Guyana Times - Tuesday, September 22, 2021

Candace Phillips uses tourism to promote Indigenous culture

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

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Issue No. 4778

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

Pres Ali holds bilateral talks with President of Ghana – discusses Guyana-Venezuela border controversy, See story on page 3

electoral reform with OAS

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WHAT'S INSIDE:

Mandela Avenue houses go up in flames after 4-year-old P2 allegedly sets mattress alight – at least 16 homeless

Teen dies 8 days after 2-vehicle P16 collision

– VP Jagdeo to lead delegation to Ghana next month

3 juveniles P5 among 5 nabbed with gun, ammo

President of Guyana, Dr Irfaan Ali and His Excellency, President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo during a meeting at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on Tuesday

See story on page 7

Audit into M&CC

Draft financial report submitted violates Act – Auditor General

...says draft audit report will be issued soon

5 more unvaccinated $152M Lusignan well to provide 4000 residents with persons succumb to …141 new infections water when completed Page 11 COVID-19 recorded in 1 day Page 9

MMC female security officer collapses, dies at worksite P5 Region 7 records highest COVID-19 deaths per capita with 18 in every P14 10,000 …Reg 4 records highest number of deaths

2 NEWS

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Mandela Avenue houses go up in flames after 4-year-old allegedly sets mattress alight – at least 16 homeless

A

midafternoon fire at Mandela Avenue Squatting Area on Tuesday has demolished two buildings and left at least 16 persons homeless. The fire reportedly started at about 14:30h in one of the buildings and quickly engulfed a second.

The buildings were owned by two sisters who are both Special Constables. The one-storey building was occupied by Shevon Clark, her two daughters and her 3 grandchildren, while the two-storey building was occupied by Jenelle Clark-December, her husband, six

The remains of the two buildings after the devastating fire

children and two grandchildren.

When Guyana Times visited the scene, Clark related that she was asleep when her sister alerted her about the fire.

“To what I understand, (the fire was started) actually by my grandson (4-year-old). My sister light a heap in the yard, and nobody knows how he get a paper and come in the house and light the mattress,” Clark explained.

The woman further stated that no one was injured in the process, but she has now lost everything to the fire.

“Well, I lost actually like a million dollars, because I recently buy some things like bed and so in April wah gone, and everything gone,” the woman expressed in grief.

The woman’s sister, Jenelle Clark-December, was devastated and recalled how the fire started.

“About 02:30 pm going into three, we were burning garbage… then my son noticed a bright light in my sister house. He said, ‘Mommy look!’ When I run and go, I see the mattress light, then I start hollering. My sister was sleeping, and she hear me and she jump up.

We tried to get outing it, but there was nothing we could do but come out, because the fire catch very fast.

“I could say I spent 1.5 (million), cause it’s a newly built house, my entire building burn, I couldn’t get to save anything, not even clothes,” Jenelle stated.

Jenelle resided at the building with her husband, six children, and two grandchildren.

However, Guyana Times understands that after the fire started, persons contacted the Fire Service, and as they waited on the fire fighters to arrive, they attempted to put

out the blaze, but the heat was too intense.

By the time, the fire fighters arrived at the scene, the one-storey building was already completely burnt and the second was burning.

The men tried to save the building, but it was too late.

The elders who had occupied the houses are now making alternative arrangements until they can build again.

They were unable to salvage any household items. An investigation has been launched into the origin and cause of the fire.

NEWS

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS OPENINGS BRIDGE

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

Wednesday, Sept 22 – 04:00h – 05:30h and Thursday, Sept 23 – 04:00h – 05:30h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Wednesday, Sept 22 – 17:00h – 18:30h and Thursday, Sept 23 – 05:35h – 07:05h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

WEATHER TODAY There will be sunshine during the day. Expect clear skies at night. Temperatures should range between 21 degrees Celsius and 32 degrees Celsius.

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

High Tide: 17:23h reaching a maximum height of 2.72 metres.

Low Tide: 11:01h and 23:17h reaching minimum heights of 0.53 metre and 0.46 metre.

Pres Ali holds bilateral talks with President of Ghana – discusses Guyana-Venezuela border controversy, electoral reform with OAS – VP Jagdeo to lead delegation to Ghana next month

C

oming out of discussions between President Dr Irfaan Ali and his Ghanaian counterpart, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on the side lines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), was a decision that Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo will lead a delegation to Ghana next month.

With Guyana seeking closer ties with Ghana, which is a fellow oil-producing country, the Vice President’s visit to the West African nation in the first week of October will be high on the agenda.

President Dr Irfaan Ali and Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo during their meeting at the UN, flanked by their respective delegations

companied by the Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Hugh Todd, Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett and Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud.

OAS

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

COMMODITIES Indicators

US$

Change %

Crude Oil

$74.36/barrel

+0.59

Rough Rice

$248.85 /ton $497.90/ton

-0.14 -1.37

London Sugar

Live Spot Gold

USD Per Ounce

Bid/Ask

$1775.50

$1776.50

Low/High Change

$1757.60 +1.40

$1782.90 +0.08%

President Ali during the meeting with IDB President Mauricio Claver-Carone

President Nana AkufoAddo, along with a high-level delegation from his own country, had paid a two-day visit to Guyana back in June 2019. At the time, he had met Jagdeo who was then Opposition Leader.

During his visit to Guyana, Akufo-Addo had committed to lending assistance to Guyana as the country was at the time preparing for first oil – an offer which the then A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government and the then People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Opposition had both welcomed.

However, the bilateral meeting between President Ali and the Ghanian President took place on Tuesday at the United Nations Headquarters in New York following the opening of the General Debate of the 76th UNGA. The Presidents spoke about several matters of mutual interests, including oil and gas, climate change and the environment, capacity building, and training. Both leaders also agreed that Tuesday’s meeting would enhance collaboration in addressing matters of common interest at the global level.

President Ali was ac-

Meanwhile, the President also met with SecretaryGeneral of the Organization of American States (OAS), His Excellency, Luis Almagro and his delegation on Tuesday.

Among the issued discussed were the strengthening of democracy in Guyana through electoral reform, support for Guyana’s position on the border con-

troversy with Venezuela and Guyana’s position following the Venezuelan Government-Opposition accord made earlier this month.

On the settlement of Venezuela’s internal political differences, President Ali reaffirmed that while his Government welcomes efforts to bring about domestic harmony within Venezuela, agreements that defy international law and processes can form no basis for mediating such harmony.

He said that Guyana does not promote the use of violence or threats to settle disputes, but will look towards the court and the rule of law.

TURN TO PAGE 9

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guyanatimesgy.com

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

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

Early years of development at home

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In Guyana, there is a need to view the issue of underperformance and underachievement with a sense of urgency and dispatch. If not, we are going to continue to witness the spread of a deviant strand of hyper- masculinity sweeping across the education system. This reconstruction of masculinity had in the past manifested itself in all our schools.

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

President Dr Irfaan Ali shares a light moment with Barbados Prime Minister, Mia Mottley at the UN Headquarters, New York just before the meeting got underway

The sugar workers’ strike and Opposition MPs Dear Editor, First, like every other worker in this country, sugar workers have a right to protest peacefully for better working conditions, better management, better wages and salaries, and better representation.

Sugar workers are very hard-working, they deserve a lot more, and we would all agree to that without a doubt. But betterment can come only when we all take the same stand for the same cause, and not for some gimmicks and political gains, as have been happening for the past few days as sugar workers in Berbice take sudden strike action against their employer, GuySuCo. Yes, the workers made some demands, and it is known that the employer and the union representing the sugar workers had a negotiation and came up with what is best at this time for all parties. Thanks to those involved in making that negotiation happen.

Many would recall that, over the years, while the PPP was in power prior to 2015, I wrote letter after letter in the media in support of sugar workers, and I spoke up for better representation from their union, and overall betterment within the industry.

As a former member and executive of the then AFC (please note: AFC is no more, and has become PNC), I did the same for the sugar workers within the

then AFC. The then AFC’s backbone was sugar workers. The then AFC’s fight was for the betterment of the sugar workers and all Guyanese.

The then AFC took to the stage with the PNC, whom they now have wed, and told sugar workers of the better life they would give them when they get into Government, and that there are monies within the industry that the PPP was hiding from them. Moses Nagamootoo, who backstabbed his way into becoming the PM candidate for the then AFC in 2015, cried at the feet of the workers for their votes, because he knows their struggle and would better their life as long as he gets into office.

The then AFC’s Khemraj Ramjattan continued on the trend of the backstabber Nagamootoo, and did the same to sugar workers all over this country.

Low and behold, when the PNC (yes, PNC, because APNU is PNC and AFC is PNC) got into Government and I continued to highlight the plight and fight for sugar workers within the then AFC meetings and other places that I had the opportunity to, I was told by Nagamootoo that you (Abel) have to stop supporting those sugar workers and more over the people, because we are in Government now and there is no money for that industry.

I continued to fight, but it was an inner fight with

myself, because those that we thought had this country at heart for the betterment of the people, all they were doing was thinking about themselves and their families. I cannot say the PNC members did that promise to the sugar workers in 2015, all because the PNC seems clueless of what was happening or taking place in the sugar industry in this country.

A while after taking his PM position, Nagamootoo sat in the cabinet and allowed the PNC to close down a few estates.

Ramjattan was clueless why Nagamootoo would allow that, and then the backstabber stopped coming to Berbice and started to send Ramjattan to defend the closure of the estates.

Sugar workers lost their work, and thousands suffered when the day was up. They had no income for years, all because Nagamootoo and the PNC closed the estates, which they promised never to do as long as they get political power.

Today those mentally lazy Opposition MPs are taking to social media and traditional media, telling us, the Guyanese people, that the PPP Government doesn’t care for the sugar workers and the Government needs to provide better wages now for the workers.

Those mentally lazy MPs should take a head check, because they are the ones in

Government who sent home those workers without thinking if they could earn to live and provide. The PNC did not think of any of those workers when they sent them packing, and today they want to lecture on the rights of sugar workers’ wages, when they took the same away from them.

SHAMELESS PEOPLE. It was the PPP that reopened the estates and ensured those workers who want to return to work do so. Many of the workers returned and are earning a wage when the week is up.

I would want to agree it is not the amount they used to take home that they are taking home presently, but they should also understand that reopening the estates to ensure they earn wasn’t an easy task. It had to take a Government that cared for the people to do the same in less than a year in office.

Within five years, the previous Government almost crippled this country.

I can recall when the PNC Government did that to sugar workers, I stood up under the shed at the RDC compound in Region 5 and told several members of the PNC in front of the PPP vice chair that the PNC cannot and will not return to office because what they are doing to the people of this region and the sugar workers going to send them packing.

I constantly repeated the same day after day.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

guyanatimesgy.com

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

5

News

3 juveniles among 5 nabbed with gun, ammo

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hree juveniles were among five persons arrested following the discovery of a gun and ammunition at Guyhoc Park, Georgetown, on

Tuesday.

Police stated that on the day in question at about 11:00h, a party of policemen went to Guyhoc Park, Georgetown, where

they met three juveniles and two adults. As such, a search was requested and conducted on a two-storey wooden and concrete structure where they reside.

Miner busted with ganja at Bartica

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44-year-old man was on Tuesday nabbed with a quantity of ganja at First Avenue, Bartica Arcade, Region Seven (CuyuniMazaruni).

Police stated that acting on information received, a party of Policemen went to the Bartica Arcade where the suspect was seen carrying two bags. Upon seeing the Police, the man allegedly attempted to escape, but he was apprehended.

Upon his apprehension, a search was conducted on his person during which one bulky parcel wrapped in transparent plastic was found in his bag.

Upon further inspection, the ganja was found and he admitted ownership. The cannabis was taken to the Bartica

The gun and ammunition along with the mobile phones that were found during the Police operation

The ganja that was found on the miner

Police Station, where it was weighed in his presence and amounted to 495

grams.

Suspect was placed in custody pending charges.

During the search, the Police reportedly found a black bag on a chair, which, when opened, revealed one .32 revolver with its serial number filed off and four .32 live rounds of ammunition.

They were cautioned and arrested. In addition, as the search on the premises continued, six mobile phones and one electronic tablet were also found.

The five suspects denied ownership and as such were escorted to the East La Penitence Police Station where they are being further questioned.

NA man dies after slamming into parked trailer

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he driver of a motor car was killed on Tuesday after he reportedly lost control and slammed into a parked trailer along the Beterverwagting Railway Embankment, East Coast Demerara (ECD).

Dead is Charles Roberts, 59, of 50 Stanleytown, New Amsterdam, Berbice.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the now dead man was driving motor car PRR 1050 along the Beterverwagting Railway Embankment when he reportedly lost control of his motor car and collided with

Charles Roberts

the left side rear of a trailer bearing registration num-

ber THH 9834 which is attached to motor lorry GHH

9829.

At the time of the accident, the lorry and trailer were stationed on the grass parapet.

As a result of the collision, Roberts received injuries about his body. He was subsequently pulled from the wreckage in an unconscious condition and transported to Georgetown Public Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The body is at the Georgetown Public Hospital Mortuary awaiting a post-mortem. An investigation is ongoing.

The sugar workers’ strike....

FROM PAGE 4

So, my brothers and sisters in the sugar industry, don’t be fooled by those mentally lazy Opposition MPs that they care for you, when they were the ones that voted to send you home without any proven valid reason(s).

The estates are now reopened by the PPP Government under the strong leadership of a man who knows your struggle, who heads the Ministry of Agriculture, the Hon Zulfikar Mustapha, MP. I am sure that this Minister, who is a very hardworking one, is going to ensure that, as time goes by, you are given the betterment that is deserving.

Sugar workers, stop following those that want to put you on the breadline again by encouraging you to protest, because all they care for now is protest after protest. I am sure that if one of you workers’ lunch bowl falls into the canal and those mentally lazy Opposition MPs hear about it, they are going to encourage you to call a protest for that bowl. That is how mentally lazy they are.

The PNC wants to use you, the sugar workers, so that when you protest, they can cuss up the Government, and little do they know they all had wanted to destroy your livelihood.

Sugar workers, do not be used by those mentally lazy people.

Regards, Abel Seetaram

The GPF has launched an investigation surrounding the circumstances of

the unlawful possession of the articles found.

MMC female security officer collapses, dies at worksite

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security officer attached to the MMC Security Service and seconded to David Persaud’s Investment Inc at Happy Acres, East Coast Demerara (ECD), reportedly collapsed and died on Tuesday morning.

Dead is 65-year-old Yvette Wilson of Paradise, ECD. Police stated that the now dead woman was performing a 12-hour shift at the business place and at about 05:00h on Tuesday, she was discovered motionless in the guard hut by a supervisor who made checks.

It is alleged that the deceased was suffering from blood pressure issues and re-

portedly complained of feeling unwell on Saturday last.

As such, she reportedly visited the Georgetown Public Hospital where she was instructed to return the following day.

However, she resumed duty on Tuesday when she met her demise. Following the discovery, her body was examined but there were no marks of violence.

She was later transported to the GPHC by an ambulance where doctors confirmed her death. She was taken to Sandy’s Funeral Home awaiting a post-mortem.

An investigation has been launched to ascertain the cause of death.

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

Page

Foundation

By Walt Whitman O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done, The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won, The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring; But O heart! heart! heart!

O the bleeding drops of red, Where on the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead.

.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells; Rise up—for you the flag is flung— for you the bugle trills, For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths— for you the shores a-crowding, For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning; Here Captain! dear father!

This arm beneath your head!

It is some dream that on the deck, You’ve fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still, My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will, The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done, From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won; Exult O shores, and ring O bells!

But I with mournful tread, Walk the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead.

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Audit into M&CC

Draft financial report submitted violates Act – Auditor General ...says draft audit report will be issued soon

Auditor General Deodat Sharma

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uditor General Deodat Sharma, who has been auditing the financial accounts of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) since earlier this year, has said that a draft report will soon be issued.

The AG was on Monday asked for an update on the audit into City Hall, on the side lines of the handing over of the 2020 Auditor General Report. Minister of Local Government Nigel Dharamlall had ordered City Hall to do an audit into its accounts earlier this year.

Additionally, the Auditor General commenced an audit into City Hall after a correspondence was initiated

by Mayor Ubraj Narine last year. According to Sharma, the City Hall audit is still an ongoing issue and there are some corrections that City Hall itself has to make.

“City Hall is an ongoing issue. There’s a draft report on my desk right now, which I will issue very shortly in terms of the issues we have.

They submitted their draft financial report, but it is not in compliance with the Act.” “For example, the balance sheet, it just gives you

a list of assets. Budgeted assets. That’s not how you prepare a balance sheet. So, we’ve returned it for it to be corrected. And there’s also a several year gap in terms of financial reporting for City Hall,” Sharma also said.

It was pointed out by the AG that City Hall’s last audit dates back to several years ago. For this audit, he noted that all they did was submit financial statements for 2019 and 2020. And even those were not properly prepared. When it comes to the years of unreconciled City Hall accounts, Sharma noted that the best option may be to start over.

“What I’ve advised several entities including them, lets close the books, open new books, take an asset that was there and start fresh. Get new bank accounts and everything.

Because it doesn’t make sense to go back to 2005, 2006. Let’s sit down, list all the assets and cash positions and start a new balance sheet,” the Auditor General said.

Earlier this year, Central Government had given City Hall a lifeline by injecting

City Hall

an additional $30 million into the coffers of the Mayor and Councillors. This money was intended to support the construction of an administrative building for that entity, even as a tender is out for the rehabilitation of the main building.

At the time the cheque was handed over, Minister Dharamlall had said that City Hall is still lagging behind in having its financial statements audited, and

this is a serious concern for the current Administration.

He reported that in the Auditor General’s Report, it is indicated that the local organ body has not been forthcoming with these documents.

After taking office last year, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP/C) Government had launched an audit into City Hall, which had targeted both the financial and operational

makeup of the municipality.

Calls for transparency come on the heels of reports last year that there was no accountability for the $300 million Restoration Fund which was contributed to the Georgetown Mayor and City Council for the restoration of the dilapidated City Hall building. The structure seems to be falling apart, and some sections have already been labelled unsafe.

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Of Reports and omissions...

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…from ERC ith great fanfare, the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) was created out of the Constitutional Reform process - precipitated by the PNC bludgeoning the PPP to a Herdmanston “Accord”.

It was supposed to fix the central contradiction in the Guyanese body politic - the political struggle between the two major groups with its ever-present potential for breaking out into violence.

Under Article 212D of the Constitution, the ERC was given TWENTY-FOUR functions - covering every ethnic contingency under the (Guyanese) sun! This included a mandate (#10) to investigate complaints from citizens across the country where acts of alleged ethnic discrimination have been committed. And (23) to “Make recommendations on penalties, including the prevention of any political party or any persons from participating in elections for a specified period, to be imposed for any breach of this Constitution or of any law dealing with ethnicity.”

So, from 2002 to 2011, representatives of every possible combination and permutation of group-identity you could find (or invent) in Guyana started the ERC’s work. But the PNC - as is their practice - boycotted them, because the Chairman wasn’t to their liking. The PNC does have a thing about control, don’t they?? Control freaks? But then that’s part and parcel of their anti-democratic essence! Anyhow, after a lapse of 7 years, Granger reconstituted the ERC in 2018 with one of his childhood school chums - the Rev John Smith from the Assembly of God - as the Chair.

So, guess what? The good Reverend has just presented the “Reports” of the ERC from the time it was constituted to its end in 2020, to the Speaker of the House. And you have to give Jack his Jacket - the Speaker didn’t mince words to express his disappointment with the ERC failing to fulfill its mandate at a most critical juncture of our history. All of the contradictions of our divisive ethnic politics had risen to the fore, but the ERC was distinguished for its deafening silence.

Remarked the Speaker when he received the Reports, “So, the programming aspect of these Commissions, I don’t see the proactiveness of them. And if we’re to move forward as a country that is serious about the issues that confront us, whether gender or age, we have to ensure there are professional programmes in place to achieve objectives.” And that is the nub of the matter, ain’t it?

How come the ERC didn’t say anything about Granger stirring up protests in West Berbice after the unfortunate murders of the Henry cousins? Hundreds of Indian Guyanese were beaten and harassed on the Public Road??

Your Eyewitness wonders whether the report describes Granger attending the Chairman’s birthday bash - while the elections were being rigged!!

…by the World Bank When most folks hear about the “World Bank”, they have this notion of such a huge institution that it just has to transcend the average peccadilloes of what, for instance, we know occur in places like Guyana. Then up comes this report by an external vetting entity of the Banks’ practice of issuing annual “Doing Business” Reports. Now, these are a “make or break” matter for most struggling countries - since a bad report could doom their “attractiveness” for investments.

And the Report’s conclusion is that the scores were seriously RIGGED in favour of several countries, such as China and Saudi Arabia!! And now you KNOW it’s not coincidental that these countries have VERY deep pockets!!

This should remind us that every institution - even the ones established with great intentions, and having all sorts of rules - is ultimately staffed by PEOPLE! And all people have their weaknesses - which countries will exploit to push their own interests!

It’s just how the world and the World (Bank) works!! …by the Police Now, the Guyanese public - not just the strident PNC “leaders” scoring points while pushing personal agendas wants the Inquiry into Boston’s killing to be impartial.

The Govt should use its discretion to buttress the Police Office of Professional Responsibility.

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

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

5 more unvaccinated persons succumb to COVID-19 …141 new infections recorded in 1 day

T

he Ministry of Health on Tuesday reported that five persons died from the novel coronavirus thus taking the death toll to a whopping 738. For the month of September, 113 deaths have been recorded thus making it the deadliest month since the pandemic was first detected back in March 2020.

The fatalities include a 74-year-old female from Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam) - who died on September 19; a 43-yearold male from Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) who died on September 20; a 92-year-old male and a 78-year-old female from Region Four (DemeraraMahaica) also succumbed on September 20. The oth-

er person, an 85-year-old female also from Region Four, died on September 21.

The patients were admitted with COVID-19 like symptoms but died while receiving care at the medical institutions. Samples were taken at the time of admission which subsequently returned positive tests.

However, new statistics provided by the Ministry showed that another 141 new cases were recorded in one day. The total confirmed cases in the country have jumped to 29,824. Some 30 patients are in the Intensive Care Unit with 155 in institutional isolation, 3525 in home isolation and two in institutional quarantine.

Meanwhile, 25,376 of the 14,241 males and 15,583

females that tested positive have since recovered.

Guyana has tested 302,314 persons since the virus was detected here.

An analysis of new cases showed five in Region One (Barima-Waini), four in Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam); 30 in Region Three (Essequibo IslandsWest Demerara), 73 in Region Four (DemeraraMahaica); 20 in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne); two in Seven (CuyuniMazaruni); one in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) and one in Region 10 (Upper DemeraraBerbice).

There were no increases in Regions One, Five (Mahaica-Berbice) and Eight (Potaro-Siparuni),

Pres Ali holds bilateral...

FROM PAGE 3

GUYANA COVID-19 DASHBOARD SEPTEMBER 21, 2021 UPDATE

NUMBER OF NEW CASES

141

NUMBER OF PERSONS IN INSTITUTIONAL ISOLATION

155

NUMBER OF PERSONS IN HOME ISOLATION NUMBER OF PERSONS IN COVID-19 ICU

3525 30

NUMBER OF PERSONS IN INSTITUTIONAL QUARANTINE

2

TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES BY GENDER (FEMALES)

15,583

TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES BY GENDER (MALES)

14,241

TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES IN GUYANA SINCE 2020

29,824

NUMBER OF RECOVERED CASES

25,376

TOTAL 1st DOSE VACCINATED

346,529

FULLY IMMUNISED

179,115

TOTAL NUMBER OF DEATHS

738

DISTRIBUTION OF TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES SINCE MARCH 2020 REGION 1

1439

REGION 2

1047

REGION 3

3791

REGION 4

14,215

REGION 5

1033

REGION 6

2235

REGION 7

1551

REGION 8

486

REGION 9

2305

REGION 10

1722

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

Keep a physical distance of at least 6 feet.

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

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

President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu (seated in blue) during the meeting with President Ali

In a 1966 Agreement signed in Geneva, both countries consented to the UN Secretary General deciding on a means of settlement of the controversy if the countries could not settle the matter on their own.

In January of 2018, UN Secretary General António Guterres decided that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) would settle the matter. Since that decision could have only been overturned by a joint agreement by both countries, the ICJ was established as the governing body for the matter and both parties were bound by the Court’s jurisdiction and ultimate decision.

In addition to the border issue, the Head of State and the Secretary General also discussed technical support to advance the country’s development agenda.

IDB

The President and his high-level delegation also met with Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) President, Mauricio ClaverCarone and his delegation at the Permanent Mission.

During the meeting, President Ali updated the IDB Head on Guyana’s development plans and the importance of the IDB as a development partner. Guyana

has a number of developmental projects that have been and are being funded by the IDB. They include infrastructural projects such as the Sheriff-Mandela road expansion, which the IDB is bankrolling with US$31 million in funding. The project, which was given an October 31 deadline in July of this year, covers approximately seven kilometres of road between Sheriff Street and Mandela Avenue.

It involves the relocation of utilities; the installation of lane and shoulder improvements; placement of sidewalks and paved shoulders; traffic signals, traffic signs, streetlights, drainage; a pedestrian overhead walkway; culverts, bridges, and a roundabout.

In November of last year, the IDB had also approved a loan of US$22 million for Guyana aimed at strengthening the country’s public health response to the deadly virus. The loan, which fell under the Contingent Credit Facility for Natural Disaster and Public Health Emergencies, seeks to finance public expenditure necessary to contain transmission of the disease and mitigate further health and economic consequences.

It had been announced that the resources of the loan

would be used for, among other needs, the purchase of medical equipment, laboratory equipment and inputs, ambulances, and personal protective equipment for health workers, surveillance officers, and border personnel. The operation will also benefit the affected population of Guyana who will receive emergency assistance under the proposed coverage.

Another project that was greenlit by the IDB last year was the “Safe Lodges Equal Safe Guests” project, which will see the design and roll out of health and safety protocols for visitors and host communities in the tourism sector.

The IDB will be facilitating the project through its innovation laboratory, in collaboration with the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). It will call for Guyana to initiate a project design that will receive financing from the IDB based on an innovative model.

The Guyanese Head of State also met with President of the Republic of Kosovo, Vjosa OsmaniSadriu. The meeting, which took place at the Permanent Mission, was aimed at strengthening bilateral relations between the two nations.

Speaking on the low testing numbers that was reported this week, Health Minister, Dr Drank Anthony said that symptomatic persons might be hesitant about the apparent result from their swab.

“The challenge that you have is that people are not coming forward to be tested. One is to have capacity and the second is whether people are coming to get tested. That a problem that you have. Sometimes in the region, you have low levels of testing because people just don’t want to be tested. They might display signs and symptoms but they just

don’t want to be tested because testing would confirm that they have COVID,” he said.

He said the problem with denial is that others will be put at risk – a dangerous situation for the nation.

“They’re going to infect a lot of people around them and that is why it is essential that they come forward and get tested so that we can isolate them and if they deteriorate in terms of getting respiratory distress and so, we will take the appropriate actions. If they’re in denial, we’ll have serious problems.”

If anyone is displaying

any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19 or needs any additional information, contact the COVID-19 Hotline 2311166, 226-7480 or 624-6674 immediately or visit www. health.gov.gy.

All Guyanese are reminded to observe the protocols of the COVID-19 emergency measures which emphasise the need for correct and consistent use of a face mask when leaving your home; the importance of maintaining the six feet physical distance from others; and the need for good hand hygiene.

10 NEWS

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Lethem-Bonfim border Guyanese man arrested for brutally chopping 1-year-old to death in Trinidad crossing not reopened –

P

olice in the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago have arrested a 58-year-old Guyanese man who reportedly chopped a one-year-old girl to death during an argument with her grandmother.

The incident occurred on Sunday night at Sion Drive, Tarodale Hills, South Trinidad.

The infant has been identified as Sariah Williams, who had celebrated her first birthday back in June. The suspect reportedly shared a relationship with the baby’s grandmother Michelle Williams, for over two decades, and had been threatening to kill the woman and her children for quite some time.

The media in Trinidad have reported that the woman had been suffering at the hands of the man for over 24 years, and recently ended the relationship, but allowed the man to stay at her home until he could find a

Dead: Sariah Williams

place to live.

Between Friday and Saturday last, the man reportedly sent Michelle about 90 voice notes and threatening photos. The woman was anticipating visiting the Police Station on Monday to file for a protection order against the abusive man.

Sariah is the daughter of Nikita Williams – a single mother of 8, who is Michelle’s daughter.

Michelle went to her job as a security guard on Sunday, while her daughter used the kitchen to prepare food for a curry fundraiser aimed at purchasing back-to-school items for her children. When Michelle returned from work at around 20:00h, she was helping her daughter to clear out the dirty dishes in the sink.

This incensed the man, who accused the woman of caring only for her children, and always “letting them only make money off of me, and he not getting anything.”

At that point, Nikita intervened and told the man to relax. He disappeared for a few minutes, while Michelle went out to the gallery (verandah) and sat down with her granddaughter in her lap. The man then returned, armed with a cutlass, and

he turned the blade on Michelle.

He aimed at the woman but missed, and the blade connected with the head of little Sariah and immediately she began bleeding profusely. Nikita grabbed her child and both she and Michelle used their bodies to shield the baby. The man then went back into the house, where he locked himself in a room.

Neighbours heard the commotion, and they rushed to the family’s aid. The Police were summoned, and the victims were taken to the Accident and Emergency Department at the San Fernando General Hospital, where young Sariah died a short while after.

The man has been arrested and is in Police custody.

Michelle has made a plea with victims of domestic violence to leave early, since she now takes the blame for her granddaughter’s death.

PM clarifies

P

rime Minister Mark Phillips, who is performing duties as President, on Tuesday debunked misinformation circulating on social media, suggesting that the LethemBonfim border crossing between Guyana and Brazil was reopened.

In a statement, the Prime Minister clarified, “These reports are patently false. Despite Ministers of the Government of Guyana holding talks with

Prime Minister Mark Phillips

The Lethem-Bonfin crossing

the Governor of the State of Roraima on September 17, 2021, no agreement has been reached on the reopening of the border crossing.

Therefore, the information in circulation is inaccurate and may be intended to create mischief.”

He assured residents of Region Nine (Upper TakutuUpper Essequibo) and other stakeholders who depend on the border crossing being opened for their livelihoods that both parties on either side of the border remain fully engaged in bringing a resolution to the issue. This is once it is safe and reason-

able to do so.

At the request of the Guyana Government, a meeting was facilitated with Governor of the State of Roraima in Boa Vista, Antonio Oliverio García de Almeida last Friday.

Guyana’s delegation comprised of Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony; Senior Minister in the Office of the President responsible for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh; senior officials from the Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ministry and the National COVID-19 Task Force.

TURN TO PAGE 12

NEWS

11

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

$152M Lusignan well to provide 4000 residents with water when completed

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orks on the new well at Lusignan, East Coast Demerara (ECD), to the tune of $152 million are progressing as planned despite some minor setbacks. Upon completion, approximately 4000 residents within a catchment area between Good Hope and Annandale will be accessing water at a desired level.

On Tuesday, Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Water Inc Shaik Baksh visited the location where they interacted with the contractor and inspected the ongoing works.

The works are being executed by S Jagmohan Hardware Supplies & Construction Services and is expected to be completed by the end of October.

Minister Croal noted his satisfaction with the pace at which the work is progressing, as he called for residents to be patient.

“There has been a lot of complaints about the level of service along the East Coast, following the collapse of the old well…so

Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal along with GWI Chief Executive Officer Shaik Baksh and other officials during the visit on Tuesday

the cluster of communities that will see improved services include Annandale, Lusignan and Good Hope.”

He added that GWI remains committed to raising the level of services, even as the Ministry forges ahead with its housing drive service expansion which will cater to these new housing developments.

Meanwhile, Baksh also expressed his satisfaction

with the work being done by the contractor, noting that despite the minor setbacks, the contractors have been working expeditiously over the past month. He added that since the collapse of the well back in November 2020 the water company has been sourcing water to supply the communities from wells in Enmore, Coldigen, and the Friendship treatment plant

on a rotation system.

“The contractors have been working expeditiously, we had some delays with material and under a month the contractor was able drill some 960 feet down,” Baksh said.

A representative from the contracting service, Suresh Jagmohan noted that they are optimistic of completing the project within the timeline.

Construction of the well is slated to begin before the end of the week, after which the well will be connected to the distribution lines.

Croal also announced the drilling of six new wells in the region under GWI’s 2021 work programme. Five wells will be drilled to serve residents of Swan, Long Creek, Kairuni, Moblissa and Kuru Kuru along the Soesdyke-Linden Highway.

The other well will be drilled in Providence, East Bank Demerara, which will also benefit Herstelling and environs.

Additionally, over $200 million is currently being invested to increase water service along the East Coast of Demerara. Minister Croal

The well that is expected to be completed by October month-end

noted that this expansion is imperative for sustainable housing development along the East Coast corridor

and advancing Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Six to ensure safe drinking water and sanitation for all.

12 NEWS Increased hospitalisation of partially-vaccinated COVID patients recorded – Health Ministry T WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

he Health Ministry has recorded an increase in hospitalisation for persons who would have taken one dose of the COVID-19 vaccines against the deadly virus.

This was reported on Tuesday by Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony who stated that 164 persons are hospitalised across the country.

There are 84 at the Infectious Diseases Hospital on the East Coast of Demerara – 30 of which are in the Intensive Care Unit.

The remaining cases are dispersed at regional hospitals at Port Kaituma, Suddie, West Demerara, Mahaicony, Skeldon, New Amsterdam, Bartica, Mahdia and Wismar. The Minister has long contended that one dose of the vaccine does not offer full protection.

“As cases would go up in the general population, we’ll see that we’re also going to get more hospitalised, especially among persons who did not take the vaccine.

We have seen an increase in hospitalisation among the unvaccinated or the partially vaccinated,” Dr Anthony outlined.

A majority of hospitalised cases are treated at the Infectious Diseases Hospital

At the specialised facility, he said there is a full complement of nurses with over 55 doctors to monitor patients. He lauded the work of these health workers, highlighting that many persons are admitted in critical condition.

“They care for approximately 120 patients on average. We do have physiotherapy staff that would go in to work with those people who are recovering. They’re different level of staff for different categories of people. I

think they have been doing a tremendous job because a lot of the persons who come to that facility are really sick, especially those that require ICU care.”

Presently, there is a mechanism in place to update relatives on the status of patients at the facility. He noted that it is important for families to understand that the Ministry cannot inform several relatives of the same person, owing to the number of patients. As such, they should liaison with the per-

son receiving such information.

The Minister verbalised, “I think there are lots of expectations from some people, meaning that one of the complaints we have been getting is that peo-

ple, when they try to make contact with their relatives, they sometimes don’t get through. We have assigned a staff to reach out to the patients who are there but I hope the public can understand that for each patient, we cannot call five different relatives. When a patient comes in, we ask them who’s their preferred point of contact and we will call and update that person.”

Meanwhile, a significant bracket of patients is also in home isolation. Once tested positive, these persons are under isolation for 10 days and if they test negative after, they will be discharged.

With this arrangement, the health official said responsibility is important to prevent a spread.

“Some persons observe it in a strict manner. Others don’t. if they’re not observing it, we can easily have

more spread. If people are irresponsible and don’t abide by the rules, then we’ll have an increase in spread. We also do have institutional isolation and, in some regions, people prefer to come into those institutions.”

Vaccination numbers in Guyana show an uptake of 348,534 or 67.9 per cent first dose with 179,965 or 35.1 per cent second doses.

Adolescent figures stand at 20,896 or 28.7 per cent.

It has been reported that over 80,000 persons are waiting to be inoculated with the second dose of the Russian manufactured Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine – which is in short supply globally.

However, the AstraZeneca and Sinopharm vaccines are available in both doses; while the Johnson & Johnson is a single jab component.

Lethem-Bonfim border crossing...

From the outset, the Governor and State Representatives of Roraima and Guyana’s Ministers of Government highlighted the importance both Brazil and Guyana’s Governments attach to the bilateral relationship.

Minister Anthony said while it is understandable that members of the communities want an opening of the border to allow for the movement of commerce and people, the arrangement put

in place to restrict the movement of goods to one day per week had worked satisfactorily over the past year.

He pointed out that while it was Guyana’s desire to have the border between the two countries opened as quickly as possible, this had to be done safely given the continuing rise in COVID-19 cases and the threat of the spread of the Delta variant across the communities.

This situation was com-

FROM PAGE 10

pounded by the unfortunate position being taken by some persons in Guyana not to be vaccinated. He highlighted that one possible solution is for all persons transiting the border to be fully vaccinated and produce a negative PCR test. Both sides will further discuss this to arrive at a decision in the future.

This meeting initiated after blockades and protest action by Brazilians over the closure of the border crossing.

NEWS

13

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Multi-stakeholder group established to ensure transparency in extractive sector

Some of the members of the MSG Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat at the EITI event on Monday

A

nother multi-stakeholder group (MSG) for the Guyana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) has been created, primarily to continue oversight in the implementation of global standards and ensuring transparency in the extractive industry.

Nicholas Fredericks, Larry Carryl, Gomin Camacho and Vanda Radzik were appointed civil society representatives while the alternate appointees are Kerry-Ann Cort-Kansinally, Diane Khan, Mike McCormack, and Sharmaine Rambajue.

From the industry, the representatives are Jesus Bronchalo, Ryan Ramjit, Andron Alphonso, and Rafeek Khan; while the alternate appointees are Joachim Vogt, Norman McClean and Avalon Jagnandan.

Government appointees are Hema Khan, Vanelda Harris, Sonya Roopnauth, and Michael Monroe while

the alternate members are Tarachand Balgobin, Sean Johnson, Martin Pertab and Sharook Hussain.

Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat said the group comprises representation from the mining, oil and gas, forestry and services sectors; and fulfils the manifesto commitment made by Government on the campaign trail to ensure accountability in the industry.

“We have the kind of people who have the qualities to ensure that the new MSG will be a successful one, will be one that will continue from the work that was started by the first MSG. For the first, it was a learning curve for them. It was new to us and it was introduced to Guyana because of the oil and gas sector and the importance of managing the oil and gas sector in a transparent manner. As a Government, we have in our manifesto that we’re committed to managing sector

and the other extractive sectors in a transparent and accountable manner,” Bharrat stated.

He said the EITI International Secretariat would have offered to train the new MSG and he has accepted. Moving forward, he called for a full quorum at every meeting.

“My suggestion is that full members who have voting rights should be at all meetings and if members cannot attend the meeting for some reason or the other, that is why we have an alternate; so we don’t miss our quorum and the decisions are not held back. We can move forward as a body,” the Minister directed.

The Minister pointed out that the group would have to examine the recommendations from reports that were created and work towards implementation.

“We don’t want Guyana to be a country that is only preparing report to satisfy that criterion of the EITI

but we’re preparing reports with recommendations and at some point, in time, we

have to move to an implementation stage where we will implement some of

those recommendations. Of course, with policy direction too.”

14 NEWS

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2021|| GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Region 7 records highest COVID-19 deaths per capita with 18 in every 10,000 …Region 4 records highest number of deaths

T

he threat of COVID-19 spiralling out of control in Guyana is ever more present, since there has been a steady rise in the number of fatalities along with recorded cases. Thus far, 738 persons have died from the virus, and 29,824 persons have testing positive.

According to the 2012 census, Guyana’s population is 746,955, and based on the current trend, 400 persons in every 10,000 would contract COVID, while 10 persons in every 10,000 would die from the virus.

A calculation of the regional deaths per capita shows that Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), with population of 18,375, has the highest, with 18 deaths per 10,000 residents. This is followed by Region One (Barima-Waini), with a population of 27,643 and a record of 15 deaths in every 10,000.

Region Ten (Upper Demerara-Berbice) has a death per capita of 13 per every 10,000 and a population of 39,992. Region Four

(Demerara-Mahaica), which has both the largest population and death toll - 311,563 and 367 respectively - records 12 deaths in every 10,000 persons.

Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam), with a population of 46,810, records 5 deaths in every 10,000.

Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) has the second largest population with 107,785 residents and a death rate of 9 in every 10,000. Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), with a population of 49,820, has a death rate of 7. Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) has 109,652 residents and 6 deaths are recorded in every 10,000; and Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), with both the smallest number of residents and death toll, records 5 deaths in every 10,000 when compared with its 11,077 residents.

Additionally, Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), with 24,238 residents, records 9 deaths in every 10,000.

Region Four (DemeraraMahaica) is leading that

tally with both the highest number of recorded deaths as well as persons testing positive. Based on the numbers compiled by Guyana Times, 367 persons residing in the Demerara-Mahaica Region have succumbed to the virus. Additionally, the Ministry of Health’s numbers indicate that 14,215 of the residents in Region Four have received a positive COVID-19 test.

Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) is following Region Four with 98 deaths recorded since the first case was discovered in the country.

Meanwhile, Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) has recorded the lowest number of fatalities, with just 5 in the last 18 months.

Guyana recorded its first COVID-19 case and death in March 2020, and according to the numbers, thus far, Region One (Barima-Waini) recorded 41 deaths; Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) 24; Region Five (DemeraraMahaica) 36; Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) 62; Region Seven (Cuyuni-

Mazaruni) 33; Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) 21; and Region Ten (Upper DemeraraBerbice) 51.

New York-based Guyanese 52-year-old Ratna Baboolall is considered Guyana’s Patient Zero after she posthumously tested positive for COVID-19 back in March 2020. She died on March 11. Baboolall was making her annual Phagwah visit to Guyana when she took ill and subsequently passed away at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

Her COVID-19 confirmation cemented the fact that no country is immune to the disease and there need to be preparatory and preventative measures to tackle the spread of the pandemic.

Following Ratna’s death, her immediate family members were tested for the virus, and it was confirmed that her husband, two sons, and granddaughter were infected.

A few days later, 38-year-old Jermaine Ifill, an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) at a healthcare centre in Kitty, Georgetown, died from the virus. Ifill reportedly com-

plained of feeling unwell, and subsequently tested positive for the virus. This newspaper was told that before being placed in the ICU, he was in the male ward at the medical facility.

Prior to his death, the medical professional had cautioned the hospital to enact precautions to ensure people were kept safe.

This was also directed at the Ministry via his social media account.

As the number of positive cases rose along with more deaths being recorded, Guyana began placing more emphasis on creating a plan to combat the spread of the virus. Borders were closed, movement was restricted, and more measures were introduced mandating masks, social distancing, as well putting a cap on social activities; but the numbers continued growing.

A look at the number of deaths recorded since March 2020 paints a dark picture for Guyana. In March 2020, Guyana recorded two deaths, being Patient Zero and EMT Ifill. That number jumped to seven in April of 2020. Then began a fluctuation in the numbers, with

three in May, one in June, eight in July, and 20 in August.

September 2020 saw 41 persons dying, and October proved to be the deadliest month of 2020, with 44 COVID-19 deaths.

November saw a decline to 25 deaths, and 13 was the number that ended off the year.

The beginning of 2021 saw a steady rise in the number of deaths, with 12 in January, 19 in February.

March – one year after the country recorded its first case and fatality – saw 36 deaths, and April recorded 65.

May proved to be one of the deadliest months, with 95 deaths being recorded.

June followed closely with 82 fatalities. The number dropped in July with 72 deaths, but again increased in August with 79.

However, September is proving to be the deadliest of all months, with 113 being recorded in just 21 days.

The country continues to grapple with the effect of the novel coronavirus, with very little control as more variants of the virus are being discovered.

3 busted with ganja, cocaine in separate Police operations

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30-year-old man was arrested on Monday evening after he was found at Kwakwani, Region 10 (Upper DemeraraBerbice) with a quantity of cannabis in his possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Preliminary investigations revealed that, acting on information received, a team of Policemen and rural constables went to the home of a known female in the Kwakwani district and conducted a search on the person of her reputed husband.

During that operation, a small black haversack containing a wrapped transparent parcel that contained

The suspected cocaine found at Bee Hive, ECD

the ganja was found.

When told of the offence and cautioned, he said, "Boss, is me own, ah bring it to do a lil hussle".

He was arrested and escorted to the Kwakwani

Police Station, where the ganja, when weighed, amounted to 536 grams. He is expected to be charged shortly.

Meanwhile, a 41-yearold male and a 59-year-old female were arrested following the discovery of 26 grams of cocaine at their Bee Hive, East Coast Demerara (ECD) home on Monday evening.

The Police have said that, acting on information received, ranks went to the couple’s home to arrest a 30-year-old male who is wanted for threatening behaviour.

However, on approaching the location, the 41-yearold male was seen throwing

The ganja that was found during a Police operation at Kwakwani, Region 10

something into the yard.

As such, the Police conducted a search, during

which a green plastic bag containing two pieces of creamish, hard, rock-like

substances suspected to be cocaine were discovered.

The couple denied having any knowledge of the drug.

The female was arrested and escorted to the Cove and John Police Station, along with the suspected narcotic, while the male made good his escape. He subsequently turned up at the Police station, and was taken into custody.

The suspected cocaine was weighed in their presence, and amounted to 26 grams. They were both told of the allegation and cautioned, but again they denied ownership of the illegal substance.

Investigations are ongoing.

NEWS

15

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Ramsammy’s Ruminations GECOM likely to print ads Canada’s elections held on Monday; results known on Monday night shame GECOM

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he Canadian elections held this past Monday highlighted the many things wrong with the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). While the elections in Canada were held on Monday, September 20, with voting closing by 9.30 that night, the results were already known by Canadians and the world by midnight. In the meanwhile, it took our own GECOM months to even consider removing senior officers whom the world watched trying to rig elections’ results in Guyana in plain sight.

Now that they have done so, it has been weeks since the contracts of those senior officers were terminated. It is now taking GECOM weeks just to advertise the vacancies. It is, by any standard, unacceptable that a simple advertisement to fill a vacancy for a job - which has existed for decades, and for which the job description is well-established - cannot be made.

We know the composition Dr Leslie Ramsammy of GECOM can make these simple acts complicated. But Guyana is due to hold Local Government Elections this year. Clearly, without a Chief Elections Officer and a Deputy Chief Elections Officer, with less than four months left in 2021, the LGE in 2021 is now in jeopardy.

One would have thought that GECOM would be working around the clock to ensure some haste in filling vacancies in its senior management ranks, to ensure GECOM is ready for elections, both LGE and general elections. At the rate it is going, even the general elections due in 2025 could be affected. The Irfaan Ali-led Government and the PPP have declared their intention to hold LGE as soon as GECOM is ready, and the PPP have always been consistent about local government and general elections - they must be held within constitutional timelines. The sloth of GECOM is something that must worry everyone.

Significant changes in GECOM’s management staff are necessary.

A number of the senior staff and their aides are presently charged with serious crimes, and are before the courts. They have been charged with conspiracy to rig elections, and for fraud. While the courts are doing their work, one thing the population knows - a significant number of GECOM’s management staff were seen trying various machinations to change the March 2020 elections’ results.

These machinations included the Returning Officer of Region 4 changing numbers in the Statements of Poll, and the Chief Elections Officer arbitrarily changing numbers by removing votes based on spurious claims of phantom and dead voters. The world looked on in astonishment, the world spoke out, and the world acted against the blatant rigging attempts.

Clearly, there were intellectual authors of these rigging attempts.

Clearly, there were those who aided and abetted the process. But one thing is certain, those who were engaged in the five-month rigging saga cannot be allowed anywhere near GECOM to manage another election. The majority of the Guyanese people and the world would have no confidence in those elections.

Because the work of GECOM must go on, because elections are due, GECOM must move swiftly to fill the vacant positions. If this means meeting every single day, then that is what GECOM must do. In the case of the Canadian elections, the election’s date was declared one month before the election. The electoral list was finalised, political parties submitted their candidates, political parties campaigned, and the elections were held without any impasse, without any problem, and elections’ results were declared the same night.

A whole election from declaration of date to declaration of results within one month, and GECOM cannot even prepare an advertisement to fill a vacancy for a job with a defined job description.

This is why the Government has included reforms for GECOM as part of the prioritised constitutional reform agenda.

The Attorney General is the Chair of the Constitutional Reform Committee of Parliament. That commission must begin the work of reforms for GECOM now. Guyana cannot afford to experience another election like the March 2020 election. True, the conduct of the elections itself was smooth, but the management of the results exposed how easy it was for a cadre of people within GECOM to manipulate the results of the elections.

Urgent and rapid attention must be paid to this aspect of the elections. Already, since 1992, elections’ results from each station are immediately published by the posting of the SOP at the station where people voted. Once that is done, unless anyone objects to the results from that station, those results must be honoured. In the recent 2020 elections in America, we saw where counting of the votes in some stations was conducted on line. Where possible, this should be encouraged in Guyana. Let the people see their votes counted.

Among the reforms that should be considered is live streaming of the procedure at each station, where possible. But our media should begin to work together, combine their resources, and publish results as they are posted at each station. In this way we can leave little or no room for skullduggery by GECOM officers. This way, the public can know the results as they are ready at each station. This way, Guyana can be like many countries around the world, including all Caricom countries, and know the results the same night as they voted. The Canadian elections are yet another reminder that GECOM needs massive change.

for CEO, DCEO by next week

– meeting to issue order had to be adjourned due to absence of Opp. Commissioners

GECOM Commissioner Bibi Shadick

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he Guyana Elections C o m m i s s i o n (GECOM), which has spent much of the year wrestling with the removal of top employees at the Secretariat, is likely to send out advertisements to fill critical vacancies by next week.

This is according to GECOM Commissioner Bibi Shadick, who revealed to this publication in an invited comment that while they have already drafted the advertisements, a statutory meeting on Tuesday to issue the print order had to be adjourned until Thursday because there was no quorum.

Shadick and her fellow Government-nominated Commissioners Sase Gunraj and Manoj Narayan - were present during Tuesday’s meeting, chaired

by GECOM Chairperson, retired Justice Claudette Singh.

However, Shadick said, Opposition-nominated Commissioner Vincent Alexander was absent from the meeting, and after technical difficulties, his colleague Charles Corbin logged off from the virtual meeting, leaving only Desmond Trotman present.

“We couldn’t even discuss the advertisements, because we did not have a quorum anymore. Trotman was there, and Trotman was hearing and was heard, but the quorum has to have two from their side,” she explained.

“So, what the Chairman in frustration was forced to do was adjourn it until Thursday at 1. Because if a meeting is adjourned because of a lack of a quorum, we can call the meeting for Thursday and make decisions as long as there are four people,” Shadick said.

According to Shadick, those four people can comprise the three-Government nominated GECOM Commissioners and the Chairperson herself. This would remove the necessity of relying on the Oppositionnominated Commissioners

for a quorum.

The Commissioner was optimistic that after Thursday’s meeting, the process can move forward and advertisements for the vacant GECOM positions can be printed by next week in all the daily newspapers.

“Once we have made that decision, I doubt it (printing) could be this weekend. It would have to be next week some time. We have asked that they go in all the papers and on the website. Wide coverage. I’m very hopeful that the decision to send the advertisements off to print will be made Thursday,” she said.

The advertisements in question will fill the vacancies caused by the removals of former Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, his former deputy Roxanne Myers and former Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo.

After several delays and legal proceedings, Lowenfield, Myers, and Mingo were on August 12 dismissed from their respective posts at the GECOM following a vote by the seven-member Commission.

The Guyana Elections Commission

In a statement announcing the terminations, which she said came after weeks of deliberation on the motions, the GECOM Chair had indicated that the services of Lowenfield, Myers and Mingo would be terminated effective August 18, 2021, and they would be compensated in accordance with provisions in their contracts.

To this end, Justice Singh disclosed that CEO Lowenfield was dismissed via Clause 9 of his contract, which stipulates that his services can be terminated by giving him three months’ notice, or payment in lieu thereof.

Regarding the DCEO and the RO, their contracts similarly state that the

Commission may, at any time, terminate their employment by giving them three months’ notice or payment in lieu thereof.

Gunraj and his fellow Government-nominated Commissioners, Bibi Shadick and Manoj Narayan, on June 1, 2021 had brought motions calling for the dismissal of Lowenfield, Myers and Mingo from GECOM. The trio are before the courts for a number of electoral charges for their alleged attempts to sway the results of the March 2020 General and Regional Elections in favour of the then ruling A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government.

16 NEWS

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Bandit, cop shot as Teen dies 8 days after robbery suspect attempts 2-vehicle collision – father mourns loss of daughter to disarm Policeman – relatives claim otherwise

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policeman and a suspected bandit are now nursing gunshot injuries following an incident along Leopold Street, Werk-en-Rust, Georgetown.

Preliminary investigations revealed that at about 10:50h on the day in question, a party of Policemen responded to an alleged incident of robbery under arms being committed on a 68-year-old male, who was relieved of one artificial hand band and one gold chain by two males, one of whom was armed with a handgun.

However, in the process of arresting the suspects – a 20-year-old and a 24-yearold - a scuffle ensued between the suspects and one of the ranks.

The Police have said that one of the suspects held on to the Policeman’s service revolver as he attempted to disarm him. The firearm reportedly became dislodged and the Policeman was shot in his left thigh.

The bandit was also shot to his left thigh. They both were taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where they are receiving medical attention.

Meanwhile, the Police also managed to arrest the second bandit. He was taken into custody, and is assisting with investigations.

However, the relatives of the two suspected bandits had a different story to tell.

Kia Richards, a girlfriend of one of the men, stated that the Police visited their home on Tuesday and requested to speak with Sheldon Profit.

Upon enquiring the reason for their wanting to see him, the Police explained that he was wanted for questioning in connection with a robbery.

“Profit tell the Police how he could rob somebody and he just come out he bed?”

The Police, she stated, insisted that the young man go to the station.

“So, Sheldon say, ‘Me, I can’t go no way, because y’all see y’all just come and wake me up out me bed. I come out me bedroom!’ and one of them say, ‘Well, we got to search the house. So Sheldon tell them search it.

When they search and thing, they tell he, ‘You gon come down and clear your name’.

He father then come up and say, ‘If y’all want Sheldon, I name Sheldon (Forde) too, so y’all got to carry both of us,” Richards related.

The father and son went out on the road with the Police when another brother, Tyrese Forde, enquired what was happening.

“So, the brother saying, ‘What going on? what happening hay?’ and they tell he that they arrest Sheldon for a robbery, so the boy said, ‘No! That can’t happen!’ and they rowing and thing. They end up snatching Tyrese.”

This resulted in an argument, which quickly escalat-

ed into a scuffle. The Police managed to get Sheldon in the vehicle, and made attempts to arrest his brother.

Again, a scuffle ensued between Tyrese Forde and the ranks.

“They end up firing shots in the air, and one of the officers - I don’t know if he was nervous or what - is he pull out he gun and like the safety didn’t went on or something, and he mistake and fired a shot, so it end up hitting Tyrese, and end up going through Tyrese foot and knock the Police,” the woman recalled.

The woman is calling for justice to be served, and more so for a proper investigation to be conducted into what actually transpired.

In addition, Nikita Barrow, the girlfriend of the injured civilian, explained that she received a telephone call informing her of the commotion, and without hesitation she went home.

“When I come home, I see me boy on the ground and I see they lift he up and put he in the car, so I said, ‘Man, what y’all do he, y’all shoot he!’ They carry he to the hospital, and when we went there, they said we can’t go in, so we went back to the station.”

She, too, has vented her frustration at the manner in which the Police handled the situation, and called for a full probe into the shooting incident.

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ineteen-year-old Isha Persaud of Lamaha Park, East La Penitence, Georgetown, who was injured in an accident several days ago along Sheriff and Fourth Street, Campbellville Georgetown, has succumbed to her injuries.

She reportedly died on Monday without regaining consciousness and while receiving medical attention at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

Her father Inderjeet Persaud, when contacted, reflected on the accident.

“The accident, she landed on she head, and me daughter ain’t move back unto now. From since the hospital – from the road, in the ambulance – the same position. But the doctor them at public hospital, they know that duh girl die on the spot and they does just wan, you know, put you on a life ma-

Dead: Isha Persaud

chine, feel that she living”, Persaud expressed.

The tearful father further stated that his daughter was a very nice, loving and jovial young lady. He recalled that she always wanted to own her own business.

“I know she mussy went on the seawall hanging

out, and heading home and she get in the accident. So, I can’t blame the car man, can’t blame the rider. It was late. You know, we want the best for Isha, so win, lose or draw, I still want the best fuh she. At the end of the day, I is a parent…nobody don’t want lost a loved one.

“It hard, it hard fuh lose a young lady like duh. She ain’t even get a kid yet. It’s very hard, man. It hard, it hard,” he reiterated.

Isha Persaud suffered injuries about her body after a motorcar and the motorcycle she was on collided on September 12 last. She was reportedly the pillion rider at the time of the accident.

Persaud’s body is currently at the Georgetown Public Hospital Mortuary awaiting a post mortem. The Police are continuing their investigation into the fatal accident.

Flood relief cash grants to be reassessed – Min Mustapha tells Mahaicony residents

Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha engaging with farmers

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griculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha met with farmers from the Mahaicony area at the Mortice Primary School in Mahaicony to address the concerns relating to the Government’s flood relief grants.

Subsequent to complaints made by several farmers who stated that they either received an incorrect sum of the cash grant or did not receive it at all, the Minister called a meeting with the aim of rectifying the issues.

Minister Mustapha informed the farmers that “We’ve decided that all of the areas that falls within this catchment area will have a representative to work along with the committee that was established and that they will now look

at those persons who are making claims that they were assessed wrongfully or they didn’t have the right amount and based on that, within a week they will come up with a proper list, a sanitised list and we’ll do the mapping up exercise and finish off this area”.

He further stated that, “For this roll out, we started in the eastern part of the region. I was allowing the teams to work so that we can have a sanitised list of persons who should receive relief. The list came and then we began to roll out the flood relief distribution. We are now hearing a number of concerns. I am not here to dispute any of those claims. I came to put a mechanism in place.

I want the farmers to elect representatives from each

area to be on a special select committee along with senior officials from the Ministry and the region.

These persons should be familiar with all the farmers in the area.”

He further explained that they will have to do a list for persons who were not captured and for those who did not receive the right amount. As such, upon completion of that procedure, another verification process is expected to be done to substantiate the information given by those persons on the new list.

Those persons that were present at the meeting had their names taken down, with instructions being given for officers to commence the process with the hope that it can be completed within a week’s time.

NEWS

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Candace Phillips uses tourism to promote Indigenous culture

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isit Rupununi – Guyana’s only regional destination management organisation, has been in existence for six years, providing information about the culture, events, attractions, operators, services and special offers in the Rupununi.

The person behind this distinct tourism agency is a 39-year-old woman of Indigenous heritage, Candace Phillips. Phillips was born in the Region One village of Santa Rosa; however, she only spent the first nine months of her life there.

She grew up in Georgetown where she attended St Margaret’s Primary and The Bishops’ High School, before pursuing studies in Economics at the University of Guyana (UG).

According to Phillips, her life was “mapped out” and she was planning to become a corporate lawyer.

However, as fate would have it, Phillips gained employment with the Amerindian People’s Association (APA) as a Programme Assistant, an opportunity which “opened her eyes” to aspects of her culture that had been missing because she grew up in the urban Georgetown.

“I always wanted to know more about where I came

Candace and her children

Candace Phillips

to absorb as much and try to understand the different aspects of culture and the difference between the nine Indigenous tribes in Guyana,” she said.

In 2015, while living and working as a teacher in Aishalton, Rupununi, Phillips jumped at the opportunity to work with

Candace Phillips at the Atta Rainforest Lodge

from, and not only about myself, about other Indigenous Peoples of Guyana,” Phillips said.

According to her, working with the APA changed her life, because it gave her the opportunity to work with various communities throughout Guyana, and to learn about her culture. Wherever I go, I try

Conservation International as a Tourism Coordinator.

The post required her to develop a Regional Destination Management Organisation which aims to build cohesiveness and inclusiveness.

Phillips noted that hotels, food suppliers, art and craft vendors and others are all part of the tourism value chain.

“What Visit Rupununi intended to do was to bring stakeholders together. In order for us to move forward as a cluster, the Rupununi being the strongest one in Guyana, we needed to speak to each other a bit more.”

Phillips noted that forming such an organisation had its challenges, “More so, because they have never heard of the term, sometimes I think it’s because I was a woman too, I was an Indigenous woman at that, trying to lead something and I think that because there was not that great receptivity in the beginning, I think that really fuelled my energy to try to prove them wrong, to prove that we can actually do this.”

Noting the accomplishments of Visit Rupununi over the last five years, Phillips said she is proud of the part she has played in bringing it to life.

She said the organisation has a good relationship with the Department of Tourism and the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) so information is shared and help is garnered when needed.

Phillips now serves as a Travel Industry Development Officer with the GTA, a job which allows her the opportunity to help Indigenous communities develop their tourism products.

Her job entails shortlisting Indigenous communities with tourism potential, community engagements, meeting with Village Councils and focusing on each community’s uniqueness and building on their strengths.

“So, when visitors go, whether they be domestic

or international travellers, they could have a very enriching experience and making sure that all along the line that Indigenous communities are involved in the process, and at the end of the day, they are the right holders, they are the people who own this project. We are just facilitators of a process,” Phillips added.

Tourism, Phillips said, promotes Indigenous culture and keeps identity intact with an aspect on conservation.

ties, and not to stray away or to impose something different, but to build on that, to safeguard their rights and at the end of the day the people must feel that this is their product, and the only way you can do that is by having a partnership with them.”

She is urging individuals and communities that want to get into the business of tourism to ensure that they are willing as “Tourism does not generate big bucks overnight; it

ple saying, you’re a woman, you are Indigenous and you can’t do this, I look and I know my strength and what I bring to the table” she said.

Phillips would like to see more Indigenous people being empowered and more aware of their role.

“We are not just going to lie down and roll over; we are a strong people.”

As Guyana observes Amerindian Heritage Month, Phillips is hoping to see “Less discrimination,

Candace Phillips conducts tourism training in an Indigenous community

“Tourism is one of the sectors that helps communities to understand that there is much greater value in keeping this tree standing or that bird flying rather than selling it, because if I sell it today, I’ll get $25,000 but if I keep it there, tourists or visitors who keep coming, that $25,000 could be multiplied,” she noted.

Phillips said GTA’s role is not to change the character of a place. “It’s very important for us to maintain the identity of the communi-

is a commitment. A commitment that you start and you have to see it through”.

Phillips believes that there is still stigma attached to Indigenous people, having experienced it herself. However, she believes that individuals can strive to change perceptions.

“I think that commitment, dedication, and hard work can really show results that is your driving force at the end of the day, so I don’t worry about peo-

more appreciation for our culture and what we bring to the table as a people, we have a very strong identity and we come with so much history”.

Phillips continues to make her contribution to the Indigenous people and tourism industry. With the presence of COVID-19, she is urging persons to adhere to the regulations in place and continue to prepare for the reopening of the industry and the changes that would come with it.

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guyanatimesgy.com

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

Regional

Brazil and Argentina tapped to make Venezuela says Colombian drone violates its airspace as US Admiral visits mRNA vaccines in Latin America

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he Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) has selected two biomedical centres in Argentina and Brazil as regional hubs to develop and produce mRNA-based vaccines to fight COVID-19 in Latin America, the regional health agency said on Tuesday.

The idea is to tap existing manufacturing capacities to help transfer vaccine technology developed

by Moderna in the United States to a region badly hit by the coronavirus and still without access to enough vaccines.

The Bio-Manguinhos Institute of Technology on Immunobiologicals at Fiocruz, Brazil’s premier biomedical lab, was picked for its history of vaccine manufacturing, and has already made “promising advances” developing mRNA vaccine technology, PAHO said. Sinergium Biotech, a Private Sector biopharmaceutical company, was selected as the centre in Argentina and will partner with pharmaceutical

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lab mAbxience of the same group to develop and manufacture active vaccine ingredients.

The Americas branch of the World Health Organisation said vaccine manufacture should benefit the entire region, with distribution funded by PAHO’s Revolving Fund.

A similar effort in Africa to develop COVID-19 vaccine production replicating Moderna’s shot has been slowed by talks with the US company, a WHO official told Reuters last week.

Moderna said in October it would not enforce patents related to its shot during the pandemic, raising hopes that other companies might

be able to copy its vaccine and help boost global production.

In practice, though, it is hard to replicate a vaccine without the information on how it is made, and the WHO-backed tech transfer hub in South Africa has so far not reached a deal with the company.

The Americas region has borne the brunt of COVID-19 infections to date, with 87.6 million cases recorded and over 2.16 million lives lost.

Yet vaccine distribution continues to be unequal, PAHO has said, with few countries in the Region reaching the year-end 40 per cent vaccine target set by the WHO. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Barbados: Opposition Leader declines invitation to join meeting with IMF

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pposition Leader Bishop Joseph Atherley has turned down an invitation to participate in an International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting with the Standing Finance Committee of Parliament on Tuesday.

Responding immediately after the announcement of the meeting was made

by Speaker of the House of Assembly Arthur Holder Tuesday morning, Atherley advised the Speaker that “the Leader of the Opposition will not participate in this meeting with the IMF”.

“The Government of Barbados has been in an ar-

rangement with the IMF for the past three years plus months; several engagements with IMF teams have taken place both physically and verbally. On no occasion up to this point has the Leader of the Opposition been given the courtesy of a call, a letter, a conversation, a dialogue with any representative members of the IMF teams that have been to Barbados. I find this to be grossly out of order,” Atherley said.

However, he said his “beef is not with the Government”.

Leader of Government Business in the House

and acting Prime Minister Santia Bradshaw said she understood the Opposition Leader’s sentiments, but pointed out that the request was made by the IMF and not the Government.

Bradshaw said items on the agenda for discussion included: “the role of Parliament in discussing and approving the preparation of the budget; the role of the Public Accounts Committee in scrutinising the reports of the Auditor General and challenging accounting officers as well as Government on the execution of their budgets”.

(Nation News)

Jamaica wants WHO/PAHO intervention after vaccinated J’cans are barred by some countries

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amaica has called for the intervention of the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) to ensure the global acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccines being administered by developing countries.

The call from Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Jacquiline BisasorMcKenzie, comes a day after the regional director of the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA), Errol Greene, revealed that his full vaccination status was not recognised by authorities in the United Kingdom when he arrived there to attend the funeral service for his mother. Greene’s reve-

lation has triggered widespread anger in Jamaica and elsewhere.

The United Kingdom apparently does not recognise the vaccine code for Jamaica. This has resulted in Jamaicans who are fully vaccinated designated unvaccinated on arrival in that country. The majority of Jamaicans have been inoculated with the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is developed and produced by a team from Oxford University and the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

“Jamaica would ask that the WHO and PAHO intervene to ensure that essential medicines and health technologies that have gone

through the rigours of approval are recognised and accepted globally. This, we ask as vaccines approved by the WHO, taken by our citizens, are not being accepted in some countries,” said Bisasor-McKenzie, who is a member of the Jamaica delegation to Washington DC for the 59th PAHO Directing Council meeting.

Her intervention, made on day two of the meeting, which is being chaired by Jamaica, comes in the wake of the island having faced challenges with finding consistent and reliable supplies of vaccines and other health technologies in order to support the national COVID-19 response. (Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

enezuela on Tuesday said a Colombian military drone violated its airspace in what it called a “blatant threat” to its national security that took place during a visit by a US military commander to the neighbouring nation.

General Vladimir Padrino said in a statement that a Colombian Air Force drone flew over the Venezuelan border state of Zulia on Monday afternoon.

“This was neither involuntary nor coincidental, as

it coincides with the presence in Colombia of Admiral Craig Faller, chief of the United States Southern Command ... to supposedly discuss ‘cooperation on security matters’,” Padrino said in the statement posted on the Defence Ministry’s Twitter account.

Colombia’s Air Force and the US State Department did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

Padrino in June spoke out against a visit by Faller to the Colombian city of

Puerto Carreno near the Venezuelan border.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro cut diplomatic ties with Colombia in 2019 and expelled Colombian diplomats in response to Colombian President Ivan Duque’s support for an effort

by Venezuela’s Opposition to bring humanitarian aid into the country.

The United States maintains a broad Venezuela sanctions programme that was created to force Maduro from power. (Reuters)

Angry scenes at Haiti airport add to Biden pressure over expulsions

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ngry scenes broke out at Haiti’s main airport on Tuesday among migrants sent home from a squalid Texan border camp, as US President Joe Biden faced mounting pressure to stop an expulsions policy the United Nations refugee chief said might be illegal.

Nearly 10,000 migrants, mainly Haitian, remain in worsening conditions in the impromptu camp that sprang up under a bridge spanning the Rio Grande from Texan town Del Rio to Mexico’s Ciudad Acuna.

In recent days, US authorities have removed at least 4000 people from the site for processing in detention centres. Hundreds have now been returned to Haiti.

Returnees reacted angrily as they stepped off flights at Port-au-Prince airport after spending thousands of dollars on arduous voyages from the troubled Caribbean nation via South America hoping for a better life in the United States.

On Tuesday, they found

Returnees reacted angrily as they stepped off flights at Port-auPrince airport after spending thousands of dollars on arduous voyages from the troubled Caribbean nation

themselves back where they started.

A group of men in white tee-shirts rushed back towards the plane they had disembarked from, with at least one man trying to reboard, a Reuters witness said.

Chairs were thrown and tempers ran high, exacerbated by news the Haitian Government had accepted the deportations.

“I am angry at the Government, we were told

in prison that the Haitian Government had signed to send us back to Haiti. They are all bad people, these authorities,” said Yranese Melidor, 45, who arrived on an earlier flight.

The disturbances underscored the instability in the poor Caribbean nation, where a presidential assassination, rising gang violence, and a major earthquake have spread chaos in recent weeks. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Govt has power to create 15 THA seats – analyst

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olitical analyst Dr Winford James has dismissed allegations of illegality against the Government’s move to change the number of electoral districts in the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) from 12 to 15.

Acting upon the proclamation of the THA (Amendment) Act, the Election and Boundaries Commission (EBC) recently completed its report to amend the electoral boundaries in Tobago. The THA has been deadlocked since January 25, 2021 when the THA elections ended in an unprecedented six-six tie.

The EBC order, which paves the way for fresh elections, was laid in Parliament by the Prime Minister on September 10 and passed last week by a simple majority – 21 for

Political scientist Dr Winford James

and 18 against.

The Opposition, who voted against the bill, has promised to mount a challenge in court.

However, at Sunday’s Progressive Democratic Patriot’s (PDP) Black Table Talks on “The EBC and Tobago” alongside statistician Dr Alvin Thompson, James said the Government and the EBC

may have acted within the law.

James said: “Unless we are prepared to take the Government to court and have an independent reading of the courts, I would think that the Government has the authority to do what it has done.”

He said the matter needs to be looked at more broadly and the question must be asked: who is running the country?

“The people who are running the country are the Cabinet via the Parliament or the Parliament via the Cabinet – whichever way you want to see it. The Government has passed a law through the Parliament and that law authorises a body, which is the EBC, to go out and obey the law. (Excerpt from Trinidad Newsday)

guyanatimesgy.com

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

19

Around the World

OILNEWS OIL NEWS Oil edges up, as investors worry about global demand

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il prices rose modestly in a see-saw session on Tuesday, as concerns about the global consumption outlook counterbalanced the struggle by big OPEC producers to pump enough supply to meet growing demand.

Both benchmarks were at one point up by US$1 per barrel, but Brent crude pared gains and settled just up 44 cents at US$74.36 a barrel, after falling by almost 2 per cent on Monday.

The October West Texas Intermediate (WTI) contract, which expired on Tuesday, rose 27 cents to settle at US$70.56 a barrel, after dropping 2.3 per cent in the previous session. The more active November contract rose 35 cents a barrel to US$70.49.

Brent and the November WTI contract earlier reached session highs of US$75.18 a barrel and US$71.48 per barrel, respectively.

"It seems to be a very nervous trade today," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures group in Chicago. "It's a little bit of ongoing concerns about the potential impact of demand going forward."

The TASS news agency said Russia believes global oil demand may not recover to its 2019 peak before the pandemic, as the energy balance shifts.

However, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies including Russia (OPEC+) struggled to pump enough oil in August to meet current consumption as the world recovers from the coronavirus pandemic. Several countries appeared to have produced less than expected as part of the OPEC+ agreement - suggesting a supply gap could grow.

Investors across financial assets have been rocked by fallout from the China Evergrande crisis that has harmed asset values in risk markets like equities.

"Traders worried that it could trigger a domino effect in China’s major debt-driven companies, and a rollover bearish effect for stocks and commodity prices," said Nishant Bhushan, oil markets analyst at Rystad Energy.

"However, given that all Chinese major banks and lending institutions are controlled by the Government, there is a ray of hope in the market that the second biggest economy in the world would be able to absorb shock waves from the Evergrande."

In addition, the US Federal Reserve is expected to start tightening monetary policy, which could cut investor tolerance for riskier assets such as oil. Fed policymakers began a two-day meeting Tuesday.

US oil production is still recovering from hurricanes that hit the Gulf Coast region. Royal Dutch Shell, the largest US Gulf of Mexico oil producer, said on Monday that damage to offshore transfer facilities from Hurricane Ida will cut production into early next year.

About 18 per cent of the US Gulf's oil and 27 per cent of its natural gas production remained offline on Monday, more than three weeks after Ida. US crude oil, gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week, according to market sources, citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday, as numerous refineries and offshore drilling facilities remained shut following Hurricane Ida. Crude stocks fell by 6.1 million barrels for the week ended Sept 17. Gasoline inventories fell by 432,000 barrels and distillate stocks fell by 2.7 million barrels, the data showed, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Official US Government data is due on Wednesday.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

“Waste of money”: Canadians lament C$612 million election that changed little

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anadians woke up to a virtually unchanged political landscape on Tuesday after an expensive pandemic election they did not want, with many venting their fury at the C$612 million (US$477.60 million) cost.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals won the election, but it was unpopular from the start for its timing, two years ahead of schedule and during a rising fourth wave of COVID-19.

Voters gave Trudeau a third term but denied him the parliamentary majority he called the election to win.

The Liberals are leading or elected in 158 of 338 districts, just three more than they entered the election with. A majority requires 170 seats.

Other parties did not fare much better, ending up largely with the same number of seats they had before the election.

A special ballot officer counts ballots from national, international, Canadian Forces and incarcerated electors that were received by mail during the federal election in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, September 20, 2021

"C$600 million and all I got was this lousy pencil," one Calgary man tweeted, referring to the stubby pencil used to mark ballots.

"Waste of money" trended on social media as voters questioned the time and expense involved. Elections Canada, which runs the vote, projected that it cost

C$110 million more than the 2019 election, which cost C$502 million.

Holding the election during a pandemic generated extra expenses, such as counting a flood of mail-in ballots and supplying single-use pencils, masks and hand sanitiser, the elections agency said.

The Liberals, Conservatives and New Democrats were each allowed to spend about C$30 million of their own money on the campaign.

The vote also happened as the Liberals have run up a record national debt of C$1 trillion (US$785 billion) to manage the pandemic and pushed budget deficits to highs not seen since World War Two. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Texas doctor who defied state’s new abortion ban is sued

Taliban names Afghan UN envoy, asks to speak to world leaders

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he Taliban have asked to address world leaders at the United Nations in New York this week and nominated their Doha-based spokesman Suhail Shaheen as Afghanistan's UN ambassador, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi made the request in a letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Monday.

Muttaqi asked to speak during the annual high-level meeting of the General Assembly, which finishes on Monday.

Guterres' spokesperson, Farhan Haq, confirmed Muttaqi's letter. The move sets up a showdown with Ghulam Isaczai, the UN ambassador in New York representing Afghanistan's Government ousted last month by the Taliban.

Haq said the rival requests for Afghanistan's UN seat had been sent to a nine-member credentials committee, whose members include the United States, China and Russia. The com-

mittee is unlikely to meet on the issue before Monday, so it is doubtful that the Taliban Foreign Minister will address the world body.

Eventual U.N. acceptance of the ambassador of the Taliban would be an important step in the hardline Islamist group's bid for international recognition, which could help unlock badly needed funds for the cash-strapped Afghan economy.

Guterres has said that the Taliban's desire for international recognition is the only leverage other countries have to press for inclusive Government and respect for rights, particularly for women, in Afghanistan.

Until a decision is made by the credentials committee Isaczai will remain in the seat, according to the General Assembly rules.

He is currently scheduled to address the final day of the meeting on Sept 27, but it was not immediately clear if any countries might object in the wake of the Taliban letter. (Excerpt from Reuters)

A new Texas law that took effect on September 1 seeks to ban abortions of foetuses with detectable heartbeats, at about six weeks of pregnancy [Lila Engelbrecht/Reuters]

A

doctor in the United States who performed an abortion in defiance of a new Texas state law has been hit with a pair of lawsuits following his public admission during the weekend he had violated the new law.

Former lawyers in Arkansas and Illinois filed separate state lawsuits Monday against Dr Alan Braid, who in a weekend Washington Post opinion column became the first Texas abortion provider to publicly reveal he had performed an abortion since the Texas law took effect on September 1.

Dr Braid, of San Antonio, all but dared supporters of the state’s near-total ban on the procedure to try making an early example of him by filing a lawsuit.

“I fully understood that there could be legal conse-

quences — but I wanted to make sure that Texas didn’t get away with its bid to prevent this blatantly unconstitutional law from being tested,” Braid wrote.

Both suits challenge the validity of the Texas law and are likely to set up a test of whether the law can stand after the US Supreme Court allowed it to take effect. In 1973, the US Supreme Court ruled in Roe v Wade women nationwide have a right to abortion.

Anti-abortion activists are seeking to overturn that ruling through state laws like Texas, Missouri, Mississippi and others.

The new Texas law prohibits abortions once medical professionals can detect cardiac activity, which is usually around six weeks and before some women know they are pregnant.

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Greece tests drone drug delivery for remote regions

G

reece on Tuesday tested a drone to deliver medicines to isolated places in an environmentally friendly way, sending the unmanned vehicle to a 200-person village.

The red drone with four rotor blades took off from the north-western Greek city of Trikala and flew 3 kilometres (0.5 miles) to Leptokarya. It made two stops, landing outside a

pharmacy and in a farmer's field.

A pharmacy staff member unloaded the medicine from a storage compartment on the drone, and it took off again.

"Technology can give real solutions to real problems that we have today. Today we transported medicines to a pharmacy nearby, tomorrow it could be to transport medicines to some emer-

gency," said Trikala Mayor Dimitris Papastergiou.

The EU-funded programme called Harmony aims to use low carbon and less resource intensive solutions for transport.

The drone programme is intended to serve people with mobility issues, isolated villages and homes and sites of emergencies.

Officials said the project is particularly crucial during

the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It concerns situations where immediate help will be needed, or people and places that are isolated," said Dimitris Anastasiou, president of the Trikala pharmacists' association.

The Harmony programme, which also has autonomous vehicles, will be tested in six cities in Europe and Britain. (Excerpt from Reuters)

20

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

guyanatimesgy.com

ARCHIE

ARIES (March 21April 19)

TAURUS (April 20May 20)

DILBERT

GEMINI (May 21June 20)

CANCER (June 21July 22)

PEANUTS LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

CALVIN AND HOBBES

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

SUDOKU

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

Set your goal and don’t stop until you are satisfied with the results you get. A partnership has the potential to grow into something that will add to your stability. Talks will lead to solutions.

You may desire personal change, but first make sure you will not disappoint someone close to you. Run your plans by people who matter, and someone will offer quality alternatives.

Test your skills and make improvements that encourage you to boost your skills, knowledge and profile. Pay attention to how you present what you have to offer.

Update your resume.

You’ll move one step forward and three steps back if you let your emotions come between you and what you are trying to accomplish.

Put everything you’ve got into your efforts.

Take it easy. Don’t take a risk that can potentially lead to injury or illness.

Protect your position and your reputation. Channel your energy into what you want to achieve.

Take charge and focus on what you can do to make your life better. Don’t wait for someone to make the first move. Choose to follow the path that suits your needs, and let others do the same.

Play to win and leave nothing to chance. Take the initiative to handle every detail and offer an in-depth look at what you are doing to ensure that no one gets in your way.

Refuse to get pulled into a confounding situation.

Take hold of any problem that arises and make your position clear. A change of heart will force you to look out for your best interests.

Speak up, share your SAGITTARIUS ideas and plans, and pro(Nov. 23ceed. Taking the initiative Dec. 21) to fulfill your dreams will encourage others to support your efforts. Think big, but live within your means.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19)

SOLUTION FOR LAST PUBLISHED PUZZLE AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 19)

Take a moment to rethink your plan before you move forward. Walk through the process and consider the people involved and the hoops you must jump through to get what you want. Proceed with caution.

A challenge is needed to restart your mindset and encourage you to make the most of each day. Gather information and pursue knowledge and skills that will help you reframe your goals and bring you closer to what gives you joy.

You’ll desire change.

Sticking to a budget will (Feb. 20help eliminate undue stress March 20) and hurdles that will weigh you down and tire you out.

Be smart, and you’ll find a way to get what you want.

PISCES

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

21

CWI, PCB to meet on West Indies tour of Pakistan

C

RICKET West Indies will shortly be meeting with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) regarding the proposed West Indies tour of Pakistan in December.

The West Indies are expected to play three One Day Internationals (ODIs) and three T20 Internationals during that tour of Pakistan.

Last Friday, New Zealand pulled out of the tour of Pakistan minutes before the start of the first ODI in Rawalpindi, citing security concerns. New Zealand were slated to play three ODIs and five T20Is against the Pakistanis.

And on Monday, England

WI CEO, Johnny Grave

opted out of their men's and women's tour of Pakistan. The English men were set to play two T20 Internationals while the women were due to play two T20Is and three ODIs. Asked on Monday about the

proposed WI tour of Pakistan, CWI CEO Johnny Grave, in a Whatsapp message, replied, "(we're) speaking to the PCB (on Tuesday)."

The West Indies hosted Pakistan in July and August for two Test matches (the series ended 1-1) and four T20Is (Pakistan won the rain-affected series 1-0).

Teams have been reluctant to tour Pakistan since the March 3, 2009 terror attack on the visiting Sri Lankan team, who were on their way to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore for the third day of the second Test.

Six members of that Sri Lanka team were wounded, while six

Pakistani Policemen and two civilians were killed.

A second-string West Indies team led by Jason Mohammed

Ben Simmons's stock never lower as he pushes for 76ers exit

B

en Simmons has no future with the Philadelphia 76ers, according to reports on Tuesday, putting the team in a very tricky position.

The 76ers were said to be in talks to trade Simmons for James Harden last season, but the Brooklyn Nets swooped in to do a deal with the Houston Rockets instead.

Simmons instead remained in Philly, but again failed to impress as their playoff run ended with defeat to the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference semi-finals.

The point forward is an outstanding defender, making the All-Defensive First Team in each of the past two years, but his work on the other end of the floor has been a source of

constant criticism.

In four seasons with the Sixers, Simmons has averaged 15.9 points per game in the regular season, yet he has attempted only 34 shots from three-point range, and made just 59.7 per cent from the foul line.

The first overall pick in 2016, Simmons still has admirers around the league, but appears to be gambling someone will make a big offer.

ESPN said Simmons will not report for training camp next week, and does not plan to play for the 76ers again, having communicated this message to the team last month.

But the 76ers have not yet found an attractive trade, and the issue for both parties is Simmons's stock has never

been lower.

Not only does the player's stance give his team less leverage, but he is coming off a woeful postseason showing that could understandably s e e suitors have second thoughts.

Across Games 5, 6 and 7 against the Hawks, Simmons averaged 6.3 points from 4.7 field goal attempts.

His 34.2 per cent free-throw shooting throughout the playoffs was by far the worst rate of any player with 10

attempts or more, while he took just one shot in clutch situations.

The 76ers are likely to have to lower their expectations considerably in the trade market, as they attempt to help Joel Embiid heading into 2021-22.

(Sportsmax)

Ex-McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh returns to Formula 1 with Aston Martin

F

ormer McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh is returning to Formula 1 with the Aston Martin team.

The 63-year-old is to oversee Aston Martin's F1 project as chief executive officer of a newly established company, Aston Martin Performance Technologies.

Aston Martin’s F1 CEO and team principal Otmar Szafnauer will report to Whitmarsh, with both men answerable to Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll.

Whitmarsh is "the ideal person" to lead Aston Martin to success, Stroll has said.

"Martin has enjoyed a long, successful and high-profile career, spanning the motorsport, automotive, aerospace, marine, and renewable-energy sectors," the Canadian billionaire added.

"Moreover, he is a proven winner in Formula 1."

Whitmarsh was McLaren F1's team principal and chief executive officer, as well as CEO of the McLaren Group from 2009 to 2014, before being sacked

by Chairman Ron Dennis, who

was himself removed from the company three years later.

Whitmarsh has since been CEO of the Ineos America's Cup team, as well as doing some behind-the-scenes consulting in F1. Last year, he was also appointed a member of the Hamilton Commission, set up by seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton to find solutions to the lack of representation of ethnic minorities in the British motorsport industry.

Whitmarsh has said he had been impressed by Stroll's "formidable business acumen, and his seemingly inexhaustible

ambition".

He added: "Lawrence intends Aston Martin to win F1 World Championships, plain and simple, and I would not have joined him in that endeavour unless I was utterly convinced that it was an entirely achievable aim.

"I know what it takes to win in F1 and, inspired by Lawrence's leadership and backed by the skill, passion and resolve of the workforce, I intend to do whatever I can to make sure that our team becomes the winning operation that Lawrence is determined that it should be."

Aston Martin Performance

Technologies will be similar in nature to equivalent, well-established companies at McLaren and Williams, which apply F1 expertise and technology to areas outside the sport.

Whitmarsh's appointment follows months of speculation that Aston Martin were looking for a senior manager to either replace or oversee Szafnauer at their F1 team.

Aston Martin say Whitmarsh's appointment is intended to be in addition to the current management structure of the F1 team, and that Szafnauer will remain in his position as the day-to-day boss of F1 operations.

Szafnauer said: "Martin is an experienced and capable business leader, extremely successful for McLaren in F1, and I am very much looking forward to working with him.

"Martin's arrival will allow me to put 100 per cent of my energies into making Aston Martin F1 team a winning machine." (BBC Sport)

toured Pakistan for three T2OIs in April 2018, with the hosts sweeping the series.

In a recent Cricinfo report, Afghanistan indicated their desire to play the West Indies and Australia in a T20I tri-series, ahead of next month's T20 World Cup in the United Arab

Emirates (UAE) and Oman.

Grave said, "No news from the ACB (Afghanistan Cricket Board). We are planning to head to the UAE in early October to (go) through our mandatory six days’ quarantine, before having a few days training ahead of the ICC support period, and our two warm-up games against India and Pakistan."

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the West Indies have not held a first-class competition since February 2020.

Asked about plans for a Regional four-day competition and Super50 Cup in 2022, Grave responded, "(There will be a) Board Meeting next Thursday to outline plans for (the) 2022 regional schedule. All senior executive management (personnel) will be attending."

(TT Newsday)

Hungary to play matches behind closed doors

— after racist behaviour of fans at England game

H

ungary have been ordered by Fifa to play two matches behind closed doors following the racism English players experienced at the World Cup qualifier in Budapest on 2 September.

However, the second ground closure is suspended for two years.

The Hungarian Football Federation has also been fined £158,400 (200,000 Swiss Francs).

"Fifa takes a clear zero tolerance stance against such abhorrent behaviour in football," read Fifa's statement.

The governing body added that it remained "firm and resolute in rejecting any form of racism and violence, as well as any other form of discrimination or abuse".

In June, Uefa fined the Hungarian federation £85,500 and ordered a three-game stadium closure, the final match being suspended, for discriminatory behaviour by their supporters during Euro 2020.

That sanction did not apply for England's visit, as the World Cup qualifier was a Fifa game rather than being under the control of Uefa, who did not ask for the punishment to be transferred.

Fifa said it imposed the sanctions "after analysing and taking into consideration all

the circumstances of the case, specifically the seriousness of the incidents (racist words and actions, throwing of objects, lighting of fireworks, blocked stairways)".

Raheem Sterling and Jude Bellingham were both targeted, England players were pelted with objects in the second half, and a flare was thrown on to the pitch by the home fans at Puskas Arena.

The England players were also booed as they took the knee before the match at the 67,000-capacity stadium.

Sterling was pelted with paper cups and bottles when he opened the scoring for England, before a flare was thrown on to the pitch after Harry Maguire put Gareth Southgate's side 3-0 ahead.

Southgate also had ice thrown at him by fans during his post-match interview with BBC Radio 5 Live.

Kick It Out's head of development, Troy Townsend, tweeted: "What does 'zero tolerance approach' even mean?

Words that read good in print but we'll never actually adhere to them.

"Anyway, we [in England] have our own problems, and don't even go this far with punishments, so best leave alone." (BBC Sport)

22

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

Restart of IPL 2021…

Kartik Tyagi concedes just one run in final over to stun Punjab Kings

A

banner statistical day for Punjab Kings - which included KL Rahul passing 3000 runs in the IPL, 2000 runs in the league for Mayank Agarwal, and a maiden IPL five-for from left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh - became completely spoiled in the final moments of play as they tripped spectacularly at the final hurdle, losing by two runs despite having six wickets in hand when chasing a target of 186.

Rahul was dropped three times during a sloppy fielding display by Royals, which allowed him to reach 49 in the end as part of a century stand with Agarwal. But Royals were able to overcome that due to the brilliance of Mustafizur Rahman

with the well-set pair of Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran at the crease on 25 and 32 respectively in the midst of a halfcentury partnership. But after a single by Markram, Pooran's attempted steer with an open face to third man instead found the gloves of Sanju Samson behind the stumps. Markram was then starved of the strike for the rest of the over, as Deepak Hooda and then Fabian Allen could not get away Tyagi's wide yorkers, capping a scoreless final four deliveries and a stunning heist by Tyagi and the Royals.

Jittery Jaiswal Royals got off to a promising start behind the opening pair of

Evin Lewis set the tone at the top of the order with a handy 36

and Kartik Tyagi. With eight runs needed off 12 balls and eight wickets in hand, Mustafizur conceded just four singles off the penultimate over.

The odds were still overwhelmingly in favour of Kings entering the final over

Evin Lewis and Yashasvi Jaiswal, who put on a 54-run opening stand in a powerplay dominated by the West Indian left-hander.

It was broken when Arshdeep induced a false drive to extra cover, where Agarwal took a sharp catch on the ring to remove

than the previous one, as Kings continued to rub salt into the wound, stretching beyond 100 a partnership that could have been nipped in the bud as early as the second over.

A pair of sixes off Chris Morris over fine leg by Agarwal took him past fifty as well as 2000 runs in the IPL, while Rahul had earlier become the second fastest (by innings) to cross 3,000 in the competition. But after both men fell in the space of eight balls during the 12th and 13th overs, Markram and Pooran carried on and showed no sign of concern.

A six to start the 18th by Markram off Morris took the equation under a run a ball, with

Mahipal Lomror scored a quickfire 43

Lewis for 36.

Jaiswal had taken 40 off the first 10 overs, including five fours and two sixes, but showed his nerves as he closed in on what would have been a maiden IPL fifty. He crawled through the next four overs, tapping singles to let his partners Liam Livingstone and then Mahipal Lomror take their hacks for the boundary.

He reached 49 before an attempted flick through midwicket produced a leading edge that was taken on the ring to make it 136 for 4.

Lom-roar!

While Jaiswal had slowed down, another left-hander took on the aggressive role for Royals, as Lomror pulled out the slog sweep to clear the ropes on four occasions, on his way to 43 off 17 balls. Though he fell on the first ball of the 18th, his blistering cameo proved to be extremely valuable in the final margin.

Mercenary claim OSCL 20 Overs Trophy

SCOREBOARD Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 49

Arshdeep's career-best effort The left-armer had already taken two wickets earlier – Lewis, followed by Livingstone at deep midwicket - when he came back at the death to put the clamps on Royals’ middle and lower order.

Lomror picked out Markram at long-on trying to hit his fifth six in the 18th. Mohammed Shami then took two wickets, caught on the boundary by Markram in the 19th, before Arshdeep closed out the first innings in style.

A slower ball was skied above the pitch for Arshdeep to claim for himself a fourth wicket. One ball later, he went one better with a yorker to knock over Tyagi as the innings was wrapped up for 185.

Thanks to Arshdeep and Shami, only 17 runs were scored off the final three overs, as the last five wickets tumbled.

Rahul-Agarwal century stand goes to waste Rahul was spilled on 2 at backward point by Lewis, 29 at mid-on by Riyan Parag, and 32 at short fine leg by Chetan Sakariya. Each chance was easier

M

The victorious Mercenary team striking a pose after the post-match presentation

ercenary cricket team brushed aside Canadian Legends by 118 runs to lift the Ontario Softball Cricket League’s (OSCL’s) Grand Champion 20 Overs Trophy on Sunday at Ashtonbee Park in Scarborough.

Mercenary again lived up to the great expectation of total domination, having amassed a formidable 1845 from their 20 overs before skittling out the Legends for a meagre 66 in the 15th over.

Mercenary, who have played unbeaten throughout this year’s shortened season with 11 wins, demonstrated their allround skills as soon as skipper Looknauth Ramsuchit won the toss and opted to bat.

Canada-based Guyanese Riaz Kadir, who showed inclination for boundary-hitting, led the way with an entertaining 60, which consisted of five fours and three sixes. The right-hand-

ed Kadir started his innings soon after Avinash Sookdeo was taken for 37, ending a steady 71-run opening stand with Richard Dias, who scored 27.

Kadir continued his display in front of a vocal crowd, and it saw his team’s hundred come up in the 12th over. With the Canadian Legends lacking momentum with the ball, Mercenary lost wickets only occasionally.

Avish Rukhram (03) and former national youth player Shaun Deonandan (04) failed to make a big impression, but Ramsuchit finished off things in style, belting three effortless sixes to remain 22 not out.

Nishal Dass finished with two wickets for 33 runs off his four-over spell.

When Canadian Legends batted, only Reyaz Prahalall offered a brief fight with 23. Veteran player Sunil Ramkissoon picked up three wickets for four runs from four economical

overs. Ramkissoon, whose accuracy and precision were admired, got support from Amit Rukhram who bowled 1.4 overs for four runs and collected two wickets in terrific conditions for cricket.

Sookdeo churned out a fine all-round performance by accounting for two victims while conceding 18 runs during his maximum four overs.

And also at the same facility, Leguan Warriors defeated Three Counties by 18 runs to win the consolation trophy.

Leguan Warriors rattled up an adequate 156-7 off their 20 overs, and then limited Three Counties to 138-7 at the expiration of their 20 overs.

Meanwhile, President of the OSCL, Ganeshwar Babulall, congratulated the winner and expressed his gratitude to all the participating teams. An Essequibian, Babulall acknowledged the support of the sponsors as well.

12 needed off the final 17 balls, but it would be the last boundary Kings would score, and they soon were struggling for singles too.

With eight needed off 12 balls, Mustafizur bowled two crucial dots to stretch the match into the final frame for Tyagi. A seemingly innocuous four off six turned into an insurmountable three off the final ball after Pooran's wicket was followed by Hooda also edging Tyagi behind.

Allen could not get bat on yet another well-placed wide yorker off the last delivery as the Royals dugout poured onto the field, jubilant to have pulled off the unlikeliest of wins. (ESPNcricinfo)

RAJASTHAN ROYALS’ INNINGS (20 OVERS MAXIMUM) Evin Lewis c Agarwal b Arshdeep Singh 36 Yashasvi Jaiswal c Agarwal b Harpreet Brar 49 Sanju Samson (c)† c †Rahul b Porel 4 Liam Livingstone c Allen b Arshdeep Singh 25 Mahipal Lomror c Markram b Arshdeep Singh 43 Riyan Parag c Markram b Mohammed Shami 4 Rahul Tewatia b Mohammed Shami 2 Chris Morris c Markram b Mohammed Shami 5 Chetan Sakariya c & b Arshdeep Singh 7 Kartik Tyagi b Arshdeep Singh 1 Mustafizur Rahman not out 0 Extras (lb 4, w 5) 9 TOTAL (20 Ov, RR: 9.25) 185 Fall of wickets: 1-54 (Evin Lewis, 5.3 ov), 2-68 (Sanju Samson, 7.1 ov), 3-116 (Liam Livingstone, 11.5 ov), 4-136 (Yashasvi Jaiswal, 14.2 ov), 5-166 (Riyan Parag, 16.3 ov), 6-169 (Mahipal Lomror, 17.1 ov), 7-175 (Rahul Tewatia, 18.1 ov), 8-178 (Chris Morris, 18.5 ov), 9-185 (Chetan Sakariya, 19.5 ov), 10-185 (Kartik Tyagi, 19.6 ov) BOWLING O-M-R-W Mohammed Shami 4-0-21-3

West Indies set for whiteball tour of India in February

Ishan Porel Deepak Hooda Arshdeep Singh Adil Rashid Harpreet Brar

4-0-39-1 2-0-37-0 4-0-32-5 3-0-35-0 3-0-17-1

PUNJAB KINGS’ INNINGS (TARGET: 186 RUNS FROM 20 OVERS) KL Rahul (c)† c Kartik Tyagi b Sakariya 49 Mayank Agarwal c Livingstone b Tewatia 67 Aiden Markram not out 26 Nicholas Pooran c †Samson b Kartik Tyagi 32 Deepak Hooda c †Samson b Kartik Tyagi 0 Fabian Allen not out 0 Extras (nb 1, w 8) 9 TOTAL (20 Ov, RR: 9.14) 183/4 Did not bat: Ishan Porel, Adil Rashid, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami Fall of wickets: 1-120 (KL Rahul, 11.5 ov), 2-126 (Mayank Agarwal, 12.6 ov), 3-183 (Nicholas Pooran, 19.3 ov), 4-183 (Deepak Hooda, 19.5 ov) BOWLING O-M-R-W Mustafizur Rahman 4-0-30-0 Chetan Sakariya 3-0-31-1 Kartik Tyagi 4-0-29-2 Chris Morris 4-0-47-0 Rahul Tewatia 3-0-23-1 Mahipal Lomror 1-0-7-0 Riyan Parag 1-0-16-0

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HE WEST Indies cricket team will undertake a "white-ball" tour of India in February, 2022, according to a report on the Cricinfo website.

The WI will play three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) on February 6 (Ahmedabad), February 9 (Jaipur) and February 12 (Kolkata), and as many T20 Internationals on February 15 (Cuttack), February 18 (Visakhapatnam)

and February 20 (Thiruvananthapuram).

This tour will be part of a hectic international schedule for the West Indies in early 2022.

The West Indies are set to host England in five T20 Internationals in January, and Ireland are due to tour for three ODIs and three T20 Internationals. England will return to the West Indies in March for three Test matches. (Adapted TT Newsday)

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

G

uyana’s Carlos ‘The Showstopper’ Peterson-Griffith hopes to shock the world over the next week when he attends the World Powerlifting Championships in Sweden, and the National Sports Commission (NSC) has injected a hefty sum into the preparation and travel for the powerlifting phenom as he embarks on a goal to shatter world records.

Peterson-Griffith has secured a spot in the World Powerlifting Championships which are scheduled for September 23 to October 3 in Halmstad.

On Tuesday, Director of Sport Steve Ninvalle made a presentation of $1.2M to Peterson-Griffith as he heads off to the Championships being hosted by the International Powerlifting Federation.

The Director of Sport stated, “We want to say that the National Sports Commission; the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, and by extension the Government of Guyana, had promised Mr. PetersonGriffith that we would try to assist as much as we can.

Of course we know that our budget is not infinite; we, of course, with our limited resources that we have, we try to see as best as possible how we can spread it to all sports’ disciplines.”

propriate that we assist him and continue to assist him in his climb to becoming one of the best in the world,” Ninvalle shared.

While confirming that this will not be the last time the NSC throws its support behind the powerlifter and the Guyana Amateur Powerlifting Federation (GAPLF), Ninvalle said, “We do hope that he can bring back more medals when he gets to Sweden.”

Peterson-Griffith

would like to reiterate, this is just a stepping stone, not just for myself, but other elite athletes who would like to step up the podium, bringing it home every time and being disciplined in every manner.”

Peterson-Griffith is contesting in the 93kg deadlift and squat categories, and will be the only Guyanese athlete participating in the action in Sweden. However, he will be accompanied by a manager and referee.

RHT Namilco Thunderbolt Flour defeats RHCCCC to lift Rose Hall Town’s 51st Anniversary Trophy … Anderson cops Man of the Match Award — Team makes donation to Town Council Carlos ‘The Showstopper’ Peterson- Griffith in action

Given The Showstopper’s recent outing at the FESUPO/ NAPF Pan-American Regional Powerlifting Championships, where he broke several records, Ninvalle went on to share the necessity of supporting

outstanding athletes.

“Considered an elite athlete, he has been making this country proud, he has made the sport proud. He’s just done that a month ago, breaking several records, and we feel that it’s just ap-

GLC rides with Linden Bauxite Flyers cycling club for 2022-2023

F

or the 2022-2023 cycling season, the Guyana Lottery Company (GLC) will be the official sponsor of the Linden Bauxite Flyers cycling club as the Company presses on in aiding the sporting fraternity.

The sponsorship cheque for this initiative was handed over during a mid-morning presentation at the Company’s Lamaha Street Head Office on Tuesday last.

Let’s Bet Brand Ambassador and Sports Journalist Rawle Toney spoke on the position of the Lottery Company, highlighting that the Company was focused on lending a hand in the mining community of Linden.

“As you know, the Guyana Lottery Company over the years has been supporting sports tremendously, and recently through our Let’s Bet sports brand. We have supported almost every discipline there is that is played in Guyana,” Toney has said.

The Brand Ambassador continued, “But we felt as though, with Linden being very close to us, we needed to offer some support where sport is concerned, and in the community, where sport plays a major part in everyone’s lives, whether you’re from Linden or living in Linden.”

The cycling club’s Assistant Secretary-

thanked the players involved for not only supporting him, but getting him to this point in his illustrious career.

“Thank you to NSC and also the Director of Sports, Mr. Ninvalle. Besides that, I’d like to say thank you to all my sponsors out there.”

Peterson-Griffith added, “Without you guys on board, this wouldn’t be possible, and moreso myself.”

The Showstopper continued by saying, “One thing I

23

Jeffrey Yearwood of the Linden Bauxite Flyers cycling club

Treasurer, Jeffrey Yearwood, commented on the value of the Lottery Company’s contribution, and that of the sport’s, to the community.

“We’re very thankful that the Guyana Lottery Company would’ve taken the step to be our branding partner for this upcoming season. Cycling is really an inspiration to the youths of Linden. It’s something they look forward to, it’s something that even the people in Linden look forward to,” Yearwood shared.

“This club has been known for creating the nursery of cycling, always bringing out the youngsters, from little boy and girls in primary school to secondary and then they go off to seniors.”

The club’s representative added, “We will continue to do so, and we plan to continue

to do so for the long term, and we’re really happy for this support from Guyana Lottery Company. It will really help boost our output, our activities and everything.”

Yearwood went on to share what’s next on the Club’s agenda, which should come up next month.

“We’re working with the Region 10 Tourism Committee to do a race in Tourism Awareness Month, which is November. And we’re still looking forward to that, and we’re still hoping we get the support of the Federation, hoping to get permission from the Task Force to get that race to come off come November,” the Assistant Secretary Treasurer enlightened.

The club, which operates in Region 10, was founded back in 2009.

Namilco Thunderbolt Team Captain Shawn Perreira handing over donation to the Mayor and Town Clerk of Rose Hall Town

A

brilliant innings from Guyana’s most promising batsman Kevlon Anderson spearheaded his team, Rose Hall Town Namilco Thunderbolt Flour, to an easy eight-wicket victory over Rose Hall Canje Community Centre Cricket Club last Sunday at the Area H Ground. The victory ensured that the home team carried home the Rose Hall Town’s 51st Anniversary 20/20 Trophy.

The township, Guyana smallest, attained its status on September 20th, 1970 and the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club, MS, is assisting the Town Council to coordinate a series of activities to mark the anniversary.

Rose Hall Canje won the toss and elected to take first strike on a wicket playing its first competitive match in just under six months. They were immediately in trouble when opener Ravindra Beharry was bowled by a fiery Keon Sinclair for naught with the score on four in the first over. They never recovered, and were eventually bowled out for 84 off 19.5 overs, as all the home team bowlers bowled well.

Sasenarine Sukhu with 22, Eon Andrews with 14 and Zahir Hussain with 12 were the principal batters for Canje.

Andrews and Sukhu added 30 for the 3rd wicket, but when

Andrews was dismissed by off-spinner Junior Sinclair in the 14th over, the rest of the batting collapsed.

Bowling for the home team, skipper Shawn Perreira took 4 for 15 from four overs, Junior Sinclair took 2 for 14, while Kevin Sinclair, Matthew Pottaya and Keith Simpson each took a wicket.

Needing to score 85 from 20 overs, RHT Namilco lost West Indies player Kevin Sinclair second ball, stumped off the bowling of veteran left-arm spinner Mark Sampson for nought without a run on the board.

Former Windies under-19 player Kevlon Anderson joined opener Junior Sinclair, and together they added 24 for the second wicket, before Sinclair was trapped LBW by Meduim pacer Zahir Hussain for 12.

Veteran Jason Sinclair joined Anderson, who was already flowing with several attractive strokes. The pair added the required 62 runs for victory in just eight overs, with Anderson ending on 51 not out, which included four boundaries and four massive sixes, while Sinclair was unbeaten on 15, which included two delightful boundaries. Hussain, with 1 for 18, and Sampson, with 1 for 34, were the successful bowlers for Canje.

Anderson received a trophy

for being adjusted the Player of the Match, while the runner-up team received a trophy and a box of red cricket balls, compliments of the RHT Namilco cricket team. The champions received the championship trophy and a cash prize, compliments of West Indies player Kevin Sinclair.

At the simple presentation ceremony, RHTY&SC Secretary/ CEO Hilbert Foster congratulated the champions and said his club is very pleased to be associated with the township, which has developed into the financial capital of Berbice. He committed the club and its 12 cricket teams to assisting the Town Council as much as possible to make a positive difference.

Mayor Dave Budhu expressed gratitude to the management of the RHTY&SC for the major role they have been playing in transforming the township, and the assistance they have provided to his council.

Members of the Namilco team also took the opportunity to donate several items to the Council, including street signs, plaques, framed certificates and national flags.

Captain Shawn Perreira handed over the items to the Mayor and Town Clerk Natasha Griffith after the match.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

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

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GLC rides with Linden Bauxite Flyers cycling club for 2022-2023 Pg 23

RHT Namilco Thunderbolt Flour defeats RHCCCC to lift Rose Hall Town’s 51st Anniversary Trophy … Anderson cops Man of the Match Award — Team makes donation to Town Council

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