Guyana Times - Tuesday, November 22, 2022

Linden teacher stabbed to death by ex-partner

Twenty-two-yearold Kelly Charlotte, a teacher of Christianburg Primary School, was gruesomely stabbed to death on Sunday night by the father of her child – who is now on the run.

The now dead wom an hailed from Lot 790 One Mile Wismar, Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice). She was a mother of one.

Reports are that the murder unfolded at about 21:15h at Lot 790 One Mile Wismar. Information from the Guyana Police Force (GPF) disclosed that the woman ended the relation ship with the suspect and was living with her older sister.

The sister recalled that about 22:00h, the suspect visited the home and col lected his son. Later in the evening, he returned and the now dead woman went to the front door to collect

the child. Shortly after, he whipped out the knife and dealt the woman several stabs about her body.

As the sister was in the kitchen, she overheard Charlotte shouting out for her. The woman immedi ately ran to the front of the house, where she witnessed the suspect stabbing her sister about her body.

Fearing that he might turn the knife to her, she locked herself in a room and called the Police. The suspect then made good his escape on foot. It was alleged that the child wit nessed the entire ordeal.

The teacher was picked up and taken to the Linden Hospital Complex by Police ranks, where she was pro

nounced dead on arriv al. The body was then es corted to the Pensioner’s Funeral Home, awaiting a post-mortem examination.

It has been report ed that Charlotte was in a rocky relationship with

the suspect and made a de cision to move out of the house they shared just re cently. On social media, there was an outpouring of calls for justice from her friends and relatives, who described her as “joyful”

and “loving”.

Meanwhile, Police are on the hunt for the sus pect, who has been iden tified as 28-year-old truck driver Leston Baynes. Investigations are continu ing. (G12)

Guyana has several pathways for assistance on oil spills – AG …identifies areas in which improvements can be made to framework

Guyana has taken steps to set up var ious avenues to re ceive support in the unfor tunate event of an oil spill, according to a special au dit that was conducted by Auditor General Deodat Sharma, but certain regula tory and operational gaps in Guyana’s own ability to re spond to oil spills remain.

In his Performance Audit of Guyana’s Preparedness for Marine Oil Spills, the Auditor General noted the various agreements that Guyana has signed onto. Guyana can call on support from various regional agen cies.

For instance, there is the agreement that Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago signed on September 19, 2018, for the development of the en ergy and energy-related sec tors. The Auditor General pointed out that the agree ment caters for cooperation

between the two countries in the development of policies, plans and protocols relating to health, safety and the en vironment.

In addition, Guyana is a member of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), which is a re gional inter-governmental agency for disaster man agement in the Caribbean Community.

“Under the CDEMA framework, Guyana can re ceive external response sup port from the other eighteen Participating States (PSs), and national, regional and international disaster stake holders,” the AG said.

“Support that can be pro vided includes technical as sistance, specialised equip ment, support personnel and information sharing. Also, personnel from key agencies in Guyana participated in oil spill response exercises with neighbouring countries.”

According to the AG, the Government has taken the necessary steps to receive assistance from countries in preparing for and respond ing to oil spill incidents. The Civil Defence Commission (CDC) along with relevant stakeholders have collabo rated with other countries for oil spill response training and exercises.

Meanwhile, the Auditor General noted that while the National Preparedness and Response System is in place for a safe, effective and effi cient response to oil spills, there are regulatory, opera tional, and resourcing gaps

that were identified.

“Specifically, a compre hensive review and gap analysis of the existing legal and regulatory framework to ensure the requirements for spill response preparedness was partially completed,” the AG wrote.

“We also found that the update of Guyana’s le gal framework to ensure alignment with agreements signed was not completed. In addition, draft regulations for environmental protection & pollution control from pe troleum activities offshore were not finalised.”

In December 2019, Guyana officially became an oil-producing nation, which presented new challeng es like the possibility of oil spills and other disasters. Fortunately, Guyana has not been on the receiving end of any oil spill.

The National Oil Spill Contingency Plan for Guyana was handed over to Government back in October 2020, after key input from a series of stakeholders, add ing a layer of disaster pre paredness for the country.

Work on the finished plan was months in the making and involved the input of many key stake holders including the Maritime Administrative Department (MARAD), Guyana Energy Agency (GEA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Energy, Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and the CDC. (G3)

Dead: Kelly Charlotte Suspect: Leston Baynes

The Audit Office of Guyana

BRIDGE OPENINGS

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

Tuesday, Nov 22 – 03:30h –05:00h and Wednesday, Nov 23 – 04:00h – 05:30h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Tuesday, Nov 22 – 15:10h –16:40h and Wednesday, Nov 23 – 15:45h – 17:15h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

WEATHER TODAY

There will be light cloud during the day. Expect partly cloudy skies at night. Temperatures should range between 22 degrees Celsius and 29 degrees Celsius.

Winds: South South-Westerly to North NorthEasterly between 1.34 metres and 3.57 metres.

High Tide: 15:20h reaching a maximum height of 2.77 metres.

Low Tide: 08:55h and 21:20h reaching minimum heights of 0.58 metre and 0.41 metre.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2022 |

Govt taking careful steps to avoid overspending, Dutch Disease – Ali

Cautioning that Guyana must be careful to avoid overspending now that the country has oil reve nue, President Dr Irfaan Ali has assured that his Government is taking steps to avoid the Dutch disease.

While the Government has been spending some money on cash grants and other assistance for vul nerable sectors, there have been calls for more assis tance to be provided, spe cifically for public servants.

These calls have been made in the context of Guyana’s newfound oil wealth. According to President Ali, however, Government has to be care ful, lest it overspends and succumbs to the Dutch disease. At the time, the President was speaking to the graduating class of 2022 of Nations University, when he dealt with the top ic.

“We cannot use the wealth to balloon our cur rent expenditure. Because if we balloon our current expenditure, then you have to find revenue to sustain that in an annualised way. And that is what leads to the Dutch disease.”

This year’s massive $552.9 billion budget, the largest in the country’s his tory, was the first financed with oil money. And cur rently, preparations are ongoing for next year’s bud get, during which it is ex pected more oil money will be used.

Only last week, President Ali announced an eight per cent retroac tive increase for all public servants. But according to the Head of State, if public servant salaries greatly ex ceed that of the private sec tor, this creates an imbal ance in society.

“If you use in a major way, the resources to only apply it to Government workers, then you’re ig noring the fact that there’s a private sector. And if there’s a mismatch, be tween the private sector and the Government, then that creates a level of in equality and disparity. Inequality and disparity are not only within commu nities or groups. You can create it by your own fi nancial and economic mea sures,” President Ali said.

Dr Ali, meanwhile, told the graduates that they are living in a country that will be “second to none” by 2030 and beyond. He there fore urged them to prepare themselves to be part of the massive transformation taking place in Guyana.

On Thursday last, President Dr Irfaan Ali had announced an eight per cent salary increase for all public servants as his Government contin ues to implement mea sures to improve the lives of all Guyanese. He also explained that this in crease will be retroactive to January 1, 2022.

“My Government will be paying an across-the-board increase of eight per cent to public servants, teachers, members of the Disciplined Services, constitutional office holders, as well as Government pensioners,” he declared.

According to the Head of State, work will commence immediately to ensure that this increase is processed and paid to eligible em ployees together with their December salary. In ad dition, the President also indicated that further an nouncements will be made regarding specific catego ries of public sector em ployees.

“I have instructed those options be identified for ad justment to the salaries paid to a number of specific categories of public sector employees. These include, in the first phase, ranks

of the Police Force, Prison Service, and Fire Service.”

“Additionally, a simi lar exercise is currently being conducted and rec ommendations being made in relation to specific cate gories of employees in our public healthcare system, including nurses, interns, doctors, and other health care professionals,” the Guyanese Leader said.

President Ali posited that his Administration continues to place high val

ue to the hard work that Government employees do every day in deliver ing services to the People of Guyana. To this end, he contended that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) regime is reso lutely committed to en suring that the lives of all Guyanese are improved steadily in a tangible and demonstrable manner as they work towards realis ing national prosperity for the benefit of everyone. (G3)

…says disparity in public, private sector wages would create inequality

President Dr Irfaan Ali

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Re-educating our boys

Over the last four decades, developing Caribbean countries have been struggling to maintain law and order within their respective territories, while simultaneously causing a reduction in the increasing levels of crime and criminality in their societies, which pose the most serious threat to their forward movement and the notion of national security.

While these countries have all approached the subject matter differently, most of them have failed in addressing the root causes of crime and criminality, so much so that their judicial systems have become ineffective and slothful in the dispensation of justice.

This is not as a result of poor management on the part of the Judiciary, or the lack of adequate resources in the form of Magistrates or lawyers, but can be directly attributed to a breakdown in the traditional family structures within our societies; the changing socioeconomic, domestic and regional environment; the shifting of gender roles; the emergence of new, complex gender identities; and the changing dynamics of a world now driven by newer forms of information and communication technologies.

While all of the abovementioned factors are important to any discussion on solving the proliferation of crime within our regional economies, many researchers and policy makers underestimate the role of males and boys in growth and sustenance of the Region’s crime problem.

The truth is, many Caribbean men and boys are being poorly socialised, and are many times not given enough attention during their early years of development at home, in school, and within the wider society.

At an early age, boys within developing countries are told that they must be tough, and the burden to provide for their families still falls on their shoulders, despite the shifting gender roles and the advances made in gender equality. They are socialised to hide their weaknesses and sensitivities, and to shun anything that even slightly appears feminine.

We must re-educate our boys, therefore, and change how they perceive the importance of an education, despite the economic hardships and feminisation of this tool by the societies in which they dwell.

A renowned Jamaican educator, Wayne Campbell, offers a number of solutions for saving our boys and reducing their involvement in crime, which could see them moving from not populating jails but universities and think-tanks that arrive at solutions for male empowerment and the economic advancement of the entire family as a unit.

Campbell asserts that “there is also the need to urgently recast our current gender policy. One way of doing so is to incorporate more men in the discourse to shape our national gender policy. It’s ludicrous to think that women only, or a gender board dominated by women, can advocate the needs of our boys and men. We also need to examine the possibility of creating so-called ‘boy-friendly’ curricula, assessment and pedagogical practices. We now know that boys learn differently than girls, and, therefore, we should use this knowledge to refashion teaching methodologies that speak to both sexes in the classroom.”

In Guyana, there is a need to view the issue of underperformance and underachievement with a sense of urgency and dispatch. If not, we are going to continue to witness the spread of a deviant strand of hyper- masculinity sweeping across our society.

This reconstruction of masculinity is already manifesting itself.

Our boys have become violent in recent years, even to the point of physically abusing teachers. Male teachers, over the years, have endured physical attacks also. This should have been viewed as a wake-up call-in regard to the urgent need to rescue our boys.

Look around for yourself, reason logically

Dear Editor, So, Aubrey Norton, who aspires to lead Guyana as its President, wants the Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali-led PPP/C Administration to abandon its sound national transformation al agenda.

Norton wants the Government to halt its expo nential build-out of the tra ditional sectors which the Granger Administration utter ly degutted and tragically ru ined.

He wants the PPP/C Government to ignore the sound, globally established eco nomic sustainability conven tions of smartly using the bulk of early oil revenues to build a multi-dimensional economy, which becomes robust enough in short order to sustainably improve the livelihoods of all Guyanese.

His economic alternative calls for the Government to pause the building of new high ways that are opening land for new businesses that will cre ate good-paying jobs across the country.

He wants the Government to not bother with building a new four-lane bridge across the Demerara River that will ease the suffering of hundreds of thousands of Guyanese and expand economic develop ment and opportunities beyond Georgetown.

Norton wants President Ali to not prioritise a fully rehabili tated highway for the people of Linden, nor the Pan-American highway to South America that will potentially transform that town into a thriving city. He thinks Lindeners do not de serve an Industrial Estate nor one thousand turn-key homes within the first term of the Government, or the hundreds of millions in road rehabilita tions currently underway.

He would rather the res idents of South Georgetown, Belladrum, Buxton and New

Amsterdam remain under employed, unempowered and hopelessly deprived of clean, green recreational spaces and facilities, improved infrastruc ture, and economic opportuni ties.

Aubrey Norton could care less about the thousands of Amerindians whom Granger rendered unemployed and pen niless, and for sure, he would rather see the thousands of sugar workers who were sent packing into nothingness re main there, wither away with their families, and die.

The vacuous mind that is Guyana’s shadow of an Opposition Leader, hung up on the petty bam-bam alley type of politics and drunken in the evil bitterness of his shallow, racist ideological rage; conve niently refuses to see anything or anyone beyond the welfare of public servants whom his par ty hypocritically, shamelessly, and falsely claims as its own and claim they were empower ing.

It is an ask of virtual im possibility, for Norton to begin to comprehend the very basics of how a country that wants to leapfrog from the outer bands of perpetual poverty to the up per echelons of wealth for all its citizens, must prudently and strategically manage its devel opment agenda to achieve con stant, exponential, and sus tainable growth for both its people and its sector webs, con comitantly.

Surely, if Guyana were to heed the advice or contem plate the little-league leader ship of Aubrey Norton and his third-grade advisors, this coun try would most assuredly fall prey and dinner to not only the Dutch disease but also the PNC’s rice flour and breadfruit scorn all over again.

The hopes of its citizens to benefit from free universi ty education by 2025 would be dashed against the exorbi

tant fees the APNU/AFC in troduced and planned to keep increasing; the Government would spend sixty billion of oil revenue in one-off payments of $300,000 to each household an nually and condemn them to continue suffering in blackouts, falling waist deep into potholes, receiving only a chest sounding and a prescription at every hos pital and clinic, drinking faecal coliform from their taps, and receiving education on slates under the flickers of flambeaus.

Because he would see no merit in bringing gas to shore and building hydroelectric plants to half people’s elec tricity bill; no refinery; no new hospitals or water treat ment plants or modern smart schools; no modern sports fa cilities or new city for that mat ter; and he certainly would give no cash grants to our children. Our sea defences would crum ble, our water conservancies would continue washing out the farmers, our loggers and min ers would keep paying taxes to use bad roads, our Amerindian brothers and sisters would get no titles to their lands or funds for their development, and our youths would have no forum, resources nor hope to contrib ute to decision making.

According to his short-sight ed lunacy, all the myriad costof-living cushioning given to every sector and citizen to weather the storm of the glob al meltdown over the past two years would have been left to the magic and economic gym nastics of his one-off $300,000 to each household, full-stop.

Then according to my grandmother, everything else ‘wudda suck salt.’

My fellow Guyanese, look around for yourself, reason log ically, or better yet, ‘talk de ting straight up’…

Does the all-rounded, care ful approach by President Ali to national development and transformation, where every

one and every sector grow to gether at an even pace make sense to you; or Aubrey Norton’s plan to share out all the oil money at $300,000 a household, then be able to do nothing else for the coun try’s sustainable development, nada?

I have every confidence in the intellectual ability of every Guyanese to easily reason this out, whether from an academic or a street-smarts point of view, to see an 8 per cent retroactive increase for public servants along with adjustments to all categories of salary scales to be announced in the coming days, and all the other support pro grammes already enacted and with more to come, as prudent fiscal management.

Add the reduction in mort gage rates for new home con struction to that; add the re moval of VAT from almost every food and household item to that; add the removal of ex cise tax from gasoline to that; add the regular support to those with disabilities and those on dialysis to that; add the home construction man agement and materials assis tance programme to that; then ask yourself what in the world is Aubrey Norton really grand standing about.

My Guyanese brothers and sisters in the public service, my brothers, and sisters in the rice fields, those in the cane fields, those in the mines, those of you in the interior, and those of you who can see through and through Norton’s useless dia tribes; I trust that you would think for yourselves, choose for yourselves, and determine which is the smarter path to your Guyanese future of wealth and empowerment.

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

Pupils of the Farm Nursery School, East Bank Essequibo were on Monday morning given a road safety awareness talk by Constable David of Parika Police Station (GPF photo)

Agreement with AG on dealing with overseas Guyanese on list

Dear Editor,

Let me ignore the bloat in AG Nandlall’s letter ti tled: ‘Names that are consti tutionally authorised to be on the voters’ list can nev er be considered ‘bloat’” and put to rest his three points of relevance.

First, he argues decep tively: “names that are con stitutionally authorised to be on that list, and there fore, lawfully there, can nev er be considered ‘bloat’.” Our focus should not be on defi nitions and descriptors, but on essences and realities. Being so authorised does not automatically make the inclusion of the names mor ally, politically, administra tively, or plainly sensible.

Constitutionality does not render matters problem-free nor fit for purpose—the pur pose here being the holding of fair and credible elections.

Nor does “bloat”, however relabelled, change the nu merical reality that the vot ers’ list is almost as large as the total population. Again, let us deal with essences.

Second, Nandlall tells

us that the list in some Caribbean countries is simi larly bloated without a prob lem. Let us be happy for them. But electoral matters are inherently country-spe cific. We in Guyana must de termine what works best for us, given our political histo ry and culture.

The AG’s third position reaches the fundamental question of a citizen’s right to vote and the CJ’s deci sion that (as the law now stands) a Guyanese, once registered, is always regis tered, barring a few limit ed exceptions, such as death and insanity. As I explained in a previous response to the AG, these rights must be balanced by other obliga tions, such as the require ment that elections must be fair and credible and win the public trust.

The PPP cannot honestly believe that Guyanese have confidence in a list that con tains 200,000 odd persons who have either died (local ly and overseas) or who now live permanently abroad. As a nation, we do not trust

such a bloated list. And ra tionally so (notwithstand ing the AG’s arguments in his letter in Monday’s SN). Bloat provides ample scope for electoral fraud. The

Opposition has produced of ficial reports from the Chief Immigration Officer that show that persons voted in the last election for whom no record of entry into Guyana exists. In 2020, Mr Nandlall and the PPP GECOM

Commissioners threatened the Commission with le gal action should it investi gate this alarming breach. GECOM thus backed off and never did. What more do we want to hear?

But a bigger devil lurks. The PPP’s about-face and re sistance to cleaning the list of Guyanese living in for eign lands open the gates to external (overseas) voting. Is this the PPP’s ultimate project? No less a personage than Ralph Ramkarran in 2010 (in his PPP days) de manded of GECOM to put in place measures for such overseas voting for the 2011 election.

External (overseas) vot ing however is rife with problems. Christopher Ram highlighted one in a letter in SN May 2021, titled “I support a residency require ment for voting”—in which he wrote “I feel very strong ly about any person not res ident in and not subject to the country’s laws having the same rights and privi leges as those who reside in Guyana.” His position goes to the core of democracy and representation. But over seas voting also presents insurmountable and con tentious administrative, lo gistical, political, and finan cial hurdles.

If one understands who qualifies as a Guyanese cit izen, then it is easy to grasp the chaos and perils into which the PPP may lead us. One can become a citi

zen in three ways: citizen ship by descent (‘law of the blood’), citizenship by place of birth (‘law of the soil’), or citizenship by naturalisa tion. Based on blood, hun dreds of thousands of per sons born overseas can claim Guyanese citizenship once one or both of their parents are Guyanese. As Guyanese citizens, they have a right to vote in prin ciple, even though most of them have never visited Guyana, have weak bonds to it, and/or have dual citizen ship. Perhaps, AG Nandlall can advise us on the rights of these citizens to run for office in Guyana.

The devil then is in the detail in any absolute em brace of the right of all adult citizens to vote. The absence of a residency test severely undermines the integrity,

accuracy, morality, and ac ceptability of elections. The call for a residency require ment as of now, therefore, makes complete sense.

To include a residency re quirement may only require re-activating Article 159 (c) of the Constitution (a sun set clause that apparently has already set years ago). This article allows registra tion to be also governed by “such other qualifications as may be prescribed by or un der any law.” Its re-activa tion would reincarnate the residency clauses already enshrined in the National Registration Act. Where is the sweat in doing that? The AG proposes public consul tations on the matter. Sure, why not?

Yours sincerely, Sherwood Lowe

AFC should quit!

Dear Editor,

The Alliance for Change will never change and its cur rent course of action to boy cott the March 13th Local Government Elections has confirmed its ‘dead meat ‘sta tus. The party is deathly afraid of what the LGE results will reveal since it will be un able to hide behind the APNU.

In the 2018 LGE, the AFC was greatly embarrassed when they could have only mustered 4 per cent or 8719 of the votes whilst its estranged partner collected 34 per cent. The PPP/C won by a landslide with 61 per cent of the votes. What number of votes would the AFC expect in 2023 is any one’s guess since they contin ued to tarnish their already bad reputation when they supported the PNC attempts to rig the March 2020 General Elections. The Guyanese peo ple have seen enough to un derstand that the AFC was never about Guyana and they had been totally consumed by the PNC - completely sub servient. Now that they have been thrown in the deep to fend for themselves, the final extermination is at hand.

On November 13th, 2022, the AFC conformed that it will boycott the 2023 LGE because the list is ‘bloated’ (a term which is gaining popularity by the Opposition), ‘illegitimate’ and ‘a source of electoral fraud’ (the many attempts to rig the 2020 elections was not ‘illegit imate’ and the ‘source of the fraud’ is now coming to light and rehearsed again with the current CoI). Why is the deaf ening silence of the AFC on the 2020 rigging attempts?

First and foremost, the AFC needs to denounce the 2020

rigging attempt. These state ments by the AFC will nev er gain traction, they need to come clean.

The AFC did not get 4 per cent votes in the 2018 LGE be cause of a ‘bloated list’, ‘vot ers’ impersonation’, ‘duplica tion’ and the dead voting for the PPP/C. They got severe licks because of what they had promised in 2015 and what they had delivered from then to 2020. Many who voted for the AFC in 2015 went back home. The same is true for the APNU. They received 34 per cent of the votes because that was what their die-hard supporters could deliver and those disgruntled remained home. Furthermore, the 2018 LGE was the harbinger of the decimation of the coali tion and was the catalyst for the No-Confidence Motion in December the same year. The prognosis is that this upcom ing 2023 LGE will be worse for both the AFC and the APNU.

The year-end ‘break up’ is quite expected. The AFC has nothing to offer the coalition. The AFC will attempt dam age control. But this salvaging strategy will not work. The AFC is ‘dead meat’ and its fall echoed tremendously in every nook and cranny and ‘all the king’s horses and all the king’s men’ cannot put it together again.

The people will always remember that every un constitutional act, every so cio-economic destabilisation strategy, every act to erode the standard of living of the peo ple, every corrupt practice and every attempt to rig the 2020 General Elections were all ful ly supported by the Alliance for Change. Will the AFC ad

mit that it has failed the peo ple? Will it put itself at the mercy of Guyanese and beg forgiveness? This would be the defining moment which Guyanese will be waiting for. But alas! It will never come!

The AFC would be wise to heed the advice of the great Martin Luther King, who once said that “Forgiveness does not mean ignoring what has been done or putting a false label on an evil act.”

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf

Dear Editor, Quite recently the AFC has been in the news about their departure from the APNU as well as not taking part in the Local Government Elections (LGE). The thing about it is that the AFC start ed off its tenure as a viable third force and because of their greed for power went to bed with the APNU (combi nation of many parties where the majority is the PNC).

Firstly, it is quite sad to see that a party who want ed to remain steadfast be hind the APNU during the partial political catastrophe which almost destroyed our democracy in Guyana would not be contesting the LGE, especially when they have mouth pieces in various re

gions who seem to have the answers for every little issue. Why are the leaders choos ing to not partake, yet for all they will take to social media and bash the current PPP/C Administration?

Secondly, why only now the AFC is deciding to leave the APNU? Is it because their voices aren’t being heard? Are they running out of excuses? Are they tired of the racial rhetoric being spread by their counterpart or should I say past counterpart?

These are the things that the AFC must answer to their supporters, matter of fact the

AFC should stop being a polit ical party altogether, as they have not once made any vi able contribution to this na tion! It is impossible for peo ple to trust such a party who wanted to support the stifling of democracy!

The AFC is quite dead and can never gain a sufficient support base on their own, the PPP/C will always have a support base and they contin ue to build on that by deliver ing on their manifesto prom ises.

Sincerely, Tanya Mohabir

In this fun and easy cool science experiment for kids, we’re going to show you how to make do-ityourself Styrofoam slime.

Materials:

Styrofoam cups Hot water Warm water Food colouring Borax powder White Elmer’s Glue

Measuring cups Measuring spoons Mixing bowls Gallon-size Ziplock freezer bag

Instructions:

Break up four or five Styrofoam cups and put them in your blender. Add about a tablespoon of water and use the pulse button on your blender to break up the pieces into small bits.

Put ½ cup of hot water in a mixing bowl and then mix in 2 tablespoons of Borax powder. Keep mixing until the Borax dissolves.

In a separate mixing bowl, mix together a ¼ cup of warm water with a ¼ cup of white Elmer’s glue. Go ahead and feel free to add some food co louring if you prefer at this point and mix it in thoroughly.

Now pour the glue mixture and the borax

mixture into the Ziplock bag.

Then, add about 1 ½ cups of the ground-up Styrofoam cups into the Ziplock bag. You can add more or less Styrofoam later to get the con sistency you desire.

Zip the bag closed and squish the contents around to mix the ingredients together. Keep squishing until the contents begin to solidify. Remove your batch of Styrofoam Floam from the Ziplock bag and enjoy.

How it works:

Slime is created when a chemical reaction oc curs between the borax and glue. This chemical reaction combines the two ingredients perma nently. Adding Styrofoam is fun and also allows you to investigate the properties of slime as the Styrofoam never permanently combines with the slime.

Make this a science project: Try different activators like saline solution or liquid starch. Try adding pompoms. Try adding beads. Try adding cotton balls. (sciencefun.org)

By The BroThers Grimm CONTINUED FROM MONDAY

Demerara Bank records taxed profit of $2.95B in 2022

– Chairman

jor sectors of the economy including rice, forestry and services.

In May this year, the bank launched its Farmers’ Credit Line where rice farm ers were offered unsecured facilities up to the value of $1.5 million to aid with the rising cultivation costs. Later in October 2022, it was announced that the Guyana Government in col laboration with Demerara Bank will be establishing a $900 million revolving fund to support the forestry sec tor.

Demerara Bank Limited has record ed another outstand ing financial year, raking in some $2.95 billion dollars in profits after tax with a 25 per cent growth in its cred it portfolio.

According to the bank’s audited financial records for the year ended September 30, 2022, its pre-tax profit was $4.9 billion.

The bank’s total deposits saw an increase from $92.9 billion to $106.98 billion as at September 30, 2022 – rep resenting a 15 per cent hike.

Loans and advances also grew by 25 per cent from $46.38 billion to $58.19 bil lion over the said period. It was reported that the DBL’s portfolio for loans and ad vances has grown by a whop ping 116 per cent over the last five years from $26.8 billion in 2018 to now $58.1 billion in 2022.

In addition to this, the bank reported that pru dent management of its credit risks has resulted in the bank having zero NonPerforming Loans as at the end of the period September 30, 2022.

“This is an extraordi nary achievement for the bank and is historically un heard of in the local bank ing sector,” DBL’s Chairman

The financial records also show improvements in ar eas such as assets, which in creased from $114.5 billion in 2021 to 126.57 billion at the end of September 2022. This includes cash increas

Continuing in its stride, Demerara Bank Limited, which currently has eight branches located across the country, will soon be open ing its doors in the village of Leonora, West Coast Demerara. This branch will be integral to bridge the banking needs of residents in the area and its environs, and will provide a full line of services similar to that of fered across its branch net

the ever-changing operating landscape, while remain ing committed to its core re sponsibilities towards the people of Guyana.

Meanwhile, Chairman Samaroo said the bank’s solid performance is a clear “demonstration of its resil ience in the midst of a chal lenging macroeconomic en vironment”. He added too that it is attributed to the commitment of the bank’s staff and the efficient de ployment of its resources.

dous losses and height ened challenges in the glob al economic environment, Demerara Bank Limited continue to build on its resil ience through solid business strategies and prudent man agement of its resources,” Samaroo stated.

This latest financial per formance of the bank is con sistent with the pattern re corded in DBL’s previous end-of-year report.

In its 2021 financial re port, DBL reported a 31 per cent increase in its net prof it, at $2.95 billion. (G8)

ing from $726.4 million in 2021 to now $990.5 million. While its statutory depos its with Central Bank grew from $9.4 billion last year to $12.8 billion in 2022; oth er deposits with the Central Bank went from $10.5 bil lion in 2021 to $4.59 billion in 2022. Meanwhile, taxa tion payable decreased from $1 billion last year to now $724.9 billion this year.

Over the past year, the DBL lowered its home loan rates in support of the Government’s homeowner ship policy, making access to financing easy and afford able to persons of all income brackets.

Apart from the Housing Sector, the bank also con tinued to support other ma

work.

Owing to the bank’s performance, the Board of Directors recommended a final dividend payment of $1.6 per share while the in terim dividend paid was $0.40 per share. This brings the total dividend payments to $2.00 per share for the full year, subject to an ap proval by the shareholders and Bank of Guyana.

Commenting on the per formance of the bank, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Pravinchandra Dave indi cated that he is pleased with the financial results for the 2022 given the level of un certainties being faced glob ally. These results, he said, clearly show that the bank is capable of steering through

However, even with this sterling performance, Samaroo posited that the past year has been a dif ficult one for Demerara Bank with the passing of its Founder and Chairman, Dr Yesu Persaud, as well as long-standing Director Dr Leslie Chin.

“Despite these tremen

Komal Samaroo said in his report.

“This is an extraordinary achievement for the bank and is historically unheard of in the local banking sector,”

– DBL Chairman Komal Samaroo

Demerara Bank Limited Head Office on Camp Street, Georgetown

…demonstrates resilience in challenging macroeconomic environment

Demerara Bank Limited Chairman Komal Samaroo

$58M Kitty gold heist

Getaway driver jailed for 2½ years

Dequan King, the getaway driver in last year’s Kitty, Georgetown gold heist, who was nabbed in Suriname last month, has been jailed for two and a half years on several counts of robbery under arms. The custodial sentence was handed down on Monday by Principal Magistrate Sherdel IsaacsMarcus at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

King, called “Titus”, or “Quanie”, of D Field Sophia, Greater Georgetown, had been wanted in Guyana for a robbery committed on Wallison Enterprise, Gordon Street, Kitty, Georgetown, in August 2021. The Police had said that he was the driver of the getaway car used in the robbery.

Waterkant News in Suriname had reported that King, who was also want ed for murder in French Guiana, was arrested on the evening of October 9 by the Regional Assistance Team in Paramaribo in collabo

of the offence, the “high val ue” of the articles stolen, the fact that the robbery was premeditated, King’s up bringing along with his ear ly guilty plea, Magistrate Isaacs-Marcus sentenced him to two and a half years in prison on each of the four counts of robbery under arms. The sentences will, however, run concurrent

herself and raised an alarm.

Investigations led to the arrest of Keyon King, 32, who was at the time a Sergeant in the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) along with 36-year-old Delroy “Bug” Jackson and Peon Lee also known as “Nino Brown”, both security offi cers attached to the busi ness.

The 25-year-old is from Guyhoc Park, Georgetown.

Police had found the car belonging to Dequan King parked outside a house at Lot 435 Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara. Upon searching the premises, Police found and seized sev eral household items. It was reported that neighbours told the Police that the man

The international...

…climate fix??

COP27 was just completed over in the Egyptian desert. The “27” means it’s the twenty-seventh time the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) –pretty much the entire UN – met to “do something” about this planet of ours being baked into oblivion!! The first COP was in Berlin in ’95 – not long after the Cold War was over, so a new war could’ve been declared?!! The first few years were dedicated to getting the big-oil boys to concede it was the burning of fossil fuels that’s causing global warming. The temperature was raised through the production of Carbon Dioxide – and emission of methane – into the atmosphere and is trapped to produce a “greenhouse effect”.

And that set off a domino effect. The glaciers on the two poles and on the Himalayas, etc, started to melt ever faster to raise sea levels and threaten low-level coastal areas –like ours and several islands sprinkled across the world. The weather patterns were disrupted and intensified producing the record heat waves in Europe and the US; extended rainy seasons like the one that just flooded one-third of Pakistan and is washing over huge swaths of Africa right now. It isn’t a matter of arguing about a “theory” of Climate Change any longer – the evidence is being provided daily by Mother Nature herself!!

Anyhow, a few COPs ago, the rich countries – which had produced most of the fossil-fuel-emitted gases since the 19th century – agreed to cough up (get it?? Cough up? ) US$100 billion a year to help poorer countries cope with their profligacy. But – surprise, surprise! – they never reached that sum!! Neither did they make the cutbacks in burning fossil fuel that would hold the rise to below 1.5 degree Celsius – the tipping point!! But here were Guyanese Climate Activists – who live in those countries – who’re demanding WE should leave our oil beneath the Atlantic to save the planet!!

ration with the National Security Directorate.

Before Principal Magistrate Sherdel IsaacsMarcus on Monday, King pleaded guilty to robbing Wallison Enterprise of $38 million and $20 million worth of raw gold—proper ty of Francis Santos Lumes, while armed with a gun and in the company of others.

He further admitted to three counts of robbery un der arms committed on Francis Santos, involv ing gold jewellery and cash amounting to $224,000; Fernanda Carmichael of an iPhone valued at $350,000 and Williams Batista DaSilva of a phone valued at $160,000.

Probation report

During King’s sentenc ing hearing, it was revealed that he was deprived of hav ing a proper childhood since he was left to fend for him self at an early age. He nev er knew his father.

Close family friends with whom King grew up told a probation officer that they were “surprised” at his in volvement in the robbery. After considering the seri ous nature and prevalence

ly which means that he will only do two and a half years.

At his initial court ap pearance, King, who had no legal counsel, said that he was not involved in the robbery but only transport ed the robbers to the loca tion in his taxi. He said he fled to Suriname after local Police issued a wanted bul letin for him.

While in Suriname, he said that he was involved in a crime – for which he did not disclose the nature –and was arrested. After his arrest in Suriname, he was extradited to Guyana.

Robbery

On August 5, 2021, sever al armed men who pretend ed to be customers execut ed a daring daylight robbery on Wallison Enterprise at Lot 23 Gordon Street Kitty, Georgetown. The men cart ed off $38 million in cash, 60 ounces of raw gold valued at $20 million, and two mobile phones. After committing the robbery, the armed men bound and gagged the ca shier and two other staff af ter which they locked them in a room. Moments after es caping in a white motor car, the cashier managed to free

Keyon King and the others were subsequently charged with several counts of armed robbery. While Keyon King pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, the others pleaded not guilty and were remanded to pris on pending the outcome of their trial.

The Guyana Police Force had issued a wanted bul letin for the driver of the getaway car, and two oth er men who were caught on CCTV camera robbing the business.

A wanted bulletin was also issued for Antonio Maraj also called “Pluckin” or “Thuggy” of Leopold Street, Georgetown; Agricola, Greater Georgetown, and Buxton, East Coast Demerara (ECD). Maraj was one of the persons caught on the CCTV recording during the commissioning of the robbery. Maraj was shot dead in French Guiana last month. While details sur rounding the shooting are sketchy, it was reportedly gang-related.

Police are still on the hunt for ex-soldier Jamal Hazel, who was also caught on camera.

who lived there had left for the interior.

Following leads, de tectives had turned up at the home of Keyon King at Vergenoegen, East Bank Essequibo (EBE), where a search was conduct ed in the house but noth ing substantial was found. Nevertheless, during a search in the yard, the de tectives noticed a disturbed piece of land and decided to dig.

It was then a bucket was found buried, which, when checked, contained $15 million in $5000 notes and an additional $3 million in $1000 notes. The buck et was reportedly wrapped in two black garbage bags while the money was neatly packed in transparent bags.

As such, Keyon King and his wife were arrest ed. During interrogation, he told investigators that he was part of the initial plan to rob the gold estab lishment but he was not one of the persons who com mitted the act. The ex-GDF Sergeant also related that his wife was not aware of the robbery and as such, requested for her to be re leased. (G1)

Anyhow, what happened at COP27? Well, there’s no new agreement by the big ones to cut back on fossil fuels!! And that’s what it’s all about to hold the fort on Climate Change, isn’t it?? So your Eyewitness rather suspects that’ll galvanise our local woke brigade into another frenzy of screams to stop pumping oil here!! But the meeting in the desert – to remind the participants as to what the entire planet could become?? – extended the meeting two full days to announce a “historic deal” had been struck!!

Rich nations have agreed to pay – a yet-to-bedetermined amount – to the countries facing inundation or desertification for the “loss and damage”!!

Meaning they’ll keep on burning – but pay us to cope with the results!! Justice!!

…world order

Your Eyewitness has already explained that the War in Ukraine is a symptom of a deeper underlying disorder in the world system. And that disorder is the “settling in” of that world system as it moves from a uni-polar to a multipolar reality. And just like when the earth itself settles in and we get earthquakes, the equivalent in the nation-state status quo will be wars – hot and cold ones!! But while all eyes have been fixated up north, there are just as seismic changes down south!!

Countries in Latin America, Africa and Southern Asia are being forced to “pick sides” between the US – the #1 hegemon that’s about to lose its pole position – and the Chinese Dragon, which it nurtured into the giant it’s become!! So “what is to be done?” as a notorious fella asked some time ago?? Well, your Eyewitness suggests that like the US did with its US$1 billion Line-of-Credit to us, that it doesn’t stress militarisation, but become a catalyst for southern economic growth!!

Win-win!!

…truth telling!

The new right-wing Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, she told it like it is to France’s Macron. She pointed out if the old colonialists would quit exploiting their former colonies’ people and resources, they wouldn’t have to emigrate!!

The

Keyon King, Delroy Jackson, and Peon Lee

Jailed: Dequan King Shot dead: Antonio Maraj Wanted: Jamal Hazel

Death of teacher at GPHC

Hospital says will “act swiftly” where action is required

The Management of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) has promised that it will act swiftly where ac tion is required into the death of Shonnata Sawh.

Sawh, a teacher at tached to Mon Repos Nursery School, East Coast Demerara (ECD), died at the health facility after un dergoing surgery for gall stone removal, which is medically known as chole cystectomy. However, she died on Friday.

Following media reports of the woman’s demise and her family’s accusations that she died as a result of negligence in the post-op

care at the medical facility, the hospital said on Monday that it has launched an in vestigation.

“…we immediately launched an investigation to ascertain the facts sur rounding the patient’s care and subsequent death. A careful review of the time lines in the patient’s records indicate that the patient

was admitted on Tuesday, November 15, 2022, for the elective procedure with un derlying morbidities which her team ascertained were sufficiently controlled to al low medical clearance for the procedure,” the hospital said in a statement.

According to the state ment, on Wednesday, November 16, Shaw under went “what was described as an uneventful surgery,

recovered from anaesthesia, and was transferred to the wards for further recovery as per standard operating procedure. On Thursday, November 17, 2022, the pa tient’s condition started to deteriorate to the point where ICU care was re quired. Subsequently, while receiving care in the ICU the patient succumbed on Friday, November 18, 2022.”

It noted that while the facility did not want to di vulge the specifics of the pa tient’s diagnosis and med ical management, “we are committed to a thorough in vestigation; where action is required, we are committed to act swiftly on those rec

proper healthcare is not be ing provided by the nursing staff.

“The GOG is pouring billions and billions into health care – new facilities, new equipment, new spe cialisations for doctors yet someone who had no kidney issues go in to do gallstone operations and dies of renal failure,” a cousin of the dead

woman said.

She added, “None of the investment will help if we have nurses who are ne glecting patient care, and if we have systems that are not being updated to re spond to these failures. If people are not held account able for this death caused by Negligence.”

“…she did not have to

die – with the investments that are being made, by our government … this was an unnecessary death of a woman who was a proud educator…, but she died because those who are re sponsible for continuous ly monitoring patients and escalating issues never did their job,” the grieving wom an expressed.

ommendations of that in vestigation. Additionally, we remain committed to providing any support and information to the family of Ms Shaw as they mourn her unfortunate loss.”

Shaw’s family lashed out at the hospital staff, accus ing them of negligence while noting that despite billions being spent by Government,

Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation

Dead: Shonnata Sawh

4 busted with cocaine, ganja

Four men were arrest ed with a quantity of cocaine and ganja in separate drug busts by the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU).

In the first bust, reports are that CANU ranks re cently arrested three males after they were found in pos session of more than 40 kilo grams (88 pounds) of mar ijuana on the Springlands Public Road, Number 78 Village, Corentyne, Berbice,

Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne).

CANU said its offi cers conducted an opera tion last Thursday on the Springlands Public Road during which they became suspicious of a silver-grey vehicle parked on the said roadway.

Several individuals with in the vicinity were ques tioned, but no one claimed ownership of the vehicle or identified its driver. A sub sequent search of the vehi cle revealed several parcels of suspected cannabis in two salt bags.

The vehicle, along with the narcotics, was taken to the CANU office in Skeldon, Corentyne, Berbice.

On Friday, however, Stuart Hamer, a 64-yearold taxi driver of Number 77 Village Housing Scheme, went to Springlands Police Station and claimed own ership of the vehicle. He also stated that he was hired by two men to trans port the illicit substance to Corentyne.

As a result, ranks from the Springlands Police Station arrested 18-yearold Jeremiah Smith and 42-year-old Damion Hinds, who were then turned over to CANU.

pects;

black

A

Investigations are ongo ing.

Meanwhile, a West Coast Demerara (WCD) man was on Saturday bust ed with a quantity of co caine in his possession.

The discovery was made by CANU ranks at the Meten-Meer-Zorg Seawall Dam, WCD.

According to reports, the CANU officers conducted an operation at the Meten-

the discovery of a quanti ty of whitish rock-like sub stance suspected to be co caine in the said bag.

The suspect, 26-year-old Lorenzo Shewran of Area G, De William, WCD, was es corted to CANU headquar ters with the suspected nar cotics, which tested positive for cocaine and weighed a total of 824 grams. Shewran remains in custody pending charges.

The suspected was weighed and tested in the presence of the three sus

it tested positive for cannabis and had a street value of approximately $5 million.

Meer-Zorg Seawall Dam, during which they inter cepted a male who had a

plastic bag in his pos session.

subsequent search was conducted which led to

Lorenzo Shewran

The cocaine that was found at Meten-Meer-Zorg Seawall Dam

Damion Hinds

Jeremiah Smith

Stuart Hamer

to

tests at our laboratories… We have a lot of kits be cause we have been prepar ing for testing and so forth.”

“The challenge that we currently have is that peo ple are not coming to be testing. If people don’t come to be tested, then it is hard to understand what is go ing on with the pandemic in Guyana,” he added.

Criteria for testing re mains open in Guyana. Anyone who feels at risk for COVID, may have been in contact with an infect ed case or is displaying as sociated symptoms can be swabbed.

In Guyana, 90 active cases are being monitored inclusive of eight persons in hospital. Four persons are in the Intensive Care Unit. A breakdown of these infections reflects one in Region Two, four in Region Three, 68 in Region Four, two in Region Five, seven in Region Six, one in Region Seven and seven in Region Nine.

“The presentation that we’re seeing now is that there are persons who would get really sick, would

require hospitalisation and when we bring them in, very often they would need ICU care. This has been happening over the last week or so. We have noticed that some patients are real ly coming in severely ill.”

Among the persons re quiring intensive care, the Ministry has report ed that a few are not vac cinated while the status of some cannot be deter mined. Greater empha sis was placed on the data which shows that vaccina tion protects against the se

vere form of the virus.

Dr Anthony urged, “If people have not gotten their first and second dose, it is not too late to come and get it. If you’ve gotten your first and second dose, but you didn’t get your booster shot, now is the time. We want to encourage people to do that.”

Most people would have a mild form of the infection but the elderly and others with comorbidities stand a higher risk for a more se vere form of COVID. (G12)

Two men

from Region

Six have died af ter contracting the COVID-19 disease, the Health Ministry on Monday reported.

Now, the country has 1283 reported fatalities to date. The latest deaths are a 96-year-old and a 43-year-old – both of whom succumbed on November 20. One was unvaccinated while the status of the oth er is unknown.

There were four new cases reflected in the dash board, which showed 71,545 confirmed cases. This trans lates to 32,802 males and 38,743 females.

Five persons are in in stitutional isolation while 81 are in home isolation. To date, Guyana has seen 70,172 recoveries.

Testing

Symptomatic per sons who have been using self-testing kits but expe riencing a negative result have been asked to contin ue testing, since the sensi tivity of this test varies.

Home test kits for COVID have been widely

used in recent time, given its convenience. However, it was shared on Monday by Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony that sensitivity and specificity of the test can vary.

This means there are times when a person can be positive but it would not be detected with the test.

In this light, he advised, “Persons here in Guyana who has been testing them selves at home, if you have flu-like symptoms and you’ve tested negative, it is advisable that you contin ue testing for at least two to three days to make sure that you’re not positive.”

According to the Health Minister, there is enough PCR testing kits and per sons can visit the health facilities to be tested. However, there is still the challenge of low testing rates, since people are not showing up to be tested.

“If there is any doubt, the test that is more accu rate would be the PCR test and you can come into any one of our facilities and the sample will be taken. We would be able to run those

A self-testing kit

Over 200 court staff benefit from free computer training

Over 200 staff from the magistracy are benefiting from free information technology (IT) training from the Guyana Police Force’s (GPF) Zara Computer Centre. This is in keeping with the centre’s mandate to deliver quality IT training to members of the GPF and communities countrywide.

Earlier in November, the Zara Computer Centre ex tended its training opportu nities to Clerks of Court in Regions Two, Three, Four, Six, and Seven which saw over 200 court staff regis tering.

According to the Coordinator of the Zara Computer Centres, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Gladwin Hanover, the detailed course which commenced on November 14, is expected to last for eight weeks and will

entail typing and in-depth training in Microsoft Office.

Assistant Superintendent Hanover shared that upon comple tion, all court staff will be versed in computer process ing which will enable them

to be more effective in dis pensing their daily duties.

With the launch of IT training programmes in 2013, the Zara Group of Companies has instruct ed over 10,000 young peo ple. The company was es

tablished some 35 years ago by a Guyanese fami ly mainly involved in real estate. Today, the compa ny has collaborated with several agencies includ ing the Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana

(CIOG)

to provide training programmes countrywide.

and the Police Force,

GPF/ZARA training cen tres are located in all three counties. (G1)

Staff members of the Judiciary are undergoing information technology (IT) training from the Guyana Police Force’s (GPF) Zara Computer Centre

One Guyana show President Ali doubles local artistes’ earnings …says

Govt will

continue to develop entertainment industry

they took to engage with the creatives.

“We have to become bold enough to tell those who continuously want to keep Guyana back, that we are all for One Guyana. I am asking you all to embrace the vision of a One Guyana united in purpose, strategy and people so that we can achieve the best,” President Ali said.

President Dr Irfaan Ali has announced that all the local artistes who participated in the re cent One Guyana concerts will have their payments doubled, with the State con tributing $6.9 million to match the revenue generat ed. All of this, he said, is tes timony to the Government’s commitment to the arts.

The announcement was made by the President during a meeting he had with a plethora of artistes at State House on Monday. He informed them that the One Guyana concerts, a feature of the recently concluded Cricket Carnival, generated $6.9 million in ticket sales.

All of this money will be split between the 89 local artistes who participated in the concert. However, the President announced that the Government will match this amount, doubling ar tistes’ pay… as a manifes tation of the Government’s support for the musical ar tistes.

“Every single cent in revenues went to those ar tistes, ranging from between $100,000 and $300,000, as promised. I think that alone, deserves a resound ing round of applause. But looking at ways we can fur ther help you, I told the Minister of Tourism, the en tire committee, that I want

to double what you get. So, you will get, again, between $100,000 and $300,000.”

“We are here to support you. We will defend you; we will stand up for you. We will promote you. Our tal ent may be raw and fresh in many ways, but we nev er and will never lack the capacity and capability to make it on any stage. I in tend to invest in the talent that we have to make it re gional and global.

The President also took a swipe at the naysayers, urg ing the artistes to be a part of the solution. He recalled the dire state he found the creative industry in when he came to office and the steps

Health Ministry to address shortfalls in disease, outbreak surveillance

Guyana’s current sta tus in disease sur veillance will get an overhaul, as authorities con verge to gauge and fix the deficiencies in the current system.

Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony revealed on Monday that the National Health Surveillance Symposium, slated for November 22 to 24, 2022 at the Pegasus Hotel will pro vide the opportunity to do so.

Profiles, especially in the area of infectious diseases, will be ventilated to deter mine the country’s data col lection pace and ability to make detections.

“What we are going to meet to discuss whether the current system that we have in place, whether it is able to collect the data that we need to do disease man agement especially in the area of infectious diseases; and whether the system is flexible enough to be able to detect in a timely manner, outbreaks and diseases,” he communicated.

The Health Minister noted that these efforts are geared at improving the overall surveillance system, straight up to the national level. Work has been ongo ing in the area of COVID-19

but he added that other dis eases cannot be ignored.

“We have an existing surveillance system that starts from the health post, health centre, regions, then the data is fed up to the na tional level. While we have been able to work to expand the system during COVID to make sure we’re track ing cases and other param eters, we cannot ignore oth er infectious diseases such as malaria, HIV, TB and so forth.”

Meanwhile, Dr Anthony explained that tracking non-communicable diseas

es and properly aggregating this data is needed.

He said, “The second area we want to look at is in the area of surveillance for non-communicable diseas es. These diseases include hypertension, cardiovascu lar diseases, diabetes and so forth. We do collect data but sometimes it’s not properly aggregated. Therefore, we’re going to examine that to see how we can improve the sys tems to make sure that we have timely and more accu rate data.”

The Minister said Guyana will track different types of cancers by building a surveillance system to col lect this information.

It was highlighted this week that a unit has been formed at the Health Ministry to conduct rapid response in the wake of any potential outbreaks. Should any situation arise, the team can be dispatched to exam ine symptoms, epidemiolo gy, and make conclusions on how to respond.

The Health Ministry has also been working with several multilateral insti tutions in relation to pan demic preparedness, includ ing having discussions with PAHO/WHO to strengthen existing systems. (G12)

“When we came to office I received many messag es from artistes in Guyana, all over, telling me about the horrible time they had over five years. Not being recognised or getting oppor tunities. And we sought ev ery single artiste, to bring everyone under the One Guyana umbrella. To work with you, create avenues through which your talent can be developed and we can improve your skills and ex pand your reach.”

Meanwhile, the artistes were appreciative of the an nouncement and expressed hope that the President would continue to sup port the arts in this vein. Michelle “Big Red” King, Young Bill Rogers and Melissa “Vanilla” Roberts, three of the biggest names in Guyana’s music scene, welcomed the initiative.

“I want to say thank you for the President, for mak ing this initiative. For sup

porting us in such a big way. And I hope going for ward, we can see so much more coming out from the Government. Supporting the artistes, so we can earn more, do our music and our videos,” King said, also ref erencing the importance of Copyright laws.

“I think it’s a great ini tiative that the President put forward, in terms of hav ing the legends One Guyana Show and I think it was an awesome event… I want to thank all the organisers, the President, in terms of even

doubling the fees for the performance… I think that is a great, great initiative by the President,” Young Bill Rogers said.

“I like the fact that the President is highly support ive of Guyanese artistes and the creatives and what we’re doing. And I know this cheque will help im prove the lives of artistes,” Roberts, meanwhile, said, adding that she’s looking forward to seeing the rest of the Government’s policies to improve the music industry. (G3)

Trial into piracy attack which left 5 fishermen dead winding down

The trial of two men, who are charged in connection with a pi racy attack that left five fishermen dead, is wind ing down before Justice Navindra Singh at the High Court in Berbice.

Premnauth Persaud, also known as “Sand Bat”, 47, of Comarty Village, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) is charged with five counts of murder. He has pleaded not guilty.

It is alleged that between April 14, 2018, and June 3, 2018, he murdered Bandara (only name given) called “Spanish Man” or “Dora”; Lalta Sumair called “Bora” or “Puduck”; and Lokesh De Couite; on board the vessel Joshua SK 1418 that was under attack during piracy.

He is also accused of mur dering Mahesh Sarjoo called “Kuba” or “Vishal”; and Tilaknauth Mohabir called “Camion” or “Kaimon”, “Pollom” or “Palam” and “Cold Record”, between April 14, 2018, and June 3, 2018, on board the vessel, Romina SK 764 that was un der attack during piracy.

Nakool Manohar called “Fyah”, 43, of Number 43 Village, Corentyne, Berbice, was indicted on two charges

which alleged that between the aforementioned dates, he counselled, procured, and commanded Persaud and others unknown to murder the five fishermen.

Manohar, too, has plead ed not guilty.

Attorney-at-Law Latchmie Rahamat was granted a fiat by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to prosecute the case in as sociation with State Counsel Nafeeza Baig.

Besides these five fish ermen, 15 others are still missing and are considered dead.

According to reports, the piracy attack reported ly stemmed from the execu tion-style killing of Somnath Manohar, who was gunned down on March 30, 2018, in Suriname. As a result of Somnath Manohar’s death, his brother Nakool Manohar had travelled to Suriname and had offered US$50,000 to the pirate gang allegedly headed by Persaud, to take revenge for his brother’s death. The fishermen’s bad ly decomposed remains were discovered in Surinamese waters. Police had to rely on DNA testing to properly identify them. (G1)

Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony

Murder accused: Premnauth Persaud On trial: Nakool Manohar

A section of the artistes

President Dr Irfaan Ali as he addressed the artistes

World Children’s Day

“We are here for you” – First Lady tells children

Over 100 children and youth celebrat ed World Children’s Day (WCD) at a special event at State House host ed by First Lady Arya Ali in collaboration with UNICEF.

Themed “Inclusion, For Every Child”, Guyana joined global WCD celebra tions with State Housethe official residence of the President – transforming it into a safe space for children and other youth who were invited to creatively express their feelings through art.

“The event was very great. I got to go and say a poem. It was very nice, I can’t believe I got to…the art

pieces were beautiful, they all did a wonderful job…[It’s] something that I would want to go back and do again,” said 11-year-old Neerav Persaud, who recited a poem, “Rising” to the assembled children and dignitaries.

The poem, a release from UNICEF said, celebrates survival and not giving up despite challenges. The WCD event, “Art therapy for men tal health”, focused on men tal health and participants included students, children with disabilities, migrant children, youth advocates, and other youth including UNICEF volunteers who provided support to the chil

dren. Art facilitators, includ ing a therapist, peer educa tors, and counsellors from the Health Ministry, were also present to lend support and share information.

In her remarks, the First Lady reminded the chil dren that they are all very special. “I welcome you to my home, State House, and want to let you know that you are now part of my ex tended family…we want you all to know that we love and appreciate you. That is why UNICEF and my office or ganised this event for you,” she said.

The First Lady encour aged the children to express

themselves through their art and reminded them that they are supported. “We were once children too. So, we know sometimes it gets hard. We know you have your own challenges and sometimes you feel like there is no one you can talk to. Let me remind you that we are here for you. We love you

gether to ensure that every child has the right to sur vive, thrive, and grow up in a safe and protective en vironment, including access to quality mental health and psychosocial support,” said Akhtar. He highlight ed UNICEF’s commitment to working closely with dif ferent stakeholders to invest

various partners on mental health and in her remarks, Cilandell Glen, Coordinator of the Adolescent Health Unit said that the activities provide children and ado lescents with the tools and skills needed to not only im prove their mental health and wellness but with op portunities to contribute

and we want you to always remember that you are nev er alone. Even if you do not want to talk to us right away, talk to your friends. That is what friends are for – to sup port each other,” Ali said.

“And to the parents, guardians and caregivers here today, I implore you to continue to play a mean ingful role in your children’s lives. Let us ensure we pro vide them with adequate support to realise their true potential. The Government stands ready to extend its support to ensure our chil dren have a better life,” she emphasised.

Young people

Meanwhile, UNICEF Deputy Representative Irfan Akhtar took the opportuni ty to recognise young peo ple who were courageous ly sharing their stories and thanked the First Lady for being an important champi on for young people and rec ognising the importance of mental health.

“I want to encourage all today to let us work to

more and develop relevant mental health programmes and initiatives for chil dren in Guyana. “We recog nise that we must focus not only on the clinical aspect of mental health but a multi sectoral approach to preven tion, promotion, and care at the community and family levels,” he said.

Chairperson of the Rights of the Child Commission, Aleema Nasir highlight ed that mental health is in creasingly becoming an im portant aspect of the health and wellbeing of children. “In all our outreach work over the last 10 years in the regions of Guyana, we have found first hand that art therapy helps children to express how they are feeling, if there is anything that is troubling them, that that child is sad or happy or needs help in some way,” she said, while adding that we must be ready to help children get the help he or she may need so that diffi culties being experienced are addressed properly.

UNICEF is working with

positively to society. “It is imperative that we continue to provide loving support to one another; the support we provide to each other would make the difference, would create the change, reduce the stigma and improve ac cess to mental health ser vices,” she indicated.

Sunday’s event was graced by a visit from the President, Dr Irfaan Ali, who greeted and interacted with the children and oth er participants. Miss World Guyana 2022 Andrea King also participated in the ac tivity and recited the Mental Health Pledge developed by Guyanese youth, which was then signed by the officials and children.

World Children’s Day is UNICEF’s Global Day of Action for children, tak ing place every year on November 20, the anniver sary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. On this day, UNICEF advocates and raises awareness for the most pressing issues facing children.

Committee to revise Amerindian Act to be established before year end – Sukhai

The Amerindian Affairs Ministry in collab oration with the Legal Affairs Ministry will be establishing a commit tee that will be responsi ble for consultations as the

Government seeks to revise the Amerindian Act 2006.

This is according to Amerindian Affairs Minister Pauline Sukhai, who made the announcement while ad dressing residents of Kaburi,

Region Seven (CuyuniMazaruni) recently.

“The Government gave us $10 million this year to ensure that the mechanism is put in place for next year’s direct consultation with ev

ery village. The committee will be set up and the secre tariat will be launched this year,” Sukhai is quoted as saying by the Department of Public Information.

The committee will be

52 graduate from Supervisory Management course

Fifty-two persons graduated with a Certificate in Supervisory Management, a course accredited by the National Accreditation Council, Guyana. The grad uation ceremony was held at the Mahaicony Technical Institute auditorium on Saturday, November 19, 2022.

The students attend ed classes at Zeeland, Mahaicony and at Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice.

According to the Guyana Learning Institute, the students were engaged in

face-to-face classes, which spanned 64 contact hours and focused on, among oth er concepts, the history of management, decision making, managing expecta tions of employers, employ ees and other stakeholders, managing change, building and working with teams,

communication and its im portance to management, conducting meetings, man aging and rewarding per formance in the workplace, the importance of time management, leadership, power and related theo ries and managing person al and professional growth.

As part of the proj ects, which formed part of the students’ practical involvement, renovation works were done by the Mahaicony students on the Youth Choice building in Fairfield, while the Bush Lot students renovated the washroom facilities for the

Stop covering up for relatives’ criminal relatives – T&T PM to families

The Prime Minister has called on people to stop protecting and covering up for their rel atives who are criminals, particularly murderers.

Saying crime, especial ly murders, is at an “un acceptably high level,” Dr Rowley said national securi ty is a high priority for the Government.

“Where do these mur derers come from? Who are they? Where do they live? Are they part of your fami ly? Are you withholding in formation from the police? Do you know who has the guns and use them at will upon whom they choose?”

Keith Rowley asked.

“What do you know that you keep a secret? The po lice can do so much. The de fence force can do so much. The Government can do so much. But there is a lot to

be done by the families who are covering up for the gun men, covering up for these murderers.”

Rowley made the com ments at the PNM’s National Women’s League annual general meeting and 48th annual women’s conference on Sunday at Achievors Banquet Hall, Duncan Village in San Fernando.

He added, public offi cials also make it very dif ficult for the Government to fight crime. He said some of the culprits work in the Customs and Excise Division.

“The Cabinet has abso lutely no control over them because, in our constitution, they are the subjects of the Public Service Commission (PSC), over which the Cabinet has absolutely no control,” Rowley told the

gathering.

“Those are problems this country faces whether I am in or out of office. Those are difficulties you need to pon der upon.”

One of the measures to deal with the increasing crime is the installation of 2,500 cameras nationwide to help the police see “who goes where and who might have done what.”

Rowley also urged the head of the police service, acting Commissioner of Police (CoP) Mc Donald Jacob, to ensure that offi cers of “questionable ilk and who collaborate with the criminal element” do not re main in the service.

He said there are limit ed interventions that the Government can make be cause the CoP is an inde pendent and accounting of ficer. (T&T Newsday)

males, females and teach ers, as well as upgraded the walk ways. All students received sponsorship from the Board of Industrial Training, via the Guyana Learning Institute, to pur sue their studies.

responsible for making rec ommendations and engag ing every single Amerindian community to solicit recom mendations that will even tually make up the amended Amerindian Act. Some $10 million had already been ear marked by the Amerindian Affairs Ministry in 2022, to establish the committee, the modalities of the consulta tion process and the train ing of facilitators.

The Amerindian Affairs Minister added, “We expect

that secretariat of that com mittee to launch the consul tation so that we will be able to care and meet with each village to hear what is it, what you want to change in the Act, because so far, the Act is one of the modern Act in the history of Indigenous people across the world.”

This all ties in with the Government’s commit ment to have constitution al reform as it seeks to mod ernise the legal architecture in Guyana.

Amerindian Affairs Minister Pauline Sukhai in Kaburi, Region Seven

The graduates from Bush Lot, WCB

Those who attended classes at Zeeland, Mahaicony

Regional

Peace talks begin as fighting between armed groups leaves 18 dead in Colombia

Negotiators from the Colombian Government and leftist guerrilla group the National Liberation Army (ELN) began peace talks on Monday, the first major step in President Gustavo Petro's efforts to end nearly 60 years of war.

Petro, a former mem ber of the M-19 insurgency who took office in August, has promised to bring "to tal peace" to Colombia by negotiating with rebels and crime gangs involved in drug trafficking and illegal mining.

"We cannot see each oth er as enemies, the labour we have is of reconcilia tion," said ELN negotiator Pablo Beltran. "We hope not

to fail these expectations for change."

The talks – which be gan in Venezuelan capi tal Caracas – will rotate among guarantor coun tries Venezuela, Cuba and Norway, according to the Colombian Government.

Meanwhile, at least 18 people died on Saturday as factions battled for control of drug trafficking routes in southwest Colombia. The incident marks the dead liest fight between illegal armed groups since leftwing Colombian President Petro took office in August.

The Government om budsman’s office said the violence occurred on November 19 in Puerto Guzman, about 60 kilo

metres (37 miles) from the country’s southern border with Ecuador.

On Monday, Colombia’s Defence Minister Ivan Velasquez told reporters that locals “collected corps es and moved them to the cemetery” in the wake of the violence. He added that while families have been displaced, no civilian locals appear to have been killed.

The fighting involved rebel dissidents who reject ed a 2016 peace agreement between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Government, and a criminal band that calls itself “Comandos de la Frontera” or “Border Commandos”. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera and Reuters)

young men stab each other over EC$200

Two young men in their early 20s are re portedly nursing stab wounds following an alterca tion over the weekend. Sources claim that an ar gument erupted close to mid night at East Bus Station, Antigua on Saturday, when one confronted the other about EC$200 owed to them.

The argument eventually turned into a fight. Then, it was reported that the young man who was owed mon ey pulled out a knife and stabbed the other, which resulted in a laceration on his forearm requiring eight stitches and a stab wound to his chest.

However, the initial victim

in the altercation drew a pair of scissors and stabbed the confronter in his shoulder.

The injuries sustained by the two young men were said to be non-life threaten ing.

Police continue to inves tigate the details surround ing the double wounding. (Antigua Observer)

Mexico's President says summit in doubt as

Mexican President

Andres Manuel

Lopez Obrador said on Monday it was like ly that a Latin American summit would be cancelled after Peru's Congress re fused to allow President Pedro Castillo to travel to Mexico.

The leaders of Mexico, Peru, Chile, and Colombia were scheduled to gath er later this week at the Pacific Alliance summit in Mexico City.

"It's very probable that

the meeting between the Alliance countries will be cancelled, that it will be postponed," Lopez Obrador said in a daily news confer ence.

Castillo, a leftist, is em broiled in a political bat tle stemming from corrup tion allegations against his Government. The coun try's Congress, which is controlled by a coalition of right-wing parties, denied last week his request to travel.

Legislators, mostly from

the Opposition, argued that Castillo's proposed trip to Mexico was not convenient while a corruption investi gation is ongoing.

Castillo's other requests to travel outside of Peru, in cluding recent planned trips to Europe and Colombia, also have been blocked.

An Organisation of American States (OAS) mission is currently in Peru to carry out an "ob jective" analysis of the po litical crisis in the country.

(Reuters)

T&T scrap-iron dealers to ask India, China for help to lift export

The TT Scrap Iron Dealers Association (TTSIDA) intends to write to the Governments of India and China to ask for help to get the Trinidad and Tobago Government to lift the ban on the export of old and scrap iron.

The Association's Head, Allan Ferguson said, "I guarantee you they would help. We will get responses from them, because I know what I know. Many materi als leave this country to go to China, and many Chinese are doing business here.

"A lot of people are los ing money every day. A lot

of people are suffering. I am taking this issue all over the world."

He spoke on Monday at a media conference at Lodge Road in Claxton Bay about TTSIDA's plans for reopen ing the industry.

From August 12, the Government imposed a sixmonth ban on the export of old and scrap iron to deal with the rampant theft and vandalism of State and pri vate assets nationwide.

Besides writing to the two foreign Governments, Ferguson said the Association plans to meet with the heads of religious

ban

organisations for their help.

"They too, should be able to help us. We need all the support we can get. I would meet with them every day if I have to do it to make sure they understand what is go ing on. We would show them proof."

The Government prom ised to review the indus try and draft a regulato ry framework within three months of the ban, then ap proach the Cabinet again with the proposed legisla tion to monitor and reduce the illegal trade in scrap iron and metal. (Excerpt from Trinidad Newsday)

Pro-Bolsonaro demonstrations slow corn transport in Brazil's Mato Grosso

could have knock-on effects as warehouses need to be emptied ahead of a January soy harvest.

"It's actually a race against time. Clean the corn warehouses so you can start reaping soybeans," Mato Grasso farmer Evandro Lermen told Reuters.

The blockades are also delaying deliveries of farm inputs needed for planting of Brazil's second corn crop early next year, he added.

Truckers and other demonstrators pro testing the elector al defeat of President Jair Bolsonaro are hamper ing the transport of corn in Mato Grasso state, the heart of Brazil's farm country, two farmers said on Monday.

Mato Grosso Highway Police reported 11 demon strations on Monday morn ing, with roads blocked or partially blocked on four fed

eral highways near farmers and grain processing facili ties.

Brazil's top public prose cutor authorised the gover nor of Mato Grosso to mobil ise Police to clear highways of protesters.

The protests have ham pered transport of some corn from farmers to ports and storage facilities, but the quantities could not be determined. The slowdown

While farmer Cayron Giacomelli supports the pro testers' cause, he says the blockades have prevented him from moving his corn, and he will not receive pay ment until he delivers it.

"We give full support to protesters, but we are being harmed," Giacomelli said.

Demonstrations by truck ers and other Bolsonaro sup porters started after left ist President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won the October 30 election. He takes office on January 1.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Bolivia lowers 2023 growth projection as general strike goes on

created losses of more than US$780 million and slowed growth.

Bolivia's agricultural sector has been among the hardest hit by the strike, Economy Minister Marcelo Montenegro said during a news conference.

Bolivia's economy is forecast to grow 4.8 per cent in 2023, less than the 5.1 per cent growth previously forecast, the Government announced on Monday during the pre sentation of next year's budget.

The downgrade comes

during an ongoing gener al strike in Santa Cruz, the country's largest city and economic motor, which has become a site of protests over the timing of a popula tion census.

Activities in Santa Cruz have slowed to a standstill due to the strike, which has

The Government's pro posed budget includes over US$4 billion in investments in the sector, in addition to the exploration and produc tion of hydrocarbons and biodiesel.

"We are going to contin ue betting on an important engine: domestic demand," Montenegro said.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth stood at 4.13 per cent in the first half of this year.

(Reuters)

Peru's Castillo blocked from travel

Antigua: 2

Members of Colombia's National Liberation Army (ELN) delegation Silvana Guerrero, Aureliano Carbonell and Pablo Beltran; Venezuelan official Carlos Martinez Mendoza; Colombia's High Commissioner for Peace, Ivan Danilo Rueda; Head of the Colombian Government negotiating team, Otty Patino and Colombian Senators Ivan Cepeda and Senator Maria Jose Pizarro attend a news conference after renewed peace talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels began, in Caracas, Venezuela, November 21, 2022 (Reuters/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria)

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro gives a press statement at the Alvorada Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, November 1, 2022 (Reuters/ Adriano Machado)

Economy Minister Marcelo Montenegro

Around the World

Indonesia: Java quake kills 162 and injures hundreds

Oil rebounds from early plunge after Saudis deny OPEC+ output report

Oil prices rebounded from early losses on Monday after Saudi Arabia denied a report it was discussing an increase in oil supply with OPEC and its allies.

Brent crude futures for January settled at US$87.45, shedding 17 cents. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for December settled at US$79.73 a barrel, falling 35 cents ahead of the contract's expiry later on Monday.

The more active January contract was down 7 cents at US$80.04 a barrel.

Both benchmarks had plunged by more than US$5 a barrel early, hitting 10-month lows, after the Wall Street Journal reported an increase of up to 500,000 barrels per day will be considered at the OPEC+ meeting on Dec 4.

Oil then retraced its losses after Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said the kingdom is sticking with output cuts and not discussing a potential oil output increase with other OPEC oil producers, state news agency SPA reported, denying the Journal report.

"It turned the whole situation upside down in a matter of minutes," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC in New York. "The Saudis giveth and then they taketh away."

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, together known as OPEC+, recently cut production targets and the Energy Minister of de facto leader Saudi Arabia was quoted this month as saying the group will remain cautious.

Releasing more oil amid weak Chinese fuel demand and US dollar strength would have moved the market deeper into contango, encouraging more oil to go into storage and pushing prices still lower, said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho in New York. "That's playing with fire."

Expectations of further increases to interest rates have buoyed the greenback, making dollar-denominated commodities like crude more expensive for investors.

The dollar rose 0.9 per cent against the Japanese yen to 141.665 yen, on pace for its largest one-day gain since Oct 14.

"Apart from the weakened demand outlook due to China's COVID curbs, a rebound in the US dollar today is also a bearish factor for oil prices," said CMC Markets analyst Tina Teng.

"Risk sentiment becomes fragile as all the recent major countries' economic data point to a recessionary scenario, especially in the UK and euro zone," she said, adding that hawkish comments from the US Federal Reserve last week also sparked concerns over the US economic outlook.

New COVID case numbers in China remained close to April peaks as the country battles outbreaks nationwide.

The front-month Brent crude futures spread narrowed sharply last week while WTI flipped into contango, reflecting dwindling supply concerns. (Reuters)

An earthquake on the main Indonesian is land of Java has killed at least 162 people and injured hundreds, re gional governor Ridwan Kamil has said.

The 5.6 magnitude quake struck Cianjur town

in West Java, at a shallow depth of 10km (six miles), according to US Geological Survey data.

Scores of people were taken to hospital, with many treated outside.

Rescuers were work ing into the night to try to

China COVID cases rise, hard-hit Beijing tightens entry rules

main business district.

save others thought to still be trapped under collapsed buildings.

The area where the quake struck is dense ly populated and prone to landslides, with poor ly built houses reduced to rubble in many areas.

Earlier, Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said at least 62 people had died, according to the lat est available data.

Speaking to local me dia, Kamil said some 326 people had been injured in the quake, noting that "most of them sustained fractures from being crushed in ruins".

But he warned some res idents remained "trapped in isolated places" and said officials were "under the assumption that the num

ber of injured and deaths will rise with time".

The West Java gover nor added that more than 13,000 people had been displaced by the disaster, and the BNPB said more than 2200 homes had been damaged by the quake.

Herman Suherman, the head of administration in Cianjur town, said most injuries were bone frac tures sustained from peo ple being trapped by debris in buildings.

Earthquakes are com mon in Indonesia, which sits on the "ring of fire" area of tectonic activity in the Pacific. The coun try has a history of dev astating earthquakes and tsunamis, with more than 2000 killed in a 2018 Sulawesi quake. (Excerpt from BBC News)

UK's Sunak rebuffs call to ease stance on migration and Brexit

China's capital warned on Monday that it was facing its most severe test of the COVID-19 pandemic, shut ting businesses and schools in hard-hit districts and tightening rules for enter ing the city as infections ticked higher in Beijing and nationally.

China is fighting nu merous COVID-19 flare ups, from Zhengzhou in central Henan province to Chongqing in the south west. It reported 26,824 new local cases for Sunday, nearing the country's daily infection peak in April.

It also recorded two deaths in Beijing, up from one on Saturday, which was China's first since late May.

Guangzhou, a southern city of nearly 19 million peo ple that is battling the larg est of China's recent out breaks, ordered a five-day lockdown for Baiyun, its most populous district. It also suspended dine-in ser vices and shut night clubs and theatres in the city's

The latest wave is test ing China's resolve to stick to adjustments it has made to its zero-COVID poli cy, which calls for cities to be more targeted in their clampdown measures and steer away from widespread lockdowns and testing that have strangled the economy and frustrated residents.

Beijing reported 962 new infections on Sunday, up from 621 a day earli er, and a further 316 cas es for the first 15 hours of Monday.

City authorities said people arriving in the cap ital from elsewhere in China would need to un dergo three days of COVID testing before they are per mitted to leave their homes or accommodation.

Residents in Beijing's sprawling Chaoyang dis trict, home to 3.5 million people as well as embas sies and office complexes, were urged to stay home, with schools going online. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Gunmen abduct dozens in Nigeria's Zamfara state

At least 130 peo ple have been kid napped by gunmen in Nigeria's north-western state of Zamfara, a local of ficial has told the BBC.

Gunmen on motorcy cles raided two areas taking women, children and the el derly, Ibrahim Dosara, the state's information commis sioner, said.

Security forces have

been deployed to rescue the victims.

Zamfara is among sev eral Nigerian states grap pling with kidnapping for ransom.

The kidnapping hap pened over the weekend in Zurmi and Kauran-Namoda areas, Dosara said.

The gunmen were us ing the victims as ''human shields'' because of the ongo

ing ''heavy bombardments'' of their hideouts, he added.

Some reports say the peo ple abducted are farm work ers who were busy during the harvesting season.

In some areas of the north-west region, gangs have reportedly imposed levies on farmers as a condi tion of allowing them to har vest their crops unhindered.

Efforts by the Nigerian

Government to end insecu rity in the region have most ly failed. Families of kidnap victims have often ignored the official advice and paid ransom as demanded.

Insecurity is one of the key campaign issues ahead of Nigeria's general elections in February next year when a successor to President Muhammadu Buhari will be chosen. (BBC News)

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pushed back on Monday against calls from compa nies to improve trade ties with the European Union and liberalise immigration to help boost growth, saying Brexit had already benefited the country.

Sunak told business leaders at a Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference he was "unequiv ocal" that Britain should pursue its own agenda on regulation and migration.

Earlier, the CBI said Britain should create a pro gramme of temporary work visas to boost economic growth and also resolve a dispute with the EU over trade rules in Northern Ireland.

"On trade, let me be un equivocal about this: under my leadership, the United Kingdom will not pur sue any relationship with Europe that relies on align ment with EU laws," Sunak said.

Britain's grim economic outlook, marked by stagnant business investment and sluggish post-Brexit trade, has sparked talk from busi nesses and economists of closer ties with the EU and a more relaxed approach to immigration as easy ways to boost growth.

Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt last week said he was confident Britain would be able to remove "the vast majority" of barriers to trade with the EU, without re-joining its single market.

On Monday, Sunak struck a different tone. He said Britain's exit from the EU had helped bring more flexibility on business regulation and had been necessary to secure "proper control" of the coun try's borders.

Sunak emphasised the need to tackle illegal im migration to build trust in Britain's migration systemone that he hoped would be a beacon for talent around the world. (Excerpt from Reuters)

A damaged classroom in Cianjur

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks during the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference in Birmingham, Britain November 21, 2022

DAILY HOROSCOPES

Put more thought into how to save money, protect against loss and ensure that you remain healthy, wealthy and wise. Discipline and hard work will be the cornerstones of success.

(March 21-April 19)

(April 20-May 20)

Plan well-thought-out changes before you begin the transformation. Consider what can go wrong and prepare a sol id defense to ensure you stay on track. There is money to be made if you go through the proper channels.

Don’t be fooled by what others say. Check to ensure you get legitimate in structions before starting something new. Awareness and intelligence are your strengths. Self-improvement is en couraged.

(May 21-June 20)

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

Enjoy the moment. Look around you and reach out to people who put a smile on your face. Sign up for an outing that encourages you to branch out and try something new and exciting.

Go where the action is and mingle with interesting people. If you share your thoughts, you will hook up with someone who challenges you and con tributes to your concerns and causes.

Rely on friends and peers for help. A problem will escalate if you don’t com municate openly. Bring attention to solutions that will benefit everyone or weed out those with nothing to offer.

(Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

(Sept. 23-Oct. 23)

SUDOKU

(Oct. 24-Nov. 22)

Associate with people who make you think. A challenge will lead to personal growth. Keep your money and posses sions in a safe place. Not everyone will share your values or principles.

Practice patience, go with the flow and refuse to let others influence your next move. Step outside your comfort zone and try something you’ve never done; the experience will be educational.

Treating those in your home fairly will help you sidestep a disagreement or misunderstanding. Charm and kindness will work wonders. A self-improvement project will give your confidence a boost.

(Nov. 23-Dec. 21)

(Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

You are overdue for a change, so don’t wait for someone to give you a push; turn an idea you have into some thing concrete. Look out for people who can help you with your next project.

Be the one to inspire people, motivate them to participate and make the world a better place. Being a warrior for truth and justice will lead to opportunities.

(Jan. 20-Feb. 19)

(Feb. 20-March 20)

Follow your heart and channel your energy into making a difference. Don’t argue with people who have a different plan. Consider what makes you happy and brings opportunities your way.

ARCHIE PEANUTS

CALVIN AND HOBBES

DILBERT

FIFA World Cup, Qatar 2022 England, Netherlands record convincing wins on day 2

… Wales-USA clash

Bukayo Saka scored twice as England made a flying start to their World Cup cam paign by thrashing Iran 6-2 at the Khalifa International Stadium on Monday.

Saka – whose penalty miss proved decisive in the Euro 2020 final last year – netted a stunning volley to help Gareth Southgate’s side take a 3-0 lead into half-time, before he

ends in tie

doubled up after the break.

With Iran crumbling after goalkeeper Alireza Beyranvand suffered a nas ty head injury early on, Jude Bellingham set the tone by scoring his first international goal, while Raheem Sterling prodded home England’s third.

Mehdi Taremi denied England a clean sheet with a powerful finish, but substi

tutes Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish responded as the Three Lions sent out a message to their Group B ri vals despite Taremi scoring a very late second from the pen alty spot.

Harry Maguire was a nui sance in the opposition box and saw an early penalty ap peal waved away before pow ering a header against the crossbar in the 32nd minute.

Three minutes later, Bellingham diverted Luke Shaw’s hanging cross into the top-right corner with a fine looping header.

With Iran struggling to contain the Three Lions, Maguire nodded a corner into the path of Saka to unleash a fierce volley into the top-right corner and double England’s lead.

Southgate’s rampant side then made it 3-0 in first-half stoppage time when Sterling cutely diverted home Harry Kane’s right-wing cross.

There was no sign of England slowing down after the break, as Saka clinched his brace by cutting inside to drill a low finish beyond Iran substitute Hossein Hosseini.

Taremi denied England a clean sheet by firing in off the crossbar, but substitutes Rashford and Grealish pro duced composed finishes as the Three Lions extended their lead to 6-1.

There was one last piece of action when Taremi convert ed from the spot at the end of stoppage time after a VAR check contentiously ruled he was fouled by John Stones. (Sportsmax)

Late goals give Dutch victory over Senegal

Two late goals from the Netherlands sealed a crucial victory in their World Cup opener against Senegal in Group A. PSV Eindhoven forward Cody Gakpo beat Chelsea goal keeper Edouard Mendy to the ball when it was chipped in by Frenkie de Jong to nod the Dutch in front with six min utes remaining.

Substitute Davy Klaasen then pounced on a rebound from Memphis Depay’s shot to add a second deep into stoppage-time to confirm the success.

Gakpo whirled away in celebration in front of the Senegal fans behind the goal as the Dutch supporters, to gether in a sea of orange at the other end of the Al Thumama Stadium, rose to their feet.

They were already chant ing their team’s name as they knew victory was near before

Klaasen made sure in the ninth and final minute of in jury time.

Senegal, who had threat ened throughout the match, came close to equalising be fore that when Papa Gueye fired a finish towards the bot tom left corner, but Dutch goalkeeper Andries Noppert got his fingertips to it.

It was a match that teased a goal for long periods ,but both sides lacked ruthlessness.

Netherlands boss Louis van Gaal even risked the fitness of Depay to bring him on as a sec ond-half substitute in the hope of finding a way through.

The risk paid off as the Netherlands secured a vital three points in a game many believe could decide the win ners of Group A.

They now sit joint-top in the group with Ecuador, who beat hosts Qatar 2-0 on Sunday evening.

Senegal, without injured

key forward Sadio Mane during the competition, looked like a side missing their main attacking threat,

but can take confidence from the number of times they troubled the Dutch defence. (BBC Sport)

United States 1-1 Wales: Bale penalty secures deserved draw on

long-awaited World Cup return

The encounter between Wales and the USA ended in a draw (1-1)

Wales had talisman Gareth Bale to thank once again as their Captain won and scored a penalty to salvage a 1-1 draw with the United States at the World Cup.

The USA bossed the first half of Monday’s encounter at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, but Bale – Wales’ record goalscorer and leading marksman in major tour naments – stepped up when it mattered to ensure the Dragons’ first World Cup match since 1958 did not end in defeat.

Timothy Weah had put the USA deservedly ahead in the first half, scoring in a World Cup when his illus trious father – 1995 Ballon d’Or winner George – was never able to play in one.

But Bale, largely anon ymous before his late show, drew a rash tackle from Walker Zimmerman and duly smashed home the resulting spot-kick to seal a share of the spoils in Group B.

The USA should have been rewarded for a strong start inside 10 minutes as Sargent hit the post with a closerange header af

ter Wayne Hennessey had spared Joe Rodon’s blushes, preventing an own goal.

But Wales caved to the pressure in the 36th minute.

On a quick counter-attack, Christian Pulisic brilliant ly found Weah, who coolly prodded past Hennessey.

Kieffer Moore’s intro duction in place of Daniel James was the catalyst for Wales’ improvement.

Ben Davies forced Matt Turner into a fine save with a diving header, with Moore heading over from the re sulting corner.

With Brenden Aaronson fluffing his lines at the oth er end, Wales got their life line when Zimmerman clumsily lunged in on Bale, who – with eight minutes remaining – lashed home an unstoppable spotkick into the right-hand cor ner, giv ing the huge mass of Wales fans behind the goal a moment to (Sportsmax)

England 6-2 Iran: Saka at the double as Three Lions start with a roar

Female cricketer from Wakenaam is the latest to benefit from “Cricket Gear for young and promising cricketers in Guyana”

Cyanna Retemiah was recently select ed to the West Indies Under 19 training squad to tour India. However, she was not selected in the tour ing team but is determined to continue to work hard on her game. She was the re cipient on one pair of crick et shoe from this joint initia tive between Kishan Das of the USA and Anil Beharry, former Berbice left-handed all-rounder.

At a simple ceremony held recently, Retemiah ex pressed thanks to the initia tive and promised to contin ue to work hard on her game and to do herself and others proud. The rounded athlete is a four times national cycling champion who captained her County in youth cricket and represented Guyana. She passed five subjects CXC. This project is happy to be part of the development of young Retemiah and every other young and talented cricketers in Guyana.

The sum of $20,000 was also donated to this initia tive by a friend of cricket who requested his name not to be mentioned. We thank you.

Total cricket relat ed items collected so far: $290,000 in cash, two tro phies, twelve cricket boots, twenty pairs of batting pads, twenty five bats, seven teen pairs of batting gloves, twenty thigh pads, one pair of wicket keeping pad, three arm guards, two boxes, six

cricket bags and three hel mets. In addition to the above, $600,000 worth in gear was donated by Sheik Mohamed, former National wicket keeper/batsman.

To date, forty four young players from all three coun ties of Guyana have already benefited from three ju nior gear bag, two trophies, three arm guards, seventeen bats, two boxes, three hel mets, thirteen pairs of crick et shoes, ten pairs of batting pads, one thigh pad, one bat rubber and twelve pairs of batting gloves. In addition,

two clubs in the Pomeroon area benefited from two used bats. Pomeroon, Leguan and Wakenam Cricket Committees and Cotton Tree Die Hard also received one box of red crick et balls each while RHCCCC received two boxes, fifteen white cricket shirts, one pair of junior batting pads, one pair of wicket keeping gloves and a set of stumps and bails. The Essequibo Cricket Board and the Town of Lethem also benefited.

Cricket related items, used or new, is distribut

Demerara Cricket Board holds

trial matches

With the Guyana Cricket Board’s ini tiative of hosting a bilateral Regional Under-13 Tournament in collaboration with Trinidad and Tobago scheduled to commence on December 10, 2022, the Demerara Cricket Board took this prestigious oppor tunity in hosting three tri al matches at the Muslim Youth Organisation Ground on Monday, November 21; Tuesday, November 22 and Thursday, November 24, 2022. These matches are being held to give tal ented Under-13 players in Demerara a chance to rep resent both Demerara and Guyana in this bilateral tournament.

Several players were di vided into three teams for these trial matches. Their performances will determine the Demerara Under-13 Team to participate in the GCB’s Under-13 InterCounty Tournament sched uled to commence after the trial games.

Teams are listed below:

Team A Pigeons: Brandon Henry (Captain); Jermaine Grovernors; Reul Dindyal; Makai Dowlin; Kadeem Campbell; Akash

Roopnarine; Sharma John; Jasami Craig; Joshua Williams; Nathaniel Sukhanan and Ballshankar Narine.

Team B Macaws: Lomar Seecharran (Captain); Devendra Ramkarran; Mario Singh; Jaden Cargo; Nathan Gurcharran; Kush Seegobin; Noel Madramootoo; Patrice Frazer; Thierry Davis; Darren Demendonce and Ajay Kissoon.

Team C Doves: Reyaz Latif (Captain); Nicholas Rukhdeo; Ganesh Appanah;

Xavier Endozie; Rakeem Latif; Andy John; Mickhail Johnson; Vikash Roopnarine; Henenkiah Hohenkiek; Shankar Ramesh; Aditya Motilall and Nathan Bishop.

The fixtures for the practice matches: Today, Tuesday, November 22, 2022, Team B Macaws will battle Team C Parrots, af ter which Team A Pigeons will take on Team C Parrot on Thursday, November 24, 2022. Matches are scheduled to begin at 09:30h and will be 40 overs per innings.

ed free of cost to young and promising cricketers in Guyana. Skills, discipline and education are important characteristics of the recip ients. Talent spotting is be ing done across the country and club leaders also assist to identify same. Progressive and well managed clubs will also benefit. We take this op portunity to thank Javed and Imran of West Indian Sports Complex, Option Group of USA, Hilbert Foster, Bish Panday of P and P Insurance Brokers, Sean Devers, Trevis Simon, Årïêl J. Tïlkú, Aaron Beharry, Leanna Bachan and Imran Saccoor, Devon Ramnauth, Teddy Singh, Romash Munna, Ravi Etwaroo, Kelvin Brijlall, Ravin Harkishun, Surendra Harkishun, Allan Mangru, Dennis Mangru, Vishal Mahabir, Sherman Austin, Huburn Evans, Rajendra Sadeo, Ramesh Sunich of Trophy Stall, Sheik Mohamed of Star Sports Awards and Trophies and Ajay Gainda of Cricket Equipment Guyana, Gajanand Singh, Peter Ramkissoon, Rabindranath Saywack, Roshan Gaffoor, Ameer Rahaman, Chin Singh, Denesh Chandrapaul, Dr Cecil Beharry, Davo Naraine of UK and Latch Mohabir and family, Raj Mathura and Raj Bharrat.

Distribution will con tinue. Anyone interested to contribute can contact Anil Beharry on 623 6875 or Kishan Das on 1 718 664 0896.

GOAPC to host 3-day sporting event

The Georgetown Office Assistants Promotion Committee (GOAPC) has organised its end-of-year three-day sporting event for all the Ministries and Government agencies which will commence on November 25, 2022 and conclude on November 27, 2022.

The event is sched uled to commence on November 25 from 16:30h with a domino competition that will see the top three teams carting off trophies and cash incentives.

On November 27, there will be the cricket com petition, which will see the players turn out from 09:30h at the National Cultural Centre Tarmac as they vie for the Prime Minister’s and Housing and Water Ministry’s tro phies, alongside cash in centives.

Both competitions are being coordinated by James Lewis, who indicat ed that this would be his farewell in sports since it is very difficult to get sponsorship. The closing date for registration for these events will be today at 16:30h at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Protocol Division. No late entries will be accepted.

Continental Raptors whip Farm SC

The action contin ued over the week end at Farm Ground as Continental Raptors whipped Farm SC by four wickets via the DuckworthLewis-Stern (DLS) method.

This was thanks to a bril liant 22 not out from wick etkeeper-batsman Devon Allen, which was just enough to take his side over the line.

Farm won the toss and decided to bat; however, some excellent bowling from the Raptors put a wrench in Farm SC’s batting. Farm were dismissed for 129 all out in 18.5 overs. Richard Latif stood strong as he con tributed 40, which was in clusive of four boundaries and three maximums. He was supported by Azeem Azeez with 26. Bowling for the Raptors were Kevin Rose (2-11); Dave Mohabir (2-12); Ewert Samuels (2-22) and Troy Benn (2-40).

The Raptors needed 130 runs to win in 120 balls, a simple equation, but the Farm side made them work for it. Their constant abili ty to pick up wickets at key intervals had the Raptors on the back foot. But the Raptors continued to press

on, but then the rains came at 15:50h, and play was halt ed. And when play resumed, the Raptors took control of the game. Allen was the man of the moment as he held the fort down, striking two huge maximums in his unbeaten 22, while Alvin Mohabir also chipped in with 13. Latif bagged 3-23 but it wasn’t enough, the Raptors crossed the line on 81-6 in 11.4 overs.

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The event is organised by James Lewis

Cyanna Retemiah

Devon Allen’s 22 was just enough to take his side over the line

Brandon Henry is the Captain of Team A Pigeons

Pooran relinquishes white-ball captaincy of West Indies men’s team

something that must not de fine us, and I will readily get involved in the upcoming re views. And whilst it will be several months until we re convene as a squad, I want to give CWI plenty of time to prepare for the match es against South Africa in March and beyond.”

Jimmy Adams thanked Pooran for his time leading the two teams.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) confirmed on Monday that Nicholas Pooran has decided to relinquish the white-ball captaincy of the West Indies men’s team fol lowing the team’s exit from

the International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 tournament just completed in Australia.

Pooran said: “I have giv en the captaincy a great deal of thought since the enor

mous disappointment of the T20 World Cup. I took on the role with great pride and dedication and have given it absolutely everything over the past year.

“The T20 World Cup is

Victories for Guyana in Suriname Independence Online Blitz event

FIDE Master Anthony Drayton, Jessica Callender, and Landon Mohabir managed to amass victories for Guyana over competitors from Suriname and across the Caribbean in the Srefidensi Online International Blitz Tournament.

The tournament was split into two divisions: a Master Class division re stricted to players rated above 1750 and a Challenger Class open to everyone who does not meet this require ment. Challenger Class player Jessica Callender was the best female player in this division and the top finisher for Guyana in ninth place overall after earn ing five points from seven

Drayton (2.5 points), who came away with the prize for Best Under 2100 rated player and finished sixth overall in this division.

Stage One of the tourna ment was held on November

25, 1975. Srefidensi trans lates as Independence.

This year’s event fea tures a special Stage Two where the top two male and female finishers across the Caribbean will face off

He added: “This is not me giving up. I remain am bitious and still view the captaincy of West Indies cricket as an honour that is bestowed upon you. There is no doubt I remain fully committed to West Indies cricket and I look forward to providing my services as a senior player in a supportive role. By stepping down now as the West Indies whiteball Captain, I believe it is in the best interests of the team and for me personal ly, as I need to concentrate on what I can deliver to the side as a player. I desper ately want us to be success ful and the most value I can give to the team is through fully focusing on the role of consistently scoring runs at crucial times.

“I am very thankful to CWI for the opportunity and faith shown in me and for the support that I have re ceived by our devoted fans since taking the role, and to my teammates who have worked so hard as well. I know we have it in us to car ry West Indies cricket for ward and be proud.”

CWI Director of Cricket,

Adams said: “On behalf of CWI, I want to thank Nicholas for his time lead ing our white-ball teams. Having spoken with him, I know he remains fully com mitted to West Indies crick et and I am convinced he has a big role to play in our future.”

Last year and earlier this year, Pooran led the West Indies in the absence of Kieron Pollard, enjoying a T20 International (T20I) series win against Australia

at home (4-1). He was offi cially appointed West Indies men’s white-ball captain in May this year when Pollard stepped down. Overall, Pooran led the team in 17 One Day Internationals (ODIs) and 23 T20Is, record ing series wins against the Netherlands (ODI 3-0) and Bangladesh (T20I 2-0).

The West Indies men’s next white-ball series is against South Africa in March 2023 (directly after the two Test match series) and consists of three ODIs and three T20Is. (Windies Cricket)

West Indies Men’s Tour to South Africa 2023

* Thursday, March 16: 1st ODI at Buffalo Park, East London (day/night)

* Saturday, March 18: 2nd ODI at Buffalo Park, East London (day/night)

* Tuesday, March 21: 3rd ODI at JB Marks Oval, Potchefstroom

* Saturday, March 25: 1st T20I at SuperSport Park, Centurion

* Sunday, March 26: 2nd T20I at SuperSport Park, Centurion

* Tuesday, March 28: 3rd T20I at Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg (night)

Mohamed’s Enterprise supports Archery Guyana

rounds. She was Guyana’s only female competitor in the event. Young Julian Mohabir won Best Under 10 in the tournament with three points. Guyana also saw exceptional performanc es from Roberto Neto (19th on 4 points); Kyle Couchman (26th on 3.5 points); Owen Mickle (34th on 3 points) and Landon Mohabir (49th on 1.5 points).

Guyana’s only competi tor in the Master Class di vision was FM Anthony

19 and November 20, and featured 60 competitors from Guyana, Suriname, Dominica, Barbados, Netherlands Antilles, Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba, and Jamaica. The event was hosted by the Surinamese Chess Federation (De Surinaamse Schaakbond).

It is an annual event com memorating the anniver sary of Suriname gaining its independence from the Netherlands on November

as a team against China in December. The second stage will be organised by the Chinese Chess Association. As the best woman at the conclusion of the event, Callender will compete for the Caribbean in this team which also features Cuban Grand Master Jimenez Luis Lazaro Aguero, Barbadian International Master Orlando Husbands and Surinamese Women’s FM Catherine Kaslan.

Team Mohamed’s has yet again widened its philanthropic ide als in the sporting arena in Guyana beyond motor racing, boxing, and foot ball by embracing archery. November 18, 2022 marked the historic moment when Azruddin Mohamed became an official sponsor of Archery Guyana Inc, the governing

body for archery in Guyana with an annual sponsorship commitment of $400,000, as Team Mohamed’s seeks to assist in promoting the sport of archery in Guyana.

Archery Guyana received the first sum of $100,000 to assist with the hosting of the 2022 National Archery Championships and entered into a sponsorship agree

ment whereby Mohamed’s Enterprise will support Archery Guyana on a quar terly basis with $100, 000. This first instalment is ex pected to go towards pro curing targets to be used at the upcoming 2022 National Outdoor Championships to be held at the Sophia Exhibition Centre on December 3 and December 4, 2022.

Anthony Drayton

Jessica Callender

Julian Mohabir

Azruddin Mohamed (centre) hands over the sponsorship cheque to Vidushi Persaud-McKinnon, Secretary General of Archery Guyana (right). On the left is Nicholas Hing, Head Coach of Archery Guyana.