Guyana Times - Wednesday, September 4, 2019

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

Issue No. 4036

THE BEACON OF TRUTH wednesday, september 4, 2019

PRICE

General and Regional Elections

$80 vat included

WHAT'S INSIDE:

PPP GECOM Commissioners slam continued foot-dragging See story on page 3

…say despite urgency, GECOM “moving further away from elections” …proposal for producing ID cards has maximum 140-day timeframe See story on page 10

Foreigner crushed to death on ship at local wharf P9 Damaged DHB causes garbage build-up in P13 Georgetown …as disposal trucks left stuck on WCD

Old debt lands P8 driver in court for attempted murder Lone gunman robs IT technician of laptop, phone P14

Demerara Harbour Bridge reopens to light vehicular traffic …maritime traffic halted …more damage discovered as work continues – General Manager

ExxonMobil, stakeholders participate in oil spill response training Page 13

16% interest rates at commercial banks uncompetitive – GCCI …says banking rates one of several hurdles Page 7

local businesses have to overcome

Speed boat P14 handed over to Prison Service

Taxi driver jailed for assaulting P8 sister, daughter 4000 students enrol at UG P12 for 2019/2020 academic year — highest since its existence

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news

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WEDNesday, september 4, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

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

Please be advised there will be NO 05:00h closure to vehicular traffic on Wednesday, September 4, 2019, the bridge company has indicated. Thursday, September 5 – 09:00h – 10:30h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Wednesday, September 4 – 07:40h – 09:10h and Thursday, September 5 – 08:20h – 09:50h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

General and Regional Elections

PPP GECOM Commissioners slam continued foot-dragging …say despite urgency, GECOM “moving further away from elections” …proposal for producing ID cards has maximum 140-day timeframe

WEATHER TODAY Sunny conditions are expected throughout the day. Clear to partly cloudy skies are expected in the evening. Temperatures should range between 22 degrees Celsius and 32 degrees Celsius.

Winds: East North-Easterly to South SouthEasterly between 1.78 metres and 4.02 metres.

High Tide: 07:59h and 20:15h reaching maximum heights of 2.58 metres and 2.55 metres.

Low Tide: 13:50h reaching a minimum height of 0.71 metre.

saturday, AUGUST 31, 2019

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GECOM Commissioner Sase Gunraj

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ollowing another afternoon in meeting, Oppositionnominated Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Commissioners contended that their time was spent on further fruitless discussions, with no decision as to the way forward being made.

Immediately after Tuesday’s statutory meeting, Opposition-nominated Commissioner Sase Gunraj gave some insight into what was discussed. According to Gunraj, the production of identification (ID) cards was placed on the agenda.

However, he said that these proposals could delay elections by months.

“Wasted day… we are nowhere closer to the decisions of holding elections.

We sat down and dealt with lots of irrelevant discussions, I believe, to holding credible elections in a timely manner. We have failed to come to any meaningful discussions. The proposals that are coming are all very lengthy processes”.

“We’re hearing about production of ID cards now.

The smallest timeframe provided by secretariat is 92 days. And it goes all the way to 140 days. While those are overlapping events, those are things that will take a long time. And all the courts have spoken about the necessity of elections. I don’t believe we have to worry

Commissioner Robeson Benn

about the issue of production of ID cards at this time,” Gunraj said.

Asked directly if Jamaica is a potential location for producing the ID cards, Gunraj did not confirm or deny.

There was also no decision on cross matching Houseto-House data. According to Gunraj, a timeframe for Claims and Objections was not even discussed.

This is despite Chairperson Claudette Singh ordering that extended Claims and Objections will follow the production of a Preliminary List of Electors, after she had made the decision to quash Houseto-House registration last week.

M e a n w h i l e , Commissioner Robeson Benn did not mince words as he criticised the meeting for not being fruitful. He made it clear that he considered today’s meeting a waste of time and more attempts at

foot-dragging.

“There are no updates.

There is no appetite in my view at GECOM for the holding of elections. Every ruse, every resort, every stratagem is being employed to further delay elections,” Benn said.

According to his counterpart Bibi Shadick, GECOM was moving further away from elections. However, Government-nominated Commissioner Vincent Alexander contended that these are necessary steps before timelines can be laid down.

“The discussions are ongoing. They are centred around things that are very technical. Decisions have not yet been made. We have not finalised timelines. We’re trying to settle some principles. Once those are settled, then we’ll define timelines based on proposals from the secretariat”.

GECOM’s next meeting is scheduled for Friday at 11:00h. It will be the latest in a long line of meetings at GECOM that have seemingly led nowhere. Last week, it had been revealed

by Shadick that a team from GECOM, which included Deputy Chief Elections Officer Roxanne Myers and the Information Technology Manager, were in Jamaica observing the process of cross matching fingerprints. It has subsequently been reported that printing ID cards in Jamaica is being considered.

She had explained that

Govt Commissioner Vincent Alexander

they have to return, after which, Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield will prepare a plan proposing the timeframe to merge the data with the register. According to Shadick, this plan would have been discussed by the Commission and if necessary, further decisions will be taken.

Reports indicate that during the House-to-House exercise, the only political party that supervised the enumerators was the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU). The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) was not even invited.

The fact that the data was obtained at a time when the PPP played no part in supervising the enumerators has long been cited by the party as reason to doubt the credibility of the exercise and the possible contamination of the entire National Register of Registrars.

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WEDNesday, september 4, 2019

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

What’s the purpose of the Govt’s CCTV cameras?

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here have been innumerable articles and opinion pieces done on the crime situation. Its effectiveness can be brought into question given that the situation continues to exacerbate. A choice of saying nothing or being futile while vocal is unfortunately imposed. Faced with a life or death situation, one may, therefore, be forced to concede that there is merit; however, obscured in speaking out with the hope of effective and sustained interventions.

That said, criminals have become more brazen and operate in broad daylight with seeming impunity. That could question the implementation of any existing response plan and the relevance of the security cameras that are now prevalent, especially across the City. That CCTV project cost millions in taxpayers’ dollars and if used as the populace desires, can be an effective mechanism to deter and to aid in possible apprehension.

To ordinary Guyanese, it appears to not be used as intended, given the freedom in which criminals seem to operate. What’s amazing is that a number of crimes have been captured from private CCTV cameras and posted on social media. With a small society and the extensive interconnection across the social media platforms, one can only assume that those within the relevant authority may have been recipients.

The pertinent questions are: what has been done if such footage was received? What is being done with footage of criminal activities captured by the CCTV cameras installed by the Government? Again, one can assume that trained operatives are on a twenty-four-hour basis monitoring the cameras within a central room, recording the footage in the process, and passing information in real-time to a response team or teams.

This assumption is from at least two perspectives; how some countries use such systems and the high cost for implementation.

The latter is implicit on the grounds of value from the costly investment. With such expectations and mindsets consumed with fear, citizens would naturally believe that the national CCTV project is primarily to aid in the combating of crime in a timely manner.

The obvious question would be: if not for that purpose, then what?

Expectations are not confined to the use of the cameras in question, but for law enforcement to respond timely and effectively to the desperate cries for help. Many have and continue to lament the inexcusably slow or total lack of response by the Police and the often unanswered 911 calls. Lack of transportation and ranks and recurring excuses. When transportation is offered by the concerned party, the unavailability of ranks is instinctively raised.

These have led to the continual erosion of confidence in the Police by the general public. What has been completely absent, at least from within the public domain, is the findings of any internal investigation to determine why, in some instances, response to crimes is slow or non-existent. Paid by taxpayers, shouldn’t the force see merit to inform as to real reasons why some ranks reportedly ignore the pleas for help? This is aside from the usual excuses offered taking into consideration the constraint of resources.

With numerous complaints of 911 calls going unanswered, there are also reports suggesting that when a call is successful, sometimes the caller is given a number of the nearest Police station.

These can only be deemed as unacceptable. Shouldn’t there be mandatory internal investigations and the findings be made public? Also unacceptable, is the lack of sustained interventions in areas known as crime havens and those that harbour criminals.

These areas exist and it would be folly to assume that the Police are unaware. There is a particular one on East Bank Demerara, which, its own residents and those from nearby villages, have bemoaned the ongoing spate of crime during which some lives have been lost. The area is raided sporadically, either to appease or when a fatal crime occurs. Residents firmly believe that the Police may be aware of the situation and probably have knowledge of harden criminals who shelter within the area.

The seeming lack of sustained action may have led residents to believe that some ranks may allegedly be emboldening the criminals. With a senior officer currently under investigation for allegedly aiding and abetting criminals, it may not be too farfetched for residents of that particular area to feel that way. Why then, are responses extremely slow or absent? Why then, are known suspects reportedly roaming freely? How can daily robberies go unchecked?

Those are questions that the residents ask every day as they live in constant fear. Any suspicion of snitching can incur a brutal response reminiscent of Buxton years back when the village was held to ransom by a few heavily-armed gunmen. Ironically, when a particular crime occurs, the Police very often can say who may have been responsible and where the suspect can be possibly found.

What then, prevents sustained interventions or presence in high-risk areas? What prevents a response in the first place? Is it fear on the Police’s part? If that’s the scenario, then relief will remain elusive. Would that explain the seeming ineffectiveness of the CCTV cameras? One can only hope the cries herein can be effective.

These two young lads wasted no time in making new friends on the first day of school at the No 5 Nursery School, West Coast Berbice (Department of Public Information photo)

Amazon fires: Jair Bolsonaro to miss summit for surgery B

razil’s President Jair Bolsonaro will miss a planned summit on the fires ravaging the Amazon rainforest to prepare for surgery, an aide has said.

The operation will be the far-right leader’s fourth after he was stabbed in the stomach during his presidential election campaign in 2018.

Brazil may send a representative in his place or ask for the summit to be postponed, the spokesman said.

More than 80,000 fires have broken out in the Amazon rainforest this year.

Bolsonaro has drawn intense domestic and international criticism for failing to protect the region, which is a vital carbon store that slows the pace of global warming.

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro

Environmentalists blame policies enacted by the Brazilian President for the 77% increase in fires this year compared with the same period in 2018. They say he has encouraged cattle farmers to clear vast swathes of the rain-

forest since his election.

The controversial leader was elected to the presidency in October 2018, a month after he was stabbed at a campaign rally.

His surgery is to correct an incisional hernia and is

his fourth operation since the attack.

The surgery is scheduled for Sunday, and Bolsonaro must start a liquid diet on Friday - the day of the regional conference in Colombia.

Doctors said he would need 10 days of rest after the treatment.

Speaking to reporters outside his official residence, the President vowed on Monday to defend his Amazon policy “even in a wheelchair” at a UN General Assembly meeting on September 24.

“I will appear because I want to talk about the Amazon,” he said.

Bolsonaro has accused other nations of colonialism for offering $20 million to help tackle the fires. (BBC News)

Hidden agenda as it pertains to H2H, credible voters’ list

Dear Editor, There is a hidden agenda crafted and promoted by the PNC. Everybody knows this; and that motive is to delay the elections for as long as they can, while they do every illegal thing in that illegal stay in power.

There is also a story behind that so-called credible voters’ list; and that in itself is very clear for all to see: that is, to corrupt, confuse and distort so that it takes ages to rectify, while they prolong their illegal stay in office.

These are too sure and certain motives, and once the opportunity affords itself, they will drag that to the very end. It is as clear as noonday, and this is what I want the Madam Chairperson to address

swiftly and condignly.

In the first place, who caused a perfectly fine, verified voters’ list to expire?

The answer is The PNC did!

That voters’ list was authentic up until April 30th, when they allowed it to expire. Now that they are faced with imminent elections they are finding every fault they can muster with that list.

Mark you well, that socalled faulty, expired list they are talking about is an NRR that was deliberately allowed to expire not so very long ago. So what is the big hue-and-cry about the formulation of a totally new voters’ list and mandatory house-to-house registration? Well, it is all the machinations of an illegal, corrupt PNC; a set of indi-

viduals who want to hang on to power come what may.

So the next stopover by this corrupt cabal was to find fault with the voters’ list; and, here again, the process they chose to achieve this “new list” is the long, arduous route of house-to-house registration.

But wait a second; let us scrutinise that move a little closer. It must be noted that, to be authentic, Houseto-House Registration must reach every last person there is in every remote corner of Guyana.

That did not happen, because House-to-House Registration came to an abrupt end with the GECOM Chair calling for it to stop.

This means that the process cannot be verified, and in exactitude it is a piece of work

which cannot be merged into the National Database.

Isn’t Madam Justice Singh aware of this? Where is her head? Where is her legal training put to? Isn’t she aware that you cannot merge an unverified, duplicate list with the National Database? Is she going to risk going down in history as the wishy-washy judge who bowed to pressure from the bullying PNC? Or is she going to show strict adherence to the Constitution of this country?

Come on, Justice Singh; it is high time to get on with the business of Claims and Objections, and let us have national elections.

Respectfully, Neil Adams

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WEDNesday, september 4, 2019

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

David Granger’s confidence trick Dear Editor, As ‘first oil’ rapidly approaches, Guyanese are without the comfort of an acceptable Sovereign Wealth Fund to manage our revenues from oil.

I posed the question to President David Granger in 2016, asking that the President address the nation to inform us all of exactly what type of SWF his administration would be setting up; where it would be based; who would administer it; who would have oversight; what laws would govern it, and what type of investments it would be limited to making (S.N. July 5, 2016).

Granger signed Legislation establishing the Natural Resource Fund

(NRF) in February of 2019.

The NRF is structurally flawed, as it ultimately puts total control in the hands of whoever is Minister of Finance. Among the other problematic issues with the NRF are the controls governing how much money enters the fund, and how much the Government can allocate to the annual budget.

Under the Government’s proposal, a portion of the country’s oil revenue would be saved in the fund, though the Government would still be allowed to borrow.

In a review of the NRF by the National Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), Andrew Bauer said: “Guyana could end up in a situation where it is saving money and earning low in-

terest while it borrows at a higher interest rate, and in this way, the country ends up losing money.” (Consider that the US$18 million signing bonus was invested in a Canadian fund at 1% return at the same time that NICIL was borrowing at 4.75%).

NRGI says the proposed rule is unlikely to smooth Government spending, and does not constrain overall expenses. The Government could over-borrow, based on the prospect of large oil revenues, which are a decade away. The NRGI pointed to weaknesses in the NRF rules around how money in the fund can be invested, and stressed the need for rules to prohibit purchases of particularly risky assets, such as commodities and de-

rivatives.

The issue with control of the NRF in the hands of one man can be demonstrated clearly by an examination of how Granger removed safeguards within NICIL (Guyana’s first sovereign wealth fund). NICIL was incorporated as a Private Limited Company under the Companies Act, Chapter 89:01 in July 1990. Primary objectives of the company were that of subscribing for; taking, or otherwise acquiring, holding and managing the Government’s shares, stocks, debentures, or other securities of any company, co-operative society or other corporate body.

Until recently, all decisions made by NICIL were subjected to Cabinet review

and approval. This control has been removed, and the Special Projects Unit is now making decisions and entering agreements that are ratified and signed by the Minister of Finance (that man again).

It was this lack of control that saw the assets of GuySuCo being vested into NICIL without the knowledge or approval of the GuySuCo Board or the Minister of Agriculture.

These assets were then pledged, along with a sovereign guarantee, for a $30 billion bond. This $30 billion was borrowed for ‘unspecified’ long-term projects.

Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, said: “We don’t know what the projects are as yet, but you would re-

call that this bond is only for five years. So they’re borrowing on a short- to medium-term (basis) for longterm projects…in five years at a 4.75 per cent interest.”

David Granger has failed to understand that multiple layers of control are needed to safeguard our resources and revenues. His belief in unilateral decision-making has led to enormous costly mistakes at NICIL. With the same unilateral structure in place for the NRF, the same can be expected, with even bigger errors anticipated.

Granger’s National Resource Fund is not a Sovereign Wealth Fund; it is a confidence trick.

Respectfully, Robin Singh

Condemning attack on Gouveia, Portuguese Dear Editor, GECOM Commissioner Desmond Trotman viciously attacked the PSC’s Gerry Gouveia for pointing out a technical (and judicial) problem with GECOM undertaking new house-tohouse (HTH) registration.

Trotman is incorrect in his history of slavery and indentureship, while the PCS is right in its interpretation of the court’s ruling.

Trotman is plain wrong, and must be condemned for his racist ranting against Gouveia and Portuguese.

If anyone’s ancestors whipped Africans and people of other ethnicities, it was Trotman’s and not Gouveia’s. Trotman should consult with his WPA colleagues Drs. Nigel Westmaas, David Hinds, and Wazir Mohamed on whose ancestors whipped who.

Trotman should apologise, on behalf of his ancestors, for whipping my ancestors, and the victims should be offered reparations.

Gouveia, writing on behalf of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), pointed out that HTH would not be completed in time for elections to be held by September 18, as instructed by the CCJ. He cautioned against this exercise. Trotman, a member of the WPA (once claimed to be a multi-racial, non-racist party, but now admits it is an African party), delivered a blistering attack on Gouveia, calling the latter a racist. Trotman penned that Gouveia’s an-

cestors used to whip African slaves. Flatly incorrect!

Gouveia is of Portuguese and Amerindian ancestry, neither of whom practised slavery (against Africans) in Guyana, and neither group is known to have whipped African slaves.

Anyone who studied (studies) history would know that Portuguese did not practise or engage in slavery in Guyana.

Portuguese came as indentured labourers (akin to slaves themselves) like the Indians and Chinese and some black West Indians.

Some Portuguese themselves may have been whipped by Anglo Saxon slave owners, because indentured labourers (Indians in particular) and slaves were whipped; Portuguese were persecuted and segregated from Anglos. The Portuguese who came to Guyana as indentured labourers were so poor that even after receiving their compensation for indentureship, they could not afford to buy a whip, much less to whip any slave or ex-slave.

When Gouveia’s ancestors came, they were so poor they did not even have money to buy a whip. And certainly the Portuguese were so emaciated, like Indians, after the journey from their homeland that they were in no physical condition to whip anyone.

There was intermittent racial violence between Portuguese and Africans, but these took place post-slavery, after whipping had long ceased. There were

African anti-Portuguese riots in the 1840s, 1856 and 1888. The record would also show that the death rate of Portuguese immigrants (as indeed that of Indians), due to harsh working conditions, was higher than even during slavery. Portuguese, Indians, Africans, Chinese and Amerindians were all victims of slavery and the British.

The only whipping that took place post slavery was against Indians, and it was carried out by whites and security forces not of Indian origin. (Trotman would be shocked to know who did the whipping of Indians).

Trotman should read the history books to get “the whipping aspect” of history right. And he should ask David Hinds and Westmaas

who the British did hire to whip the Indians. I can feel the pain on the backs of my Indian ancestors as the whippings were carried out

by Trotman’s ancestors.

It is noted that Trotman attacked Gouveia, who was merely a messenger of the PSC. What if the messenger were a Chinese, or Indian, or a Mixed-race, or say Norman McLean?

Would Trotman have engaged the same rant? I also note that the white diplomats of the ABCE countries also urged GECOM to prepare for early elections and honour the CCJ’s ruling. Trotman did not attack those whites, whose ancestors may also have whipped African slaves. Why pick on Gouveia?

Separately, I remember

Trotman well, when I used to regularly visit Rodney House at Croal Street during my teaching holidays (in the 1980s and mid 1990s) to engage with Eusi Kwayana, Rupert Roopnaraine, Nigel Westmaas, Ameer and Wazir Mohammed, and others. Trotman was not known to be friendly; he looked at Indians suspiciously. I could sense in his body language and facial expression that he must have been asking why was this Indian (meaning me) or other Indians coming to Rodney House. I bought WPA publications and made financial contributions to the party as my offer of support for the party. I know Rodney well; I met him several times during our school struggle on the Corentyne in 1976 and 1977. I strug-

gled alongside him against Burnhamism. Rodney was no racist; he embraced Indians and people of all ethnicities. He must have been turning in his grave that the party he founded would be racist and would have several racists in it.

In spite of the Trotmans, the anti-racist struggle continues in the persons of Ravi Dev, Freddie Kissoon, Wazir Mohammed, Eusi Kwayana and Vishnu Bisram, among others.

By the way, aren’t Trotman’s ancestors partly white (who owned slaves), unlike Gouveia’s, whose ancestors never owned slaves?

So whose ancestors did the whipping of the slaves?

Yours truly, Dr Vishnu Bisram

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wednesday, september 4, 2019

Page D

Foundation

uring the high school years, It can be difficult to see your chilhomework gets more intense dren stressed out over homework, esand grades start to matter pecially when there’s a test or importmore. ant deadline looming. But you can help At the same time, teens face a lot of by teaching them the problem-solving other big changes. They’re adjusting to skills they need to get through their asthe physical and emotional effects of pu- signments and offering encouragement berty, while busy social lives and sports as they do. commitments gain importance, and many also take part-time jobs.

More tips to help make homework Parents can play a crucial role in easier for your teen: helping teens handle these challenges Plan ahead Regularly sit down and succeed in schwwool by lending a with your teen to go over class loads little help, support, and guidance, and and make sure they’re balanced. If your by knowing what problems demand teen has a particularly big workload their involvement and which ones re- from classes, you may want to see if you quire them to hang back. can shuffle the daily schedule so that there’s a study hall during the day or Setting up shop limit after-school activities. Teachers or Make sure your teen has a quiet, guidance counsellors might have some well-lit, distraction-free place to study. perspective on which classes are going The space should be stocked with paper, to require more or less work. pencils, a calculator, dictionary, thesauEstablish a routine. Send the mesrus, and any other necessary supplies. sage that schoolwork is a top priority It should be away from distractions like with ground rules like setting a reguTVs, video games, smartphones, and lar time and place each day for homeother devices. work to be done. And make it clear Your teen may prefer to retreat to a that there’s no TV, phone calls, video private space to work rather than study game-playing, etc, until homework is surrounded by parents and siblings. done and checked.

Grant that independence, but check in Instil organisation skills. No from time to time to make sure that one is born with great organisational your teen hasn’t gotten distracted. skills — they’re learnt and practised If your teen needs a computer for as- over time. Most children first encounsignments, try to set it up in a common ter multiple teachers and classrooms in space, not in a bedroom, to discourage high school, when organisation becomes playing video games, chatting with or a key to succeeding. Give your teen a emailing friends, or surfing the Internet calendar or personal planner to help get for fun during study time. Also consid- organised. er parental controls, available through Apply school to the “real world. your Internet Service Provider (ISP), Talk about how what teens learn now and software that blocks and filters any applies outside the classroom, such as inappropriate material. the importance of meeting deadlines — Find out which sites teachers are as they’ll also have to do in the workrecommending and bookmark them for place — or how topics in history class easy access. Teach your teen how to relate to what’s happening in today’s look for reliable sources of information news. and double-check any that look questionable.

Homework problems Especially in the later grades, homework can really start to add up and beA parent’s supporting role When it comes to homework, be come harder to manage. These stratethere to offer support and guidance, gies can help: answer questions, help interpret asBe there. You don’t have to hover at signment instructions, and review the homework time, but be around in case completed work. But resist the urge to you’re needed. If your son is frazzled by provide the right answers or complete geometry problems he’s been trying to assignments. solve for hours, for instance, suggest he

take a break, maybe by shooting some hoops with you. A fresh mind may be all he needed, but when it’s time to return to homework, ask how you can help.

Be in touch with school. Maintain contact with guidance counsellors and teachers throughout the school year to stay informed, especially if your teen is struggling. They’ll keep you apprised of what’s going on at school and how to help your teen. They can guide you to tutoring options, offer perspective on course load, and provide guidance on any issues, such as dyslexia, ADHD, or vision or hearing difficulties. You can also be kept in the loop about tests, quizzes, and projects.

Don’t forget the study skills Help your teen develop good study skills — both in class and on homework. No one is born knowing how to study and often those skills aren’t stressed in the classroom. When you’re helping your teen study for a test, for instance, suggest such strategies as using flashcards to memorise facts or taking notes and underlining while reading.

Encourage students to reach out. Most teachers are available for extra help before or after school, and also might be able to recommend other resources. Encourage your teen to ask for help, if needed, but remember that in school students are rewarded for knowing the right answers, and no one likes to stand out by saying that they don’t have them. Praise your teen’s hard work and effort, and ask the guidance counsellor or teachers for resources for support if you need them.

Don’t wait for report cards to find out that there are problems at school. The sooner you intervene, the sooner you can help your teen get back on track.

Learning for life

Make sure your teen knows that you’re available if there’s a snag, but that it’s important to work independently. Encourage effort and determination — not just good grades. Doing so is crucial to motivating your children to succeed in school and in life.

With a little support from parents, homework can be a positive experience for teens and foster lifelong skills they’ll need to succeed in school and beyond.

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his easy ceramic soap dish is a great project for beginners in the craft. Work with a small amount of clay to create a homemade piece for your bathroom or kitchen.

You’ll first need to gather some materials: Wedged clay Rolling pin Bar of soap Sharp wooden clay-sculpting tool Ceramics hole cutter Pottery sponge (optional)

Procedure

You’ll first need to start with a small ball of wedged clay.

Wedging clay means making sure all of the air bubbles are removed from the clay (so they don’t explode in the kiln).

Once your clay is properly wedged, you’ll need to grab a rolling pin and gently roll it out to around a centimetre thick.

To get the correct measurements of the soap dish, use your regular bar soap as a guide, although you can make your soap dish any shape you like. Be aware you’ll need a size that sits nicely on the side of your sink.

Place the soap on the clay (still in its packaging to keep it clean) and use a sharp wooden pottery tool to cut a shape (approximately two centimetres) around the soap.

Once you’ve cut out the main shape, you’ll need to score an inner line (making sure it is just scored and not cut right through). Leave approximately one centimetre around the soap, as this is the line you’ll fold up the clay from.

Take the soap off the clay and gently start folding up the edges of the clay from the fold line, working your way right around the soap dish. Make sure that the edges are the

(Excerpt from kidshealth.org)

same width all the way around.

Smoothing the edges is really important here for a lovely finish to the soap dish. Use your fingers or a sponge and a bit of water (don’t make it too wet). A curved wooden rib can also help to create a smooth finish.

Once you’re happy with the shape and smoothness of your soap dish, you’ll need to make the drainage holes. Mark them out first with a pencil or the end of a sharp wooden pottery tool to make sure they’re all in even places. Dependent on the size of the pottery dish, six holes should be enough.

The soap dish is complete. Leave it to dry until leather hard. Leather hard indicates the clay has dried enough to be trimmed.

Once your soap dish is properly dry (it should be bone dry), you can put your piece in the sun or an oven or a kiln to bake until completely dry. The clay at this stage is called greenware (which is quite Iiterally unfired pottery). Pottery in this state is at its most fragile, so be careful when loading it.

Pick the colour that best matches your kitchen/bathroom decor for your glaze. Dip glazing is the quickest and easiest option, as you just need to dip your piece in your glaze bucket once (controlling the time you leave it in for) and there’s no need for a transparent glaze on top. (thesprucecrafts.com)

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WEDNesday, september 4, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

16% interest rates at commercial banks uncompetitive – GCCI – says banking rates one of several hurdles local businesses have to overcome

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he 16 per cent interest rate being offered by commercial banks when businesses apply for loans has been cited as one of several challenges that face local businesses in Guyana when seeking startup capital or even maintaining their businesses.

During the launch of their Business Development Forum at its Waterloo Street office on Tuesday, Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) Executive Timothy Tucker spoke to these challenges.

“The biggest problem we have, apart from electric it costs in manufacturing, is

saying it’s uncompetitive for us to take 16 per cent and try to develop a business,” Tucker added.

He cited some other sources of capital that businesses use in this modern age. Some examples he used were crowdfunding, equity, venture capital and Initial Public Offerings (IPO).

Crowdfunding involves a business raising money from large number of people in an open space, usually internet-based.

Equity is using the difference in the value of an asset, for example land, and the value of the liabilities, such as the remaining mortgage, in order to raise mon-

financing a business. At 16 per cent interest rate on a commercial loan, it’s ridiculous for us to be competitive in any sense of the word competitive”.

“And that’s the banking sector. That relies completely on how much it costs to borrow. We cannot blame anybody for that, but we’re

ey. Venture capital has been described as private equity.

On the other hand, an IPO is the act of raising money through offering shares of a company on the stock market.

But the difficulty in getting affordable commercial loans will ring familiar for many, particularly those

familiar with the Guyana Agriculture and Industrial Development Bank (GAIBANK). This bank was initially established as a State-owned development bank that focused on providing financing for the Agricultural and Industrial sectors.

The bank was initially supposed to address the difficulty in accessing affordable loans by offering sometimes concessionary loans. While the coalition Government has previously said its reestablishment was on the cards, these talks soon petered out.

Government has for some time touted the financing provided by its Small Business Bureau (SBB), which recently got a new board headed by former Business Minister Dominic Gaskin, who stepped down from this post this year by virtue of being a dual citizen.

The former Minister took over from previous Chair and Jamaican businesswoman, Valerie Grant. Other members of the council include local entrepreneur and Founder of Girls+ Tech, Evie Kanhai-Gurcharan.

Kanhai-Gurcharan, who also manages Java café and is a former participant in the United States-sponsored Young

Leaders of the Americas (YLAI) Professional Fellows Programme, uses Girl + Tech to get more women involved in the Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector.

Meanwhile, the council will have representatives from the Business Ministry, Ministry of Finance, the Linden, West Berbice,

Essequibo and Region Three Chambers of Commerce.

Also present on the council are representatives from the Bankers Association, and the Institute of Private Enterprise Development (IPED); the Chief Executive Officer of the Small Business Bureau (SBB); a youth representative and Dason Anthony.

GCCI Executive Timothy Tucker

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WEDNesday, september 4, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Old debt lands driver in court for attempted murder

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taxi driver who allegedly stabbed a man who owed him $2000 was hauled before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Tuesday.

Morris Carter, of Lot 20 Durban Street, Wortmanville, Georgetown, appeared before Magistrate Clive Nurse.

The charge detailed that on August 27, 2019 at Sandy Babb Street, Kitty, Georgetown, he wounded Matthew Gilbert, with intent to commit murder.

Carter was represented by Attorney-at-Law Adrian Thompson, who in a bail application, informed the court that the incident occurred at a wash bay, where his client was washing his car. He claimed that his client confronted the Virtual Complainant (VC) about the money owed; however, they got into a heated argument and a fight occurred.

Attorney Thompson informed the court that his client received injuries from the VC during the fight; however, Gilbert was never charged.

Police Prosecutor Christopher

Morris Carter

Morris, in presenting the prosecution’s case, stated that on August 27, 2019, Gilbert was at a wash bay when he was approached by the defendant, who asked for the $2000 owed to him for a ring, which had initially cost $7000.

The Prosecutor said that Gilbert then claimed he did not have any money, but promised to pay the debt later in the month. According to the prosecution, the defendant became annoyed, pulled out a pair of scissors, and stabbed the VC several times about his body.

The VC was then picked up and rushed to the Kitty Health Centre, but owing to the severity of his injuries, he was transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital.

The Prosecutor objected to bail, informing the court that the VC is still hospitalised.

The Magistrate, after listening to the facts, remanded the 43-year-old man to prison. The case will continue on September 26, 2019.

Taxi driver jailed for assaulting sister, daughter

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52-year-old taxi driver was on Tuesday sentenced to 13 months imprisonment after being found guilty on two counts of assault on Tuesday.

Peter Thompson of D’Urban Street, Lodge, Georgetown appeared before Magistrate Dillon Bess, who handed down the sentence.

The taxi driver was jailed after the Magistrate found him guilty of two counts of assault.

The prosecution’s case stated that Thompson wounded Rita Howard with intent to disfigure or cause grievous bodily harm on April 30, 2018. In addition, he also assaulted Prisilla Thompson with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

According to the prosecution’s case, both incidents occurred on April 30, 2018 at about 01:30h. Howard was awakened by a noise coming from her living room and as she ventured outside to investigate, she saw her parents in a scuffle; however, when she tried to intervene, Thompson picked up a bucket and hit her to the front of her head, resulting

in injuries.

Prisilla Thompson also tried to intervene but was overcome by her brother’s strength. The two women ran into the yard, but Thompson ran behind them and dealt his sister several stabs to her abdomen.

The matter was then reported to the Police and Thompson was arrested and charged.

Bridge…

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…ahoy!! nce again, our claim to fame as having “the longest floating bridge in the world” has been knocked for a loop after it was out of commission by an errant barge. And that, in itself, tells a story of our retarded development. We’ve got the longest floating bridge because it’s probably the ONLY floating bridge in the world across a major river that’s over a mile wide!!

Which other country would nonchalantly allow such a major artery of its transportation and commerce to be at the mercy of a bunch of foreign sailors.

And that’s what in essence caused this SNAFU. The stone-laden barge and tug were moored incorrectly upriver all the way up at Diamond and after their anchor became free, drifted down river. Seems that the sailors frantically radioed the MARAD or Harbour authorities “Mayday!! Mayday!!” or whatever the distress signal is nowadays. But because they were speaking in their foreign tongue (Spanish, being of Panamanian registration?) the latter were clueless as to exactly what emergency the babel was all about.

And nature then took its course. With the tide “washing”, the barge would’ve developed a humungous momentum with all that mass of stones, and KABOOM!!

There went two of the Bridge’s posts and spans! The pandemonium of the next morning fortunately didn’t get out of control – even though as fate would have it, it was the first day of the new school year! The Police and the private boat operators did combine to move the mass of humanity across the river fairly efficiently.

But hopefully, this massive mess has reminded the folks of West Demerara what a cruel hoax MPI caretaker Minister Patterson played on them when he promised a fixed bridge before 2020. He’d admitted the old bridge had long outlived its expiration date; he’d highlighted the tremendous build-up of commuter traffic from West Dem…and noted the increased economic activity.

Yet, the cynical, empty promise!

But the next administration – and trust your Eyewitness, unless there’s massive PNC rigging along the lines of the 1980 elections which was “more crooked than barbed wire”, there WILL BE a new administration – a new Demerara Harbour Bridge will have to be a top priority. The bridge affected Guyanese of all flavours and as such, there shouldn’t be any problem in crafting a bi-partisan consensus to deploy the first tranche of oil revenues to get the new DHB going. …to defraud Indigenous peoples It was with great disappointment your Eyewitness read how far Indigenous Peoples’ Minister Sydney Allicock has allowed himself to be twisted to serve his masters in the PNC. We all know that there are elements in the PNC who have been chafing at the bit at the demarcation of Indigenous peoples’ lands. The grounds for that demarcation is fixed not by no ordinary agreement. As this newspaper’s Monday editorial spelled out, it is part and parcel of our Independence Agreement from Britain.

All Indigenous peoples must show to get title is they have occupied the land by hunting, living, performing sacred rites and other aspects of their culture on it from “time immemorial”. The latter is a legal term of art, and in our case law, means occupancy for a reasonable time. Now, Allicock has introduced a new requirement: Indigenous peoples must show a “plan of usage”.

That’s ridiculous!! The land is their land and if they want to just remain as is, that’s their right.

Some folks are just plain envious and jealous! …and schadenfreude Schadenfreude is one of those “just right” German words meaning: to take pleasure in someone else’s misfortune.

And that’s just what folks on the East Bank are feeling with no Bridge traffic to clog them up!!

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

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WEDNesday, september 4, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Poor marketing cited as major reason for business failure – as GCCI launches 2nd Business Forum

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he Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) on Tuesday officially launched its Business Development Forum in the hopes that businesses will be given a chance to build their capacity for Guyana’s upcoming economic boom while addressing gaps in marketing strategies.

The forum was first launched last year. This time around, the forum will be held from September 27 to 28 at Pegasus. According to GCCI Executive Timothy Tucker, the event is a partnership between the Chamber and a number of other organisations.

These organisations include the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Ansa McAL Trading Guyana, Republic Bank, and the Ministry of Business.

Among the speakers at the event are businessmen Rosh

Gary Thompson, a member of the forum’s steering committee; GCCI Executives Richard Rambarran and Timothy Tucker, and Martin Massiah, another member of the steering committee

Khan and Vishnu Doerga; Rowen Willabus, and Nigel Deosaran, who will deal with Initial Public Offerings (IPO) (the act of putting company shares on the stock market).

“The primary objective of this is to develop businesses. So you want to move businesses from small businesses and grow them, so they can be competitive on the international standard.

We have several different large companies coming into the country and the chamber wants its members and the business community to move from where they are”.

“Last year’s event covered the small, medium and micro businesses capacity to develop and get ready for export. This year, we decided rather than have it so wide and so many speakers, we have niched it to two cat-

Based on information received, about 22:40h on Monday, Balaoy and other crew members were on board a vessel, FWN Rapide 1 making ready the twin-deck cover when the wire rope burst and caused the deck to fall into the

hatch, pinning him.

Balaoy was pronounced dead by a medical technician. His body is at Lyken’s Funeral Home awaiting a post-mortem. An investigation has since been launched.

Foreigner crushed to death on ship at local wharf

A

Philippines man was on Monday evening killed after the deck of a vessel fell into the hatch and crushed him to death at a city wharf located on Water Street, Georgetown.

Dead is 30-year-old Reynald Balaoy Jr.

egories: marketing and finance”.

Gary Thompson, a member of the Forum’s steering committee, explained that businesses are prone to failure when there is a lack of understanding about marketing. Thompson noted that the forum would therefore address this.

“If we are to look at agro processing, we would see that most of these players have brands that are ready for the market. But what we see lacking is a clear understanding of marketing and branding. So we have a number of speakers lined up that will be able to speak to these issues. One of the fundamental things in market-

ing is identifying market opportunities and means”.

“What we see lacking is people get into business without a clear understanding as to who is your target audience, your market size, density and dispersion. So the speakers at this forum will disseminate information to the attendees. And of course, $255 is insignificant to the kind of information you’ll be getting from the

speakers,” Thompson said.

Last year’s Business Development Forum was also held at the Pegasus. The fee at that time was $20,000.

The Forum was hosted in partnership with the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Nations University, Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business, Republic Bank Guyana Limited and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

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WEDNesday, september 4, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Demerara Harbour Bridge reopens to light vehicular traffic …maritime traffic halted …more damage discovered as work continues – General Manager that point they started taking on water and not showing until later down in the morning.

And some locations where we thought that the anchorage was okay, it was not what we have seen, and we have never seen this. The vessel was able to drag a lot of those anchors, those anchors are 15 ton anchors, so what it says it most likely hooked in the chain and it just dragged it on the bed, and that posed a difficulty for us”.

Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (DHBC) General Manager Rawlston Adams

T

he foreign firm that owns the barge which slammed into the Demerara Harbour Bridge will have to stand the expense for the repairs to the structure. This is according to General Manager of the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (DHBC), Rawlston Adams, who, at a media briefing Tuesday, stated that works are ongoing at the bridge to ensure that operations there return to a state of normalcy.

He explained that repairing the damages to the bridge is proving costly.

However, the costs incurred for those necessary repairs will have to be paid by the owners of the foreign vessel that caused the destruction.

“We are still looking and

we are still discovering so we cannot put a number…we will assess what is the cost but for now, it will be premature for me to be calling any numbers. But what I know for sure is that the owners for the vessel, that cost would be transferred to them (vessel owners),” Adams said.

No marine traffic

The DHBC General Manager pointed out that in relation to marine traffic, there is no definitive time frame as to when ocean-going vessels will traverse the waters, utilising the services of the bridge.

An employee of the DHBC effecting repairs to the Harbour Bridge

Light traffic

On Tuesday afternoon at approximately 14:00h, the bridge was reopened to light vehicular traffic, but repairs are still ongoing. According to Adams, engineers have discovered that there are more damages from the incident than they initially assessed.

“What we realised is that a lot of the buoys, some of them got punctured, and at Passengers disembarking boats at the Georgetown Stelling on Tuesday morning after being forced to use the waterways following the shutdown of the Harbour Bridge on Monday

He added that engineers are looking at the realignment of the bridge.

Adams further stated that on Monday, when the incident occurred, three vessels were prevented from passing one section of the waters to the other, and on Tuesday, another three suffered the same fate.

A usual retraction period of one and a half hours would allow three vessels to pass, but in light of the situation, the DHBC would have to allow five (or more) vessels to travel when the bridge is open to maritime traffic.

Chaos at ferry stellings

On Monday, notices were

sent out that the structure would be closed for emergency works and the only alternative to cross the Demerara River was via the speedboat service, operating at Georgetown and Vreed-enHoop Stellings.

When Guyana Times arrived at the Vreed-en-Hoop Stelling in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), the area was cordoned off from the Vreed-enHoop junction and persons had to walk to the docking area of the dilapidated Stelling as Police ranks tamed the situation. Schoolaged children hurried to make it into the next available boat as they feared

reaching late on the very first day of school. Several boats were lined up as a swarm of passengers trickled into the vessels amid the confusion.

Over at the Georgetown Stelling, a similar scenario was observed as multiple boats loaded. Persons complained about the deplorable and deteriorating stellings and were worried for their safety.

Officials of the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) fixed themselves to organise the crowd in orderly lines. Police Commissioner Leslie James was present on site, along with other senior ranks, as he positioned that the situation was brought under control.

On Tuesday, the situation was less chaotic and better systems were in place to accommodate the huge influx of passengers.

Crew and barge

Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson, at that time, had told the media that preliminary investigations revealed that the barge was beyond its anchorage location. After the vessel started drifting, a distress call was sent out but no one on-board spoke English. The crew members were detained as investigations continued.

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WEDNesday, september 4, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Dialysis patient forced to take water taxi

‌after promised emergency vessel no-show

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lthough emergency vessels were promised to remain on standby at the Georgetown and Vreed-en-

name only as Sandra, explained that she travelled from Hague, West Coast Demerara to the Vreed-enHoop Stelling with the sick-

The dialysis patient being assisted out of the speed boat

Hoop Stellings to transport ailing persons, a furious caretaker vented her frustration as a dialysis patient was made to use the regular boat service.

In a brief interview with this publication on Tuesday morning, the frustrated woman, who gave her

ly 64-year-old man, who usually gets treatment at a private city hospital.

Unaware of what she was about to encounter, the caretaker said she was greeted by a group of Police officers at the Vreed-enHoop junction, who allowed the taxi to pass into the

stelling. However, employees at the stelling were insisting that they pay a fee before entering the facility with the patient. The elderly woman said they were harassed and treated very unfairly by the staff at the stelling.

In the meantime, the ailing man was seen wearisomely making his way into the boat. He took quite a while to enter and get off the speed boat, with the assistance of a few other passengers. The visibly uncomfortable man was observed sweating profusely as he

groaned in pain throughout the journey.

The sick man, as well as other passengers, were forced to use the boat service to cross the Demerara River after a barge and a tug slammed into the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) in the wee hours of Monday.

Whilst the boat service would usually commence operations at 06:00h every morning, provisions were made for the commuters to cross earlier.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the barge was beyond its an-

chorage location. After the vessel started drifting, a distress call was sent out, but no one on-board spoke English. The crew members have since been detained as investigations continued.

Meanwhile, General Manager of the Bridge Corporation, Rawlston Adams said that the barge came into contact with the bridge at two locations, and the structure was shifted from its aligned po-

sition between the high and retractor spans. The bridge is the main thoroughfare for commuters to drive across to the capital city. An estimated 11,000 persons would use the structure in the morning hours, but the DHB management was expecting maximum traffic Monday morning, since it was the beginning of a new academic year. The bridge has since opened to light traffic.

12 news

WEDNesday, september 4, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

4000 students enrol at UG for 2019/2020 academic year – highest since its existence

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ntering into its 57th year of existence, the University of Guyana (UG) has recorded an estimated 4000 student enrolment for the new academic 2019/2020— which is the largest since its establishment.

It is against this backdrop that the new batch of students were formally welcomed into the tertiary educational facility during a simple but significant ceremonial opening on Monday, as they embark to pursue advanced studies.

The students were welcomed to the facility by the recitation of poems and the singing of songs, but most importantly, they were informed about the significance of attaining a university education.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Paloma Mohamed delivering her address

Much emphasis was placed upon same by Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Paloma Mohamed during her keynote address to the University’s newcom-

ers.

“A university education will set you immediately from others who have not had this opportunity, a university education is the first of all life changing indicators and this confers mobility and lifelong opportunities that are not available to others, a university education really is an opportunity because for every one of The students present at the ceremonial opening you sitting there, there’s an average of about four oth- charged the students to the University possible. ers who applied and did not take advantage of the op“Your university educagain entry, for several rea- portunities offered to them, tion is funded in large parts sons,” the Professor said. given the sacrifices of others by the people of this counOn this note, Mohammed which make the existence of try, many of those people on

whose backs we stand will never see the inside of a university. They work hard, they pay their tax and those taxes come to us, and so for that reason, we must take every opportunity, we must suck up iota of knowledge.

And we must never forget upon whose back-breaking toil we receive our mark of distinction,” she noted.

Held at the George Walcott Lecture Theatre (GWLT), the ceremonial opening was part of a packed week of orientation activities for those pursuing their tertiary education.

Trial aborted for duo accused of killing 3 in 2014 arson

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wenty-four-year-old Avishkar Bissoon and 74-year-old Ganga Krishna, who were jointly charged for three counts of murder, are now expect-

Dead: 11-year-old Rozario

Murder accused: 24-year-old Avishkar Bissoon

ed to face a new trial at the Demerara High Court after the current trial was aborted by Justice Brassington Reynolds on Tuesday.

Theresa

The trial, which commenced on August 20, 2019, was aborted upon conclusion of an inquiry that was launched into a development within the trial. The development was brought to the attention of Justice Reynolds; hence he requested an inquiry into the matter.

Justice Reynolds handed down the decision at Tuesday’s hearing, noting that it was in the interest of justice.

As such, the duo will be facing a new trial at the next session of the Demerara Assizes in October.

Bissoon and Krishna are accused of murdering 63-year-old Randolph Thomas and his two daughters, 14-year-old Tressa Rozario and 11-yearold Feresa Rozario on November 17, 2014 after setting their house on fire.

Since the commencement of the trial, the court heard the testimonies of some five witnesses including the victims’ sister and mother and Police ranks.

It was reported that on the day in question, the two sisters were asleep when the Lot 65 Robb Street, Georgetown building they occupied with their father was allegedly set on fire.

The girls were trapped in the early-morning inferno and were burnt to death while their father jumped through a window to escape

Murder accused: 74-year-old Ganga Krishna

the flames, but subsequently died as he got medical attention at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

Attorneys-at-Law Dexter Todd and Mursalin Bacchus are representing the two accused while Prosecutor Seeta Bishundial, in association with Lisa Cave, is presenting the case on behalf of the State.

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WEDNesday, september 4, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

ExxonMobil, stakeholders participate Damaged DHB causes garbage build-up in oil spill response training in Georgetown

A section of the training activities on the emergency response to an oil spill

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ore than 100 persons have participated in emergency response training organised by ExxonMobil Guyana as part of its continued efforts to prepare for an oil spill.

The two-day activity followed extensive training on the Incident Command System and included repre-

sentatives from State bodies such as the Civil Defence Commission (CDC); the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD).

ExxonMobil Guyana Production Manager Mike Ryan explained that the intent was to ensure the teams were mobilised rap-

idly and as safely as possible to minimise any impact to the environment.

“We’ve designed our facilities to make sure the oil remains where it is supposed to be – in the pipes and in the tanks. But we train really hard; we practise really hard, that in the unlikely event that something happens, we’re

ready to go,” he further explained.

Ryan said that he was pleased about the participation of key Government stakeholders.

“We are learning a lot from each other.

We must make sure we fully understand the roles of all agencies in Guyana, looking at all these scenarios so that we can act promptly and minimise impact.”

Meanwhile, CDC Director, Lieutenant Colonel Kester Craig indicated that activities, such as this, were complementary to the national response plan. “There may be gaps and the exercise will definitely help us to put things together. You cannot wait until there’s an event to test your plan,” he posited.

This particular exercise brought in expertise from abroad through ExxonMobil’s regional response team, working alongside the local team and agencies.

GPF to implement traffic adjustment for CPL

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he Guyana leg of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2019 will be held at the Guyana National Stadium Providence, East Bank Demerara, commencing on Thursday, September 5, 2019, and as such, to facilitate free flow of traffic, the following traffic arrangements are expected to be put in place: • The eastern lane of the eastern carriageway of the East Bank Public

Road from Nandy Park to Guyana National Stadium will be used only for patrons with vehicles to access parking.

• Traffic proceeding south along the western lane of the eastern carriageway of East Bank Public Road will be allowed to flow continuously south to permit the free flow of traffic.

• Public parking will be available at Providence Access Road (Red Road) in the compound on the south

side of the road.

• VIP and paid parking will be available at the second access of the Guyana National Stadium. The northern tarmac for paid parking and the southern tarmac for VIP’s parking.

• VVIP’s and officials will use Greenfield Access Road for entering and exiting the stadium.

• No parking will be allowed on both sides of the eastern and western carriageway in front of the sta-

dium.

• Patrons are advised to use carpooling and share a ride to ease the congestion, signs will be erected to guide patrons.

These adjustments will take effect at least three hours before the commencement of every match.

The dates are Thursday, September, 5; Saturday, September 7: Sunday, September 8; Thursday, October 3; and Friday, October 4, 2019.

…as disposal trucks left stuck on WCD

A pile-up of garbage just outside the Stabroek Market area

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he Mayor and City Council (M&CC) was faced with a garbage pile-up situation in central Georgetown as a result of the damaged Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB).

Owing to the bridge repairs, which have been ongoing since Monday, the major contract garbage collector, Pooran Disposal, is presently unable to provide services to the city since the company is headquartered on West Coast Demerara and utilises the Demerara Harbour Bridge.

This, coupled with the illegal disposal of garbage by businesses, vendors, and citizens in central Georgetown, is the cause of a massive build-up of waste throughout the city.

On Tuesday, the garbage-collecting company was scheduled to use pontoons to remove the waste; however, this proved futile.

According to Mayor Ubraj Narine, M&CC is presently utilising available resources to assist the situation.

The Mayor has since called on persons in central Georgetown and oth-

er affected areas to keep the waste on their premises until such time that the Council is able to proceed with its normal scheduling.

“I beg the public to bear with us, this is something that we did not expect and this is something that we did not prepare for but we are working to get this matter resolved as soon as possible… We are currently seeking the participation of our citizens to not dump anywhere around our city and to assist us where possible to ensure that our city continues to be free of litter… I call on the business entities to please desist from dumping garbage illegally because that will cause more chaos in the city at this point of time, garbage have reduce tremulously,” Narine pleaded.

Director of Solid Waste Management, Walter Narine cautioned the citizens against dumping their garbage on the streets.

The Demerara Harbour Bridge was closed to traffic early Monday morning after a tug and a barge slammed into the bridge. The bridge was reopened to light traffic on Tuesday afternoon.

14 News

WEDNesday, september 4, 2019| guyanatimesgy.com

Speed boat handed over to Prison Service T

he Guyana Prison Service on Tuesday received a speed boat which will aid in the transportation of inmates from the Mazaruni Prison in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).

At the handing over ceremony at the Guyana National Industrial Corporation (GNIC) wharf on Lombard Street, Georgetown, Director of Prisons, Gladwin Samuels told the media that the boat will play a critical role in transporting prisoners to and from the prison, especially for medical attention. GNIC constructed the boat which cost just over $10.9 million.

Meanwhile, Samuels added that with the addition of the vessel to the Mazaruni Prison, it will significantly boost the capacity and capabilities as it relates

Officials from the Guyana Prison Service take a ride in the new speed boat with members of the media

to responding to emergencies. “There are times as well when we have high profile prisoners to escort to the Hospital and we would like to do so as quickly as possible,” Samuels said.

He added that the vessel will be able to facilitate two captains and 12 passengers, noting that he is looking forward to more boats being added to the present fleet of

two.

Samuels said the project was divided into two lots, which saw $5.5 million being spent to construct the vessel and over $1 million being spent to procure two 200 horse power engines in lots one and two respectively.

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GNIC, Clinton Williams ex-

plained how grateful the company is to have been given the opportunity to construct the vessel, as it was a perfect chance to show those in the oil and gas sector that Guyanese are competent in this regard.

“These days, they are talking a lot about local content in the oil and gas sector and marine transportation is critical in relation to the

needs that are required by this particular organisation and the various users. We want to signal to the oil companies that they have capability in Guyana and capacity to deliver in this regard,” Williams pointed out.

Following the July 2017 jailbreak and fire which destroyed the Camp Street Prison, Government revealed plans to expand the

Mazaruni Prison – a project which was expected to cost some $2 billion but aimed to streamline the local prison system and most importantly, reduce overcrowding.

Samuels noted that phase one of the project is on stream and should be completed before the end of the year. This, when completed, will facilitate an extra 200 prisoners at the facility.

Lone gunman robs IT technician of laptop, phone

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Ruby, East Bank Demerara (EBD) man is now in a traumatised state and left counting his losses after he was robbed by a lone gunman on Monday night.

John Charles, 27, was attacked by the unmasked bandit around 22:35h, a street away from his home.

Guyana Times was informed that Charles was making his way home after exiting a minibus when he was attacked.

The man recounted that he was confronted by the lone gunman, who had been hiding in a bushy area alongside the road, as he

was walking by.

“He jump out of the bush and he had the gun out already, so he point it at me and he tell me that I should give he all that I got,” Charles related.

The man further related that he refused to comply and it was at this time that the bandit placed the gun to his head.

“The man run up in me face and tell me that he ain’t joking; he put the gun to my forehead and he said ‘I seh give me all that you got’. When I watch he – ‘cause I get a good look at he and, I ain’t know, is not somebody from the area – I

see that he mean what he said so I seh wah and I take off my bag and I give he,” the victim told this publication.

According to Charles, who is an IT technician, his bag contained a number of valuable items including an Apple laptop computer, an iPhone, connection cords and over $50,000.

“Those things were very expensive. I recently invested in the laptop; it was brand new, but I glad to be alive. The man seem like a mad man to me; wah, I was shaking after the thing, bai,” Charles revealed.

The matter was reported to the Police and an investigation was launched.

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WEDNesday, september 4, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Ramsammy’s Ruminations APNU/AFC stifled and sabotaged Amerindian and hinterland development

CCPA hosts child abuse training with hinterland parents

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ecognising that the levels of abuse are exceedingly high in hinterland areas, the Child

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his week Guyana starts the celebration of Amerindian Heritage, recognising and acknowledging the importance of our Amerindian sisters and brothers in the economic, social and cultural development of Guyana. For this year’s celebration, the emergence of Amerindian children among the top CXC performers in our country must be celebrated.

Hinterland secondary schools are increasingly competitive with coastland secondary school and this must be noted. As we celebrate Amerindian Heritage Month 2019, we must take Dr Leslie Ramsammy meaningful time to celebrate the performances of these children and schools in CXC 2019.

In his written address, read by the then Minister of Agriculture, Brindley Benn, at the inauguration of the University of Guyana in 1963, Cheddi Jagan spoke of his dream that quality secondary school education would come to every Guyanese child, everywhere they live. Today, because of his dream and the PPP’s education access programs, every Amerindian child has access to secondary education. In 2019, an Amerindian child attending the Anna Regina Secondary School in Region 2 was the top CXC performer for Guyana and possibly for Caricom and several Amerindian children attending schools in the hinterland were among the top 100 CXC performers in the country. These children are manifestations of Cheddi’s dream come through.

As we celebrate Amerindian Heritage Month 2019, elections, due since before March 21st, are expected anytime now. APNU/AFC is busy politicking, using the vast resources of the State to brazenly campaign and transforming Amerindian Heritage Month into APNU/ AFC’s election campaign in the hinterland and among the Amerindian people. For four and a half years, APNU/AFC totally ignored the hinterland and Amerindians, forgetting all the lofty promises they made before the 2015 elections. But, suddenly, facing an election and confronted with an absolute loss of confidence, particularly in the hinterland, APNU/AFC is insulting Amerindians and hinterland communities with hand-outs, gifts and more empty promises, in a vulgar effort to buy votes.

The Amerindian people in their villages and the hinterland communities have been stifled in the last four and a half years, development callously sabotaged by APNU/AFC. Now that they desperately need the votes of Amerindians, APNU/AFC is spending much time and handing out enormous resources begging for votes.

They think they could buy votes in the hinterland by giving away things, not thinking for one moment that people know what they are doing. Brazen hand-outs and vulgar promises will not and could not erase the neglect of the past four and a half years.

In 1976, there was an Amerindian Act that promised land titles for Amerindian Communities; that legal obligation was ignored by the PNC Government and not a single Amerindian village or community received its land title. In the Bharat Jagdeo-led PPP Government of 2001-2006, the new Amerindian Act strengthened the provisions for Amerindian Land Rights and Titling of the Amerindian lands.

Significant progress was made in land-titling and dozens of Amerindian Communities received their land titles. But just when land-titling had gathered speed, APNU/AFC stopped any further progress in 2015.

During the 2015 elections campaign, they promised to accelerate land-titling. But since 2015, the exercise has come to a screeching halt. Not a single Amerindian village has had its land title issued. It is a betrayal, a broken promise. Now, APNU/AFC is promising again that land-titling will become a priority in 2020 and onwards. Sydney Allicock, Dawn Hastings and Garrido-Lowe have stood shamelessly silent as APNU/AFC stifled land-titling started under the PPP. In four and a half years, little or no improvement has been made in the various airstrips in the hinterland. APNU/AFC had promised they would transform air transportation for the hinterland communities, using air transportation to catalyse economic and social development for the Amerindian and Hinterland communities.

This is another broken promise, another betrayal. But it is a betrayal that should not shock anyone because it is APNU/AFC in 2013 and 2014, as the then Opposition, which voted against budgetary allocations for improvement of hinterland airstrips. Earlier this year, they decided they would add VAT to air travels to and from the hinterland communities, making it costlier. After introducing this regressive measure, the PPP/C and others objected and protested.

With elections approaching, APNU/AFC buckled and remove the VAT, claiming credit for removing the VAT they introduced.

These are just two examples of the assault on Amerindian and hinterland communities. There are dozens of other measures that specifically make life harder for Amerindians and others who live in the hinterland. The dismissal of more than 2,000 community officers, the suffocation of the Amerindian Development Fund, the removal of the $10,000 per child grant, the downgrading of the hot meal program for school children, the termination of the ONE LAPTOP PER FAMILY and the solar panel programmes, the non-investment in hinterland roads, the poor supply of medicines and medical supplies, the virtual halting of the medical doctor assignments to hinterland hospitals, the restrictions on sub-surface mining rights, etc., are major impediments to the social and economic development of hinterland communities and, in particular, Amerindian communities.

The Amerindian people will not be fooled by the charlatans that bring gifts and empty promises today.

CCPA Director Ann Greene

Care and Protection Agency (CC&PA) recently conducted a training exercise with parents to prevent child abuse.

The Agency said sessions were conducted in two communities within Region One (Barima-Waini) in collaboration with the Schools’ Welfare Department and other stakeholders.

On the other hand, another session was facilitated in Agricola, Greater Georgetown. That training was conducted with support from Sol Guyana.

CC&PA Director Ann Greene had previously said that there remained a gap between what the law required and the innate culture of some communities as she was speaking on the attempts of the Agency to address child sexual abuse in communities within the interior regions.

“We have found that Region One [Barima-Waini] and Region Seven [CuyuniMazaruni] would stand out in cases of sexual abuse against children. If we look at the particular regions, we have a gap between the law and the culture in those areas. That means that there’s the law that says sexual activity at age 16, but in some culture groups, there’s a younger age,” Greene told this newspaper in an invited comment.

She said the law works for all children and that is what the Agency has been doing over time.

In a similar instance, the CC&PA was able to rescue three young children from the home of their biological father in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo). And while the issue of the law versus culture speaks specifically to the abuse of children who may not be related to their abuser, Greene said the CC&PA has been receiving numerous reports of incestuous child sexual abuse cases.

In that particular case, three children were rescued from an allegedly abusive home in Region Nine.

They were subsequently brought to Georgetown.

Medical examinations proved that the two girls have been sexually molested, but their male sibling was not. Additionally, a 14-year-old female sibling who had relocated earlier in

the year was also examined and found to have been sexually abused.

The children’s father was also brought to Georgetown to further assist with investigations. The four children remain in the State’s custo-

dy while their 49-year-old father is in Police custody.

Acting on reports made by village leaders, including school teachers in Quarrie, a satellite community of St Ignatius Village in Region Nine, CC&PA of-

ficials on Monday took the children from the home in which they resided with their father and carried them to the Lethem Police Station in an effort to have that entity assist with investigations.

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guyanatimesgy.com

wednesday, september 4, 2019

Regional

Hurricane Dorian closes in on Florida coast after battering Bahamas

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urricane Dorian grew and picked up speed, churning on a path that forecasters said would come “dangerously close” to Florida later on Tuesday after the storm battered the northern Bahamas, killing at least five people.

Dorian, over the weekend, was one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes on record, pulverising

buildings and flooding parts of the Abaco Islands in the northern Bahamas.

On the US East Coast, more than a million people have been ordered evacuated ahead of its expected advance.

The hurricane weakened early on Tuesday to a Category 2 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale, packing maximum sustained winds of 110 miles per hour (175 km per hour) and moving northwest at 5 mph (8 kph), the Miamibased National Hurricane

Centre said.

The NHC warned that Dorian remained dangerous as it churned about 105 miles (116 km) east of Fort Pierce, Florida. It said the hurricane was moving offshore, nearly parallel to Florida’s east coast.

In the Bahamas, Dorian lashed the islands, including Great Abaco and Grand Bahama Island, for about 24 hours. Aerial video recorded

over Great Abaco showed widespread devastation, with buildings flattened or missing roofs and walls, boats upturned and shipping containers scattered about like toy bricks. Entire neighbourhoods could be seen under water.

The exact toll will not be clear until the storm completely passes and rescue crews can get on the ground.

Theo Neilly, the Bahamian consul general in Washington, said the damage on Grand Bahama was expected to be “very devas-

tating.” He said many people were still trapped in their homes and attics because of a strong sea surge.

Although Dorian is moving away from Grand Bahama, forecasters said dangerous winds and a life-threatening storm surge would persist through the evening.

Iram Lewis, a Bahamian Member of Parliament, said on CNN the death toll would likely climb.

“It is safe to say, unfortunately, that that number will go up,” Lewis said. “It is just unbelievable”.

As many as 13,000 homes in the Bahamas may have been destroyed or severely damaged, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said.

Abaco may require food for 14,500 people and Grand Bahama for 45,700 people, the UN World Food Programme said in a statement. The preliminary estimates were based on an assessment by representatives from Caribbean countries, the WFP and other organisations.

The US military has been authorised to provide logistics, health and engineering support to the Bahamas for up for 14 days if needed, General Terrence O’Shaughnessy, the head of US Northern Command, told reporters on Tuesday.

Efforts to reach officials in the Bahamas by phone on Tuesday were unsuccessful.

“Don’t know what to do”

Dorian was expected to bring hurricane conditions to Florida overnight, before unleashing powerful winds and dangerous surf along the coasts of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina by late Thursday.

Forecasters have told Floridians not to become complacent. Dorian could drive seawater inland as it approaches, with parts of the northern Florida and Georgia coasts seeing as much as 7 feet (2.1 meters), said NHC Director Ken Graham, urging residents of coastal areas to obey any evacuation orders.

Hurricane-force winds extended 60 miles (95 km) from the storm’s core, with still-dangerous tropical storm-force winds felt for

175 miles (280 km) from its center.

Nine counties in Florida have issued mandatory evacuation orders. They included parts of Duval County, which includes Jacksonville, one of Florida’s two biggest cities, and some areas in Palm Beach County, home to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.

After days of warnings to flee the storm, many residents of Florida’s coast remained unsure whether to wait it out or evacuate.

“I know it’s a mandatory evacuation, but everyone I talked to is staying, and I don’t know what to do. But I’m going to be ready and packed up in case I need to get on the road if they close those bridges,” Linda Cassano, a 53-yearold beautician who lives on Jacksonville Beach, said as she stocked up on water and food.

There have already

been some power outages in Florida. Governor Ron DeSantis said over the weekend that Florida Power & Light has 17,000 workers standing by to restore power once the storm passes.

Further north, the streets of Sea Island, Georgia, were largely empty on Tuesday after many visitors heeded evacuation orders, said Kathryn Ross, owner of the Pelican Market grocery store.

“It’s like a ghost town.

People really packed it up and left. I went running - I was running partly in the road because there was no one there,” Ross said in a phone interview. “I think people know the drill and have places set up to stay.”

Orlando International Airport ceased commercial operations because of the storm, it said in a statement.

Walt Disney World Resort (DIS.N) in Orlando will close early on Tuesday, it said in a statement.

The Governors of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina have ordered evacuations of some coastal counties.

Dorian was tied with Gilbert (1988), Wilma (2005) and the 1935 Labour Day hurricane for the second-strongest Atlantic hurricane on record, based on maximum sustained winds.

Allen in 1980 was the most powerful, with 190-mile (306-kph) winds, the NHC said. (Reuters)

St Lucia to revitalise Venezuela's gold Guatemala exhoney industry reserves drop by $1B presidential candidate in 1st half of this year Sandra Torres arrested

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t Lucia is moving to revitalise its honey industry after the island's honey cluster development plan has been successful in securing funding.

A Government statement said that the apiary industry has great financial potential and Export St Lucia and the Ministry of Agriculture with assistance from Compete Caribbean have initiated a plan to develop and grow the industry.

“We welcomed this initiative as it provided invaluable capacity building for St Lucia. It also brought about funding which will assist in the development and growth of the Apiary Industry, a very potent industry, one which is growing globally, especially with the health

conscious,” said Export St Lucia chief executive officer, Sunita Daniel.

“Our desire is to increase production of high quality natural honey which is export ready and globally competitive. We are extremely thankful to all the stakeholders for their hard work and especially Compete Caribbean for this initiative,” she added.

The statement said that the by-products of honey production are also very valuable. “Apitoxins and bee-venom are used in the treatment of many nerveborne illnesses; flower pollen and royal jelly are used by men as aphrodisiacs; beeswax is used a lot by cosmetologists. (Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

old reserves held by Venezuela's central bank fell by $1bn in the first half of 2019, official data released this week showed. The figures come amid Opposition accusations that the Government is selling the precious metal abroad to raise revenue in the face of US sanctions.

The value of the gold bars in central bank vaults fell to $4.62bn down 18.5 per cent from $5.67bn at the end of 2018 - the lowest in 75 years, according to bank data.

Opposition leaders have for months accused the government of President Nicolas Maduro of withdrawing gold to sell abroad as US financial sanctions have crippled oil exports and blocked it from borrowing abroad.

The drop corresponds to a decline of 26.36 tons of gold from reserves, leaving the bank with about 102.4 tons. About one-third of that is held by the Bank of England.

Ruling Socialist Party officials accuse the Bank of England of refusing to repatriate the gold due to sanctions. The Bank of England

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Last year, Maduro's government began exporting gold produce by informal miners in the southern jungles to Turkey for the first time [Photo by: Miraflores Palace/ Handout via Reuters]

has declined to comment, citing internal policy.

Venezuela's central bank did not immediately respond to a request by Reuters news agency for comment.

Last year, Maduro's government began exporting gold produced by informal miners in the southern jungles to Turkey for the first time. The value of central bank gold had already fallen by $1bn in the second half of 2018, according to bank reserves. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

he runner-up in August's presidential election in Guatemala, Sandra Torres, has been arrested.

Torres, 63, is suspected of breaking campaign finance rules and of unlawful association, the attorney-general's office said.

She as arrested on Monday morning at her home near Guatemala City.

Torres - a former first lady whose husband, Álvaro Colom, was president from 2008 to 2012 - described her arrest as a political witch hunt.

Torres ran for the presidency three times and failed each time to be elected.

Despite never making it to the top post, she was considered to have been the "power behind the throne" during Colom's presidency.

She divorced him in 2011 to bypass a law that banned close relatives of the president from succeeding him.

Colom is currently under investigation for alleged fraud.

Torres won the first round of the presidential election in June, but was beaten by her con-

Sandra Torres says she is the victim of a political witch hunt

servative rival, Alejandro Giammattei, by a 15-point margin in the second round on 11 August.

She and her party came under investigation earlier this year for alleged campaign irregularities but once she had registered as presidential candidate, she enjoyed immunity from prosecution.

Following her election defeat, that no longer applied.

Corruption was one of the main issues voters said they wanted to see tackled by the new President. (BBC)

guyanatimesgy.com

wednesday, september 4, 2019

Around the World

'Pure criminality': 5 killed in attacks on foreigners in South Africa

that we keep a close eye on these acts of wanton violence and find ways of stopping them," he said in a post on Twitter.

"There can be no jus-

tification for any South African to attack people from other countries".

Rocks, bricks and rubber bullets strewed the empty streets of Alexandra

on Tuesday, and Al Jazeera reporters at the scene saw Police firing rubber bullets at a crowd of 50 people who were hurling rocks.

About two dozen shops, owned by both foreigners and locals, were vandalised or looted.

"They burnt everything," Bangladeshi shop owner Kamrul Hasan told AFP news agency in Alexandra, adding that his shop gets attacked every three to six months.

"All my money is gone.

If the [South African] government pays for my plane ticket, I will go back to Bangladesh," the 27-yearold said.

Lungelo Dlamini, a spokesman for Police, said the motive behind Tuesday's riots was not clear. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

sides continue to commit violations with impunity.

Their report documents air strikes on civilian infrastructure, indiscriminate shelling, snipers, landmines, as well as arbitrary killings and detention, torture, sexual and gender-based violence, and the impeding of access to humanitarian aid in the midst of the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.

The UN says the fouryear conflict has claimed the lives of at least 7,290 civilians and left 80% of the population - 24 million people

- in need of humanitarian assistance or protection, including 10 million who rely on food aid to survive.

The Group of International and Regional Eminent Experts on Yemen conducted 600 interviews with victims and witnesses, and examined documentary and open-source material, for their second report for the UN Human Rights Council.

It says they found reasonable grounds to believe Yemen's government and the Saudi-led coalition, as well as the Houthis, had enjoyed a "pervasive lack of ac-

countability" for violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.

The experts investigated a number of coalition air strikes on rebel-held areas in which civilians were killed. Such strikes raised concerns about the identification of military objectives and respect for the principles of proportionality and precautions in attack, they say. If there were breaches of the latter, which the experts consider highly likely, they would amount to serious violations of international law. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

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ive people have been killed in xenophobic attacks in South Africa, Police said, as President Cyril Ramaphosa vowed to clamp down on what he described as "acts of wanton violence" and the African Union and Nigeria sounded the alarm.

Police fired rubber bullets and arrested 189 people in the township of Alexandra on Tuesday, a day after clashing with looters who local media said targeted foreign-owned businesses in several parts of the city.

Most of the deceased were South Africans, Police said.

"I'm convening the ministers in the security cluster today to make sure

Pedestrians pass burnt-out cars on the side of a street on the outskirts of Johannesburg [Photo by: The Associated Press]

Yemen: Western powers may be held responsible for war crimes – UN

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he UK, US, France and Iran may be complicit in possible war crimes in Yemen over their support for parties to the conflict there, UN experts say.

A new report warns the countries they could be held responsible for aiding or assisting the commission of violations.

The Western powers provide weapons and logistical support to the Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen's government, while Iran backs the Houthi rebels.

The experts say both

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Boris Johnson loses parliamentary majority as Brexit crisis bites

Boris Johnson now has no majority to govern in Parliament after a Conservative Party defection [Photo by: Simon Dawson/Reuters]

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onservative Party MP Dr Phillip Lee, a former Justice Minister, has quit the party to join the Liberal Democrats, suddenly leaving Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government without a parliamentary majority.

In a moment of high-drama in the House of Commons, Lee crossed the floor while Johnson was delivering a statement on the recent G7 summit.

Even with an agreement with the Democratic Unionist Party – which cost former Prime Minister Theresa May as much as one billion pounds ($1.2bn) in extra funding for Northern Ireland – Johnson's parliamentary majority was just one.

Lee's departure means the Government has now lost its working majority in the legislature, and Johnson will likely find it impossible to continue governing without an election to shake up the parliamentary arithmetic.

"Over 27 years ago I joined the Conservative and Unionist Party led by

Sir John Major," said Lee – a former medical practitioner – in a statement.

"Since 2010 I have had the privilege of representing the Bracknell constituency. The party I joined in 1992 is not the party I am leaving today”.

"This Conservative government is aggressively pursuing a damaging Brexit in unprincipled ways. It is putting lives and livelihoods at risk unnecessarily and it is wantonly endangering the integrity of the United Kingdom”.

"More widely, it is undermining our country's economy, democracy and role in the world. It is using political manipulation, bullying and lies. And it is doing these things in a deliberate and considered way."

Liberal Democrats leader Jo Swinson welcomed Lee to the party, posting on Twitter: "Welcome @DrPhillipLeeMP – you have joined us at the most crucial time. I look forward to working with you to prevent a disastrous Brexit, and to fight for a fairer, more equal society". (Excerpt

California boat fire: Police begin identifying victims US 14-year-old

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alifornia officials have begun the process of identifying the victims of a boat fire that is suspected to have claimed 34 lives.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said that DNA samples would be required from the family of presumed victims to identify them.

Authorities have moved from search-and-rescue operations to a recovery effort.

Only five people survived, all crew.

The scuba-diving boat caught fire on Monday as passengers slept below

Fire fighters were unable to board the vessel to put it out as flames has already taken hold

decks.

Twenty bodies – 11 females and nine males – have been recovered but more remain in the submerged wreckage, officials said on Tuesday.

Divers will attempt to stabilise the 75ft-long (23m) vessel, the Conception, to recover the remaining victims.

The vessel is upside down in more than 60ft of water, officials said.

When asked why DNA material would be necessary, Sheriff Brown told reporters it was an "inordinately hot fire and the bodies do exhibit signs of extreme thermal damage".

According to preliminary reports, Sheriff Brown said, a 17-year-old and several people in their 60s were probably aboard the recreational diving vessel when it caught fire.

The brother of one marine biologist – 41-year-old Kristy Finstad – told US media she had been leading a dive trip and was presumed dead.

No cause of the fire has yet been determined. (Excerpt from BBC News)

China school attack: 8 children killed at Hubei primary

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ight children have been killed in an attack outside a primary school in China, on the first day back at school after the summer holidays.

Police said they arrested a 40-year-old man at the scene of the attack in Hubei province in central China.

Officials did not say how the students were killed and

the attacker's motive was not immediately clear.

The victims' ages were not released, but children at the school range between six and 13 years old.

There have been several high profile attacks on school children in China in recent years.

In April last year, nine students were stabbed to

death as they were walking home from a secondary school in Shaanxi province in north-west China. A former pupil, 28-year-old Zhao Zewei, was executed for the crime.

And in January, another man, Qin Pengan, was executed after seriously injuring four children with a kitchen knife in an attack

at a nursery in the southern province of Guangxi.

Guards with batons, shields and helmets are now a common sight at the start and end of the day at some school gates. Chinese authorities have blamed attacks on what they describe as rising social tensions in the country. ?(BBC News)

from Al Jazeera)

admits killing 5 family members

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14-year-old boy in Alabama has confessed to killing five members of his own family, US Police say.

Those killed were the boy’s father, stepmother and siblings, local media report. Three were found dead at the scene while the other two died in hospital.

Police say the boy, who has not been named, is co-operating with officials.

There is no indication yet on any motive nor how he obtained the weapon used, a 9mm handgun.

The shooting happened late on Monday in the town of Elkmont.

According to investigators, the boy initially called Police to say he had heard gunfire coming from his family home.

He later confessed to the attack, the Limestone County Sheriff’s Department said.

The victims have been named as John Sisk, 38; Mary Sisk, 36, and three siblings who were five, six, and six months old.

Mary Sisk, originally of New Orleans, was a special education teacher for the Huntsville City schools district, according to a biography of her on the Mountain Gap schools website.

School officials there say they are providing mental health counsellors to students at the school.

Gun violence is common in the US – according to one monitoring site there have been almost 300 mass shootings this year alone.

Seven people were killed at the weekend in a series of random shootings in Texas, with the suspect identified as a 36-year-old man recently fired from his job.

Last month, separate attacks in El Paso and Dayton left 31 people dead. (BBC News)

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guyanatimesgy.com

wednesday, september 4, 2019

ARCHIE

ARIES (March 21April 19)

dilbert

TAURUS (April 20May 20)

If something isn’t working for you, change it. Look over your options and do what’s best for you. Progress will depend on whom you choose to be on your team.

GEMINI (May 21June 20)

Refuse to let anyone talk you into doing more than you feel comfortable with.

Trust should determine your friendships, and anyone you cannot trust should not be in your circle.

The less time you spend contemplating what to do next, the more time you will have to put your plans in motion. Romance and home-improvement projects should be priorities.

CANCER (June 21July 22)

Peanuts

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

Participate in events that will expand your outlook and bring you in contact with knowledgeable people. Don’t alter your life unless you have done your research. Plan ahead.

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

Converse with people who have the information you want. What you find out will affect the way you move forward. An unusual partnership will offer something unexpected.

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

Play by the rules, make sure your documents are up to date and listen carefully to instructions. If you overreact or underestimate, you will have to backtrack.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

Express what you would like to see happen. Setting a standard and offering an easy-to-follow guideline will put you in a leadership position. Romance is in the stars.

Calvin and Hobbes

SUDOKU SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23Dec. 21)

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19)

solution for LAST PUBLISHED puzzle

Concentrate on what you can accomplish instead of laboring over something you cannot. Taking a short trip, attending a meeting or searching for information that will help you advance are favored.

Look at the big picture, but don’t try to take in everything at once. Break down what’s important to you and what you can let go of for good. A minimalist attitude will help you move forward.

Indulge in whatever makes you happy. You have to reward yourself once in a while if you want to maintain balance and a healthy attitude. Romance and commitment are favored.

Stop, assess the situation and focus on where your time will make the most difference. Setting priorities will help you avoid sensitive issues that could lead to emotional fallout.

Be realistic and avoid making a miscalculation PISCES that will put a dent in your (Feb. 20bank account or hinder your March 20) plans. Relationships should be handled carefully, and romance will enhance your personal life.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 19)

WEDNesday, september 4, 2019

19

Hero CPL to broadcast 'The Biggest Party in Sport' around the world T

he broadcasters for the Hero Caribbean Premier League have been confirmed for the 2019 tournament with deals with key partners in place in India, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, America, Canada and South Africa.

In addition, the tournament will be live streamed over Twitter and Facebook, so no matter where you are in the world you will be able to enjoy the Biggest Party in Sport.

With this excellent spread of broadcasters around the globe the tournament is expecting an increase in viewership for the seventh successive year. Each game will be shown live, with a highlights package being available for all our partners.

In addition, CPL will be producing a weekly round-up magazine show that will focus on the best of the action from each week of the tournament.

Sunset+Vine, who delivered outstanding coverage of the recent Cricket World Cup in the UK, will again help to raise the bar in terms

of production quality more than 24 cameras capturing the onfield action alongside a stellar line up of commentators, including International favourite Danny Morrison

and local greats, Ian Bishop and Darren Ganga.

Huw Bevan, Sunset+Vine’s Head of Cricket, said: “Sunset+Vine are excited to be producing

the CPL once again this year for its global rights holders.

Our planning is tailored towards showcasing competitive cricket in one of the most vibrant atmospheres around

the globe. This year we are adding new aerial drone coverage to our 23 strong contingent of cameras to provide the most comprehensive view from inside and outside

the grounds.

“New graphics, power hitting data and an array of story-telling initiatives will keep viewers in tune with the ebb and flow of every match and its key personalities. Not forgetting, of course, an 11 strong line up of commentators and reporters led by Ian Bishop and Daren Ganga with the knowledge, expertise and gravitas to bring the Biggest Party in Sport to life like no other.”

As well as Morrison, Bishop and Ganga, the other members of the commentary and reporting team will be Tom Moody, Samuel Badree, Nick Compton, Dirk Nannes, John Hastings, Mark Butcher, Alex Jordan and Naomi Cowan.

The Hero CPL will feature the best players from across the Caribbean and around the world. With Alex Hales, Chris Gayle, Daren Sammy, Colin Munro, Kieron Pollard and Sohaib Malik amongst the star names that are due to take part fans can expect plenty of entertainment when the tournament gets underway on the September 4 in Trinidad.

US Open 2019: Medvedev uses boos to beat Wawrinka and reach semis A

s Daniil Medvedev stepped on to Arthur Ashe Stadium for the first grand slam quarter-final of his career, he was greeted by the familiar song that has come to define this manic New York summer – a glorious harmony of boos. It seemed to only help the Russian as he overcame his litany of injuries once again to defeat Stan Wawrinka 7-6 (6), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to reach the semi-finals of the US Open.

The crowd’s theatrical jeering and Medvedev’s snarky retorts have made a popular duo in New York, but often ignored is the reason that he has craved their energy in the first place: he has ground through 20 wins in 22 matches across five weeks, including winning his first Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati.

The effort has shown.

Throughout this week, the fifth seed has taken to court with lines of tape strewn across his body. Both adductors are sore, his right shoulder is painful. He admitted that he had taken as many painkillers as possible.

Although Medvedev broke in the opening game, it quickly became clear that his body was broken. Moving uncomfortably around the court, he took a med-

ical time heavi-

out at 4-3 to ly wrap his left quadriceps and he also took a painkiller.

He

was hobbling as he lost his serve while serving for the set at 5-4.

The 23-year-old has become known for his ability to break his opponents’ spirit and bodies in long, drawn-out rallies but injury brought on the absurd.

Unable to grind, he began to shorten points, taking the ball early and chasing the net at the first opportunity. Nobody was more confused than Wawrinka, whose pre-match plans were laid to waste.

Medvedev took the first set but not before Wawrinka badly sprayed a forehand wide on his own set point at 6-5 in the tiebreak.

Early in the second set, another loose forehand error from the Swiss led to the break for 3-1 as Medvedev held throughout.

In the end, the boos and jeers have been the

Daniil Medvedev (left) shakes hands with Stan Wawrinka after the Russian won in four sets (Getty Images)

soundtrack to the rise of a winner.

Svitolina ends Konta’s US Open Dream

Johanna Konta will watch her new celebrity fan, Tom Hiddleston, on his Broadway debut in Harold Pinter’s Betrayal before she leaves New York but her dialogue was not quite as economical as the playwright’s when she discussed her loss to Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals.

There was, after all, much to analyse.

The British No 1 is used to the big stage after 11 years on the tour, although she was hoping for more in her third performance on the game’s biggest stage, the 24,000-capacity Arthur Ashe Stadium, on day nine of the tournament.

Konta shared the generous applause of the crowd with her conqueror and friend, after the fifth seed beat her for the fourth time in a row, 6-4, 6-4, in an hour and 40 minutes. That helped – but there was disappointment to deal with, too.

Falling short in the last major of the year after the best summer of her career felt a little flat, although she was characteristically upbeat as she looked forward to the Asian swing. (The Guardian)

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GUYANATIMESgy.COM

WEDNesday, september 4, 2019

GFF congratulates Johnson on new appointment A

little over a week ago, it was revealed that Michael

US edge Turkey, Canada eliminated from World Cup H

olders United States ground out a dramatic 9392 overtime win against Turkey in the basketball World Cup while Canada were knocked out after a 92-69 drubbing by Lithuania on Tuesday.

The day’s rip-roaring action also produced the first two upsets of the 32-nation tournament in China as Brazil shocked Greece 79-78 while the Dominican Republic stunned Germany 70-68.

Turkey came agonizingly close to staging the shock of the tournament but missed four successive free throws in the final 10 seconds of the contest before Chris Middleton sank both his shots from the foul line with two 2.1 second left.

The Americans were able to breathe a huge sigh of relief after Turkish forward Ersan Ilyasova’s off-balance shot on the buzzer fell short.

A demolition looked likely after the United States raced into a 10-2 lead but the Turks roared back and kept breathing down their opponents’ necks before they nosed ahead 81-79 with 12 seconds left in regular time.

Jayson Tatum hit two of three free throws to force overtime, where Turkey appeared to have done enough after a blatant foul by Joe Harris with 10 seconds left gave them four successive free throws when they were 92-91 ahead.

Much to the disbelief of their bench and the Shanghai crowd who roared Turkey on from the start, Dogus Balbay and Cedi Osman missed all their shots from the foul line before Middleton forced the final twist.

Having suffered a 108-92 defeat by Australia, the Canadians left themselves no chance of progressing after they were torn apart by a rock-solid Lithuanian

side.

Lithuania never looked back after winning the first quarter 24-14 and built on that lead against a disjointed Canada, whose coach Nick Nurse suffered a painful exit after steering the Toronto Raptors to the 2019 NBA title.

Six Lithuanian players ended in double scoring digits to wipe out a valiant solo effort by Canada’s Kyle Wiltjer, the game’s top scorer with 24 points.

Greece face a decider against New Zealand to advance from their preliminary pool while Brazil booked their last-16 berth after Anderson Varejao racked up 22 points and nine rebounds for the South American side.

The Greeks missed a chance to force overtime as Kostas Sloukas missed one of three free throws with two seconds left while Giannis Antetokounmpo, last season’s most valuable player in the NBA regular season, was held to 13 points.

New Zealand kept alive their hopes of advancing with a 93-83 defeat of Montenegro as Corey Webster scored 25 points and towering center Isaac Fotu added 20, while Australia breezed to an 81-68 victory over Senegal.

The Czech Republic will battle it out with Turkey for a spot in the second group stage after an 89-76 win against Japan while France hardly broke sweat in a 103-64 rout of Jordan.

Serbia, the tournament favorites alongside the United States, face Italy in Wednesday’s standout fixture.

The top two teams from each of the eight preliminary pools will advance to the second group stage. (Reuters)

Michael Johnson is now taking his coaching expertise to England

Johnson, former Head Coach of the senior Guyana men’s football team the Golden Jaguars, had resigned from his post to take up a better offer elsewhere.

Appointed Golden Jaguars Head Coach on June 4, 2018, Johnson had served in that capacity for just over a year, during which time he took that team to its inaugural appearance at the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup, where they registered a creditable performance.

There is now revelation that this former Jamaican National Player is heading to coach the Men’s Under-21 team in England.

According to a release dated

September 2, 2019, Johnson will work along with Aidy Boothroyd in grooming the Men’s U21 team, and his appointment is part of the FA’s Elite Coach Placement Programme, done in partnership with the Professional Footballers’ Association.

A statement from the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) said: “The Guyana Football Federation extends heartiest congratulations to former Golden Jaguars’ Head Coach Michael Johnson on his appointment as a Specialist Coach with the English Football Association.”

Guyana Football Federation (GFF) President Wayne Forde has also applauded Johnson for aiding in the development of professional standards of the Golden Jaguars. During an interaction with media operatives last week, Forde praised the former coach for the excellent work he has done with the Golden Jaguars.

“We are very proud of the work that Coach Michael Johnson did during his tenure. The records will show for the rest of Guyana’s football existence that Coach Johnson took the Guyana Golden Jaguars to the Gold Cup, the team performed credibly there, and we now have to build on that success,” Forde said.

The Golden Jaguars are currently under the stewardship of Brazilian Interim Head Coach Marcio Maximo.

They are currently preparing for their appearance in the CONCACAF Nations’ League.

Smith topples Kohli, becomes No 1 Test batsman again

Keith Moseley Memorial Billiards…

Trim, Grant and Roberts to vie for title on Sunday T

he Keith Moseley Memorial Billiards Tournament will conclude on Sunday, but three players have qualified to seek honours after the opening round ended last Sunday at the Mackenzie Sports Club.

It was a day when two former top Linden players failed to advance; and another, who had won a previous tournament, was unable to get past his opponents.

In the second tournament this year, Rupert Da Costa, who was victorious in the Marlon Pearson Tournament earlier this year, fell to Stephen Grant 100-67; and there were other notable wins in that Avery Trim eliminated Haroon Bacchus 100-79; Hardcourt Troy Roberts proved better Warde presents that former top player Robert Mackenzie Langevine, and Godwin Sports Club with Primo stopped past champion billiards chalk for the event Hardcourt Warde 100-75.

In the quarterfinals, Roberts halted Primo 100-48; and Trim, who had a top break of 26, ended the hopes of Ellis Noel 100-53.

Come Sunday, the proverbial three-horse race would be between Trim, Roberts and Grant. The three-way playoff is set for 17:00hrs at the MSC.

Before the competition, Hardcourt Warde, who had played many battles with the late Keith Moseley, presented Roberts -- a member of the MSC Management Committee -- with a set of billiards chalks.

Another day, another raise of the bat for Steven Smith (Getty Images)

S

teven Smith might have missed the Headingley Test, but still managed to reclaim the top spot in the world rankings for Test batsmen after Virat Kohli, ahead by just six points after the last update, slipped to No. 2 following scores of 76 and 0 at Sabina Park.

Kohli did well in the first innings in Jamaica, and led India to a 257-run win and a 2-0 series triumph, but up at the top, every failure affects a player’s position, as his first-ball duck off Kemar Roach in the second dig proved. That brought him down to 903 rating points, one below Smith, who has 904.

The series win, however, helped India consolidate their position atop the team chart, their 113 points four clear of second-placed New Zealand, who drew their two-Test series 1-1 in Sri Lanka.

Smith had taken over the No. 1 ranking in December 2015 but Kohli overtook him in August 2018 when Smith was out of action because of the one-year ban following the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal.

Back in Australia’s whites, Smith scored 144 and 142 in Australia’s win at Edgbaston before scoring 92 in his only innings in the drawn Lord’s Test.

He didn’t bat in the second innings after concussion following a blow to the head from a Jofra Archer bouncer, and Marnus Labuschagne replaced him in the second innings. Smith then sat out

the third Test at Headingley.

While Smith has a chance to add to his tally - or lose points - in the fourth Ashes Test at Old Trafford, Kohli’s next Test assignment will come during the home series against South Africa in October.

The big news on the bowlers’ front was Jasprit Bumrah and Jason Holder moving into the top five. Bumrah had started the Jamaica Test in seventh position, while Holder was at 11th place. The Indian’s 6 for 27 and Holder’s 5 for 77 - both in the first innings - lifted them to No. 3 and No. 4 respectively.

Roach stayed in the top ten, but moved one spot down to ninth after picking up just four wickets in the second Test against India.

Bumrah’s tally of 835 rating points, meanwhile, is the second-highest by an Indian pacer in Test cricket, only behind Kapil Dev’s 877 in 1980 - interestingly, Bumrah has reached where he has in just 12 Test matches.

Pat Cummins and Kagiso Rabada continued to hold the top-two spots on that table.

From other batsmen in action in the West Indies v India Test series, Ajinkya Rahane’s 81, 102, 24 and 64 not out helped him get back in the top ten, up to No.7 from No. 11, while Hanuma Vihari’s 32, 93, 111 and 53 not out took him up to No. 30 after just six Test appearances. (ESPNCricinfo)

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GAW 2nd practice match ends in blackout

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– Khan hits right areas on opening day with team Battle of the Pakistanis, Shadab Khan and Shoaib Malik, during the second practice match (Dexter Ceres photo)

I

t was the second instance in as many nights that the Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW) players witnessed a power outage at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence.

On the opening night, the players left the field for 26 minutes before play resumed, but on the second night, the recurrence of this unexpected event led to play being abandoned after the first innings.

Playing the second match with mixed teams (including a few players

perstar removed the other opener, Chandrapaul Hemraj, caught for nine.

Anthony Bramble, Nicholas Pooran and Sherfane Rutherford were given multiple ‘opportunities’.

Batting first, Pooran was caught by Ben Laughlin for one, Rutherford was removed by Odean Smith for six, and Bramble scored 11 on his first bat of the night.

In his second knock, Bramble scored 15, while Pooran hit 12 and Rutherford hit 22.

The most composed innings of

St Lucia Chess Festival…

Drayton finishes 2nd – Lee wins U20 title

still have lots more to learn, especially the juniors.

“Also, I want to say thanks to the sponsors (who) made this all possible. A special thanks to GT&T, Guyana’s number one telephone company, and also the Barbados Chess Federation.”

Drayton is considered as standTop participants at the St Lucia Chess Festival ing at the pinnacle of local chess, havuyana’s National Chess Champion ing made a name Anthony Drayton, representing for himself among many of the world’s top Guyana at the St Lucia Chess Festival chess players. By his FIDE ratings, Drayton on August 28 and 29, emerged the sec- is Guyana’s top player, and he has a lofty ELO ond-place finisher with five points. rating of 2030, the highest locally.

He lost to Reginald Martyr of St Lucia, He attained the title of Candidate Master who finished on 5.5 points to claim the over- at the Chess Olympiad of 2014 Open, and all title. that of FIDE Master at the 43rd World Chess Guyana was also represented by Ronan Olympiad in 2018.

Lee, who won the under-20 division of the He is also the only Guyanese player to have tournament. a ranking above 2000. Anthony Drayton’s In an interview with Guyana Times Sport FIDE ranking – 2007 -- is impressive among Drayton was asked about his performance in the many chess players in Guyana. the tournament, and he said, “My experience The results of the tournament are as folat the tournament was awesome. I got to try lows: out new ideas that I was studying and new 1st place - Reginald Martyr (St Lucia) ideas I can implement in my games. On top 2nd place - Anthony Drayton (FM) of that, I got to experience coaching two of my (Guyana) students, which went very well.

3rd place - Adam Hart (St Lucia) “In the Saint Lucia Chess Festival, I… Women’s Champion - Tris-Ann Richards placed second in that tournament. At the (St Lucia) Saint Lucia Chess Festival, I won US$300.00 U20 Champion - Ronan Lee (Guyana) for my second place prize. The local players

G

223-7230-1 (Ext 55)

from the Rest Team), Shoaib Malik and company scored 127-7 in their allotted 20 overs. A few players were given extra opportunity to bat as the GAW continue their preparation for their opening match on Thursday, September 5.

Brandon King looked at his usual best, smashing one six and a four in his brief innings of 12. He was, however, undone by the sheer brilliance of Shadab Khan, who hit the right areas on his first day in Guyana.

The Pakistan leg-spinning su-

the night came from Captain Shoaib Malik, who struck three boundaries in his bright innings, and remained unbeaten on 22.

Khan, who touched down in Guyana less than 24 hours before this game, ended his magical night of practice with 3-22 in four overs, including one maiden; while pacer Smith had 2-27 in three overs.

Veerasammy Permaul had 1-12 in three overs, Chris Green had 0-23, Ben Laughlin had 0-18, and Romario Shepherd had 0-24 in three overs.

Mithali Raj announces T20I retirement

Mithali Raj played 89 T20Is and scored 2364 runs (Getty Images)

M

ithali Raj, the veteran India batter, has announced retirement from T20 Internationals, on Tuesday (September 3).

Having been India’s first-ever T20I captain in 2006, she went on to play 89 matches in the shortest format, scoring 2364 runs - the most by an Indian woman. She led India in 32 of those matches, including the world cups in 2012, 2014 and 2016.

Her last T20I appearance came against England, in Guwahati, where she scored an unbeaten 32-ball 30. She finishes as the sixth-highest run-getter in T20Is, behind Suzie Bates, Stafanie Taylor, Charlotte Edwards, Meg Lanning and Deandra Dottin, and is the only Indian to have scored more than 2000 runs.

She also stands 21st in the list of most appearances in T20 Internationals, with only Harmanpreet Kaur (96) having played more games for India. Raj, who has been out of favour with the team management over the last one-year despite a change in the head coach, had made herself available for the series against South Africa a week ago.

“After representing India in T20 internationals since 2006, I wish to retire from T20Is to focus my energies on readying myself for the 2021 One Day World Cup,” she said.

“It remains my dream to win a World Cup for my country and I want to give it my best. I thank the BCCI for their continuous support and wish the Indian T20 team good luck as they prepare for the home series against South Africa Women.” (Cricbuzz)

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WEDNesday, september 4, 2019

T

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

Hero CPL 2019 bowls off today with Knight Riders-Patriots clash

he 2019 edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) is all set to hit the centrestage.

In the opening match, defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders and the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots will lock horns at the Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad. TKR has been on a rampage as they are the winners of the last two editions of the league. A lot will be expected of them in the tournament.

The Patriots, on the contrary, are yet to win the title despite qualifying for the playoffs twice. This time around, they will be led by Carlos Brathwaite as Chris Gayle has gone back to the Jamaica Tallawahs.

As far as head to head between the teams are concerned, the Knights have an 8-3 lead over its opponent, though the Patriots came out trumps the last time the teams met at the venue.

The pitch has been an excellent one for batting over the time being. Bowlers are likely to be in for a tough

day in the office. But the track has also shown signs of slowing down and hence batting first could do the trick. The weather for the game isn’t promising though with chances of rain throughout the day. The temperature will be around the 26 degrees Celsius mark.

Trinbago Knight Riders

The Knights will be missing the services of their regular skipper Dwayne Bravo, who has developed a thumb injury. Kieron Pollard, who has joined the franchise earlier this year, will be in charge. In the absence of Colin Munro, who’s with the New Zealand national team, Denesh Ramdin is likely to open the batting alongside Sunil Narine, who has played a number of valuable knocks at the top.

Darren Bravo was one of their star performers last season and his role will be critical. James Neesham is coming off an impressive

campaign in Cup and needs u p .

the World h e to step T h e

Knights also have the services of the young Mohammad Hasnain. He will have USA pacer Ali Khan for company. Khary Pierre and Seekkuge Prasanna are the spin bowling options in the lineup.

Probable XI: Denesh Ramdin (wk), Sunil Narine, Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo, Kieron Pollard (C), James Neesham, Seekkuge Prasanna, Javon Searles, Khary Pierre, Ali Khan, Mohammad Hasnain

Part of the action between Knight Riders and Patriots in 2018

SKN Patriots

The Patriots have the explosive Evin Lewis at the top. He had a disastrous outing last time, having

scored runs at an average of 11.45, and will be keen to make amends. Devon Thomas should be his fellow opening batsman. Thomas got 222 runs last season at a strike-rate of 139.62.

Mohammad Hafeez’s journey with Middlesex in the T20 Blast has come to and end and he is available.

Brathwaite wasn’t the Patriots’ captain in the last two editions and it will be interesting to see how he adjusts. Fabian Allen played only four matches last time, but he is a more established player now. Rayad Emrit has to bring forth his truckload of experience. He was with the Guyana Amazon Warriors last season. The team will depend heavily on the prowess of Sheldon Cottrell.

Probable XI: Evin Lewis, Devon Thomas (wk), Mohammad Hafeez, Jason Mohammed, Carlos Brathwaite (C), Fabian Allen, Aaron Jones, Rayad Emrit, Sheldon Cottrell, Akeem Jordan, Alzarri Joseph. (crictracker)

Same old results for wounded West Indies Test outfit

By Brandon Corlette

I

n India’s tour to the West Indies, they defeated their hosts in every game they played.

The West Indies lost the T-20 International series 3-0, the One Day International series 2-0, and the Test series 2-0.

In reviewing the Test series, West Indies had dull moments with the bat, while Kemar Roach and Jason Holder had good outings with the ball.

A disappointed Captain Jason Holder, at the post-match press conference, called for West Indies cricket to change at the grassroots level.

“I think special emphasis must be put on franchise (First Class) cricket, and that’s where we are going to build players”, Holder declared.

Given that the West Indies have had a long break f r o m T e s t cricket,

Holder said, now i s the op-

John Campbell

Jason Holder

portunity to make amends. The captain called for more camps, especially for the batsmen.

In the Test series under review, West Indies batsmen had little to boast about. In the two Test matches, with four innings on offer for the Caribbean batsmen, only one half-century was recorded by an individual in the West Indies team.

New boy Shamarh

Brooks was the lone West Indies player to record a 50-plus score, whereas India’s Hanuma Vihari and Ajinkya Rahane each scored one century and two half-centuries.

It was not the case where the pitches in Antigua and Jamaica were extremely difficult for batting. Poor application and deficiency in mental approach occasioned the demise of the West Indian batsmen.

In those two Test matches, Holder scored the most runs for the West Indies – 104 at an average of 26. That being the best performance by a Windies batsman in the series declares plaintively that quality Test batsmen are lacking in the Caribbean.

Kemar Roach

An examination of the performances of openers Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell would reveal that Brathwaite has been

beyond defensive in his approach.

His mindset saw him score only 28 runs in four innings, averaging a mere seven in the series. His opening partner Campbell was dashing in his approach, but scored only 48 runs in four innings. He played five Test matches, 10 innings, and is yet to score a maiden half-century.

The ‘prodigal son’ Darren Bravo may have lost his way at this point in his career. Comparing him with the legendary Brian Lara has suddenly stopped. In the four innings in the Tests, he literally ‘suffered to score’, and he also suffered a concussion. He scored 47 runs in three innings, with his high score being a promising 23 in the final innings.

As for the “highly talented” Shimron Hetmyer, he scored 71 runs in four innings, with two 30plus scores under his belt. Roston Chase managed 72 runs in his four innings, while Shai Hope had a poor first Test, scoring 26 runs.

Shamarh Brooks may have kept his place in the Test squad with that fighting 50 he scored.

In the previous matches, he tallied 13 runs in three innings.

In the bowling department, Roach was the standout with nine wickets, while Holder had eight wickets. The inconsistent Shannon Gabriel grabbed four wickets, while Chase and Rahkeem Cornwall showed good signs in the spin department with nine wickets between them.

West Indies will resume their Test campaign on November 27 in a one-off Test match against Afghanistan in Dehradun, India.

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WEDNesday, september 4, 2019

23

Guyana Amazon Warriors in their first practice match (Brandon Corlette photos)

GAW: Often the most underrated, yet a lethal combination – Amazon blend spiked with young talents

By Brandon Corlette

T

he Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW) certainly have a winning squad for the 2019 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL). Filled with young gifted players, the squad has eight Guyanese nationals and some experienced overseas and Regional players, and they are all under the guidance of Head Coach Johan Botha.

The average age of the GAW players in the squad is 25. Shadab Khan and Keagan Simmons are the youngest members at 20

years old, while Shoaib Malik is the oldest at 37 years old. He leads the Warriors, being the most experienced player, although he now plays only in the T20 format for his native Pakistan.

With 345 T20I matches to his name, the calm and cool Malik is an active member of the Pakistan T20I team. A righthanded batsman, Malik has been in good form during the Global T20 Canada, and would be aiming to transition that form in the CPL. The GAW batting department looks an exciting one, with Chandrapaul Hemraj and the

elegant Brandon King tipped to open the batting. GAW’s most successful batsman in 2018, the 22-year-old Shimron Hetmyer, together with its marquee player, 23-year-old Nicholas Pooran, and the Captain Shoaib Malik will comprise the top five batsmen.

The likes of 20-year-old Keagan Simmons and 28-year-old Anthony Bramble may also fancy their chances at the top of the batting order.

Warriors are not short of power hitters. The 21-year- old Guyanese Sherfane Rutherford has proven himself in that regard,

Hero CPL welcomes Simon Taufel to match officials’ team – Taylor books Tallawahs spot

F

ormer ICC Elite Panel umpire, Simon Taufel, who won five consecutive ICC Umpire of the Year Awards from 2004 to 2008, and who was generally considered as the best umpire in the world during his time, has joined the Hero CPL match officials team.

Taufel, who retired from umpiring in September 2012 following the ICC World Twenty20 final, then held the post of ICC Umpire Performance and Training Manager until August 2016, joins the CPL in a dual role – as one of the traveling Match Referees and also as Umpire Trainer and Assessor.

CPL Tournament Operations Director, Michael Hall is looking forward to Taufel’s involvement: “Simon’s resume speaks for itself, and we are happy that he will be sharing his vast experience and knowledge in support of our tournament umpires. Since June, in collaboration with Peter Nero, Cricket West Indies (CWI) Umpire Trainer and Assessor, he has been conducting remote training sessions with all CPL match officials, and this will culminate in a oneday seminar and workshop in Trinidad on September 3rd.”

Taufel is also keen about his appointment: “When I was approached by the CPL and offered this assignment I had no hesitation in accepting it. Quite apart from

having always enjoyed being in the Caribbean, the o p p o r t u n i t y to support t h e tournament by developing reporting processes and systems which will provide more robust feedback on t h e performance of all the umpires in the tournament was something which definitely appealed to me.”

At the end of the tournament, Taufel will provide the CPL, CWI and the umpires themselves with holistic feedback reports which will help to guide future umpiring appointments as well as provide the umpires with a clear indication of their strengths and weaknesses.

Simon Taufel (right) and Billy Bowden are two of the most recognized cricket umpires in history

Taufel’s team includes ICC International Panel umpires Leslie Reifer Jnr. (Barbados) and Shaun George (South Africa) along with CWI Tier 1 umpire Zahid Bassarath (Trinidad). The other team will be led by West Indian Match Referees Michael Ragoonath (Trinidad) and Reon King (Guyana) and will include ICC International Panel Umpires Nigel Duguid (Guyana), Gregory Brathwaite (Barbados) and Langton Rusere (Zimbabwe).

Jerome Taylor to replace Amad Butt at Tallawahs

The Jamaica Tallawahs have replaced Amad Butt with Jerome Taylor for the 2019 Hero CPL season.

Butt is now no longer available due to domestic commitments in Pakistan.

Taylor has played for the Tallawahs in the past, as well as representing the St Lucia Zouks. The rightarm fast bowler has played 46 Tests, 90 ODIs and 30 T20 internationals for the West Indies, taking 291 wickets in international cricket. He has played in T20 leagues in India, England and Bangladesh and will now be, once again, representing his native Jamaica in the Hero CPL. The Tallawahs start their CPL campaign against the Trinbago Knight Riders on Friday 6 September at the Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad. They will play five matches at home at Sabina Park between 12 September and 19 September. (CPL)

and is likely to play the role of pinch hitter.

The Warriors’ spin-bowling department looks up to the task, with 25-year-old Chris Green and 20-year-old Shadab Khan offering reliable service therein. In spin-friendly conditions, GAW may opt for an extra spinner in Veerasammy Permaul.

The seam bowling department will be led by the experienced Ben Laughlin, while the Guyanese pace duo of Romario Shepherd and Keemo Paul will play as starters in the fast-bowling department.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) emerging players Odean Smith and Clinton Pestano are the extra seam bowling options.

The big names in the GAW squad and the Head Coach Botha have spoken about the impressive youths in the team.

The likes of fearless duo Rutherford and Hetmyer have impressed the globe in the 2018 edition of the CPL, and in this 2019 edition will be eager to play a huge

role in the team’s success.

Pakistan will play Sri Lanka in a three-match T20I series from October 5, and leg-spinner Shadab Khan, who has been active for Pakistan in all three formats of the game, may have to report for duty for his country in the ODI and T20I matches. With the ODIs against Sri Lanka commencing on September 27, camps will be held prior; and Khan may be replaced in the GAW by his countryman Imran Tahir, who was the leading GAW bowler in 2018 with 16 wickets under his belt.

The GAW will play their first match in CPL 2019 against the St Lucia Zouks on Thursday September 5th at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.

Anthony Bramble

WEDNesday, september 4, 2019

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

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Hero CPL 2019 bowls off today with Knight Riders-Patriots clash

Page 22

Simon Taufel

Hero CPL welcomes Simon Taufel to match officials’ team

– Taylor books Tallawahs spot

Page 23

Jerome Taylor removes Devon Thomas

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