Guyana Times - Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Judges should be held accountable for delayed judgements – AG …says sloth of Judiciary a regular complaint

Delays in the judicial system are a top ic Attorney General

Anil Nandlall, SC, has pre viously confronted and has done so again, affirming that Judges should be held ac countable for the chronic de livery of delayed judgements.

Nandlall made the com ments during a virtual town hall meeting set up by the University of the West Indies’ Cave Hill Campus, that dealt with constitution al reform and the judicial se lection process.

The AG emphasised the importance of Judges hav ing security of tenure, not

ing that such protections are the cornerstone of democra cy. But he noted that when Judges are not discharging their duty in a timely man ner and this is having a seri ous effect on the administer ing of justice, there is a need for accountability.

“For example, the inabil ity to deliver judgements on time and when it be comes chronic and amounts to a dereliction of duty, then that by itself should morph into what the Constitution speaks to as misbehaviour. So, while you have securi ty of tenure, at the same time you have responsibili ties and you can be removed for misbehaviour, as all the Constitutions provide.”

“But that misbehaviour must embrace the inability to discharge core judicial re sponsibilities. Which must be to write judgements in a timely manner, having re gard to speedy justice and protection of the law… after all, the Judiciary is funded by public monies. As a politi cian, I have to answer every day to my constituency about cases not being heard, judge ments not being handed out,” he said.

He noted that there is

nothing he can do when per sons come to him to question the sloth of the Judiciary, other than to ask those per sons to have their lawyers write the presiding Judges. This is a situation that he acknowledged happens throughout the Caribbean.

Nandlall had previous ly flagged the backlog of cas es in the Judiciary, includ ing the Court of Appeal. Last year, he had said that the delay has resulted in mas sive miscarriages of justice, and although the backlog has been cleared in the civ il division of the High Court,

there remains stagnation in the Criminal Assizes, the Court of Appeal, and the Magistrates’ Courts.

The findings of a previous United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report had highlighted that one of the factors in the backlog in cases that have been plagu ing the criminal justice sys tem for years is a shortage of Judges.

The report had noted that in Guyana, while there is no shortage of criminal attor neys-at-law, there were only 14 of the expected 20 High Court Judges, and three of the expected five Court of Appeal Judges, at the time.

“If the present cadre of Judges is not increased, then the issue of backlogs will not be addressed. It is recom mended that further options for increasing the human re source capacity, including for Judicial legal research assis tants, Judges, prosecutors, and trained mediators, be ex plored,” the report had stated.

Whilst the assignment of temporary Judges has been used in the past in the Court of Appeal, this is not seen as a permanent solu tion, the report further not ed. Rafiq Khan, SC, and Dr

Christopher Bulkan were the last two temporary Judges to be appointed to the Court of Appeal. They were appoint ed to the post in January and February 2018, respectively.

Guyana is meanwhile without a Judicial Service Commission (JSC), the con stitutional body responsible for advising the President on the appointment of Judges, with the exception of the Chancellor and the Chief Justice. The last JSC expired in 2017. However, President Dr Irfaan Ali has said that the Government is working on appointing the JSC.

The JSC’s powers also in clude the power to remove and to exercise disciplinary control over persons hold ing or acting in the follow ing offices – Commissioner of Title, Magistrate, Director of Public Prosecutions, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Registrar of the High Court, Deputy Registrar of the High Court, Registrar of Deeds and Deputy Registrar of Deeds and to such offices connect ed with the courts or for ap pointment to which legal qualifications are required as may be prescribed by Parliament. (G3)

Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC

BRIDGE OPENINGS

The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Tuesday, Oct 25 – No closure and Wednesday, Oct 26 – No closure.

Tuesday, Oct 25 – 16:15h –17:45h and Wednesday, Oct 26 – 16:50h – 18:20h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Parika and Supenaam departure times – 05:00h, 10:00h-12:00h, 16:00h, 18:30h daily

WEATHER TODAY

There will be light thundery showers and light cloud during the day. Expect partly cloudy skies at night. Temperatures should range between 23 degrees Celsius and 30 degrees Celsius.

Winds: West South-Westerly to Westerly between 1.78 metres and 4.02 metres.

High Tide: 16:26h reaching a maximum height of 2.85 metres.

Low Tide: 10:03h and 22:24h reaching minimum heights of 0.47 metre and 0.32 metre.

Real scope for Canada to invest, partner with Guyana on agri production – High Commissioner

WithCanada’s rep utation as an ag riculture power house and a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) having been signed between Guyana and the Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC) earlier this year, there is tremendous scope for collaboration on and in vestments in agricultural production.

This is accord ing to Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, Mark Berman, in a recent ly broadcast interview with media personality Paul Moore. As he put it, Canada has a lot to offer Guyana.

“Canada is one of the largest agricultural coun tries in the world. We’re the fifth largest exporters of ag ricultural products. There are two million Canadians who work in the agricultur al industry. It’s about sev en per cent of our workforce. We export about $80 billion in agricultural products. So, we have a lot to offer in that area,” he said.

He recognised President Dr Irfaan Ali’s role as the leading champion of food security in the Caribbean Community (Caricom) and the goal of a 25 per cent re duction in regional food im ports by 2025.

Berman also noted that Guyana is one of only a handful of Caricom coun tries with agricultural po tential. And in light of the MoU signed earlier this year, discussions on oppor tunities for partnerships be tween the two countries are ongoing.

“Really there are three countries within Caricom that have the agriculture po tential. Suriname, Guyana and Belize. And so, there’s a real opportunity here. And so that’s an area we’re go ing to focus on, to try and encourage more investment

and Canadian technology to assist with the growth of the agriculture sector.”

“That MoU was signed in February. And it was a stra tegic MoU. Since that time, we’ve had members, senior officials from the CCC, come to Guyana. And they’ve had a number of meetings with a number of the Ministries and private sector, to talk about opportunities,” Berman said.

The MoU in question was signed to facilitate the trans fer of Canadian technology and expertise to Guyana as the country invests in the

infrastructure, information and communications tech nologies, aerospace, clean tech, and security sectors.

The MoU further es tablishes a framework un der which the two countries can strengthen their eco nomic and commercial re lations that will see more Canadians doing business in Guyana and Guyanese busi nesses investing in Canada.

Canada and Guyana al ready share a strong trade relationship, with the North American nation importing CA$199.6 million in mer chandise from Guyana last

year alone.

Guyana’s increased focus on agriculture is testimony to the Government’s efforts to diversify the economy.

The 2022 Mid-Year Report shows that out of the $32.6 billion budgeted in the agri culture sector, $15.8 billion was spent. This money was spent on a number of things, including constructing ma jor infrastructure, procure ment of equipment and ca pacity building.

This month is Agriculture Month 2022, being ob served under the theme, “Championing Food Security Through Innovation, Investment, and Resilience.” In his Agriculture Month message, President Ali had said that his Government is “unfazed” by the food securi ty challenges.

The President had listed several elements of the na tional agricultural strategy, which include boosting crit ical agricultural infrastruc ture such as drainage and irrigation and farm to mar ket roads. It also involves expanding non-traditional agriculture, such as aqua culture and pressing for greater export market ac cess.

Other aspects of the strategy include investing in greater use of technolo gy and incentivising the in volvement of more young people and women in the sector, where their inclusion will enhance the sustainable production of food.

Canada’s High Commissioner to Guyana, Mark Berman

Breast Cancer Awareness

Each year, October is designated Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Throughout the month, numerous activities are organised to raise awareness of this dreaded disease.

Just being a woman is the biggest risk factor for developing breast cancer, but every woman wants to know what she can do to lower her risk of breast cancer.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), cancer is the second leading cause of death globally, accounting for an estimated 9.6 million deaths. Lung, prostate, colorectal, stomach and liver cancer are the most common types of cancer in men, while breast, colorectal, lung, cervical, and thyroid cancer are the most common among women.

The WHO has pointed out that the cancer burden continues to grow globally, exerting tremendous physical, emotional and financial strain on individuals, families, communities and health systems. Many health systems in low- and middleincome countries are least prepared to manage this burden, and large numbers of cancer patients globally do not have access to timely quality diagnosis and treatment. However, according to WHO, in countries where health systems are strong, survival rates of many types of cancer are improving thanks to accessible early detection, quality treatment, and survivorship care.

What is very worrying is the fact that the number of cancer deaths could increase by over 50 per cent by 2030, especially in the low- and middle-income countries where most of the deaths are likely to occur. The statistics regarding cancer and its impact on individuals and society tell a sad tale. However, it should motivate us to work harder for better results.

It should be noted that between 30 and 40 per cent of cancer cases could be prevented and one third of cancer cases could be cured through early diagnoses and treatment.

In Guyana, cancer is one of the leading causes of death, and we, as guardians of our own destiny, should continue to make arduous efforts in our campaign to reduce the number of persons dying from the disease. For example, individuals could assist in the prevention of cancer by doing simple things such as; making sure they eat a healthy diet, engage in regular adequate physical activity and the overall maintenance of good health. Research has shown that physical inactivity is linked to breast and colon cancers. WHO’s Global Recommendations on Physical Activity for Health details how differing amounts and intensities of physical activity for all age groups can help reduce non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including some cancers. It is also worthy to note that the World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research has advised that cancer could be prevented if persons could be as lean as possible without becoming underweight; be physically active for at least thirty minutes each day, and avoid sugary drinks among other things.

The three main cancers in Guyana are breast cancer, cervical cancer, and prostate cancer. While cervical cancer is a slow-growing cancer that is easily prevented through regular screening and treatment of pre-cancerous lesions, far too many women ignore the pre-testing option and seek medical advice and treatment only when they begin to develop signs of illness. In many cases, indications of physical illness or signs of discomfort often suggest that the cancer is at an advanced stage. Persons should, therefore, be encouraged to have regular tests done since pre-symptoms are not that visible.

The Ministry of Health, along with Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) such as the Cancer Society, and leading Private Sector bodies such as GTT must be commended for the work they are doing in spreading awareness and encouraging persons to get screening. These efforts must be stepped up with the involvement and funding from more stakeholders so that the impact could be more far-reaching.

We can never overstate the importance of having more education campaigns about the disease with the aim of changing lifestyles and getting persons to do regular testing so that treatment could be administered before the disease becomes life-threatening.

It’s the beginning of the Sunak era – and the end of Britain’s Brexitist delusions

By TimoThy GarTon ash

The chaotic emergence of Rishi Sunak as Britain’s new Prime Minister signals the end not of Brexit but of Brexitism – the ideology of delusions about Britain’s ability to go it alone that culminated in the world-beating farce of Liz Truss’s short-lived Government.

Trussonomics took the logic of Brexitism to an ab surd extreme, with pre dictable results. Over the past eight years, under this Conservative party, Britain has descended from the pragmatic Euroscepticism of David Cameron to the medi um-soft Brexit proposed by Theresa May, to the hard Brexit of Boris Johnson, and thence to the fantasy Brexit of Truss. The Brexit revolu tion has followed a familiar pattern, except that where as traditionally the “revolu tion devouring its children” has involved radicalisation towards the left (Girondins to Jacobins in the French revolution, Mensheviks to Bolsheviks in the Russian revolution), here it has been radicalisation towards the right.

“We set out a vision for a low-tax, high-growth econ omy that would take ad vantage of the freedoms of Brexit,” Truss said in her resignation statement. This vision was a delusion: slash taxes, make a bonfire of reg ulations, incentivise the rich and somehow, miraculous ly, Britain will be back to the magnificent dynamism of the 19th century. The rest of the world should believe this, because we believe it. Instead, a journey that be gan with the slogan “take back control” ended with the most spectacular loss of con

trol.

Reality has caught up with the Brexitists and the British public is beginning to catch up with reality. If there were a general election tomorrow, and people vot ed as they currently tell the pollsters, the Tories would be virtually wiped out. Even more tellingly, the residual belief in Brexit among those who voted for it, which held up for many years, seems to have snapped. In a re cent YouGov poll, only 34 per cent of those asked said Britain was right to leave the EU, while 54 per cent said it was wrong.

Of course, not all Britain’s economic woes are due to Brexit. Even before the 2016 vote, the country had a chronic productivity problem, excessive reliance on the financial sector, and a major deficit in training and skills. But as the COVID pandemic effect fades, we can see the Brexit effect more clearly. On many indi cators, such as business in vestment and trade recovery after COVID, the UK econo my has done worse than any other in the G7. The num ber of small companies with cross-channel relationships has fallen by about a third. On official projections, the country will lose about four per cent of its GDP as a re sult of Brexit. The rating agencies Moody’s and S&P have both reduced the UK’s economic outlook from sta ble to negative. Yes, it’s the Brexit, stupid.

Sunak is anything but a convinced European. The axis of his world is Silicon Valley-London-Mumbai not London-Paris-Berlin. In 2016, he was a strong Brexiter. But if he ever shared some of the delu sions of Brexitism, he has

surely lost them by now. As he demonstrated in his Conservative party leader ship contest with Truss this summer, he is a realist, put ting solid public finances and market credibility first – as did Margaret Thatcher. And realism demands that, in ex traordinarily challenging economic circumstances, you have to lower barriers to do ing business with your larg est single market (the EU), not further increase them.

There will be two immedi ate tests. One is well known: the Northern Ireland proto col. This is not only a diffi cult issue in itself, the stale mate over Northern Ireland is also blocking progress on other fronts, such as Britain re-entering the Horizon pro gramme for scientific coop eration. The second test has been less widely noticed.

Under the May Government, all existing EU regulations were retained in British law unless individual regula tions were explicitly replaced by new national ones. Under the Truss fantasy, a bill has been introduced that will make a bonfire of all existing EU-origin regulations by the end of 2023. Departments will have to make a special case for retaining each one of more than 2400 regulations or replacing them individu ally with new national rules.

If Sunak is serious about concentrating on what really matters for the British econ omy, he will throw out this crazy bill and start again.

Economically competent and realistic Sunak him self may be, but he will be governing with a chronical ly divided party at his back.

The ideologues of Brexitism are still there in strength.

In the name of party uni ty, he will probably have to take some of them into his

Cabinet. If British democ racy worked like most oth er major Western democra cies, the country would now have either a general elec tion or a “constructive vote of no confidence”, bring ing other parties into pow er. But it doesn’t. The Tories still have a large majority in Parliament. Since on current polling most Conservative MPs would lose their seats in an election, the turkeys are unlikely to vote for Christmas. Yet such is the anger and dissension inside the parliamentary party, and so serious is the econom ic crisis, that Britain may yet tumble into a general election before 2024.

Whenever it comes, the British electorate will almost certainly, in traditional fash ion, “kick the bastards out” – “bastards” here being an entirely non-partisan term – and elect a government of the moderate centre-left. The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, is being excessively cautious on Europe, for fear of failing to win back northern English voters who switched to sup porting Johnson so as to “get Brexit done”. He keeps par roting “make Brexit work” – a terrible slogan, which implies that the only thing wrong with Brexit is that it hasn’t been made to work properly. As public opinion is clearly shifting, he should start by changing it to “make Britain work”. (In spite of Brexit, that is.)

Nobody knows what will happen tomorrow. A day in British politics is currently a long time. But the direction of travel is clear. Britain has at last begun its long, pain ful journey back from the de lusions of Brexitism. (The Guardian)

(Timothy Garton Ash is a Guardian columnist)

President Dr Irfaan Ali chats with some children who were among thousands of spectators at the La Bonne Intention (LBI) Ground on Sunday evening to witness the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha's Diwali motorcade (Office of the President photo)

Wedded to language of confrontation, division rather than conciliation

Dear Editor, I refer to a letter head lined “The support for PPP is growing in Linden: I am con cerned” written by Norman Browne, who describes him self as a “social and political activist”, and who, in fact, lives in England, and who clearly supports the PNC. Browne’s letter, in fact, com plains about what he per ceives as the growing sup port of the PPP in Linden.

Browne correctly de scribes Linden as “our stronghold…from time im memorial”, meaning the PNC. The population of Linden is mainly Guyanese Africans who have tradition ally voted for the PNC, but Browne is concerned that Aubrey Shanghai Major, whom he describes as a PPP activist, may persuade them to support the PPP through his political activ ism. Browne goes on to warn that younger Guyanese, now exposed to social media and becoming more politically aware, may no longer be ex pected to vote on the basis of race. If Browne is right, and I believe that he is, nothing could be better for Guyana.

Our country has been plagued by the fact that since 1955, Forbes Burnham and Cheddi Jagan who had jointly led the People’s Progressive Party, com manding the support of the great majority of Guyanese of all races, went their sep arate ways, functionally di viding the country’s poli tics between the Jagan-led PPP supported by Guyanese Indians and the Burnhamled PNC supported by Guyanese Africans. This clearly manifested itself

in the 1957 elections, with Jagan winning the elec tions with a majority Indian vote, though not a majority of the national vote. Sadly, for Guyana, after 56 years of Independence, this has not changed, though the demo graphic changes have result ed in a reliance on a major ity of racial votes no longer predictable.

At the conclusion of the Constitutional Conference for Guyana’s Independence, held at Lancaster House in London in October 1963, the then Secretary for State of the Colonies, Duncan Sandys had this to say:

“All that you have told me at this conference and all that I saw in my visit to your country last July have convinced me that there is one problem which tran scends all others – name ly the growth of racism. That is the curse of British Guiana today; the whole life of the country is poisoned and weakened by mutual suspicion and fear between the two predominant racial groups, the Indians and the Africans.”

Sandys went on to say and which every political leader since Independence has privately recognised and used to serve their political purpose:

“There is no deep-root ed or historical enmity be tween the races, nor is there any basic clash between them; nor is there any ani mosity between the religious groups – Christian, Hindu and Muslim. The root of the trouble lies almost entirely in the development of party politics along racial lines.”

At Independence, our na

tion’s motto became, “One People, One Nation, One Destiny”. We are not, how ever, one people, we are six people, but we are one na tion and we do share a com mon destiny. It is this fact that President Ali has rec ognised and has now com mitted his Government to the development of “One Guyana”, embracing all of its people.

The mindset, however, of people like Browne, that be cause Linden is populated mainly by African Guyanese it must remain a PNC stronghold, is the challenge that President Ali faces.

Seven years ago, I ad dressed this issue in a letter to the Stabroek News when the coalition Government was then in office, and I said then:

“Both of the two political parties in Government re main, no matter their cam paign promises, trapped in ‘real politics’. It is the politics of having to rec ognise and reward your hardcore, hardworking sup porters who have delivered the Government to you. It is the politics of having to dis tribute the spoils of office. This is particularly so in a coalition Government forced to cater to the priorities of

its separate party interest in order to survive. It is almost impossible to escape from this reality. The APNU/AFC coalition has not escaped it.”

The question is, now, has the PPP/C escaped it and, as I asked then, can we change all of this?

I believe we can, I believe we must, and I believe that Irfaan Ali is the first of our Presidents genuinely dedi cated to do so.

Norman Browne is per ceptive enough to have recognised that younger Guyanese “may no longer be expected to vote on the basis of race” but wrong ly warns against this. Interestingly enough, the founder leader of the PNC, Forbes Burnham, on return ing to Guyana from the 1962 Constitutional Conference had this to say:

“Unless and until the various races of this coun try cooperate on the basis of attachment to a common fa therland, this country will never, never progress…. we can only go forward if we understand that we are Guianese first, Guianese second and Guianese third.”

Unfortunately, his successor today, Aubrey Norton, from his public pro nouncements to date, seems

wedded to the language of confrontation and division rather than conciliation and unity. But this language has begun to fall on deaf ears.

I write now in my 90th year of life, having dedicated much of that life to serving my country. I am, of course, a Guyanese of Portuguese descent and not afflicted by the emotionalism of race to power as my brother and sister Guyanese of African and Indian descent. But,

nonetheless, I am as much a Guyanese, and Guyana is as much my country as any other Guyanese of any oth er race.

With the discovery of oil and the remarkable wealth it will bring to our people in the future, let us all grasp the fact that there is only one way to use it and, that is, for “One Guyana”.

Yours sincerely, Kit Nascimento

Time to be prepared for flood season

Dear Editor, The next rainy season is quickly approaching and it is now time to finish main tenance on the pumps, con clude reinforcement of the kokers and clearing of the drains. All the repairs to the seawalls should be nearing conclusion so that this flood season may be uneventful. Past years have been disap pointing due to weakening structure and lack of prepa ration. We all look forward to this season being differ ent and a holiday season where we may all enjoy be ing with family without any

natural disasters. Everyone expects the team in charge of helping their fellow citi zens stay safe during this season will be given the re sources they need to be bet ter prepared. No one ex pects oversleeping to play a role this year. With the newly available resources, additional manpower can be hired to ensure around the clock monitoring when necessary. As always, we must prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

Best regards, Jamil Changlee

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

Calculating probabilities

Probability is the likelihood of something happening in the future. Knowing how to calculate probability will help you predict future events, although not with 100 per cent accuracy. The simple formula to figure out probability (P) is the number of favourable outcomes divided by the total number of possible outcomes (o). You could express this formula as an equation: P = f/o

Example:

If you roll one die of a pair of dice, there are six possible outcomes. Each die is a cube with six sides. Each side has a different number of spots. The die could show 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 spots.

What is the probability of the side with three spots being on top after the die is thrown? The probability of rolling a 3 = 1/6.

What is the probability of a 5 or a 6 or a 4 not being on top after the die is thrown?

Step 1: Decide how many favourable outcomes there are. 6 – 3 = 3

Step 2: Set up your equation. P = 3/6

Step 3: You could simplify that equation 3/6 = 1/2

If you were to roll the die two times, you would have a favourable outcome one of those times.

Exercises: Calculate

If there are 17 boys in your class of 35 students, what is the probability that your teacher will call a girl student’s name during class time?

You decide to watch a movie. There are four comedies in the stack of 10 DVDs. What is the probability you will pick a comedy?

Paul knows that once a week his mom cooks steamed fish for dinner. What is the probability that tonight Paul will not have steamed fish?

Friday’s answers

Ducks can swim, breathe air, and have legs.

Dodos and passenger pigeons are extinct.

By The BroThers Grimm

CONTINUED FROM MONDAY

Canadian consortium among bidders shortlisted for gas-to-shore project

Falls partnership – diplomat

ACanadian consortium of firms is among the bidders who have been shortlisted for the con struction of the transforma tional Gas-to-Shore Project, for which the Government is seeking a contractor to con struct the power plant and the Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) plant.

This was revealed by Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, Mark Berman, in a recent in terview. He had been asked about the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that Guyana signed with the Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC) in April of this year, with the aim of enhancing the commercial relationship between the two nations.

“There was some inter est in looking at the bridge across the Corentyne, between Guyana and Suriname. And most rele vant at the moment, is the Gas-to-Shore Project which obviously is one of the larg est infrastructure projects that Guyana has ever un dertaken. Which will signifi cantly reduce energy costs.”

“So that’s a process that’s in the works at the moment and there’s a Canadian con

sortium that has been short listed and we’re very op timistic about that. CCC would bring the Government guarantee to that project, if this consortium is identified as the winning bid,” High Commissioner Berman said.

It had previously been reported that five bids rang ing from US$450 million to US$900 million were re ceived for the construction of the Gas-to-Shore Project. At present, Government has been meeting with landown ers who will be affected by the project, with a view of of fering them compensation.

The Gas-to-Shore Project, which has a 25year lifespan, is expected to employ up to 800 workers during the peak construc tion stage, as well as some 40 full-time workers during the operations stage, and another 50 workers during the decommissioning stage.

The scope of the US$900 million Gas-to-Shore Project consists of the construction of 225 kilometres of pipe line from the Liza field in the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana, where Exxon and its partners are currently producing oil.

It features approxi mately 220 kilometres of

a subsea pipeline offshore that will run from the Liza Destiny and Unity Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels in the Stabroek Block to the shore. Upon landing on the West Coast Demerara shore, the pipeline will continue approximately 25 kilometres to the NGL plant at Wales, West Bank Demerara.

The pipeline would be 12 inches wide and is expected to transport some 50 million standard cubic feet per day (mscfpd) of dry gas to the NGL plant, but has the ca pacity to push as much as 120 mscfpd.

The pipeline route on shore will follow the same path as the fibreoptic ca bles and will terminate at Hermitage, part of the Wales Development Zone (WDZ), which will house the Gas-to-Shore Project.

The Guyana Government has invited interested par ties to make investments in the WDZ, which will be heavily industrialised and for which approximately 150 acres of land has been allo cated. Those land was pre viously used by the Wales Sugar Estate.

Amaila

According to Berman, the Gas-to-Shore Project is just one of a number of proj ects the CCC could be in volved in. He said that they have also had discussions with the Government on the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP).

Canada is well-known for its hydropower infra structure. In fact, the clean and renewable energy sup plied by hydropower ac counts for over 60 per cent of all the electricity generated in Canada. This is an area in which Berman said Canada could provide assistance to Guyana.

“The most obvious proj ects are the large infrastruc ture projects of which there are many in Guyana. And that’s one of the things the

oil and gas sector will allow the Government to strength en, the infrastructure in the country. Bridges, roads, hos pitals.”

“And energy infrastruc ture. So, we’ve had discus sions about potentially, for instance the Amaila (Falls) Hydropower project, which Canada has significant ex perience. Canadian compa nies may be interested in some bridge projects,” he said.

The revival of the 165-megawatt AFHP was one of the promises made by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic in its manifes to. The project was initiated under the previous People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration, but was scrapped by the coali tion Administration which

had controlled the National Assembly by a one-seat Opposition majority.

AFHP is expected to de liver a steady source of clean, renewable energy that is affordable and reli able, and is envisioned to meet approximately 90 per cent of Guyana’s domestic energy needs, while remov ing dependency on fossil fu els.

It is expected that the AFHP will be based on a BOOT model, wherein the company would supply elec tricity to the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc at a cost not exceeding US$0.07737 per kWh, and wherein the company would provide the entire equity required by the project and undertake all the risks associated with the project. (G3)

The Amaila Falls Hydropower Project

Govt has gone out to tender to seek contractors for the NGL and power plants

New lawyer supports Govt’s “passionate efforts” to establish local law school

Guyana’s Deputy Chief of Mission to the United States of America (USA), Zulfikar Ally, who was recently ad mitted to practice law in Guyana, has thrown his support behind Attorney General Anil Nandlall’s “passionate efforts” to es tablish a law school here.

Ally, the former President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Guyana, recently graduated from the Hugh Wooding Law School (HWLS) in Trinidad with a Legal Education Certificate (LEC) - a prereq uisite to practice as a law yer in the Commonwealth Caribbean.

His petition for ad mission was presented by Attorney-at-Law Devindra Kissoon before High Court Judge Priya SewnarineBeharry, whom he thanked for her invaluable advice and sharing of materials which undoubtedly played a great role in his legal stud ies.

“I wish to thank Attorney-at-Law Devindra Kissoon, my petitioner who has inspired in me the con fidence to pursue this field to the end, and whose coun sel and guidance not only in the field of law but in gen eral is greatly appreciated and respected,” he said.

Like many new attor neys, he reflected on the

sacrifices, dedication, pa tience, and perseverance that were required to have reached the finish line.

As an officer of the court, Ally said he is aware of a heavy responsibility to up hold and support the rule of law, adding, “I commit to en suring that our freedom as citizens of a democratic com munity is properly protect ed, regardless of the legal field I choose.”

“I vow to uphold the prin ciples and other tenets of this profession, including but not limited to adherence to the Legal Practitioners Code of Ethics, and serve dutifully,

fairly, and justly as is ex pected of any Attorney,” said the newly admitted counsel.

Rapid transformation

According to him, he is cognisant of the fact that the jurisprudence in Guyana is undergrowing a rapid trans formation that will require legal skills of the magnitude that we are not accustomed to but to which the Bar is more than capable of meet ing.

“I know the Attorney General and his team are up to that challenge, and I sup port his passionate efforts of ensuring that Guyana has

its own law school since I have seen many colleagues and friends who are bril liant prospective lawyers not qualifying for an al ready highly competitive top 25 space to attain a Legal Education Certificate.”

Each year, the top 25 stu dents from the University of Guyana’s Department of Law gain automatic accep tance to the HWLS to read for their LEC. The remain der would have to sit the law school’s entrance examina tions to gain admission.

Privileged

Throughout his life, Ally reflected on being privileged, on being able to meet but most importantly learn from many people. To this end, he acknowledged Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh and Tarachand Balgobin from the Ministry of Finance— his first place of employ ment, former President Donald Ramotar, and Dr Ranjisinghi Ramroop.

These persons, accord ing to him, have supported, encouraged, and given him opportunities to grow. Ally extended gratitude to his fa ther, who he described as a firm believer in education; his late mother who was an educator and his partner for their unwavering sup port and encouragement throughout his journey to the Bar.

To his friends in the pri vate sector, Ally said, “I thank you for your friend ship and guidance, for also showing me a different per spective on issues of nation al importance.”

While he is not sure about which field of law he intends to specialise in, Ally shared that what he does know is that he entered into the legal profession to con tribute towards supporting the court in ensuring that social justice is dispensed, that the basic principles of fairness, equality, and hu man rights are maintained, that the poor and those that who are disadvantaged are afforded the opportunity of a hearing, and more im portantly that democratic principles that we have em braced as a country continue to be observed. (G1)

Sick…

…party in Guyana??

Earlier this month, the PNC gathered at Congress Place to mark their 65th anniversary – but barely a handful showed up. It’s a cryin’ shame. It really symbolises where the party’s at right now – rudderless and totally unable to fire the imagination of its traditional followers. It’s in a crisis…but what exactly IS the crisis? Where do we start?! Right off the bat, Norton, the leader, has clearly lost whatever support he had when he was elected by a majority of the delegates at a special Congress last December.

Their sentiment after Granger gave up his futile squatting on the presidency was exactly that which had prevailed in 2002 when Hoyte passed – a new leader who’d aggressively take on the PPP was needed!! The sanctimonious Granger had wilted under the fire of world leaders as Burnham hadn’t – never mind the times had changed and the leaders were then between a rock and a hard place!! But before departing he’d selected a whole range of newbies to represent the PNC in Parliament so when Norton took over with his own slate of newbies after months of vicious infighting, it was clear all wasn’t well under the fronds of the Palm Tree.

Norton’s dilemma was he couldn’t really stamp his authority as Opposition Leader when the MPs in Parliament weren’t beholden to him and all wanted to burnish their own credentials. While he was in his 60s and had been around the block and then some, he hadn’t acquired the gravitas and respect that had characterised earlier leaders like Burnham and Hoyte. It didn’t help that he’d been ejected by Hoyte as General Secretary and – being his “creature” – could be fired at (his) will! He’d also had runins with Corbin, Granger and Volda Lawrence in the PNC leadership corps!!

Like with Corbin, the middle class who installed him felt they needed someone from the streets who could “manners” the PPP and were expecting in-your-face politics from the word go!! But Norton was in a bind – while he came off like a thug, he’s smart enough to know that with the new demographics if he could get some cross-over votes he stood good chance of whupping the PPP at the polls –sooner or later!! So he’s been fighting on several fronts –internally in the PNC, to get control of the machinery, and externally, to simultaneously project “toughness” without scaring away “outsiders”!!

But the scant turnout at the PNC’s anniversary and the lacklustre public meetings indicate that he gotta put up or shut up. Be fish (present an alternative, inclusive vision for all Guyana) or fowl (come out into the streets). The latter is doomed to failure on getting the PNC into office, but the former will take time.

Does he have that??

…man of Europe??

In the estimate of some, Britain’s become the “sick man of Europe”. Ironic Brexit, eh?!! Scotland’s threatening to split and the economy has imploded into a black hole!! Like the US, the Brits are reaping the bitter fruit of using the weapons of mass destruction that back up the financialization of their economies that generate more profits than the real economy!! It’s a house of cards! America might be able to carry on for a few decades more – after all, they still can keep the mirage going since they issue the de facto reserve currency of the world!!Britain doesn’t have that luxury – notwithstanding the position of the City of London in the globalised financial economy. Well, because of its meltdown Britain’s fourth PM in as many months will be the once-rejected (because of his race) Indian-origin (via Africa) Rishi Sunak.

With all his financial legerdemain, your Eyewitness doesn’t think he can bring back the dead!!

…GPSU Credit Union

The aforementioned institution scheduled its courtordered meeting – to sort out their internal struggle for power – on Divali Day!! Was that because they have no Hindu members whose sensibilities might be offended – or because they sought divine intervention??!

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

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

L-R: Attorney-at-Law Devindra Kissoon, Senior Counsel Ralph Ramkarran, High Court Judge Priya Sewnarine-Beharry, Attorney-at-Law Zulfikar Ally, US Ambassador to Guyana Sarah-Ann Lynch and Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh

Body of teen pulled from Kara Kara Creek

was about to go into her home when she heard some one shouting, “Help! Help!”.

As such, she rushed to the scene, and saw the teen in the water, helpless and sinking. Devika said she

began to shout for help, be cause she does not know how to swim either, and a short while after, the teen’s body sank under the water.

She said that persons in the area rushed to the creek

and immediately started to search for the teen, but the strong current in the creek prevented them from locat ing her. An investigation has since been launched.

Only about a month

ago, 17-year-old Nazana Samaroo of Lot 33 Little Diamond Squatting Area, East Bank Demerara, drowned while swimming at a creek at Wismar, Linden. (G12)

Two days after she al legedly plunged into the Kara Kara Creek and never resurfaced, the lifeless body of 14-year-old Kenneitha Angela Graves has been retrieved.

According to informa tion received, the body was pulled from the creek at about 10:30h on Monday.

Graves, who resided at Lot 24 Kara Kara, Linden, went for a swim on Saturday at about 10:00h. Police said that the teen had left home

at about 09:30h unknowing to her mother, and had gone to a house at Lower Kara Kara, where she normally goes to play with children living there.

Devika, whose house the teen would normally visit, has said the teen was stand ing by a creek located at the back of her yard when she told the teen, “If you cannot swim, move from next to the creek.”

Devika said she left the teen standing there, and

The teen’s body after it was pulled from the creek

Residents call for deplorable Patentia Housing Scheme roads to be addressed

Residents of Patentia Housing Scheme, West Bank Demerara, are calling for immediate in tervention to remedy the state of the roads, which have been left in a deplorable state for some time.

In conversation with some residents on Sunday, it was relayed that streets along the

entire network are littered with potholes and craters, posing a difficulty for drivers.

Coupled with the narrowness of the road, they are signifi cantly affected.

“These roads only have space for one vehicle to pass and if another one coming, you have to go in the corner by a parapet and wait. Now

with the holes, it is really bad.

And is the entire thing. We really need something done here,” said one man identi fied as Mark (only name pro vided).

The man shared that only one of the roads was recently paved and in good condition. The others are broken, tak ing persons longer to traverse and even causing more dam age to vehicles.

“With how the road situ ate, some ain’t even. So, when

you turn into another street, it get a big drop and it can damage your car. You have only certain roads you can drive on if you want to save your car,” the man added.

As he called for interven tion, the resident stated that authorities should intervene at the soonest to provide some relief.

“It would be nice if some body from the Ministry or somewhere can come and look into it. At least get an idea

what we going through and how they could fix it. Cause is long long now we dealing with this issue.”

A few months ago, large craters coupled with unlit carriageways was the state of the West Bank Demerara (WBD) Public Road, which led to commuters calling for immediate intervention.

The public road, stretch ing from La Grange to Patentia, is one of the main access roads on the WBD.

Complaints were that the road is broken with holes along the throughfare and as such, drivers are left to navigate through deep in dentations, measuring some 10 inches deep, resulting in damages to their vehicles.

It was pointed out at that time that a majority of the West Bank stretch need ed upgrades. At some areas, large bumps across the road way were also identified as a major hazard. (G12)

Large craters across the streets in the scheme

An aerial view at the dilapidated road network

Shri Krishna Mandir, New Amsterdam (Suresh Sugrim)

(Gaitree Bhyropersaud photo)

(Gaitree Bhyropersaud photo)

3 houses destroyed, 3 damaged, 1 vehicle burnt, 24 homeless in Berbice fires

Fires in both East and West Berbice have re sulted in five build ings being damaged, includ ing two that were completely destroyed. Additionally, a car was also destroyed in one of the fires.

Divisional Fire Officer Clive McDonald said that ten persons are now home less as a result of those fires.

One of the fires, he said, started from a car and then spread to the house at Number 50 Village, Corentyne, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), on Monday morning.

That fire damaged two buildings.

At about 10:30h on Monday, a Toyota Carina, which was parked un der a building, burst into flames. It is still not clear what caused that fire.

Nevertheless, the fire spread to the building which was owned by a US citizen and occupied by the owner of the car, Enque Hintzen and two others.

The fire quickly spread to a second building. However, the quick reaction by resi dents resulted in them be ing able to curtail the fire.

The Corriverton Fire Service responded quickly and was able to put out the blaze.

Stove burst into flames

Meanwhile, at about 08:00h, firefighters on the West Coast of Berbice, Region Five (MahaicaBerbice), responded to a call of a fire at Number 8 Village.

Marcel Bobb, who lived there with three other fam ily members, reported that his gas stove burst into flames.

According to McDonald,

forensic fire investigators revealed that the hose to the gas stove was leaking as a result of a rupture. He said the naked flames from the

stove ignited the gas and caused the inferno.

Personnel from Onverwagt Fire Station re sponded but by the time

they arrived on the scene the fire was already extin guished by occupants of the building and residence.

The three buildings that were destroyed at Corriverton, Berbice

Boodnarine Dhanraj and his family

Guyana’s health bar: Nutrition Crave shines for promoting healthy eating

Introducing healthy and delicious meals where persons do not have to compromise on their diet or busy schedule, Nutrition Crave has been creating a buzz in the local food world.

From their Instagramworthy meals with well-pre sented ingredients, the rel atively new business has taken the food market by storm in promoting nutri tious meals. Filled with or ganic ingredients, healthy grains and fresh vegetables, it has created an avenue for persons to maintain a healthy diet while on the go without succumbing to fast food options.

Speaking on their jour ney, Founder of the business Renecia John highlight ed that the business was birthed after she had diffi culties finding such meals in Guyana, having travelled abroad where it was easily accessible.

John expounded, “It started just a little of year ago. I realised that there was a need for healthy eat ing in Guyana since I would have travelled with stom ach issues. Whenever I go to purchase stuff, I realised that there is no way I could have ordered something custom prepared for me, like I could’ve added what I wanted and taken out what

it is that I don’t want. From travelling, I realised that it was being offered in oth er parts of the world but not available to the Guyanese public. That’s how I start ed.”

“We just started out with the smoothies and sand wiches actually and then started introducing the sal ads. We found that many persons were in the same place that I was, looking for something that they can eat on a daily basis, not al ways having to prepare it at home. If they didn’t have the time to prepare or if they’re

on a diet, they don’t have to compromise. They can al ways stop by at Crave.”

However, the business was started during the COVID pandemic – a peri od where there was great uncertainty and economic challenges globally. Since then, Crave has grown to newer heights and consum ers are loving the products.

“It’s something that I en joy doing and it is my live lihood. Starting the busi ness during COVID, it was challenging I think mental ly because persons weren’t really leaving their homes.

For the few that we’re leav ing, we didn’t know how it would have gone. What I knew at that time was there was a need for healthy eat ing since everyone was con cerned about their health, well-being and immune sys tem,” John shared.

Renecia shared that per sons are allowed to build their own meal, or they can choose from the healthy se lection of wraps, sandwich es, soups, pressed juices, salad bowls, and smoothies. There are also juices for de tox, recovery, vitality and cleansing.

“At Crave, we try to offer everything persons would

want to eat that is healthy, from salads, smoothies, fresh juices using no sugar or water, wraps, chia pud dings, and sandwiches. As Guyanese, one of the things I realise is that everyday we’re being exposed to so cial media and we’re taking a look at what is there in terms of healthy eating. We want to be able to try it as well and know that there is somewhere we can purchase it. It’s not that we’re disre garding our local dishes but we can also have new things as well.”

With an extended menu, she said they are able to ca ter for needs of persons who

have specific dietary re quirements. It has also shed light on the myriad of per sons suffering from some form of complication or an other.

She explained, “By my surprise, there are so many persons having complica tions and stomach issues. We’re able as a staff to guide them and say what they can have or shouldn’t have. It makes it very simple and easy to understand what they’re going through.”

Nutrition Crave is locat ed at South Road and Albert Street, and can be found at https://www.nutrition crave592.com.

Founder of Nutrition Crave, Renecia John

Healthy options available on their menu for mindful meals

3 homeless after Linden fire

New Public Procurement Commission looking to fill vacancies

Three persons are homeless after an early morning fire de stroyed their Amelia’s Ward, Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), home on Monday.

Reports are that the fire started at about 10:30h while two persons – the own er’s son and his girlfriend –were inside the home.

An alarm was raised and the Fire Service was

3 houses destroyed...

McDonald praised the community effort which he referred to as being swift and prompt.

Child was playing with lighter Meanwhile, on Saturday, seven persons were left homeless when a fire at Corriverton, Region Six spread to two additional buildings at Goor Persaud Avenue.

Reports are that the fire started at the house owned by 23-year-old Stacy Johnson, a Government part-time employee at tached to Number 76 Health Centre.

Johnson and six other family members occupied the building.

Reports are that at about 13:00h a child was playing with a lighter and paper, and the fire caught other combustible material.

The fire quickly spread

to the next building which was occupied by Beharazade Amin and two other family members.

Both buildings were completely destroyed.

When the Fire Service arrived on the scene, one of the buildings was ready gutted and another fully en gulfed in flames.

With no water source available, the firefighters were forced to shuttle water in their supply tank which has a capacity of 400 gal lons.

Additionally, the fire spread to a third building which is occupied by a cou ple. However, firefighters were able to prevent exten sive damage to that build ing.

Reports are that after the fire was initially seen in the first building, residents did not know what num ber to call to get a quick

summoned to the scene. However, by the time the Fire Service arrived, the flames had spread and caused extensive damage.

An investigation has been launched.

FROM PAGE 14

response from the Fire Department.

In the wake of this, McDonald said citizens can call the Fire Department on the following emergency numbers: New Amsterdam, 333-2261 and 333-2262; Rose Hall Town, 322-5707 and 322-5708; Corriverton, 339-2021; Onverwagt, 3282657 and 328-2658.

On Monday evening, a fire of unknown origin gutted a house at Lot 77 Palmyra Village, owed by a 52-year-old security guard.

Reports are that the fire started at about 08:30 pm.

Speaking with Guyana Times, the owner of the home, Boodnarine Dhanraj, said that the family had just finished praying and lit their diyas. He said he was in the hammock at the bottom of the house and his grandchildren were playing in the yard.

According to Dhanraj, he heard someone shout “fire” and he saw the upper flat of the house engulfed in flames.

Dhanraj said that there were no diyas lit in the up per flat of the house. He said that he lived in the house with his wife, six children; two sons-in-law and four grandchildren. The man re lated that he built the home three years ago.

Persons who may want to help the family rebuild can contact them on tele phone numbers (592) 6733440 or (592) 633-8185. (G4)

The recently estab lished five-member Public Procurement Commission (PPC) has ad vertised for various posts at its Secretariat.

The job vacancies ad vertised are a Head of Operations, Head of Legal/ Compliance, Attorney-atLaw, Human Resources/ Administrative Officer, Civil Engineer, Procurement Specialist, Public Relations Officer, Executive Assistant, and Driver/Office Assistant.

The members of the PPC were appointed by President Dr Irfaan Ali in July. They are Attorney-at-Law Pauline Chase; Economist Rawle Lucas; Financial Analyst Joel Bhagwandin; Berkley Wickham and Rajnarine Singh.

Chase also serves as President of the Bar Association of Guyana. The Terms of Reference for each post can be uplifted from the PPC Secretariat at 262 New Garden Street, Georgetown, or via email at publicpro curement@ppc.org.gy.

Interested applicants are encouraged to send their curriculum vitae and

Expressions of Interest to the Chief Executive Officer at the above-mentioned email address.

The deadline for the sub mission of applications is November 7.

The PPC is a constitu tional body established to monitor public procure ment to ensure that not only principles of public pro curement—fairness, equi ty, transparency, value for money, and competition are upheld but also that proce dures of public procurement are executed in accordance with the procurement laws of Guyana.

The priority areas of the PPC are to promote aware ness of the rules for pub lic procurement in Guyana, spearhead reform of the leg islative framework of the public procurement system, investigate complaints of ir regularities in public pro curement and monitor the performance of public pro curement entities.

The Constitution of Guyana mandates that the PPC shall consist of five members who shall have ex pertise and experience in pro

curement, legal, finance, and administrative matters. The President shall appoint the members of the Commission after such members have been nominated by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and approved by not less than two-thirds of the elect ed members of the National Assembly.

According to the Constitution, the members of the PPC shall be appoint ed for three years and shall be eligible for re-appoint ment for one other term of office, not earlier than three years after the end of their first term. Of those appoint ed, two shall hold office for four years. The life of the last PPC came to an end in October 2020.

The first PPC was es tablished in October 2016, more than a decade after the Constitution was amended to cater to the procurement oversight body.

Former Labour Minister Nanda Kishore Gopaul, Carol Corbin, Sukrishnalall Pasha, Emily Dodson and Ivor English were its first members. Corbin was elect ed as its chairperson. (G1)

Applications for steel, cement subsidies open today

Persons who wish to benefit from the steel and cement sub sidy from the Housing Ministry’s Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), can now sign up as applications will open to day.

Application forms can be uplifted from the Central Housing and Planning Authority on Brickdam, Georgetown and at Regional Housing Offices countrywide.

Applicants must pro vide copies of TIN certifi cates, identification cards or passports, marriage cer tificates (if applicable), and approved house plan from the various municipalities/

Neighbourhood Democratic Councils.

Estimates for the home construction must also be provided with an approved loan from a financial insti tution, proof of address and proof of land acquired.

President Dr Irfaan Ali in July announced that persons constructing homes costing $6 million or less are eligible for steel and one sling of ce ment for the construction of the foundation.

Meanwhile, homes that cost more than $6 million and up to $25 million will be given two slings of cement.

The Government is in vesting $700 million in the Steel and Cement Housing

Subsidy programme. This support forms part of the Government’s commitment to making homeownership affordable while also expand ing the housing sector and adding to the host of mea sures already implemented.

Persons can be assured of transparency in the dis tribution of the assistance as Housing Minister Collin Croal had guaranteed trans parency in the distribution process.

In addition, President Ali, while addressing media operatives, noted that there will be a mechanism where by monitoring will be done to ensure people are construct ing their houses.

The damaged interior of the building (NCN Linden photo)

Kitty gold heist

Wanted man shot dead in French Guiana

AntonioMaraj, who was among three men wanted for last August’s heist at a gold trading company at Kitty, Georgetown, was shot dead in French Guiana earlier this month.

Details surrounding the shooting are still sketchy.

It is understood that Maraj, 25, also called “Pluckin” or “Thuggy” of Leopold Street, Georgetown; Agricola, Greater Georgetown, and Buxton, East Coast Demerara (ECD), fled to French Guiana short ly after local Police issued a wanted bulletin for him.

The young man, who was laid to rest last week, has had several run-ins with the law, having been charged on numerous occasions with robbery under arms.

Dequan King, the get

in the company of others.

He further admitted to three counts of robbery un der arms committed on Francis Santos of gold jew ellery and cash amounting to GY$224,000; Fernanda

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 GY$38 million in cash, 60 ounces of raw gold valued at GY$20 million, and two mobile phones. After committing the rob bery, the armed men bound and gagged the cashier and two other staff after which they locked them in a room.

Moments after escaping in a white motor car, the cashier managed to free herself and raised an alarm.

Investigations led to the arrest of Keyon King, 32, who was at the time a Sergeant in the Guyana

wanted bulletin for 25-yearold ex-soldier Jamal Hazel of Guyhoc Park, Georgetown.

He and Maraj were caught on CCTV during the commissioning of the rob bery.

Police had found the car belonging to Keyon King parked outside a house at Lot 435 Cummings Lodge, Greater Georgetown. Upon searching the premises, Police found and seized sev eral household items. It was reported that neighbours told the Police that the man who lived there had left for the interior.

Millions recovered Following leads, the de tectives turned up at the home of Keyon King at Vergenoegen, East Bank Essequibo (EBE), where a search was conducted in the house but nothing substan tial was found. Nevertheless, during a search in the yard, the detectives noticed a dis turbed piece of land and de cided to dig.

It was then a bucket was found buried, which, when checked, contained GY$15 million in GY$5000 notes and an additional GY$3 mil

lion in GY$1000 notes.

The bucket was reported ly wrapped in two black gar bage bags while the money was neatly packed in trans parent bags.

As such, Keyon King and his wife were arrested. During interrogation, he told investigators that he was part of the initial plan to rob the gold establishment but he was not one of the per sons who committed 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 released. (G1)

away driver in the rob bery and for whom a want ed bulletin was also issued, was nabbed in neighbouring Suriname on October 9 and deported to Guyana.

He appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts last week on several robbery under arms charges to which he pleaded guilty.

Before Principal Magistrate Sherdel IsaacsMarcus, King, called “Titus”, or “Quanie”, of D Field Sophia, Greater Georgetown, pleaded guilty to robbing Wallison Enterprise of GY$38 mil lion and GY$20 million worth of raw gold—proper ty of Francis Santos Lumes, while armed with a gun and

Carmichael of an iPhone valued at GY$350,000 and Williams Batista DaSilva of a phone valued at GY$160,000.

Unrepresented by le gal counsel, King, in his ad dress to the court, 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 a wanted bulletin was issued for him. While hiding out in Suriname, he said that he was involved in a crime for which he did not disclose the nature and was arrested. Sentencing for King, who was remanded, was deferred to November 21.

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.

Jailed 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 pend ing the outcome of their tri al. Apart from Maraj and Dequan King, the Police Force had also issued a

File photo captured from CCTV footage: The gunmen binding the employees

Dead: Antonio Maraj Convicted robber: Dequan King

Wanted: Jamal Hazel

From L-R: Peon Lee, Keyon King, and Delroy Jackson

Regional

Brazil's Lula widens lead slightly over Bolsonaro for Sunday vote -poll

Leftist presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has in creased his lead slightly over his far-right adversary President Jair Bolsonaro six days ahead of their runoff in Brazil's divisive election, a Monday poll said.

Lula leads by 52.0 per cent of the votes against 46.2 per cent for Bolsonaro, according to the AtlasIntel poll, inching forward from 51.1 per cent to Bolsonaro's 46.5 per cent in the previous poll two weeks ago.

The poll was complet ed before a shooting inci dent on Sunday involving Bolsonaro supporter and for mer Congressman Roberto Jefferson, which had the president's campaign wor ried about a negative impact on opinion polls, a senior aide said.

The changes for both candidates were less than the margin of error of one percentage point, but with the election to be decided on Sunday even a stable race at this point favours frontrun

ner Lula.

"The poll is good news for Lula," said AtlasIntel chief executive Andrei Roman.

Although the survey did not reflect the impact of Sunday's incident where the Bolsonaro supporter shot and wounded Policemen as he resisted arrest, Roman said the President's recovery since the first-round vote on

October 2 has stalled.

Bolsonaro had begun to reduce Lula's lead to three or four percentage points thanks to a wave of new so cial spending in the final months of the election cam paign with benefits calculat ed by Reuters to cost 273 bil lion reais (US$52 billion) to the Treasury this year and next. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Colombia urged to push human rights in renewed relationship with Venezuela

Colombia could use its restored diplo matic relations with Venezuela to help curb hu man rights violations in its neighbour, advocacy group Human Rights Watch said in a letter to Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Monday.

Colombia and Venezuela reopened a major crossing point to cargo transport be tween the two countries in late September in a ma jor thawing after years of icy bilateral relations and heavily restricted econom ic ties.

While rebuilding rela tions with the Government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Colombia's leftist administration should also remain focused

on helping to address the human rights and human itarian crisis in Venezuela, the rights organisation said.

"Colombia should prior itise obtaining concrete hu man rights commitments from Venezuelan authori ties," the group said, adding that other key areas would include supporting access of humanitarian assistance, re-establishing the rule of law, and addressing vio lence, abuse, and human trafficking at the border, among other topics.

Colombia's Government did not immediately re spond to the letter from Human Rights Watch, which also noted the coun try's "mostly exemplary" re sponse to Venezuela's cri sis, which has caused some

7.1 million people to flee the country.

Venezuela's govern ment did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters about the letter.

In September, the United Nations International Independent Fact-Finding Mission for Venezuela found that state intelligence agencies under Maduro's helm had suppressed the Opposition through arbi trary detentions and tor ture that amounted to crimes against humanity.

Previous governments in Bogota have accused Maduro of harbouring Colombian criminals and rebel groups, such as the National Liberation Army, accusations he has denied. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Barbados: MP Rowe granted bail

Former Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly, Neil Rowe was arraigned in the Oistins Court moments ago, charged with having unlawful sexu al intercourse with a female last month.

Rowe, the two-time MP for St Michael North West, was not required to plead to the charge that he raped the woman on September 18 this year.

The politician was repre sented by Attorneys Roger Forde (KC) and Safiya Moore.

Following no objection from the Prosecutor, acting Inspector Peter Barrow, Rowe

was granted Bds$10,000 bail with one surety by Magistrate Deidre McKenna on his first appearance and the matter was adjourned until January 30 next year.

Over the weekend, Prime Minister, Mia Amor Mottley had named veteran MP, Cynthia Forde as the new Deputy Speaker of the House, with effect from to morrow.

Rowe arrived at Oistins in a police vehicle at 09:31h, and was flanked by three members of the Barbados Police Service as he entered the court.

The accused man was met

by a flurry of activity outside the court, where Journalists had gathered.

Rowe hid his face under a blue scarf as he entered the court wearing a white shirt jack and navy blue pants.

Also at court for support, was the Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Labour Party, Pat Parris, and other party members.

After arraignment, Forde told reporters he had grave concerns about information regarding the case which been placed in the public do main via social media.

(Excerpt from Nation News)

Paraguay rebel leader Villalba killed in clash with army

The leader of a small but violent left-wing rebel group which has been terrorising rural communities in Paraguay has been killed in a clash with soldiers, officials say.

Osvaldo Villalba was the leader of the Paraguayan People's Army (EPP), which has carried out a string of killings and kidnappings in Paraguay.

Among those being held by the EPP is the country's former Vice President, Óscar Denis.

He was kidnapped in September 2020.

Army officials told re porters that soldiers had come across the rebels on Sunday after they heard gunshots while on patrol

in Amambay province. When they arrived at the scene of the shooting they found two Indigenous persons had been killed and a third injured by the rebels.

An army spokesman said it was not clear why the rebels had attacked the Indigenous men, but the two groups have in the past clashed over the re cruitment of Indigenous children by the EPP.

In the shoot-out be tween the Army and the EPP which followed three rebels were killed. Only two of them have so far been identified.

Fingerprints tak en from one of the bod ies matched those held in

Police records for 39-yearold Osvaldo Villalba.

Osvaldo is the younger brother of Carmen Villalba – one of the founders of the EPP who is serving a lengthy jail sentence for the attempted murder of three Police Officers during a foiled jailbreak in 2004.

The other body was identified as that of Luciano "Luchi" Argüello, an EPP member whose two brothers Jonny and Benicio – also members of the guerrilla group – were found shot dead two years ago.

Paraguay's President Mario Abdo on Sunday called on EPP members to hand themselves in. (Excerpt from BBC News)

US targets Nicaragua’s gold sector in latest push against Ortega

President Joe Biden has signed an exec utive order target ing Nicaragua’s gold indus try, as the United States aims to punish Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega over a crackdown on dissent and curbs to democratic institu tions.

Biden’s executive or der gives the US Treasury Department “the authori ty to target certain persons that operate or have operat ed in the gold sector of the Nicaraguan economy”, the Department said in a state ment on Monday.

It also allows Washington to bar new US investments in Nicaraguan economic sectors, imports of certain products from the Central American nation and exports by US citizens of certain items to Nicaragua, it said, among other potential measures.

The Treasury also sanc tioned Nicaragua’s min ing authority, the General Directorate of Mines, and a Nicaraguan Government of ficial and “close confidant” of Ortega.

“The Ortega-Murillo re gime’s continued attacks on democratic actors and mem

bers of civil society and unjust detention of political prison ers demonstrate that the re gime feels it is not bound by the rule of law,” Treasury of ficial Brian E Nelson said in the statement.

“With President Biden’s new Executive Order, we can and will use every tool at our disposal to deny the OrtegaMurillo regime the resources they need to continue to un dermine democratic institu tions in Nicaragua,” Nelson said.

The Biden Administration

has imposed a slew of sanc tions in recent months, in cluding US visa restrictions, on Nicaraguan officials and their relatives over the coun try’s poor human rights re cord.

Ortega has faced grow ing international criticism over his Government’s crack down on Opposition lead ers and human rights activ ists, especially in the lead-up to elections last year that Western nations denounced as a “sham”. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

T&T: Boy, 3, loses life in house fire

Athree-year-old boy perished in a fire at his Morvant home on Monday afternoon.

It was the second time in a little over eight years that tragedy struck Kimani Braithwaite’s family, as his two uncles were murdered at the family’s Petunia Avenue, Coconut Drive, Morvant home in 2014 before he was even born.

According to reports, the fire began around 01:00h, on Monday when Brathwaite’s mother left him, and his sev en-year-old and five-yearold brothers with her uncle Roulston Stanislaus as she left home to run an errand.

In a brief interview, Stanislaus said that he was

upstairs with Braithwaite, who was sleeping when his siblings alerted him to a fire downstairs.

Stanislaus led the two boys downstairs to investi gate, but was forced to flee outside as the fire had al ready spread.

Stanislaus claimed that he attempted to go back in side to rescue Braithwaite, but was unable to as the house was quickly engulfed by the fire.

A fire tender from the Morvant Fire Station arrived on the scene shortly after and extinguished the fire.

“He could not talk much as yet, but he was full of life,” an emotional Stanislaus said when asked to describe the

toddler.

When a news team from Guardian Media visited the scene, a large group of res idents gathered outside as Police and fire officers con ducted their investigations.

Braithwaite’s father and uncle were inconsolable upon arriving at the location as both men ignored the caution tape blocking access to the smoul dering remains of the house and attempted to go inside.

They were quickly re strained by a group of male residents and the officers.

Braithwaite’s mother also collapsed and had to be con soled by a group of relatives as his body was being removed by funeral home staff. (Excerpt from Trinidad Guardian)

Former Brazilian President and current presidential candidate, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attends a march with his wife Rosangela da Silva in Porto Alegre, Brazil, October 19, 2022 (Reuters/Diego Vara)

A banner shows Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo in Managua, Nicaragua, on November 2, 2021 [File: Stringer/Reuters]

Oil prices ease on Chinese demand data, stronger dollar

Oil settled lower in choppy trade on Monday as data showing demand from China remained lacklustre in September and a strong US dollar weighed, while weakening US business activity data eased expectations for more aggressive interest rate hikes and limited price decline.

Brent crude futures for December delivery settled at US$93.26 a barrel, down 24 cents, 0.3 per cent, after rising 2 per cent last week. US West Texas Intermediate crude lost US$84.58 a barrel, losing 47 cents, 0.6 per cent. Both benchmarks had fallen by US$2 a barrel earlier in the session.

Although higher than in August, China's September crude imports of 9.79 million barrels per day were 2 per cent below a year earlier, customs data showed on Monday, as independent refiners curbed throughput amid thin margins and lacklustre demand.

"The recent recovery in oil imports faltered in September," ANZ analysts said in a note, adding that independent refiners failed to utilise increased quotas as ongoing COVID-related lockdowns weighed on demand.

Uncertainty over China's zero-COVID policy and property crisis are undermining the effectiveness of pro-growth measures, ING analysts said in a note, even though thirdquarter gross domestic product growth beat expectations.

Ongoing strength in the US dollar, which was up again for part of the trading session following another suspected foreign exchange intervention by Japan, also posed problems for oil prices.

A stronger dollar makes oil more expensive for non-US buyers.

"Further dollar strength would weigh on WTI values with a test of our expected downside at the 79.50 mark likely by week’s end," said Jim Ritterbusch of Ritterbusch and Associates.

Oil prices regained some ground after data that showed US business activity contracted for a fourth straight month in October, with manufacturers and services firms in a monthly survey of purchasing managers both reporting weaker client demand.

S&P Global said its flash US Composite PMI Output Index, which tracks the manufacturing and services sectors, fell to 47.3 this month from a final reading of 49.5 in September.

That weakening could indicate that the US Federal Reserve's interest rate increases to fight inflation have been working and may persuade it to slow its rate hike policies, a positive signal for fuel demand, said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures group.

"The miss on the PMI number is a sign that the economy may be slowing a bit, which turns out to be bullish," Flynn said.

Brent rose last week despite US President Joe Biden announcing the sale of a remaining 15 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves, part of a record 180-million-barrel release that began in May.

Biden added that his aim would be to replenish stocks when US crude is around US$70 a barrel.

But Goldman Sachs said the stocks release was unlikely to have a large impact on prices.

"Such a release is likely to have only a modest influence (<US$5/bbl) on oil prices", the bank said in a note. (Reuters)

Around the World

Rishi Sunak wins race to become the UK’s new Prime Minister

Rishi Sunak will be come the United Kingdom’s new Prime Minister af ter winning the ruling Conservative Party’s lead ership contest, which was triggered by the resigna tion of Liz Truss last week.

Sunak’s win on Monday came days after Truss’s res ignation after her disas trous tax cuts plans and policy U-turns plunged the markets into chaos. The un precedented economic cri sis drew a rare intervention from the Bank of England.

Britain faces serious economic challenges and needs stability and unity, Sunak said on Monday in his first public speech since winning the contest.

“There is no doubt we face a profound econom ic challenge,” Sunak said. “We now need stability and

Former British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak leaves his home in London [Andy Rain/EPA-EFE]

unity, and I will make it my utmost priority to bring our party and our country together.”

Sunak, a former Finance Minister, has been left with

the task of steering a deep ly divided country through an economic downturn set to make millions of people poorer.

Al Jazeera’s Andrew

Simmons, reporting from London, said Sunak is “pretty well placed” despite the challenges ahead.

Sunak’s only challenger, Penny Mordaunt, leader of the House of Commons and former Defence Minister, was reportedly backed by 30 MPs compared with nearly 150 supporting Sunak.

Sunak will be the UK’s first leader of colour and the first Hindu to take the top job. At 42, he will also be the youngest prime minis ter in more than 200 years.

The multimillionaire former hedge fund boss will be expected to impose deep spending cuts to try to re build the UK’s fiscal rep utation, just as the coun try slides into a recession, dragged down by the surg ing costs of energy and food. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

St Louis: 3 dead, 6 injured after school shooting

of about 400 students has yet been identified.

A teenage girl was pro nounced dead inside the school, while one woman died in hospital, Police told local media.

Students were running out of the school when offi cers arrived and said the at tacker had a "long gun", ac cording to the city's Police Commissioner Michael Sack.

ready to die?"

Those injured are said to be suffering from gunshot wounds, shrapnel injuries and cardiac arrest.

Data from the Education Week outlet show there have been at least 35 school shootings, in which at least one person was killed or in jured, so far this year.

A t least three people, including the sus pect, have died and six others are injured after a shooting at a high school in St Louis, Missouri.

The gunman en tered Central Visual & Performing Arts High School shortly after 09:00 local time (13:00 GMT) on Monday.

The doors of the school

building were locked and it was not immediately clear how the suspect entered.

St Louis Public Schools have said Police "quickly stopped" the gunman.

The suspect, believed to be in his 20s, exchanged gunfire with Police and lat er succumbed to his inju ries.

Neither his motive nor his connection to the school

First peace talks on Ethiopia's Tigray conflict to start in South Africa

Negotiators for the Ethiopian Government and re gional forces from Tigray were due to meet in the South African capital Pretoria for the first formal peace talks since war broke out two years ago.

The talks come after the Ethiopian military and their allies, who include troops from neighbouring Eritrea, captured several large towns in Tigray, a region in northern Ethiopia, over the past week.

The situation on the ground appeared to put the Government in a stronger po sition than its opponents go ing into the talks, though it was under pressure from for

eign powers, including the United States and European Union, to halt its offensive.

The war stems from a power struggle between the Federal Government and the authorities in Tigray, who dominated a coalition that governed Ethiopia for almost

three decades until they lost their grip on power in 2018.

The conflict has killed thousands, displaced millions and left hundreds of thou sands on the brink of famine.

It has also further desta bilised the perennially vola tile Horn of Africa region and

complicated Ethiopia's diplo matic relations with Western allies, who have been calling for a ceasefire.

The talks, mediated by the African Union, were shrouded in secrecy. Sources from both sides gave conflicting infor mation as to when face-to-face meetings would begin, and the African Union declined to answer questions from media.

Ethiopia's government said in a statement its delega tion had left for South Africa.

The Tigray delegation is being led by one of its top gen erals, Tsadkan Gebretensae, and spokesman Getachew Reda, an official familiar with the talks told Reuters. (Excerpt from Reuters)

First-year student Raven Terry told the KMOV local news station the at tacker had walked up to a friend and asked her: "You

Earlier on Monday, a teenager in Michigan plead ed guilty to 24 charges, including terrorism and first-degree murder, after a rampage at his high school last November. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Myanmar crisis: 50 killed in air raid on Kachin rebels, reports say

An air raid targeting one of Myanmar's biggest ethnic insur gent groups has killed at least 50 people and injured about 100, reports say.

The death toll was giv en to the BBC by Colonel Naw Bu, spokesman of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).

Eyewitnesses in Kachin State, northern Myanmar, say aircraft dropped three bombs on a concert organised by the KIA in Kansi village.

Villagers said there was no warning before the raid.

The concert in Kansi was to mark the 62nd anniversa ry of the rebel army's cam paign for autonomy.

Witnesses reported three huge explosions at around 20:30 (14:00 GMT) local time on Sunday. They ripped apart the cluster of build ings at the base and caused heavy casualties in the au dience.

Among those killed are believed to be four popular Kachin singers.

Eyewitnesses say the mili tary blocked medics trying to move the injured to the nearby town of Hpakant, which has a hospital.

This part of Kachin State has been fiercely contested for many years by the mili tary and Kachin insurgents because of its jade mines, which are thought to be worth around US$30 billion (£27 billion) a year.

There has been frequent fighting there before and af ter the military coup last year, which deposed the ci vilian Government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

This attack may be ret ribution, or a warning, from the military, over the sup port the Kachin insurgents have been giving to other armed groups in Myanmar formed to resist the coup.

Addis Ababa Police Officers holding the Ethiopian national flags, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, June 19, 2021

Emotional parents outside the school

DAILY

HOROSCOPES

(March 21-April 19)

DILBERT

(April 20-May 20)

Join forces with someone who wants the same things as you. Discuss your thoughts and intentions and map out how you intend to reach your goal. Avoid pressure tactics when trying to get your way.

Announce your plans and listen to the feedback you receive. Staying on top of what’s important to you will stop any one from trying to interfere with your plans.

Use your intelligence and experience to avoid trouble. Put your heart and soul into your responsibilities. Look for op portunities to work alongside people who share your interests and concerns.

(May 21-June 20)

Hang on to what you’ve got and find different ways to use items, informa tion and knowledge to suit your needs. Calling on all your resources will be nec essary. Mix business with pleasure.

(June 21-July 22)

Take a deep breath and evaluate what you are up against, then rethink your game plan. Don’t feel the need to change something that is working fine. Look for ways to save money.

CALVIN AND HOBBES

SUDOKU

(July 23-Aug. 22)

Don’t be shy. If change is what you want, make it happen. Put your ener gy into research and success. A person al situation will require your attention. Listen to complaints and offer solutions.

(Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

Absorb information and apply what you learn. Your communication skills will help you enlist others to pitch in and help. Take pride in what you do. A meet ing will lead to success.

(Sept. 23-Oct. 23)

Take the initiative to get things done. Efficiency and consistency will help you gain respect and reach your goals. Take notes, verify information and lower your overhead.

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

Pitch in and make a difference. The information you gather will help you discover the best way to do your part. Refuse to let anyone pressure you to take on more than you can handle.

Take a seat, wait and watch; you’ll make the right decision. Surprise every one by taking a unique approach to han dling money, earning a living and deal ing with manipulative individuals.

(Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

Don’t let your guard down. Joint ven tures or shared expenses will get you in trouble. Keep tabs on your finances, health and legal matters, or someone will take advantage of you.

(Jan. 20-Feb. 19)

Don’t let someone’s debt drag you down. Put things in perspective and be firm about what you are comfortable doing for others. Invest more time and money in personal hygiene and fitness.

(Feb. 20-March 20)

Taskin’s 4-for the highlight as Bangladesh bowlers take

Bangladesh's quick bowlers came good as they pulled off a nine-run win over Netherlands, with Taskin Ahmed the star of the show. He picked up wick ets with the first two balls of the Netherlands chase of Bangladesh's 144, and finished with career-best figures of 4 for 25. Hasan Mahmud, too, was impres sive with his change-ups as he returned 2 for 15, while Bangladesh's fielding also looked the part, which is not always the case. The win was Bangladesh's first at the Super12 stage of the International Cricket Council (ICC) T20 World Cup.

Only Colin Ackermann stood out with the bat for Netherlands, hitting his first T20 International half-century, an effort that lifted them from 15 for 4 by the fourth over, and took them not too far from the target after they looked, at times, as though they wouldn't cross 100.

Ackermann batted from the first over to the 17th, falling for 62 when he be came Taskin's final wicket.

Paul van Meekeren's six in the final over, bowled by Soumya Sarkar with 24 to get, gave Netherlands some hope, but it was al ways a bridge too far.

It might not have been so if the batters had added to the work of the bowlers, who gave away runs at the top, but sent Bangladesh from 43 for no loss to 76 for 5 between the sixth and 11th overs, and kept them

cross-batted shots that they couldn't time well. Soumya went top-edging a pull off van Meekeren, and Shanto was caught at the midwicket boundary slog-sweeping Tim Pringle.

Then a quiet over, and again wickets off back-toback overs, when Litton Das fell trying to pull Logan van Beek, and Shakib Al Hasan failed to clear Bas de Leede at the midwicket boundary off Shariz Ahmed. Not long af ter that, van Meekeren got his second when he played the old two-card trick on Yasir Ali. A quick short one pegged Yasir back, and then a fullish deliv ery, on a driving length, went through the batter's defences.

Bangladesh had lost five wickets for 33 runs in

down to a reasonable total.

The Bangladesh slide Bangladesh got an ex cellent opening stand, but the collapse, inevitably, was just around the cor ner.

Soumya and Najmul Hossain Shanto took them to 43 in five overs be fore they fell in consecu tive overs, both playing

the space of six overs.

Middle order lifts Bangladesh Afif Hossain led Bangladesh's recovery, most notably with three powerful shots off legspin ner Shariz – sixes in the tenth and 15th overs, and a four in the latter, too. He was dropped by Pringle in the deep on the leg side too, off van Beek, when on

28, but Afif added 44 runs for the sixth wicket with Nurul Hasan.

Bangladesh's deep bat ting line-up helped them here, because after Afif and Nurul were dismissed by de Leede in the 18th over, Number 8 Mosaddek Hossain breezed to an un beaten 20 off 12 balls. He crashed de Leede through the off side before hammer ing a six over the covers in the final over, bowled by de Leede.

Netherlands unrav el at the top

Things happened rath er quickly after the re start, as Taskin removed Vikramjit Singh and de Leede with the first two balls of the innings. Vikramjit edged to Yasir Ali at slip, and then de Leede nicked to Nurul be hind the stumps off a wid er delivery.

If that wasn't bad enough for them, Netherlands' poor run ning gave Bangladesh fur

ther inroads in the fourth over. First, Afif's throw from the deep caught Max O'Dowd short at the non-striker's end after a bit of miscommunication with Ackermann, and one ball later, Tom Cooper was caught short after an im pressive slide-and-stop at the boundary followed by an excellent throw from Shanto.

Ackermann and Scott Edwards batted well for a little while, but Edwards fell to Shakib in the 12th over before Mahmud cleaned up Pringle just be fore a long rain break.

Ackermann plays a lone hand

Ackermann was, how ever, undeterred by ei ther the rain or the rush of wickets. He struck the ball cleanly through the cov ers for most of his bound aries, and also dragged Taskin's short deliv ery for a pulled four, and Soumya's military medium was played delicately for a four through third. He also

struck sixes over square leg and straight down the ground, as he showed off his range of shots in a diffi cult situation for his team.

He was dismissed to leave Netherlands at 101 for 9 in the 17th over, but if Bangladesh felt it was done, not quite.

Fred Klaassen and van Meekeren swung their

bats around for 34 runs at the end to take them close even as Shakib juggled his options, though at no point would Bangladesh have felt unduly threatened.

(ESPNcricinfo)

Bangladesh celebrate another one of Taskin Ahmed’s wickets

Colin Ackermann played the lone hand for the Netherlands

Afif Hossain added impetus to BaFngladesh’s innings

South Africa were de nied a victory in their T20 World Cup open er after rain ensured their shortened fixture against Zimbabwe could not be com pleted. After a two-hourand-35-minute delay, the match was reduced to nine overs a side. Zimbabwe re covered from being 19 for 4 to set South Africa a tar get of 80, which was then cut down to a target of 64 in seven overs after an other weather interrup tion. South Africa were well ahead of their five-over DLS par score when the players went off for rain again, but they had only faced three overs at that point – a T20 match is only completed when both teams have faced at least five overs.

South Africa could have still won had the match of ficials been able to restart the game as a five-over chase. With South Africa already past the five-over par, the players would only have needed to get on the field – a result would have been achieved even if rain had sent them back off im mediately.

But there was no re sumption of any kind. The rain grew heavi er, and hands were shak en and points shared. This was a similar re sult to Australia's no-re sult against Bangladesh in the One-Day International (ODI) Champions Trophy in 2017 when they were ahead of their 20-over par score when play ended, but had only faced 16 overs at that point.

ted as though they were acutely aware of the need to score quickly this time.

Quinton de Kock blasted an unbeaten 18-ball 47, with eight fours and a six, and hogged the strike, but it was not enough to get them over the line, with rain pre venting them from getting to the five-over mark.

The one point South Africa have missed out on could be crucial in the context of the tourna ment. Assuming there are no major upsets in this group, their match against Pakistan on November 3 could become a virtual quarter-final.

First a comedy of errors; then bullseye South Africa should have had one, and could have had both Zimbabwe openers run-out at the end of the first over when Regis Chakabva mishit Kagiso Rabada back to him and was called through for a run from Craig Ervine. Chakabva answered the call as Rabada gathered and threw wildly and wide of de Kock behind the stumps. Ervine was still midway down the pitch and South Africa composed themselves enough to throw the ball down to the non-striker's end, where Tristan Stubbs was back ing up. The ball skirted past him and Ervine found his ground while Rabada giggled at the shenanigans.

He was smiling three overs later when Wessly Madhevere tapped Wayne Parnell into the covers

gathered and chose to aim at the striker's end. He had two stumps in his sights and nailed them, catching Williams well short of his ground.

Poor in the powerplay

A nine-over innings can only be approached in one way: swing. And that's what Zimbabwe did. Or at least tried to do. Chakabva is still searching for his touch after scores of 0, 13 and 4 in the opening round and was tentative against

After their net run rate prevented them from ad vancing to the knockouts last year, South Africa bat

and took off. He collided with his batting partner Sean Williams mid-pitch, by which time Miller had

intent when he sent Ngidi over deep midwicket, but Ngidi quickly dragged his length back and had Chakabva nicking off of the next ball. Zimbabwe sent in Sikandar Raza early, but he could not continue his stunning run. He topedged a short ball high and almost over de Kock's head, but the South Africa keep er timed his jump well and snatched it with one hand. Zimbabwe's three-over powerplay brought only 14 runs for the loss of three wickets.

Madhevere and Shumba take the fight to South Africa

Things went from bad to worse for Zimbabwe when they slumped to 19 for 4 and the match ap peared in danger of becom ing a complete blow-out. But Madhevere, who was shifted down to number five to make space for the big hitters at the top, com bined with Milton Shumba to give Zimbabwe's attack something to defend. The pair put on 59 runs in five

Sean Williams indicates that it’s not possible to carry on, and that’s where it ended

overs, which included 17 runs off Rabada's second over, which Madhevere used to show his class. He sent Rabada over mid-wicket for six, then cleverly uppercut a slow er bouncer over de Kock's head for four and then cut

nearly as much as they thought. He tucked into Tendai Chatara's first over, which he plundered for 23 runs. De Kock moved across his stumps to hit the first ball over short fine leg for four, then pulled a short ball in front of square for four more and then top-edged the third delivery high but safe ly. His best shot was off the fourth ball, which he swung over long-on, before another pull through deep square leg. De Kock was going for the full house and pulled the final deliv ery, but only managed to glove it for a single.

a short, wide delivery past backward point for four more. Madhevere finished with an unbeaten 35 runs off 18 balls, at a strike rate of 194.44.

Quinton goes quickly

If Zimbabwe thought they had something to work with, de Kock quick ly showed them it was not

De Kock carried on in the same vein, hitting Richard Ngarava for four fours in the second over, before Raza came on to qui eten South Africa some what, giving away only 11 runs off the third over. South Africa were well on course still, though, but the weather gods had other ideas.

Keshav Maharaj 1-0-10-0 Anrich Nortje 2-0-10-

Rilee

Aiden Markram,

Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Wayne Parnell, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi BOWLING O-M-R-W Tendai Chatara 1-0-23-0 Richard Ngarava 1-0-17-0 Sikandar Raza 1-0-11-0

Rabada, but Ervine heaved at the first two deliver

ies he faced from Parnell before toe-ending a catch to Lungi Ngidi at mid-on. Chakabva showed some

Quinton de Kock’s unbeaten 18-ball 47 almost won it, but rain had the final say

Rain played hide and seek the entirety of the time

Ramson announces home for table tennis and badminton

…construction to begin within days

Culture, Youth, and Sport Minister Charles Ramson Jr has announced the construc tion of the home for table tennis and badminton.

The announcement was received, on Monday, with applause from the gather ing of national athletes, par ents, and administrators of both sport disciplines.

Construction on the fa cility, which will be erect ed at the eastern end of the National Racquet Centre compound on Woolford Avenue, is scheduled to be gin in a few days and is ex pected to be completed with in six months.

This undertaking is in keeping with the

Government’s plan to have multipurpose indoor fa cilities in every region of Guyana. This will aid in tal ent identification and de velopment in the right en vironment where coaches are always available and equipped with the most updated curriculum and learning materials to con duct training programmes. The facility was born out of ongoing consultation with the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) and Guyana Badminton Association (GBA), and is the evolution of a structured approach to the develop ment of both sports follow ing on the implementation of their nursery academy

Guinness “Greatest of the Streets” Quarterfinal teams decided as Haslington Tarmac takes centre stage

programmes. It was also announced that full-time coaches will

be available at the complet ed tennis and badminton fa cility upon completion.

GTTA President Godfrey Munroe thanked the Minister for not only this

outcome but their continued partnership in facilitating several programmes with in the last year and most recently Guyana’s hosting of the Caribbean Regional Table Tennis Federation mini and pre-cadet champi onship.

Similarly, current nation al coach of the GBA, Emelia Ramdhani expressed grati tude to the Minister and the Government of Guyana for this most welcome news.

Minister Ramson Jr also announced that he has re ceived sponsorship for ta ble tennis to the tune of five million Guyana dollars to assist in the establishment of more domestic tourna ments.

Paton George edges Miguel Oviedo in C&V Caribbean Shipping Ltd Golf Invitational

A glimpse of what to expect at the Guinness “Greatest of the Streets” East Coast leg

The 16 teams that will compete in the 2022 edition of the Guinness “Greatest of the Streets”

East Coast Demerara Championship have official ly been confirmed, following the conclusion of the regis tration and qualification pro cess.

According to an official release from the tournament coordinator, “The teams have been confirmed follow ing the end of the registra tion period, and all systems and structures are currently being finalised for the grand commencement of the com petition following a two-year hiatus.”

The competing teams are defending champi ons and two-time win ners Melanie-B, Liliendaal Hustlers, Belfield Warriors, Paradise-A, BV-A, Victoria Church Yard, Buxton Diamond, Uprising, Victoria Eagles, Portmore, Old School, Non-Pariel, Team Cruel, Vryheid’s Lust, Bare Root, and Haslington.

The release further said, “The confirmed list of par ticipants embodies a diverse and wide cross-section of rep resentation throughout the East Coast Demerara cor ridor. We have teams that

are traditional heavyweights in the tournament amongst the mix alongside emerging threats and newcomers. We expect a wonderful and ex citing tournament. Further details of the event will be disclosed shortly. This will include the official fixtures for the entirety of the tour nament.”

The main section tourna ment, which will be staged at the Haslington Tarmac, is slated to kick off on October 28 with the round of 16 stage.

The competition, which will utilise an elimina tion format, will last a to tal of three days. The oth er dates are October 29 and November 5. The second night will consist of the quar terfinal round, while the fi nal night will feature the semi-final stage, third-place playoffs, and championship encounter respectively.

Similarly, the los ing round-of-16 teams will compete in the Plate Championship. Presently, the Linden and Berbice legs have been hosted. Defending champions Swag Entertainment successful ly retained the Linden title, while Showtime captured their maiden Berbice cham pionship.

Golfers

teed off on Saturday in the pen ultimate contest, C&V Caribbean Shipping Ltd Golf Invitational, ahead of this weekend’s GTT Guyana Open Championship sched uled for Saturday, October 29 and Sunday, October 30.

Scoring conditions were difficult as the Lusignan Golf Club (LGC) ground staff prepare the track for this weekend’s major. On this challenging layout, golf ers needed to keep their tee shots in the nicely-mowed low-cut fairway grass. As the major approaches, the grass off the fairway is grown high er which makes missing the fairway very punitive, caus ing second shots to be very challenging as players have to hit from thicker grass. Saturday’s conditions meant scoring low was going to be challenging. Only one golf er, Paton George, was able to produce a below-par net score of 69. He was followed one shot back by one of the hottest and most improved golfers of 2022, Miguel Oviedo with a net par score of 70.

The winners’ row:

1st – Paton George (15hc) – gross 84, net 69

2nd – Miguel Oviedo (21hc) – gross 91, net 70

3rd – Ayube Subhan (13hc) – gross 84, net 71

The low gross, closest to the flag and longest drive prizes were all won by cur rent Guyana Open champi on Avinda Kishore with a gross score of 75. Avinda is the heavy favourite to repeat as the Guyana Open men’s champion, but you could never count out his broth er who is the winningest Guyana Open and arguably the best golfer in the history of Guyana, Avinash Persaud.

At the close of play, C&V Caribbean Shipping Ltd rep Natasha Gomes extended

greetings from the company and thanked all participants and attendees. She remind ed the gathering that this was the second year of the company hosting the penul timate contest before the ma jor and promised to continue this tradition.

Attention and focus now turn to this week end’s GTT Guyana Open Championship. Players from several countries in cluding Suriname, Trinidad, Barbados, Canada, England,

Colombia, and the United States will join the local golf ers for a contest that is in creasingly becoming a mar quee event.

On the women’s side, Shanella London, with a win, would be putting her name in the hat for being one of the best-ever female golfers from Guyana. She will be defend ing her 2021 title, but will have to get past her main rival and multi-winner of the Guyana Open, Christine Sookram.

The course is being set up for back-to-back ma jor events over the next two weekends as GTT hosts the biggest tournament of the year followed by the Macorp Golf Classic the first week end in November. Both of the next two events are must-play events for most golfers. GTT Guyana Open crowns the champion golfers, male and female, of the year, and the Macorp Classic of fers some of the most attrac tive prizes.

Some of the persons who stand to benefit from the new facility, Chelsea Edghill and GTTA President Godfrey Munroe alongside Culture, Youth, and Sport Minister Charles Ramson Jr

Simmons to step down from Head Coach position

West Indies Men’s tour of Australia lat er this year will be the last the team will see of Head Coach Phil Simmons, since he will be stepping down from the post, fol lowing the team’s horrendous run in the International Cricket Council (ICC) 2022 T20 World Cup last week.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) made the notso-shocking an nouncement on Monday evening that Simmons will be stepping

down from his role as Head Coach of the West Indies Men’s team. His last assignment will be the upcoming two-Test series against Australia from November 30 to December 12.

According to a missive from CWI, Simmons said, “I acknowledge that it’s not just the team that is hurting but the proud nations we repre sent as well. It’s disappoint ing and heart-wrenching, but we just didn’t turn up. We weren’t good enough and we now have to watch a tourna ment play out without our in volvement. It's unfathomable and for that I deeply apolo gise to our fans and follow

in NAMILCO/WDFA U17 League

ers.

“From a personal perspec tive, this is not a knee-jerk reaction, but a move I have been considering for some time and now is the time to make public that I will step down as West Indies Head Coach at the end of the Test series against Australia. It is earlier than hoped for, but I will now focus my energies in Australia on continuing to build on the excellent prog ress the Test team has made. Of course, as the President has pointed out, we will also carry out the necessary re view into our World Cup campaign.”

He added, “I must say I have enjoyed aspects of the unique challenge that be ing West Indies Head Coach provides and the unwavering

support of my Management Team. There remain some exceptional individuals with in CWI who I firmly believe will continue to work in the best interests of West Indies cricket.”

CWI President Ricky Skerritt thanked Simmons for his service, stating, “On behalf of CWI, I want to thank Phil for his hard work and dedication to West Indies cricket, most recently in his role as Head Coach. Phil is a proud West Indian, with high ideals and has never lacked motivation in guid ing our younger players on and off the field of play. He brought valuable experience and stability at a very im portant period of transfor mation, including the most challenging environment of

the COVID-19 pandemic. We wish him all the best in his future endeavours.”

Simmons was at the helm in 2016 when West Indies won their second ICC Men’s T20 World Cup title defeat ing England at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, India. Earlier this year, he guided the team’s fortunes in their hard-fought 1-0 Test series win over England on home soil to capture the RichardsBotham Trophy and in June, a Test series victory against Bangladesh in their last outing.

Wanting to emulate their senior team’s success, Slingerz Football Club U17 side, facing Eagles FC in the NAMILCO National U17 League, West Demerara Football Association (WDFA) leg, earned a com fortable 3-1 win.

Playing at the National Track and Field Centre on Monday, Slingerz FC, backed by several players with experience at the in ternational level with the country’s national team, made the game easy, to

chalk up the first defeat for Eagles FC in the tourna ment.

National youth play er Matrim Martin had a double on the day, while Dominic Frank hit home the other for Slingerz FC.

Shaquille King scored the lone goal for the league’s points leaders, who will re main at the top of the table after five games and four consecutive wins.

The win against Eagles was Slingerz FC’s sec ond in the tournament and will see them remaining in

fourth place on six points (two wins, one de feat) from three matches, taking into account the results from the other two match es on the day.

Meanwhile, Belle West scored a comfortable 6-1 win over Pouderoyen FC and will move up the lad der although they have sev en points from five matches, the same as the team they defeated.

Pouderoyen FC, reg

istering two wins, a draw and two losses in their five matches, slipped to third place.

The other game on the day, Den Amstel versus Uitvlugt ended in a goal less draw, and the two sides grabbed a point each.

Slingerz FC U17 squad following their 3-1 win over Eagles FC

Slingerz FC goal-scorers Matrim Martin and Dominic Frank

Many have been calling for Phil Simmons to be booted from the Head Coach position since the Windies Men were booted from the World Cup in the qualifying stage

…Belle West move up ladder; Den Amstel, Uitvlugt play to draw