Guyana Times - Wednesday, April 12, 2023

Literacy programme strengthened to ensure every child can read – MoE

Guyana projected to outpace all Caribbean, Latin American countries in 2023 economic growth – IMF

See story on page 3

Guyana’s oil production to be boosted as Prosperity FPSO arrives

WHAT'S INSIDE:

5 in custody for murder of Anna Catherina fisherman

…vessel to push daily production to 600,000 bpd by 2024

World Bank must play more "action-oriented" role in food security agenda – Pres Ali …says shelves of studies exist; Region must move towards implementation

US firm clears prominent businessman, family of damning allegations

Houston Secondary School broken into, vandalised Duo slapped with narcotics possession charges

Ex-cop slapped with 7 fraud charges

Act swiftly to fix huge hole on Sheriff-Mandela Road – Ministry to GTT US$721M projected to be earned from local content in 2023

BRIDGE OPENINGS

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

Wednesday, Apr 12 – 22:00h – 23:30h and Thursday, Apr 13 – 23:30h – 01:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Wednesday, Apr 12 – 08:10h – 09:40h and Thursday, Apr 13 – 09:40h – 11:10h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

WEATHER TODAY

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

Winds: East North-Easterly between 2.68 metres and 5.36 metres.

High Tide: 08:33h and 21:27h reaching maximum heights of 2.38 metres and 2.15 metres.

Low Tide: 14:49h reaching a minimum height of 0.85 metre.

Guyana projected to outpace all Caribbean, Latin American countries in 2023 economic growth – IMF …as int’l agency warns against difficulty in controlled inflation

With a projected growth rate of 37.2 per cent for 2023, Guyana is expected to continue its trend this year, of outpacing every other Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) country when it comes to economic growth.

This is according to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) latest World Economic Outlook, which it released on Tuesday. Of the other LAC countries, St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) at 6.0 per cent, has the next highest growth projections for this year.

But while SVG’s growth projections are expected to fall next year to 5.0 per cent, Guyana’s is expected to increase to 45.3 per cent in 2024. The report states, however, that by 2028 Guyana’s economic growth will drop to 3.3 per cent.

Meanwhile, other LAC countries that will record single digit economic growth this year include Panama at 5.0 per cent, neighbouring Venezuela at 5.0 per cent, Dominica at 4.9 per cent, St Kitts and Nevis at 4.5 per cent and the Dominican Republic at 4.2 per cent.

In their analysis of the current state of the global economy, IMF stressed that despite the growth seen in specific countries, inflation is building under the surface. In fact, IMF noted that inflation has proven to be more stubborn than had previously been expected.

“Inflation is much stickier than anticipated even a few months ago. While global inflation has declined, that reflects mostly the sharp rever-

sal in energy and food prices. But core inflation, excluding the volatile energy and food components, has not yet peaked in many countries.”

“It is expected to decline to 5.1 per cent this year (fourth quarter over fourth quarter), a sizable upward revision of 0.6 percentage point from our January update, well above target,” IMF said in their report.

According to the IMF, overall global growth is expected to finish at 2.8 per cent for 2024, before increasing to 3.0 per cent next year. While global inflation is expected to decrease, it will only be a marginal decrease from 8.7 per cent in 2022 to 7.0 per cent in 2023 and 4.9 per cent in 2024.

“Notably, emerging market and developing economies are already powering ahead in many cases, with growth rates (fourth quarter over fourth quarter) jumping from 2.8 per cent in 2022 to 4.5 per cent this year,” IMF explained in their report.

“The slowdown is concentrated in advanced econo-

mies, especially the euro area and the United Kingdom, where growth is expected to fall to 0.7 per cent and –0.4 per cent, respectively, this year before rebounding to 1.8 and 2.0 per cent in 2024. Below the surface, however, turbulence is building, and the situation is quite fragile, as the recent bout of banking instability reminded us.”

Inflation has been a problem even in Guyana, but it is not a problem the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Government has met sitting down. Back in May 2022, President Dr Irfaan Ali had announced a series of ground-breaking measures to tackle rising cost of living.

These measures had ranged from cash grants to households in hinterland and riverine communities to the provision of free fertiliser for farmers, which are aimed at improving the lives of citizens.

The first initiative he had announced was the distribution of a one-off $25,000 cash grant to every household in

the riverine and hinterland communities of the country. This measure would result in $800 million being pumped into the economy and would cushion the impacts of the rising cost of living, Ali had said.

He had also announced fertiliser support to farmers in order to cushion the impact of the rising cost of fertiliser on farmers and to limit the trickle-down effect on food prices, by the Government purchasing $1 billion in fertilisers for free distribution to farmers.

The third measure announced by the Government was the setting-up of a special unit to help landowners of both private and Government-owned lots build their houses.

President Ali had said the unit would support applicants with the process of applying to banks for financing and with the initial phase of construction by releasing the necessary resources. Persons would also have the option of choosing house models valued at $7 million, $9 million, or $12 million, for the Government to help them build.

Since taking office in 2020, the Ali-led Administration has introduced several measures to put more disposable income in the pockets of Guyanese. From the onset, Value Added Tax (VAT) was removed from water and electricity.

There has also been an increase in old-age pension and public assistance, putting $2.3 billion and $432 million, respectively, into the pockets of Guyanese. (G3)

The International Monetary Fund

Editor: Tusika Martin

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Committing to One Guyana

One of the characteristics of the post-modern world is a quest for “authenticity”: as the young say, “We gotta be real”. The first problem with this much-vaunted “authenticity” is that the very nature of the human self is artificial, and shaped by its surrounding culture. However, by the West’s enlightenment, individualistic premises – to the extent that cultural influences are important – are often seen as sources of alienation, coercion, and manipulation.

The “true” self is touted to be that which is not a product of society, that which resists conformity and makes individuals “unique”. As a result, the influencer is obsessed with novelty in all aspects of life – from art to lifestyles – touting the new simply because it is new.

But this romantic conception of the self is simply wrong. We are not plants or toads, whose development is largely an unfolding of prespecified potential. We are profoundly social animals, with brains wired to absorb and assimilate our surrounding culture, beginning most germanely with language. A person without culture is an abstraction-like form without content. The well-documented cases of “feral children” – that is, children who grew up with little human contact – are tragic testimonies to the indispensability of social learning. They were literally “non-human”.

Even a person’s most profound beliefs – those about God and the relationship between humans and the cosmos – are inextricably connected to culture. Hence the saliency of our ethnic ties in Guyana. However, we know what it is like to bow to social conventions, and mask our feelings and opinions from others. More poignantly, we know the painful dissonance of dissembling crucial components of our identity, our political beliefs, our sexuality, and so on. Does this not suggest an authentic self that persists behind our everyday social self, impervious to cultural accidents and influences, although it can remain forever hidden? And is it not to this self that we owe our loyalty?

Arguments like this can feel compelling, because they fit in with our daily experience, even though traits and tendencies are different from what most of us would call a “self”. Humans are complicated and complex; capable of sublimating impulses to lying about them. This can be frustrating, debilitating, and, in some societies, tyrannically oppressive. But paradoxically, this is what also makes civilisation possible. Because we are both cooperative and highly competitive, our thoughts and impulses can be prosocial or antisocial. Some of those antisocial thoughts and impulses are relatively benign, though potentially offensive. We cannot give in to unmediated impulses from our id. Some of our thoughts and impulses are coercive, violent, or destructive.

Few people are so virtuous that they have never wanted to humiliate, hit, or even kill another person. Some people are filled with rage and hate, and would happily dominate others if they were in a position to do so. One of the crucial functions of civilisation is to curb these inclinations, so that we can cooperate (and compete) without constant violence. Democratic politics and the institutions that make it work are one such innovation. Although this might be frustrating on occasion, it leads to wealth, comfort, and cultural achievements that would otherwise be impossible.

The celebration of authenticity is premised, often only half-knowingly, on a quasi-Rousseauistic belief that humans are naturally good, and only corrupted by society. But this belief is patently false: humans are not “naturally” good or evil, but created, as Kant phrased it, “out of this crooked timber”. As such, they are flawed, limited, and contradictory creatures, capable of envisioning a peaceful, cooperative society of abundance, but thwarted in achieving it because their efforts are undermined by selfishness and rivalry.

Although we cannot fully achieve our moral goals in a utopia, we can, with the guidance of wise norms and institutions, create a lively and flourishing civilisation. And the function of these wise norms and institutions such as democracy and its institutions are to suppress, discipline, and reshape our natural inclinations. Let us all continue to commit to building a democratic One Guyana.

Who was the racist? Who was the political opportunist? Part 2

Dear Editor,

In Part One of our discourse, I have shown that Burnham was a racist, and one who built up a party with those diabolical views. The PNC cannot portray a different ideology due to the fact that they see racism as a key area of dominance and control. Once you remain entrenched in that mould, it would be difficult to extricate yourself from it and present a workable ideal which modern society can embrace, or would want to gravitate to. So, in the meantime, the PNC Party remains stuck in that miry backwater, where few in civilised society would want to be part of.

Today I would like to compare the two leaders, that is: Burnham and Jagan, and the way they handled power.

In the first place, you must recognise that both personalities were members

of a political party formed by Dr Cheddi Jagan. It was Burnham who, with international help, separated himself from Jagan and formed the People’s National Congress. From the get-go, one sees the opportunistic nature of Burnham taking shape: he wanted to lead, was obsessed with power; he must be the boss.

Further, with strong international involvement, he began belabouring the doctrine of Jagan being a racist and a communist, knowing fully well that Britain and the USA at the time did not fancy the idea of another communist satellite taking root here. So Cheddi was in a bind, having everyone pitted against him. Burnham played on British and American sentiments until he got his way into power through the back door. The rigging system, which was meant to be a permanent fixture on our calendar of

events, was then set up.

Once in power, Burnham trumped up the violence, blamed it on the PPP Opposition (something that the PNC practices to this day) and got Cheddi and his wife incarcerated. The crafty, cunning Burnham was never incarcerated, though Cheddi and his wife were; they bore a badge of honour for their country, while Burnham gloated in their ignominy.

That did not stop the Jagans, who later came back into power to lead this country from the morass Burnham had put us in.

Another hallmark of Burnham’s tyranny was naming places after himself. He had a penchant for affixing his name to places and things. This caused him to have the make-belief notion that he owned Guyana, and this country was his playpen. What he could not name after himself he named af-

ter his wife. It was Viola Burnham this and that, when he ran out of places to name, he named them after his daughters, Melanie Damishana and Roxanne Burnham Gardens, just to name a few.

I must hasten to a close here, but suffice it to say that Burnham tried fooling some Blacks in society that he was doing this for “The Race”; that Black Superiority and dominance would make for a strong nation. Burnham, and by extension the PNC, never would envision the future of a One Guyana, where all races could live in racial harmony, each one respecting the other.

Dr Jagan and the PPP did have that view, and here we are in the Twenty-first Century, promulgating the vision and the mission of One Guyana.

Respectfully, Neil Adams

Guyanese should ignore persons trying to score political points off non-political issues

Dear Editor,

In its usual quest to score points and bring the Government into disrepute, the political Opposition is laying blame at the feet of the Dr. Irfaan Ali-led Administration for the issues surrounding Guyana’s national athletics team which participated in the 50th CARIFTA Games.

Though the source of these issues is directly related to poor planning and incompetence on the part of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG), the

Opposition and members of its overseas-based lunatic fringe would have us believe that the Government, with its God-like all-seeing and all-knowing powers, should’ve intervened beforehand in anticipation of the AAG “usual mess-up.”

Not an ounce of blame is being laid at the feet of the AAG. Of course, the usual suspects did not miss an opportunity to inject their poisonous narrative of race hate; so the incompetence of the Afro-dominated AAG was thrown aside, and a

story about the Indo-PPP Government having a dislike for any sport aside from cricket was the preferred one.

But rest assured that if the Government, in an effort to avert the disaster that unfolded, had attempted to play a more meaningful role (aside from providing funds, as it did), those very critics and their media surrogates would’ve been shouting “control” and “Government takeover.” The letters and editorials denouncing the Government’s “attempt to take over” would’ve been vo-

luminous, as is the case with the Georgetown Mayor and City Council.

So, I guess the Government is damned if it does and damned if it doesn’t.

Guyanese should ignore the usual suspects who are trying to score political points off of a non-political issue and what in my view is a demonstration of incompetence by the Athletics Association of Guyana.

Yours sincerely, Alvin Hamilton

Over the weekend, Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal inspected the housing units being constructed through the Lethem Housing Support Programme in Region Nine. During this phase of the programme, the first 48 homes are being built at the New Culvert City Housing Scheme and Tabatinga Housing Scheme

Guyana making strides to improve gender equality in agri, rural sector – FAO report

Guyanese women have long been involved in agricultural activities and are considered to be the main contributors to food production and processing, yet efforts can be made to improve gender equality within the country’s agriculture and rural sector, a recently released Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report revealed.

The report, “Country Gender Assessment of the Agriculture and Rural Sector,” examined gender dynamics and issues within Guyana’s agriculture and rural sector, and recommended solutions to address gender inequalities and empower rural women.

“Mainstreaming gender equality is an ongoing endeavour that is among the priority areas for national development. Therefore, the Country Gender Assessment (CGA) serves as a reference to advocate for gender equality and women’s rights in the agriculture and rural sector, as we progress the mandate to leave no one behind,” Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha stated in the report.

The CGA recognised the progress that the country has made in providing access to resources for both men and women, with efforts dating back to the initiation of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1980.

Guyana’s score of 72.8 per cent, ranking 53rd out of 156 countries, in the 2021 Global Gender Gap Index is

reflective of this progress.

However, though the agriculture sector employs most of Guyana’s workforce – some 12.1 per cent of the country’s employed population – it is estimated that men are employed 3.17 times more than women and those women are also more likely to be unpaid workers, according to the CGA.

Land ownership is also recognised to be predominantly male, there is limited participation of women in decision-making roles within the industry as well as gaps in education, access to resources, financial support and in the mechanisms for integrating gender in the institutions responsible for agriculture and rural development, the CGA found.

There are several laws and policies that consider gender discrimination: CEDAW, Article 29, Chapter II of the Constitution which advocates for women’s participation in the various management and decision-making processes and the National Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (NGESI) Policy that provides an overarching framework that considers the reduction of constraints to basic human rights of marginalised groups.

“However, there are gaps in the implementation of policy commitments due to a lack of technical capacity, lack of adequate resources to support work on gender mainstreaming, and weak accountability mechanisms,” the report added.

The CGA offered several

suggestions to address these concerns including conducting an agriculture census to improve systems of data collection pertaining to agriculture and rural development, strengthening the capacity of all relevant Ministries to monitor and report on the impact of their policies and plans in a gender-sensitive manner, and implementing a comprehensive monitoring framework on gender equality and rural women’s empowerment.

“As the lead institution guiding multiple agencies, the Agriculture Ministry should formulate a Gender, Agriculture and Rural Development Policy, Action Plan, or Framework that outlines a local context appropriate approach to gender mainstreaming,” the report added.

“This can be the starting point for agencies to ensure that projects and programmes are gender-responsive with efforts that are geared to close the gender gap in agriculture and

Canje fire was deliberately set – Fire Department

Dear Editor, Polite language is a required element of civilised political discourse. All of us who engage, and are engaged, in the media have a responsibility to uphold a level of decorum. The responsibility is on all of our shoulders.

But what should we do when the most uncouth, divisive, irresponsible and downright dangerous bile is being peddled in defence of a treasonous call for subversion of the state, backed up by racial violence? This question is now apposite because of the recent letters in the press defending Tacuma Ogunseye’s racially-motivated call for subversion of the democratically-elected Government of Guyana, and also for violence against East Indians.

Mr Ogunseye has himself admitted his instigation amounted to treason, and was willing to plead guilty to the same, with explanation. But mindless defenses offered by WPA operatives, and silence by other civil society groups, such as Red Thread and GHRA, have only buoyed this WPA man, who is known for his racial charisma.

rural labour markets, particularly in areas of education, agriculture extension, and financial services.”

The CGA also called for improved access to financial mechanisms for women and other marginalised groups to ensure access to land, equipment and other resources, for students enrolled in technical/vocational and tertiary institutions to receive appropriate gender training and for additional support to be given to ensure that intragovernmental mechanism for

the advancement of gender equality and women’s empowerment in the sector is functional.

“The recommendations will require all stakeholders from the Government, development partners, civil society organisations (CSOs) and the private sector to be involved to achieve inclusive agricultural growth,” the report concluded while adding “This is key to ensuring that men and women can maximise their potential in the sustainable development of Guyana.”

The fire which completely destroyed a four-bedroom two-storey wooden and concrete structure at Adelphi, East Canje, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), on Easter Monday, was deliberately set.

This is according to Divisional Fire Officer

Kerklan Harry. “The fire was maliciously set by a person or persons unknown. I can’t say who lit it. Right now, the matter is in the hands of the Police,” he told the media.

At the time, the lone occupant, 28-year-old Andre Phillips, was not at home. He had reportedly gone to the Reliance Police Station and upon his return, saw his house on fire.

According to Phillips, earlier in the day he had

an altercation with his ex, who threatened to have him locked him up. The salesman also made several reports to the Police about the threats he received.

Police confirmed that Phillips and his ex both visited the Reliance Police Station but the now homeless man was the last to leave.

The couple shared a rocky relationship and decided to go their separate ways earlier this year.

Over this past weekend, the already pathetic defense of Ogunseye’s race-baiting graduated from the unforgivable to utter madness, well within the womb of the lunatic fringe. In this effort, Moses Bhagwan betrayed his claim to reasonableness by characterising the arrest of Ogunseye as “unwarranted and devious”. What should the Police have done instead, Mr Bhagwan? The New York-based WPA activist lamented that the Police should have gone to Ogunseye’s home, but conveniently erased from memory the mayhem that erupt-

ed only recently in Buxton when Police attempted to arrest a suspected drug dealer.

Bhagwan is content to characterise the Police doing their job as ‘terror’, but, in the same breadth, characterises the man whose inflammatory rhetoric amounted to treason (by his own admission) as a freedom fighter. Bhagwan should know two things. Firstly, Ogunseye’s call for subversion of the state would be considered a high crime in any country where the rule of law prevails. Secondly, Mr Bhagwan should know that it is illegal for a United

States citizen to support the overthrow of a democratically elected Government.

It is regrettable that Moses Bhagwan has joined the lunatic fringe. Please understand that I am using the term according to its strict definition; namely, “members of a usually political or social movement espousing extreme, eccentric, or fanatical views.” This is the only characterisation appropriate for Moses Bhagwan’s description of Ogunseye’s arrest as “cruel and unusual punishment.”

Sincerely, Dr Randolph Persaud

02:00h Movie - Like Mike 2: Streetball (2006)

03:30h Movie - Catch That Kid (2004)

05:00h Anthony's Ramadan Special

05:30h TVG's Ramadan Special

06:00h Inspiration Time

06:30h Cartoons

07:00h Evening News (RB)

08:00h Stop Suffering

09:00h Top Chef

10:00h Grand Designs

11:00h Paternity Court

11:30h Divorce Court

12:00h Movie - Tad: The Lost Explorer (2012)

13:30h Wheel of Fortune

14:00h I Didn't Do It S2 E5

14:30h Star Wars: The Clone Wars S2 E22

15:00h Indian Soaps

16:00h Power Rangers: Super Ninja Steel S1 E2

We are now dealing with the WPA's ‘lunatic fringe’

A woman displays her produce

The aftermath of the fire

Divisional Fire Officer

Kerklan Harry

NGSA Math Questions

World Bank must play more "action-oriented" role in food security agenda – Pres Ali

…says shelves of studies exist; Region must move towards implementation

President, there are enough studies already on the table on how to tackle food security in a climate resilient way. President Ali expressed the hope that institutions like the World Bank can move away from its primarily evaluation role.

“One of the policy initiatives that we’re bring on stream is the agri-tech campus. And we’re working with the Bangalore Center in India and they will be transferring their technology, working with us.”

Noting that there are already “shelves of studies” on how to achieve food security in the Caribbean Community (Caricom), President Dr Irfaan Ali has urged more of a focus from multilateral institutions like the World Bank on action and implementing food security strategies.

While participating in a Caribbean Association of the World Bank panel discussion, President Ali spoke of the World Bank’s role in the Region’s food security efforts. Specifically, the Head of State emphasised the importance of the bank playing a more action-oriented role, as opposed to one of studies.

“The adaptation costs for the developing world annually, is estimated at US$150

million to US$300 million. We are not asking you to meet any of the adaptation costs. But if you’re talking about food security in a climate resilient environment, then how is it you’re going to help us to acquire the technology and to modernise the agricultural system to address the very issues that you raised?”

“Labour shortages, climate change, the use of new planting materials. How is it you will help us rebuild a cocoa industry that the Region has the greatest opportunity of being in, an industry that is highly competitive, but one in which we can produce the highest quality of cocoa globally. And we don’t want the world bank to tell us they’re going to do studies.”

According to the

“We have enough literature; we have enough data. The development agencies need to get off of this initial reaction of being study-oriented organisations. We have shelves of studies. Most countries. What we need to do now is move to implementation. That is why we’re taking the bull by the horn.”

Mention was also made by the President of Guyana’s integral role in the development of the regional agritech campus. This project is being developed along with the Bangalore Bioinnovation Center (BBC) in India, which will see technology transfer.

The BBC, according to its website, is a state-ofthe-art translational research and entrepreneurship centre catering to all the needs of start-ups in life science located in the city of Bangalore, India. President Ali noted that the project will see technology and crop variety being developed that are catered for the Caribbean Region.

“And Guyana is going to be putting a lot of financing into this, in developing the regional agro-tech centre, that will be dealing with technology applicable to the Region. Developing varieties applicable to the Region. So, all of this is part of the policy agenda,” President Ali said.

Government’s focus on agriculture is down to the vision of making Guyana the bread basket of the Caribbean and reducing the regional food import bill. Last year, President Dr Irfaan Ali had declared that his Government would be pursuing an aggressive campaign to dismantle regional barriers to agricultural trade and that in the next four years, with the assistance of more diversified crops, Guyana would aim to reduce Caricom’s food import bill by 25 per cent.

It was reported in February that member states of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) have collectively achieved a significant 57 per cent of the target set to realise “Vision 25 by 2025”. This announce-

ment was made during the first Caricom Ministerial Task Force (MTF) on

Food Production and Food Security meeting for 2023. (G3)

The World Bank

President Dr Irfaan Ali during the virtual discussion

Ex-cop slapped with 7 fraud charges

Paul Watson, a 46-year-old ex-Policeman of Zeeburg, West Coast Demerara, is again in hot water, as he was on Tuesday slapped with seven fraud-related charges for which he was granted bail in the sum of $1.3 million.

The father of two appeared before Magistrate Zamilla Ally-Sepaul at the Leonora Magistrate’s Court and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Police have said that between February and November 2019, Watson obtained $2,787,000 from Sharda Bramdeo by falsely pretending that he was a Police officer and was thus in a position to file a Notice of Appeal, knowing same to be false. On the four charges in this regard, he has been granted bail in the sum of $800,000, and the case has been adjourned to May 15.

He appeared before Principal

Magistrate Faith McGusty at the Vreed-en-Hoop Magistrate’s Court to answer three similar charges, to which he pleaded not guilty. There he was granted bail in the sum of $500,000

and ordered to return to court on May 16.

This is not the first time Watson has been charged. Back in 2017 and 2021, he was charged with obtaining money from two men after claiming that he was in a position to get them a firearm licence.

In relation to the 2017 matter, the court was told that, in 2015, Govind Sundar, a businessman, had applied for a firearm licence and later received a call from Watson, who claimed that he was an Inspector and that the Police were investigating Sundar’s background. A few weeks late, Sundar reported, he received another call from Watson, this time telling him that he wanted $300,000 to process the application.

In 2021, Watson also collected $400,000 from the other person to process a firearm licence.

Where’s the... …beef??

Avery popular idiom entered the English language via a very unusual source in the 80s: a competition between the top American Burger chains!! The top dogs were McDonalds (“Home of the Big Mac”) and Burger King (“Home of the Whopper”). The new kid on the block, Wendy’s, broke into their monopoly by an ad that mocked their claims: A bunch of nice old ladies are trying out a burger, and lift the top of a giant bun to examine the exaggeratedly small beef patty. “Where’s the beef?” they complain plaintively!!

The restaurant was derisively dubbed “Home of the Big Bun”!! It hit a chord in the national consciousness! Folks understood all too well the cynicism in hyping the hype!! In the 1984 Presidential primaries, the Democratic leading candidate stopped the surge of his rival – who’d based his campaign on “new ideas” – dead in its tracks when, on national TV, he asked “Ok…Ok…but where’s the beef?!” And that’s what your Eyewitness would like to ask the various and sundry candidates duking it out in the Opposition camp to become the Top Gun!! If they feel Norton ain’t good enough to carry the PNC’s spear in the upcoming 2025 elections, they can’t be all BUN and no beef!!

Ironically, Norton himself has proven to be seriously deficient in the meat department – even though he’s been in the political arena long enough to know the PNC base can’t live on BUN alone!!

In the meantime, the PPP have been targeting the PNC base with chunks of beef on their shoulders!! No need for the question to be even RAISED with them!! The bottom line in politics is that folks are concerned about getting their needs satisfied. And while, in our ethnically-polarised politics, one of those needs is to be represented by folks looking like themselves; in real life, that’s the bun!! It’s necessary, but not sufficient!! The “beef” is to put food on the table, clothes on people’s backs, and roofs over people’s heads!! Hadn’t the Founder Leader promised to “Feed, clothe and house” the nation??

So, if the PNC are gonna replace the PPP in 2025, they gotta show they’d be able to do a better job than the PPP are doing right now!! It’s all well and good to be criticising the Government for being “biased” and all that. But calling for the army to back a coup against an “emerging apartheid regime”?? Jeez, even the fella over on Monkey Mountain’s gonna be asking whether the international community –who certified them – is gonna go along with that!! It’s not like back in the day, when the PPP cussed out the “capitalist running dogs” at the drop of a hat!!

Heck!! Right now the PPP’s outrunning them!!!

…Greenbacks??

And here your Eyewitness thought that, since every official in the land – from the President down to the office help! – weighed in when the first complaints of foreign currency shortages were raised a few months ago, that matter was now behind us!! Even the fella who should know about these things – the Bank of Guyana Governor – had assured us that the system as a whole had enough greenbacks to cover our needs. One suggestion was that the Cambios were being used to funnel foreign currency into T&T – where there’s an endemic shortage. The Cambios were told they had to report their transactions DAILY.

But here we’re being told by the former head of the GCCI that the shortage is still there – for some businesses! So has the Cambio “T&T leak” Theory been debunked?? We gotta know – and quick. Now that we’re playing in the big leagues, we gotta realise this is hardball rather than bumper ball!!

We gotta have the capital markets – or capital controls!

…checkmate??

It’s been reported that a UG academic recommended: “Guyana would be better off providing an oil block to Brazil, rather than making good on promises to India and the United Kingdom (UK)”. So, we’re to hedge our US bets with Brazil’s involvement??

Ex-cop Paul Watson

US firm clears prominent businessman, family of damning allegations

Following almost a year of investigations, the Berkeley Research Group (BGR Group), which operates out of Washington DC, has cleared popular businessman Nazar "Shell" Mohamed and his family of damning allegations levelled against them.

The Mohameds have, in the past, been accused of engaging in money-laundering, gold-smuggling, murder, extortion, drug-trading and gunrunning, among other serious crimes. These claims have sullied the reputation of businessman Nazar Mohamed, and prevented him and his family from securing US visas.

But BGR Investigator Tom Locke, a global security expert, who retired as acting Assistant Director of the FBI’s Inspection Division on Tuesday, spoke with Guyana Times in a major tell-all of the probe and has declared as unsubstantiated the allegations made against one of Guyana’s leading business moguls.

He said he found that Mohamed was never investigated in connection with any crime, nor had he been arrested or charged with a violation of any sort.

In addition, Locke has been adamant that Mohamed’s businesses must pass certain financial and security checks, which should give credence to his business dealings as being ‘above board’. As such, he cited that the Mohameds have stringent written guidelines they must abide by to do business with companies such as ExxonMobil, Haliburton, Champion X, Stena Drilling, Peterson Energy Logistics, Aronco, and Baker Hughes.

“What I have found is that they are all allegations, and once you look behind the allegations, there is nothing to substantiate any of the allegations. It is amazing that this man, who has done so

much for Guyana and the local community, is being subjected to those types of remarks,” Locke declared.

He added that, based on his background and the investigations that he has done over the years, if he had one suspicion about Mohamed, he would not have agreed to take the job.

“In my mind, these allegations are all false, and were made by either his competitors or someone who seeks to get a disadvantage of Mr Mohamed and the business world; but if you look at Mr. Mohamed, he is quite successful on his own,” Locke has said.

He noted that, during the investigation, he reached out to a lot of people, not only from the US Government, but also from other foreign Governments who have done business with Mohamed over the years.

“I have also met with his business associates, all of his family, some of his friends… I have looked at the international database and everything that talked about the adverse media… I got hold of a lot of Police reports, and

there was no corruption and no attempt to cover up anything,” Locke has revealed.

Further, he noted that officials of the BGR Group were very interested in speaking with US officials to make sure they get the accurate understanding that the allegations are false.

“We have already advised them of our investigation; advised of some of our findings and so forth; so, we are very much hopeful that Mr. Mohamed gets a visa to visit the United States, so he can continue his business operations,” Locke has said.

He added that Mohamed had travelled to the US for forty years, and there is no indication of a problem, since he has never overstayed his visa and has always abided by all the rules

and regulations.

Locke stated that during his investigations, he had little interaction with Mohamed, and pointed out that his report was in no way influenced by the businessman.

“He gave me the full latitude to look any place I wanted to, to talk to whomever I wanted to, and there wasn’t any suggestion by him to influence those investigations in any way,” Locke revealed.

He reiterated that if one were to look at his background, they would find he has never been intimidated or influenced by anyone, and he noted that he is very confident in his ability to investigate, and would never do anything to the persons who can vow for his background and the company with which he is presently employed.

Locke has 32 years of experience working with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). His last posting was as Acting Assistant Director of the FBI’s Inspection Division in Washington DC. He also investigated the bombing of the World Trade Center in 2001, among other global events.

In fact, it was Locke who requested to present some of his team’s findings to the Guyanese media, and let them know there have been some stories over the years that contained some of the allegations which had to be cleared up. One allegation against the prominent businessman was made back in September 2020, when he

was accused of buying illegal gold from Venezuela; but this was never proven to be true.

Then, after the gunning down of Ricardo “Paper Shorts” Fagundes in 2021, ex-Police Sergeant Dion Bascom accused the businessman and his son of paying a large bribe to cover up the investigations. But the Regional Security System (RSS), after their investigations, found there was no evidence of corrupt practices or attempts to cover up the probe into the murder of Ricardo Fagundes.

Bascom was arrested at a location where illegal drugs were found during a Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit operation, after which he made two live streams wherein he made further allegations and personal de-

mands.

This veracity of the allegations was further undermined by the fact that Bascom was found to be living in a rented and furnished property in Essequibo belonging to an Essequibo businessman and gold trader. More so, he was employed as a personal security officer for the said Essequibo businessman.

Meanwhile, Locke has commended the Mohameds for their kindness and acts of charity. For the past 20 years, the senior businessman has been involved in philanthropic work, and has assisted thousands of Guyanese from all walks of life. He would often report that only five per cent of his charitable work is being publicised.

Former FBI and CIA Investigator Tom Locke

Businessman Nazar "Shell" Mohamed

Guyana’s oil production to be boosted as Prosperity FPSO arrives

…vessel to push daily production to 600,000 bpd by 2024

Production of oil offshore Guyana will soon be almost doubled as the Prosperity floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel that will service Guyana’s third oil development, Payara, has arrived in the country’s waters.

The arrival of the Prosperity FPSO was announced by ExxonMobil local subsidiary Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) on Tuesday. The vessel will be used in the Payara development, which is slated to begin production later this year. According to EEPGL Production Manager Mike Ryan, the arrival of this vessel is a testament to the strong partnership between the company, the Government of Guyana, its co-venturers in the Stabroek Block and the many suppliers that support its operations.

“The arrival of the Prosperity FPSO is a testament to the strong partnership between ExxonMobil Guyana, the Government of Guyana, our co-venturers and the many suppliers that

support our operations. We are excited to contribute to Guyana’s energy future and create lasting opportunities for the nation’s growth and prosperity,” Ryan said.

Constructed by SBM Offshore, the Prosperity FPSO will develop the Payara field in the offshore Stabroek Block. It has an initial production capacity of around 220,000 barrels of oil per day and an overall storage volume of two million barrels.

The Prosperity FPSO joins the Liza Destiny and Liza Unity FPSOs, which are currently producing more than 380,000 barrels per day. Production from the Prosperity vessel is expected to push daily production to some 600,000 barrels a day in 2024. ExxonMobil said installation campaigns are ongoing and development drilling is underway to support Prosperity’s start-up later this year.

Guyana, with US oil giant ExxonMobil as the operator, began producing oil on December 20, 2019, in the Stabroek Block. Guyana’s oil revenues are being held in the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) at the New

York Federal Reserve Bank, where it is earning interest.

The oil rich Stabroek Block, which is producing the oil, is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometres). Exxon, through its local subsidiary Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), is the operator and holds 45 per cent interest in the Block.

Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd holds 30 per cent interest, and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited, a whol-

ly-owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited, holds the remaining 25 per cent interest.

Since last year, Guyana has been recording weekly lifts in the Stabroek Block, with oil production now at 340,000 barrels per day from the Liza Destiny and Liza Unity FPSO vessels. With EEPGL making weekly lifts, Guyana’s crude entitlement of one million barrels occurs monthly from the two FPSOs.

ExxonMobil has said it anticipates at least six projects offshore Guyana will be online by 2027. Production has already started in the second phase, with the Liza Unity FPSO vessel in operation.

The third project – the Payara development – will target an estimated resource base of about 600 million oil-equivalent barrels, and was at one point considered to be the largest single planned investment in the

history of Guyana.

Meanwhile, the Yellowtail development, which will be oil giant ExxonMobil’s fourth development in Guyana’s waters, will turn out to be the single largest development so far in terms of barrels per day of oil, with a mammoth 250,000 bpd targeted. The Uaru oil development, which will be the fifth one for the company offshore Guyana, is targeting between 38 and 63 development wells, including production, water injection, and gas re-injection wells. Exxon had previously also made known that they anticipate first oil from the Uaru development by late 2026 or early 2027.

ExxonMobil has meanwhile been seeking approval from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for 35 exploration/appraisal wells in the Stabroek Block. The Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) of these wells was done by ERM Guyana, which conducts environmental, health, safety and risk assessments. It had said that no major environmental impacts would result from the project. (G3)

The Prosperity FPSO now in Guyana

US$721M projected to be earned from local content in 2023

The Local Content Secretariat has projected increased earnings this year, with a US$721 million expected to be raked in from the 40 carved out areas. This revelation was made recently by Director of the Secretariat, Martin Pertab. However, with 20 to 25 areas added, it could push this number to US$1 billion. Last year, US$700 million was earned by Local Content.

The first schedule to the Local Content Act sets out the minimum threshold and level for local content levels in relation to the procurement of goods and services. There are 40 areas, with local participation up to 100.

“Hypothetically speaking, if we do decide to consider the 20 to 25 areas, we will be looking at almost US$1 billion in business,” he contended.

In job creation, some 818

new opportunities will manifest for plant and machine operators, engineers, accountants, chemists, inspectors, doctors, and associate professionals – field technicians, laboratory technicians, and tax analysts.

“Key on our agenda would be building local capacity. We have heard many cases where especially small and medium sized businesses tend to have a deficit in capacity to provide certain services. That would have stemmed from the position of them being small and in order to provide the services, you need to have the necessary experience. And the law is pretty clear on how do we build local capacity,” Pertab identified.

One of the most difficult challenges, the Director positioned, was getting small and medium enterprises to provide services since larger companies possess greater capital and experience to

deliver.

“The small always seem to slip through the cracks. We intend this year to have open dialogue with the private sector and various stakeholders on how do we ensure that the small and medium sized companies get a share of the pie. That will

be captured in the regulation we intend to strategise on the way forward.”

An example is in logistic services, wherein despite many small companies operating in the market, larger enterprises with experience are generally favoured.

The Director explained,

“Though we have small custom brokerage companies providing those services, it is kind of almost impossible for them to get in. once you issue to both the large and small companies, you’re basically putting them on the same playing field. It’s kind of unfair for the small ones to get in.”

Nevertheless, it was highlighted that while over 700 companies have been included in the Local Content Register, a lot of work has to be done now to sort them accordingly. Employment and procurement opportunities are also available on the portal.

Contract bundling, an issue that was rampant in 2022, was also addressed by the Director. Bundling has restricted opportunities to stakeholders who provide multiple services.

“Our position on that is if it continues, we simply wouldn’t recognise that in

our measurement of local content, which companies do have an obligation to ensure that at the end of the year, they reach the respective targets and if those expenditure aren’t considered for local content, then by virtue of that, they wouldn’t be able to meet most of those targets,” he emphasised.

Just a few days ago, former President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Timothy Tucker applauded the rate at which Guyanese have expanded the services they can provide to oil and gas companies, stepping out from the previous 40 areas of opportunities for local content and building capacity along the way. As a matter of fact, Tucker noted that this expansion would not have been possible without local content – which itself would not have been possible without the Local Content Act of 2021. (G12)

Local Content Secretariat Director Martin Pertab

Houston Secondary School broken into, vandalised

The Houston Secondary School has reportedly been broken into and vandalised between Monday evening and Tuesday morning, and the staff have been left concerned about their safety.

According to reports received, the cupboards in the school were defaced, and several pieces of equipment were destroyed. Guyana Times was informed that while the school was broken into, nothing of value was missing, thus leaving questions as to who committed the act.

The discovery was made on Tuesday morning when teachers turned up to prepare their class records for the new term. As such, Police were immediately summoned to the institution.

This is the second school break-in to have occurred

in two weeks. Last month, the Kingston Secondary School was also vandalised. A teacher related that that school was ransacked while they were away, just like what obtained at Houston Secondary School, but nothing was missing from the Kingston Secondary.

In response to these incidents, teachers have expressed on social media

concerns about the security system at schools. One teacher said schools are often left unprotected because there are not enough security officers to protect them.

“Some of these security officers have to work double shifts just to protect the school, and when they can’t make the double shift and there is no one to release

them, they would leave, and the schools are left unprotected,” the teacher said.

Another teacher added, “We don’t even know if these security officers are undergoing proper training. They are just there, and in case of an emergency, can they do anything?”

It’s not the first time that teachers and others have raised concerns about

security in schools. Last month, a gang of teenagers armed with scissors, wood, and a knife stormed into Harmony Secondary School located in Wismar, Linden, and attacked a student and teachers.

According to reports, the teenagers went specifically to attack a student who was unable to identify another student involved in

a fight with one of the alleged gang members. Since then, parents and teachers have been calling for more able-bodied security guards to be stationed in schools around Guyana.

“I believe that all schools need proper security. We need people who are able and capable, trained, and can defend,” one parent noted.

The Houston Secondary School was broken into

Single-Window System consultations

NDCs in Reg 6 building capacity in IT, request for acceptance of paper-based applications

As local government and representatives of regional bodies within Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) gathered on Tuesday to participate in the consultation on the Single-Window Planning and Development System, a number of issues were raised to be addressed before the mechanism is finalised.

These issues include the need for paper-based applications to be accepted, even as Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) build capacity to become fully operational with the requisite IT solution.

The consultation was facilitated by the lead consultant for the Project, Fareed Amin; the Business Analyst,

Kevin Sukhdeo, and other officials of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA). Key to making the system efficient, Amin noted, is the strengthening of capacity within the various local authorities.

These engagements are geared at ensuring that local authorities are equipped and ready to play their role in making the Single-Window

Planning and Development System effective.

The Single-Window process is a move by the Government to integrate agencies’ approach to services, efficiency, and to significantly reduce the processing time for planning and building permission.

With works ongoing on the Information Technology (IT) Solution and the Single

Window Bill passed in the National Assembly, the system is expected to go live on July 1 of this year. The legislative framework now paves the way for, among other things, standardised application forms and checklists, as well as minimising the time for completing a transaction.

Further, the electrical portal will enable inves-

tors to submit planning and building permits and check the status from anywhere around the globe, as this new mechanism forms part of the Government’s attempt to increase the ease of doing business and foster a business-friendly environment.

Over the next few days, a number of other regulatory agencies, and Government and private sector bodies will be engaged in another round of consultation.

In December 2022, a $202 million contract was signed with Global Services – a Guyanese-led consortium with global experience – to make the issuance of planning and building permits hassle-free. The company was tasked with providing a server and network

infrastructure; security solutions; and hardware and software maintenance and repairs.

The Single-Window System will feature five key elements including one-window access to allow the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) to be the point of entry for planning and building applications; as well as a dashboard to show the status of individual applications and generate progress reports, which can also be accessed by applicants.

Another feature of the system is a time-bound element by which the relevant agencies will have to respond to applications otherwise they will automatically be considered approved.

Regional stakeholders involved in the consultative process on Tuesday

Literacy programme strengthened to ensure every child can read – MoE

In identifying the prevalence of children in the school system who cannot read, the Education Ministry is tackling this challenge by strengthening its literacy programme across the country.

The National Literacy Department of that Ministry on Tuesday opened a threeday Literacy Training workshop for District Education Officers (DEOs) who have responsibility for Primary education in the eleven education districts.

Assistant Chief Education Officer with responsibility for Literacy, Samantha Williams, said the three-day session would encompass the sharing of practices and knowledge to improve literacy across Guyana. Williams noted that while some students may have difficulty reading, the situation is not impossible to overcome.

“It takes each and every one of us to make a difference,” she noted.

Williams called on the

DEOs to become leaders, not only to chart the way forward in their respective districts, but also to get involved in the day-to-day processes. She urged them to support teachers on this journey to ultimately make every child a reader across Guyana.

Over the three days, the officers will be exposed to the major and critical elements of the Literacy programme, so that they can have a deeper understanding.

Meanwhile, Chief

Education Officer Saddam Hussain underscored that the Ministry intends to have a literacy point person in every school. Work is ongoing to have every teacher trained in literacy, so that they can build on current lessons in the classroom.

A programme to be rolled out in the primary schools will focus specifically on children who cannot read. He urged the officers to take advantage of the training sessions, so that they can go back to their districts and begin to transform the lives of children.

Assistant Chief Education Officer (Primary), Rabindra Singh, advised the Officers to guide teachers and headteachers and help them to execute their duties. He said that this can only be done with dedication and commitment.

“There is no other good way to start than to empower Education Officers with the knowledge and skills,” he remarked.

Additionally, Deputy Chief Education Officer (Development), Volika Jaikishun, admitted that there will be certain ele-

ments of literacy that will be new in order to address the current issue. She said the education system can only move forward in the right direction when people are equipped with the right knowledge and skills. She also encouraged the Officers to help schools to establish strong parental partnerships, as parents are very important stakeholders in this process.

At the last National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA), English saw a dip in overall performance at 64.8 per cent.

Stakeholders involved in the training session by the Education Ministry

5 in custody for murder of Anna Catherina fisherman

Police have confirmed that five persons have been taken into custody for the murder of 26-year-old Munaf Azeez, a fisherman of Sea View, Anna Catherina, West Coast Demerara, who was stabbed to death on Monday, April 11.

In an initial report, the authorities said they were alerted to the crime at around 8:00h on Monday, and their swift response led to the capture of the suspects.

It was reported that the men had accused Azeez of chopping up their fishing net, and this led to a heated argument. In the blink of an eye, one of the men pulled out a sharp blade and plunged it deep into Azeez’s chest, leaving him gasping for air as he fell to the ground.

The attackers scattered in different directions, but their fate was already sealed. The local Police, pa-

Ramsammy’s Ruminations

trolling the area, caught one of the suspects as he attempted to flee the scene in his car. This led to the apprehension of the others.

The young victim’s family was also alerted, and they rushed to the scene to pick him up. However, it was too late, and Azeez was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital. The body bore the telltale signs of a violent struggle, with a deep wound to the chest and two small cuts to his arm. His body was taken to the Ezekiel Funeral Home to await a post-mortem. Irate residents reportedly took matters into their own hands and set alight the suspect’s car, which was subsequently thrown into a nearby gutter.

Police are continuing their investigations.

Duo slapped with narcotics-possession charges

has been slapped with a 12-month suspended sentence for the possession of narcotics and possession of smoking utensils.

Domingo appeared on Tuesday before Magistrate Crystal Lambert at the Anna Regina Magistrate’s Court and pleaded guilty to both charges. He was fined $30,000 for possession of narcotics and $30,000 for being in possession of smoking utensils. In addition to the fines, he was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, on suspension for two years.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident, Shawn English, a 52-year-old vendor of Lot 410 Charity Housing Scheme, Essequibo Coast, was also charged with narcotics’ possession. English was arrested on Monday with 4.4 grams of cannabis in his possession.

He appeared before Magistrate Crystal Lambert and pleaded guilty to

An open challenge to Burke, Hinds and Ogunseye not to ‘chicken’

out” of LGE 2023

The Leader of the Opposition and senior functionaries of the Opposition were mostly absent during the Easter Holiday weekend. The Leader of the Opposition was invited to be present and speak at the Bartica Regatta. He barely showed up, and walked away without speaking. He was brutally ignored by his own supporters. He walked away in total humiliation.

The stark reality is that, if the political parties other than the PNC compete in LGE 2023, the PPP would win more votes in any of the communities than all those parties combined. Still, it is irresponsible for political parties - who make claims that they represent people’s interest in our country - not to participate in LGE 2023 on June 12, 2023.

The PPP appears fully prepared for the elections, contesting for all available seats in LGE 2023. The PNC are having difficulty in finding candidates. At a time when they need all hands on deck, they tried barring their Chairperson from Congress Place. The WPA, ANUG, TCM, the AFC have “chickened” out of LGE 2023.

The ANUG Chair has announced he would contest an LGE seat as an independent candidate. ANUG and TCM admitted they are unable to contest in a meaningful way.

The AFC claimed the Voters’ List is a bogus list, even though it is the same list that they contested with in 2015 and 2020, and which they claimed were clean and high-quality, until they lost the 2020 elections. To this day, they cannot object legally to any name on the list, but continue to claim that the list is full of dead peoplethe excuse why they will not contest the LGE 2023. The truth is that the AFC cannot meaningfully put together a list of candidates for LGE 2023.

The WPA claim the PPP discriminate against Afro-Guyanese, and they will use June 12 as a Day of Resistance. If the PPP discriminate, that should make it easy for the WPA to mobilise Afro-Guyanese to come out and vote against the PPP in those communities where AfroGuyanese voters dominate. The reality is that the WPA are unable to mobilise even a handful of persons to even put together a candidate list for any community in this country.

The indisputable truth is the PPP speak for more people in any community, regardless of ethnic make-up, than the WPA can dream of at this time. All the people who support the WPA today in Guyana cannot fill a mini-bus. The present WPA leaders have brought shame on the name of Walter Rodney.

the charges. He was fined $30,000 and ordered to perform 40 hours of community service at the Charity Police Station on the Essequibo Coast.

Act swiftly to fix huge hole on SheriffMandela Road – Ministry to GTT

The Public Works Ministry on Tuesday called on telecommunications giant, the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company, to act swiftly and fix a hole on the SheriffMandela Road, which has posed a hazard to vehicles traversing.

The Ministry was responding to a newspaper report, which stated that there was damage to a section of the Sheriff- Mandela Road, in the vicinity of Duncan Street.

However, the statement contended, “The alleged damage in the form of a “huge hole” is the cover of a metal chamber used by GTT, to access its utility corridor (telecommunication cables) underground along both Sheriff Street and Mandela Avenue. These facilities are operated and maintained by GTT Inc, and not the Ministry of Public Works.”

The Ministry added that several reports on this mat-

ter have been made to the company by staffers, from the time the matter was observed.

It added, “However, out of concern for citizens’ safety, the Minister of Public Works, Bishop Juan Edghill, has instructed the area to be cordoned off with reflective cones, to ensure

drivers can see it from a distance, day and night until GTT corrects this issue. Further, the Ministry is urging GTT to address this matter urgently and expeditiously, as the safety of road users is of paramount importance.”

The Sheriff-Mandela Road has seen improvement

in recent years, a project which involved the relocation of utilities; the installation of lane and shoulder improvements; placement of sidewalks and paved shoulders; traffic signals, traffic signs, streetlights, drainage; a pedestrian overhead walkway; culverts, bridges, and a roundabout. (G12)

Easter 2023 saw Guyanese getting together and celebrating in harmony as ONE GUYANA. Many said the traditional Rupununi Rodeo was the biggest ever. The traditional Bartica Regatta 2023 version has begun a kind of transformation that is establishing the regatta as more than an Easter event. The Easter Monday Picnic and Kite-Flying extravaganza was extraordinary in 2023. The engagement of the President and the Cabinet in both the religious and celebratory events between Good Friday and Easter Monday added to the new Irfaan Ali-inspired governance that has become very visible –Government on the ground, interacting and engaging the Guyanese people everywhere.

The vast majority of Guyanese have opted to move forward, ensuring our country is no longer impeded in its transformation by naysayers and bitter people. But a small group of gripers continue to sow disharmony, to find every fault they can imagine or perceive. One curious thing about this small band of naysayers is that they all claim to speak for large sections of the Guyanese people. A few of them have not even been living in Guyana for a significant period of time. Take, for instance, the trio of Rickford Burke, David Hinds and Tacuma Ogunseye. These bitter old men claim they speak on behalf of the Afro-Guyanese people. Burke is a member of the PNC; Ogunseye and Hinds are from the WPA. Other than people like Hinds and Ogunseye, who also claim they are leaders of the WPA, the WPA cannot register any kind of small gathering of WPA members, because, for all intents and purposes, the WPA is an extinct party.

Burke, Hinds and Ogunseye, among others, habitually arrogate to themselves the authority to speak for Afro-Guyanese. They do not even pretend to hide their racist agenda. Ogunseye has even come out and openly demanded that Afro-Guyanese Police and soldiers turn their weapons on Indo-Guyanese, and has repeatedly insisted he has no apologies. Hinds has defended him. Every day, these bitter men find some lonely fora to fulminate their hate. They clearly are out of step with the vast majority of Guyanese people, who have left such fossilised political foolishness behind them.

Burke and Hinds, this past week, attacked Kit Nascimento who, like the majority of Guyanese, was offended and horrified by the open racist call for violence in the name of the WPA, which emanated from the mouth of Ogunseye. In response, Burke and Hinds brutally attacked Nascimento, who responded and challenged them to contest elections to establish their bona fides as spokespersons for the Afro-Guyanese people. We should all demand that Ogunseye, Hinds and Burke come register for LGE, and contest the LGE.

This is an open call to Burke, Hinds and Ogunseye to prove they speak for anyone but their bitter selves. They can choose a community and prove they speak for more people than the PPP does in that community. These men must not “chicken” out of LGE.

Dr Leslie Ramsammy

Thirty-seven-year-old Michael Domingo, a fisherman of Sans Souci, Wakenaam, Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara)

The hole which has been cordoned off with cones to alert drivers

Dead: Munaf Azeez

Fined: Michael Domingo

Shawn English

Oil rises about 2% with US and China inflation in focus

Oil prices rose about 2% on Tuesday on hopes that the Federal Reserve might ease up on its policy tightening after a key US inflation report this week, though concerns remain over Chinese demand.

Brent crude futures settled up US$1.43, or 1.7%, to US$85.61 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate futures rose US$1.79, or 2.2%, to US$81.53 a barrel.

Investors were more optimistic that the US Federal Reserve is getting closer to ending its cycle of interest rate hikes, making dollar-priced oil cheaper for buyers holding other currencies.

The prospect of the Fed raising its benchmark interest rate only once more and in a 25-basis point increment is a useful starting point but the central bank’s policy path will depend on incoming data, New York Fed President John Williams said on Tuesday. read more

A US inflation report to be released today is expected to help investors gauge the near-term trajectory for interest rates.

“The short-term crude demand outlook will soon be clearer. This week we will find out if the US economy is taking steps into the recession pool or if it is going to do a cannonball into it,” said Edward Moya, senior analyst at OANDA.

Data from China, however, showed consumer inflation in March rose at its slowest pace since September 2021, suggesting demand weakness persists in an uneven economic recovery.

“China’s March CPI is lower than expected, which may promote the Chinese Government to further stimulate the economy,” said Tina Teng, an analyst at CMC Markets.

Oil futures have climbed around 7% since the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia surprised the market last week with further cuts to production targets from May.

OPEC output will fall by 500,000 bpd in 2023, then rise by 1 million bpd in 2024, after the group’s output agreement expires, the Energy Information Administration forecast on Tuesday.

Total non-OPEC liquid fuels production is expected to grow by 1.9 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2023 and by 1 million bpd in 2024, the EIA said.

In France, the restart of the last of the four domestic refineries shuttered by a month-long strike signalled a likely boost to demand for oil.

On the US supply front, industry data on US crude stockpiles was due on Tuesday. The average estimate from five analysts polled by Reuters was that crude inventories fell by about 1.3 million barrels in the week to April 7. (Reuters)

At least 40 killed in Myanmar military air attacks

Myanmar’s military has launched air attacks on a central town known to be a bastion of opposition to the coup carried out two years ago.

Witnesses and local media said dozens of people were killed and wounded in the attack on Tuesday – one of the worst since the military seized control of the country.

Citing residents in the Sagaing area – about 110km (45 miles) west of the main city Yangon – news reports said at least 50 people, including children, died in the barrage on the town of Pazigyi.

The air raids occurred as residents gathered for the inauguration of an administrative office, Al Jazeera’s Tony Cheng reported from Thailand’s capital Bangkok.

“At 7:35am the crowd was attacked by jets and those were followed by Mi-35 helicopters,” said Cheng, citing one rescuer at the scene.

“He confirmed 40 dead

Around the World

Ukraine cities pounded, US scrambles to find source of leaked documents

Russian forces pounded frontline cities in eastern Ukraine with air strikes and artillery attacks, while US officials stepped up efforts to locate the source of a leak of classified US documents, including those on Ukrainian counter-offensive plans.

The Russians pressed on with their offensive in the eastern Donetsk region where several cities and towns came under heavy bombardment, Ukraine’s general staff said on Tuesday.

Ukrainian forces repelled several attacks, it said, as the Russian military kept up its effort to take control of Bakhmut.

A top Ukrainian commander accused Moscow of using “scorched earth” tactics.

“The enemy switched to so-called scorched earth tactics from Syria. It is destroying buildings and positions with air strikes and artillery fire,” Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, com-

mander of Ukraine’s ground forces, said of Bakhmut.

The battle for the small and now largely ruined city on the edge of a chunk of Russian-controlled territory in Donetsk has been the bloodiest of the 13-month war as Moscow tries to inject momentum into its campaign after recent setbacks.

Both sides have suffered heavy casualties in the Bakhmut fighting, but Syrskyi said: “The situation is difficult but controllable.”

Fears of "unparalleled" disruption as UK junior doctors strike

The head of the Moscowcontrolled part of Donetsk,

Denis Pushilin, said Russian forces now held 75% of the city, though he cautioned it was too early to talk about Bakhmut’s fall.

Moscow’s military was also targeting the city of Avdiivka.

“The Russians have turned Avdiivka into a total ruin,” said Pavlo Kyrylenko, Donetsk’s regional governor, describing an air strike on Monday that destroyed a multi-storey building.

“In total, around 1800 people remain in Avdiivka, all of whom risk their lives every day.” (Excerpt from Reuters)

Missing key to cell sealed fate of migrants in Mexico fire, President says

The 40 migrants who died in a fire at a detention center in Mexico last month were unable to escape because the person with the key to their locked cell was absent, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday.

Mexican authorities have said the blaze began when one or more migrants lit alight their mattresses in protest at their imminent deportation, but have provided few other details about how the March 27 incident claimed so many lives, becoming one of Mexico's deadliest migrant tragedies.

In an interview with Reuters last month, a security guard at the centre said the migration officer supervising the men's unit where the fire began had left the building shortly before the incident.

Lopez Obrador's com-

ments appeared to match that account.

"The door was locked, because the person with the key wasn't there," Lopez Obrador told a regular news conference.

He did not detail the person's job post or identity, but said he hoped the Attorney General's office would conclude its investigation quickly to identify those responsible.

Five people so far have been arrested, including private security personnel and agents from Mexico's National Migration Institute, and another arrest warrant is still pending.

The Migration Institute has not commented on the investigation or arrests. Hearses carrying the bodies of victims from Guatemala and Honduras were taken to the Ciudad Juarez airport to be repatriated on Tuesday. (Reuters)

but he suspects the death toll will rise considerably – the carnage there was terrible. All the reports we’re seeing is that these were civilians, and far from being a legitimate military target.”

No immediate response from Myanmar’s military rulers was available.

Three first responders were killed in the second attack while rescue work was being carried out, Cheng reported.

Sagaing region – near the second-largest city Mandalay – has put up some of the fiercest resistance to the military’s rule with intense fighting raging there for months.

Graphic video circulating on social media purportedly of the attack show bodies scattered among the ruins of homes. “We are going to rescue you if we hear you screaming,” one person could be heard saying in one video. “Please scream!” (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Junior doctors across England have launched a four-day strike over pay that is likely to cause unprecedented disruption to the health service, leaving up to a quarter of a million appointments postponed.

Doctors mounted picket lines outside hospitals from 7am on Tuesday to run until Saturday morning in the longest stoppage of the wave of unrest, which has seen nurses, ambulance crews and other health workers take action since last year.

Tens of thousands of junior doctors – qualified physicians who make up nearly half of the medical workforce – are striking for pay rises better aligned with inflation, in the latest disruption to affect the State-funded National Health Service (NHS).

The British Medical Association (BMA), the union representing doctors, wants a 35 per cent rise, arguing that members have suffered a 26 per cent real-terms cut in pay over 15 years.

Aislinn Macklin Doherty,

a junior doctor in the UK, told Al Jazeera that due to the Government’s spending choices, the country’s healthcare is like a sinking ship.

Tuesday’s walkout followed a three-day doctors’ strike last month.

“This next round of strikes will see unparalleled levels of disruption, and we are very concerned about the potential severity of impact on patients and services across the country,” NHS England National Medical Director Stephen Powis said.

He said there will be “considerably more” cancellations in operations and procedures this time than the 175,000 that were rescheduled during the previous walkout, but added the NHS was working to ensure emergency services are kept intact.

Bottom of Form

The BMA has said the strikes by junior doctors, some of whom are very experienced, could be stopped if Health Secretary Steve Barclay put a credible pay offer forward. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Cuba lifts ban on cash deposits in US dollars at banks

Banks in Cuba will again accept cash deposits in US dollars after a ban prohibiting the practice was surprisingly lifted on Monday.

Cubans had been unable to deposit dollars in cash into their accounts at banks and other financial institutions for almost two years.

The Cuban Government brought in the ban in 2021 citing "continuing difficulties caused by the ongoing US embargo".

The move comes among the worst economic crisis to hit Cuba in decades.

Cubans are facing shortages of food, medicines and petrol which have led to long queues forming at shops and petrol stations.

The resolution by the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC) was published in Cuba's Official Gazette on Monday and is effective immediately.

It does not mention Cuba's current economic problems, but rather cites the recent increase in tourism and the "gradual recovery of the service industry

and the productive sector" as the reasons behind the lifting of the ban.

The resolution also stated that the "economic pressure" from the United States, which it said led to the ban in the first place, remained in place and that therefore "the root of the problem" had not been solved.

Cuba has been under US sanctions for more than six decades, but the economic restrictions placed on it were further tightened under the Trump Administration.

Under the sanctions, it became increasingly difficult for Cuba's Central Bank to find international banks willing to receive dollars in cash from the Communist-run island.

While the Trump-era sanctions have so far remained in place under President Joe Biden, Cuban and US officials have been holding meetings to discuss another matter affecting them both: the large number of Cubans trying to migrate to the US.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

A Ukrainian service member is seen in a trench at a position on a front line near the city of Bakhmut, Ukraine, April 10, 2023

Junior doctors hold placards during a strike outside St Thomas’ Hospital in London on April 11, 2023 [Maja Smiejkowska/Reuters]

DAILY HOROSCOPES

Take a moment to dismiss emotional angst. You are better off channeling your energy into something constructive if you intend to avoid disagreements with someone who matters to you.

(March 21-April 19)

A curious mind will be an asset today. An innovative idea will encourage you to take on an important cause. Bide your time, ask for help and protect yourself from burnout.

(April 20-May 20)

Observe what’s going on around you and how others respond to you. How you handle financial matters will change the game moving forward. Proceed with caution.

(May 21-June 20)

PEANUTS

(June 21-July 22)

Speed things up regarding partnerships. The sooner you make a connection, the more you’ll accomplish. Share your thoughts and opinions, and change will follow. Hard work will pay off.

Shift your focus to what’s possible and dismiss the rest. Distance yourself from users and those who disregard your right to be yourself. Be ruthlessly practical.

(July 23-Aug. 22)

CALVIN AND HOBBES

(Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

A change is favored. A change will mark the beginning of something new and exciting. Decreasing your overhead expenses will ease stress. Be prepared to make the first move.

Pamper yourself. Taking a day trip or an educational course or spending time with a loved one will prove beneficial. Put your energy where it counts and take responsibility for your happiness.

(Sept. 23-Oct. 23)

Let your intuition guide you when dealing with others. Asking questions will help you make an important decision. Don’t be afraid to trust your gut if all else is in doubt.

(Oct. 24-Nov. 22)

Concentrate on finances, contracts and your health. Socializing is favored, but don’t overspend. Look for exhilarating pastimes. Don’t let anyone stifle your dreams.

(Nov. 23-Dec. 21)

SOLUTION FOR LAST PUBLISHED PUZZLE

(Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

A steady pace forward is your best bet. Refuse to let anyone interfere with your progress. Don’t be tempted by someone encouraging you to take on too much or behave indulgently.

Push yourself, and progress will be yours. Clear a space at home that motivates you to add to your skills and knowledge. Don’t let others throw you off guard. Pamper yourself.

(Jan. 20-Feb. 19)

You can set up meetings and move forward with your plans. Distance yourself from anyone who may not have your interests at heart. Protect yourself from injury or illness.

(Feb. 20-March 20)

Mumbai earn first points in last-ball thriller against Capitals

-Piyush Chawla, Rohit Sharma star

Mumbai Indians held their nerve with the last ball of a scrappy, tension-fuelled basement battle against Delhi Capitals to claw themselves off the bottom of the IPL standings with their first win in three attempts this season, and condemn their opponents to a fourth consecutive loss in a season that is no closer to offering up any answers to their numerous issues.

Piyush Chawla rolled back the years, and ripped his googlies, to serve up game-shaping figures of 3 for 22 on either side of a pair of chalk-and-cheese fifties from David Warner and Axar Patel; but despite a timely half-century from Rohit Sharma and 41 off 29 from Tilak Varma, Mumbai were forced to scramble over the line, into the teeth of a magnificent final over from a pumped-up Anrich Nortje.

With just five runs to defend against Cameron Green and ‘impact sub’ Tim David, Nortje nailed his yorkers to perfection, and was let down only by his fielders - first by a bad drop from Mukesh Kumar at midwicket to reprieve David; and then, with two runs needed from his final ball, a poor, loopy shy from Warner at mid-off allowed David to dive home for the second run, and so avoid the Super Over.

In truth, it was a contest in which Mumbai had bossed the key moments: first through Chawla's mid-innings incisions, then with the scalping of five wickets in the final ten balls of Delhi's innings, who had kept their target to a gettable 173. The early exchanges of the run-chase had fallen in the visitors' favour too, with Rohit's 65 from 45 including a 29-ball fifty that provided the impetus for a 68-run powerplay.

But after Mumbai failed to kill the chase when the going was still good, Nortjearmed with two death overs, and aiming fast, full and furious throughout - so nearly saved the day.

Chawla shows he's still got it

At the age of 34, and more than a decade after his last appearance for India, Chawla may be a touch more weather-beaten these days, but his googly has lost none of the startling impact it first made more than half a lifetime ago, in 2005 when, aged 15, he bowled Sachin Tendulkar in a Challenger Trophy fixture. Two of his three wickets today were pitch-perfect wrong'uns to Rovman Powell and Lalit Yadav respectively, to rip the heart out of a Delhi bat-

ting line-up that, Axar's cameo aside, was never allowed to emerge from second gear.

In an unbroken spell from the seventh to the 13th overs, Chawla returned the exceptional figures of 3 for 22, with only a brace of Warner boundaries disrupting his otherwise complete hold over Capitals' batters.

After a threatening Manish Pandey skipped to the pitch

five from nine at the other end.

The Hitman cometh

Despite Warner's struggles to push his tempo, 41% of respondents to a mid-broadcast poll said they would still prefer him over Rohit at the top of their IPL order, which perhaps says much about the criticisms the latter has endured since India's disappointing T20 World Cup. But those doubts were

well, with three fours in his first four balls from the left-arm seam of Mustafizur Rahman. But as much as Chawla had derailed Delhi's intentions, so Ishan was less sure-footed against the spinners. After making 28 from his first 15 balls, he managed just three runs from his next 10, before Rohitcold-blooded at both ends of the pitch - effectively retired him out with a call for a non-existent run to point.

Poor Suryakumar, desperate for a break amid the worst run of his career, wore a full-blooded slog on the forehead as it burst through his fingers, and left the field with suspected concussion. Though he did eventually appear at #5 in Mumbai's chase, he soon wished he hadn't, as a first-ball flick off the hip to fine leg completed his fourth golden duck in his last six innings.

but was beaten in flight to scuff a legbreak to long-off, Powell and Lalit were confounded in consecutive overs by a pair of leg stump-seeking googlies, the former thumping the pad, the latter plucking the stump clean out.

The only real blot in Chawla's copybook was a bad miss at mid-off, as Warner, then on 37, clattered a drive clean through his grasp. He left the field soon after his spell, apparently nursing a sore finger for his efforts, although compared to the hapless Suryakumar Yadav's spill on the boundary's edge off Axar, it was a fairly routine miss.

A pair of contrasting fifties Axar and Warner fell within three balls of each other, in the midst of a four-wicket 19th over from Jason Behrendorff that also featured ducks for Kuldeep Yadav and Abishek Porel; but there their tales converged. Axar departed with 54 from 25 balls at a strikerate of 216; Warner departed with 51 from 47, at almost exactly half his team-mate's tempo (108.51). It was Warner's third half-century of the Capitals' campaign, but all three have come from more than 40 balls - 43 on this occasion - and his lack of celebration was telltale evidence of another stodgy display. On the one hand, at least he was there providing some grit to the oyster that his middle order team mates - the debutant Yash Dhul included - could not muster.

On the other hand, the carefree fluency of Axar told a different tale: of an innings in which too many scoring opportunities had been squandered. Axar is in the midst of a startling coming-of-age as a batter of some repute, and his maiden IPL fifty was a knock of high pedigree - four fours, five sixes, each of them launched down the ground, including a Riley Meredith slot-ball that brought up his fifty from 22 balls.

For five consecutive overs: from the start of the 14th to the end of the 17th, he was Capitals' solitary source of momentum, with Warner contributing a mere

dissolved in the midst of an enervating powerplay onslaught, as Rohit romped towards a 29-ball fifty that offered the sort of proactive backbone that Capitals' own innings had lacked. Rohit set the tone for Mumbai's chase in Mukesh's opening over with a clip for four off the pads, followed by a violent slap for six over deep midwicket. When Nortje strayed into his slot two

Mumbai fall over the line

By this stage, perhaps Capitals' likeliest matchwinner hadn't yet made his bow. Kuldeep's left-arm wristspin

duly made its entry in the ninth over, but with Tilak's rubbery wrists and feet producing a brace of sixes in his only two overs, he was denied the chance to emulate Chawla's impact. And when Tilak responded to a fallow run of 11 runs in three overs by smoking Mukesh for a four and two sixes in his first three balls, the contest seemed cooked, with 34 needed from the last 27. Mukesh, however, was not yet done. Tilak's next shot in anger picked out Pandey at deep midwicket, and when Suryakumar's miserable match ended one ball later, all eyes were suddenly back on Rohit. A cathartic four through midwicket eased the pressure a touch, but when Mustafizur fired in a wide yorker, Rohit could only toe-end an attempted steer through to the keeper.

Suddenly Mumbai had two men yet to face, and an angsty finale to negotiate. Despite Nortje's unstinting efforts, Green and David did just enough - the killer blows landing within the final three balls of an otherwise fine effort from Mustafizur, as each man picked off a six that left Nortje with just too little to defend. (ESPNCricinfo)

SCOREBOARD

Delhi Capitals (20 ovs maximum)

BATTING R B

David Warner (c) c

Meredith b Behrendorff 51 47

Prithvi Shaw c Green

b Shokeen 15 10

Manish Pandey c

Behrendorff b Chawla 26 18

Yash Dhull c Wadhera

b Meredith 2 4

Rovman Powell lbw b Chawla 4 4

Lalit Yadav b Chawla 2 4

Axar Patel c Arshad Khan

b Behrendorff 54 25

Abishek Porel † c Green b Behrendorff 1 3

Kuldeep Yadav run out

(Wadhera) 0 1

Anrich Nortje b Meredith 5 3

Mustafizur Rahman not out 1 1

Extras (lb 1, nb 2, w 8) 11

TOTAL 19.4 Ov (RR: 8.74) 172

Fall of wickets: 1-33

(Prithvi Shaw, 3.4 ov), 2-76

(Manish Pandey, 8.3 ov), 3-81

(Yash Dhull, 9.5 ov), 4-86

(Rovman Powell, 10.4 ov), 5-98

(Lalit Yadav, 12.3 ov), 6-165

(Axar Patel, 18.1 ov), 7-166

(David Warner, 18.3 ov), 8-166

overs later, he was also launched emphatically into the stands as Mumbai's openers cantered along at more than 11 an over in the powerplay.

At the other end, Ishan Kishan started like the clappers against the quicks as

(Kuldeep Yadav, 18.4 ov), 9-166

(Abishek Porel, 18.6 ov), 10-172 (Anrich Nortje, 19.4 ov) •

BOWLING O-M-R-W

Jason Behrendorff 3-0-23-3

Arshad Khan 1-0-12-0

Cameron Green 3-0-30-0

Hrithik Shokeen 4-0-43-1

Riley Meredith 3.4-0-34-2

Piyush Chawla 4-0-22-3

Tilak Varma 1-0-7-0

Mumbai Indians (T: 173 runs from 20 ovs)

BATTING R B

Rohit Sharma (c) c †Abishek

Porel b Mustafizur Rahman 65 45

Ishan Kishan † run out (Mukesh Kumar/Lalit Yadav) 31 26

Tilak Varma c Pandey b

Mukesh Kumar 41 29

Suryakumar Yadav c Kuldeep Yadav b Mukesh Kumar 0 1

Tim David not out 13 11

Cameron Green not out 17 8

Extras (lb 4, w 2) 6

TOTAL 20 Ov (RR: 8.65) 173/4

Did not bat: Nehal Wadhera, Hrithik Shokeen, Arshad Khan, Jason Behrendorff, Piyush Chawla

Fall of wickets: 1-71 (Ishan

Kishan, 7.3 ov), 2-139 (Tilak Varma, 15.5 ov), 3-139 (Suryakumar Yadav, 15.6 ov), 4-143 (Rohit Sharma, 16.5 ov) •

BOWLING O-M-R-W

Mukesh Kumar 2-0-30-2

Mustafizur Rahman 4-0-38-1 Anrich Nortje

Lalit Yadav

Axar Patel

TATA IPL 2023…

Tim David diving to complete the winning run

Rohit Sharma scored his first IPL half-century since April 2021

Axar Patel hitting over the top

Piyush Chawla appealing

CWI to recruit new Head Coach for West Indies Women’s Team

Jimmy Adams, has said: “We are very grateful for the contribution of Courtney and his technical team over the past two and a half years, and we wish them all the best going forward. CWI remains committed to our international women’s programme, and will now be focusing on recruiting a new Head Coach and technical support team. An interim technical support team will be put in place during the recruitment period.”

Further information on the recruitment process will be provided in the coming weeks, with the coaching roles being critical for the development of women’s cricket in the West Indies.

WI Rising Stars U-15 tourney 2023…

T&T on course for title

Trinidad and Tobago remain unbeaten in the West Indies Rising Stars Under-15 tournament, having recorded a seven-wicket win over Jamaica in Round 4 at the Coolidge Cricket Ground.

Razam Koobir made 28, and 22 from Shane Prince saw Guyana post 154 all out in 36.5 overs. Kunal Tilokani finished with figures of 4-21, and Jaheem Clarke had figures of 3-21 in bowling for the Leewards.

Cricket

be starting the process to recruit a new West Indies Women’s Team Head Coach, after taking the decision not to renew the contract of Women’s Head

Coach Courtney Walsh and Technical Assistant

Coaches Robert Samuels and Corey Collymore. This follows a review of the senior Women’s Team performances and programme.

During Walsh’s tenure,

which started in October 2020, he oversaw Home and Away Series wins to Pakistan, and secured a semifinal spot in the 2022 ICC Women’s 50-Over Cricket World Cup.

CWI Director of Cricket,

In recent years, CWI has significantly increased investment in the women’s game at every level, focusing on deepening the talent pool within the Caribbean and producing the next generation of West Indies Women’s players. (CWI)

Jamaica top CARIFTA Games’ medals table for 37th year in a row

For the 37th consecutive year, Jamaica have topped the medals table at the CARIFTA Track & Field Championships.

The unofficial medal tally has seen Jamaica finish the 50th edition of the Games - held from April 8-10 at the Thomas A. Robinson Stadium in Nassau, The Bahamas - with 78 medals. This is 32 more than the hosts, who are in second place, and 47 more than Trinidad & Tobago, who

are in third place. The top five was rounded out by St. Kitts & Nevis with 11, and Barbados with 10.

Meanwhile, Guyana finished the Games with 8 medals, the same as Guadeloupe and St. Lucia.

Of Jamaica’s 78 medals, 40 are gold, 22 are silver and 16 are bronze. And 36 of those medals were won by the boys’ side, while 42 were won by the girls’ side.

Of the 46 medals won by Games’ hosts The Bahamas,

10 are gold, 13 are silver and 23 are bronze.

Trinidad and Tobago

ended with nine gold, 10 silver and 12 bronze. (Sportsmax)

Choosing to bat first, Jamaica never got going, as T&T’s Yasir Deen and Alejandro Kassiram had the Jamaican batsmen in a quandary throughout their innings. Deen’s off-spin and Kassiram’s left-arm pace proved to be too much for the Jamaicans.

Ryan Lyttleton was Jamaica’s top-scorer with 15, followed by Damien Daley and Nicoli McKenzie with 13 each. Jamaica were all out for 102 in 34.5 overs.

Brendan Boodoo also chipped in with two wickets for T&T.

In reply, Boodoo led the junior Red Force team with a consecutive half-century as his team chased down the 103-run target in 30.4 overs. He fell for an even 50, while Zane Maraj was not out on 23.

Boodoo and Dmitri Ramjattan posted 46 runs in a second-wicket partnership, then Boodoo partnered with Maraj for 43 runs as T&T cruised to victory.

Meanwhile, Guyana and Barbados have routed Leewards and Windwards respectively.

At Liberta Sports Club, Guyana bowled the Leeward Islands out for 53 runs in 28.2 overs, to win by 101 runs.

The Leewards’ batting innings never got going, as Arun Gainda took 3-13 to dismiss the home team in 28.2 overs.

At the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Barbados cruised to an eight-wicket win over the Windward Islands. Batting first, Windward Islands posted 112 all out in 40.1 overs. Earsinho Fontaine top-scored with 18, followed by Theo Edward with 14.

Bowling for Barbados, Akobi Crichlow-Byer ripped through the Windwards side to finish with figures of 105-18-4, followed by Javed Worrell’s figures of 7-1-18-3.

Gadson Bowens again led with the bat for Barbados, taking his team to victory with an unbeaten 45, which included five fours and a six. Oliver Gooding chipped in with 25 as Barbados reached victory in 20.2 overs.

The fifth and final round is on today, Wednesday 12 April, with Trinidad and Tobago vs Leeward Islands at Coolidge Cricket Ground; Windward Islands vs Jamaica at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium; and Guyana vs Barbados at Liberta Sports Ground. All matches start at 9:30am (8:30am Jamaica time). (CWI)

Archery Guyana being represented at IX Copa Merengue in Santo Domingo

Guyana’s representatives: Wayne DeAbreu (L) and Devin Persaud Permaul (R)

The Board of Directors of Archery Guyana recently announced very exciting news for the Organization: two of its members, namely Wayne DeAbreu and Devin Persaud Permaul, will be participating in the IX Copa Merengue, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic from April 11-15, 2023.

The Copa Merengue is a World-ranking event and will be the second Qualifier Tournament for the Pan Am Games. The tournament

will be held at the Archery Facility at the Parque del Este Sports Complex in Santo Domingo. With their participation, this also adds to their world ranking.

Secretary-General of Archery Guyana, Mr. Nicholas Hing, reported on the even further interesting news about this particular competition, which will see our two archers battling for the higher score, since the earner of the higher score will be granted the lone invitational spot at the upcoming CAC Games.

Courtney Walsh, whose contract as Head Coach will not be renewed

Jamaica's Malique Smith-Band (left) and Javorne Dunkley (right) after finishing first and second in the Under-20 Boys 200m event

The medal count following the conclusion of the 50th CARIFTA Games in The Bahamas

The lads of Trinidad and Tobago are poised to take the U15 title

Hutson faces the music!

-AAG President addresses allegations of mistreatment, malpractice & ill-will

By Jemima Holmes

Strident claims that

“Hutson must resign”, “Mistreatment of our athletes”, “The AAG needs to answer” only scratch the surface of the scathing criticisms that the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) and its President, Aubrey Hutson, faced over the weekend as Guyanese athletes competed in the 50th edition of the CARIFTA Games, held in The Bahamas.

But despite being embroiled in controversy, Guyana’s 18-member team produced 8 medals at the Games, one more than last year’s tally of seven - a fact Hutson had hoped would have been focused on, instead of the ‘petty’ games being played on social media.

The AAG Boss faced the proverbial music on Tuesday, after calling a press briefing at his private business office in Light Street, Alberttown. There Hutson not only lamented the unfair and unsubstantiated judgement the Association has faced over the past few days, but ‘came clean’ on what prevented the Guyanese athletes from arriving in Nassau, Bahamas on time.

“Most of it is information that we know is not accurate, and my disappointment is that we are taking away from the glory that these athletes would have brought to Guyana over the last Easter weekend,” Hutson lamented at the emergency press briefing.

He added, “I say this for me, because I really and truly feel that we, as Guyanese, cannot enjoy ourselves watching our athletes perform the way they perform and feel good about ourselves without someone having to create criticism over some administrative glitches that would have taken place in getting the team to the CARIFTA Games and getting them back home.”

Travel woes

The story began on Friday last (Good Friday) when reports emanated that the Guyana-based CARIFTA athletes were ‘stuck’ in the Land of Many Waters, the AAG not being able to secure a flight to the Games, which were set to begin on Saturday.

“We know we were able to get through with the ones coming out of the USA. We were able to easily get the ones coming out of Jamaica, because those seats were primarily sponsored by persons outside of Guyana. So, the overseas-based tickets were secured,” Hutson said about the overseas- based athletes arriving earlier than their counterparts.

He continued, “When it came to the contingent to leave Guyana, we continued to face one issue after the other, and I’m wondering if my true regret is saying to those athletes and coaches, which include manager and physio, that ‘Look, we’re not getting tickets, ya’ll need to stay home’. But I know how hard they train, I know how hard they work, I know what CARIFTA means to them.”

According to the AAG Boss, their first hurdle was receiving sponsorship late.

“Our first issue started off with late sponsorship. We did not receive sponsorship on a timely basis, and I can afford to say without any fear of contradiction that we got our first major payment one week before this team travelled from the Guyana Olympic Association.”

This claim of receiving GOA sponsorship one week before is backed by reports on the presentation in several daily publications dated April 2nd, 2023. However, Hutson did not see this as a point of contention since, as he went on to explain: “And we got our second major cheque on Holy Thursday, which is the day before Good Friday, after the banks were closed.

“However, the AAG always has its ways and means of making things work, like we did last year, even though we faced the same criticism, I don’t know for what reason. The team went, the team performed, the team got back home; but because one person or persons were sought after for sponsorship for the team, it became a political football; and we see the same thing happen here again,” he explained.

Hutson’s account of the travel fiasco claims that, upon receiving sponsorship, the Association moved to secure flights with an agent on the Friday before the Games. And the agent

had said the flights were secure, but the AAG was later informed that the seats were no longer available.

“From that Friday, we realized that the only seats available were via Miami, so we attempted to procure visas for the athletes to travel,” he related.

This plan fell through the following Tuesday, given that they were not able to secure visas - a topic which Hutson was careful to handle delicately. He said about the unfortunate occurrence, “They [The US Embassy] really would have loved to help, but they simply can’t, and I must say, too, the AAG enjoys a great relationship with the US Embassy, and we’ve seen releases in the media that would kind of want to drive a wedge in that relationship.”

Another avenue arose when the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC) informed that they had a charter flight leaving Antigua for The Bahamas, but getting to Antigua proved to be another issue for the AAG.

While that option fell through on the basis of the Guyanese contingent being greater than the capacity of the charter, the other option of flying to Cuba on Friday with Fly Always airline arose.

“We thought it was a golden opportunity, because we know how hard those athletes work and train, so we took the oppor-

tunity,” he said.

As many would now know, the charter from Cuba to The Bahamas had clearance issues with regard to landing, and as such, the Guyanese athletes were placed in the pressure situation of arriving at the Games late. Fast forward past the competition weekend and the very same issues that arose with the flights to the Bahamas recurred with getting the athletes back home. On this matter, Hutson admitted, “We could not find any [better options], and hence I informed the Director of Sports, Vice-President also of the GOA, and the Chairman of the NSC. The response that I eventually got is that the Government of Guyana is interested in getting the athletes back home sooner than Friday, and they will take over the responsibility of getting them back home.”

No mistreatment of athletes

Over the weekend, a particular photo that made its rounds on social media showed a few Guyanese athletes housed in a private home in The Bahamas. When probed about the AAG’s alleged mistreatment of those athletes, Hutson was quick to respond in the negative.

Hutson contends that the Guyana Bahamas Association, who assisted with tickets for the athletes travelling from Jamaica, were the ones housing the

athletes who arrived ‘too early’ for the Games.

“The tickets that they got, the athletes were arriving before the Games Village opened. So they took it upon themselves that, as they were going to come early, they were going to house them; and Thursday, when the Games Village opened, they were going to join their counterparts in the Games Village,” Hutson revealed.

Perturbed by the allegations, the AAG President explained, “They took photographs, they were enjoying themselves, but those photographs were used now to paint a negative light on the entire team. Now, that person must have some ulterior motive, because I’m looking at this photograph and I’m saying, ‘Where in this photograph is a sign that these athletes are uncomfortable and being mistreated?’

“The person who the home belonged to was so upset about it; that people are using this kind of information to destroy the good that we in Guyana worked so hard and tirelessly for. Getting three gold medals at the CARIFTA Games is no means an easy feat,” he added.

9 million?

Also making its rounds on social media was a missive from the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA), expressing disappointment with the mismanagement of the CARIFTA team. Embedded in that missive was a claim that the AAG received Gy$9,000,000 for their CARIFTA expenses.

The GOA statement read, “These notions were further corroborated by statements attributed to Mr. Hutson in the Press which indicated the AAG received all the required funds amounting to the nine million (9m) dollars budget required to cover all of the related expenditure.”

When probed by Guyana Times Sports journalist for a breakdown of this hefty sum, Hutson explained that the sponsorship received for the Games never amounted to $9,000,000.

“We would’ve sent out a budget for $9,000,000, we would’ve received $3,000,000 from the Guyana Olympic

Association and $3,000,000 from the National Sports Commission. The NSC cheque went into the bank today, because of the time that I received it on Thursday, but we are grateful because we know we have creditors out there who would wait for their payment,” Hutson explained.

“The point I’m trying to make is: nobody gave us $9,000,000, and we know we produced a budget for $9,000,000; but with the cost that we had to pay for airfare now going all through these different routes, that $9,000,00 gone through the window a long time ago,” he declared.

All’s well…

All in all, despite the exchange of opinions over the past few days, Hutson was guarded in how he expressed himself about the various Associations and entities involved. By his own admission, Hutson says there is no ill-will between any of the parties mentioned. His missing a meeting with GOA Executives on Saturday last was chalked up to his personal responsibilities, since he had to work.

“I want to openly and publicly say I share a great relationship with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and the National Sports Commission, and I share an equally great relationship with the GOA. While both entities may not be too pleased with the way things are going administratively, I think it’s a work in progress,” the AAG President boldly stated.

He further stated, “People who have a beef to grind with the Government are trying to drag trackand-field into it and creating a lot of mayhem.”

It is Hutson’s intention to now produce financial statements of the CARIFTA spendings to absolve himself of any wrongdoing. “But it’s my intention to meet with the GOA once all the financial reports and stuff are completed, and it should finish by this afternoon, for them to see all of our income and all of our expenditure as it relates to CARIFTA,” he said.

With Guyana being successful at the 50th edition of the CARIFTA Games, the hope is that all will be well and end well…

AAG President Aubrey Hutson had a mouthful to share about the recent CARIFTA fiasco

Guyana’s team at the CARIFTA Games will return with 8 medals (News Room/ Avidesh Narine Photo)