period

ably about US$500,000. So right now, we’re doing an investigation into that,” Anthony further revealed.

When it comes to the Linden Hospital Complex, the Minister assured that the facility is earmarked for a CT scan machine. In fact,

scans.”

He acknowledged that CT scans are not currently available at the Linden hos pital, since to date there are only three CT scan machines in the country for public hos pitals – one at GPHC, and two others at Bartica and

procures its CT scans for the Linden Hospital and other hospitals across the coun try, the Health Minister noted that persons will be able to access CT scans from GPHC free of cost, “once there is a need for it.”

Meanwhile, Dr Anthony highlighted that there are three biomedical analysers at the Linden hospital. In terms of the staff comple ment, Anthony revealed

that there are 16 doctors, 130 registered nurses, and 110 nursing assistants at the Linden Hospital com plex.

There are also 13 spe cialists, two obstetricians/ gynaecologists, two inter nal medicine specialists, two paediatricians, two sur geons, two orthopaedic sur geons, one anaesthesiolo gist, one intensivist, and one radiologist.

The National Assembly on Monday heard that an investigation has been launched into the purchase of what it suspects is a refurbished CT scan machine for the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) for almost US$1 million, which is double the market price.

Questions were on Monday put to Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony, on the availability of Computerised Tomography (CT) scans for the Linden hospital. When he took the floor to respond to the Opposition’s questions, however, Anthony also re vealed that an investigation is underway into the pur chase of a CT scan machine

at the GPHC.

He also revealed that not only was the machine pur chased at an inflated sum, since the average price for such a machine is approx imately US$500,000 but there are even doubts about whether the machine is a new one.

“At the Georgetown Hospital, a CT scan was pur chased and was subsequent ly installed. That one right now, we’re going through some investigations with that. We’re not sure wheth er it was a refurbished ma chine.”

“And again, the price is far more than what a CT scan of that nature costs. We paid close to US$1 mil lion, when the scan is prob

he said that the Government plans to install at least 10 such machines in different hospitals across the coun try.

“I must say that over the next three years, the Government is commit ted to, at least, installing about 10 different CT ma chines in different hospitals across the country. Already, we have given out contracts with the new hospitals that we’re building. Included in the new hospitals are imag ing equipment such as CT

New Amsterdam Hospitals.

According to the Minister, the latter two were donated to Guyana by the non-profit organisa tion RAD-AID International in 2016 under the previous A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government.

While the Government

Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony A

Nurse, husband electrocuted by illegal connection at Success

back of Hansraj. During the investigation, a length of red and black electric wire was seen next to the two bodies.

The wire was connect ed to a utility pole. Guyana Power & Light (GPL) and Emergency Medical Technicians were summoned to the scene and disconnect ed the cable. Guyana Times

understands that hours pri or to the tragic incident, the woman had complained about the illegal connection that runs through the alley.

Their bodies were tak en to the Memorial Gardens Funeral Home awaiting post-mortem. Further inves tigations are underway.

Anurse attached to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) and her husband were on Sunday evening electrocuted by an illegal electrical wire at Success Squatting Area, East Coast Demerara (ECD).

Dead are 32-year-old Sorojanie Hansraj and Prahalad Jagnarine, 39, a taxi driver. They were re portedly found motionless beside each other in the al leyway leading to their home.

It is suspected that the

The alleyway where the bodies were found

incident occurred between 19:00h on Sunday evening and 06:00h on Monday.

Their bodies were report edly discovered by the cou ple’s 11-year-old daughter on Monday morning as she went out looking for them since they did not return home on Sunday evening.

According to the daugh ter, her mother left home

at about 19:00h to pick up Jagnarine. However, upon discovering their bodies, the 11-year-old raised an alarm. Neighbours rushed to the scene and immediately con tacted the Police.

Their bodies were exam ined and burn marks were seen on the neck, chest, and right wrist of Jagnarine, and on the left wrist and left side

Jesuit Priest, Father Malcolm Rodrigues passes

Condolence have been pouring in after the passing of Roman Catholic priest, Father Malcolm Rodrigues, who died on Sunday.

Reports are that he died at the St Joseph’s Mercy Hospital at the age of 81.

Father Rodrigues was a prominent Guyanese Jesuit ordained in 1971. Over the years, he has been active in many ministries.

In his earlier days, he completed his MA in Physics in 1972 and was later pos ited at the University of Guyana, serving in capaci ties as Head of the Physics Department; then the Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences. He then became the Deputy Vice Chancellor of UG until 1993. He was also the Director of the Environmental Sciences Unit from 1995 to 1998.

Father Rodrigues also served for many years as a member of the Iwokrama Committee from 1989 to 1990, then member of the Interim Board, then Government nominee on the International Board until his passing.

The late priest was active as Chair of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and has

sat on several labour-re lated tribunals. He was a member of the Indigenous People’s Commission and committee member of the Guyana Media Proprietor Association.

A Cacique Crown of Honour recipient, he was also active for his human rights activism. After retir ing from teaching, Father Malcolm was appointed Parish Priest of Bartica Parish and later, priest of several Catholic commu nities of the North West District.

After hearing of his pass ing, President Irfaan Ali also shared his tribute, ex pressing that Guyana and the Roman Catholic Church has lost a true champion.

The President penned, “It is with great sadness I learned of the death of Father Malcolm Rodrigues. Guyana and in particular the Roman Catholic Church have lost a true champi on. His life was punctuat ed with humility, simplicity, justice and a strong commit ment to a free and demo cratic society. To his family, the church and all his loved ones, please accept my deep est sympathies during this difficult time. I pray his soul finds eternal peace.”

The deceased 32-year-old Sorojanie Hansraj and 39-year-old Prahalad Jagnarine

Jesuit Priest Malcolm Rodrigues

Election CoI

Instruction to escort GECOM Chair from Command Centre was not mine – fmr TSU Head

…photo evidence shows tabulation laptop switched at some point

Superintendent Guy Nurse, who was in charge of the Tactical Services Unit (TSU) in March 2020, testified that the instruction to es cort GECOM Chairperson, Retired Justice Claudette Singh out of the Command Centre at Ashmins Building on March 5, 2020 was not his.

He further told the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the March 2020 General and Regional Elections that even though the Unit was stationed at Police Headquarters, Eve Leary, it was on standby at the Brickdam Police Station during the 2020 polls.

In his testimony, Nurse was asked if he directed in structions to remove the GECOM Chair, to which he responded in the negative

while relating that Deputy Superintendent Clifton Davis, who was in charge of the ranks, did not communi cate such.

When asked when he was made aware of this, the Superintendent an swered, “When they re turned back, that is the only time I would have known…I wasn’t aware that they move from Brickdam to move the GECOM Commissioner. I didn’t even have that oppor tunity to talk to them as they returned.”

Later that day, instruc tions came from former Police Commissioner, Leslie James for TSU ranks to go over to the Command Centre and assist in securing the building.

It was on this day that Returning Officer (RO) Clairmont Mingo attempted

to declare the results from the poll without complet ing the verification of the Statements of Poll – a pro cess that had been halted several times since ballots were cast.

During that day in ques tion, there were reports that the GECOM Chairperson was in the building reported ly being held “hostage” in a room.

Nurse added that ev ery move of the Unit should have been recorded while performing duties but in this case, none were document ed. In addition, there is no system in which these are logged and kept.

Same laptop

Meanwhile, PPP/C par ty agent responsible for tab ulation, Anieshaw Mohamed also testified about the events of March 4, 2020.

Photo evidence has shown

that the laptop found with GECOM Data Clerk Enrique Livan is the same laptop that was used earlier in the tab ulation room to analyse the statement of polls.

Recalling events of March 4, she was told to report to Ashmins Building where the tabulation was being con ducted for District Four, due to reports that there were in correct numbers being called which did not reflect those in the Statements of Poll (SoPs).

Typically, a sealed enve lope containing the SoPs is opened in the presence of ev eryone and tabulated. This envelope is prepared at the polling station, to which par ty agents are given copies.

According to her, all of her party’s 2339 SoPs were tallied by that midday. “It showed that we won the election,” Mohamed told the Commission.

When she arrived, the process was halted due to an issue. It resumed and af ter tabulation of about three boxes, party agents were told that the system was no lon ger working.

Mohamed recalled the issue was resolved and the process restarted. Shortly af ter, Livan left the room with the laptop and flash drive. After some time had elapsed, he did not return and a de cision was made to look for him.

“I do not believe we went through one box fully and he left the room. He took control of the laptop being used, un plugged the flash drive, and place the flash drive in his pocket. It was an Acer lap top.”

When Livan was found, he was sitting and ‘evidently’ working on the laptop, with the black flash drive plugged into the equipment. He was in the presence of two wom

en.

Within an hour, the Police were called in. Livan closed the laptop and placed his head on the desk. Livan claimed that it was not the same laptop. However, it was an Acer – like the one that was being used in the tabulation room. It was later discovered that the Acer lap top was replaced with a Dell, thus raising suspicion but Livan held out that it was the same equipment that he had in his possession when he left the room.

Mohamed provided pho tos of the laptop before Livan left the room and the one which he was found with, which corroborated claims of it being the same device.

“It was an Acer computer, the same one we left that we were using in the tabulation room…I proceeded to show them a picture that was in the room and it was the ex act laptop,” she disclosed.

Data Entry Clerk Enrique Livan after being found in the room with the same laptop

Anieshaw Mohamed giving her testimony before the CoI

Former TSU Officer-in-Charge Guy Nurse

UNICEF makes donations to CDC

– supplies will help to address humanitarian needs in Guyana

UNICEF

Representative to Guyana and Suriname, Nicolas Pron on Monday handed over 100 water tanks, 10,000 collaps ible water containers, and $2 million worth of water purification tablets, to the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) to support the CDC’s response to emergencies.

The supplies were pro cured as part of UNICEF’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) pro gramme in Guyana and complemented support to lo cal authorities to increase

the accessibility and avail ability of safe water in areas where people are in need.

“Against the backdrop of challenges such as climate change, which has result ed in more intense and in creasingly frequent floods and droughts, UNICEF is committed to strengthen ing our partnership with the CDC to ensure that no child is left behind,” Pron said. He noted that the sup plies will support the re sponse to disasters such as flooding and help to address other humanitarian needs of Guyanese as well as mi grants. “We know that ac cess to safe drinking wa ter, and related sanitation and hygiene services, has a direct positive impact on health, nutrition, learning abilities and several other key developmental factors, which can lead to better standards of living and ulti mately benefit investment, economic growth and sus tainable development,” Pron stated.

Director General of the CDC, Colonel Nazrul Hussain extended gratitude to UNICEF for the timely donation, on behalf of the

Government and people of Guyana. He thanked the local office for partnering with the CDC to bring about awareness and contributing tangibly to the effort to de liver clean water.

The supplies were pro cured by UNICEF, with

support from the US Department of State’s Bureau for Population, Refugees and Migration (USBPRM), at the request of the CDC as part of the long standing cooperation be tween the two agencies.

UNICEF Representative to Guyana and Suriname, Nicolas Pron hands over the donation to CDC Director General, Colonel Nazrul Hussain

Duo accused of killing Corentyne rice farmer over stolen cow freed

…after Magistrate upholds no-case submissions

Businessman sues GRA over “misclassification” of 2 Toyota Tundra pick-ups

Businessman Hanson Ross of Atlantic Gardens, East Coast Demerara (ECD), has sued the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) over what he contends is the “misclas sification” of his two fourdoor Toyota Tundra pickups.

In legal documents pre pared by Attorney-atLaw Siand Dhurjon, Ross, the proprietor of Hanson Trading, Import, and Export said that on September 19, 2021, and October 7, 2021, he imported two extend ed cab 2007 Toyota Tundra pick-ups under the legiti mate expectation that they would be treated and clas sified as “goods vehicles” which attract only about $417,000 in taxes for each truck.

The two men accused of brutally murdering a rice farmer in a dis pute over a stolen cow back in 2020 were freed of the capital offence on Monday after Senior Magistrate Alex Moore upheld no-case sub missions made on their be half by their attorney.

Gobin Balram, 62, a farmer, and 27-year-old Jerry Pirtam, a labourer— both of Number 65 Village, Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne)—were ac cused of killing 40-year-old Parmanand Lakeram, their fellow villager, whose bul let-riddled body was found at the Number 67 Village Corentyne backlands on January 30, 2020.

At the close of the pros ecution’s case in their Preliminary Inquiry (PI) at the Number 51 Magistrate’s Court, the duo’s lawyer, Bernard Da Silva, made nocase submissions in favour

of them. The submissions were upheld by Magistrate Moore, who accordingly dis charged the men.

It was reported that Lakeram and two men were in his vehicle travelling into the backdam when they saw a light approaching. As such, the farmer stopped his

vehicle and disembarked to make inquiries but instead, he was reportedly shot in the process.

Police had stated that the now-dead man instruct ed his two friends to hide as he approached the incoming motorbike. After the inci dent, the friends told Police that they heard Lakeram screaming to them, “run boy, run, ‘Chunic’ just shoot me”.

At that point, the men left their hiding places and went in different directions but as they ran for their lives, they heard other gun shots.

The two men quickly in formed Lakeram’s family members of what transpired and without hesitation, they went to the scene in the company of the dead man’s brother. There, they saw Lakeram sitting in a pool of blood next to his vehicle.

His body bore about eight gunshot wounds.

According to counsel, his client as well as his custom brokers spoke to officers of the GRA both verbally and in writing to appeal to them to have the vehicles properly deemed as “goods vehicles.”

However, he said that his client received a letter dat ed December 10, 2021, from GRA’s Harmonised System Classification Committee, which stated that the “ve hicles [are] principally de signed for the transport of passengers and not goods ve hicles.” With the vehicles be ing classified as such, Ross’s lawyer said that this meant his client would have to pay approximately $16,771,949 to clear both of them.

According to the lawyer, he wrote GRA on the issue

and it had agreed to exam ine the vehicles and to “fur ther review” its position. But GRA, Dhurjon noted, main tained its position. Most worryingly, the lawyer add ed that on July 7, GRA pub lished his client’s vehicles on its want-of-entry list in a section of the media so that they would be disposed of.

The GRA, after receiv ing another missive from Dhurjon, agreed to with draw and remove the two Toyota Tundra from the want-of-entry list for dis posal. With no resolution of the matter, on November 30, Ross filed a Fixed Date Application (FDA) under the Judicial Review Act, challenging the actions of GRA and its CommissionerGeneral Godfrey Statia.

In court filings, Dhurjon brought to the attention of the GRA and identified at least three vehicles identi cal to the Tundra, that were

imported and registered in the “G” series and therefore treated as goods vehicles.

“In fact, a much larg er four-door Toyota Tundra Pick-up of the ‘CrewMax’ dou ble cab type was registered as a goods vehicle,” counsel submitted, while pointing to a double-cabin Ford Explorer and a Toyota Tacoma, both of which he claimed were clas sified as goods vehicles in re cent times.

He also averred to the existence of hundreds of four-door pick-ups with six seats in Guyana, especially the Mitsubishi Canter and Toyota Toyoace pick-ups.

The lawsuit has placed in evidence a policy of the GRA in respect of pick-ups which allows for a liberal scheme for the deeming of ‘double cab pick-ups’ as goods vehi cles once certain criteria are met. The lawyer contends that his client’s vehicles “would truly and properly” fall under those criteria and he can prove the reason.

Dead: Parmanand Lakeram

Freed: Gobin Balram

Freed: Jerry Pirtam

Attorney-at-Law Siand Dhurjon

Businessman Hanson Ross

A visit to Sky Valley Waterfalls at Moco Moco

attraction when visiting the area.

There are 999 stairways to the top of the mountain but before you reach the top, the Moco Moco Hydro proj ect sits below.

The hydro station was hit by a mudslide in July 2003 which forced work on

to the top of the mountain from the base.

However, whilst there, the beauty of the Rupununi Savannah is witnessed in abundance along with an overhead view of some parts of the Pakaraima Mountain range.

The waterfall at Sky

Waterfalls and experiencing the Sleeping Giant tour also bring additional benefits to the community in that pro ceeds garnered from tour ists help to purchase fuel for the bus which takes about 100 children to school.

Moco Moco Village is an indigenous communi

Waterfalls are al ways intriguing and mesmerising, especially when they are ac cessible. One such beauty is the Sky Valley Waterfalls, located in the Rupununi

Savannahs at Moco Moco, Region Nine (Upper TakutuUpper Essequibo).

Just one hour’s drive from the township of Lethem, the water can be heard pound ing on the rocks.

The waterfall brings its own music and lacy white to the travelling stream. However, this music of the natural world is soft enough for one to enjoy. This water fall is just one aspect of the

the project to discontinue. Efforts were being made to resuscitate to facility but a fire a few years later de

Valley Creek gives you a sense of tranquillity and peace with the magnificent roar of the water splashing.

ty at the foothills of the Kanuku Mountain range in the Rupununi Savannahs and provides excellent re

stroyed the power plant.

The building still stands and it is a part of Sky Valley tours which takes you 999 stairs up; if you can make it.

After climbing to the top of the mountain which does not have a known name, vis itors can spend the night. It would take six hours to get

The mountain contains sev eral aquifers (bodies of po rous rock or sediment sat urated with groundwater) where villagers of Moco Moco go to fish. There is enough fish in the moun tains for the village of about 1500 people.

Visits to Sky Valley

laxation and tranquillity for visitors.

The village is known for the beautiful and refresh ing Moco Moco Falls, the dangerous 100-steps hy dro dam, the famous black rock, its lagoons and beau tiful scenery.

(Andrew Carmichael)

Tour guide Alton Primum pointing to the infamous 999 steps

A view while climbing the 999 steps

The Moco Moco Hydro Power Station

The Sky Valley Waterfalls

Viral load testing to be available next year for HIV patients

Meeting these 2025 targets, he added, places Guyana in a position of ending HIV/ AIDS by 2030.

“I think that’s where we’re headed. We have to get there because if we don’t, then we will have to keep pouring a lot of resources to deal with HIV,” the Health Minister said.

Guyana recorded its first case of HIV in 1987 – a time when the country was chal lenged with the shortfalls in making diagnostics and treatment was still new.

High school student launches 1stever problem-solving competition

High school senior at the Georgetown International Academy, Athrav Kotehal Gowdara is pacing ahead with his implementation of Ideathon Guyana.

The country’s first-ever problem-solving competi tion challenges youths be tween the ages of 14 and 21 to work in teams to gen erate creative solutions to build strong prosperous communities in Guyana.

Participants of this event will work in groups consisting of 2-5 members. Alternatively, youths can join as individuals, in which case, event organisers will assign them to teams in or der to maximise diversity.

The Health Ministry will be able to offer viral load testing for HIV/AIDS patients by ear ly next year, in keeping with the efforts to achieve UNAIDS targets.

In December 2020, UNAIDS released a new set of ambitious targets, call ing for 95 per cent of all peo ple living with HIV to know their HIV status, 95 per cent of all people with diagnosed HIV infection to receive sus tained antiretroviral ther apy, and 95 per cent of all people receiving antiretro viral therapy to have viral suppression by 2025.

At the HIV/STI Conference on Sunday, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony shared that it is within Guyana’s grasp to eliminate the disease by 2030. In this light, they are

working to achieve targets. “I think it is within our grasp. Why do I say that? When you look at the param eters UNAIDS would have set, 95-95-95, we’re already at 94 for persons who know their status; 76 for persons who are in care; and we’re down to 28 for persons who are virally suppressed. That is because we don’t have universal viral load testing.”

He also announced, “But we’re changing that. The Ministry has already pro cured a machine to do viral load testing that would be in the country early next year… Viral load testing would be available for every HIV pa tient that needs to get their viral loads checked.”

Once the testing com mences, the 28 per cent will be increased significantly to a projected 89 per cent.

Dr Anthony recalled, “When we heard about hav ing the first case here in Guyana and we didn’t have the diagnostics, it was a big challenge. To think 35 years ago to where we are today, we’ve really made a trans formation in how we’re man aging this disease.”

Speaking about prog ress in tackling the disease, he referred to partnerships that led to the introduction of paediatric anti-retrovi ral medications, and the de velopment of the National Public Health Reference Laboratory, among others.

The United States, PAHO/WHO, UNAIDS, the World Bank and other agen cies would have played a crucial role in such projects and technical assistance.

“We were able to advance our HIV treatment and care programme to one of the best in the Caribbean… We’re at a place where if we work a little bit harder, this objective that we have in the world of ending AIDS by 2030, we can actually do so.”

UNICEF makes donations...

Each water tank has the capacity to hold 450 gallons of water while the collaps ible water containers are UV resistant and, with the capacity to hold 10 litres of water each, are suitable for transport and storage of po table water, especially for domestic and household use in emergency situations. The two million water puri

fication tablets can treat 10 million litres of water.

UNICEF’s WASH pro gramme in Guyana aims to strengthen the capacities of structures and partners at the national and decentralised levels to improve the devel opment and implementation of child-sensitive climate and disaster risk reduction poli cies and programmes, and to

FROM PAGE 12

provide equitable and sus tainable access to low-carbon and climate-resilient WASH services.

As part of the component to strengthen partners’ ca pacities for preparedness and humanitarian response, in June this year, 20 lo cal WASH personnel were trained to address WASH needs in emergencies.

Businessman sues GRA...

According to Dhurjon, GRA cannot claim that this policy is no longer in force since he has presented ev idence to this end given to him by a whistle-blower working at the GRA.

He submitted that his client has documents to prove that GRA relied on the very policy to permit a Toyota Tundra identical to his client’s pick-ups to be deemed as a goods vehicle recently.

Ross’s lawsuit against the GRA seeks declarations that the two Toyota Tundra are motor vehicles used for the transport of goods fall

ing under the classification code 8704 of Chapter 87 of Part 1 of the First Schedule to the Customs Act; and that the CommissionerGeneral acted arbitrarily, ultra vires, unreasonably, irrationally, unfairly, abu sively of power, unconstitu tionally, whimsically, capri ciously, against GRA’s own policy and without any legal foundation or authority.

Ross also seeks an order of certiorari to quash his two four-door Toyota Tundra’s classifications as passen ger vehicles and an order of mandamus to compel the Commissioner-General to

FROM PAGE 13

take all steps necessary to recognise, classify and ac cept the said vehicles as motor vehicles used for the transport of goods and to assess the taxes and duties correspondingly.

Ross is further claiming from the GRA the cost of storing the said vehicles at the Muneshwers wharf to date which now amounts to over $2,900,000 according to the vehicles’ storage invoic es put into evidence.

The matter is currently before acting Chief Justice Roxane George, SC, who is likely to fix a date for hear ing in the matter shortly.

Ideathon in collaboration with several Government agencies has placed em phasis on four major sec tors in Guyana that would be suitable for the competi tion as Health, Education, Entrepreneurship, and Environment.

For each of these sec tors, participants will be giv en a problem statement for which they will have to find a solution. The proposed summary, which is expected to be submitted by Friday, December 9, 2022, will de termine who is selected to go through to the next stage of the competition.

Both the final and

semi-final will be held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown, on Sunday, December 11, 2022.

This will see the partic ipation of 35-40 teams in the semi-final round in the morning, half of which will be selected for the finals lat er that afternoon.

Present at the competi tion will be mentors to as sist youths in pitching their ideas to judges and the au dience and to give them guidance.

There will also be cash prizes to be won, tro

phies, and certificates. Additionally, the Ideathon team has been flexible with the age limits and encour ages persons who are just above or below the range to register.

Kotehal Gowdara, who is the son of a diplomat, came to Guyana and was adamant to do something for the country through his youth. He came up with Ideathon to encourage youths to join hands to solve real-world challenges af fecting Guyana through hu man-centred design which will ultimately build a bet ter Guyana.

Eureka Labs introduces diagnostic tests for STDs to Guyana

For the first time in Guyana, persons can now access di agnostic testing for the 12 most common Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) through Eureka Medical Laboratory’s (EML) enhanced detection panel.

With its scientifically updated technology, EML will use Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing to identify the presence of DNA associated with organ isms that cause STDs. DNA is a complex molecule con taining information that is unique to each organism.

Previously, only screen ing was offered at EML, us ing rapid tests that detected either chlamydia or gonor rhoea, but these require an additional confirmatory test to be done to verify a posi tive or negative result.

EML’s STD PCR testing will no longer necessitate persons undergoing both a screening and confirmato ry test, particularly if their physician suspects an STD but may be uncertain of the cause.

EML’s Microbiology and Virology Laboratory Manager, Paul Cheddie, said, “The PCR method be ing introduced is a high sen sitivity, high specificity as say that can detect the DNA of the 12 common organisms associated with STIs/STDs, which dramatically reduces the likelihood of a missed di

agnosis.”

He further explained that in most sexually trans mitted infection cases, the infected person shows no symptoms and may produce culture-negative results due to the insufficient number of organisms present in the genital tract. However, with this STD PCR diagnostic test, definitive results are guaranteed for more organ isms in less time. As such, EML is the first medical laboratory in Guyana to of fer an STD test of this kind.

The STD PCR test de tects bacteria associated with chlamydia, gonorrhoea, and bacterial vaginosis, as well as the causative agents of herpes, syphilis, yeast in fections, and non-gonococcal urethritis.

Meanwhile, EML has also introduced a qualitative real-time PCR test to detect high-risk Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infections.

“It is intended to identify

DNA from 14 high-risk HPV types, as well as two main HPV types – HPV 16 & 18, from cervical samples”, Cheddie explained.

According to Cheddie, the turnaround time for these PCR tests is 24-48 hours and can be accessed by men and women.

EML’s Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Boyle, not ed that these new services offered at the lab signify a significant development for the medical landscape in Guyana. He said EML is happy to be able to build on existing PCR infrastructure, to expand the availability of healthcare services here.

The CEO said EML is committed to developing the medical sector in Guyana through new and innovative technologies.

Both the STI and HPV panels are currently avail able at Eureka Lab branch es countrywide.

Ideathon Founder/CEO Athrav Kotehal Gowdara

Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony

President Ali off to Barbados for Caricom-Cuba Summit

– to deliver remarks at Regional Security Service meeting

ucation, technical and vo cational training, including capacity building; cooper ation in security and bilat eral integration measures,” the Office of the President had announced.

Meanwhile, information released from the Barbados Government Information Service revealed detailed in formation on the areas of co operation in the agriculture sector for which the accord will provide.

The St Barnabas Accord states that Barbados and Guyana have agreed to twin the work programmes of their respective Agriculture Ministries, which also en tails an exchange of officials from each other’s Ministries.

President Dr Irfaan

Ali has departed Guyana’s shores for the Caribbean Community (Caricom)-Cuba summit in Bridgetown, Barbados, where regional leaders will gather today at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.

According to a state ment from the Office of the President, the Head of State is being accompanied by the Foreign Affairs Minister Hugh Todd; Guyana’s Ambassador to Caricom George Talbot and other of ficials.

President Ali will be ex pected to deliver remarks at a meeting of the Regional Security Service (RSS).

Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips has meanwhile been sworn in

to carry out the functions of President.

The Caricom-Cuba Summit is in its eight itera tion. Additionally, it was ex plained that this December marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of dip lomatic relations between Caricom and Cuba.

In a joint statement on the eve of the summit, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley spoke highly of cooperation and collabo ration between her country and Cuba, which includes in areas such as the medical field and the sugar industry.

It was only in July that an agreement was signed by President Ali and Prime Minister Mottley, to further facilitate relations between Guyana and Barbados, and

collaboration in a number of areas, including agriculture and food security.

The agreement, called the Saint Barnabas Accord, was signed on the side lines of the 43rd Caribbean Community (Caricom) Heads of Government meet ing, and it paves the way for the two countries to further dialogue in nine specific ar eas. It is an updated agree ment since a previous Saint Barnabas Accord was signed between the two leaders.

“Among those areas are agriculture, aquacul ture and food security. Other areas captured in the agreement are mining and quarrying; tourism and in ternational transport; trade and business development; energy; manufacturing; ed

It was announced that a Joint Working Group on Food and Nutritional Security, comprising Ministries responsible for agriculture and health; State-owned agricultur al and marketing corpora tions; and private sector representatives, will also be created.

The accord also caters for “export from Guyana to Barbados of beef, corn and soya, coconut and coconut products, fruits and vege tables, poultry and poul try products, and other products as may be deter mined; export from Guyana to Barbados of shade hous es; export from Barbados to Guyana of one thousand (1000) artificially insemi nated black belly sheep in tranches.”

It also states that a com pany will be established to manage the black bel

ly sheep production, and a youth programme will be created that includes differ ently-abled persons to work on a rotational basis on a fif ty (50) acre farm in Guyana.

President Ali had previ ously announced that sev eral acres of Guyana’s land would be allocated to be uti lised by Barbadian farm ers. According to the accord, Guyana will be leasing land to Barbados at concession al prices “for the purpose of joint partnership in an imal husbandry and poul try-rearing (including poul try feed production); and for the production of flow ers, food crops inclusive of breadfruit, cassava, plan tains, pineapple, bananas,

passion fruit, oranges and coconuts.”

A community will also be identified in Guyana to part ner with Barbados farm ers for the large-scale culti vation of black belly sheep, which have already arrived in Guyana. Food terminals with operational plant and facilities would also be es tablished in both countries for local use and for export, while a trade hub would also be developed in Barbados. The two countries will also be working closely to gether on the “Vision 25 by 2025” initiative that seeks to increase food security and slash the food import bill of the Region by 25 per cent in the next three years.

President Ali sharing a brief moment with Belize Prime Minister John Briceño at the Grantley Adams International Airport in Bridgetown, Barbados

The Guyana delegation, led by President Dr Irfaan Ali, as they arrive in Barbados

World Soil Day 2022 (December

5) – Soils, where food begins

Soils, through their ex traordinary capacity to form, store, trans form, and recycle the nutri ents, produce 95 per cent of the food. Healthy soils are the basis for healthy and nutritious food: it all starts in soils… where food begins!

Of the 92 naturally oc curring chemical elements on the planet, 18 are es sential to plants, and 15 are supplied by soils. Macronutrients such as ni trogen, phosphorus, and potassium are needed for plants in large amounts. Micronutrients such as bo ron, copper, iron, manga nese, and zinc are also es sential for plants but only needed in small amounts.

To sustain production over time, it is necessary to have a balance between nu trient input (i.e., synthet ic and mineral fertilisers, organic residues, biolog ical nitrogen fixation, at mospheric deposition,) and output (crop harvest, ero sion, loss of soil organic matter, greenhouse gases emissions):

* When soils are nutri ent-depleted, they lose their capacity to support crops and produce nutrient-defi cient food.

* When the nutrient con tent of soil is too high, it represents a toxic environ ment for plants and animals, pollutes the environment (soil, wa ter and atmosphere) and negatively contributes to climate change.

The problem

About 33 per cent of the global soils are already de graded, and the trend is accelerating. In recent de cades, the status of soil fer tility has declined due to unsustainable soil manage ment practices, causing a drastic decline in food vita min and nutrient content. Several factors are respon sible for this, including the loss of soil organic carbon and biodiversity, nutrient imbalance, soil erosion, pol lution, or salinity and the non-judicious use of fer tilisers. In addition, an es timated 24 billion tons of fertile soil are lost due to erosion each year. The loss of soil fertility leads to low crop yield and crop fail ure, leading local popula tions to hunger, malnutri tion and poverty. Nutrient

imbalance has been iden tified as one of the top ten soil threats. Hidden hun ger (also called micronutri ent deficiency) is attributed to nutrient-poor diets and is linked to nutrient-depleted soils. More than two-thirds of the world’s population lacks one or more essential minerals.

Fertiliser

When the biogeochem ical cycles are not respect ed, the nutrients removed through harvest need to be replaced by fertilis er. Fertilisers are chemi cal substances or materials from mineral, synthetic, or ganic, or recycled sources.

* The average yield at tributable to synthetic and mineral fertiliser inputs is 40 to 60 per cent in temper ate climates and often much higher in the tropics.

* Synthetic and mineral fertiliser use has increased by 500 per cent in the last 50 years, and in the case of N fertilisers, this figure rises to 800 per cent, causing a surplus of reac tive nitrogen in the envi ronment that has devastat ing consequences.

In 2020, 266 million tons of synthetic and min eral fertilisers were used in agriculture globally. In comparison, the estimated quantity of manure used in 2020 is 28 million tons.

Thirty countries use more than 90 per cent of the mineral and synthet ic fertilisers in the world, and four countries (China, India, United States of America and Brazil) alone use more than 50 per cent.

Overuse of fertilisers causes soil and water pol lution through nutrient leaching, alteration of bio geochemical cycles, eutro phication of water bodies and greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions.

* In highly fertilised ar eas, between 50-60 per cent of the nutrient inputs be come a major source of pollution to groundwater, freshwater, and coastal waters.

* In Europe, 45 per cent of Cd contamination of crop land is caused by certain mineral phosphorus fer tilisers.

* Globally, there is a ni trogen surplus (the amount of nitrogen added to the soil is greater than the amount

of nitrogen removed by crops). As a result, almost half of the applied nitrogen through fertilisers enters the food chain and the rest is lost into the environment.

38 per cent of agricul tural emissions come from the release of N2O (a potent GHG with a global warming potential 300 times high er than the one of CO2). On the other hand, nitro gen fertilisers are responsi ble for feeding 48 per cent of the world’s population.

Underuse of fertilisers. In some regions, the use of synthetic and mineral fer tiliser is very low compared to the global average.

* The average fertiliser consumption in sub-Saha ran Africa is estimated at 17kg of nutrients per hect are of cropland, which is very low compared to the world’s average fertiliser consumption of 135 kg/ha.

* The underuse of fer tilisers also has a signifi cant impact on soil health as it means that nutrients are being mined from soils and soil organisms do not have ac cess to essential nutrients to grow and support the nu trient cycle.

The misuse of fertilisers also constitutes an issue as in the absence of extension services, farmers use fer tilisers according to their knowledge or the advice given by agro-dealers. This is done without considering the status of key soil proper ties and crop requirements. Furthermore, the quality of fertilisers is in many cases unknown.

Fertiliser crisis

Smallholder farmers, particularly from vulnera ble countries across Africa, Latin America and Asia, lack access to organic and inorganic fertilisers and are currently facing a 300 per cent increase in fertilis er prices, already impacting food production prospects and farmers’ livelihoods in many countries. The an swer to the crisis is not sim ply to facilitate the produc tion of more fertiliser, but to increase fertiliser use ef ficiency and strengthen and promote alternative sources of fertiliser.

Soils

security: availability, ac cess, utilisation and stabil ity. The chronic lack of mi cronutrients from soils and diets causes severe and of ten invisible health prob lems. Hidden hunger affects over 2 billion people world wide and about two-thirds of the world’s population is at risk of deficiency in one or more essential mineral ele ments. Higher yields mean that nutrients from the soil must be distributed across a greater volume of crops, diluting the nutrients in fruits and vegetables. The average nutritional value of the main crops has declined since 1950, and some vita mins and minerals have de creased by 15 to 40 per cent.

Taking action to prevent and reverse nutrient imbalances in agri-food systems

By 2050, agricultural production must increase by 60 per cent globally –and almost 100 per cent in developing countries – to meet food demands alone. Sustainable soil manage ment could produce up to 58 per cent more food.

and bio-fertilisers) and the pursuit of new sources and technologies for cheaper, cleaner, and more effec tive soil nutrition should be sought.

* Improve data and in formation on key soil char acteristics. Soil maps cap ture the spatial variability of soil resources and allow to identify intervention hotspots and guide local ised management decisions. Soil nutrient mapping con stitutes a key tool to en hance fertilisers’ use effi ciency.

* Recarbonisation of soils. The increase in soil or ganic carbon stocks through the global RECSOIL Programme can improve physical, chemical, and bio logical soil properties, boost nutrient content and reduce the dependence on inorgan ic/synthetic fertiliser.

* Nature-based solu tions. There is no single solution to all soil fertility problems, but nature offers a portfolio of alternatives to increase nutrients in soils:

ploited nitrogen source.

* Composting and recy cling of food waste can bring back nutrients to soils and contribute to the circular economy.

* Crop diversification and inclusion of pulses im prove nutrient cycling, nu trient use efficiency, and soil nutrient storage while reducing the need for exter nal inputs.

* If you cannot mea sure it, you cannot man age it. Monitoring soil fer tility and fertiliser quality through standardised an alytical methods is critical to provide reliable and com parable soil information. The Global Soil Laboratory Network (GLOSOLAN) builds and strengthens the capacity of laborato ries in soil analysis and the International Network on Fertiliser Analysis works on evaluating the quali ty and safety of different nutrient sources to avoid health problems and envi ronmental pollution.

* Empowering farm ers to embrace sustainable soil management practices. Farmers should be at the centre of the plans for the maintenance and enhancement of soil fertility and sustainable nutrient management.

Strengthening of national capacities on sustainable soil nutrient management, technical support, and fi nancial incentives are part of the root solutions to soil fertility loss and nutrient imbalances of the Global Soil Doctors Programme.

and food security

Soils have a key role in all four dimensions of food

* Fighting nutrient im balances through a sustain able use of fertilisers. The International Code of Conduct for the Sustainable Use and Management of Fertilisers, together with the Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Soil Management (VGSSM), provide the framework for implementing local ly-adapted sustainable practices. Alternative fer tiliser sources should be promoted (such as manures

* Soil biodiversity can make a difference in the soil nutrient status. Using ni trogen-fixing and phospho rus-solubilising microbes and biofertilisation tech niques increase the avail ability of nutrients for plant uptake.

* Improving soil health by adding organic mat ter and regulating soil pH increase soil fertility and nutrient availability. Livestock manure is a re source of organic material and beneficial microorgan isms and often an unex

* Recycled nutrient sources are alternatives to increase soil fertility and contribute to the circular economy. About 3.5 million tons of waste produced dai ly worldwide could poten tially be used to bring back nutrients to soils. Animal manure, urban wastes, wastewater, algae biomass, compost, among other sources, can be returned to the plant nutrient cycle af ter consumption by humans or animals, as by-products of food processing or as plant residues returned to the soil.

Sustainable soil man agement is still the most cost-effective solution to increase the content of nu trient in soils and improve crop yields for food security and nutrition.

Regional

Colombia mudslide: Dozens of people die as bus is buried

Alandslide on a road in the province of Risaralda in west ern Colombia has killed at least 27 people, the coun try's President has an nounced.

A bus full of passen gers was among several vehicles buried under mud and rocks, which tumbled down a hillside following heavy rains.

One of the passengers helped his wife and two children escape from the bus before he was buried and died.

At least three children are among those killed, President Gustavo Petro said.

The landslide hap pened in the early hours of Sunday morning local time on the road leading to the northern province of Chocó.

Witnesses said an in tercity bus, a jeep, and a motorbike had stopped on the road because of a car accident further ahead when part of the hillside

collapsed on top of them.

The bus is thought to have had two drivers and 25 passengers on board when it set off, but more passengers could have boarded along the way.

One of those who died inside the bus was identified as Guillermo Ibargüen. His son Andrés told Caracol News that "Dad helped me get out of the bus through a little hole".

"I had to throw myself down the ravine. When I jumped, the mud had cov

ered everything," he said.

Ibargüen also helped his wife and his daughter escape the bus in time.

At least nine people have survived the land slide, including one girl who rescuers saw cling ing to the body of her dead mother.

Landslides are not un common in Colombia, es pecially in the rainy sea son, and mountain roads are often cut off by mud and rocks.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

British national shot and killed in St Lucia

An investigation has been launched fol lowing an inci dent at a St Lucia bar in which a British nation al was killed and several others were injured when masked gunmen opened fire at the establishment late Saturday.

According to Police re ports, Donnie McKinnon, who manages the Soufriere Estate on the island, was on the balcony of Steve’s Bar, along with his friend Peter Jackson, a 72-yearold photographer, when the gunmen approached. McKinnon succumbed

to his injuries, while Jackson, who has been liv ing here for approximately 30 years, has been admit ted to hospital.

The Police have as sured the public that a statement on the status of the investigation will be released shortly. (CMC)

Barbados currency in circulation

Barbados’ new series of banknotes was in circulation from Monday.

The Central Bank of Barbados first announced the new series in April this year. At the time, it revealed that in addition to getting a design over haul, the new notes would be made of polymer rath er than the traditional cotton-based “paper” sub strate.

In May, the Bank un veiled the new designs, which have a vertical rath er than horizontal lay out, larger portraits, and a cleaner, more modern look. The notes also feature raised marks to assist the visually impaired to differ entiate between denomina tions.

“After more than two years of research and plan ning, we are extreme ly proud to be issuing Barbados’ new banknotes,” said Octavia Gibson, the Bank’s Director of Currency and Payments Oversight.

“Barbadians will find these notes easier to au thenticate because the change to polymer has al lowed us to incorporate bold, strong security fea tures such as transparent windows and holograms. They will also find that the notes are more durable and will keep looking new for longer.”

Polymer is waterproof and doesn’t absorb mois ture, dirt or grease. “If you spill a drink or food on your notes, all you have to do is wipe them off.”

Although the notes

have gone into circulation, Gibson advised that not ev eryone would see them im mediately. “We’ve begun to issue the notes to com mercial banks and they will make them available to their customers through ATMs and at the counter, but it will likely be a few weeks before everyone gets one in their hand. There’s no need to be concerned if you don’t get some imme diately. The older notes re main legal tender, so you can continue to spend them and businesses should con tinue to accept them.”

(Nation News)

Canada freezes assets of 3 Haitian businessmen over gang links

Canada's Government said it would freeze any local assets of three high-profile Haitian busi nessmen accused of sup porting the country's armed gangs, the latest measure targeting those linked to the Caribbean nation's criminal groups.

The sanctions target Gilbert Bigio, Chairman of Haitian industrial con glomerate GB Group, as well as prominent busi ness leaders Reynold Deeb and Sherif Abdallah, the Government said.

"Canada has reason to believe these individuals are using their status as high-profile members of the economic elite in Haiti

to protect and enable the illegal activities of armed criminal gangs, including through money laundering and other acts of corrup tion," the Foreign Ministry statement said.

GB Group and the of fice of Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Reuters was unable to ob tain comment from Deeb or Abdallah.

The sanctions add to others already imposed by Ottawa, including on three Haitian politicians in November, and "are in tended to put pressure on those responsible for the ongoing violence and in stability in Haiti".

The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on a current and a former Haitian Senator, accusing the two politicians of en gaging in drug trafficking activities.

Haitian gangs in September created a hu manitarian crisis by block ing the entrance to a fuel terminal, leading to short ages of gasoline and diesel that halted most economic activity just as the country reported a renewed out break of cholera.

Policymakers in the United States and Canada have this year been in creasingly vocal in discuss ing alleged links between gangs and economic elites. (Excerpt from Reuters)

T&T: 6 cops on Moruga triplemurder charge appeal refusal of bail

Six Police Officers accused of murdering three friends from Moruga in 2011 have appealed a judge’s refusal to grant them bail un til their trial takes place.

They say the Appeal Court has the jurisdiction to hear their appeal, but the Director of Public Prosecutions says otherwise.

Also advancing submis sions on the issue of juris diction were the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), the Attorney General and the Law Association (LATT).

On Monday, after hear ing submissions from all par ties, Justices of Appeal Nolan Bereaux, Ronnie Boodoosingh and Maria Wilson reserved their ruling.

“We are conscious it is a decision that has to be given quickly… We will do our best,” Bereaux said.

In July, Justice Norton Jack denied bail to the six –Sergeant Khemraj Sahadeo and Police Corporals Renaldo Reviero, Glenn Singh, Roger Nicholas, Safraz Juman,

President

Opponents of Colombia President Gustavo Petro on Monday in sisted that people jailed for participating in anti-Govern ment protests in 2021 were in prison for breaking the law, not demonstrating, after Petro announced plans to name doz ens of youths as peace manag ers, paving the way for their release.

Petro, Colombia's first left ist president who took pow er in August, promised in his campaign earlier this year to release dozens of young people prosecuted and imprisoned for participating in demonstra tions in 2021.

The protests, which rocked the Andean country for almost two months, saw acts of vio

Antonio Ramadin – who are accused of murdering Alana Duncan, Kerron Eccles, and Abigail Johnson on July 22, 2011.

The bail application was made based on the landmark ruling of the Appeal Court which allows anyone on a murder charge to apply for bail.

Duncan, 27, of Duncan Village, San Fernando, Eccles, 29, and 20-year-old Johnson, both of St Mary's Village, Moruga, were driv ing in Duncan's vehicle when Police stopped them at the

At first, it was claimed the three shot at the Police, who returned fire.

One of the officers' former colleagues who was initial ly charged with the murder of the three friends agreed to testify against them. That offi cer has now sued the Director of Public Prosecutions over the terms of a plea deal after pleading guilty to a conspira cy charge.

(Excerpt from Trinidad Newsday)

lence and vandalism that end ed in dozens of fatalities.

Victims' families, their lawyers and human rights groups say many of the deaths were driven by heavy-handed policing and that prosecutions of those involved are rare and slow.

Designating the impris oned youths – members of the so-called Primera Linea, a group of hardened protesters who often lead demonstrations from the front – as peace man agers would see them freed from jail.

Designated peace manag ers are tasked with promoting peace over violence.

The law allows the Government to make this des ignation, said Justice Minister

Nestor Ivan Osuna, adding that the youths will have to meet certain conditions once freed.

"They'll continue to be linked to the criminal pro ceedings that are being inves tigated or prosecuted. It's not a pardon, it's not an amnesty," Osuna said, adding the mea sure could benefit people who have already been convicted.

The cases of 230 people are being investigated, add ed Interior Minister Alfonso Prada.

Those imprisoned were not jailed for protesting but be cause they committed crimes, said former Defense Minister Diego Molano.

(Excerpt

from Reuters)

corner of Rochard Douglas Road and Gunness Trace in Barrackpore.

Part of the mountainside gave way and buried at least three vehicles

Petro's move to label protesters 'peace managers' sparks controversy

Around the World

Russia unleashes missiles across Ukraine, drones hit bases deep inside Russian territory

Oil falls over 3% after data raises Fed interest rate worries

Oil prices fell over 3 per cent on Monday, following US stock markets lower, after US service sector data raised worries that the Federal Reserve could continue its aggressive policy tightening path.

Brent crude futures settled down US$2.89, or 3.4 per cent per cent, at US$82.68 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) fell US$3.05, or 3.8 per cent, to US$76.93 a barrel. Both benchmarks had earlier risen more than US$2, before reversing direction.

During the session, WTI's front-month contract began trading lower than prices in half a year, a market structure called contango, which implies oversupply.

US services industry activity unexpectedly picked up in November, with employment rebounding, offering more evidence of underlying momentum in the economy as it braces for an anticipated recession next year.

The news caused oil and stock markets to pare gains.

The data challenges hopes that the Fed might slow the pace and intensity of its rate hikes amid recent signs of ebbing inflation.

"Macro-economic jitters about the Fed and what they're going to do on interest rates are taking over the market," said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures group.

Supporting the market earlier, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, together called OPEC+, agreed on Sunday to stick to their October plan to cut output by 2 million barrels per day (bpd) from November through 2023.

"The decision ... is not a surprise, given the uncertainty in the market over the impact of the Dec 5 EU Russia crude oil import ban and the G7 price cap," said Ann-Louise Hittle, vice president of consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

"In addition, the producers’ group faces downside risk from the potential for weakening global economic growth and China’s zero COVID policy."

The Group of Seven (G7) countries and Australia last week agreed on a US$60 a barrel price cap on seaborne Russian oil.

However, the price cap's effect on the futures market during Monday's session ran out of steam by the end of the day, said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston.

"The market has realised that the EU is already banning the purchase of Russian oil with a few limited exemptions, and China and India are going to continue and purchase Russian crude oil, so the impact of the price cap will be mitigated," Lipow said.

At the same time, in a positive sign for fuel demand in the world's top oil importer, more Chinese cities eased COVID curbs over the weekend.

Business and manufacturing activity in China, the world's second-largest economy, have been hit this year by strict measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus. (Reuters)

Ukraine said Russia destroyed homes in the southeast and knocked out power in many areas with a new volley of missiles on Monday, while Moscow said Ukrainian drones had attacked two air bases deep inside Russia hundreds of miles from front lines.

A new missile barrage had been anticipated in Ukraine for days and it took place just as emergency blackouts were due to end, with previous damage re paired. The strikes plunged parts of Ukraine back into freezing darkness with temperatures now firm ly below zero Celsius (32 Fahrenheit).

At least four people were killed in the Russian mis

sile attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, adding that most of some 70 missiles were shot down. Energy workers had already begun work on restoring power

supplies, he said.

Russia's Defence Ministry said Ukrainian drones attacked two air bas es at Ryazan and Saratov in south-central Russia, kill ing three servicemen and

wounding four, with two aircraft damaged by piec es of the drones when they were shot down.

Ukraine did not direct ly claim responsibility for the attacks. If it was be hind them, they would be the deepest strikes inside the Russian heartland since Moscow invaded Ukraine on Feb 24.

One of the targets, the Engels air base near the city of Saratov, around 730 km (450 miles) southeast of Moscow, houses bomber planes belonging to Russia's strategic nuclear forces.

The Russian Defence Ministry called the drone strikes a terrorist act aimed at disrupting its long-range aviation. (Excerpt from Reuters)

North Carolina: FBI investigates gun attack on Moore County power grid

The FBI is investigat ing after two power stations were dam aged by gunfire in North Carolina, plunging tens of thousands into darkness.

No motive or suspect has been announced since the attack on Saturday evening, but Police said it was inten tional.

Some 35,000 people in Moore County are without power and the damage could take several days to repair, officials say.

All schools in the coun ty were closed on Monday, while a state of emergency has been declared.

The emergency decla ration included a coun ty-wide curfew from 21:00 on Sunday to 05:00 (10:00 GMT) on Monday.

"The person, or per

Schoolgirl killed in knife attack in Germany

A14-year-old girl has died and another, aged 13, has been se riously injured after they were attacked by a man with a knife while walk ing to school in southern Germany.

Police say the sus pect came out of a refu gee shelter in the village of Illerkirchberg on Monday morning and attacked the pupils.

The older girl later died in hospital.

German Police have ar rested a 27-year-old man, who they say is an asylum seeker from Eritrea.

Officers searched a near

by building and found him with a knife they suspect was used in the attack. Two other men were also de tained.

The suspect is under Police guard in hospital where he's being treated for an unspecified injury.

In a statement, Police urged the public not to use the incident to stoke suspi cion of foreigners or asylum seekers.

"Everything connected to this is completely unclear so far," Police spokesman Wolfgang Juergens told re porters.

The 13-year-old girl is re covering from her injuries,

which are not life threaten ing, local media reported.

Illerkirchberg is a small town with a population of less than 5000 according to the 2015 census.

Mayor Markus Haeussler said everyone in the town was in shock.

Germany's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the "terrible news" had shaken her.

"I mourn the girl who was killed and sincerely hope that the injured girl will re cover... The Police are inves tigating all the backgrounds with intensity," she wrote on Twitter (in German). (BBC News)

sons, who did this knew ex actly what they were do ing," Sheriff Ronnie Fields said at a news conference on Sunday. "We don't have a clue why [they targeted] Moore County."

He said the FBI was working with local author ities to determine who was

responsible, adding that someone pulled up and "opened fire on the substa tion, the same thing with the other one".

"It wasn't random," he said.

It could take until Thursday to restore power, officials say, as the damage

to the two substations is sig nificant. Around 45,000 peo ple were initially affected by the outage.

A fire chief, Mike Cameron, said there were several road accidents when the power went out includ ing a four-vehicle pile up. "The car wreck was totally because the stop lights were out," he told the Charlotte Observer newspaper.

A major hospital switched to using generator power, while water and sew age services are also run ning on back-up generators.

Temperatures hit a low of 32F (0C) on Monday morn ing, and the county opened an emergency shelter at a sports complex overnight on Sunday for those in need.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

China set to ease COVID curbs further as markets cheer change of tack

China is set to announce a further easing of some of the world's toughest COVID curbs as early as Wednesday, sourc es said, as investors cheered the prospect of a policy shift that follows widespread pro tests and mounting econom ic damage.

Three years into the pan demic, China's zero-toler ance measures, from shut borders to frequent lock downs, contrast sharply with the rest of the world, which has largely decided to live with the virus.

The strict approach has battered the world's sec ond-largest economy, put mental strain on hundreds

of millions and last month prompted the biggest show of public discontent in main land China since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012.

Although last month's protests largely subsided amid a heavy Police pres ence across major cities, re gional authorities have since cut back on lockdowns, quar antine rules and testing re quirements to varying de grees. Top officials have also softened their tone on the dangers posed by the virus.

The financial hub of Shanghai announced on Monday night that it would remove COVID testing re quirements for people to en

ter most public places from today.

And a new set of nation wide rules is due to be an nounced soon, two sources with knowledge of the mat ter told Reuters, paving the way for more coordinated easing.

Beijing is also weighing whether to scale down its management of the virus to reflect the less serious threat it poses as early as January, the sources added.

More broadly, analysts now predict China may drop border controls and re-open the economy sooner than ex pected next year, with some seeing it fully open in spring.

(Excerpt

from Reuters)

People take shelter inside the metro station amid Russian missile attacks in Kyiv, Ukraine, December 5, 2022

It could take until Thursday to restore power in Moore County, officials say

DAILY HOROSCOPES

Take note of what others have to offer and use information in a unique way that will make you stand out and receive praise for your contributions. Trust your intelligence and judgment.

(March 21-April 19)

You should lend a helping hand, but not at the expense of putting off your re sponsibilities. Refuse to let anyone guilt you into something you shouldn’t do.

(April 20-May 20)

(May 21-June 20)

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

Negotiate on your behalf. You know what you want better than anyone, so speak up and make your voice heard. A partnership will require structure to ensure that balance and equality are maintained.

Tasks you take on will change how you approach helping others. Don’t take on more than you can handle. Be resourceful and search for ways to slash your overhead with discipline and strategy.

Take the high road and look out for those who can’t fend for themselves. You’ll feel good and develop a friend ship you can count on. A unique expe rience will open your mind to a host of possibilities.

Don’t wait for someone else to make the first move. Being proactive will show your ability to get things done. Spend less time complaining or criticizing and more time doing something worthwhile.

(Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

(Sept. 23-Oct. 23)

Go directly to the source and ask questions. A business trip, meeting or lecture will reveal the truth. Detailed accounting will help you end the year in an excellent financial position.

Gather information that will help you with your finances. Tips that show you how to reduce debt or talks that help establish who pays for what will encourage better days ahead and peace of mind.

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

Back away from people pushing you to take on too much or indulge in some thing unwise. Use your power of per suasion to get help and clear up mat ters that are making your life difficult.

Search for an easy way to make your home more efficient. If you do the work yourself, you’ll save money and learn new skills. Avoid secret dealings that can hurt your reputation.

(Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

(Jan. 20-Feb. 19)

Consider what you can do, what you want to do and what’s mandatory, then proceed. Carry on, regardless of wheth er others agree with you. Ramp up your enthusiasm and energy.

Your persuasive charm and colorful way of describing what you want will capture attention and encourage others to pitch in and help. Be sure to offer in centives. Stick to the truth.

(Feb. 20-March 20)

ARCHIE PEANUTS

CALVIN AND HOBBES

DILBERT

Dazzling Brazil dismantle South Korea in last 16

Brazil delivered an ominous message to their World Cup ri vals with a dazzling display of attacking brilliance to dis mantle South Korea and set up a quarter-final against Croatia.

Neymar made a goalscor ing return to action after injury at Stadium 974, but Brazil’s superstar was only one element of a devastat ing performance that ripped South Korea to shreds and settled this last-16 game well before half-time.

Vinicius Junior set the tone with a composed penalty-area finish from Raphinha’s cross after seven minutes, and Neymar dou bled Brazil’s advantage from the spot six minutes later for a foul on Richarlison.

It was Neymar’s 76th goal for Brazil, leaving him just one behind the legend ary Pele’s all-time record.

Richarlison then add ed to his personal showreel of great goals at this World Cup when he followed his spectacular volley against

Serbia with a real work of art, controlling the ball three times with his head and foot before moving into position to take Thiago Silva’s pass in his stride and score.

Brazil went four up with another gem after 36 min utes, Vinicius picking out Lucas Paqueta for West Ham’s expensive acquisition to score with a well-placed volley.

South Korea, to their great credit, continued to compete and forced several fine saves from Brazil keep er Alisson, before substitute Paik Seung-ho pulled one back with a glorious 30-yard strike to add to the night’s collection of special goals.

Brazil set World Cup standard

For 45 minutes at Stadium 974, Brazil hit

heights no other team has reached at this World Cup, demonstrating the level that will be required to overcome Tite’s team, producing a col lection of goals constructed in their country’s best tradi tions.

And it was all achieved with the smooth freedom of expression that is Brazil’s trademark, a four-goal halftime advantage going some way to demonstrating their supremacy.

Richarlison’s goal was a golden moment of the tour nament, followed by a team dance that rather incongru ously included Coach Tite.

Neymar eased himself back into action with silky touches and his goal, before being replaced late on after proving his fitness following the ankle injury sustained against Serbia that forced him out of two group games.

He is part of a potent Brazil attacking triumvirate alongside Richarlison and Vinicius, both on the score sheet and both making a se rious mark on this World

Croatia beat Japan 3-1 on penalties to reach quarters

Cup.

Tite was so comfortable with Brazil’s position that he was able to give Alisson a rest and send on thirdchoice keeper Weverton for World Cup action.

Brazil will now be heavy favourites against Croatia after putting down a marker with the best display – or at least 45 minutes before they eased up – by any team in Qatar so far.

Alisson outstanding as Brazil also shine in defence

Brazil’s three-goal victo ry margin was convincing and deserved, but there was another aspect to this win that showed just how strong Tite’s squad is.

South Korea may have been outclassed for large parts of the game, but they still had plenty of chances, only to run into one of the world’s best goalkeepers in Liverpool’s Alisson.

For all the understand able attention on Neymar and his attacking cohorts, Brazil have a last line of de fence that stands compari son with anyone at this tour nament, with Manchester City’s Ederson a world-class deputy and Weverton seeing action here.

South Korea never gave up trying to create oppor tunities, but Alisson was outstanding, tipping over a long-range effort from Hwang Hee-chan before re acting quickly to block him after the break, and rac ing off his line to thwart Tottenham’s Son Heungmin when he was clean through.

Brazil may be full of at tacking options, but they also have the protection of Alisson, who has taken his outstanding form at club level this season on to the world stage. (BBC Sport)

Goalkeeper Dominik

Livakovic was the hero, saving three penalties in the shootout, as Croatia edged past Japan af ter a 1-1 draw to reach the World Cup quarter-finals.

Livakovic kept out the first two efforts before stop ping Maya Yoshida’s kick, then Mario Pasalic converted the vital effort to take his side through.

Zlatko Dalic’s side, beat en in the final by France four years ago, will face tourna ment favourites Brazil in the next round on Friday (15:00 GMT).

Japan were the liveli er side and took a deserved lead two minutes before halftime when Celtic forward Daizen Maeda converted from Yoshida’s knock down.

Croatia levelled in the second half courtesy of Ivan Perisic’s brilliant bullet head er from Dejan Lovren’s cross,

becoming his country’s alltime leading scorer at major tournaments with 10 goals.

Neither side could find a breakthrough and the game ticked into the additional 30 minutes, with Brighton mid fielder Kaoru Mitoma’s spec tacular strike pushed over by Livakovic.

At the other end, Marko Livaja’s flicked header looked to be looping in, but Shuichi Gonda managed to gather and Lovro Majer dragged a shot in the 120th minute.

The contest went to nerve-shredding penalties, where Livakovic emerged as the man to lead Croatia’s cel ebrations.

Croatia just know how to get it done.

In 2018, when they al most lifted the trophy, they emerged from extra time with a win in each of their knock out games before losing in the final.

Of their last eight knock out games at the World Cup and Euros, seven have gone to extra time with the exception of their match against France.

They failed to score in two of their three group games, but have demonstrated their vast experience to progress to the last eight.

It didn’t start well though, as Shogo Taniguchi came close to netting for Japan in only the third minute, but flicked his header wide.

Daichi Kamada was look ing to finish off a slick team move, but ended up skew ing his shot out for a throw-in from six yards out. They got the breakthrough courtesy of Maeda’s poaching effort from close range.

Croatia, though, hit back through Perisic’s header as he moved past Davor Suker’s nine goals at major tourna ments. Only the legendary striker has scored more inter

national goals for the country, with 45 to Perisic’s 33.

The Tottenham play er could have netted when Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu miscued a back pass, which allowed his north London rival to run in on goal, but a shot from the angle was batted out by Gonda.

Chelsea’s Mateo Kovacic hooked wide, and Luka Modric’s dipping effort was pushed over by Gonda at full stretch.

Croatia needed someone to stand up and Livakovic stopped efforts from Takumi Minamino, Mitoma and Yoshida to become just the third goalkeeper to save three penalties in a shootout at the World Cup.

For Japan, their dream came to end at the round of 16 once more, failing to progress beyond this stage in all four World Cup appearances. (BBC Sport)

Kyrie Irving: Nike ends sponsorship deal with Brooklyn Nets guard after social media post

Nike has ended its sponsorship deal with Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving one month after he promoted a documentary which con tained anti-Semitic materi al on social media.

The sportswear giant initially suspended its con tract with Irving, who later apologised.

The 30-year-old missed eight games during his sus pension from the NBA.

Speaking recently, Nike founder Phil Knight said: “Kyrie stepped over the line. It’s kind of that simple.”

Knight added: “He made

some statements that we just can’t abide by, and that’s why we ended the re lationship. I was fine with that.”

Seven-time NBA AllStar Irving had partnered with Nike for eight years and, according to Forbes, had an US$11 million con tract with the brand as of 2019.

During his suspension, he met NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Jewish community leaders, while he and the Nets pledged to donate US$1 million to com bat “hate and intolerance”.

Brazil are the first side to score four goals in the first half of a World Cup knockout game since Germany did so against them in the 2014 semi-final

Lucas Paqueta scored his first goal in the 2022 World Cup

Abeleaguered West Indies can muster an improved performance in the second Test against Australia if their misfiring middle order takes heed of the gutsy approach from Captain Kraigg Brathwaite and debutant Tagenarine Chanderpaul, according to allrounder Roston Chase.

In their first Test match in Australia since January 2016, West Indies suffered a 164-run defeat in the series-opener at Perth’s Optus Stadium.

Continuing their 25-year Test drought in Australia, West Indies were mostly outplayed, but in a silver lining managed to bat around 100 overs in each innings to reach their prematch target. But both innings fell away after strong platforms laid by openers Brathwaite and Chanderpaul, who produced partnerships of 78 and 116 to thwart the new ball.

Four of the five highest individual scores for West Indies in the match were made by Brathwaite and Chanderpaul, whose mix of doggedness and counterattack defied Australia’s star-studded attack for long periods.

“The opening partnership was a great sight to see,” Chase said. “Think the other batters will take a leaf out of the openers...then we will be a force to be reckoned with. The middle order showed glimpses of what they could do, but we didn’t cash in on that good start and that let us down for the rest of the game.”

The debut performance of Chanderpaul, who made 45 and 51, was particularly pleasing for West Indies as he showcased similar technical and mental characteristics to Shivnarine, his father and legendary batter.

“Australia is a tough place to play cricket and to start the way he did shows a lot of character,” Chase said. “His dad had the same characteristics of sticking in and fighting.

“That’s where he got it from. If he can emulate what his dad did obviously he would be a legend in the game. Hopefully,

he can continue in this vein and take confidence from this first game.”

West Indies, however, rued a particularly ragged and sloppy bowling performance as they claimed just six wickets in 189.4 overs.

“The guys tried hard... thought we were unlucky. I think Marnus has a genie in his pocket,” Chase joked, noting Labuschagne’s good fortune during his 308 runs scored during the match. “It was a good toss to win, because it was a good batting wicket.”

Chase’s offspinners were ineffective and he particularly struggled with 0 for 140 off 31 overs in Australia’s massive first innings of 598 for 4 declared. He released the pressure after coming into the attack before lunch on the first session of the match.

After admitting he struggled with his action, Chase later in the match closely observed counterpart Nathan Lyon, who starred with eight wickets in the Test as he conjured bounce and occasional sharp spin from the green-tinged surface.

“Once I saw what he [Lyon] did in [West Indies] first innings, I tried to emulate that and bowl quicker...put a little more revs on the ball,” Chase said. “As the wicket deteriorated, he [Lyon] tried to use the rough to put

doubt on the batters’ mind.”

West Indies face several injury headaches heading into the day-night second Test in Adelaide starting Thursday. Their biggest concern is spearhead Kemar Roach, who was forced off on day four after injuring his left thigh.

“Bit of tightness,” Chase said of Roach’s injury. “Hopefully, he’ll be there in the second game.”

Adding to their woes, toporder batter Nkrumah Bonner was on day three substituted out of the match with concussion after being hit in the back of the helmet from a Cameron Green short delivery.

He will travel to Adelaide along with uncapped quick Marquino Mindley, who has been brought into the squad as injury cover.

West Indies will be hoping for a sharper effort from fast bowler Alzarri Joseph, who went wicketless in his debut Test in Australia, but showed encouraging signs later in the match during a fiery spell against Labuschagne after being in distress on the opening day.

“He wasn’t feeling well. He had a headache but still was trying to push through,” Chase said. “I admire that about him. It was exciting to see him bowl in the second innings.”

(ESPNcricinfo)

Ronaldo set to sign for Saudi side Al Nassr

for Portugal at the World Cup in Qatar, scoring in their opening game of the tournament to become the first man to net at five different World Cups.

Cristiano Ronaldo is set to sign for Saudi Professional League club Al Nassr on a two-anda-half-year deal following his exit from Manchester United, according to reports.

The Portugal forward saw his stint at Old Trafford brought to an early conclusion by mutual agreement last month following an inflammatory interview with Piers Morgan where he revealed his unhappiness with United and their manager, Erik ten Hag.

Ronaldo has been in action

The 37-year-old wished to leave United ahead of the 2022-23 season, and confirmed in his interview with Morgan that he had turned down a lucrative offer from a Saudi Arabian club.

However, Marca on Monday reported that Riyadhbased side Al Nassr are close to signing the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.

A move to the Gulf state would mark the end of Ronaldo’s illustrious career in Europe, having starred for United, Juventus and Real Madrid – indeed, he is Los Blancos’ record goalscorer.

No player has scored more

in the Champions League than Ronaldo, who is also the highest goalscorer in international football, with 188 to his name.

At Al Nassr, he is expected to net close to €200 million per season, with additional economic incentives, a sum that would make him the highest-paid athlete in the world.

Al Nassr’s squad also includes Cameroon’s World Cup star Vincent Aboubakar and former Napoli goalkeeper David Ospina.

Ronaldo originally returned to United ahead of the 2021-22 campaign, but has mostly been frozen out under new boss ten Hag this season, prompting the explosive interview that contributed to his departure.

(Sportsmax)

McLaughlin-Levrone,

DuPlantis

named World Athletes of Year for 2022

World champions and world recordbreakers Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Mondo Duplantis have been named the World Athletes of the Year.

They were the final winners to be revealed as part of the World Athletics Awards 2022, along with the winners of the Rising Stars awards Serbian javelin thrower Adriana Vilagos and US sprinter Erriyon Knighton.

McLaughlin-Levrone and Duplantis – winners of the Rising Stars awards just four years ago – broke the world records in their respective disciplines on more than one occasion this year, with their final record-breaking performances coming at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22.

McLaughlin-Levrone improved her own world 400m hurdles record by 0.78, first to 51.41 at the US Championships and then to an aweinspiring 50.68 at the World Championships. That secured her a first individual senior world title, and she followed it by anchoring the US team to another 4x400m victory.

The 23-year-old made a statement with her first 400m hurdles race of the year, clocking 51.61 in Nashville in early June. At that point, it was the third-fastest time ever recorded, but the all-time list soon underwent further revisions.

Lining up at the US Championships at Hayward Field, McLaughlin-Levrone stormed to victory in the 400m hurdles in 51.41, taking 0.05 off the mark she set at last year’s Tokyo Olympics.

“I think there’s a little bit more in the tank there,” she said after her US Championships win. “Hopefully, when it’s time we can just empty it completely.”

Back at Hayward Field a month later, McLaughlinLevrone obliterated her previous best, running 50.68 as the home crowd and the rest of the world watched on in amazement.

“All of my goals were accomplished this year,” said McLaughlin-Levrone. “We were able to accomplish everything we set out to do. It couldn’t have been any better, and I was so grateful that I was able to produce that performance in front of a home crowd.”

Just when you think Duplantis could not be more

dominant, the Swedish pole vaulter has a season like 2022, during which he set three world records, won two global titles, won 18 of his 19 competitions, and vaulted six metres or higher 23 times.

Duplantis, despite only just turning 23, now has more sixmetre clearances than any other pole vaulter in history.

His record-breaking 2022 campaign began with an undefeated indoor season, during which he set a world record of 6.19m in Belgrade. He returned to the Serbian capital two weeks later for the World Athletics Indoor Championships, where he struck gold with 6.20m, another improvement on his own world record.

He was then victorious on the Wanda Diamond League circuit, including a 6.16m vault in Stockholm, the highest-ever outdoor vault in history. It was the perfect warm-up for the World Championships three weeks later.

As the last athlete competing on the final day of competition at the World Championships in Oregon, Duplantis soared over a world record of 6.21m with room to spare.

Less than a month later, he retained his European title with a championship record of 6.06m in a competition where he registered no misses. He then wrapped up his season with a victory at the Wanda Diamond League Final in Zurich.

“Going into the year, I had really high expectations of myself and I had some really big goals,” said Duplantis. “I wanted to win the world indoors, the world outdoors, the Europeans, the Diamond League final, and I wanted to break the world record a few times.

“I was able to do that and it was a bonus, the cherry on top, to be able to do it (break the world record) at the right times, to do it at world indoors and do it at world outdoors. I can’t complain.”

Vilagos and Knighton named Rising Stars of 2022

It was a season of back-toback successes for this year’s Rising Stars.

Vilagos successfully defended her world U20 javelin title, doing so with a championship record of 63.52m and breaking the European U20 record in the process. Less than three months later, she claimed silver at the senior European

Championships in Munich.

“Defending my world U20 title in Colombia was my main goal, but winning a medal at the European Championships was the biggest surprise,” said Vilagos. “It was a good year and this award crowns it.”

Knighton, meanwhile, has been named Rising Star for the second year in a row. He clocked a lifetime best of 19.49 in April which couldn’t be ratified as a world U20 record, but he went on to break the mark officially at the US Championships, where he ran 19.69. He followed that with a bronze medal at the World Championships in Oregon, then went on to achieve victories on the Continental Tour and Diamond League circuit.

Remarkably, both Rising Stars will still be U20 athletes for 2023.

“Winning this award back to back means my talent is getting recognised on a bigger stage,” said Knighton, the first athlete ever to win two Rising Star awards. “I’ve put in the work to achieve this and I’m very grateful.” (Sportsmax)

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Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Mondo Duplantis

West Indies urged to follow the lead of Brathwaite and Chanderpaul

…Roston Chase said he had studied Nathan Lyon to try and have more impact with his offspin

Kraigg Brathwaite and Tagenarine Chanderpaul were the major positives for the visitors

Region 4 & 10 finals on today! One Guyana President’s Cup…

This evening, football will create a buzz in two of Guyana’s towns as the finals of the Regions 4 and 10 leg of the One Guyana President’s Cup Inter-Ward tournament is hosted tonight.

In Georgetown, Buxton/ Beterverwagting (BV) will come up against Tucville/ South Ruimveldt, while in the mining town of Linden, Central Mackenzie and Christianburg will do battle.

Both fixtures are as a result of exhilarating semifinal games that were contested in Linden and Georgetown, both on Sunday.

Braving the rain and overcast conditions at the Guyana Football Federation’s National Training Centre (NTC) in Providence, Buxton/ BV edged Grove/Diamond in a fiercely-contested game.

When the first half went by without a goal, Buxton/ BV’s Dellon Wright took matters into his own hands, hitting the winning goal in the 69th minute for the allEast Coast Demerara outfit.

The following semi-final was almost a scoring fest for Tucville/South Ruimveldt as they schooled Liliendaal/ Plaisance.

Omar Fraser wasted no time in opening Tucville/ South Ruimveldt’s account in the fifth minute. That goal was followed up by a Simeon Moore strike in the 10th minute, pushing Tucville/ South Ruimveldt’s tally to 2. Nicholas Mc Arthur joined the party in the 14th minute, while Kelsey Benjamin had his time in the sun in the 20th minute, making for a 4-0 score at half-time.

In the second half, Liliendaal/Plaisance seemingly got their act together, only leaking one goal. It was Fraser’s second, registered in the 60th minute. Liliendaal/Plaisance

had not even a consolation goal, resulting in the 5-0 win in favour of Tucville/South Ruimveldt.

Over in Linden, Christianburg thumped

brought up Aroaima’s first goal in the 77th minute, adding some excitement to the match. Omar Brewley was having none of the comeback stories, however, extending

11th minute, but two backto-back goals from Janhere Waldron and Shane Luckie in the 36th and 40th minutes respectively for Blueberry Hill, snatched that lead from the Mackenzie outfit.

Andre Mayers proved to be Central Mackenzie’s hero, finding the back of the net in the 86th minute to bring the scores level at 2-2. When extra time bore no fruit, kicks were taken from the penalty spot.

There, Central Mackenzie dominated Blueberry Hill, winning 5-3 on penalty kicks.

While Central Mackenzie take on Christianburg at 20:00h, the Region 10 thirdplace playoff will go down at 18:00h, between Aroaima and Blueberry Hill.

In Georgetown, the

Ramsammy optimistic about retaining Mr Guyana title

Aroaima 3-1. Akeal Mc Lennan found the back of the net first for Christianburg in the 22nd minute. The second segment of the game was more entertaining, as Deon Charter made it a 2-0 game in Christianburg’s favour in the 66th.

However, Kenny Benjamin

Christianburg’s lead to 3-1 for the victory, in the dying minutes of the game.

Also at the Wisburg Ground, a last-minute goal saved Central Mackenzie from certain omission when they took on Blueberry Hill. Tarick McAllister struck first for Central Mackenzie in the

Ministry of Education (MoE) Ground is expected to host the Region 4 final where Buxton/BV will battle Tucville/South Ruimveldt from 20:30h. The third-place playoff between Grove/ Diamond and Liliendaal/ Plaisance will kick off at 18:00h.

Heavy rains force cancellation of inaugural U-13 inter-county tourney

The inaugural Boys Under-13 Inter-County 40-over Tournament, hosted by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), which initially scheduled to begin on Tuesday, November 29, 2022, at Albion, but was rescheduled to commence on December 3 at the Everest Cricket Club Ground was cancelled due to inclement weather.

The GCB has decided to play a series of trial matches at the National Gymnasium, which started December 3, 2022.

In Saturday’s trial, Demerara played Essequibo in a T20 match.

Essequibo won the toss and elected to field, restricting the Demerara XI to 136 for four from their allotted 20 overs.

Opener Lomar Seecharran was the star for the Demerara side with a well- composed 56, while Khush Seegobin chipped in with 37 and Jamaine Grovesner 31. Fast bowler Darious Pearson claimed 2

for 20, while Jathniel Bholo collected 1 for 10.

Pearson had a strong display with the bat, scoring 48 runs. Middle-order batter Justin Henry contributed 20, and opener Ethan Silva 16. Left-arm pacer Thierry Davise coped 3 for 23 after a tough start, and right-arm pacer Patrice Frazer took 2 for 23.

Ganesh Appanah, Rayad Latif,

and Joshua Boller took one wicket each. Demerara won by five runs.

Essequibo ended their innings with a nail-biting 131 all out, five runs short of their target from 18.3 overs.

The teams participating in these matches are:

Berbice Team: Richard Ramdeholl (Captain); Tameshwar Deonandan (Vice Captain); Mohamed Balle; Lemuel De Jonge; Balraj Narine; Arif Madramutoo; Nathaniel Ramsammy; Arif Bacchus; Shahid Gajnabi; Denish Singh; Luke Amsterdam; Dave Sewpersaud; Leon Reddy; Raffel Mc Kenzie; Arush Hemraj, and Donovan Newland. Reserves: William Castello, Fayad Gaffur, Jade Campbell and Kuamassy Mentore.

Coach: Tremayne Smartt Manager: Egbert Lyken

Demerara Team: Brandon Henry (Captain); Makai Dowlin; Lomar Seecharran (Vice

Captain); Ganesh Appanah; Shaker Ramesh; Joshua Bollers; Rayaz Latiff; Nathan Bishop; Patrice Frazer; Thierry Davis; Henekiah Hohenkirk; Jasami Craig; Devendra Ramkarran; Jermaine Grovesner and Joshua Williams. Reserves: Mario Singh, Kadeem Campbell, Nicholas Rukhdoe, Rakeem Latif, and Nathaniel Sukhnandan.

Coach: Latchman Yadram Manager/Assistant Coach Daniel Barker

Essequibo Team: Ravid Fredericks (Captain); Ethan Silas (Vice Captain); Capildev Kisson; Otis Roberts; Timothy Ramdat (wk); Aarav Sukhram; Tyrese Stephney; Darious Pearson; Vidal Narnie; Zahir Ramkissoon; Justin Henry; Arif Singh; Arron Descosta; Joseph Bholo; Jamol Sahoy and Manav Samlall.

Coach: Nandkishore Andrews

Manager/Assistant Coach: Rayon Da Costa

By TimoThy Jaikarran

When the curtains came down on the Guyana Bodybuilding Fitness Federation’s National Seniors Championship in 2021, Darious Ramsammy had stormed to the Mr Guyana title. Come December 18, 2022, he will be back on stage at the National Cultural Centre as he aims to retain his title.

Aside from the Mr Guyana title, Ramsammy was also victorious in the Under 176 lbs division, which allowed him to compete for the Mr Guyana title.

In an exclusive interview with Guyana Times Sport, when asked his view on the upcoming competition, Ramsammy said, “Being an athlete and someone that seeks competition, I am very grateful for the opportunity to compete as I would have already missed one opportunity already for this year. In terms of my training, it is going good considering that I’m coming off of a shoulder tear that I suffered from a near-fatal motorcycle accident.”

As it pertains to his mindset as time draws near, Ramsammy explained that he was very confident because his closest competitor still has to develop his physique to be able to challenge him, hence, without a shadow of a doubt, it would not be much of a stretch to say that he would be able to retain his title.

“Come December 18th, there will be males and females fighting for the ultimate title in bodybuilding that Guyana has to offer; with that being said, it’s going to be a grand showdown, so make sure to get your tickets, because it will be spectacular,” he shared.

He also made mention that his fans can expect him to improve on his last package that he brought to the stage in 2021. Ramsammy also touted that there was improvement in his posing routine and he was optimistic that it would remain in their memories after they leave the Cultural Centre for days to come. In closing, the current Mr Guyana divulged that he was extremely grateful to all those that have stood behind him, pushing him forward to reach to this singular point.

He also expressed gratitude to his sponsors Twins’ Manufacturing, Fitness Express, BM Soat, CTLS and Bad Monkey Merch.

The winning moment when Ramsammy copped the Mr Guyana title in 2021

Darious Ramsammy alongside former Mr Universe Earl Maynard

Christianburg’s goal scorers

Tucville/South Ruimveldt enjoyed the drizzles as they thumped Liliendaal/Plaisance