Guyana Times - Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Black Panther star spreads message of peace & love in address to National Assembly

Just a few days after her return to the land of her birth, Guyanaborn Black Panther star Letitia Wright on Monday visited the National Assembly where Members of Parliament (MPs) are examining the budget estimates, to spread a message of peace and love.

In her address to the MPs, Wright lauded both sides for coming together in the spirit of advancing Guyana’s interests and urged them to continue working together. In fact,

the movie star expressed pride in the MPs.

“I want to thank all those who invited me home. And I just want to encourage you all. I don’t know the ins and outs of politics. I care more about children and the betterment of young people. That’s kind of where my Ministry is. But as you all come together to make decisions for the country, I encourage you both, on both sides, both parties.”

“I encourage peace. I encourage love. I’m of peace and love. And I’m proud

of you both and everybody working together for the betterment and empowerment of our country. So, God bless you both as you go forth and make this country a better place. From both sides. I honour you all.”

Her message was well received by both sides, with Prime Minister Brigadier (retired) Mark Phillips, who leads Government business in the House, assuring her that she is welcome and that they will continue to support her.

“On behalf of all the

Members of Parliament and staff of the Assembly, we welcome you with open arms to Guyana and to this House and we feel honoured that you were able to not only spend time with us but to address us. And we look forward to you enjoying the remainder of your stay in Guyana. And be assured that we will continue to follow your endeavours in the future,” the Prime Minister said.

Meanwhile, Alliance For Change (AFC) MP Cathy Hughes expressed pride in Wright’s accomplishments and reiterated the PM’s message of support for her. She also noted that the star’s direct interaction with the youths will have a positive impact on them.

“I’m sure you know that throughout the world and especially in Guyana, the impact of your movies really brought a lot of self-esteem and worth to many young people, who very rarely saw dark skin supermodels. And the encouragement you’ve given to all the young people, we thank you for that.”

Liberty and Justice Party (LJP) Leader and Deputy Speaker Lenox Shuman meanwhile hailed Wright as a beacon of hope for those who come from similar circumstances as she did.

“I just want to extend a very heartfelt appreciation for you, coming to Guyana and being such a fantastic role model for so many, not only in Guyana but across the world. And I think what you represent to so many who come from similar circumstances, is hope,” Shuman said.

Wright will be spending a few weeks in the country where a number of activities are planned. On Saturday, she visited the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development.

Back in November, President Irfaan Ali had congratulated Wright on the success of the Wakanda Forever sequel of Black Panther, and had extended an invitation for her to visit her homeland.

Wright also appears in Avengers: Endgame; Avengers: Infinity War; Death on the Nile, Sing 2, and the Silent Twins among others.

Black Panther star Letitia Wright as she addressed the National Assembly

– encourages both sides to work together

BRIDGE OPENINGS

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

Tuesday, Jan 31 – 01:30h – 03:00h and Wednesday, Feb 1 – 02:00h – 03:30h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Tuesday, Jan 31 – 12:40h – 14:10h and Wednesday, Feb 1 – 13:30h – 15:00h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

WEATHER TODAY

There will be sunshine during the day. Expect clear skies at night. Temperatures should range between 20 degrees Celsius and 29 degrees Celsius.

funds for constitutional

approved by National Assembly

Winds: North North-Westerly to North NorthEasterly between 1.78 metres and 4.91 metres.

High Tide: 12:24h reaching a maximum height of 2.16 metres.

Low Tide: 18:38h reaching a minimum height of 1.05 metres.

LOTTERY NUMBERS

The National Assembly on Monday approved $13.8 billion in funds for constitutional agencies after a day spent examining the estimates during which members of the parliamentary Opposition quizzed the Government on various allocations.

During the sitting, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira fielded questions from the Opposition on behalf of agencies that included the Parliament Office, Audit Office of Guyana, Public and Police Service Commissions, Teaching Service Commission, and the Guyana Elections Commission.

Other agencies represented by Teixeira include the Supreme Court of Judicature, Public Prosecutions, the Office of the Ombudsman, the Public Service Appellate Tribunal, the Ethnic Relations Commission, the Rights Commissions of Guyana, the Public Procurement Commission and the Judicial Service Commission.

During the examination of the budget estimates, questions were raised by the Opposition about the stillto-be-appointed Judicial Service Commission, a commission that has a vital role to play in appointing judges.

There has been an outcry from senior officials within the local judicial system over the shortage of Judges. Currently, there are 11 High Court Judges – one of whom will be retiring soon –and only three Judges in the Court of Appeal. The tenure of the previous Judicial Service Commission expired in September 2017.

According to Teixeira, the Government is working to appoint a commission.

“In April 2022, the Leader of the Opposition was written, suggesting the name of the President’s appointee and seeking his support. And the Parliament had unanimously decided on who its nominee was,” Teixeira explained.

“Regrettably, the response by correspondence has not been to address the issue of the President looking for support from the Leader of the Opposition for the nominee, as required by the Constitution, but instead has focused on the appointment of the Chancellor and Chief Justice.”

In light of this, Teixeira said that the letters were “hanging in the air” and they have not been able to move on the matter. However, she was optimistic that there would be progress on the issue in the near future. When it comes to the Public Service Commission, she also spoke about the important role the Opposition Leader has to play.

“The Chairman of the Public Service Commission, we’re waiting on that issue to complete at the Committee of Appointments

and then the President’s nominees to be sent to the Leader of the Opposition and hopefully he will be supportive of those names or have other names worthy,” Teixeira noted.

During the budget debates last week, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh had reminded that key and critical constitutional bodies that are part of the architecture of constitutional governance are appointed and functioning, such as the Audit Office of Guyana, the Supreme Court, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Public Service Appellate Tribunal, the Ombudsman, and the Guyana Elections Commission.

“In 2022, constitutional agencies inclusive of the Public Procurement Commission, Police Service Commission, and most recently in January 2023, the Teaching Service Commission have been appointed. He pointed out further that ‘Notably, the consultative process with civil society organisations for nominations to the Ethnic Relations Commission and the Women and Gender Equality Commission has

been completed’. He added further that the approval of the National Assembly is anticipated shortly after the budget is adopted,” a statement from the Ministry of Finance said.

Dr Singh emphasised during his presentation as well on January 16 last that “the work to complete the Rights of the Child Commission and the Indigenous People’s Commission should be completed by mid-year” while “Issues surrounding the appointment of the long-overdue Judicial Service Commission are on public record despite efforts by His Excellency the President to bring this to a conclusion in 2022”. He added further that “the process for concluding the nominees to the Public Service Commission is in progress at the Committee of Appointment”.

Back in December 2021, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government amended the Fiscal Management and Accountability Amendment (FMAA) Act to streamline the budget process for the constitutional agencies, while at the same time preserving their independence.

The budgets for the constitutional agencies were approved on Monday

$13.8B in

agencies

– Judicial, Public Service Commissions’ appointments dependent on Opposition

Editor: Tusika Martin

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The Fresh Start initiative

As discussions continue for the Government’s overall reform and modernisation programme for the Guyana Prison Service, there has been growing acknowledgment of the importance of rehabilitation and social reintegration programmes for persons leaving the prison system.

Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn recently alluded to this growing recognition when he said during his budget presentation: “We’re talking about a release programme called ‘Fresh Start’ to enable them (female prisoners) to move to gainful employ, re-engage and rehabilitation with the society and with their families. We will do these things.”

This is in reference to the reform of the prison service initiative, which targets the transformation of the prison service from a penal to a correctional service, promotes an environment where custodial safety is assured, and inmates are rehabilitated and successfully reintegrated into society.

According to the Minister, the focus will also be placed on establishing special programmes geared towards reintegrating these women into society.

The Doha Declaration, adopted in 2015 at the 13th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, highlights the crucial importance of the rehabilitation of prisoners for achieving sustainable development.

It is with this declaration in mind, that it is laudable that Guyana is taking steps towards reintegration.

An important-yet-alarming comment by the Home Affairs Minister during his presentation was the fact that there has been a tremendous increase in the entire prison population across the country. According to him, in recent years, the prison population has grown by some 14 per cent, that is, over 2100 new inmates in the system. Crucially, however, the underlying factors that led to this increase must be determined. That aside, it is important to note that female offenders have specific social reintegration needs that differ from male offenders.

Like male offenders but to a greater extent, they face heavy psychological consequences in addition to stigmatisation.

A study conducted in South Africa for the reintegration of women into society after incarceration found that:

1) Trauma victimisation and abuse: female offenders are generally more likely to experience physical and sexual abuse

2) Mental health: Depression, anxiety, and self-harm are more prevalent among female offenders than male

3) Parental stress: female offenders who are also mothers have additional sources of stress and anxiety. Maternal demands may add to reoffending if they are accompanied by substance abuse, poverty, and poor social support

Here in Guyana, poverty and poor social support are of utmost importance in helping women prisoners reintegrate. Already and commendably so, there are numerous skills training programmes offered in our prison system to help lift inmates from poverty once released.

However, in developing this new initiative “Fresh Start”, it is hoped that the authors should examine the impact and quality of existing programmes and if these will have significant economic benefits for women once released from prison. This will allow authorities to determine what impact the current programmes are having and how to formulate appropriate strategies for rehabilitation and reintegration.

According to the Minister in 2022, some 1400 inmates were trained in areas such as block-making, basic agriculture, and culinary arts among others, at a cost of $88.9 million and it is anticipated that in 2023, a further sum of $100 million will be expended towards the training of 1500 inmates, which will support their rehabilitation and social transformation in preparation for their exit from the prison system.

There is no doubt that the investments as outlined by the Minister are significant and it is for this reason that a proper examination must be done of the current programmes to determine the effectiveness or any gaps or deficiencies. Rehabilitation and reintegration programmes must contribute in a significant manner to the lives of these women so that they can lead them to a crime-free life.

The Opposition’s Budget Debate incoherent and contradictory

Dear Editor, Having listened to the recently concluded policy debate on budget 2023 in the National Assembly, the Parliamentary Opposition’s contribution was found to be incoherent and contradictory, specifically, on the macroeconomic and public finance matters.

The Opposition Leader in his closing debate proposed several alternative policies and initiatives. These alternatives included a number of initiatives that the Government is already pursuing (he just presented it in a different form), for example, community development initiatives. This is already being pursued by the Government and provisions are made in the 2023 budget for community development across the country.

The Opposition Leader also advocated for a 50 per cent increase in wages and salaries in public services. In this respect, it should be pointed out that the total employment cost for the public sector from FY 2020 when the Government assumed office to FY 2023; with the budgeted amount for employment cost in budget 2023, a cumulative increase of $33.9 billion or 47.13 per cent is reflected. This rate of increase in just three years is due to the incremental increases together with the salary adjustments for the various categories of public service workers. At this rate and trend, it is safe to deduce, henceforth, that by 2025, cumulative salary increases for public servants will surpass 50 per cent in the five-year period.

Other Opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) argued that the

Central Government’s fiscal deficit is indicative of a crisis in the making and that the Government is borrowing excessively to service other debt. On the other hand, the Opposition’s proposal, if considered would result in almost doubling the size of the current expenditure side of the budget, reducing the capital side of the budget (to finance the current expenditure), which in turn would delay critical capital investments to expand and diversify the economy that will generate long term revenue. Noteworthily, borrowing excessively (which is what the Opposition is proposing) to finance current expenditures is unsustainable and a recipe for bankruptcy. Further, even if the Opposition is suggesting that the Government use the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) to finance the current expenditure, this is also dangerous to the extent that when oil prices fall below a certain level, such an event would culminate into a spontaneous financial and economic disaster.

Some other key criticisms of the budget by the Opposition are as follows:

The budget does not sufficiently address the cost of living (COL), for example, the Opposition argued that less than 1 per cent of the budget is allocated for COL intervention (s).

The Opposition argued that the budget does not contain any poverty reduction mechanism or strategy.

The expansionary monetary policy stance of the Administration is inflationary. The Opposition also contended that the budget is heavily focused on infrastruc-

ture and as such it is not a balanced budget in terms of providing adequate allocations for the social services sector and increase in public sector wages and salaries.

The impact of cost-ofliving measures on the budget

The budget contains several measures to combat the cost-of-living issue which is largely impacted by external factors within the global economy. To this end, the inflationary pressure is driven by two forces: (1) imported inflation attributable to the fact that Guyana imports more than 80 per cent of consumer goods, intermediate, and capital goods. This aspect of inflation is impacted by events in the global economy such as supply chain disruptions leading to cost-push inflation and demand-pull inflation. (2) Secondly, the inflationary impact within the domestic economy is also driven by strong domestic demand across all sectors as demonstrated by the vibrant double-digit growth in the overall economy and in the non-oil sectors.

The total estimated cost of the COL measures implemented by the Government in terms of direct cost to the treasury and foregone revenue to the treasury–is approximately $89 billion. This represents 11.3 per cent of the total budget, 28 per cent of current revenue, and 43 per cent of the NRF withdrawal to finance budget 2023. Effectively, the impact of these measures altogether would translate to about $404,545 on an annualised basis per household using a total estimated household of 220,000 as per the 2012 national census data.

Consequently, this is demonstrative of the effectiveness of the Government’s series of interventions to combat the COL and evidently, Guyana has managed to contain the COL impact on the domestic economy much better than most countries globally. To corroborate this, Guyana’s inflation rate remained in the single-digit range and is projected to slow below 5 per cent by the end of 2023, thus remaining below the global average. On the other hand, the average global inflation rate is above 7 per cent while noting that many other countries are experiencing double-digit inflation. To this end, the World Economic Forum reported that inflation rates have doubled in 35 of 44 advanced countries over the past two years.

Turkey had the highest inflation rate in the first quarter of 2022 at 54.8 per cent while inflation has grown the fastest in Israel, with a 25fold increase.

Expansionary monetary and fiscal policy and mitigating inflation

Indeed, the Government is pursuing an expansionary fiscal and monetary policy framework to facilitate the accelerated development trajectory of the economy. In theory, it is true that expansionary policies are inflationary. From all indications, however, the Government is mindful of this and has managed to contain inflation while preventing the economy from overheating. It is precisely for this reason that the Government has been careful to not significantly increase the current expenditure side of the budget.

Star of Black Panther, Letitia Wright and Opposition Members of Parliament at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre on Monday

Too many folks are told that they are "one contribution short" of qualifying for their NIS pension

Dear Editor, I refer to a recent letter in another newspaper written by one Roshan Khan about a person who was deemed to be "one contribution short" of qualifying for their NIS pension benefits.

Dozens of people have related over the years that, when they applied for their NIS pension, they were told

that they were short by one contribution.

Is this a pattern of behaviour of the staff in that office that they just deemed folks to be short by one single contribution?

While it is possible that some people would be short by one single contribution, most of them said that they worked for reputable cor-

porations who would have remitted the contributions, and they worked long enough to have qualified.

I personally never received my pension from the NIS. I worked for a large international company and when I resigned in 1989 to emigrate, I requested a letter from my employers to be used as a reference abroad.

I still have that letter but the NIS said that the company is no longer in Guyana so they can't verify anything.

They informed me that I only made contributions in 1969. Well, I was in school in 1969. I started working in 1970. Where they arrived at that conclusion left me bewildered.

Is it possible that when the NIS migrated to a computerised system errors were made in the input of the information?

Another point is why can't the NIS pay the pension on a prorated basis as is done in most countries.

For example, if someone needs 750 contributions to qualify and they have

The Opposition’s Budget Debate...

In this regard, the current expenditure of the budget since the Government assumed office in 2020 only increased cumulatively by 51 per cent or an average Y-o-Y increase of 12.76 per cent. In theory, substantial increases in the current expenditure side of the budget would drive inflationary pressures on consumption, and which would be difficult to scale back because this would include, for example, larger increases, as the Opposition is advocating for, in wages and salaries and social welfare programmes. Conversely, to accelerate the development trajectory, there have been substantial increases in capital expenditure by over 400 per cent cumulatively since FY 2020 with an average Y-o-Y increase of 102 per cent.

Notwithstanding, capital expenditure and capital projects can easily be scaled back to contain any inflationary impact or overheating of the economy. So far there are no indications of the economy overheating and this can be explained by another inherent constraint, that is a default mechanism anchoring the overheating risk of the economy.

One of the major challenges that the Government has to confront is absorptive capacity, wherein, this speaks to the rate of implementation of projects coupled with the bureaucracy in the system. While this is a constraint to the fastpaced development, it is also naturally working as an anchor by staving off any strong inflationary impact that would lead to overheating.

Poverty reduction, investing for the future through a balanced budget

The notion that the budget is void of a poverty reduction strategy and that the budget is not sufficiently balanced on the social side–was not compellingly articulated by the critics. One of the key counter-proposals by the Opposition, for example, in response to the cost of living and poverty reduction is to distribute the oil revenues in the sum of $300,000 per household.

The Opposition also argued that the cost-of-living phenomenon may persist for the next three years (citing international agencies’ analysis). Hence, this is suggestive that the Opposition proposal is to be maintained for the next three years.

As illustrated earlier, the COL measures implemented by the Government translate to about $400,000 per household albeit indirectly, which is more than the Opposition’s proposal of $300,000 per household through direct cash transfers. Assuming that the Opposition is proposing an additional $300,000 per household through direct cash transfers in addition to the COL measures implemented already, this will translate to another $66 billion per household on the current expenditure side of the budget. This amount represents 8.4 per cent of the budget, 32 per cent of the NRF inflow to the budget and 21 per cent of the current revenue. To make this possible, it means that the Government would have to cut the capital expenditure side of the budget. The question is, which project should the Government cut and/or delay to accommodate such a proposal.

For demonstration purposes, two major projects are the new bridge across the demerara river and the gas-to-energy project. The budgetary allocation for both projects in budget 2023 amounts to $45 billion giving rise to a shortfall of $21 billion. This means that the Government would have to slash some of the road infrastructure projects in the budget to reach the $66 billion for this proposal. With these adjustments, the configuration of the budget will move from

a 50:50 ratio to 59 per cent (current expenditure) and 41 per cent (capital expenditure). Apart from such a proposal having the potential to engender uncontained inflationary pressures driven by consumer spending, it would effectively delay the development of the projects that are actually designed to mitigate the impact of inflationary pressures attributed to external factors. Consequently, not only Guyana but the entire region will be subject to pro-longed risks of externalities on the regional and domestic economies. As such, the gas-to-energy project, together with the infrastructure development is absolutely critical to achieving the objectives of the regional energy and food security agenda that the Government has positioned Guyana to lead.

Social services sector

The budgetary allocations in the social services sector, which include allocations towards employment cost for public sector employees, health, education, social welfare programmes, housing and water, culture, and youth amounts to $255.2 billion, reflecting a 36 per cent increase over the previous year and accounting for 33 per cent of budget 2023, and 79.73 per cent of current revenues. In view of this, there are substantial budgetary allocations towards the social services sector– while noting that the approximate sum of $255.2 billion is exclusive of allocations towards the public safety and security sector.

Determining whether the budget is a balanced budget?

With respect to the argument that the budget is not a balanced budget and not peo-

ple-centric, the proponents of this view failed to state and justify what are the determinants of a balanced budget and how is it that the budget is not people focused. In this regard, the author attempts to put context to this notion and demonstrate evidently how the budget is a people-focused budget, and to further contextualise the term “investment for the future”, or, drawing the theme of the budget, “improving lives today, building prosperity for tomorrow.”

In doing so, the author examined the composition of the population age groups using the 2012 population census data (which is 11 years ago), whereby for the purpose of this analysis, the age groups were adjusted upwards by 11 years, since the study was done 11 years ago.

In examining the age groups of the population from the above illustration, 71 per cent of the population are in the age group of 11–40, 17 per cent of the population is in the age group 41–65, 7 per cent of the population is in the age group 66–75, and the remaining 5 per cent of the population are 76 and over. Putting this into context, investing for the future and creating prosperity for tomorrow essentially means investing in the economy that will create sustainable prosperity for the 71 per cent of the population comprising of the present and future generation, who in turn have their entire working life ahead of them–and in the process building and developing the economy. Another 24 per cent of the population in the age group which is made of 17 per cent in the age group of 41-65 and 7 per cent in the age group 66–75, these age

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groups are also in the working population all of whom ought to have the framework for an improved standard of living and quality of life today and securing their future as well.

Aligning this with the configuration of the budget whereby 33 per cent of the budgetary allocations are towards the social services sector and the remaining 67 per cent allocated towards investing in the infrastructure to enable the future growth trajectory and prosperity, this ratio configuration virtually mirrors the composition of the population in terms of age group where the future is for the 71 per cent of the population (11-40 years old).

While this segment of the population needs social services, more importantly, they also need the opportunity to build profitable enterprises for those who have entrepre-

740, why can't they receive

740/750 of the monthly benefits?

Something needs to be done to make the system fair and equitable to all.

The Minister responsible needs to take a more proactive approach to this issue.

Sincerely,

Rahman Mohammed

neurial ambitions, and job opportunities that can only be created through investing in the economy and creating a conducive business and investment climate to so facilitate.

Conclusion

It is within these contexts, therefore, that it can be safely concluded that the budget is people focused. It is a balanced budget catering adequately to the present and future generations of professionals and entrepreneurs – while improving the present-day conditions upon which their livelihoods hinged. The budget also sufficiently caters to the elderly who account for about 5 per cent of the population within the limitations of the financial resources available.

Yours sincerely, Joel Bhagwandin

Source: 2012 Population Census Data (Age groups adjusted by 11 years)

Question 1:

CONTINUED FROM MONDAY

And whilst she was dancing, he contrived, without her noticing it, to slip a golden ring on her finger, and he had given orders that the dance should last a very long time. When it was ended, he wanted to hold her fast by her hands, but she tore herself loose, and sprang away so quickly through the crowd that she vanished from his sight. She ran as fast as she could into her den beneath the stairs, but as she had been too long, and had stayed more than half-anhour she could not take off her pretty dress, but only threw over it her mantle

of fur, and in her haste she did not make herself quite black, but one finger remained white. Then Allerleirauh ran into the kitchen, and cooked the bread soup for the king, and as the cook was away, put her golden reel into it.

When the king found the reel at the bottom of it, he caused Allerleirauh to be summoned, and then he espied the white finger, and saw the ring which he had put on it during the dance. Then he grasped her by the hand, and held her fast, and when she wanted to release herself and run

By The BroThers Grimm

away, her mantle of fur opened a little, and the star-dress shone forth. The king clutched the mantle and tore it off. Then her golden hair shone forth, and she stood there in full splendor, and could no longer hide herself. And when she had washed the soot and ashes from her face, she was more beautiful than anyone who had ever been seen on earth. But the king said, you are my dear bride, and we will never more part from each other. Thereupon the marriage was solemnised, and they lived happily until their death.

(THE END)

Myths are stories told aloud that have been passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years. Myth is from the Greek word, “mythos” — which means “word of mouth” — oral stories shared from person to person.

Myths have helped people from different cultures to make sense of the natural world, before scientific discoveries guided our understanding. Myths explained the reason for an erupting volcano, or thunder and lightning, or even night following day. Many myths feature gods, goddesses or humans with supernatural powers. Kids may be familiar with Zeus, the king of all gods in Greek mythology, who could throw lightning bolts from the sky down to Earth. Myths often include a lesson, suggesting how humans should act.

A legend is a traditional story about a

real place and time in the past. Legends are rooted in the truth, but have changed over time and retelling and taken on fictional elements. The heroes are human (not gods and goddesses), but they often have adventures that are larger-than-life. The tales of Odysseus from Ancient Greece and King Arthur from Medieval England are two examples of legends.

Myths and legends can be found throughout the world. Many of these traditional stories feature similar subjects, but express the unique culture and history of the regions where they are from. There are flood myths from India, aboriginal legends from Australia, Taino creation stories from Puerto Rico, the legend of the Chinese zodiac, Norse myths, and many more.

Count how many myths and legends you know. What is a common theme?

GECOM hires 14,500 temporary staff for LGE –

no decision by GECOM on biometrics at polls

Some 14,500 temporary staff have been hired by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to assist with Local Government Elections (LGE), contributing to a budgetary increase of $1 Billion compared to $4 Billion set aside last year.

This was revealed during the examination of the budget estimates for the Guyana Elections Commission. In responding to questions from the Opposition, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Gail Teixeira explained the allocations for GECOM.

“(line item) 6294, where the increase is to do with the conduct of Claims and Objections exercise and Local Government Elections, these costs include costs associated with the hiring of 14,500 temporary staff to facilitate the Local Government Elections.”

“And because they’re not permanent staff but temporary, on a limited contract, they would be under 6294 or other operating expenses,” Minister Teixeira further explained in her response to the Opposition.

Meanwhile, Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) Volda Lawrence questioned whether allocations have been made for biometrics at the poll. However, Teixeira pointed out that this is a decision to be made at the level of the commission.

“I think Ms Lawrence knew the answer before she asked it. And that is that it is a commission decision. And so if the commission makes that decision, then a supplementary would have to be prepared for GECOM, through this House, to be

able to do that.”

“But at this point, as I understand and am advised, GECOM has not made such a decision. The commission has not made a decision as yet. The jury is out, as far as I understand it,” Minister Teixeira also said.

Constitutional agencies have been allocated a lump sum of $13.8 billion from Budget 2023, an over-17 per cent increase compared to last year. Leading the way in allocations was GECOM, which was allocated $5 billion in net current funds and $150 million in capital funds… a total of $5.1 billion.

GECOM is expected to hold LGE this year. More than $750 million was set aside in Budget 2022 for the preparations to be undertaken by GECOM for the hosting of LGE. This money was part of an overall $4.1 billion allocation to GECOM in Budget 2022.

In October 2022, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Nigel Dharamlall set Monday, March 13, 2023, as the date

for hosting the long-overdue Local Government polls in Guyana. This was the earliest date that GECOM indicated the elections could be held.

But court action was subsequently filed, challenging the process used to compile the List of Electors, or Voters’ List, for the upcoming LGE. Since then, doubt has been expressed about GECOM’s capacity to hold elections on March 13.

During an edition of “Issues in the News”, Attorney General Anil Nandlall spoke about GECOM and its readiness to hold the LGE. In fact, Nandlall noted that GECOM was not likely to be able to hold the polls by March 13, 2023.

The Attorney General pointed out that Government has given GECOM all the finances it would need to carry out its mandate and hold the elections. According to Nandlall, however, one of the key reasons for the delay is the political dynamics of GECOM, where the Commissioners have been

unable to find a consensus.

“I want to make it absolutely clear that the blame for this cannot be put at the Government’s feet. We have budgeted the money and have done everything possible, including fixing the date for the elections,” Nandlall said.

“It is the Opposition members of the Commission, who have been raising one objection after another to delay this election. We have been compromising on every occasion they raise these objections. And every time we compromise, they shift the goalpost and raise another objection,” he stated.

He also expressed hope that the international com-

munity was observing what was happening at GECOM and that as the Government was “ready, willing and anx-

ious” to hold and participate in LGE, blame for failing to hold the polls would not lie with the Government.

Woman attacked, chopped by cutlass-wielding reputed husband

AVenezuelan woman is now nursing chop wounds to her head at the Georgetown Public Hospital after she was attacked by her cutlass-wielding reputed husband on Sunday.

The injured woman is Deoranie Badal called “Marcy”, 36, of Number 56 Village Corentyne, Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne).

The incident occurred on Sunday at Rose Hall Town. Police stated that the couple has been separated for about three months now.

Based on the information received, on the day in question at about 13:00h, the woman, who formally worked as a junior manager at Nand Persaud Berbice

Injured: Deoranie Badal

Rice Mills, was at a car wash in Rose Hall Town when the suspect exited a motor car with a cutlass, walked up to her vehicle and started

to chop the car in which the woman was an occupant. Fearful for her life, Badal exited the vehicle, and it was then she was chopped.

A Police Constable who was present at the location, intervened and escorted the victim to Port Mourant Public Hospital, where she was examined and subsequently transferred to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital for further treatment. She sustained injuries to her head and one to her right hand. She was later transferred to the Georgetown Hospital. The suspect, a 55-yearold businessman from East Canje, Berbice, was arrested and is assisting the Police with their investigations.

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira

APNU MP Volda Lawrence

5 convicts in Berbice carpenter’s murder sentenced to

Two months after they were found guilty of the gruesome murder of 26-year-old father of two Faiyaz Narinedatt, five men were on Monday, each sentenced to 66 years’ imprisonment for the crime, with parole eligibility not before 25 years.

The custodial sentence was imposed by High Court Judge Navindra Singh on Orlando Dickie, 45, Radesh Motie, 46, 18-year-old Diodath Datt, Harri Paul Parsram, 57, and Niran Yacoob.

Following their trial at the High Court in Berbice on November 4, 2022, the quintet was convicted of the capital offence by a jury of their peers in relation to the death of Narinedatt, which happened between October 31 and November 1, 2016.

During a plea in mitigation on the men’s behalf, their lawyer Arudranauth Gossai urged the Judge to sentence them in keeping with applicable provisions of the Criminal Law (Offences) Act, which is to life in prison or another term the court deems appropriate, being not less than 15 years.

Acknowledging that a young life was lost, Gossai submitted that the role of a sentencing court is not only to punish the offender but also to seek avenues of rehabilitation for that person.

“I humbly beg that you [Justice Singh] exercise your mercy that the sentence will reflect punishment for the offence and the rehabilitation of the convicted person. I implore you not to impose a life

ceived together with the listing of five causes of death, the maximum sentence should be imposed.

“It ah pain muh heart”

have six children. I am not a threat to society. I will keep saying I am sorry for their loss. I am asking [the Judge] for mercy.”

The times…

…are a-changin’

Your Eyewitness believes we’ve reached an inflexion point in our history. After 300 years of colonialism’s slavery and indentureship and fifty-odd years (VERY odd!!) of “independence” under the PNC and PPP, we finally have the wherewithal to make our dreams come true. Yeah, we know the oil and gas money ain’t gonna last forever –but surely in the next three decades we can use it to create a platform for sustainable prosperity. Can’t we??

The problem is, we’ve been a house divided so long, we don’t know how to move out of that zero-sum mindset and transition to the win-win world that beckons. For the rest of this week, our politicians will most likely continue to show that meanness of spirit that’s held them in thrall since the infamous split of the PPP in 1955. Can’t they accept that oil isn’t a fairy godmother and not everything that ails us gonna be fixed with the wave of a wand. Oodles of oil money still mean that we gotta take time.

Your Eyewitness is reminded of an old ballad by the Nobel Prize-winning singer-poet Bob Dylan released as America plunged into its tumultuous sixties that changed them forever: The Times They Are A-Changin’:

sentence but a term of years,” Gossai told the court. The lawyer further told the court that his clients have the potential of being rehabilitated.

For her part, Special Prosecutor Latchmie Rahamat said that there are limited to no mitigating factors that could persuade the court to exercise its discretion in relation to sentencing. “The attack was violent,” Prosecutor Rahamat reminded, as she rehashed the evidence.

Highlighting the severity of the beating Narinedatt sustained at the hands of the five men, the Special Prosecutor pointed to the now dead man’s cause of death, which was listed as the following: cerebral hemorrhage with multiple skull fractures, fractured spleen, ruptured spleen and liver, and a fractured arm together with pulmonary pulsation.

According to her, because of the extent and severity of the beating Narinedatt re-

The dead man’s mother, in her victim impact statement, could not hold back tears. “It’s not easy for me, it ah pain muh heart,” she cried as she spoke of Narinedatt, her only child.

Directing her remarks at the convicted men, the grieving woman said: “We all a village people. Ayo shudda think twice before ayo hurt my son. Ayo destroyed muh life. I can never be happy again don’t matter what meh do. One child meh had in meh life…”

The woman disclosed that she knew four of the men who beat her son and that they had came to her home on October 31, 2016, and called out to her son for him to accompany them to catch iguanas. “Them brutal meh son,” Narinedatt’s crying father expressed as she implored Justice Singh to punish the convicts for senselessly taking his son’s life.

Mercy

When given a chance to address the court, Dickie said, “I would like to say my humble sympathies to the parents for their loss. I have never been in any crime; I

“I am very sorry to the deceased family. I beg you sir [the Judge] to have mercy upon me so that I can return back to society to my family,” Motie related. Datt, on the other hand, remarked,

We had a lengthy trial, the jury made its determination. Of course, they [the convicted persons] have the right to continue to maintain their innocence,” added the Judge.

Justice Singh reasoned that there were no mitigating factors he could have found based on the evidence in the case to exercise his sentenc-

Come gather 'round people/ Wherever you roam/ And admit that the waters/ Around you have grown/ And accept it that soon/ You'll be drenched to the bone/ If your time to you is worth savin'/ And you better start swimmin'/ Or you'll sink like a stone/ For the times they are a-changin' Come writers and critics/ Who prophesize with your pen/ And keep your eyes wide/ The chance won't come again/ And don't speak too soon/ For the wheel's still in spin/ And there's no tellin' who/ That it's namin'/ For the loser now/ Will be later to win/ For the times they are a-changin'

Come senators, congressmen/ Please heed the call/ Don't stand in the doorway/ Don't block up the hall/ For he that gets hurt/ Will be he who has stalled/ The battle outside ragin'/ Will soon shake your windows/ And rattle your walls/ For the times they are a-changin'

Come mothers and fathers/ Throughout the land/ And don't criticize/ What you can't understand/ Your sons and your daughters/ Are beyond your command/ Your old road is rapidly agin'/ Please get out of the new one/ If you can't lend your hand/ For the times they are a-changin'

The line it is drawn/ The curse it is cast/ The slow one now/ Will later be fast/ As the present now/ Will later be past/ The order is rapidly fadin'/ And the first one now/ Will later be last/ For the times they are a-changin'. For Guyana.

…are interesting

“I am sorry. Every day I am groaning in my heart because I miss my family.” He, too, begged Justice Singh to be lenient in sentencing.

“Sorry that they lost their loved one. I am 57 and give me lil time so I cud go back to my loved one,” said Parsram in his brief remarks to the court. “I am sorry that you lost your loved ones. I am very sick… I am troubling with Tuberculosis. Please grant mercy upon me,” Yacoob begged.

“Brutal murder”

For his part, Justice Singh, in his sentencing remarks, noted, “This is a brutal murder. There is an aspect of premeditation in this matter. The attack was formulated on a plan.”

“There has been no indication, no show of any remorse from the [convicted] persons. In fact, they continue to deny their involvement in the incident that claimed the life of Faiyaz Narinedatt.

ing discretion.

When one examined the post-mortem report, the Judge pointed out that “It is clear evidence of a brutal beating. The injuries are so numerous.” In the circumstances, he found that a term of imprisonment of 66 years was appropriate for each of the five convicted killers.

Justice Singh commenced the sentence at a base of 60 years and then added another six years for the “exceptional brutality” meted out to the now dead father. Upon their arraignment, the quintet had pleaded not guilty to a joint murder indictment.

“Beat um till he dead”

During their trial, four eyewitnesses were among those to give testimonies. It was revealed that on the night of October 31, 2016, Narinedatt attended a party hosted by US-based Guyanese businessman, Marcus Bisram at his home.

There’s the seemingly innocuous Chinese wish, “May you live in interesting times.” Turns out it’s actually a curse!! “Interesting times” means uncertainty and danger!! We need our times to be quite predictable and know what’s ahead so we can prepare for it!! Well, for us in Guyana, there are several possible developments that may make our lives “interesting”. Your Eyewitness has been highlighting the US’s seeming pivot to Venezuela on a number of fronts. No matter what anyone says, Venezuela’s not our friend.

Another potentially troublesome development is the US taking on Russia through their Ukrainian and European allies – and simultaneously declaring they intend to curtail China’s influence in our neck of the woods – LA and the Caribbean. And then there’s the not-unrelated inflationary pressures that’re driven by the war in Ukraine – which looks likely to stretch out. The confluence of these factors – all externally driven – means that there’s only so much we can do about it!

Our political leadership gotta dance between the raindrops!!

…for a new language?

Into these changin’ times comes the suggestion that Hindi should be introduced into our schools. Your Eyewitness thought it was already in the schools’ curriculum – and was just not taught for lack of interest.

But now that India’s rising…?

66 years in prison each

...“This was a brutal murder” – Justice Singh

The five convicted killers at court on Monday

House approves $500M for MoM initiative

The National Assembly on Monday approved the $500 million set aside for the Government’s Men on Mission (MoM) programme for 2023.

This gives clearance for the advancement of a number of community projects, the introduction of training, and programmes to address issues affecting men and boys.

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira on Monday related that a portion of the fund will also go towards revamping and rebuilding homes for citizens, specifically elderly citizens living in “very bad conditions.”

Teixeira was at the time

responding to questions posed by Opposition Member of Parliament Ganesh Mahipaul, when the National Assembly dissolved into the Committee of Supply.

She explained that the programme brings on board 1000 men from each region to establish a powerful movement, allowing them to play a greater role in tackling issues confronting them.

“We want our men to be able to deal with their health issues, we want our men to be able to deal with improving their education, we want our men to not be beating women as we have in our society, and this part of the objective of Men on a Mission,” the Minister stated.

The overarching initiative was announced late 2022 by President Dr Mohamed

Irfaan Ali, who asserted that the 1000-men programme will bring together men from

across Guyana. Led by the Head of State, the consortium comprises several officers from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and religious leaders, among other reputable stakeholders.

Minister Teixeira said the initiative has been showing positive results in improving the image that the nation’s men play in building the society.

She explained that many attempts were made over the years to get men involved in advocacy. Minister Teixeira made it clear that if the $500 million allocated is not utilised, it will be returned to the Consolidated Fund.

Meanwhile, President Ali announced that the MoM initiative will support the construction of approximately 150 homes for vulnerable persons across the country who own their own house lots.

He also announced that there will be a massive push with community involvement, which will see small pathways and roads being rehabilitated. Tree-planting exercises and other community infrastructural works will be undertaken.

Meena Bafan, 85, of Herstelling, East Bank Demerara (EBD), was the first to benefit from the MoM initiative after receiving the keys to her newly built home.

Duo caught on camera jumping into elderly man’s yard, vandalising car

Meanwhile, about five years ago, another villager who reportedly had a misunderstanding with the same neighbour, was awakened by a loud explosion. On that occasion, Molotov cocktails were reportedly hurled at the villager’s house, resulting in a small fire igniting. However, the fire was put out without serious damage to the building.

On June 16, 2011, another of Persaud’s neighbours had his vehicle set on fire. Mike Persaud of Lot 54 Section C Bush Lot, a contractor and Chairman of the Bush Lot Community Policing Group (CPG), related “there was

Two men have been caught on camera jumping into the yard of a Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) resident and vandalising his car.

The incident occurred at about 1:45h on Saturday.

Lakeram Persaud, 61, said it was the first time such an incident occurred at his residence. The man said he has been living at that location all his life.

“We hear the big explosion from upstairs and when we come out, we see what happen,” the resident related to this publication.

Both the front and back windscreens along with the front lights of his car were

shattered.

Persaud believes that the men were hired and were acting upon the instructions of one of his neighbours.

He explained that he had three concrete blocks on his bridge to prevent persons from parking in his driveway, adding that customers to the next-door business place would block his entrance, forcing him to have to wait long periods to get in and out of his yard.

“I went to the Regional Chairman and complain and the Regional Chairman asked me to make them (the blocks) and put them there so when I am ready to come in and go out, I must get access.”

“I have a truck and a car and sometimes when the truck come, the driver would have to wait for hours on the road for people to move their vehicles.”

The blocks had been there for the past four years. Recently, however, the neighbour reportedly removed them so that his customers can get parking.

“He just come and pull them and throw them in the drain.”

Persaud said he reported the matter to the Police and was not satisfied with the response and subsequently telephoned the Deputy Commander who, he said, told him that the Police can do nothing about the issue.

5 convicts in Berbice...

It was also revealed that at some point when Narinedatt left to use the washroom, Bisram followed him and allegedly began making sexual advances to him by touching his penis.

The carpenter rejected the advances by telling Bisram, “Me don’t go in for man. Me got wife and children”. With Bisram refusing to stop, Narinedatt slapped him and walked away.

It was reported that an upset Bisram walked to the front of his yard where he informed Dickie, Motie, Datt, Parsram and Yacoob, that Narinedatt had slapped him and that they must “beat um till he dead”. As such, the carpenter was severely beaten with pieces of wood, and his lifeless body was thrown in a car and then on the Number

70 Village, Corentyne, Berbice Public Road.

One of the men then used his car to drive over Narinedatt’s body to make it appear like a vehicular accident.

Legal battles

Meanwhile, Bisram was extradited to Guyana to face a charge for the carpenter’s killing. However, at the end of two separate Preliminary Inquiries (PI), he was discharged because of insufficient evidence. The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack, SC, would thereafter step in, directing the Magistrate to commit Bisram to face a trial at the High Court.

The businessman challenged the DPP’s directive, which was subsequently

FROM PAGE 8

quashed by High Court Judge Simone Morris-Ramlall, who also barred Ali-Hack from proffering a murder indictment against him. An appeal against that Judge’s decision was filed by the DPP to the Court of Appeal of Guyana, which overturned the lower court’s decision, ordering that Bisram be arrested and tried for the capital offence.

But Bisram then challenged the local appeal court’s ruling at the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). In March of last year, the apex court restored the High Court Judge’s decision but ruled that nothing prevented the DPP from having Bisram re-arrested and charged again if fresh evidence is obtained linking him to the murder.

(Feona Morrison)

an issue with a neighbour where his customer’s vehicles would come and park on my driveway, blocking it. I complained about it twice and I was told to go and do what [I] want to do, including contacting the Police.”

According to the contractor, there was another incident where his neighbour was playing loud music. He subsequently contacted the Police who responded and ensured that the music was turned off.

“Two weeks after that, I was awoken by a loud bang, the barking of the neighbour’s dogs and after that, there was an explosion. Luckily, I

was awake and when I went outside, there were two guys running from the yard. I have a pick-up truck that was in the flames – the whole thing was engulfed in flames,” the man related.

That matter is still being investigated.

Meanwhile, 61-year-old Lakeram Persaud said he is scared.

“Now I am afraid. Just how they jump and come in, they can come and kill us,” Persaud expressed, referring to himself and his wife.

Telephone calls to the Regional Commander’s mobile phone went unanswered.

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira

The vandalised car (Inset: the men caught on camera)

Impact survey of Guyana’s filaria transmission status to commence in February

The Health Ministry will be conducting an IDA (Ivermectin, Diethylcarbamazine and Albendazole) impact survey from February, to confirm the infection status of Lymphatic filariasis in Guyana and if it has been reduced to a level where transmission is no longer possible.

This survey will last until April 2023. It follows two consecutive rounds of mass drug administration for filaria in 2019 and 2021, respectively, using the triple drug therapy IDA.

Persons eligible to participate are adults aged 20, and persons who have agreed to participate. They can assist by volunteering to be part of the survey, signing a consent letter and giving a finger prick sample to access their current filaria status.

If a person decides to participate, they will be asked questions such as age, nationality, and filaria mass drug administration participation after giving their consent. Thereafter, a prick will be given on the less-

er-used hand and a small amount of blood will be taken. This result will be ready within three days.

Individuals diagnosed with filaria will be given free treatment to get rid of the infection. Treatment will include Albendazole, DEC, and

Ivermectin – tablets that kill young worms and sterilise adult worms. The results of the test will only be known to the individual and the principal investigator of the study. Samples will be processed using barcodes and stored in an encrypt-

ed electronic file. Throughout the country, consecutive rounds of Ivermectin, Diethylcarbamazine and Albendazole (IDA) were used in the triple-drug combination. It is recommended by the World Health Organisation to roll out a mass administration of medicines in countries seeking to eliminate filariasis completely.

For the campaign, training was done for 1400 pill distributors, 170 field officers, 20 regional coordinators, and eight national supervisors spanning 138 health facilities across the country. For those persons who have already contracted filaria, the Ministry was working on a treatment to prevent them from developing a disability.

Before the end of the exercise, over 360,000 persons had taken the pills across the country. For Guyana to achieve a filaria elimination certificate, the aim was to achieve 70 per cent coverage.

The disease is caused by three species of thread-like nem-

atode worms, known as filariae – Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi and Brugia timori. Male worms range from three to four centimetres in length, and female worms are eight to 10 centimetres.

The worms target the lymphatic system, which is an essential component of the body’s immune system as it is essentially a network of nodes and vessels that maintain the delicate fluid balance between blood and body tissues. But when someone is infected, the male and female worms form “nests” together in this vital system.

The World Health Organisation data shows that some 900 million people in 49 different countries are at risk of contracting filaria. In Guyana, 90 per cent of the population was also at risk for contracting the disease. While diethylcarbamazine (DEC)-medicated salt was the first move used by Government to eliminate filariasis, the pills were recommended for its advantage and later implemented by the Ministry.

Drugs have been distributed during the filaria mass drug administration

No pending applications for death, birth, marriage certificates for 2018, 2021, 2022 – Min Benn

Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn has clarified that there are no pending applications for death, marriage or birth certificates at the Guyana Registrar’s Office (GRO) for the years 2018, 2021, and October 2022.

The Minister was at the time responding to questions posed by the Opposition in the National Assembly on Monday.

“As of December 24, 2022, there were no pending applications for which registrations have been received by the GRO for 2018, 2021, or October 31, 2022.”

Minister Benn explained that the waiting period varies after an application is received by GRO.

The office utilises different procedures to facilitate the requests for certificates, which forms part of its cur-

rent efforts to modernise its services to increase efficiency. Further, the waiting time for the applicants to receive these certificates depends on the methods utilised.

Persons applying for

the documents through the Guyana Post Office Corporation can expect the return of the documents within seven to eight weeks.

Persons applying by visiting the office can have the certificates within 24 hours to seven working days, which is based on the information provided and available.

However, the Minister highlighted that “If there is a variant which is in the records, an amendment correction is needed.”

Persons applying online will receive their certificates within 48 hours and 14 days, which is based on their location in Guyana.

This is also dependent on whether the applicant’s request for the certificate/s is to be mailed or a ‘walkin pick up’. Minister Benn also provided the National

CCAC resolved $107M in consumer complaints in 2022

The Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission (CCAC) successfully secured redress for aggrieved consumers by enforcing the Consumer Affairs Act (CAA) of 2011.

During the period under review, the Commission received 410 complaints which amounted to a total value of $261,202,298.

Of this, 87 per cent were resolved to the value of $107,094,899 while the other 13 per cent are ongoing cases.

As in previous years, the electronics/electronics, appliance/appliance services, and the auto industry continued to dominate the categories of complaints.

The auto industry accounted for the highest value of complaints to the value of

$165,969,600.

Region 4 generated the highest number of complaints with 293, followed by Region 3 with 64, Region 10 with 27, and Region 6 with 14.

The CCAC reports that 1005 business inspections were conducted in eight of the ten administrative regions for compliance with the Consumer Affairs Act.

“Three hundred and ninety-seven of the businesses inspected were in conformance. At the same time, the other 608 were made aware of their duties under the CAA and were given the opportunity to bring their operations into conformance,” CCAC stated.

In an effort to further increase compliance, the Commission also translated the excerpt of the

Consumer Affairs Act 2011 to Mandarin. This document was handed over to the Chinese Association last December.

An inaugural compliance awards ceremony was launched in November 2022 where five businesses were awarded, and long-standing consumer Advocate Pat Dial was awarded Consumer Advocate of the year.

For the first time, the Commission introduced compliance certificates that were issued to compliant businesses.

The Commission will, in 2023, continue to host outreaches in all ten regions in its programme to increase awareness of the Consumer Affairs Act and the role of the Commission.

Assembly with the number of pending passport applications for 2020, 2021, and October 2022 for each of the administrative regions.

He underlined that there were eight pending passport applications in 2020, 16 in 2021, and 44 in 2022.

Minister Benn emphasised that the waiting time varied to receive a passport after an application is received from the Central

Intelligence Office (CID) of Guyana for the respective periods.

Generally, the waiting time for a passport in Georgetown, Region Four, from 2018 to 2022 was five working days. The waiting time from May 2022 to October 2022 was 40 working days.

He added, “This is simply because of that transition to a new method of producing

the passport and the large number of requests that we recently had concerning obtaining the passport. This is because many of the banks and other institutions required a second method of identification.”

From 2018 to date, the waiting time to receive a passport after an application is made at the sub-offices is seven days.

Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn

162 motorcycles ‘pulled in’ by Police during seawall raid

$16M up for grabs in Digicel’s 16th anniversary promotion

Digicel Guyana on Monday launched its 16th anniversary promotion “16 Millionaires in 16 days” which will see customers winning a whopping $16 million. Both prepaid and postpaid customers can participate to win $1 million daily for 16 days beginning January 31 and ending on February 15.

Prepaid customers can enter by simply topping up with $1000 or more (electronically or by scratch cards). Every top-up of $1000 or more gives them one entry in the draw for that day. For post-paid customers, all they need to do is pay their December bill in full and their number will be entered in the draw for the entire promotional period.

Winners will be randomly selected daily and

called live during the Digicel Morning Rush radio show on Kaieteur Radio at 7:45h.

In addition, if a winner is called and their phone is off or the call goes unanswered, they will have until midnight to answer their call or make contact with Digicel on telephone number 690-5444. If that customer doesn’t answer within the timeframe, then the $1 million will roll over to the next day’s winner.

“We are celebrating 16 years of serving you. As we celebrate yet another milestone, our top focus remains on providing connectivity throughout Guyana. Since liberalisation we have committed significant investments to service expansions and improvements in Guyana to deliver highspeed LTE services and coverage,” Chief Executive Officer of Digicel, Gregory

Dean stated during the launch at City Mall.

He also noted that they have commenced rolling out their fibre services for businesses in Georgetown and surrounding areas.

“We would like to say thank you to our loyal customers for making it 16 wonderful and dynamic years in Guyana and we are excited to continue providing the widest coverage and most reliable communication services.”

Digicel would like to remind customers that this is the only promotion that is currently running and not to answer WhatsApp calls claiming to be Digicel or to give their 4-digit codes or pin numbers.

All calls for this promotion will come from 2267453/4 (Kaieteur Radio) or 660-1000.

Some of the winners during the promotion’s launch on Monday

A Certifying Officer inspecting one of the cycles on Monday

The motorcycles that were pulled in during Police operations

Region 2 Children's Mash Competition kicks off

Region Two Department of Education has commenced activities celebrating Mashramani 2023 under the theme, “Mixing and Mashing as One Guyana.”

Nursery schools from across the Essequibo Coast

assembled at the Anna Regina Multilateral School’s auditorium (ARMS) on Monday to witness the first day of the Children’s Mash Competition.

Coordinator of the Regional Nursery Children’s Mashramani Competition,

Regional Education Officer Shondelle Hercules noted that the competitions are part of the school curriculum and provide the children with necessary exposure that can guarantee a well-rounded child.

She excitedly said she is

very happy and overwhelmed that after three years, the competition has returned while noting that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the colourful activities had to be cancelled.

“I am very happy to see the happy faces and af-

6 homeless after fire destroys Mc Doom house

ter three years we are here to celebrate the children’s Mashramani this year under the theme Mixing and Mashing as One Guyana… I am so happy to see all of our schools and children are participating here,” she said

She extended the warmest welcome and good luck to the talented students participating in the various categories of competition.

Meanwhile, addressing a packed audience, Regional Chairperson Vilma De Silva said she could feel the excitement as the faces of the children were adorned with bright smiles as they were decked out in their colourful and creative clothing.

De Silva further noted that Mashramani is the cele-

bration after hard work while adding that “We all should be celebrating. Despite the challenges we faced, we were able to succeed with our hard work. I am happy to see all the kids turn out this morning and get really excited to see them mashing again after three years of living in the pandemic.”

She, however, applauded the children who participated in the competition and also commended the efforts of the teachers and parents who assist tremendously in organising the students for the competition.

On February 1, the competition continues at the Anna Regina Centre Ground with Dramatic Poetry and Calypso.

Businessman donates bus to Hampton Court mandir

Six persons are now homeless following an afternoon blaze that destroyed their Lot 55 Mc

Doom, Greater Georgetown home on Monday. The house was occupied by the owner, 40-year-old Andy Beckham,

his three children, his niece and her five-year-old daughter.

Beckham told Guyana

Times that he was on the East Coast of Demerara at the time of the fire and when he returned, he saw his home completely destroyed. His niece was also not at home.

The Guyana Fire Service and employees at Gafoors were praised for containing the fire to one location.

Guyana Times understands that members of Gafoors’ trained staff rushed to the scene with Gafoors firefighting equipment and immediately started to put out the blaze.

However, Beckham estimates $2 million in losses and is hoping for assistance to rebuild. Anyone interested in helping Beckham can contact him on telephone number 659-7191.

In 2022, this publication reported on over 70 people who lost their homes to fires, with 56 of those persons in Berbice. For the year thus far, several fires have already devasted homes and public buildings including the Christ Church Secondary School earlier in the month.

Only last week, a Norton Street, Lodge, Georgetown man was rendered homeless after a fire destroyed a two-storey wooden and concrete house.

Essequibo businessman, Parmeshwar

“Joe” Jagmohan on Sunday donated a bus to the Hampton Court Hari Dwar Mandir as a form of giving back to his hometown.

During the handing over ceremony, the businessman related that he always had a passion for community development, and has, over the years, looked at various ways in which he could improve the lives of residents of not just his community but other villages along the Essequibo Coast.

“The donation of the bus is not only donated to Hampton Court mandir

but other mandirs can use it... It’s also not only for the Hindu religion but also for others... I’m trying my best to give back to my community and residents of Region Two as long as I can afford,” the kind businessman said Jagmohan added that the mandir had been a school for him while he was growing, up the leaders taught him ethics, values, morality, cultural music, dance, and more so, the teachings of Hinduism. He further noted that the teaching he received motivated him to give back to the temple.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 15

The nursery school children during their performance

The bus that was donated to the mandir

Firefighters at the scene

The completely destroyed home after the fire

Relevance of Mahatma Gandhi in the 21st century

By: RamnaRine Sahadeo

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi left his material body on January 30, 1948, and many have already forgotten that “such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon his earth” as predicted by Albert Einstein. Few students in western universities study his life while others ignore him as not being relevant in today’s fast-paced, technologically complex societies.

Hate mongers have desecrated statues erected in his honour in a handful of countries but this only emboldens his supporters who will replace them with even larger images. They may demolish material objects but this will never change the indelible messages he left for ideas cannot be destroyed and are still helpful to many

GPF to resuscitate Yarrowkabra CPG amid security concerns

is now on the front burner as ice caps melt at an accelerated pace and global warming and extreme weather find a place on the agenda of governments worldwide. If the Vatican with its wealth, spiritual influence, and global reach can follow the lead of a simple man with a loin cloth and bamboo rod but no powerful position or office, space ship earth, Homo sapiens in some form may still be around in the next millennium. Governments, businesses, and spiritual leaders must now expand the universally accepted principle “treat others as you would like to be treated” by extending this philosophy to all forms of life which are connected and dependent on each other for survival. Those who believed and acted as if the resources of the world were made for the pleasure of mankind where only the fittest will sur-

Commissioner of Police (ag) Clifton Hicken along with other members of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), visited the Yarrowkabra (Circuit Ville) community on the SoesdykeLinden Highway on Friday last.

The team, which was led by Hicken, was warmly welcomed by scores of residents, many of whom were eagerly looking forward to highlighting their concerns and issues affecting their community.

to walk into their community and feel comfortable carrying out robberies unless persons within those same communities are facilitating them.

As such, he pointed out that the resuscitation and enlisting of the Community Policing Group, Neighbourhood Policing Group, and Scout Group is important in assisting the Police to combat the use of drugs and mitigate crime and robberies.

cream.

This initiative is ongoing through committed effort led by Hicken, which is in keeping with the Force’s five-point strategic plan, one of which focuses heavily on building partnerships with communities and civil society to create safer environments countrywide.

of the challenges confronting mankind today. The most pressing global issue today is the environment.

The environmental visionary

A cursory reading of the admission and apology of Pope Francis to the Indigenous peoples when he visited Canada may suggest that he is a disciple of the Mahatma at least in environmental matters.

On July 25, 2022, he stated in part “... these are lands that speak to us...you have lived on this land for thousands of years... have treated it as a gift from the Creator to be shared with others and to be cherished in harmony with all that exists, in profound fellowship with all living beings. In this way you learned to foster a sense of family and community and to build solid bonds between generations, honouring your elders and caring for your little ones”.

These are sentiments that find public expression and practical application by the political saint who is famous for his statement “earth has enough for man’s need but not for man’s greed”.

Gandhi advocated respect for all life forms as early as 1909 in his book Hind Swaraj. As one of the earliest 20th century environmentalists (a word that may not have been widely used then) he warned of the disastrous consequences if mankind was to follow the West with excessive materialism, unlimited industrialisation and unequal distribution of wealth. Ecology only became a matter of global interest with an explosion of academic publications from the 1960s. This Inconvenient Truth

vive (according to Darwin) must radically change their views and treat wealth and possessions under a form of trusteeship for posterity. Technology is here to stay but can be better used to reduce noise, air, and water pollution and stop the wasteful production of harmful luxury items including weapons of mass destruction. However, while governments and big industry have a Himalayan role to play, it is up to the individual consumer who has to “be the change they want to see in the world” by living a simple life guided by the idea that all life is precious and karmic law will be the final arbiter of human greed and waste.

Courage without equal

The life of the Mahatma shows how much difference individuals can make by the power in their own hands. While man cannot turn back the clock on technology, each person, East or West, is still empowered to live a lifestyle that is simple, and clean, with only a few necessary possessions. The best evidence is to observe what he owned when he died: sandals, watch, bowl and plate, and round glasses. (Page 116 of Thoughts, Words, Deeds)

Ramnarine Sahadeo, a retired lawyer, authored Mohandas K. Gandhi, Thoughts, Words, Deeds and initiated the Gandhi Scholarship at McMaster University in 2007.

Donors can contact giving@mcmaster. ca or email rushakd@mcmaster.ca.

Businessman donates bus...

“For the last two decades, we have spent a lot of time developing the mandir, adding infrastructure so that the place can have better facilities and be more organised. We sponsor quite a lot of events, programmes for Hindi teaching and others in the culture.”

“I see they are struggling

when it comes to transportation so that’s why I chose to donate a bus to the mandir... Also, the bus is not only for the Hindu society but also for the other religions,” he said.

Also, during the handing over, the businessman donated stationery to the children, textbooks to several primary schools, drums,

FROM PAGE 14

and monetary contributions to nursery schools along the coast.

Meanwhile, back in December, the businessman handed over the key to a brand-new home to an elder woman battling with prolonged illness. The handover was made in memory of his mother who passed away in 2021.

Hicken took the opportunity to highlight the importance of community policing in the ongoing efforts to curb crime, pointing out that this is an essential bridge between the community and the Police.

While there, he interacted with residents and children from the area. Hicken shared that it is hard for strangers

Hicken and his team listened attentively to the residents and addressed the numerous concerns raised. He even related to residents that a vehicle was allocated to aid in policing the area. After engaging with community members, hampers were distributed to them by Commissioner Hicken and his team. The children were treated to ice

Residents who attended the meeting were outspoken in their praise of the GPF’s dedication to fighting crime and fostering better ties with the community. They lauded Commissioner Hicken and his team for encouraging and fostering this partnership approach between the Police and the community.

Also present at Friday’s outreach were Superintendent Ravindra Stanley, Deputy Superintendent Clifton Davis, and other Police ranks.

Members of the GPF distributing hampers to the Yarrowkabra residents

TUESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2023 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Kaieteur News robbery

Mastermind, accomplice plead guilty, jailed

Former Kaieteur News employee Ryan Wharton and his accomplice Harry Songster have pleaded guilty to carrying out a brazen robbery at the said newspaper entity and have been sentenced to 48 months and 50 months’ imprisonment, respectively.

When the pair, along with their three co-accused appeared before Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman at the Diamond/Golden Grove Magistrates’ Courts on Monday, they changed their not guilty plea to guilty. As such, the Magistrate jailed both of them.

They admitted that between October 9 and 10, 2022, at 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown, while being armed with a gun, they robbed Kaieteur News owned by Glenn Lall of $38.8 million in cash, a Republic Bank cheque valued at $9.1 million, US$9360, a .32 Taurus pistol and ammunition valued at $515,000, a firearm case valued at $25,000, six magazines valued at $60,000, among other items.

They also robbed Noel Junior of $5000 and Wayne Little of a $44,000 cell phone.

Also facing the same

charges are Joshua Junor, 35, a former security officer at Kaieteur News and of Middle Street, La Penitence, Georgetown; Lemuel Grant, 23, a clerk of Russell Street, Charlestown, Georgetown; and Ivor Belingie called “Wild Life”.

These men have pleaded not guilty, with Grant alone being released on $200,000 bail.

Grant’s lawyer, Eusi Anderson, is contending that the only part his client played in the commissioning of the crime, was lending his motor car to Wharton, who is his cousin, unknowing that he was going to use the car to commit a robbery.

According to him, at the time of the robbery, his client was at a popular bar, and CCTV footage from the establishment will be presented to support his alibi.

Collis Heywood and Kevin France, on the other hand, were separately charged for the unlawful possession of guns and ammunition. The two charges read to Heywood, a 40-year-old chef of Lot R2-578 Canary Street, Tucville, Georgetown, stated that on October 10, 2022, at Georgetown, he had a .32 ammunition and 210 match-

ing rounds in his possession, when he was not the holder of a firearm licence enforced at the time.

Meanwhile, France, 35, a taxi driver of East Ruimveldt, Georgetown, was accused of having a 9mm pistol along with 10 matching rounds in his possession when he was not the holder of a firearm licence enforced at the time.

Police Prosecutor Neville Jeffers had initially told the court that investigations revealed that the robbery was planned a week prior by Wharton, the mastermind. According to the prosecutor, a probe into the robbery led

Case dismissed against alleged fake doctor after prosecution witnesses were no-shows

The case against 26-yearold Mikhail Tadius

McLennan, the man who was allegedly caught impersonating a medical doctor, was dismissed by Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman after the prosecution’s witnesses were a noshow at court on Monday, which was set for the commencement of his trial.

This is according to McLennan’s lawyer, Bernard DaSilva. He was set to go on trial at the Diamond/Golden Grove Magistrates’ Courts.

Particulars of the charge against him had alleged that on June 3, 2022, at Peters Hall, East Bank Demerara (EBD), not being a medical practitioner, he held himself out to Bibi Hassan, President of the Guyana Cancer Foundation (GCF), as a person qualified to practice medicine.

The charge was laid contrary to Section 13 (1) (c) of the Medical Practitioner Act. The court had ordered that a psychological evaluation be done on McLennan.

Last year June, the Police had said it was probing a complaint made against McLennan, who had been volunteering with the GCF for a while after it was discovered that he was an imposter.

In the young man’s curriculum vitae (CV) to the GCF, he stated that he studied medicine at the University of Guyana (UG) and the Texila American University. Both universities, however, have confirmed that he was never registered as a student at the institutions.

Mikhail Tadius McLennan

Also, Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan, whom the man had listed in his CV as a reference and whom he said was his aunt, has denied being related to him.

In fact, in a Facebook post, the Chief Magistrate wrote: “This character never approached me to be a reference for him and I am in no way related to him.”

The University of Guyana, in a statement, had said it viewed the incident involving McLennan as very serious and urged the young man, and all others wishing to take up significant professions, to follow the lawful and bona fide route in doing so.

Further, the university added that it “does provide many avenues for different types of students as well as academic counselling to assist prospective students in making the right choices in fulfilling their dreams and achieving success.” It, there-

fore, urged people to take advantage of these opportunities.

McLennan had initially denied the GCF’s claims but eventually publicly apologised for his wrongdoings.

“First off let me start by apologising to everyone that’s been affected by this. I acknowledge that I made a huge mistake and I would at least try to explain my side. I did start the University of Guyana in 2016 to pursue what was and still is my passion to become a Medical Doctor. My mom was my only means of support and when she got ill and could not support me any longer. I had no choice but to drop out,” he had written in a post on Facebook.

“I did try everything else to make my dream a reality, some of which I’m not so proud of, but when it did not work out, I was too embarrassed to tell some of my closest friends and family of my situation. In my heart and many hearts, I am a doctor because that’s my passion so I did insert myself into circumstances that allowed me more knowledge in this field even if it was not in the classrooms.”

“I know I went too far by calling myself or introducing myself as a doctor and for that, I sincerely apologise. I do not know where I will go from here but my aim is to the top. I’m only human and I’m still a work in progress,” the statement had further read.

The Medical Council of Guyana had called in the Police to investigate the matter.

to the arrest of Heywood and France—both of whom were found with Kaieteur News’ firearm in their possession.

Guyana Times had previously reported that three bandits walked into Kaieteur News in the wee hours and held three of its employees at gunpoint, before carting

off millions of dollars in cash.

Wharton, who had previously worked with the company as a Research Assistant, and of Canary Street, Tucville, Georgetown, was arrested shortly after and confessed to plotting the armed robbery. Songster, on the other hand, lives at Hyde

Park, Timehri, East Bank Demerara (EBD).

The Police had recovered over $6 million of the stolen cash, the stolen pistol and ammunition, the broken safe, and the car used in the robbery. From the outset, Lall had asserted that the robbery was an “inside job”.

3 remanded over Prashad Nagar cocaine bust

Remanded: Lena Narine

Remanded to prison on Monday for trafficking $1.1 million in cocaine were 63-year-old Lesa Narine along with two other men. They were arraigned at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

It is alleged that on January 27, at 295 Shantiniketan Street, Prasad Nagar, Georgetown, Narine and Sherlan Edmonson, 54, who both reside at the given address, along with Earl Branch, 49, of Pike Street, Kitty, Georgetown, had 1.050 kilograms of cocaine in their possession for trafficking.

After the trio denied the charge, they were remanded until February 13,

Remanded: Sherlan Edmonson Remanded: Earl Branch

The cocaine which was found at the premises last Friday

by Principal Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus.

According to a statement from the Customs AntiNarcotics Unit (CANU), on the day in question, its ranks conducted an operation at premises located on Shantiniketan Street, Prasad Nagar, Georgetown, in the presence of the abovenamed persons, which led to

the discovery of cocaine.

Last year March, Narine was arrested after 10 parcels of cocaine and a quantity of multi-coloured pills suspected to be ecstasy were found at 295 Shantiniketan Street, Prashad Nagar, Georgetown. Guyana Times is unaware of the legal status of this matter.

Kevin France

Freed:

Tradewinds 2023 mid-planning conference commences

Exercise planners from more than 13 friendly nations have gathered for the Mid Planning Conference for Exercise Tradewinds 2023 (TW23) at the Ramada Hotel, Providence, East Bank Demerara (EBD).

This is the 37th year of the exercise, which was last held in Guyana in 2021. The focus of TW23 will be on countering regional threats executed in a Field Training Exercise (FTX) and Command Post Exercise (CPX). Guyana will host the exercise from July 14 to 18, this year.

The initiative is expected to concentrate on countering transnational criminal organisations and countering violent extremist organ-

isations as a way to improve Caribbean Community Standard Operating Procedures and boost regional cooperation, stability, and response efficacy to security threats.

Back in July 2022, representatives were given a tour of the Police Sports Club, Felix Austin Training Centre, and the Officers’ Training Centre.

In June 2021, the curtains came down on Exercise Tradewinds 2021 which was hosted in Guyana and saw 13 other partner nations participating in the exercise not only to highlight the common concern for regional security, but also a reassurance of their unwavering commitment towards peace

Improved reporting of COVID surveillance data to WHO needed – DG

and stability in the hemisphere.

Ranks from the GDF as well as the Guyana Police Force were trained in various military skills, including close-quarters combat. They were also trained in marksmanship; emergency medical evacuation; search, rescue and recovery responses, and mechanical and engineering repairs for both air and water transportation, among other areas.

Along with Guyana and the USA, ranks from the United Kingdom, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Brazil, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago participated.

Presidential Guard Sergeant Chanderbali dies

Director General of the World Health Organisation, Dr Tedros Adhanom has transmitted the report from the 14th meeting of the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee regarding the coronavirus disease, where recommendations for vaccination coverage and surveillance have been issued to state parties.

Calls for improved reporting of SARS-CoV-2 surveillance data to the WHO were requested. It was shared that better data are needed to detect, assess, and monitor emerging variants; identify significant changes to COVID-19 epidemiology; and understand the burden of COVID-19 in all regions.

“States Parties are recommended to use an integrated approach to respiratory infectious disease surveillance that leverages the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response system. Surveillance should incorporate information from representative sentinel populations, eventbased surveillance, human wastewater surveillance, sero-surveillance, and animal-human-environmental surveillance.”

WHO said continued work should continue with member states to ensure adequate capacity and coverage of COVID-19 surveillance are in place to recognise quickly, any significant changes in the virus and/or its epidemiology and clinical impact including hospitalisation, so that appropriate global alerting can be triggered.

Among the temporary recommendations is to maintain momentum for COVID-19 vaccination in order to achieve 100 per cent coverage of high-priority groups guided by the evolving SAGE recommendations

on the use of booster doses.

“States Parties should plan for integration of COVID-19 vaccination into part of life-course immunisation programmes. Regular data collection and reporting on vaccine coverage should include both primary and booster doses,” the Director noted.

It noted that state parties should enhance access to COVID-19 vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics, and consider preparing for these medical countermeasures to be authorised outside of Emergency Use Listing procedures and within normal national regulatory frameworks.

Countries should also consider “how to strengthen country readiness to respond to outbreaks including attention to health workforce capacity, infection prevention and control, and financing for respiratory and non-respiratory pathogen preparedness and response”.

On the local level, continued work with communities and their leaders to address the infodemic and to effectively implement riskbased public health and social measures (PHSM) was recommended.

“Risk communication

The Guyana Police Force has announced the passing of Presidential Guard, Sergeant Mahendra Chanderbali, who succumbed after a battle with prolonged illness on Sunday night.

Head of the Presidential Guard Unit, Assistant Commissioner Edgar Thomas, along with the Guyana Police Force’s Welfare Officer, Woman Superintendent Allison Moore on Monday visited the grieving family members of the late Sergeant.

At their Melanie, East Coast Demerara (ECD) home, the officers met with the late Sergeant’s mother, his wife, their children, and other relatives, offering them words of comfort and assuring them of the Force’s support during this difficult

period of mourning.

Sergeant Mahendra Chanderbali, who was just 42 years of age, joined the Guyana Police Force in 2000 and was stationed at the Presidential Guard after his initial training. In

2015, he was transferred to the Tactical Services Unit (TSU), where he spent five years before he was transferred in 2020 back to the Presidential Guard, where he served until his death.

Sergeant Chanderbali leaves to mourn his wife, three children - two boys and a girl, his mother and other relatives.

Commissioner of Police, Clifton Hicken, along with the rank and file of the entire Guyana Police Force, also extended sympathies to the grieving family members of the late Sergeant Mahendra Chanderbali.

This announcement comes just a few days after the Force mourned the death of Senior Superintendent, Edmond Cooper, who also passed away after being hospitalised for a prolonged period.

and community engagement should be adapted to local contexts and tackle mis- and dis-information that erodes trust in medical countermeasures and PHSM. States Parties should strengthen the public, media, and communities understanding of the evolving science to encourage evidence-informed action and policies. States Parties should continue to monitor individual and public response to the implementation of PHSM and the uptake and acceptability of COVID-19 vaccines, and implement measures, including communication strategies, to support appropriate utilisation.”

Moreover, continuing to adjust any remaining international travel-related measures, based on risk assessment, and not requiring proof of vaccination against COVID-19 as a prerequisite for international travel was requested. Countries were also asked to support research for improved vaccines that reduce transmission and have broad applicability, as well as research to understand the full spectrum, incidence, and impact of post-COVID-19 conditions, and to develop relevant integrated care pathways.

Narcotics found at abandoned Tuschen structure

Police ranks from Regional Division

Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) on Monday discovered a quantity of cannabis at an abandoned structure in Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo (EBE).

At about 12:30h, ranks went to an abandoned and unfinished concrete structure that was covered with bushes, located by the Tuschen north seawall area. There, a bulky black plastic bag was observed on the floor, in a heap of grass.

Police opened the plastic bag, where they found three parcels wrapped in transparent plastic containing the cannabis.

The suspected marijuana was taken to Leonora Police Station, and weighed 1480 grams.

Head of the Presidential Guard Unit, Assistant Commissioner Edgar Thomas meeting with the family

Sergeant Mahendra Chanderbali

The cannabis found at the abandoned structure

World Health Organisation Director General, Dr Tedros Adhanom

Brazil's former president applies for US tourist visa

Former Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro has applied for a six-month tourist visa to remain in the United States, his lawyer said on Monday, despite calls for any US visas held by Bolsonaro to be revoked following violent protests in Brasilia.

The United States received his application on Friday, his lawyer, Felipe Alexandre, said, adding that Bolsonaro will remain in the United States while his application is pending.

"He would like to take some time off, clear his head, and enjoy being a tourist in the United States for a few months before deciding what his next step will be," Alexandre said in an email response to Reuters.

"Whether or not he will use the full six months will be up to him and whatever strategy we agree to embark on based on his plans as they develop," Alexandre

added.

The Financial Times first reported that Bolsonaro had requested a tourist visa.

A State Department spokesperson said visa records are confidential under US law, adding that the Department could not discuss details of individual visa cases.

Far-right Bolsonaro flew to Florida two days before his term ended on January

Haitians in the US feel pressure to sponsor friends, family back home

Haitians in the United States are facing enormous pressure to help family and friends under a US migration programme announced this month that may help some people escape Haiti's escalating violence but is also putting strain on the nation's Diaspora.

1 and leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office, before the former President's supporters stormed the country's capital.

Supporters of Bolsonaro ransacked Brazil's Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace, calling for a military coup to overturn the October election that Lula won. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Bolt's money moved out of SSL as soon as it went in

Jamaican track and field

icon Usain Bolt pumped

US$6.5 million into the investment firm Stocks and Securities Limited (SSL) between 2012 and 2017, but almost as soon as the money was deposited it was moved out without his knowledge.

A Jamaica Observer probe has uncovered that Bolt invested US$6.2 million in SSL in 2012 through a limited liability company named Welljen, which is believed to be an amalgamation of the first names of his parents Wellesly and Jennifer Bolt.

Another US$900,000 was added to Bolt's account by 2017. But US$5.8 million was withdrawn from his account starting in 2012 through cheques and cash.

In addition, US$90,000, which was lodged in the account between 2019 and 2022, was quickly withdrawn.

"The money withdrawn

would have included interest and dividend earned in addition to the nominal amount invested," said an Observer source on Sunday.

The source provided the Observer with the portfolio holdings and liabilities statement, bearing SSL's logo, allegedly sent to the Bolt team in September 2022, which

showed fixed income of US$3,714.58 million, equities of US$7,415.06 million, and cash of US$918,000.01, and amounted to US$12,047.65 million in the company.

Lawyers representing Bolt had sent a letter to SSL demanding that US$12,758,181.74 – the reported balance in his account at October 31, 2022 – be repaid by January 27.

The Attorneys also claimed that only US$12,000 remained in the account.

When the ultimatum expired last Friday, one of Bolt's Attorneys, Linton Gordon, told the Observer that they were in talks with the Financial Services Commission (FSC), which has taken control of SSL, and it would be inappropriate to make any further comments at the time.

(Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

Trinidad Police “not daunted” by spate of killings

The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) says it is not daunted by the recent spate of murders in the country as the 11 killings last weekend brought the murder toll to 59 for the month.

Last year, Trinidad and Tobago had a record 605 murders.

“We are not daunted by the unfortunate and disturbing spate of violence over this weekend. We will continue to intensify our crackdown on gangs to break the hold of the deadly gang culture and

criminality that leaves a trail of death and despair within our communities,” acting Police Commissioner, Erla Christopher, said in a statement issued late on Sunday night, as she acknowledged that the “weekend has indeed been an unwelcomed one”.

“What we may be witnessing is the storm before the calm, as the TTPS will continue to use its resources to suppress these gangs and other criminal activities. We will not stop applying pressure on those who are determined to disrupt and strike fear in

Giubert St Fort, a South Florida resident from Haiti said he was inundated with calls almost immediately after the Biden Administration said on January 5 it was opening a new legal pathway for migrants from four

countries, including Haiti, who had US sponsors.

"Things are very tense because everyone is expecting a call from someone," said St Fort, 59, a social worker who is already sponsoring members of his family.

"Many people unfortunately are not in a position to sponsor family members or friends back home, but they are receiving calls nonstop."

Haitians living in the United States, many of whom are struggling to make ends meet, say they

are being sought out by everyone from immediate family members to distant acquaintances or neighbours they haven't spoken with in years, community advocates and immigration lawyers said.

Desperation to leave has grown in Haiti amid a political crisis and a spike in violence that most recently has included a wave of killings of Policemen, triggering protests by angry officers who attacked the residence of interim Prime Minister Ariel Henry."

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Venezuela tightens oil prepayment rules

Venezuela's State oil firm PDVSA is toughening terms for buyers after a month-long halt to most exports of crude and fuel, demanding prepayment ahead of loadings in either cash, goods, or services, company documents showed.

PDVSA's new Chief Executive Pedro Tellechea put the move in place this month. It reinforces measures implemented last year after several buyers skipped out on payments for oil, which provides most of the

After taking the helm, Tellechea launched an extensive audit of supply contracts, according to a written order to PDVSA seen by Reuters.

His order froze loadings, even pushed some vessels away that had begun receiving oil, until the review was complete and sale contracts could be modified or ratified, according to internal documents and three people familiar with the matter.

As of January 27, a total of 28 vessels including 21 supertankers were waiting near PDVSA's ports to load some 45 million barrels of crude and fuel for exports. Another four ships had loaded, but were waiting for authorisation to depart, according to vessel monitoring service TankerTrackers.com.

The new terms narrow a wide variety of contract modalities to a few requiring prepayment of cargoes entirely in cash or allowing payment via goods and services to Venezuela, but they must be received before Venezuela will release the oil, according to the documents. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Brazilian Police hunt dangerous prisoners after jail break

Police in Brazil are searching for one of Rio's most dangerous drug lords, Jean Carlos dos Santos, after he broke out of jail with two fellow inmates.

The three escaped from Bangu prison by tying bedsheets together and lowering themselves from a prison window to a rubbish dump.

the lives of all law-abiding citizens. We will keep up the fight. God willing, we will succeed.

“However, the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service continues to work assiduously to investigate the recent murders, pursuing several strong leads,” she said noting that as it relates to the killings in the Central Division, early indicators suggest there are connecting features, which implies that the same group of individuals are responsible for these acts. (Excerpt from Nation News)

Jean Carlos dos Santos, 37, is notorious for having had his lawyer killed after the latter failed to get two gang members released.

He had been in prison since 2017.

Jean Carlos dos Santos, also known as Jean do Morro do 18, controlled much of the drug trafficking in the Morro do 18 favela in Rio before his arrest.

A court also found him and another gang member guilty of the murder of his lawyer, Roberto Viegas

Rodrigues, and of hiding his body.

An investigation revealed Rodrigues had been paid for getting two members of dos Santos's gang freed from jail. When he failed to secure their release, he was shot dead.

The two other fugitives who broke out of prison in the early hours of Sunday have been named as Marcelo Sterque and Lucas da Conceição.

Police have released photos of the three fugitives, all of whom are con -

sidered highly dangerous.

One of them, Marcelo Sterque, had briefly broken out of the same jail once before. He walked out of the prison in 2015 to try to carry out a contract killing ordered by another inmate.

Sterque shot a woman 13 times before returning to his cell. An investigation at the time showed prison guards had been bribed to let him leave the prison and return unhindered. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro

An oil tanker is docked while oil is pumped into it at the ships terminal of PDVSA's Jose Antonio Anzoategui industrial complex in the state of Anzoategui (Reuters/Carlos Garcia Rawlins file photo)

Usain Bolt

Oil falls 2% as rate hikes loom and Russian flows stay strong

Oil prices dipped 2 per cent on Monday, extending losses as looming increases to interest rates by major central banks weighed on demand and Russian exports remained strong.

Investors expect the US Federal Reserve to raise rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday, followed the day after by half-point increases by the Bank of England and European Central Bank. Any deviation from that script would be a shock.

"We're seeing a 'risk back off' sentiment from the past two weeks' rally on ideas that higher interest rates may slow demand more quickly," said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president of trading at BOK Financial.

Brent futures for March delivery fell US$1.76, or 2.03 per cent, to US$84.90 a barrel. US crude fell US$1.78 to US$77.90 per barrel, a decline of 2.23 per cent - its steepest decline in nearly four weeks.

The market also came under pressure from indications of strong Russian supply despite a European Union ban and G7 price cap imposed over its invasion of Ukraine. Both oil benchmarks last week registered their first weekly loss in three.

Besides the central bank meetings, a gathering on Wednesday of key Ministers from the OPEC+ group comprising the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies led by Russia will also be in focus.

The OPEC+ panel meeting is unlikely to tweak output policy, three OPEC+ delegates told Reuters on Monday.

"The boat is not really in stormy seas right now. So why rock something that's not moving about as it is," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.

OPEC+ could "surprise markets with a small cut", oil broker PVM said, adding it was unlikely to tweak policy.

Earlier on Monday, oil prices rose on tensions in the Middle East after a drone attack in Iran and hopes for higher Chinese demand.

While it is not clear yet what's happening in Iran, any escalation there has the potential to disrupt crude flow, said Stefano Grasso, a senior portfolio manager at 8VantEdge in Singapore.

Hopes for a rise in Chinese demand have boosted oil in 2023. The world's biggest crude importer pledged over the weekend to promote a consumption recovery that would support demand.

"Markets have priced-in rising demand mostly from China so traders are taking a wait and see attitude for clear signs of a demand pull," Kissler added.

Traders also remained cautious on a hit to oil production and transportation in Texas after the state oil regulator advised pipeline operators to secure equipment and facilities after forecasts for severe weather over the next several days.

US crude oil inventories are expected to have dipped by about 1 million barrels in the week to Jan 27, a preliminary Reuters poll showed, while gasoline inventories were expected to have gone up. (Reuters)

Around the World

Pakistan mosque blast: Police targeted in attack that kills 59

At least 59 people have been killed by a bomb that apparently targeted policemen praying in a mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan.

The mosque is within the tightly-guarded police headquarters area.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said "terrorists want to create fear by targeting those who perform the duty of defending Pakistan".

No group has said it carried out the attack, but it has been linked to the Pakistan Taliban.

The group ended a ceasefire in November, and violence has been on the rise since.

In December it targeted a police station - like Peshawar, in the north-west of the country - leading to

The blast took place around 13:30 (08:30 GMT) during afternoon prayers in the north-western city, near the country's border with Afghanistan

the deaths of 33 militants.

Early unconfirmed reports said a bomber had blown himself up in the mosque on Monday.

A hospital spokesman told the BBC the death toll

stands at 59, while 157 people were injured.

Peshawar Police Chief Muhammad Ijaz Khan told local media that between 300 and 400 police officials were in the area at the time.

The mosque is in one of the most tightly controlled areas of the city, which includes police headquarters and intelligence and counter-terrorism bureaus.

In a statement, PM Sharif said those behind the attack "have nothing to do with Islam". He added: "The entire nation is standing united against the menace of terrorism."

The blast took place around 13:30 (08:30 GMT) during afternoon prayers in the north-western city, near the country's border with Afghanistan.

A rescue operation is continuing inside the mosque and "more bodies are being taken out," Peshawar city Deputy Commissioner Shafiullah Khan said. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Moscow's 'big revenge' has begun, Zelenskiy says, as Russia claims Ukraine gains

Russia has begun its "big revenge" for Ukraine's resistance to its invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday, as Russian forces claimed a series of incremental gains in his country's east.

Zelenskiy has been warning for weeks that Moscow aims to step up its assault on Ukraine after about two months of virtual stalemate along the front line that stretches across the south and east.

While there was no sign of a broader new offensive, the administrator of Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk province, Denis Pushilin, said Russian troops had secured a foothold in Vuhledar, a coal mining

World ‘dangerously unprepared’ for next pandemic, Red Cross warns

All countries remain “dangerously unprepared” for the next pandemic, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has warned, saying future health crises could also collide with increasingly likely climate-related disasters.

Despite three “brutal” years of the COVID-19 pandemic, strong preparedness systems are “severely lacking”, the IFRC said in its World Disasters Report 2022, published on Monday. It called on countries to update their preparedness plans by year’s end.

The world’s largest humanitarian network said building trust, equity and local action networks were vital to get ready for the next crisis.

The recommendations were released on the third anniversary of the World Health Organisation declaring COVID-19 an international public health emergency.

“The next pandemic could be just around the corner,” said Jagan Chapagain, Secretary General of the IFRC, the world’s largest disaster response network. “If the experience of COVID-19 won’t quicken our steps toward preparedness, what will?”

The report said countries need to be prepared for “multiple hazards, not just one”, adding that societies only became truly resilient through planning for different types of disasters because they can occur simultaneously.

The IFRC cited the rise

in climate-related disasters and waves of disease outbreaks this century, of which COVID-19 was just one.

It said extreme weather events are growing more frequent and intense “and our ability to merely respond to them is limited”.

The report said major hazards harm those who are already the most vulnerable. It called leaving the poorest exposed “self-defeating”.

The report also said countries should review their legislation to ensure it is in line with their pandemic preparedness plans by the end of 2023 and adopt a new treaty and revised international health regulations by next year that would invest more in the readiness of local communities.

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

town whose ruins have been a Ukrainian bastion since the outset of the war.

Pushilin's adviser, Yan Gagin, said fighters from Russian mercenary force Wagner had taken partial control of a supply road leading to Bakhmut, a city

that has been Moscow's main focus for months.

A day earlier, the head of Wagner said his fighters had secured Blahodatne, a village just north of Bakhmut.

Kyiv said it had repelled assaults on Blahodatne and Vuhledar, and Reuters

could not independently verify the situations there. But the locations of the reported fighting indicated clear, though gradual, Russian gains.

Zelenskiy said Russian attacks in the east were relentless despite heavy casualties on the Russian side, casting them as payback for Ukraine's success in pushing Russian forces back from the capital, northeast and south earlier in the conflict.

"I think that Russia really wants its big revenge. I think they have (already) started it," Zelenskiy said.

"Every day they either bring in more of their regular troops, or we see an increase in the number of Wagnerites," he told reporters in the southern port city of Odesa. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Republican-led House panel to focus on Biden family business

Congressman James Comer, the new Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee, said on Monday morning that "influence peddling" by President Joe Biden's family would be a top investigatory priority for him, starting with public hearings next week.

"We have evidencethat we've been transparent with and will continue to be transparent withwhere this family has taken in millions and millions of dollars from our adversaries, mainly in China," the Kentucky Republican said in a speech to the National Press Club in

Washington DC. "I think we need to determine what was that money for. Who supplied that money?"

The President and his family have denied any wrongdoing in overseas business dealings. Donald Trump's children have also been accused of conflicts of interest in lucrative business deals overseas.

Comer said on Monday that the Trump Administration had a problem with influence-peddling, mentioning Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, specifically. Kushner has also denied any wrongdoing.

Investigations into Joe Biden's personal finances,

including the international business dealings of his son Hunter Biden, are just one item on an ambitious agenda Comer has set out over recent weeks.

Other topics on the committee's agenda include the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic, classified documents recently discovered at Biden's personal office and residence, the Biden administration's border-security and immigration policies, the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, healthcare and prescription drug costs, and the increase in energy prices over the past two years.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (not pictured) via phone line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine January 25, 2023

DAILY HOROSCOPES

Turn an idea into something with moneymaking potential. Hone your skills and present what you have to offer. Recognize who needs your help and who intends to take advantage of your kindness.

(March 21-April 19)

A proposal someone makes will tempt you. Rely on yourself, not others, if you want to get ahead. Set your own goals instead of trying to follow in someone’s footsteps.

(April 20-May 20)

Don’t give up when you should get moving. Home, family and organization will help put your mind at ease. An emotional issue will escalate if you let anger lead the way.

(May 21-June 20)

Make a financial move that saves you money. You can sell items you no longer use and ease the stress caused by the changing economy. A partnership will prompt you to reevaluate prospects.

(June 21-July 22)

By offering your services, you’ll position yourself for success. Be true to yourself and do the best job possible. Take on only what you can handle and do your best. Manage money wisely.

CALVIN AND HOBBES

(July 23-Aug. 22)

Dig in and live up to your promises. Don’t expect someone to swoop in and take charge. Plan strategically and execute your plans flawlessly, and progress will be yours.

(Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

Inconsistency will be your downfall. Gather information and decide your next move based on your findings. Don’t give in to someone trying to bully you.

(Sept. 23-Oct. 23)

Be a good listener. Size up situations and keep an open mind. Go directly to the source to avoid misinformation. You may need to visit someone in person to get a clear picture.

(Oct. 24-Nov. 22)

Leave nothing to chance. Ask for proof in writing in order to avoid disappointment. Saying yes to someone before you have all the facts will leave you in a precarious position. A job prospect looks inviting but difficult.

(Nov. 23-Dec. 21)

SOLUTION FOR LAST PUBLISHED PUZZLE

(Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

Go with the flow, find your rhythm and make your mark. Take care of business before moving on to something that’s more fun. Don’t let a money matter disrupt a friendship or your plans.

A curious mind will lead to innovative options. Don’t be afraid to do things differently. Set a course that helps you expand your qualifications. Believe in yourself.

(Jan. 20-Feb. 19)

Rank your tasks in order of importance and start working toward a goal. Doing things in the proper order will make your life easier and encourage others to help you.

(Feb. 20-March 20)

West Indies draw practice match after good showing with bat

West Indies closed day three of their tour match against Zimbabwe XI in Bulawayo on 82-2, a lead of 477 as they continue to prepare for their upcoming Test series against Zimbabwe, resulting in a draw of the match.

Resuming from their overnight score of 52-5, in reply to the West Indies' mammoth first innings total of 517, Zimbabwe XI were bowled out for 122.

Timycen Maruma, who was on 15 overnight was eventually dismissed by Gudakesh Motie for 37 while Milton Shumba, who was on nine added only four before he was bowled by Shannon Gabriel for 13.

Tafadzwa Tsiga scored an unbeaten 21 and number 11 batter Faraz Akram added 19, managing to get the score past 100 after Zimbabwe XI had slumped to 87-9.

Alzarri Joseph took 2-12, while Motie returned figures of 2-24. Gabriel, who is returning from an extended break because of injury, finished with 2-21.

Choosing not to enforce a follow-on, West Indies

opened with Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Raymon Reifer, in an apparent bid to provide time in the middle for other batters in the squad. Captain Kraigg Brathwaite scored an unbeaten 116 in the West Indies first innings.

However, Reifer failed to take advantage of the opportunity when he got out caught behind off

Akram's bowling for one, having faced four balls.

Nkrumah Bonner’s poor run of form continued when he was dismissed caught behind off the bowling of William Mashinge for a mere 13.

Chanderpaul, who made 46 in the West Indies first innings, retired not out on 23. Meanwhile, Jermaine Blackwood, who only man-

` SCOREBOARD

Zimbabwe XI 1st Innings

Tanunurwa Makoni c

Bonner b Mayers 13

Kudzai Maunze c †Da Silva

b Joseph 0

Joylord Gumbie c †Da Silva

b Joseph 11

Timycen Maruma c

Blackwood b Motie 37

Wessly Madhevere lbw

b Holder 0

Tony Munyonga c Chase

b Gabriel 1

Milton Shumba b Gabriel 13

Tafadzwa Tsiga † not out 21

William Mashinge lbw

b Motie 0

Donald Tiripano (c) b

Blackwood 37

Faraz Akram c Blackwood

b Chase 19

Extras (b 1, lb 3, nb 1) 5

TOTAL 56.3 Ov (RR: 2.15, 235 Mts) 122

aged 17 in the West Indies first innings was unbeaten on 34, with Jason Holder not out on two at the other end as the match approached its fourth and final day. It ended that way on day three with a draw.

Akram had 1-4 from his three overs while Mashinge took 1-6 from the three overs he bowled.

(Sportsmax)

Did not bat: Priviledge Chesa, Tanaka Chivanga, Tapiwa

Mufudza, Carl Mumba

Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Kudzai Maunze, 1.2 ov), 2-12 (Joylord Gumbie, 5.3 ov), 3-30 (Tanunurwa Makoni, 10.3 ov), 4-31 (Wessly Madhevere, 11.6 ov), 5-36 (Tony Munyonga, 14.1 ov), 6-60 (Milton Shumba, 25.1 ov), 7-83 (Timycen Maruma, 33.2 ov), 8-83 (William Mashinge, 35.3 ov), 9-87 (Donald Tiripano, 47.5 ov), 10122 (Faraz Akram, 56.3 ov)

BOWLING O-M-R-W

Kemar Roach 11-3-25-0

Alzarri Joseph 4-1-12-2

Shannon Gabriel 7-3-21-2

Kyle Mayers 1-1-0-1

Jason Holder 4-2-2-1

Gudakesh Motie 14-8-24-2

Jomel Warrican 9-6-11-0

not bat: Kyle Mayers, Devon Thomas, Joshua Da Silva †, Roston Chase, Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel, Jomel Warrican Fall of wickets: 1-10 (Raymon Reifer, 3.1 ov), 2-38 (Nkrumah Bonner, 10.1 ov)

BOWLING O-M-R-W Carl Mumba 3-0-13-0 Faraz Akram 3-1-4-1 William Mashinge 3-0-6-1 Wessly Madhevere 8-0-28-0

Sharma, Vastrakar lead the show as India tame West Indies

Another clinical bowling display from India helped them register their third win from four games – with one washed out – in the women's T20 International tri-series at Buffalo Park, South Africa. Deepti Sharma picked up 3 for 11 while Pooja Vastrakar made a successful return with two wickets of her own to restrict West Indies to 94, before Jemimah Rodrigues shepherded the small chase with 42*.

Contrasting news had greeted the teams before the start of the game. Fast bowler Renuka Singh, who had missed each of India's previous outings, returned to the XI, while West Indies brought in four players from their Under-19 T20 World Cup squad – all-rounders Zaida James, Djenaba Joseph and Trishan Holder and fast bowler Jannillea Glasgow – for Stafanie Taylor, Chinelle Henry, Shakera Selman, and Chedean Nation, all of whom are recovering from injuries.

Deepti spins a web, James shines on debut

With India opting to bowl, Deepti triggered a slide for West Indies with her flight and dip. She first cleaned Rashada Williams up – who had opened the innings with Hayley Matthews, as West Indies changed their opening combination yet again – before repeating the act against Shemaine Campbelle on the next ball.

Left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad trapped Joseph in front before Matthews and Shabika Gajnabi held the fort. However, Vastrakar managed to bounce Matthews out for a runa-ball 34 to leave West Indies at 53 for 4 in the 12th over.

It was then that James, on West Indies debut, showed her wares. She was the highest runscorer for West Indies in the recently-concluded Under-19 Women's T20 World Cup, and carried her form into the game, scoring an unbeaten 21 off 31 balls. She did prevent India from running through the lineup, but the runs took their time

to come.

However, James did tonk two sixes on the day – just as many as West Indies had managed in the entire triseries until then – by first pummelling Shikha Pandey over wide long-on, before using her feet to get to the pitch of a Deepti delivery and smash it right back over long-off. James added 21 off just 16 balls with Aaliyah Alleyne, helping West Indies amass 36 off the last five overs, although they could still manage only 94 – an indication of how much the batters before had struggled.

Rodrigues steady in chase

Chasing 95, India lost Smriti Mandhana early after she missed an in-dipper from Shamilia Connell to be bowled. But Rodrigues first added 33 with one-drop Harleen Deol, and followed that with an undefeated partnership of 54 with Captain Harmanpreet Kaur.

Rodrigues remained fluent on a slow track that aided spin, finding gaps at will, and cashing in on the width offered by the West Indies seamers. As the innings wore on, Harmanpreet got into her own too, and freed her arms to hit four fours as she finished unbeaten on 32 off just 23 balls. The pair took only

40 balls, and helped India get home with eight wickets and 37 balls to spare.

India now face South Africa in the tri-series final on

Thursday, having qualified for the title match even before their washout against South Africa two days back.(ESPNcricinfo)

SCOREBOARD

West Indies Women (20 ovs maximum)

Hayley Matthews (c) c †Bhatia

b Vastrakar 34

Rashada Williams † b Sharma 8

Shemaine Campbelle b Sharma 0

Djenaba Joseph lbw

b Gayakwad 3

Shabika Gajnabi st

†Bhatia b Sharma 12

Zaida James not out 21

Aaliyah Alleyne c Sharma

b Vastrakar 9

Extras (lb 1, w 6) 7

TOTAL 20 Ov (RR: 4.70) 94/6

Did not bat: Shamilia Connell,

Afy Fletcher, Jannillea

Glasgow, Trishan Holder

Fall of wickets: 1-18 (Rashada Williams, 3.3 ov), 2-18

(Shemaine Campbelle, 3.4 ov),

3-39 (Djenaba Joseph, 8.5 ov),

4-53 (Hayley Matthews, 11.4 ov),

5-73 (Shabika Gajnabi, 17.2 ov),

6-94 (Aaliyah Alleyne, 19.6 ov)

BOWLING O-M-R-W

Renuka Singh 4-0-22-0

Shikha Pandey 3-0-28-0

Deepti Sharma 4-2-11-3

Rajeshwari Gayakwad 4-1-9-1 Devika Vaidya 1-0-4-0

Pooja Vastrakar 4-1-19 -2

India Women (T: 95 runs from 20 ovs)

Smriti Mandhana b Connell 5

Jemimah Rodrigues not out 42

Harleen Deol c Gajnabi

b Matthews 13

Harmanpreet Kaur (c) not out 32

Extras (lb 1, w 2) 3

TOTAL 13.5 Ov (RR: 6.86) 95/2

Did not bat: Yastika Bhatia

†, Devika Vaidya, Deepti

Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Shikha Pandey, Rajeshwari

Gayakwad, Renuka Singh

Fall of wickets: 1-8 (Smriti

Mandhana, 1.5 ov), 2-41 (Harleen Deol, 7.1 ov)

BOWLING O-M-R-W

Jannillea Glasgow 2-0-17-0

Shamilia Connell 3-0-17-1

Aaliyah Alleyne 2-0-14-0

Hayley Matthews 2-0-7-1

Afy Fletcher 2-0-12-0

Zaida James 2-0-22-0

Shabika Gajnabi 0.5-0-5-0

Jermaine Blackwood was unbeaten on 34 at close of play on Monday

Michael Singh returns as GBF President

Michael Singh returned as President of the local custodians for basketball, now formally known as the Guyana Basketball Federation (GBF), following Sunday’s Congress and elections at the Guyana Olympics Association (GOA) Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown headquarters.

Singh, who will be serving his second term as President, was unopposed, and was rejoined by General Secretary Patrick Haynes, who was also unchallenged for the position.

Singh and Haynes were the only two executives returning from the previous body, as the GBF’s affiliated members moved to add fresh faces to basketball’s administration in Guyana.

Linden Amateur Basketball Association (LABA) President

Rawle Toney, Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) President Jermaine Slater, and former female national player Sonia Rodney are the three Vice

East Coast, G/town lead Tiger Rentals U13 league

Presidents of the GBF. Caricom Secretariat

Deputy Audit Manager Chavez Branche is the new Treasurer, and GTT’s Accounts Payable, Treasury and Tax Manager, Quincy Baird will serve as the GBF’s Assistant Secretary-Treasurer.

Sileena Arjune got the nod in votes against Julian Haynes for the position of Technical Director, while Dennis Clarke, Deon Ferrier, and Leona Kyte were named the three ‘AtLarge Members’ of the GBF.

Singh, following the elections, thanked the associations for entrusting him with the responsibility of governing basketball in Guyana while applauding the diverse membership of the Executive Committee.

He welcomed new faces to the administration of local basketball and told the gathering at Olympic House and those who joined via Zoom that the new GBF Executive Committee would work closely to ensure that the game is properly governed locally.

Singh said the new body was to meet soon to address the immediate issue of funding for the national team, the current Caribbean champions, and preparations for their title defence of the Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) Championships.

The GBF, Singh said, will be making a presentation to

Swaminadha, Sam win DeSinco National U12 Chess Championships

Government and corporate Guyana to aid in the infrastructural development of the game, as well as construction of its own indoor facility.

The development of female basketball will also take centre stage, Singh highlighted, following the inclusion of three women (Sonia Rodney, Sileena Arjune, and Leona Kyte) on the Executive Committee.

Meanwhile, the local basketball governing body made two changes to its constitution.

The Michael Singh-led body voted unanimously to change its name from the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) to the Guyana Basketball Federation.

Additionally, the Congress voted solidly to add “AtLarge/Committee” members – a move that the GBF said would add to its ability to properly govern basketball in Guyana.

Georgetown’s Academy Training Centre (ATC) team drew level with East Coast’s ATC on seven points atop the points table, during the recent staging of games in the Tiger Rentals-powered Guyana Football Federation (GFF) National Under13 Developmental League.

Match day three of the inter-Association leg of the Tiger Rentals-sponsored league saw four exhilarating matches being contested at the GFF’s National Training Centre (NTC), Providence on Saturday last.

Bartica ATC enjoyed its first win of the tournament thus far, felling West Demerara 2-0.

Rayleigh Tracy and Lebron

Wharton registered one goal each to secure a much-needed victory for the Region Seven outfit.

Isiah Williams' lone goal was enough to secure three points for East Coast ATC in a thrilling match against East Bank ATC.

Meanwhile, West Berbice breezed past their neighbours

East Berbice in a 3-1 encounter. West Berbice’s 3 came as a result of a brace from Kahiem Hercules and one goal from Ramzan Hussein. Allan Spencer was the lone marksman for East Berbice.

Jashawn Haynes and Darius Chester accounted for Georgetown ATC's 2-1 win over Upper Demerara, after netting one apiece. On the flip side, Anthony Gordon registered Upper Demerara’s consolation goal.

Currently, East Coast ATC leads the league with seven points and a goal difference

The DeSinco Limited National Under12 Chess Championships were held on January 28 at School of the Nations, with 25 excited children competing.

The tournament saw keen competition among the top players who were all vying for a chance at the national titles.

Seven rounds of play were contested under a time control of 20 minutes per player, with 5 seconds added to the clock after each move.

Aquilani Swaminadha took the Under12 Open Championship title with 5.5 points. He defeated his counterparts Jacob McDonald, Joseph Prendergast, Javier Davenand, Julian Mohabir, and Arush Ramnarine. His halfpoint came from a draw in the fifth round against 11-year-old Nicholas Zhang.

Swaminadha also won the prize for the Best Under10 player.

respectively, as they all played extremely well.

Their positions were also determined by the Buchholz tiebreak system.

The Girls’ Under12 champion is Kataleya Sam, who finished ninth overall in the event, with 4 points. Her losses came at the hands of Mohabir, McDonald, and Zhang.

She also took home the prize for Best Under10 female player.

advantage on Georgetown’s ATC, which are also on seven points. With six points are Upper Demerara and West Berbice’s ATCs. East Bank, West Demerara, and Bartica ATCs all have three points from one win each, while East Berbice ATC are yet to strike victory in the league.

The Tiger Rentals U13 tournament continues next Saturday, February 4, at the same venue.

Zhang went on to claim second place in the competition. While he scored the same points as the champion, he was ranked below Swaminadha owing to the Buchholz tiebreak system, which takes into account the scores of the opponents that a player has defeated. The player with the highest total Buchholz score (the highest sum of the scores of the opponents that the player has defeated) is ranked higher.

In third place for the Open category was McDonald on 5 points. Also on 5 points were Jeremy Cole, Mohabir, and Ramnarine who came in fourth, fifth and sixth in the competition

In second place for the girls was Chelsea Harrison, and third place went to Skyler Gurchuran. Both nine-year-old girls finished on 2.5 points each.

Seven-year-old Landon Mohabir, the youngest player in the tournament, earned a prize for his exceptional performance, gaining a trophy as the Best Under8 player. He finished on three points, having defeated Harrison, Ethon Marks, and Lucas Smith.

Notable performances came from Prendergast, Adam Rahaman, Veer Persaud, Francis Thomas, and Shaheem Khan, who all finished on 4 points.

The Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) is very pleased

with the performances of the players, most of whom are part of the training programmes provided by the body.

The tournament was supervised by FIDE Arbiter John Lee and National Arbiter Jessica Callender. The GCF expressed immense gratitude to the management of the School of the Nations, who generously provided the venue for the hosting of the tournament. School of the Nations also provides the GCF with the opportunity to hold its weekly chess club for school-aged children on Saturdays.

The GCF also extended its most sincere appreciation to its sponsor, DeSinco Limited, for its unwavering support in the development of chess in Guyana, particularly at the youth level. It said it could not have held the championships without its assistance and looked forward to continuing the partnership in the future.

The next tournament on the GCF calendar will be the Under14 Nationals, which will be held in February and will be announced soon.

West Bank Demerara (Versailles, Vreed-en-Hoop) – Every Weekend. DJ Music. Groups and Excursions welcome – Phone: 264-2946-9.

Scenes from the Tiger Rentals-powered U13 Developmental League

Prize winners after the National U12 Chess Championships

Girls’ Under12 champion Kataleya Sam receives her prizes from Jessica Callender

GBF’s new Treasurer, Chavez Branche Sonia Rodney is among three new VPs at the GBF

Squash and boxing were the sports frequently mentioned when the National Sports Commission (NSC) hosted the National Sports Awards for the period 2021-2022 at the National Cultural Centre, on Sunday evening.

The period 2021-2022 was considered by a panel of Journalists and NSC figures, with the year 2020 being struck out, owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

In attendance at Sunday’s soiree were Sport Minister Charles Ramson Jr; Director of Sport (DoS), Steve Ninvalle; NSC Chairman Kashif Muhammad; other members of the NSC Board, athletes; officials; and family members.

When the dust settled, it was boxing’s Desmond Amsterdam who was adjudged Sportsman of the Year, while squash’s Nicolette Fernandes was named Sportswoman of the Year, both for their exploits on the international stage.

Full list of awardees:

Sportsman of the Year

Desmond Amsterdam (Boxing)

Runner-up – Tagenarine Chanderpaul (Cricket)

Sportswoman of the Year

Nicolette Fernandes (Squash)

Runner-up – Rosanna Fung (Bodybuilding)

Junior Sportsman of the Year

Shomari Wiltshire (Squash)

Runner-up – Omari Glasgow (Football)

Junior Sportswoman of the Year

Attoya Harvey (Athletics)

Runner-up – Kristen Gomes (Squash)

Sportsman of the Year (Person with Disabilities)

Walter Grant Stuart

Male Coach of the Year

Idi Lewis (Table tennis)

Female Coach of the Year

Tremayne Smartt (Cricket)

Sports team of the Year

Junior Squash Team (CASA)

Association of the Year

Guyana Boxing Association (GBA)

Male Sports Official of the Year

Ryan Sampson (Rifle shooting)

Female Sports Official of the Year

Ann Gordon (Basketball, Football, etc)

Corporate Sponsor of the Year

Large – ANSA McAL

Medium – Mohamed’s Enterprise

Small – MVP Sports

Sport Journalist of the Year

Print – Duncan Saul

Broadcast – Akeem Greene

Non-Print – Avenash Ramzan

Posthumous Award

Gokarn Ramdhani (Badminton)

Photos by Jemima holmes

Sportsman of the Year Desmond Amsterdam receives his award from Sport Minister Charles Ramson Jr

Minister Ramson Jr presents Rosanna Fung with her runner-up sportswoman of the year award

Kashif Muhammad hands Attoya Harvey her Junior Sportswoman of the Year Award

Omari Glasgow’s aunt receives his junior runnerup sportsman of the year award on his behalf

Tremayne Smartt was adjudged Female Coach of the Year

Garfield Wiltshire receives the Junior Sportsman of the Year Award on his son Shomari’s behalf

Dr Marissa Parris receives the GBA’s award for Association of the Year from Kashif Muhammad

Emily Ramdhani is supported by another GBA executive as she receives her late husband, Gokarn Ramdhani’s posthumous award