Guyana Times - Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Grenadian doctor is Guyana’s 1st foreign national kidney transplant patient P14 …young Guyanese doctor also receives kidney

Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Issue No. 4714

TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2021

PRICE

Closed sugar estates

Govt moves to reopen Rose Hall Estate Page 3

…conducting massive recruitment drive on Thursday

Police to go after their own officers overpaid by $2.264M Page 7

…ranks go AWOL every month – Senior Superintendent

Birthday outing turns deadly: 2 teens die, 2 critical Page 11

$80 VAT INCLUDED

WHAT'S INSIDE:

Transplant legislation’s 1st draft completed – Health P13 Minister Linden drive-by shooting

Suspected getaway car found torched at Blue Water P12 Lake

…dead man’s body riddled with 9 bullets – PME

1 injured after car slams into Police minibus P10 Berbice family robbed P10 by gun, cutlass-toting bandits Ex-con shot by prison P11 buddy “Because We Care” initiative

Dead: Anthony Persaud

Critical: Johnny Persaud

Dead: Aaliyah Edwards

Overpaid contractor COVID-19 travel protocols for given loan terms to Guyana being repay Govt money reviewed Page 16

…PAC launches probe into staff who approved documents

Page 9

…1 more death, 44 new cases recorded

Only 55 of P15 116 private schools submit responses to Govt – Education Minister

2 NEWS

TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Thousands of substandard electrical products seized, destroyed by GNBS

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nspectors of Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) have seized 6867 pieces of substandard electrical products, which it destroyed on Monday.

These items included breakers, lamp holders, power cords, receptacles, power outlets, knife switches and surge protective devices. On Monday, the

GNBS said that the items were seized from sale outlets in Regions Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) and Four (Mahaica-Berbice) for failing to comply with the requirements of the standards.

The GNBS said that some of the items confiscated and destroyed were found to be without any label while others did not speci-

fy the country origin; certification marks to prove that they were tested by an independent laboratory for quality were missing from labels; and for others there were no directions for use. There were a large number of inferior power cords and power strips incorrectly labelled as surge protective devices while they did not have such protection capability.

Most of these non-conforming items were placed on hold by the GNBS for inspection. During this period, importers and dealers were given the opportunity to submit test certificates, and in some cases, Declaration on Conformity of Origin.

Some importers could not provide the requisite documents, which are based on the minimum requirements established by the respective mandatory national standards.

The entity said on that in 2021 it commenced the monitoring of several categories of electrical equipment and fittings based on the requirements of 31 mandatory national standards. The standards are aimed at protecting consumers from losses or injury resulting from the use of inferior electrical items.

To avoid seizure of items, importers and dealers were reminded on Monday to register with the GNBS, submit samples of new products for approval before importation; and ensure inspectors of the GNBS examine consign-

Some of the electrical fittings that were seized and destroyed by GNBS

ments of commodities before clearance and sale in the country. Importers are also advised to purchase from sources known for producing

quality products and those that are able to issue warranties that could be easily passed on to consumers.

Cop acquitted of raping teen girl

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jury at the Demerara High Court took two hours on Monday to acquit a Police rank of raping a teenage girl more than two years ago. Waylon Johnson, 25, had denied the charge which alleged that he engaged in sexual penetration with a 17-year-old girl without her consent on April 29, 2019, in Demerara.

He was on trial for the offence before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow. State Counsel Sarah Martin and State Counsel Nafeeza Baig presented the case for the Prosecution, while Attorney-at-Law Teriq Mohamed appeared for Johnson.

The case for the prosecution was that between 19:30h and 19:45h on the day in question, the young girl was at the Diamond, East Bank Demerara car park waiting on a car. She later boarded a car driven by Johnson to go to her friend’s house in Diamond Housing Scheme.

The prosecutors said that there were other passengers in the vehicle and that the last person disembarked at 19th Avenue, leaving the teenager alone in the vehicle with Johnson. Instead of taking the girl to her destination, the prosecution said that Johnson drove out of the housing scheme.

According to the State lawyers, the girl repeatedly asked Johnson where he was taking her and he replied asking her if she would have “two drinks” with him. The prosecution said that Johnson drove the girl to a Masjid where he tried to kiss her but she pushed him away with her elbow.

The prosecutor related that when Johnson took out his penis, the girl began to

Freed: Waylon Johnson

scream and fight with him to get out of the car. She managed to open one of the back passenger’s seats, but according to the prosecutors, Johnson pulled it closed with force.

Johnson, the prosecutors added, took the teenager to a dark, busy area at Fourth Bridge Diamond Housing Scheme where he had had sex with her without her consent.

During the ordeal, the lawyers said that the girl was crying, screaming, and begging him to stop.

When he was satisfied, the prosecutor added that the Police rank stopped and thereafter drove the teenager to her destination. Sometime after, the court was told that the teenager confided in her mother and a report was later lodged with the Police.

Johnson was arrested in November 2019.

Johnson, in his defence, denied raping the young girl and stated that she was infatuated with him. (G1)

NEWS

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TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS OPENINGS BRIDGE

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

Tuesday, July 20 – 01:30h – 03:00h and 13:30h – 15:00h and Wednesday, July 21 – 02:30h – 04:00h and 13:30h – 15:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Tuesday, July 20 – 12:55h – 14:25h and Wednesday, July 21 – 14:10h – 17:10h.

FERRY SCHEDULE Parika and Supenaam departure times - 05:00h, 11:00h and 16:00h daily

WEATHER TODAY There will be thundery showers and sunshine during the day. Expect partly cloudy skies at night.

Temperatures should range between 22 degrees Celsius and 30 degrees Celsius.

Winds: East South-Easterly to North-Westerly between 1.78 metres and 3.57 metres.

High Tide: 13:23h reaching a maximum height of 2.35 metres.

Low Tide: 06:50h and 19:13h reaching a minimum height of 0.74 metre and 0.87 metre.

SATURDAY, JULY 17, 2021

LOTTERY NUMBERS N

01 02 04 19 21 27

FREE TICKET

03 Bonus Ball

MONDAY, JULY 19, 2021

DAILY MILLIONS

08 10 11 18 23 LUCKY 3

9

9

3

0

Afternoon Draw

6

9

Evening Draw

DRAW DE LINE

01 03 04 07 11 13 19 SUPER

PAY DAY

PAY DAY

FRIDAY, JULY 16, 2021

04 08 10 15 17 13

02 04 09 11 19

DISCLAIMER: WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ERRORS IN PUBLICATION. PLEASE CALL THE HOTLINE FOR CONFIRMATION - TEL: 225-8902

COMMODITIES Indicators

US$

Change %

Crude Oil

$68.62/barrel

Rough Rice

$235.22 /ton

-0.15

London Sugar

$443.70/ton

+1.77

Live Spot Gold

-7.24

USD Per Ounce

Bid/Ask

$1816.30

$1817.60

Low/High Change

$1794.60 +3.70

$1817.60 +0.20%

Closed sugar estates

Govt moves to reopen Rose Hall Estate …conducting massive recruitment drive on Thursday

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n one of their most decisive steps towards reopening the Rose Hall Sugar Estate, which was shuttered under the former A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government, the current Administration has announced a massive recruitment drive to get workers back to the estate.

On Monday, it was announced that a massive recruitment drive will be conducted in the estate compound, located in Rose Hall, Berbice, from Thursday. The recruitment exercise will be for various categories of field and factory workers.

Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) acting Head of Human Resources, Vemen Walters described the exercise as the biggest recruitment exercise the corporation has ever conducted.

“This exercise is the largest one thus far to be undertaken as GuySuCo intensifies its activities both in field and factory at the Rose Hall Estate for the commencement of sugar production in the second harvesting and sugar production season of 2022. The corporation is hoping to attract more than 200 applicants from this exercise,” Walters said in a statement on Monday.

GuySuCo will be recruiting anyone between the ages 18 and 59 years, who is desirous of joining the industry as persons were encouraged to apply in person on Thursday.

It was further announced that the management of GuySuCo will be providing free transportation using lorries which will leave No 19 Village, Gangaram, Lochaber and Highbury, respectively, at 07:00h on July 22, 2021.

“Applicants are asked to present their birth certificate and national ID card or passport at the time of their application. Further, persons selected will be subjected to a pre-medical examination,” a statement from GuySuCo said.

Special initiative

It was only last week that Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo had announced that a “special initiative” would be announced in the near future that focuses on bringing benefits to the thousands of ex-sugar workers who were dismissed under the APNU/ AFC regime.

Some 7000-plus sugar workers were placed on the breadline after the APNU/ AFC Administration downsized the industry and shut down four estates across the country. Many of those workers have not been able to secure permanent jobs and remain on the breadline years later.

The Rose Hall Estate

However, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), during the 2020 election campaign trail, had promised to reopen those estates and rehire those sacked workers. During an interview last week with a social media commentator, Jagdeo pointed out that Government has not forgotten this promise. In fact, he disclosed that he will soon be meeting with those former sugar workers on this.

“We remember our pre-election promise and soon, I’ll be meeting with [the ex-sugar workers].

There is a special initiative that we’re working on for the 7000 workers who were laid off. Soon I’ll be meeting with them to explain more about this initiative… We intend to fulfil our promises,” the Vice President had indicated.

Back in 2016, the former APNU/AFC Government

closed the Wales Estate, and the following year, shut down the Enmore, Rose Hall and Skeldon Estates, putting over 7000 sugar workers on the breadline. The downsizing of the sugar industry resulted in only the Uitvlugt, Blairmont and Albion Estates in operation.

However, since the PPP/C Administration assumed office in August 2020, they have been putting systems in place to reopen the Enmore, Rose Hall and Skeldon Estates. Due

to the deteriorating state of the Wales factory, that estate will be converted into the Wales Development Authority – an industrial facility that will see the development of not only agriculture but agro-industries, processing facilities, manufacturing and other sectors to drive economic activities.

A d d i t i o n a l l y , Government, through the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) has already moved to rehire over 700 sugar workers.

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guyanatimesgy.com

TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2021

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

Politicising welfare of Guyana’s children

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t is perturbing that even in Guyana’s acrimonious political landscape anyone can target children’s welfare and decry issuance of financial assistance to parents for their children’s benefit as a waste of money.

It boggles the mind that some politicians can be so unsympathetic to the plight of parents, some single, who are struggling in these COVID-19 times of great financial need and decimation of homes and resources by unprecedented floods.

Presumably, it seems like the Opposition thinks that their only mandate is to oppose any initiative undertaken by the Government, even if they derail programmes meant to improve the lives, in whatever way, of the Guyanese people. Education Minister Priya Manickchand has chided the Opposition for opposing the $19,000 cash grant that is currently being distributed to parents of children attending public schools countrywide.

A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/ AFC) Member of Parliament (MP) Coretta McDonald used her social media account to urge head teachers and teachers not to participate in the distribution exercise. The MP stated in her post on Facebook, “Head-teachers, you were trained as an educator not an accounts clerk! Distribution of cash to students/pupils is not your responsibility!” Teachers for whom the teaching profession is not only an income generator but a vocation, with the welfare of children being their primary motivator, have rightly rejected this call and are fully engaged in the cash grant distribution to grateful parents. Many teachers are themselves parents and recognise that, converse to McDonald’s contention and adjuration, that the welfare of their charges is their responsibility.

The Education Minister exasperatedly remarked, “… it is bizarre to me that any person or political party or any of their affiliates would object to Guyana’s families being assisted with $19,000 per child.

“The APNU/AFC just doesn’t do anything sensible, logical or lawful.”

McDonald is the General Secretary of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU), which, in a release, stated that, in keeping with its mandate to look after the welfare of its members (sic!), the GTU has stipulated “School administrators and staff are to refrain from handling or taking responsibility for cash/money; lend support where needed to verify authentic students from your school when called upon; Do not store cash/money relating to the Cash Grant and refrain from large gathering especially since COVID-19 cases and deaths are still being recorded in Guyana.”

Launched in 2014 under the previous People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government, the “Because We Care” project was implemented to provide support to parents with schoolage children and increase their disposable income, to encourage increased enrolment and attendance rates.

However, the APNU/AFC Government scrapped the project after it took office, but the current PPP/C Government reinstated the initiative.

In a recent online interview, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo revealed that Government was mulling the idea of including children attending private schools in its grant initiatives.

The VP stated, inter alia: “A number of people have contacted us from the private schools and parents are also saying that they want their children to receive the money too. There’s been a debate in the first when we introduced it, it was not introduced for private school kids, it was for public schools; so we’ve asked the Minister of Education to look at how many kids are going to school in the Private Sector. The Ministry does not have all of the numbers, but they are trying to verify all of the numbers.”

He said, however, that if the Government does extend the cash grant to private institutions, stringent measures will need to be put in place to ensure that the intended beneficiaries receive the grant, adding: “We are actively examining the possibility of extending the help or the grant to kids going to private schools. Maybe not all of them will take it, but some parents have been making this solid case that they struggle at home to make their kids go to private schools.”

He iterated: “It’s not as though they are rich, and in a way, those kids that go to private schools, they take some pressure off the public schools too, in terms of space, so the Government will consider all the facts on this issue, and we will make a determination very soon on the matter.”

Politics should be about people and not merely about power.

Providing leadership means supporting measures and initiatives that will help people.

US Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch shares a photo with US-based Guyanese nurse Patricia Cummings, who inoculated Vice President Kamala Harris with her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. During a courtesy call on Monday, Ambassador Lynch thanked Nurse Cummings for her years of service as a front-line worker (US Embassy photo)

NAACIE’s accounts were previously audited until current GS

Dear Editor, I have read the article captioned “NAACIE Executive removes General Secretary over misconduct, abuse of powers,” in Monday’s edition of Guyana Times.

Having carefully read the article, I find it to be a very good report, except for the final paragraph which states “It was reported at the time that NAACIE, whose constituency caters largely to sugar workers, was also featured on the list, having outstanding returns from 1947 to 1969 and then from 1978 to 2018.”

As former General Secretary of NAACIE, I want clarify that the information stated in the final paragraph of the report is inaccurate. When I demitted office in 2002, the

Accounts of NAACIE were audited and certified by the Auditor General and up to date. Similarly, up to date Annual Returns of NAACIE were submitted to the Registrar of Trade Unions, during the period. I must also mention that prior to my taking office as General Secretary of NAACIE, the books and accounts were up to date and fully audited by the Auditor General and the same holds for our Annual Returns to the Registrar of Trade of Trade Unions. It is very important to understand that NAACIE could not have properly held more than 40 Annual Delegates’ Conference during that period (1947 to 1969 and then from 1978 to 2018) and held Executive Council meetings without updated audit-

ed accounts. It would have been in violation of the Constitution of NAACIE. This information can be verified with the Office of the Auditor General.

It must be on record that NAACIE was a strong advocate for trade union democracy and accountability. We were always the first trade union to submit its accounts for audit and the first to receive a certified audited report from the Auditor General’s Office. We have always been proud our accountability.

When the late Mr Kenneth Joseph left Office, NAACIE’s Accounts were audited and certified by the Auditor General up to the year 2015. Annual Returns were submitted to the Registrar of Trade

unions.

My understanding is that the 2016 accounts are currently with the Auditor General’s Office and that the Audit Department has been awaiting feedback regarding the accounts from the former General Secretary, Dawchan Nagasar, without any success. Further, since Mr Nagasar assumed office as General Secretary, he did not produce any audited financial statement up to the time of his removal from office. Hence, the demand of the Union’s Executive Council for the intervention of the Auditor General.

Sincerely, Kaisree Takechandra Former General Secretary NAACIE

Flood recovery is hard work Dear Editor, Our world is still being besieged by a host of problems. Over the last few days, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands have been hit with floods. And then right after, the BBC reported on mudslides in India. I can go on, but what I want to say, is that the recent flooding situation in Guyana fits in to a global phenomenon of hard times for many people, but here there was the appreciation for human non-fatalities, as well as the rising of Government to take a hands-on approach to help the many affected by loss of livelihood and possessions. It was noteworthy to take to heart that

even the President himself was on many flood-alleviation trips.

Now that the field assessment was conducted, and this after dealing with the immediate and necessary relief efforts, as it should be, the Government of Guyana is currently fine-tuning the data it collected, so that necessary next steps can begin, which will lead to all the affected getting back their livelihood.

The word in the air is that “President Dr Irfaan Ali will soon be making an announcement, regarding the financial assistance that will be rolled out.”

This is not something to

be brushed over, as some 30,000 households were severely displaced and every one of these will be eligible for Government assistance. I add that there will be massive efforts and inputs towards the many bigger farmers who lost huge crops such as rice and livestock.

People must take cognisance of the fact that the aftermath of flooding is a serious matter. It is more than giving hand-outs. The literature is there with findings that flooded soils create significant challenges for agricultural lands. Floods have many direct impacts, the most prominent being: Deposition of sand and de-

bris on the productive lands; erosion of agricultural soils; and flooded soil syndrome that is the loss of beneficial fungi which mobilise soilbased plant nutrients. I can add to this list, but for now, my word is that we must be aware that landowners face a number of economic challenges when recovering from a flood. Recovery is hard work and our farmers need an extra dose of patience and persistence in these times. So, I commend the Government, many private bodies and other agencies, local and outside, for all the help.

Yours truly, Baldeo Mathura

guyanatimesgy.com

TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2021

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

Open letter on NIS to Dr Ashni Singh Dear Editor, I wish to commend HE Dr Irfaan Ali, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, and the entire Cabinet for their aggressive efforts to improve the lives of the Guyanese people.

I share these remarks in light of senior Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh’s recent undertaking to journey the length and breadth of our beloved country in various outreaches to speak with and listen to those who have issues concerning NIS. This initiative resonates well with me because, for decades, I have been fervently advocating, via my many articles and commentaries, that serious attention be paid not only to the internal affairs of the NIS, but for issues that I hope to address in this letter.

We have long heard of employees stealing from their employers, but in recent years, we are seeing a rise in the number of employers who steal from their employees. This occurs when they deduct NIS from their employees’ salaries and fail to pay them to the relevant authorities.

This deceptive behaviour is a widespread and pervasive issue that directly affects thousands of workers each year. The lack of NIS benefits to contributors when they need them disproportionately harms workers, with many of them resorting to the streets in their senior years due to their inability to support themselves.

Additionally, it should

come as no surprise that many of the workers rely heavily on Government assistance programmes to make ends meet. This, I feel, places an unfair burden on the Government’s safety net programmes. It is tragic when employers maliciously forsake workers in their golden years, expecting that the Government would spring to their aid. Not everyone realises this but when NIS contributors are cheated out of their benefits, not only do they and their families suffer, but the Government suffers as well.

In this case, the Government is obligated to provide more funding for social welfare programmes in order to cover the gaps left by employers.

This heinous crime may even have an effect on the NIS’s balance sheet and ability to deliver services and collect payments on time, placing the NIS in jeopardy of bankruptcy. This is unfair to the NIS, while these unscrupulous employers profit at the expense of their employees.

Years ago, we recall the Government seeking to decentralise watchmen from the Government security contract and, as a result, creating a system in which the Union was given the option to start a security and cleaning company. While that Union was given tremendous support and opportunity at the time, the PPP/C Government, which meant well, was abused by the Union, resulting in mass theft of workers’ monies for

over seven years while workers were denied their rights and benefits. This consequently led to chaos and crisis in people’s lives. This company later filed bankruptcy and went out of business, causing misery for all of its employees. Another security service in central Georgetown, after former GRA Commissioner advised the Government and the authorities that the security company should be wound down, the owner being a late lawyer and military officer simply declared bankruptcy, changed their name, and then went back into business with another name.

Despite these atrocities, they still seem to be getting dozens of contracts, some with hundreds of security guards around the country in the regional system and other Government contracts.

Further, I believe that a lack of sufficient investigators is especially problematic, especially when there is no enforcement body to probe these matters. I am of the conviction that the penalties are inadequate to punish such unscrupulous employers. I have been advocating for this for decades without receiving a response from any Administration - present or former – but I am pleased that this Government is now taking action. To add to their efforts, I respectfully propose the following solutions: 1. The laws governing the NIS must be severely criminalised.

2. Heavy prison terms,

confiscation of properties and bank accounts, not just to recover the debt but also to bolster the NIS’s finances.

3. There is a need for more dynamic, trustworthy investigators who cannot be corrupted.

4. Imprisonment.

I am of the opinion that once these laws are criminalised, the money will start pouring in, and employers will start volunteering to pay. I trust that while the Government examines people’s complaints through our Hon Minister Dr Ashni Singh, they should focus on strengthening the laws and blocking these culprits, thieves, and bandits in suits and ties who pose as security services and businessmen in this country while defrauding the NIS and the working class. From 1992 till now, I have indicated to the previous Governments that they can proceed to private criminal suits for the time being, while the laws are being reviewed and prepared for Parliament so that the President may affix his signature. Nonetheless, Dr Irfaan Ali appears to be the only President since then who has the strength and spiritual fortitude to ensure that these actions are taken and laws are modified to suit.

It must also be known that many such security services and other similar sectors have mastered the technique of bidding below cost to win projects, as we have witnessed with this one security

Minister has been inappropriately advised Dear Editor, The Aircraft Owners Association of Guyana (AOAG) is concerned that two (2) aircraft incidents occurred, the first on Wednesday (July 14, 2021) on the Eteringbang runway and another on Thursday (July 15, 2021) on the Kamarang runway. The Association expects that the established procedure for aircraft accident investigation to have been implemented and in progress and for appropriate action to be taken accordingly.

The Association is, however, shocked at the reported intervention and public statements made in the press on the matter on Friday, July 16, 2021, issued through the Department of Public Information, in which the Minister of Public Works, Bishop Juan Edghill, is reported as having “ordered that the operators be served with notices of suspension with immediate effect”.

The Association can only conclude that the Minister has been inappropriately advised on this matter in the absence of the Director General, Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Lt Col (Ret’d) Egbert Field, who was on leave at the time.

The Association has also

observed that the Minister was reported as expressing his concern on mercury being carried on board of one of these aircraft stating that “the aviation service was not authorised to transport” this cargo, when, in fact, all the major aircraft operators are certified to carry dangerous goods like mercury, gasoline and diesel, and undergo a rigorous process to be qualified to do so.

In the circumstances, the Association must point out for the benefit of the travelling public, that all commercial aircraft operations in Guyana are rigidly regulated and required to meet extremely high standards both in regard to pilot training and qualification and aircraft maintenance in order to obtain an Aircraft Operators Certificate (AOC).

Guyana’s aviation industry, in fact, enjoys a record for one of the highest safety ratings in the Caribbean region, while operating out of the busiest airport in the region and in an extremely challenging and hostile hinterland aviation environment with minimum infrastructural support.

We are extremely proud that our industry is evidentially, statistically, the safest it has been for decades.

Thanks to the sterling work

of the Director General of Civil Aviation and his team, Guyana’s aviation industry has achieved over the last five (5) years the highest level of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) national compliance.

On the occasion of the Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, holding a Budget Stakeholders Meeting in February this year, included in the AOAG’s presentation was a recommendation that the budget provide sufficient funding to meet the urgent demand for hinterland airstrip rehabilitation and development. The Association asked, at that time, for a list of the Government’s choice of airstrips to benefit from this programme.

The Association subsequently wrote the Minister of Public Works welcoming the receipt from the GCAA of twenty-one hinterland airstrips designated for this programme and requested that the Association be afforded the opportunity to work in partnership with the Ministry by putting our expertise and experience at the disposal of the Ministry in the implementation of this programme.

The Association’s letter

to the Minister emphasised that it is essential that “the rehabilitation and improvement of these Airstrips are planned to meet the specific requirements of the aircraft which use them and that these works are designed to comply with ICAO Annex 14 standards with respect to length, width, surface preference, obstacle clearances, fencing and parking ramp, which, unfortunately, have not always been the case”.

The letter emphasised the fact that frequent rehabilitation of these airstrips in the past had been substandard, carried out by unqualified and incompetent contractors and specifically mentions the Eteringbang and Ekereku Bottom.

The Association looks forward to meeting with the Minister in regard to our proposals.

Again, the Association can only conclude that the Minister was misguided and subject to inappropriate advice. We are committed to working in partnership with our Government for a more comprehensive consultative relationship from which a growing and expanding aviation industry would be the major beneficiary.

Sincerely, Aircraft Owners Association of Guyana

service. They are able to do so because they recurrently steal from employees to make up for their deficit. This, in my opinion, disadvantages competitors who adhere to the law, like my company.

I implore Dr Ashni Singh to look into this matter. Examine if workers are receiving the NIS benefits to which they are entitled.

Further, I wish to reiterate that this writer advocates for stricter laws that would punish employers who steal their employees’ NIS. I advocated for this in one of my previous articles, “Jail the thieves of NIS, PAYE, and VAT,” which

was published in the various print media on November 28, 2020, in which I expressed that employers who steal from their employees should face a penalty of jail or an extremely heavy fine.

I, Roshan Khan, believe that no company should be allowed to obtain a competitive edge by defrauding its workforce. A business should not exist if it cannot succeed without breaching the law.

Consequently, these fraudulent companies must be blacklisted!

Sincerely, Roshan Khan Sr

GAWU’s oil and gas branch disturbed by GYSBI’s high-handedness Dear Editor, The oil and gas branch of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) is disturbed have learnt from media reports that Guyana Shore Base Incorporated (GYSBI) has apparently sacked workers after they decried their unfavourable working conditions. The GAWU wishes to remind that the Prevention of Discrimination Act requires “equal work for equal pay”. To do otherwise is a clear breach of the law and the workers’ actions were justifiable in our view.

Disturbingly was the company’s seeming obnoxious and high-handed decision to terminate workers after highlighting their legitimate concerns. It appears to us that the GYSBI’s decision is an attempt to intimidate workers and continue its seemingly exploitative ways. The histo-

ry of the working-class is replete of instances of working triumphing over those who seek to deny them their due reward. History we believe will once again repeat itself and the workers will conquer those who, from all appearances, deemed themselves “oil barons”.

In the meantime, we urge the terminated employees to contact our Union. They can reach us through WhatsApp 623GAWU (4298), by Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, email: info@gawugy.com, our website: www.gawugy.com, by telephone 227-2091/2, 2255321, 223-6523 or by visiting our office at 59 High Street and Wights Lane, Kingston, Georgetown.

Sincerely, Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union

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TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2021

Page

Foundation ◄

Question 1

Monday’s answers

By John Masefield

Here, in this darkened room of this old house, I sit beside the fire. I hear again, Within, the scutter where the mice carouse, Without, the gutter dropping with the rain.

Opposite, are black shelves of wormy books, To left, glazed cases, dusty with the same, Behind, a wall, with rusty guns on hooks, To right, the fire, that chokes one panting flame.

Over the mantel, black as funeral cloth, A portrait hangs, a man, whose flesh the worm Has mawed this hundred years, whose clothes the moth A century since, has channelled to a term.

I cannot see his face : I only know He stares at me, that man of long ago.

WORD SEARCH

I light the candles in the long brass sticks, I see him now, a pale-eyed, simpering man, Framed in carved wood, wherein the death-watch ticks, A most dead face : yet when the work began That face, the pale puce coat, the simpering smile, The hands that hold a book, the eyes that gaze, Moved to the touch of mind a little while.

The painter sat in judgment on his ways : The painter turned him to and from the light, Talked about art, or bade him lift his head.

Judged the lips’ paleness and the temples’ white, And now his work abides ; the man is dead.

But is he dead ? This dusty study drear Creaks in its panels that the man is here.

Here, beyond doubt, he lived, in that old day.

“He was a Doctor here,” the student thought.

Here, when the puce was new, that now is grey, That simpering man his daily practice wrought.

Here he let blood, prescribed the pill and drop, The leech, the diet ; here his verdict given Brought agonies of hoping to a stop, Here his condemned confessioners were shriven.

What is that book he holds, the key, too dim To read, to know ; some little book he wrote, Forgotten now, but still the key to him.

He sacrificed his vision for his coat.

I see the man ; a simpering mask that hid A seeing mind that simpering men forbid.

Those are his books no doubt, untoucht, undusted, Unread, since last he left them on the shelves, Octavo sermons that the fox has rusted, Sides splitting off from brown decaying twelves.

This was his room, this darkness of old death, This coffin-room with lights like embrasures, The place is poisonous with him ; like a breath On glass, he stains the spirit ; he endures.

Here is his name within the sermon book, And verse, “When hungry Worms my Body eat” ; He leans across my shoulder as I look, He who is God or pasture to the wheat.

He who is Dead is still upon the soul A check, an inhibition, a control.

Write a ghost story of 200 words featuring a haunting.

I draw the bolts. I am alone within.

The moonlight through the coloured glass comes faint, Mottling the passage wall like human skin, Pale with the breathings left of withered paint.

But others walk the empty house with me, There is no loneliness within these walls No more than there is stillness in the sea Or silence in the eternal waterfalls.

There in the room, to right, they sit at feast ; The dropping grey-beard with the cold blue eye, The lad, his son, that should have been a priest, And he, the rake, who made his mother die.

And he, the gambling man, who staked the throw, They look me through, they follow when I go.

They follow with still footing down the hall, I know their souls, those fellow-tenants mine, Their shadows dim those colours on the wall, They point my every gesture with a sign.

That grey-beard cast his aged servant forth After his forty years of service done, The gambler supped up riches as the north Sups with his death the glories of the sun.

The lad betrayed his trust ; the rake was he Who broke two women’s hearts to ease his own : They nudge each other as they look at me, Shadows, all our, and yet as hard as stone.

And there, he comes, that simpering man, who sold His mind for coat of puce and penny gold.

O ruinous house, within whose corridors None but the wicked and the mad go free.

(On the dark stairs they wait, behind the doors They crouch, they watch, or creep to follow me.)

Deep in old blood your ominous bricks are red, Firm in old bones your walls’ foundations stand, With dead men’s passions built upon the dead, With broken hearts for lime and oaths for sand.

Terrible house, whose horror I have built, Sin after sin, unseen, as sand that slips Telling the time, till now the heaped guilt Cries, and the planets circle to eclipse.

You only are the Daunter, you alone Clutch, till I feel your ivy on the bone.

NEWS

7

TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Police to go after their own officers overpaid by $2.264M …ranks go AWOL every month – Senior Superintendent

Senior Superintendent of Police, Calvin Brutus

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he Guyana Police Force (GPF), which has for years been plagued with issues relating to the overpayment of salaries to staff, is now looking to go after those ranks and officers who were overpaid and have not returned the money.

This came to light during a sitting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which met at the Public Buildings on Monday. The Committee examined the Auditor General’s 2016 findings on the Ministry of Public Security, now renamed Ministry of Home Affairs.

One of the findings was that the GPF is still to recover some $2.264 million in salaries that were overpaid to employees in the Force between 2010 and 2012. According to the Audit Office, it had recommended

a number of things designed at improving systems at the GPF, which would have helped with overpayments.

But according to the Ministry, only 67 per cent of these recommendations were implemented as of 2016, with 33 per cent partially implemented. When asked by the Committee what were some of the things the GPF implemented, Senior Superintendent Calvin Brutus explained that they have been using phone calls.

“The measures we put in place are working currently, because we’ve gone beyond just waiting on the (termination) letters come. We rely now for speed, the information coming by way of phone call from the Commanders and Heads,” he said, adding that this system was put in place in August of 2020.

The PAC discussed a number of options to address overpayments, including “name and shame”.

However, the consensus was that this would not address the systemic issues causing the overpayments, including the lapse of time in reporting and updating information on employee attendance.

However, Public Works Minister and PAC member Juan Edghill brought to the PAC’s attention the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act, Section 85 (a) which criminalises any attempts of falsifying documents and defrauding the State.

Brutus also revealed to the PAC that even though the provision to surcharge ranks for overpayments exists in the law, they have not been taking this course of action. According to PAC member Ganesh Mahipaul, it may be time for the Police to consider doing this, to which Brutus agreed. Brutus subsequently clarified that the Force will be enforcing this law.

In terms of action being taken against employees who facilitated the overpayments, Brutus referenced disciplinary action in the form of letters being sent to the offending employees. He said that these warning letters were effective.

Issues such as ranks going AWOL (Absent Without

Police going AWOL continues to be a problem

Official Leave) is also something that the GPF is grappling with. According to Brutus, an average of seven to eight ranks go AWOL every month.

Brutus explained that ranks have been disregard-

ing the policy of being considered AWOL if 72 hours have elapsed without any contact. Additionally, they have been flouting the requirement that they provide six weeks’ notice before resigning.

A suggestion by PAC Chairman Jermaine Figueira that the Police consider using email to bridge gaps in reporting, was welcomed by Brutus who said it would be taken into consideration. (G3)

8 NEWS

TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Businessman, staff appeal life sentences for murder of Berbice trader

From left: Basheer Harrinauth, Delroy Fraser, and Dennis Veerasammy

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wo men who were, in May, found guilty of murder are appealing their life sentences for which parole was set at 25 years. Berbice businessman Dennis Veerasammy and one of his employees Basheer Harrinauth, both of Crabwood Creek, Region Six (East-Berbice Corentyne), were convicted of the October 24, 2015 murder of Shameer Ali Mursalin.

Another one of Veerasammy’s workers, Delroy Fraser, had also been

convicted of the killing. But he died while in prison before sentencing could be passed on him. Veerasammy and Harrinauth have now moved to the Guyana Court of Appeal to have their convictions and sentences overturned. A Notice of Appeal filed by Harrinauth briefly stated that he is challenging his conviction and sentence.

Veerasammy’s lawyer, Brandon DeSantos, however, has proffered four grounds of appeal, all citing instances where trial Judge

Jo-Ann Barlow erred. “The learned trial Judge failed to adequately direct the jury on the law as it relates to joint enterprise and what specific contents of the purported caution statement could be used to assist the jury to show that the acts of [Veerasammy] did not point to him being a part of a plan to inflict grievous bodily harm,” counsel argued.

He further argued that there were elements of the caution statement which could potentially lead the jury to believe that his client’s involvement, if there was any, could be innocuous. According to DeSantos, the trial Judge also fell into error when she did not uphold the no-case submission made on his client’s behalf.

The convicted killer’s lawyer contended that the only evidence against his client was a caution statement and the evidence of the eyewitness was rendered manifestly unreliable after cross-examination and would show that the con-

The bestlaid plans…

S

Dead: Shameer Ali Mursalin

tents of the caution statement were incapable of belief.

In this regard, he said that the trial Judge wrongly admitted the caution statement. “There was no admission by the prosecution witness who purportedly took the caution statement that he was not honest in respect of the allegation put to [Veerasammy].”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 9

…for a plural society outh Africa – in which widespread violence, looting, killings and general mayhem recently broke out – can be seen as the paradigmatic “plural society” – of which we’re one. What lessons, if any, can we glean from their experience? While 76 per cent of the country are “Black”, they’re divided into several ethnic groups with different cultures and languages. In the 55-million populace are the Zulu – of “Shaka Zulu” fame; the Xhosa – Nelson Mandela’s tribe; the Bapedi; the Tswana; the South Ndebele; Basotho; Venda; Tsinga and Swazi. “Black” was the label slapped on them all by the colonial and then the Apartheid state between 1948 and 1994. But the divisions remain deeply rooted.

In addition to them are the Whites and Coloureds who clock in at just under 10 per cent each and then Indians, most arriving as Indentured Servants like in Guyana and some other wealthy recent arrivals. Now if that’s not a PLURAL society, then what is? We, after all, are only the land of SIX peoples!! But can we assume that their divisions might be a bit deeper than ours just because for 46 years the Apartheid State officially defined the groups as different and actually segregated them – forcibly in many instances – into communities where there could be no mixing or mingling? Our segregation after the 1960s after all wasn’t officially enforced.

Anyhow, as the walls of communism fell up in Europe by 1990 so was the apartheid wall crumbling when Mandela was released in 1990. A lot of efforts – reminiscent of what we have been experiencing since 1992 here – were put into place to ensure South Africa segued into a peaceful, democratic state following democracy in elections in 1994.

Constitutional change? Did that!! In fact, the South African constitution was deemed a template for constitutional engineering in plural societies the world over. All the “innovations” that are now being touted

by Constitutional Columbuses here can be found in that document! Truth and Reconciliation Commission? South Africa gave legitimacy to that mechanism under the venerable Bishop Tutu! Government of National Unity?

Did that for one term! Decentralisation? South Africa is a unitary state with national, provincial and local governments!

But yet they exploded? What gives? Was it just the reaction of the supporters of Jacob Zuma to his imprisonment for contempt-of-court conviction following corruption investigations? Or was that just a trigger for deeper structural contradictions coming out of their plural nature? Well, it does look like it was a combination of both factors. Yes…Zuma’s Zulu supporters did start the rampage. But it was then continued

by Blacks of all ethnicities and classes!

Sadly for a Guyanese prognosis, the key variable was irresponsible leaders who placed their ambitions over national needs. …for social cohesion One of the most puzzling aspects of the Granger Presidency was the gap between the “social cohesion” he introduced as “the defining” policy in his Administration and the actions unleashed directly by him. Now the “social cohesion” move made sense – politically and otherwise.

After all, in Guyana’s ethnically-fractured polity - in which he’d secured office through a coalition designed to bring in votes across the divide, “social cohesion” was vital for securing another term of office.

So did Granger think that mere nice-sounding platitudes would secure “social cohesion” in our Plural Society? And here your Eyewitness thought he’d sat at the feet of Burnham and imbibed some socialist ideological orientation! Men are moved because of their MATERIAL conditions!! So why in God’s name would he fire 7000 mostly Indian sugar workers? Hadn’t he expended much political capital (40% of the Cabinet!) to poach some?

Did he really believe the said workers would see the “big picture” on sugar?

Who doan hear, does feel!! ...of Burnham Rodney said he would’ve compared Burnham’s megalomania with Hitler, but for the former’s Lilliputian pond – in which he revelled in being the big fish.

So his 28-year rule had to be scaled for Hitler’s 1000year Reich!!

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

NEWS

COVID-19 travel protocols for Guyana being reviewed …1 more death, 44 new cases recorded

GUYANA COVID-19 DASHBOARD JULY 19 UPDATE

NUMBER OF NEW CASES

44

NUMBER OF PERSONS IN INSTITUTIONAL ISOLATION

107

NUMBER OF PERSONS IN HOME ISOLATION

1111

NUMBER OF PERSONS IN COVID-19 ICU

12

NUMBER OF PERSONS IN INSTITUTIONAL QUARANTINE

2

TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES BY GENDER (FEMALES)

11,055

TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES BY GENDER (MALES)

10,551

TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES IN GUYANA SINCE 2020

21,606

NUMBER OF RECOVERED CASES

19,863

TOTAL 1st DOSE VACCINATED

242,991

FULLY IMMUNISED

128,252

TOTAL NUMBER OF DEATHS

DISTRIBUTION OF TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES SINCE MARCH 2020 REGION 1

1292

REGION 2

598

REGION 3

2447

REGION 4

9762

REGION 5

721

REGION 6

1777

REGION 7

1274

REGION 8

380

REGION 9

1850

REGION 10

1505

HERE IS HOW YOU CAN BE SAFE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC Wear a face mask.

Keep a physical distance of at least 6 feet.

Wash your hands or use handsanitizer If you have any symptoms, call the COVID-19 Hotline.

513

GET MEDICAL ADVICE ON COVID-19 FROM MOH 24/7 HOTLINE NUMBERS: 2311166; 226 7480; 624 6674; 624 2819; 624 3067 OR 180/181.

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he Health Ministry is in the process of reviewing the COVID-19 protocols for persons arriving in Guyana.

During Monday’s COVID-19 update, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony said given that there has been an increase in COVID-19 vaccines globally, vaccination requirements are being considered for entry into the country.

Currently,

Guyana accepts a negative Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test taken within 72 hours prior to arrival.

“We are currently reviewing our protocol; we have a team that is currently reviewing that based on people now getting vaccinated and to see how we can do both PCR and vaccination as a requirement.”

Dr Anthony said while other countries are accept-

ing antigen tests for entry, Guyana only accepts PCR tests.

“The reason being is that antigen tests are not as sensitive as the PCR. With PCR testing, if somebody is positive, you can know within a short period of time, but with antigen, it takes a long time, people generally will have to be symptomatic before you see a positive result,” he explained.

Businessman, staff appeal life...

In effect, a misrepresentation or trick was used by the taker of the purported statement to obtain it, the lawyer added. Moreover, the lawyer argued that the remarks of the prosecution witness may have influenced the jury and may even be regarded as an abdication of the duty to give a fair trial.

Counsel said that such remarks were totally prejudicial and without any hint of relevance, and although the court upheld objections to such inadmissible bias of evidence, the prejudice was

already created in the mind of the jury. The Court of Appeal is yet to fix a date for hearing this case.

The prosecution’s case was that Veerasammy and Mursalin had an ongoing feud and on October 24, 2015, Mursalin’s lifeless body was discovered with a gunshot wound to his head lying in a pool of blood at his home. It was alleged that Mursalin had shared a relationship with the wife of one of the three men.

During their trial, the State called 11 witnesses, including Ricky Profit,

FROM PAGE 8

who testified to witnessing the execution of Mursalin.

Throughout the trial, the now-convicted killers had maintained their innocence, even stating that they had alibis for the time of the shooting.

Justice Barlow, in imposing the life sentence on Veerasammy and Harrinauth, took into consideration the serious nature of the offence, the loss of life, their resort to violence in settling a dispute, and the fact that a firearm was used during the commissioning of the crime. (G1)

9

TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Mon Repos youth busted with ganja remanded to prison

He noted that some 49.9 per cent of the population has received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccines available in Guyana.

To date, 242,991 persons have received their first dose of the vaccine. This is approximately 49.9 per cent of the country’s adult population. 128,252 persons or approximately 26.3 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated.

New death, cases

Also on Monday, the Ministry announced that a 70-year-old woman from Region Four (DemeraraMahaica) died as a result of the novel coronavirus, taking the overall death toll to 513.

In addition, there were 44 new cases reported.

According to the Ministry, of the new cases, one was in Region One (BarimaWaini); three in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam); three in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara); 16 in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica); two in Region Five (MahaicaBerbice); 17 in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) and two in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).

There are a total of 1232 active cases with 12 persons in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). One hundred and seven persons are in institutional isolation, two persons in institutional quarantine and 1111 in home isolation.

The 3730 grams of cannabis found on Saturday

Romel Ramsingh was remanded to prison for trafficking of narcotics

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ays after he was busted with 3730 grams of ganja in an intelligence-led Police operation at Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara (ECD), Romel Ramsingh was remanded to prison when he appeared at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court on

Monday.

Police stated that a team of ranks went to the location and unearthed the ganja concealed in a white plastic and tied in a black plastic bag. At the time, Ramsingh was carrying the cannabis in his hands and upon seeing the Police, he attempted to dispose of same in a parked van.

As such, he was apprehended, told of the offence and taken to the Beterverwagting Police Station, where the ganja was weighed in his presence and amounted to 3730 grams.

However, he made his court appearance on Monday charged for Possession of Narcotics for the Purpose of Trafficking, Contrary.

The charge was read to him by Magistrate A George, who remanded him to prison until August 31, 2021, after he pleaded not guilty to the charge.

10 NEWS

TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Berbice family robbed by gun, cutlass-toting bandits

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he Police are on the hunt for three armed men who attacked and robbed a No 55 Village, Corentyne, Berbice family of several pieces of gold jewellery on Saturday evening.

The robbery took place at about 23:00h.

The men - two of whom were armed with handguns and one with a cutlass and who were all wearing masks - carted off with one eight-and-a-half pennyweight gold chain with a

pendant, “Britney”; one gold cricket bangle with name the “Britney” and three gold bangles.

Police investigation revealed that on the date and time in question, the 47-year-old and 16-yearold females were in front of their yard sitting with their relatives and two neighbours, barbequing, when they were confronted by the

into Police minibus

A

armed men.

One of the suspects, according to the Police, pointed a cutlass at the 16-yearold and instructed her not to move as he relieved her of the above-mentioned articles.

On the other hand, another suspect held the 47-yearold woman at gunpoint and also took her belongings. The third suspect was reportedly

on the lookout.

The ordeal reportedly lasted for about ten minutes. Soon after committing the robbery, the suspects made good their escape on foot. The Police were immediately summoned and an investigation was launched.

The area was searched but none of the suspects were seen. Investigations are ongoing.

Drunken driver granted bail for 1 injured after car slams hitting down, running over cop

O

ne man was injured on Sunday evening after the car in which he was travelling collided with a minibus owned by the Guyana Police Force at Brickdam and Winter Place, Georgetown. Yismar Morin, 30, of Zeelugt, East Bank Essequibo (EBE), received injures and was taken to the

Georgetown Public Hospital where he was treated and admitted.

The accident involved a motor car bearing registration number PNN 752 driven by a 33-year-old man of Cornelia Ida New Housing Scheme, West Coast Demerara (WCD), and minibus PTT 9396, attached to

the Special Constabulary Headquarters.

Based on information received, the minibus was driving west along Brickdam Public Road, while the motor car was proceeding south along Winter Place.

However, upon the approach of the intersection at Brickdam and Winter Place, the motor car failed to comply with the directions given by the stop sign and as such, collided with the minibus.

As a result of the collision, Morin, who was the lone occupant of the motor car, sustained injuries and was taken to the hospital.

Nevertheless, a breathalyser test conducted on the driver of the car revealed that his alcohol level was above the legal limit.

The Police have since served a notice of intended prosecution to the driver of the motor car. An investigation is continuing.

motorist who reportedly struck down Police Sergeant Rajendra Major, 41, of Cummings Park, Sophia, Greater Georgetown, causing him to become hospitalised, was on Friday last granted bail on three charges.

The accused, Abdool Safraz Nazir, 36, of Eccles, East Bank Demerara (EBD), appeared before Magistrate Judy Latchman at the Diamond Magistrate’s Court where he pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read to him.

The Police stated that on July 13, 2021, Nazir failed to stop after an accident, failed to render assistance and was driving under the influence of alcohol.

He was granted bail in the sum of $20,000 on each charge and will make his next court appearance on August 16, 2021.

It was reported that the accident occurred along the Peters Hall Public Road, East Bank Demerara (EBD), on July 13.

Police stated that Sergeant Major was on

Accused: Abdool Safraz Nazir

his motorcycle, proceeding north along the western drive lane of the Peters Hall Public Road, and as he approached the intersection of the Peters Hall Public Road and the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) Access Road he was struck down by Nazir who was driving motor car PSS 3227.

As a result of the collision, the Sergeant was flung into the air, and he landed on the windscreen of the car before falling onto the road’s surface, where he sustained injuries.

Instead of rendering assistance, Nazir reportedly drove over the policeman and sped off the scene. He subsequently collided with a jeep bearing registration number PHH 9496 at Bagotstown Public Road.

Again, instead of rendering assistance, he continued further onto the Eccles Public Road, where he ended up in a nearby trench in the vicinity of Kenrick Auto Sales.

Sergeant Major was picked up by public-spirited citizens in an unconscious state, and taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he was admitted a patient in critical condition.

At the time of the accident, motor jeep PHH 9496 had three occupants, and they were taken to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre, where they were all treated for minor injuries and sent away.

The drunken driver was later arrested and placed into custody. A breathalyser test conducted on him proved that he was way above the legal limit of alcohol consumption.

NEWS

11

TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Birthday outing turns deadly: 2 teens die, 2 critical

Dead: Anthony Persaud

Critical: Johnny Persaud

Dead: Aaliyah Edwards

n outing turned tragic on Sunday evening after the minibus in which the youngsters were travelling turned turtle along the Diamond Public Road, East Bank Demerara (EBD), leaving two dead and two critically injured.

The accident occurred at about 22:00h as the minibus bearing registration number BXX 7256 driven by a 23-year-old unlicensed driver from Five Door Koker Dam, Land-of-Canaan, EBD, toppled several times before coming to a halt in the vicinity of DDL. Police confirmed that the driver was driving at a fast rate and might have lost control while negotiating a turn.

In addition, a breathalyser test conducted on him proved that he was above the legal limit of alcohol consumption.

However, the dead teenagers were identified as Anthony “Junior” Persaud, 18, of Lot 158 Old Road, Land of Canaan, EBD, and Aaliyah Edwards, 19, of Lot 16 Land of Canaan, EBD. Seventeen-year-old Johnny Persaud, also of Lot 158 Land of Canaan, EBD, and Michael James, 16, of Lot 29 Koker Dam, Land of Canaan, EBD, are currently

in a critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit of the Georgetown Public Hospital.

Johnny Persaud is suffering from severe head injuries and contusions to the chest while James is nursing head injuries.

Several others were injured in the accident and were also admitted for treatment. They are Sabrina Corlette, 18, of Hyde Park, Timehri, EBD, who is suffering from head injuries and an open fracture dislocation to the right ankle and Seth Abrams, 18, of Schoonord, West Bank Demerara (WBD), who sustained deep abrasion injuries to the right leg.

In addition, Jessie Wishart, 23, and Joel Wishart, 20, of Lot 43 Old Road, Land of Canaan, EBD; Odarry Gonsalves, 18, of Lot 192 Old Road, Land of Canaan, EBD; Valencia George, 18, of Lot 80 Land of Canaan, EBD; Shane Argyle, 17, of Koker Dam, Land of Canaan, EBD, were all treated and sent away.

At the home of Anthony and Johnny Persaud, an aunt Chandroutie Persaud related that she was at home and at about 23:00h, the family received information about the accident.

“Someone call and tell we that Anthony dead and his brother, Johnny is in a critical state.”

After getting the news, she related that the mother to the two boys travelled to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre where they were told that the teenagers were transferred to the Georgetown Hospital. There, they were informed that Anthony was pronounced dead on arrival while Johnny was admitted in a serious condition.

She noted that her sister-in-law is at the hospital and is updating them on his condition. “She say that he moving and so… but he cannot talk… the doctors checking in on he to make sure he okay but, he deh real serious,” the aunt noted.

A brother of the two teenagers explained that they left home at about 14:30h saying that they were going to a resort in Timehri and then to the seawalls. “We get news till around ten something that the bus crash up… we went down to the hospital and like half hour after we see ambulance and a hearse come… my brother (Anthony) was in there, dead…and the next one (Johnny) they rush up to the ICU and he is on life sup-

A

Ex-con shot by prison buddy

A

n ex-convict is now nursing an injury to his right-side hip after he was shot on Sunday by someone whom he had met while serving time at the Lusignan Prison.

The shooting incident reportedly took place at Sparendaam Squatting Area, East Coast Demerara (ECD), as the victim was on his way to the gambling shop.

The injured man was identified as 33-year-old Rawle Franklyn also called “Rawle Dog” of Sparendaam Housing Scheme, ECD. Based on reports received, the now injured man and the suspect, who is referred to as “Sad Killer” and “Dutchy”, are known to each other since they both spent time at the Lusignan Prison.

The suspect told Police that he would from time to time receive death threats from

his prison buddy.

However, on the day in question at about 21:45h, Franklyn was on his pedal cycle making his way to a gambling shop in the Sparendaam Squatting Area, ECD, when he was confronted by the suspect who was on the access bridge.

The suspect reportedly told him “Look how long I waiting on you”. In the same breath, the suspect reportedly reached to his left side waist, drew a firearm

and discharged a wound in Franklyn’s direction which hit him to the hip.

After committing the act, the suspect fled the scene.

Meanwhile, the injured man summoned a friend who took him to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was admitted a patient and is in a stable condition.

The matter was reported and checks were made for the suspect but he was not located. An investigation is currently underway.

port.”

He described his dead brother as a kind and humble person who was always a hustler. Anthony, he noted, was rearing chickens to assist his family in the construction of their home. In addition, the now dead teenager and his injured brother also did construction work with a private contractor.

Meanwhile, a short distance away Aaliyah Edwards lived, whose parents were not at home when Guyana Times visited. However, during a telephone interview, her mother Sharon Edwards related that her now dead daughter left home at about 10:00h to go out with some friends.

“She tell me that they were going to Banzie Creek, in Timehri and I know that due to the pandemic and so, she was expected to be back home by 5 but 5 o’clock come and she ain’t come home… 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and she ain’t come and I start get worried… try to make contact with her plenty time by still I ain’t get no contact,” the aggrieved mother related.

She further stated that at about 23:00h, they received a telephone call informing them that Aaliyah was in an accident. “Her brother answered the phone and, in the background, he hear people screaming and persons say-

The minibus after the accident

ing ‘tell them she dead’…I panic after we get the news and right away we left and went to the hospital.”

The mother explained that based on a video that was shown to her, she saw her now dead daughter standing but then collapsed and later succumbed. “She stand up good good and then she make one fall down… by the time the ambulance come and they tek she to the hospital, she was dead,” the mother added. The teenager

leaves to mourn her parents and seven other siblings.

Guyana Times was later told the outing was a surprise for a friend’s birthday.

Nevertheless, during investigations, Police found out that the minibus driver was in possession of a bogus licence and as such, at the time of the accident, he was an unlicensed driver.

He remains in custody and is expected to be charged shortly.

12 NEWS

TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Linden drive-by shooting

Suspected getaway car found torched at Blue Water Lake

…dead man’s body riddled with 9 bullets – PME

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he motor car that was involved in the driveby shooting that has left one dead and one critical was found torched at Blue Water Lake, Kara Kara, Linden, on Sunday Police stated that a party of policemen was on patrol duty in the vicinity of Blue Water Lake when they observed a fully burnt silver-grey Fielder wagon on the southern side of Blue Lake Access Road.

Twenty-three-year-old Delron McKenzie of Roxanne Burnham Gardens, East La Penitence, Georgetown, was shot and killed on Saturday evening during a driveby shooting at Sunflower Street, Wismar, Linden. His friend Calvin Daly was also

Dead: Delron McKenzie

shot and injured during the incident.

However, Police confirmed that a post-mortem performed on the body of McKenzie showed that he

was shot at least nine times.

In addition, two metal fragments were also retrieved from the deceased’s head and back.

The autopsy was performed by Government pathologist, Dr Nehaul Singh at the Memorial Gardens Mortuary on Monday. The Police also stated that a wanted bulletin was issued for the arrest of the suspect who has since gone into hiding.

After the shooting incident on Saturday evening Daly reportedly told Police that he and his now dead friend arrived in Linden at about 21:00h via public transportation and went to a popular fast-food place to make a purchase.

While at the location, Daly said McKenzie was given directions from his female friend to join a boat at the Mackenzie shore.

On arrival at the Wismar shore, the man called the female and was given further directions but a short while after she called him back and told him to turn around since she would be sending a car to pick them up.

The injured man further stated that they then walked out of Sunflower Street, where they saw a silver wagon car turned around and as Delron McKenzie approached the car to open the back door, a man opened the door first and started to shoot at him while another male exited from the front passenger seat and also discharged a few rounds.

Daly said he ran for cover. He told Police that the car had three male occupants at the time but he did not recognise any of them. He said that following the shooting, the men re-joined the car and drove in a southern direction towards Silver City

The torched car found at Blue Water Lake

Street.

The injured man told Police that he did not know the female who McKenzie was going to meet.

Daly received two gunshot wounds on the left and right lower arm with abrasions to both of his arms. He was escorted to the Linden Hospital Complex where he was admitted a patient and

scheduled to be transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation for surgery.

McKenzie, on the other hand, was picked up and taken to the Linden Hospital Complex where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Investigations are continuing.

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TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Transplant legislation’s 1st draft completed – Health Minister are collected for research use to improve our understanding of health and disease.

Additional investments

The Minister said that while they are working on the legislation, they will be making other advancements in the field of improving healthcare in the country. Dr Anthony also said that Government is working to enhance the level of care provided at the regional hos-

Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony

H

ealth Minister Dr Frank Anthony, at a press conference on Monday, related that his Ministry has completed the first draft of the transplant legislation and is currently including recommendations from various stakeholders before making it law.

The Health Minister’s comments came after Head of the Georgetown Public Hospital’s Transplant Team, Dr Kishore Persaud, made calls for Government to fast track the legislation in an effort to improve the standard of care in healthcare in Guyana.

He explained that the legislation would allow for the advancement of transplantation in Guyana which can better serve the Caribbean region. He added that it is long overdue.

“I beg that we work together to get to the transplant legislation so that we can advance transplantation in Guyana and around the Caribbean region. It is long overdue, with hundreds of patients who are waiting for life changing experiences like (kidney transplant patients) Dr Germaine Bristol and Dr Nyamekeye Griffith…we have shown what we can do with the limited resources and I hope that soon we can be blessed with a transplant suite and the transplantation legislation and we can guarantee success for not only Guyana but the Caribbean in the field of transplantation,” Dr Persaud said.

Dr Anthony admitted that the legislation is imperative for Guyana to be internationally recognised as a transplantation hub. He explained that they reached out to a number of stakeholders both locally and internationally to ensure that the legislation is comprehensive.

“There’s been a multi-

sectoral team that has been working at developing such legislation and Dr Kishore and the team here from the GPHC has been very instrumental in pushing for this legislation. Over the last few months, we have achieved quite a lot of progress and we have been able to complete the first draft of this legislation and we have received numerous comments from various stakeholders, including from the PAHO/ WHO who had advised us on some of the additional things that we need to put or look at in our current legislation.

“We have also received comments from various stakeholders locally and we have also reached out to some international stakeholders, including Dr Kishan Narine who has reviewed the document thoroughly and provided us with some comments on what we should include and what we shouldn’t include. We have also been lucky enough to reach out to the Assistant Dean of the Harvard Law School, who has also provided us with comments on the legislation and we are in the process right now of infusing those comments on the first draft so as to strengthen the legislation that is being developed. As soon as we have that we have [to] once again circulate to make sure that everybody is on board and then shortly thereafter, we will walk through the process to make it into law in Guyana,” Dr Anthony explained.

He further stated that the legislation does not only contemplate doing transplantation in Guyana, but makes provision for a number of other areas which they intend to develop such as biobanking, which is one of the newer areas in medicine. Biobanking refers to the process by which samples of bodily fluid or tissue

pitals, explaining that soon New Amsterdam Hospital will be equipped with a laparoscopic suite to perform minimally invasive surgeries.

Additionally, they are restarting the suspended paediatric cardiac programme with an aim of performing at least 25 surgeries per year.

Currently, paediatric cardiac patients have to travel overseas for surgeries, which is extremely costly.

“We’ll be shortly restarting, our paediatric cardiac programme. We had a programme before and it was suspended for a number of years. So we are restarting that programme and our intention is to do maybe 20 to 25 surgeries a year because right now those patients would have to travel abroad for those types of surgery and as you heard it. The costs can be extremely high and we’ll be able to do that

programme here in Guyana for far less. Of course, the cardiac programme for adults that we have here at the GPHC in collaboration with CHI, where apart from doing stents and so forth, we are able to do open heart surgery. So, as we improve, the range of services are going to be extended and I’m sure that there are many other persons would want to come here for these types of services.” (G2)

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TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Grenadian doctor is Guyana’s 1st foreign national kidney transplant patient …young Guyanese doctor also receives kidney

also recommended the GPHC for the surgery since some of them would have trained in Guyana and know the quality of service provided by the transplant team.

“So, to anyone who wants to access medical care. I would stand behind that and see, based on what I have heard from before and what I’ve experienced myself, Georgetown Public Hospital does come highly recommended. So I would recommend it to anyone seeking medical care,” the doctor said.

From left: Dr Nyamekeye Griffith; Dr Germaine Bristol and Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony

By Lakhram Bhagirat

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renadian doctor Germaine Bristol will go down in history as the first non-national to undergo a kidney transplant surgery in Guyana.

Dr Bristol and her 19-year-old son Gerron travelled to Guyana early last month to have Head of the Transplant Team at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), Dr Kishore Persaud and his team perform the harvest-

ing and transplantation of the organ. They both underwent surgery on June 14 and it was declared a success, but not without complication.

At a press conference on Monday, Dr Bristol expressed her gratitude to Dr Persaud and the Government of Guyana for accepting the request from the Grenadian Government to have the surgery done here. She said that they were actively considering other countries for the sur-

gery including Trinidad and the United States. However, Trinidad was unavailable for her and she needed US$350,000 as a deposit to access care in the US. “We did research and we found out that the Guyana programme. It has been a successful programme and Dr Kishore came highly recommended and it was another Caribbean country, which made it feel a lot more homey,” she said.

Dr Bristol explained that her colleagues and friends

A new lease on life

Dr Bristol said that she now has a “lease on life” following her transplant.

Explaining her diagnosis, the Grenadian said that she fell ill about nine years ago while studying medicine and has been on dialysis ever since.

“I did not let it stop me.

I started dialysis in the UK but I did finish medical school, I did return home, I did do internship, and worked as a house officer even though it has been a very long and challenging route,” she said.

The transplant was imperative because Dr Bristol was out of access points for haemodialysis and was on peritoneal dialysis which was basically self-explanatory as the last resort.

Her nephrologist back in Grenada explained that it was a bleak situation she was in.

“Dr John Richer who is the one who initially made contact with Dr Kishore, on our behalf I must say thank you to him and to Dr Kishore for accepting the challenge of doing my transplant. I know that he was not expecting what he got and he did get a challenge,” Dr Bristol explained.

However, Dr Bristol was not the only person that received a kidney from Dr Persaud and his team. The transplant team also performed a kidney transplant on another doctor. This time it was 26-year-old Guyanese Dr Nyamekeye Griffith who received a kidney from her cousin Yannis Abrams.

The young doctor had her surgery done on June 28 and it was also a success. She said that her confidence in the team never wavered since she knew many of them during her medical school training.

“I’m here to stand as a testimony to say what an excellent job, to show what an excellent job the transplant team has done with limited resources. I was extremely impressed by the quality of service that I received…I knew them from since I was

GPHC Transplant Team Head, Dr Kishore Persaud

in medical school, they all taught me, so I was aware of their competence and I had absolutely no questions about whether they would do a good job…It was very relieving to know that I was in excellent hands, and now I can go back to thinking about continuing my career.

Because while I was on dialysis, there wasn’t much that I could do in the medical field and now that I have this new life. I feel extremely grateful,” the young doctor said.

“Can never achieve transplantation in Guyana”

Dr Persaud told members of the press that transplants started in Guyana back in 2008 and was done periodically until 2014 when they established a team.

He said that the challenges to establish the team were many.

“In 2015 upon my return, we were told that we can never achieve transplantation in Guyana locally. Today, we are here to show that we have not only achieved it locally but we have risen to the standard that we can take one of the most challenging patients from our partner Caricom country, and a young doctor from our own country and transplant them successfully,” Dr Persaud said.

Explaining the surgeries, he said that dialysis affects almost all the body’s organs and when Dr Bristol came to Guyana, she had multi organ disorder to some extent. He added that her condition posed a challenge to the team.

“Dr Bristol gave us one of the first complication that we ever had of delayed graft function meaning that when we transplant the kidney, it took almost three week before the kidneys start working. Most of the time we will see your kidney work right away on the operating table.

All in all, we put our brains together, myself, Dr Martin, Dr Samlall and the entire team and we managed to pull her through successfully. Her kidneys almost back to normal function. She will be able to go about and do everything as a normal cit-

izen again. Dr Nyamekeye Griffith was no exception, she gave us some of the challenges in terms of infection.

The good thing is that whatever resources we would have need through the Government of Guyana and the Georgetown Hospital they would have provided to us and we are more than thankful for that,” he said.

Dr Persaud added that the successful surgeries is as a result of the hard work and dedication of the entire transplant team and the ancillary staff.

Centre of excellence

Expressing his gratitude to the team, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony committed Government’s support to the team and improvement of the services offered at the GPHC. He added that Guyana has the potential to become the centre of excellence for health in the Caribbean if the investments are made.

“We want to become a centre of excellence here for health for the Caribbean and to offer a range of services here in Guyana and you would see over the next couple of years that we will be rolling out a massive infrastructure development programme, training programmes so that we can lift the standard and quality of medicine here in Guyana.

I’m very proud that we have a team of doctors who are teaching and making a name for themselves by the types of surgery and other services that they have been providing. They have stood on the shoulders of their predecessors, but they’re reaching for new heights now,” the Health Minister said.

He added that not only are the doctors making a name for themselves but they are also bringing recognition to the institutions they work for.

“They could have gone anywhere; any part of the world and they would have gotten jobs but they choose to stay here and develop these services and to make sure that our citizens as well as citizens from the Caribbean benefit from these services.”

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“Because We Care” initiative

Only 55 of 116 private schools submit responses to Govt – Education Minister

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s Government contemplates extending the “Because We Care” cash grant initiative to students in the private school system, less than 50 per cent of these private educational institutions have responded to a call issued by the Ministry of Education.

Last week, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration reintroduced and rolled out the cash grant initiative, which was increased to $15,000.

Additionally, with the uniform voucher also increasing to $4000, each child in the public school system will receive a total of $19,000.

However, some parents of students who attend private schools have been speaking about the exclusion of those children from the $3.2 billion initiative.

Education Minister Priya Manickchand, during an interview with media operatives on Saturday, explained that the Government had contacted the 116 private schools registered in the country for certain information that would help in determining the feasibility of extending the grant to private school students. However, only a small fraction of the institutions responded.

“For two weeks now we’ve been trying to get the numbers from the private schools, like how many people are in the schools, and only 55 out of 116 schools have responded,” Manickchand disclosed.

With the current system in place, public schools submit registers of students

Education Minister Priya Manickchand

to the Education Ministry which aid in the organisation and accountability of the initiative. Manickchand explained that a challenge arises for private schools to submit similar documentations.

“We got from the schools, the registers, their school registers which is a document they keep by law, that was submitted to the regional education departments around the country and those were vetted…so, they were comparatively looked at and the lists approved. So, the only children who can receive are the children on the register. At this stage we do not have registers and do not have the ability to insist on the keeping of registers the way we do in the public sector by private schools,” the Minister explained.

Noting that the challenges are relatively minor, the Education Minister assured

that the Government will continue to explore the possibility of offering the grant to private school students.

“In the process of doing that, we can’t be a wild and say ‘oh you’re in private school or you’re saying you’re in private school, here’s a grant’, it still has to follow all the accountability processes. But a short answer is that we are actively working to see how we can expand this grant from what has traditionally been in the public school system to involve and benefit our private school children,” she explained.

“And as soon as we have a perfect solution to that, we’re going to announce it, right now, we don’t have the budgetary allocation for that so that would have to be addressed,” she added.

Nevertheless, the Education Minister explained that the students of private educational institutions do benefit from Government interventions, pointing to the removal of VAT on education among other general relief measures which she expressed should be passed down to the students.

Actively examining

Over the weekend, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo announced that “We are actively examining, now, the possibility of extending the grant to kids going to private schools. Maybe not all of them will take but some parents have been making the solid case that they strug-

gle at home to send their kids to private schools. It’s not as though they’re rich.

And in a way, those kids who go to private schools, they take some pressure off public schools in terms of space.

So, the Government will consider all the facts on the issue and we’ll make a determination very, very soon on the matter.”

The “Because We Care” project was launched back in 2014 under the then PPP/C Government. It was implemented to provide support

to parents with school-age children and increase their disposable income, to raise

enrolment and attendance rates.

After taking office in 2015, however, the APNU/ AFC Government scrapped the project, saying the treasury cannot afford to continue with the programme.

Some 172,000 public school students are now expected to benefit from the programme this year, and unlike last year, the school uniform grant will not be given in the form of a voucher but rather as cash.

Duo injured after motorcycles collide

T

wo motorcyclists are now injured following an accident along Republic Road, Stanleytown, New Amsterdam, Berbice, on Sunday.

The injured men are 27-year-old Mickal Benjamin of Tucber Park New Amsterdam, Berbice, and Persaud Hussain, 41, of Health Centre Street Cumberland, East Canje, Berbice, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).

At the time of the accident, Benjamin was on motorcycle CK 1272 while Hussain was driving motorcycle bearing registration number CD 9860.

Based on reports received, Benjamin was proceeding along Republic Road at a normal rate of speed while Hussain was heading the opposite direction.

Benjamin allegedly told Police that Hussain pulled into his path and as such, to

avoid a collision, he swerved, but Hussain pulled back into his path, thus causing a collision.

As a result of the collision, both drivers fell onto the roadway and received injuries about their bodies.

They were assisted by public-spirited citizens who took them to the New Amsterdam

Public Hospital where they were treated.

Benjamin reportedly suffered a fractured right foot and was admitted as a patient while Hussain was treated for a fractured right leg but he was sent away.

The matter was reported to the Police and an investigation is underway.

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TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Overpaid contractor given loan terms to repay Govt’s money …PAC launches probe into staff who approved documents

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PAC Member Juan Edghill

he Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Monday examined the 2016 Auditor General Report findings on the Social Protection Ministry, probing revelations that a contractor was overpaid for work and the staff who signed off on the documents is still functioning in the same capacity.

During the sitting, PAC member and Public Works Minister Juan Edghill questioned the Auditor General's findings on the overpayment of $366,788 for a contract under the then Ministry of Social Protection.

Permanent Secretary Shannielle Hoosein-Outar revealed that the Superintendent of Works who signed off on the overpayment is still employed in the same position.

“From what I have seen, it is that the Superintendent of Works had signed off verifying the completion of works and payment was made. However, this was not true… if it is an issue

that I come across going forward the officer will be dealt with, because it is dishonest to verify something that did not happen… it is the same Superintendent of Works,” she said.

According to Edghill, overpayments only occur when there is carelessness or collusion on the part of the officer certifying the works. He questioned whether any sanctions were taken against the Ministry’s Superintendent of Works, which HooseinOutar could not confirm or deny.

“So, we have the same gentleman who signed off payments for works that were not done, he’s still in the same position. And you’re not aware if any sanctions have been taken against him. And it is

Social Services Ministry PS Shannielle Hoosein-Outar

Superintendent is a public servant, said that details of any disciplinary measures that were previously taken against the officer, as well as the officer’s qualifications for the post he holds,

The Palms, where the contract was executed

expected that the public would be convinced that this time around he would only pay for works that have been measured?”

Edghill asked.

Hoosein-Outar, who confirmed that the

dit report, it was revealed that the Ministry met with the contractor.

The contractor agreed to not only do corrective works, but also repay the extra money in four monthly instalments. This has since been done. Pointing to the arrangements, Edghill noted that this is reminiscent of a loan being provided to the contractor.

“A man was overpaid approximately $340,000. The overpayment was brought to his attention. And we have an agreement that

he’s going to pay it back in four monthly instalments commencing in 2017. It’s a loan the man got! This isn’t an overpayment, it’s a loan he got,” Edghill said.

“Was this contractor given any other contract in this Ministry during this period of time. Because if he was given work, he was given work so he could earn to pay back the money he was given by the accounting officer. If a man is overpaid and you call him in to tell him he was overpaid, the first thing he should

have done was return the money that he should not have had!” Edghill, added.

According to the Permanent Secretary, the contractor was T Bars Enterprise. The PS committed to providing all outstanding details next week. The PAC next dealt with the Ministry of Public Security. However, Edghill moved a motion to adjourn the meeting until next week Monday, causing dissent in the Committee before the PAC ultimately adjourned. (G3)

Creditinfo Guyana celebrates 8th anniversary

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s Creditinfo Guyana celebrates its eight anniversary, the company is confident that it has sufficient market knowledge and expertise to support the lending and borrowing sectors in Guyana.

This was conveyed on Monday the company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Judy Semple-Joseph, who during a virtual press conference, provided information on the company’s features and how it has been supporting economic progress.

On July 15, 2013,

tence for more than 25 years with operations in over 50 countries. Importantly, she noted that the company’s operations in terms of information security and quality management are ISO certified, while the efforts of its industry are supported by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation.

Semple-Joseph related that over the years, the institution has evolved into a global company to include general risk management services, business information solutions, and FinTech

Creditinfo Guyana was granted its licence to operate the country’s first credit bureau to develop the country’s credit infrastructure which is now considered one of the more developed in the Region.

The institution collects and stores individual data from lenders such as banks, credit unions, hire purchases, and utility companies which can be accessed by lending institutions under the laws. With this data, lenders can determine if a loan would be granted and the amount that would be granted depending on an individual’s credit history.

“Credit info considers itself an information and decision solution company that helps lenders and businesses make better-informed decisions in the entire credit life cycle for individuals and companies, and with financial inclusion as a vision,” Semple-Joseph posited.

According to her, Creditinfo Guyana is a part of the global credit info network that has been in exis-

services given the future direction of the global environment. She disclosed that the institution has benefitted from the Credit Reporting Act No 9 of 2010 and a subsequent amendment “which would have allowed us to operate fully.”

“Over the last eight years we have developed the industry in Guyana to the point where we are confident that we have sufficient data, we have sufficient market knowledge and we have the expertise to support the lending and borrowing sectors in this country. We have significantly been able to have all the financial institutions partner with us, utility and hire companies, and some other trade creditors.”

The CEO acknowledged that while persons are not yet fully aware of the company’s functions, it strives to encourage data sharing within and across the industry, encourage responsible use of credit, implement best practices, reduce bad debt, increase new business and customer profitability,

will be provided by next week.

The overpayment relates to a contract for repairs and maintenance at the Ward 2 Palms Geriatric Institution on Brickdam, Georgetown. Since the au-

Creditinfo Guyana CEO Judy Semple-Joseph

and identify potential fraud.

Moreover, Creditinfo Guyana’s CEO pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic has made it even more appropriate that it allows access to credit reporting services online. She said that persons can request their credit report from the company’s website “and that can be facilitated within a very short period.”

“We have also added a feature that allows for monitoring of your credit profile and this is something we highly recommend for individuals and consumers because it allows you to track and see what are the changes, positive or negative that may need to be addressed,” Joseph-Semple added.

She outlined some of the benefits of a credit score to consumers include financial identity, access to all goods and services such as homeownership and education, increased choice of borrowing, reduced cost of credit, faster, cheaper, objective, and consistent credit decisions, and responsible borrowing behaviour.

“One of the things we have sensed over the last eight years is that more people are accessing credit and more people are accessing credit repeatedly. There is an increasing trend where lenders are in a better position to access and verify the creditworthiness of their borrowers.”

Semple-Joseph, nevertheless, assured that all information stored on the company’s database is secured from unauthorised access. (G1)

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TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Jamaican churches open door to Govt to put rapist pastors under fire

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n a decisive about-turn, Jamaican churches are opening the door to Government intervention in holding their members accountable following a long spate of sex scandals and the brutal rape of minors involving rogue pastors.

Some church leaders who spoke with the Jamaica Observer said they would consider term limits and decisive disciplinary action as well as whistle-blowing as part of the solution to deal with those at fault.

The suggestions go as far as a call for churches which refuse to associate with umbrella groups, and choose to remain independent, to be viewed with suspicion and ostracised. Others want to see constant mentorship and training of leaders and pastors of churches, with emphasis on accountability to keep members in check.

“Every single church in Jamaica should be properly registered or incorporated by an Act of Parliament,” said chairman of the Jamaica Umbrella Group of Churches (JUGC) Reverend Dr Peter Garth yesterday.

The JUGC represents above 90 per cent of Jamaican Christians.

Registration by the State has long been a thorn in the flesh for many churches, which see it as an invitation for Government to interfere in the affairs of the Church, possibly going as far as taxing tithes and offering.

“I am very nervous when churches do not want to be registered and want to stay under the radar, and doing it in the name of religion,” said Rev Garth. “We need to take a serious look. I would

rubbish any argument that being registered impinges on religious freedoms. We must put ourselves in a position that we can be scrutinised,” he stated.

He further called for the revival or introduction of codes of conduct for church leadership and membership, but stopped short of saying who should police the code of conduct.

“I believe it is a burning shame that persons who are supposed to provide protection and care, especially for children, yet we are finding that they are involved [in abuse]. One [abuse case] for me is too much, and what we really need to do more than ever is that before we place persons — especially if they are going to work with children — that we do so very carefully.”

Garth also views as sinister churches which refuse to be part of organisations, saying: “I was so elated when I was asked to be at the opening of the Independent Churches of Jamaica [association]. It was something like 200 churches then, and it has grown significantly.

There is no reason why any local church out there cannot attach to one of these umbrella groups.”

So far, most of the pastors accused or convicted of raping minors are not part of the more organised churches. Many tend to be individuals who open a church on a corner after “getting a vision” or after splitting from a regular church. Anyone can claim to be a pastor.

“As part of the solution, I am thinking that leadership and laity must speak up and speak out when there are

telltale signs of any form of impropriety,” said chairman of the Jamaica Pentecostal Union Apostolic (JPUA), Reverend Major Canute Chambers.

“There should not be silence once there is any indication, because certainly there must have been some sign. There should be constant mentorship and training of leaders and pastors in churches with emphasis on accountability — and this I believe will keep persons in check,” added Rev Chambers.

According to the JPUA head, there should also be term limits subject to renewal and constant assessment of pastors in doctrine and social and spiritual conduct.

“Certainly if this is happening then persons will tread carefully knowing that they have a limited time in office, because sometimes when you have persons who are pastors they are there for time immemorial. They may get complacent and comfortable and may step out of line,” he stated.

The JPUA chair was among those agreeing that all churches should be formally registered.

Meanwhile, executive chairman of the Church of God in Jamaica, Reverend Adinair Jones explained how his church achieved accountability.

“We have a system of credentialing, as well as a system of supervision and monitoring. If and when there is a sin or a report, or even gossip regarding the character of one of our pastors or one who serves the church, we would have to respond immediately by calling that

person to account.

“And where we have good reason to believe that the persons may be culpable, whether by admission or otherwise, we would have to act in relation to exercising the requisite discipline,” he told the Observer.

That “discipline”, he said, extends from mentoring to probation or even revoking those credentials.

Classifying as “looseness” the situation relating to some independent churches, he said: “I believe we need to lead a programme in this country of general public sensitisation regarding the structure and ethos of churches and what would be good standards for measuring a healthy church and environment.”

Said Jones: “We have to

make the appropriate inquiries regarding the origin of churches that may not be attached to any of the groups, including the independent groups, and see how best we can bring those into an arrangement that will not only provide them an accountability system and structure, but also provide them with fellowship.” (Jamaica Observer)

1st US Capitol rioter sentenced to prison time

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Florida man has become the first to be sentenced to prison for his part in the US Capitol riots on 6 January.

Paul Allard Hodgkins pleaded guilty in June to one felony count of entering the Capitol to obstruct Congress. He was jailed for eight months.

Prosecutors had asked for a term of 18 months, saying Hodgkins “contributed to the collective threat to democracy”.

The sentence is expected to set a benchmark for hundreds of upcoming cases from the Capitol riots.

Hodgkins, 38, told a

Washington DC court that taking part in the invasion of the Capitol had been a “foolish decision”.

He said he regretted “the damage that day’s incident caused and the way this country that I love has been hurt”.

The crane operator from Tampa, was among an estimated 800 people who breached the Capitol on 6 January.

The FBI has so far arrested more than 535 people for criminal activity on the day of the siege.

Video footage shows Hodgkins inside the Senate chamber, wearing a Trump

2020 t-shirt, with a pair of goggles around his neck and a Trump flag slung over his shoulder.

Court documents include a selfie taken by Hodgkins inside the Senate. One of the most prominent participants in the riots, the so-called QAnon Shaman, can be seen in the background.

Prosecutors noted that Hodgkins did not personally engage in violence or destroy property. A lawyer for Hodgkins had asked for judge for leniency, saying any sentence given “will pale in comparison” to the lifelong shame he will carry.

Hodgkins’ felony sentence follows one other Capitol riot sentence issued so far.

Anna Morgan-Lloyd, a 49-year-old woman from Indiana, received three years of probation and no jail time after pleading guilty in June to a disorderly conduct charge, a misdemeanour.

Ms Morgan-Lloyd, who was inside the Capitol for around 10 minutes and did not engage in violence, apologised for taking part. (BBC)

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TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2021

Regional

Caricom issues statement Final settlement for Brazil’s Samarco dam disaster could reach US$19B, Governor says on unrest in Cuba

Cuba is in the midst of an economic crisis and has been hit hard

by United States sanctions and coronavirus (COVID-19) (BBC)

C

aricom has taken note of the protests taking place in Cuba, the 15-nation bloc said in a statement.

According to the Caricom Secretariat: “The Caribbean Community (Caricom) has taken note of the pro-

tests taking place in Cuba brought about by socio-economic challenges, further exacerbated by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of natural hazards.

“The Community calls for the cessation of violence and vandalism and for a return to calm and peaceful assembly and dialogue.

“The Community reiterates its calls for the immediate lifting of the trade, financial and economic sanctions as recently reiterated by the United Nations General Assembly.” (Nation News)

A

definitive settlement with miner Samarco and owners, BHP Group and Vale SA, for the damage caused by a burst tailings dam in 2015 could reach 100 billion reais (US$19.06 billion), the Governor of the Brazilian state where the disaster occurred told Reuters.

That estimate is nearly four times higher than an initial deal struck with mining companies in 2016, which created a foundation to implement reparations and temporarily froze lawsuits relating to the incident.

“The expectation is that

the agreement is around 100 billion reais,” Romeu Zema, Governor of Minas Gerais, told Reuters in an interview late on Friday.

His comments come after the lead Prosecutor of the task force for the disaster told Reuters earlier this month that the previous agreement was not effective enough and floated a benchmark value for a future settlement of 155 billion reais.

The dam collapse at the Samarco iron ore mine near the town of Mariana in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais is widely regarded as the country’s largest-ev-

er environmental disaster.

It released enough thick red sludge to fill about 12,000 Olympic swimming pools, flattened an entire village, killed 19 people, and left hundreds homeless.

The waste flooded the Rio Doce river, choking fish that floated lifeless to the surface.

In 2016, the companies agreed an initial settlement with prosecutors which created a foundation through which to repair damage and implement a complicated chronology for payments.

But the deal left space for a final definitive agreement.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Mexican President’s inner circle potential Interim Haitian Prime Minister targets of Pegasus spyware – The Guardian Claude Joseph to step down

H

aiti’s acting Prime Minister Claude Joseph, whose leadership of the nation has been disputed since the July 7 assassination of President Jovenel MoÏse, told the Washington Post newspaper Monday he would cede power.

Ariel Henry, who was appointed as Prime Minister by MoÏse two days before the assassination and who was recently recognised as the “designated Prime Minister” by the international community, will take over.

Joseph, who served as Foreign Minister under Moise and was serving as acting prime minister before Henry’s appointment, had to date refused to rec-

ognise Henry as the designated Prime Minister, arguing that Henry had not been sworn in at the time of MoÏse’s killing.

Joseph told the Washington Post that he and Henry had met privately over the past week, adding that he agreed to step down on Sunday “for the good of the nation”.

“Everyone who knows me knows that I am not interested in this battle, or in any kind of power grab,” Joseph said.

“The President was a friend to me. I am just interested in seeing justice for him,” Joseph added.

It is not immediately clear how quickly Joseph would step down, however, Foreign Ministry senior of-

ficial Israel Jacky Cantave said Joseph could hand power to Henry possibly as soon as today, the Reuters news agency reported.

“Negotiations are still in course,” Haiti Elections Minister Mathias Pierre said, according to the Associated Press, adding that Joseph would go back to being the Foreign Affairs Minister.

Meanwhile, the Government is preparing for the slain President’s July 23 funeral in the northern city of CapHaitien.

Other events to honour the slain President are planned this week in the capital of Port-au-Prince ahead of the funeral.

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks during a news conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico, July 14, 2021

M

exican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s inner circle, politicians from every party, dissidents and Journalists were potential targets for surveillance by

a Government client of the Israeli spyware company NSO Group, The Guardian reported on Monday.

At least 50 people close to Lopez Obrador were potentially targeted between 2016 and 2017 ahead of his election in 2018, including his wife, children, and siblings, The Guardian said.

The Guardian’s reporting is based on what the newspaper and others have said was a leak of more than 50,000 phone numbers it said were selected for possible surveillance by NSO Group’s Government clients around the world.

The list, first accessed by the French non-profit Journalist outlet Forbidden Stories and advocacy group Amnesty International, was shared with The Guardian and more than a dozen other news outlets.

Reuters could not independently confirm the existence of the data leak or its contents.

NSO Group rejected the reports of a data leak.

“This is not a list related to NSO Group, and NSO does not have any target lists. The ‘list’ is derived from services such as HLR Lookup, which is open and free to anyone online,” NSO Group said in a statement.

“NSO Group will continue to investigate all credible claims of misuse and take appropriate action based on the results of these investigations.”

Mexico’s Defence Ministry and Attorney General’s Office were clients of NSO Group under the previous administration of President Enrique Peña Nieto, according to The Guardian. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Trinidad: Cops say arrest imminent Peru set to name Castillo as President in fake police, soldiers investigation as rival says she will recognise result

Peru’s conservative Keiko Fujimori addresses the media after the electoral jury rejected her latest appeals to flip the results of Peru’s June 6 election

P

eruvian right-wing presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori admitted she was headed for defeat on Monday, but pledged to mobilise her supporters and lashed out against socialist rival Pedro

Castillo as having won in an “illegitimate” manner.

Castillo came out of the June 6 run-off vote ahead by a scant 44,000 vote margin.

The official result has been delayed by appeals from Fujimori aimed at annulling some ballots over fraud accusations, despite little evidence.

Fujimori said she was bound by law to recognise the official election result, expected to be announced in the days ahead.

“I am going to recognise the results, because it is what the law and the Constitution that I have sworn to defend, mandates.

The truth is going to come out anyway,” she told reporters.

Peru’s electoral authority said earlier on Monday it would announce a winner of the election this week after it tossed out the last appeals

by Fujimori, a conservative who is the daughter of jailed

former President Alberto Fujimori.

“They have stolen thousands of votes from us,” Fujimori said at a news conference. Faced with the “imminent” naming of Castillo as President-elect, Fujimori called on her followers to protest peacefully.

“We have the right to mobilise... but in a peaceful manner and within the framework of the law,” she said.

The National Jury of Elections said on Twitter it had ruled inadmissible the final appeals presented last week by Fujimori.

The Organisation of American States, European Union and Britain have all said the election was clean.

Castillo, if confirmed in time, would take office on July 28 for a five-year term as leader of the world’s second largest copper-producing nation. (Excerpt from Reuters)

I

Fake police and soldiers at Alicia’s Guesthouse on Saturday

nvestigations are continuing into the weekend’s incident at Alicia’s Guest House in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad where alleged fake soldiers and Police Officers showed up seemingly looking for someone.

In a video that went viral on social media it showed the

men dressed in Police uniform and one dressed in camouflage, all wearing sneakers entering the guesthouse.

A woman even went on social media where she posted that the men “ran into the guest house, kicked down a few doors in search of someone whose name was never

mentioned”.

She added that they made her daughter, an employee there, open the gate to the office where they put her to sit down “and two guests who know my daughter went to the office to make sure she was ok, they put them on the ground to lie down on the ground and searched them”.

The woman said the men left when they realised who they were looking for was not there.

When contacted on Sunday for comment the manager told the Guardian Media that they are getting assistance from Police Officers and that the Police are still investigating the incident, “the Police came and spoke to some people and to us so the investigations are going on.”

Police sources told the Guardian Media that three of the men have so far been identified and are believed to be from the Belmont and Woodbrook areas. (Excerpt from Trinidad Guardian)

guyanatimesgy.com

TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2021

19

Around the World

OILNEWS OIL NEWS Oil piles on losses following OPEC+ deal to boost supply, rising COVID cases

O

il slumped US$5 a barrel on Monday, closing out its worst day since March, after an OPEC+ agreement to boost output stoked fears of a surplus just as rising COVID-19 infections once again threaten demand.

Crude oil's year-long recovery has stalled out over the last two weeks due to the prospect of new supply undermining the case for higher prices. With the Delta variant of the coronavirus spreading worldwide - fuelling a 70 per cent rise in US infections last week - funds bailed out of long positions on Monday across multiple risk asset groups, including stocks and the dollar.

It is still unclear how the variant will affect oil demand.

Consumption in the United States, the world's largest consumer of fuel, has steadily strengthened in recent weeks, but India, the third-biggest importer, has cut back imports due to oversupply and fears of reduced demand.

"The market is very fixated on the potential for the Delta variant exploding," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. "Because of that, we're getting a run on the bank."

Brent crude settled at US$68.62 a barrel, losing US$4.97, or 6.8 per cent. US oil futures for August delivery, which expires today, settled at US$66.42, down US$5.39, or 7.5 per cent. The September US crude oil futures contract settled at US$66.35, down US$5.21.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, known as OPEC+, reached a compromise on Sunday to increase oil supply from August to cool prices, which had hit their highest level this month in more than two years.

"We still face a significant deficit in terms of supply versus demand, but for now, the additional barrels are seen as enough to deflate and kill the recent rally," said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital in New York.

Given heavier trade volumes - with Brent futures trading 167 per cent of the last session - it appeared funds were selling off, Kilduff said. "It absolutely has the look of a speculative liquidation here."

Some major banks have argued the market will continue to rally, with Goldman Sachs reiterating on Monday that it sees more upside. It said the OPEC agreement was in line with its view that producers "should focus on maintaining a tight physical market all the while guiding for higher future capacity and disincentivising competing investments."

However, the OPEC deal removes more of the supply curbs that have been a cornerstone of the market for a year.

At present, OPEC+ is keeping about 5.8 million crude barrels per day out of the market, a figure that will drop by 2 million bpd by year-end.

"Longer term, free and additional production capacities from OPEC+ countries are the key reason why we see oil moving lower again," said Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke.

A popular spread trade in the oil market - between the first two December futures contracts, December 2021 and December 2022 - narrowed to the smallest since June 1. A narrowing spread indicates that traders expect supplies to rise by the end of 2021. (Excerpt from Reuters)

China accused of cyber-attack on Microsoft Exchange servers T

he UK, US and EU have accused China of carrying out a major cyber-attack earlier this year.

The attack targeted Microsoft Exchange servers, affecting at least 30,000 organisations globally.

Western security services believe it signals a shift from a targeted espionage campaign to a smash-and-grab raid, leading to concerns Chinese cyber-behaviour is escalating.

The Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) has also been accused of wider espionage activity and a broader pattern of "reckless" behaviour.

China has previously denied allegations of hacking and says it opposes all forms of cyber-crime.

The attack affected about a quarter of a million Microsoft Exchange servers

The unified call-out of Beijing shows the gravity with which this case has been taken. Western intelligence officials say aspects are markedly more serious than anything they have seen before.

It began in January when

England to demand vaccination Israel's Defence Minister, proof for clubs, mass events Palestinian President, discuss “trust-building” B

ritish Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday that English nightclubs and other venues with large crowds will require patrons to present proof of full vaccination from the end of September.

Clubbers flocked on Monday to the first live music events without restrictions since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

The Government reopened nightclubs and dropped almost all coronavirus measures in England in a bet that mass vaccinations will prevent another deadly wave of COVID-19.

But hours later, Johnson announced that people who were not fully vaccinated, including those who had not had both doses of two-shot immunisations, would be barred from nightclubs.

The decision follows large outbreaks linked to nightclubs in other countries such as the Netherlands and Israel, where authorities were forced to close them again.

"I can serve notice now that by the end of September when all over 18s will have had their chance to be double jabbed, we're planning to make full vaccination the condition of entry to nightclubs and other venues where large crowds

I

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson walks on Downing Street in London, Britain, July 14, 2021

gather," Johnson told a press conference.

"Proof of a negative test will no longer be enough."

Britain's chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, said nightclubs and other closed venues could be "potential super spreading events" because of crowds in close contact.

"I would expect that with opening of nightclubs, we'll continue to see an increase in cases, and we will see outbreaks related to specific nightclubs as well," he said.

Johnson said that the Government was not planning similar requirements for pubs.

"I certainly don't want to see passports for pubs," he said.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Nigeria fighter plane shot down by bandits – military

B

andits in Nigeria have shot down an air force plane in a rare case of a military jet being brought down by a criminal gang in the country.

The pilot had finished a raid against kidnappers when he came under intense fire, the Nigerian Air Force said.

Flight Lt Abayomi Dairo ejected and used "survival instincts" to avoid capture and find shelter, before

re-joining his comrades.

The attack happened on the border of the northern Zamfara and Kaduna states.

Armed gangs - referred to locally as "bandits" - have been blamed for a spate of recent kidnappings in this part of north-western Nigeria.

Students and schoolchildren have been targeted more than 1000 have been kidnapped since December.

Most have since been freed,

hackers from a Chineselinked group known as Hafnium began exploiting a vulnerability in Microsoft Exchange. They used the vulnerability to insert backdoors into systems which they could return to later.

The UK said the attack

was likely to enable largescale espionage, including the acquisition of personal information and intellectual property.

It was mainly carried out against specific systems which aligned with Hafnium's previous targets, such as defence contractors, think tanks and universities.

If this had been all, it would have been just another espionage operation. But in late February something significant changed.

The targeted attack became a mass pile-in when other China-based groups began to exploit the vulnerability. The targets scaled up to encompass key industries and governments worldwide. (Excerpt from BBC News)

reportedly after ransoms were paid, but some have been killed.

In recent days, President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the military to do all it takes to flush out criminals in the states of Katsina, Zamfara and Kaduna.

The Nigerian Air Force said it had mounted day and night air operations against the bandits in collaboration with ground forces. It was in one of the operations that

the fighter jet was brought down on Sunday.

"Through these intensive air operations, hundreds of bandits have been neutralised and several of their hideouts destroyed," the Nigerian Air Force said in a statement.

While there have been several military plane crashes this year, this is the first reported case of armed gangs downing one. (Excerpt from BBC News)

sraeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said he spoke with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday and that the two agreed there was a need to make trust-building steps.

It was the first high-level contact made public by the new Israeli Government, which was sworn in last month, unseating the country's longest-serving leader, Benjamin Netanyahu.

The ruling coalition is made up of left-wing, centrist, right-wing and Arab parties with little in common on the diplomatic front. Officials have said they would focus on domestic reforms and largely avoid sweeping moves on hot-button international issues such as policy toward

the Palestinians.

Gantz said he shared with Abbas good wishes for Eid al-Adha holiday on Tuesday, one of the two most important festivals of the Islamic calendar.

"The discussion was positive and the two cited the need to advance trust-building steps between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which will benefit the economy and security of the entire region," Gantz's office said in a statement.

Abbas' office confirmed the call but did not give details.

Israel's new President, whose role is largely ceremonial, said he spoke last week with Abbas, who congratulated him on the new role.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Iraq: Bomb blast kills at least 35 people in Baghdad

A

suicide bomber killed at least 35 people and wounded dozens in a crowded market in Iraq’s capital Baghdad on Monday, the eve of the Eid al-Adha festival.

Body parts of victims lay scattered across the previously bustling market, which had been crowded with shoppers buying food ahead of the Islamic festival.

More than 60 people were wounded, a Police source said.

The death toll could rise as some of the wounded were in critical condition.

Women and children were among the dead and some shops burned down as a result of the explosion.

The attack took place in the Wahailat market in Sadr City, Iraq’s military said in a statement.

“A terror attack using a

locally made IED (improvised explosive device),” was responsible, Iraq’s Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Video footage shared on social media after the blast showed bloodied victims and people screaming in terror.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the armed group ISIL (ISIS) has claimed similar attacks in the area before.

Iraqi President Barham Salih called the bombing a “heinous crime” and offered his condolences.

It was the third time this year that a bomb hit a market in the densely populated neighbourhood. In April, at least four people were killed in a car bomb attack in Sadr City. That blast was caused by an explosive device attached to a parked car at the market.

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

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TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2021

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SUDOKU

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Put more thought into money matters, health and contracts. Keep the peace at home, and channel your energy into something physical that will take your mind off your worries and clear your head.

Too much of anything will work against you. Limit your intake, spending and commitments. Change begins with you; focus on being your best instead of trying to change everyone around you.

Take care of bureaucratic issues to avoid delays.

Listen to what others say, and step in if someone offers false information. Take care of details, and leave nothing to chance.

Practice what you preach.

Take the initiative to live life your way. Utilize your skills and knowledge to help you achieve peace of mind and a lifestyle that brings you joy.

Do whatever it takes to improve mentally, physically and emotionally. Discipline and hard work will encourage you to set high standards and goals. Strive to reach your objectives.

Take care of issues before they escalate. A practical approach when dealing with an over-the-top person will help you avoid becoming part of the melodrama. Concentrate on being productive.

Don't waste time arguing over something you cannot change. Use your time and energy to accomplish your goals. You aren't likely to anticipate a domestic change, but it will turn out well.

Seek an unusual way to learn or to educate others. A change in how you deal with peers, friends or relatives will help you bring about positive change.

Test your skills. Use your SAGITTARIUS strength and agility to reach (Nov. 23physical goals or challengDec. 21) es, and don't give anyone the chance to mess with you. An intriguing investment will have underlying problems.

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SOLUTION FOR LAST PUBLISHED PUZZLE

Opportunity knocks, and a potential gain is within reach. A partnership with someone who shares your sentiments will blossom into something exciting. Your negotiating skills will be crucial.

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Don't follow in someone's footsteps. Choose a path that encourages you to advance.

You can be loyal without being submissive. Encourage others to do as they please.

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Put your emotions on the back burner and head down a path that brings you one step closer to your dream. A creative opportunity will encourage you to follow your heart.

(Feb. 20March 20)

TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2021

L

ewis Hamilton has been the target of racist abuse on social media after his victory at Sunday's British Grand Prix.

Hamilton received a 10-second penalty after a collision with title rival Max Verstappen during the first lap of the race, which led to the Dutchman crashing out.

Mercedes, F1 and governing body the FIA condemned the abuse "in the strongest possible terms".

"These people have no place in our sport," read a joint statement.

"We urge that those responsible should be held accountable for their actions.

"Formula One, the FIA, the drivers and the teams are working to build a more diverse and inclusive sport, and such unacceptable instances of online abuse must be highlighted and eliminated."

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff told BBC Radio

4's Today programme: "We have seen it in the football in the European Championship and the abuse that is absolutely not acceptable, and the same yesterday, and I still question whether some just don't get it.

"This is not acceptable and we will react to it."

Verstappen's team Red Bull Racing said it was "disgusted and saddened" at the abuse directed towards

Hamilton.

"While we may be fierce rivals on-track, we are all united against racism," the team said in a statement.

"We condemn racist abuse of any kind towards our team, our competitors, and our fans.

"There is never any excuse for it, there is certainly no place for it in our sport, and those responsible should be held accountable."

Facebook, which owns Instagram, said in a statement: "The racist abuse directed at Hamilton during and after the British Grand Prix is unacceptable and we've removed a number of comments from Instagram.

"In addition to our work to remove comments and accounts that repeatedly break our rules, there are safety features available, including comment filters and message controls, which can

mean no one has to see this type of abuse.

"No single thing will fix this challenge overnight, but we're committed to the work to keep our community safe from abuse."

Verstappen was taken to hospital for precautionary checks after suffering an impact of 51G in the crash, but was later released without any major injuries.

Hamilton's 10-second penalty saw him drop to fourth place after his pit stop, but the seven-time world champion fought back to overtake Ferrari's Charles Leclerc with two laps remaining to secure victory.

Verstappen later called Hamilton "disrespectful" and "unsportsmanlike" for celebrating the win while the Dutchman lay in hospital.

The incident comes a week after England footballers Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, and Bukayo

21

Saka were targeted with racist abuse on social media after they all missed a penalty in the Three Lions' Euro 2020 final shootout defeat against Italy.

A mural honouring Manchester United striker Rashford was also defaced, though it was repaired the next day and later covered with hundreds of messages of support.

The United Kingdom Government says it wants those found guilty of abusing footballers online to be banned from attending football matches and that its Online Safety Bill will do more to force social media companies to act.

In response to the abuse directed at the England players, Twitter said it had removed 1000 posts and blocked accounts sharing hateful content, and had tools and filters that could be activated to stop account holders from seeing abusive content. (BBC Sport)

Optimistic future for Tokyo Games village safe, positive West Indies Women COVID-19 cases to be expected – expert A despite series loss T to Pakistan Women A he Tokyo Olympic Games have had their share of positive coronavirus cases before they open, but health expert Brian McCloskey says they were to be expected and are lower than initially imagined at this stage.

US tennis player Coco Gauff tested positive for COVID-19 before her departure. Other athletes have tested positive at the airport after arriving in Japan or once inside the bubble that is the athletes' village.

"What we are seeing is what we expected to see," McCloskey, a leading adviser to the Games, told a news conference on Monday. "We do the tests, because they are a way of filtering out (people with COVID-19)."

"We identify them early, taking them apart from other people. It is expected. Each layer of filtering is a reduction of risk. The numbers we are seeing are lower, maybe lower than we were expecting," he said.

McCloskey, who chairs an independent panel of experts advising organisers on COVID-19 mitigation measures, said there was no way of being 100% sure that no athlete would be infected, but measures in place were reducing that risk considerably.

Some critics have said the Games should not go ahead during a pandemic. Many Japanese are also worried the Games could become a super-spreader event.

T

Just four days before the opening ceremony, 68 per cent of respondents in an Asahi newspaper poll expressed doubt about the ability of Olympic organisers to control coronavirus infections, with 55 per cent saying they were opposed to the Games going ahead.

Asked whether the athletes' village was safe, McCloskey said: "Yes... The longer you stay in the village the less likely it is (for people) to test positive as we are filtering people out."

McCloskey, who in 2012 was in charge of the UK Health Protection Agency's preparations for the London Olympics, said he did not want to put a figure on how many cases would constitute a successful Games.

"We don't put a figure on it. It is impossible to predict. What we need to do is (ensure) that the number is as low as possible. No matter what the number is, it's important how quickly we try to find them," he said.

Organisers not only need to find those infected, but also have to take out of circulation all those who have been in contact with an infected individual and ensure they are isolated and tested prior to competitions.

He did not rule out that contact with infected people could potentially lead to Olympic exclusion ,but said "all the measures in place.... will reduce the risk of anybody spreading it."

(Reuters)

he West Indies Women A team lost the third and final 50-overs match against Pakistan Women A team by seven wickets at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua.

Despite the loss, West Indies Women’s Head Coach Courtney Walsh is optimistic about the future of this team and has no doubt there will be a progression of players into the senior team in the near future.

Head Coach Walsh told CWI Media, “It’s the first time they’ve played together as a team… so I was pretty pleased the way they went about it and the effort they put in. It’s a learning process, some of them have never played for quite a while or at all; there were a lot of debutants in both T20 and 50 overs, so this gives us a chance to analyse and improve. It was good for the experience and exposure for them.”

Head Coach Walsh added: “It was very pleasing having so many players in the camp. From a coach’s

West Indies Women Head Coach Courtney Walsh

perspective, it is very pleasing because we can look at them, have a look at them in competitive situations; it gives us a wider scope of what to look for and how we can help to educate them through the learning process (of international cricket).” (Barbados Today)

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GUYANATIMESGY.COM

TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2021

West Indies set to lock horns with Australia in ODIs today

… Pollard focused on racking up important points in ODI Super League as 2023 World Cup looms that the team will have to be professional as they make that transition from the T20 format to the 50 overs. He said that Shai Hope and Darren Bravo among others would be expected to bat long and understand the format of the game.

Pollard also alluded to the fact that every one-

Pollard is confident that the men in maroon will bring the energy

A

fter thrashing Australia in the T20 International series, West Indies will now turn their attention to the 50-over format as 90 points will be on the line in the One-Day International (ODI) Super League.

West Indies currently sit at number nine in the league rankings while Australia are at number three; both teams will be searching for valuable points when they clash today at 14:30h.

West Indies white-ball Captain Kieron Pollard has noted

West Indies white-ball Captain Kieron Pollard

day game was very important and had value as they geared up to the 50-over World Cup in 2023. The Windies Captain relayed that in terms of his fitness after missing several games owing to injury, he has gotten the necessary rest and was looking forward to the series as he has been doing the necessary training and was hopeful of being among the 11-man squad.

“In terms of Hayden Walsh Jr coming into the ODI

fold against the Aussies, we are tempted. We will see; obviously we have a squad, but we will see come tomorrow. It is a matter of seeing that balance: he has been working very hard. The work he has been doing behind the scenes is tremendous, so let’s see what happens in the ODI series. Walsh was not initially in the ODI squad, but being a part of a bubble and being here, you never know what will happen,” Pollard added.

The Australian batting line-up is experienced and with Aaron Finch suffering from a knee injury, Pollard believes that it will be a plus for the men in maroon. He reiterated that at the end of the day, the Australian cricket team would want to impress, so it did not matter whether they were experienced or not, but what the West Indies must do was limit their opportunity to score as much as possible.

“Mitchell Marsh has gotten away from us a bit in the T20 series, but hopefully not in the ODI format. As I said they all have points to prove in different aspect and we just want to continue to focus on what we have to do,” Pollard noted.

The white-ball Captain stated that he was optimistic

that the players would take that confidence from the T20I series over to the ODIs. He was adamant of the fact that from a white-ball perspective, he has seen a level of improvement from the team and was hopeful they could carry on from there. As compared to the plethora of all-rounders that were selected in the T20 format, Pollard has said that the criteria for the longer format will see a sort of specialist, well-balanced squad as seen in the Sri Lanka tour of the Caribbean. He was adamant that he was positive that he would not see the makeup of the team change and the players must be accountable for the role and responsibility they have in the setup.

In closing, the Windies captain noted that he loved to play against the Aussies as they reflected the same passion and determination he showed on the field. He mentioned that he admired their fight and believed that was how cricket should be played, and was hopeful that he could score some runs against the men from Down Under.

“My primary focus is that we tick our boxes, do our basics, dot our i’s, cross our t’s and at the end of the day, we have 90 points at stake and if not, we will take 60 points minimum,” Pollard declared.

Trinidad and Tobago, Guatemala bow out of Gold Cup with 1-1 draw

A

fter the frantic final minutes counted down, the split points left the Trinidad and Tobago squad, as well as Guatemala’s, eliminated.

Despite the elimination, both teams can be proud of their effort.

After an injury during warm-ups, Trinidad and Tobago

were forced to adjust their lineup, replacing defender Neveal Hackshaw with Jelani Peters.

In the 12th minute, T&T right back Alvin Jones rampaged up the field on a quick counterattack then crossed to Reon Moore. Moore made a run on the right side of the goal and hit a hard, low

shot past young Guatemalan goalkeeper Kenderson Navarro that found the goalpost and bounced in for the goal.

Attempting to manage the game, Trinidad and Tobago showed patience, especially in allowing Guatemala to take rushed shots from outside, but closing them down effectively

W

their respective hometowns on Monday.

The players will have another round of COVID-19 testing on their arrival at the team hotel in Lahore on Thursday, July 22.

The final round of testing will be conducted on Saturday, July 24 before the players’ departure in the wee hours of Monday to Barbados via London.

The 11 players are: Abid Ali, Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam, Imran Butt, Mohammad Abbas, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Shahnawaz Dahani, Yasir Shah, and Zahid Mahmood.

The Pakistan limited-overs side is currently in the middle of a white-ball series in England.

The squad will depart from Barbados after playing the final T20 International at Manchester today, July 20 and will be joined there by the Test cricketers.

Following the completion of the five-match T20I series against the West Indies on August 3, Pakistan will take on the hosts in a two-Test series beginning at the Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica on August 12. The second Test will also be played at the same venue from August 20. (IANS)

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Test players to leave for West Indies on July 26

est Indies-bound Pakistan Test players will depart for Barbados on Monday, July 26.

The 11 players that will join the remaining Test players in the West Indies finished their 10-day training and conditioning camp at the National Stadium Karachi on Saturday.

The players will now enter a bio-secure bubble in a Lahore hotel on July 22 before departing for Barbados. Before entering the bio-secure bubble, the players were scheduled to undergo COVID-19 tests at

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and at times physically when any players entered the box.

In the second half, as Guatemala fought harder to find the equaliser, Trinidad and Tobago’s defence cracked under the pressure in the 77th minute, when Marvin Ceballos served in a corner kick. Gerardo Gordillo rose high in the box to meet the ball, heading it in well past Marvin Phillip, the Trinidad and Tobago goalkeeper and captain.

The tenor of the game changed as both teams, hungry for an outright win, traded half-chances on both ends of the field. T&T's Jones had a shot go off the post in the best possibility for either team.

Trinidad and Tobago Manager Angus Eve, the team’s most-capped player in their history, knew the team did not

completely control its destiny in Group A, but believed his squad could hold their heads high no matter the outcome if they played well.

“We are very confident,” Eve said.

The team rewarded his belief, playing a smart match to hold an early advantage for most of the game. Yet Guatemala were brave in their own right, fighting back to find an equaliser and ensure they left the Gold Cup with at least one positive result.

As Guatemala’s Coach, Rafael Loredo said before kickoff, “If we want to grow, we need to have international competition.”

It is both sides' participation and matches like this that make the Gold Cup special.

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TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2021

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GUYANATIMESGY.COM

riyanna and Narayan Ramdhani have solidified their spots, once again, as Guyana’s top badminton players, while the likes of Shavin Greene and Christina Kumar also shone in the Guyana Badminton Association’s most recent tournament.

For the first time since December 2019, the GBA was, over the weekend, able to host a local tournament, to assess the competitive levels of the national players. The long pause in local competitions came as a result of the deadly coronavirus pandemic, which has similarly hindered many other sports.

The A, B & C Division Tournament, hosted at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, on Homestretch Avenue, saw a classic round-robin format, before moving to the knockout stages.

In the Ladies Singles A Division, Priyanna Ramdhani eased past Christina Kumar in two sets – 21-2, 21-6, to take the title.

The men’s semi-finals in the same division saw Narayan Ramdhani defeating Avinash Odit 216, 21-8, while Akili Haynes defeated Jonathan

Mangra 23-21, 13-21, 18-21, to advance to the final.

There, Narayan got the best of Haynes in two straight sets – 21-10, 21-11.

In the Men’s B Division, Shavin Greene, Easa Sanichara, Shawn Liu and Chet Bowling were scheduled to compete in the semi-finals. Greene overcame Liu in three entertaining sets, that went 21-19, 17-21, 1921 while Sanichara was awarded a walkover instead of taking on Bowling.

In the final contest, Greene got the better of his opponent, Sanichara, in three sets – 21-12, 17-21, 15-21.

Kumar, Anna Maria Perreira, Emily Ramdhani, and Ayanna Wickham-Watson were the Women’s B Division semi-finalists. Kumar and Perreira made it to the final, which the former edged the latter to cop the title.

Meanwhile, in the C Division, which saw a younger crop of players, Jonathan Debidin emerged as the top male, with Matthew Klautky, Jonathan Robinson and Aiden Bhagwandin completing the top four.

On the distaff side, Priyanka Shivnauth emerged as the winner, while Mishka Beharry, Eva Bowling and Kristen Bhagwandin ranked second to fourth respectively.

The GBA, in an invited comment, thanked Kumar, who was tasked with organising the sponsors for the tournament.

YBG receives large quantity of sneakers from CGBF

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Patadin’s century, Narine and Dhanpaul’s all-round effort hand Majestic easy win over Richmond

Derick Narine scored 40 and bagged 2-15

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Avi Dhanpaul scored 25 and bagged 2-35

he action continued in the Caribbean Fest 40 Overs Tournament 2021 as the Majestic Cricket Club dominated the Richmond Liberty Hill Cricket Club at the Baisley Pond Ground, New York.

This was thanks to the in-form Chris Patadin, who smashed a brilliant century, and the all-round efforts of Avi Dhanpaul and Derick Narine.

Majestic CC won the toss and elected to bat. They are no strangers to batting first, with the team comprising many players of Guyanese heritage are a force to be reckoned with in the League.

The Majestic side have been known to post big totals and then go on to defend them, and as expected, they did the same. They were able to post 270 all out in 37.3 overs, with Patadin blasting 126 runs off 83 deliveries, inclusive of three boundaries and 15 maximums.

He was given support by Derick Narine, who played a patient innings of 40; Avi Dhanpaul with a cameo of 25 and Robin Rooplall with 33.

Bowling for Richmond Liberty Hill were Altaaf Habibulla (3-23); Leon Mohabir (2-46); Keron Sewnarine (2-58); Trevor Henry (2-33) and Jamiel Jackman (1-44).

The Richmond side now needed a mammoth total of 271 for victory off 240 balls, which at the time seemed like a reasonable ratio, as they could have capitalised on the powerplay overs and then play it safe to get over the line. This was done in the opening overs as the in-form Dino Choweenam and Naresh Rambharos scored 47 and 40 runs respectively. The pair put together a 51-run partnership to keep their side afloat. But after Choweenam fell, everything went downhill from there; batsmen struggled to find their footing against the bowling of Raj Singh, Dhanpaul and Narine. In the end, Richmond were bundled out for 170 in 26.1 overs. Bowling for Majestic were Singh (3-21); Narine (2-15); Dhanpaul (2-27) and Rooplall (2-35).

CS&TC to host Pre-Emancipation Race Walk slated for July 25 … event to commence at 07:00h

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YBG team members Jonathan Degroot and Ruel Ritch in Kwakwani over the weekend

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outh Basketball Guyana (YBG) is pleased to receive a large quantity of basketball shoes and socks among other items from the California to Guyana Basketball Foundation (CGBF), a non-profit organisation based in the United States.

Just last year at the height of the pandemic, the same group donated 60,000 three-ply face masks which

The boys of Bosco Orphanage received football cleats and sneakers

were distributed amongst YBG members and partners. This latest donation is further evidence of how little things can make a big difference, as many youths at the grassroots will no doubt benefit from a pair of basketball shoes.

The YBG extended its gratitude to Brad and his team, and all those who donated to the effort for continuing to look out for the youths.

YBG also took the opportunity to publicly thank Culture, Youth and Sport Minister Charles Ramson Jr, and Melissa Tucker, Permanent Secretary within the thank Culture, Youth and Sport Ministry for facilitating VAT exemptions for sports and these gifts.

The YBG also is grateful to John Fernandes Limited for waiving storage costs.

ace walkers will resume the intense battle for honours when the Cavaliers Sports and Tour Club (CS&TC), in association with the Verman Bedessee Foundation USA, stages its Pre-Emancipation 10k Race Walk on July 25, 2021.

The highly-anticipated event will kickstart at 07:00h and will utilise the inner circuit of D’Urban Park. It is open to all ages and genders. The CS&TC has noted that all race walkers must be present at 06:30h sharp for a prompt start.

Race walking in Guyana has begun to attract international attention and the CS&TC, which is noted for the promotion of the sport in the country, has teamed up with the Verman Bedessee Foundation based in USA to further promote and develop the sport across the country.

This is being done with the

Verman Bedessee Foundation President Verman Bedessee

goal of Guyana winning an Olympic medal in race walking.

The club is happy with the attention and involvement of the Verman Bedessee Foundation, and noted this programme will help to push the sport to international standard.

Trophies, medals, and lucrative prizes will be up for grabs.

TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2021

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

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West Indies

Patadin’s century, set to lock horns Narine and with Australia in ODIs today Dhanpaul focused on racking up important points all-round …inPollard ODI Super League as 2023 World Cup looms effort hand Majestic easy win over Richmond Page 22

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