Guyana Times - Wednesday April 14, 2021

Jagan's P19 contributions to democracy will never be forgotten – President Ali Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Issue No. 4617

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021

Exxon oil production plummets to 30,000 barrels per day Page 3

…as gas compressor experiences more problems

Provide the evidence – Pres Ali challenges Aubrey Norton on racial claims Page 7

PRICE

$80 VAT INCLUDED

WHAT'S INSIDE:

P13 88 new COVID-19 cases recorded in 24h

Linden PPP P18 Councillor dies

2 inmates P8 injured during brawl at Lusignan Prison

…say they expose intentions to create mischief Controversial “bottom-house” warehouse

40 years later

Ruling on P18 Parliamentary Secretaries set for April 20 GTT appoints new CEO P13

Appeal Court George Norton overturns Donald charged for misconduct in public office Rodney’s conviction Page 9

See story on page 10

4 missing Guyanese

Relatives deny paying US$7000-$15,000 to smuggle men into US

Page 14

…no missing person's reports made to Bahamian authorities

Craig man pleads guilty to Nandy P17 Park, Agricola murders

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

NEWS

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS OPENINGS BRIDGE

The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Wednesday, April 14 – 04:00h – 05:30h and Thursday, April 15 – 04:00h – 05:30h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Wednesday, April 14 – 05:05h – 06:35h and Thursday, April 15 – 05:30h – 07:00h.

Exxon oil production plummets to 30,000 barrels per day …as gas compressor experiences more problems

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

WEATHER TODAY There will be sunshine during the day. There will be clear skies and partly cloudy conditions during the night. Temperatures should range between 21 degrees Celsius and 31 degrees Celsius.

Winds: East South-Easterly to Easterly to East North-Easterly to North-Easterly between 1.78 metres and 4.91 metres.

High Tide: 17:59h reaching a maximum height of 2.64 metres.

Low Tide: 11:34h and 23:45h reaching minimum heights of 0.47 metre and 0.62 metre.

SATURDAY, APRIL 10, 2021

LOTTERY NUMBERS N

03 19 22

24 25 28

FREE TICKET TUESDAY, APRIL 13, 2021

9 Bonus Ball

DAILY MILLIONS

01 10 12 14 18 LUCKY 3

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Evening Draw

DRAW DE LINE

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17 20 21 SUPER

PAY DAY

PAY DAY FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 2021

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COMMODITIES Indicators

US$

Change %

Crude Oil

$63.67/barrel

+0.61

Rough Rice

$236.34/ton

-0.02

London Sugar

$424.20/ton

+0.88

Live Spot Gold

USD Per Ounce

Bid/Ask

$1745.00

$1746.00

Low/High Change

$1723.20 -0.80

$1750.20 -0.05%

The Liza Destiny FPSO

E

xxonMobil’s oil production has plummeted to 30,000 barrels of oil per day, as the compressor that has been in Germany for much of last month being repaired, and which only recently returned to Guyana, has once again failed.

According to a statement from the company, other problems in the discharge silencer were detected during the final testing phase of the reinstalled flash gas compressor on board the Liza Destiny Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel.

It was explained that a team from SBM Offshore, MAN Energy Solutions and ExxonMobil are on site to assess repairs, supported by engineering experts in Europe and the United States of America (USA). In the meantime, steps have been taken to reduce operations.

“We have reduced production to a minimum level that mitigates formation of hydrates in subsea systems, maintains gas injection and fuel gas to the power generators, and minimises flare. Relevant Government agencies have been notified and we are continuing to work with officials to determine the next best steps,” the statement explained.

“ExxonMobil Guyana is extremely disappointed by the design issues and continued underperformance of this unit, and will be working with the equipment manufacturer MAN Energy Solutions and the vessel’s operator SBM to rectify the situation. This performance is below ExxonMobil’s global expectations for reliability,” the statement added.

Exxon’s Public and Governance Affairs Advisor, Janelle Persaud, when asked about the volume of flaring in light of the production cuts, stated that flaring is now at 4 to 5 million cubic feet of gas per day, slightly above pilot levels.

Excess flaring had previously averaged at 16 million cubic feet of gas per day, following the compressor malfunction in February.

Additionally, Persaud confirmed that oil production has now been cut to 30,000 barrels of oil per day, a reduction from the 120,000

barrels of oil per day that Exxon was averaging previously. According to her, the reduction has the potential to throw off Exxon’s next lift, which was scheduled for the next few days.

The news comes on the same day that Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat was quoted projecting Guyana producing 1 million barrels of crude per day and leading the Western Hemisphere in oil production.

“By 2027, we are hoping that there will be at least seven floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels in the country, and that we will be producing either close or even over 1 million b/d,” Minister Bharrat said.

In the latter part of January 2021, EEPGL had announced that it was experiencing technical problems with the seal on Liza Destiny’s flash gas compressor. The problem resulted in Exxon having to reduce its production and also conduct routine flaring.

Exxon had announced that an “axial vibration” was to blame for the failure of its compressor, which had to be shipped to the German workshop of MAN Energy Solutions. It was subsequently revealed that Exxon had been flaring 16 million cubic

feet of gas per day.

It was an increase from the volume of flaring the company conducted last year which reportedly ranged between 12 and 15 million cubic feet. It was a situation that Exxon executives have said no one was happy with, even as they worked along with the regulatory agencies. Additionally, it was announced that Exxon was producing around 120,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd).

Before the flaring, production was at 130,000 bpd.

The company had announced two weeks ago that it would be reinstalling and starting up the troublesome gas compressor onboard the Liza Destiny Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, while monitoring it in phases to ensure it was working as it should.

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guyanatimesgy.com

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021

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

Reinforcing positive behaviours

I

t should come as no surprise to anyone that Guyana suffers from the debilitating epidemic that is suicide. We are touted as the country with the highest per capita rate of suicide in the Caribbean.

Last week, a young mother in Linden fed her children – aged 8 years and 6 months respectively – a poisonous substance before consuming it herself. That 24-year-old mother, Temicia Sampson, and her younger child have since succumbed.

It seems that regardless of how hard we try to prevent this scourge, persons, regardless of their expected wisdom and age, are finding it necessary to go down this route.

Suicide, the act of intentionally taking one’s life, is attributed to many factors, including despair, mental disorders, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder, and addiction, among many other factors too numerous to mention. The World Health Organization (WHO) posits that more than 800,000 persons commit suicide every year, which equates to one death every 40 seconds.

According to the WHO, globally, among young adults 15 to 29 years old, suicide accounts for over eight per cent of all deaths, and is ranked as the second leading cause of death.

Among adults aged 30 to 49, it accounts for more than four per cent of all deaths, and is ranked the fifth leading cause of death.

Contrary to what many may think, persons who commit suicide or persons who show signs that they may likely commit suicide, as for example saying that they want to die or are willing to take their lives, do not really want to kill themselves.

Research has shown that people who talk about committing suicide are really reaching out for help, since they might be suffering from anxiety, depression, and hopelessness, which might be occasioned by a multitude of factors, such as job loss, discrimination, and even an unstable economic environment, among many other factors.

According to the health body, suicide impacts the most vulnerable of the world’s populations, and is highly prevalent in already marginalised and discriminated groups of society.

“It is not just a serious public health problem in developed countries; in fact, most suicides occur in low- and middleincome countries, where resources and services, if they do exist, are often scarce and limited for early identification, treatment and support of people in need. These striking facts and the lack of implemented timely interventions make suicide a global public health problem that needs to be tackled imperatively.”

The WHO has identified a host of measures to be used which might mitigate the prevalence of suicide, some of which include creating national strategies for suicide prevention; restricting access to the most common means of suicide, including pesticides, firearms and certain medicines; incorporating suicide prevention as a central component in health services; providing medical follow-ups for persons who have attempted suicide; identifying and treating mental health and substance abuse disorders as early as possible; and responsible reporting on suicide by the news media.

Guyana’s Governments past and present have, over the years, instituted a host of mechanisms to deal with the epidemic, including incorporating mechanisms advanced by the WHO, but suicide still remains a predominant feature on the tapestry of Guyana’s social fabric.

Some scholars have argued that the mechanisms which are being advanced would do no good for Guyana, since they are addressing only the symptoms of suicide, and not the disease itself.

Moreover, there is a need to change how we, as Guyanese, are socialised about suicide, possibly incorporating within our homes, schools and religious education systems, from a young age, social teachings that are often overlooked, such are building confidence, self-esteem and tolerance, etc.

By reinforcing positive behaviours and displacing negative stereotypes over a period of time, change would take place, as the populace would have more defined coping mechanisms to deal with the stresses associated with life, and would be less inclined to choose the option of death.

The ‘Welcome to Guyana’ Monument at the roundabout in Timehri, East Bank Demerara was unveiled on Tuesday. The monument is part of the First Lady’s National Beautification Project, which seeks to safeguard the country’s scenic beauty while creating environmentally-friendly locations for Guyanese to enjoy. The project was done in collaboration with the Office of the First Lady, the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), and Impressions (Office of the President photo)

Harmon must think Lindeners are not able to recognise foolishness

Dear Editor, If you tell a barefaced lie long enough, and no one objects, the public is likely to believe you. That is the saying in Guyana and further afield.

Therefore, the number two man-turned-Opposition Leader, Joseph Harmon, told yet another lie, hoping it would go down well with Lindeners, who are upset and outraged with the APNU+AFC regime.

He couldn’t be more wrong, as Lindeners learned the truth from Public Affairs Minister Kwame Mc Coy. Harmon told the APNU+AFC propaganda outfit “Village Voice” that when his coalition Government was in power, it had most of the critical groundwork completed and was about to return the assets alongside ownership of the Linden TV Station (Channel 13) to Lindeners. He appears to be saying that the coalition had been delayed because of “paperwork”.

What is even more interesting now is that he is calling for the Irfaan Ali Administration to fulfill the coalition’s promise it made more than six years ago when it campaigned in Linden at the election. This, too, was after the coalition used the violence which erupted in the mining town to force the hand of the then Donald Ramotar Government to make a pact in 2012, as I understand it, just for peace and an end to violence, and for the budget to pass in Parliament.

Harmon must think that people of Linden are not able to recognise foolishness when they hear and they see it. He must think that Lindeners are ignorant and unintelligent. Maybe he still thinks that he has the ability to lie

to us like he did when he was the State Minister, and then change his mouth when the going got tough.

I am a proud son of the mining community, and I am no party or APNU+AFC yes man. I call it as I see it, and as it indeed is. Harmon had about 4 and a half years to get that one thing done for Lindeners. He could’ve used all of his limited vocabulary and 3 postings he had in Government to get this done.

Even at the last minute, he had the 5 month-long period after March 2nd, 2020 to get this thing signed and delivered to the people of Region 10. He never did.

This is an example of APNU+AFC’s deceit, and how they broke all their promises and neglected ordinary Guyanese after they got into office in 2015. We were fooled to think that they had transferred the TV station to the people of Linden.

He’s a hypocrite who used us, Lindeners, to get power, and then threw us by the wayside.

Because the facts are showing that “slow paperwork” didn’t prevent them from transferring tens of acres of State land all over the country to their rich businessmen cronies.

Harmon is seeking to “kerfuffle” Lindeners, as the evidence points to “a lack of any audit or financial arrangement”, according to Minister McCoy. McCoy is quoted as saying, “I am still looking for the 2012 Agreement, which could be helpful to this situation, and until such time when I myself could have clarity, then I will be able to move further than I can at this time.”

He, however, maintained that

the television station remains that of NCN. What a shame!!! The coalition better believe they will face hot fire for fooling us and reneging on all the promises they made. I don’t care what you say now, Mr Harmon, you had 5 full years to do it, and you blame the “slow process”?

I should blame everything

on the “slow process” when it’s time to vote again. Lindeners better get some sense before they bare their souls out and put their feet to the fire for these “Kavakamites” that parade themselves as honourable men.

Regards, Brian Azore

Continuing to ignore each other is just spinning top in mud Dear Editor, The present strategy of the PPP and the PNC seems to suggest that if they concentrate hard enough on ignoring each other, then, magically, one of them would cease to exist. This is wishful thinking at best. Until and unless we implement an electoral reform that imposes a ten-year ban on any party found guilty of electoral rigging, as attempted by the PNC in the 2020 elections, then there is no other option but to deal with the PNC as the main Opposition party.

Continuing to ignore the PNC and reducing their area of participation would only raise the pressure and tension in our society. The natural law of: Pressure = Force (PNC)/Area (of participation) validates the fact that as the inverse area of engagement with the PNC is reduced, it will proportionally increase the pressure and disharmony in the country.

The President has made his point by ignoring the PNC for the past seven months.

The PNC, thinking that it would be business as usual after attempting to rig the 2020

elections, have found themselves in a total state of discombobulation after being treated with scant regard by Caricom and also, I am sure, with much skepticism by the US ambassador in their desperate plea for recognition and engagement with the duly elected President.

The President, having made his point to the PNC, now needs to lift the quarantine on them so that the host of important issues that require national participation can proceed. Issues such as the national COVID vaccination programme, constitutional reform, electoral reform, national development strategy, GECOM reform, Public Sector reform and Petroleum Law reform are some of the reforms that strike at the heart of our growth trajectory, and must and should have national consensus.

Continuing to ignore each other is just spinning top in mud.

Yours sincerely, Reggie Bhagwandin

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021

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

Reject APNU/AFC cohort’s attempts to incite fear

Dear Editor, It is no surprise that the APNU+AFC and their affiliates would consistently try to derail the progress of the PPP/C Government by peddling misinformation and blatant lies. After all, it is in their very nature to do so. The recent narrative that they have concocted with the sole intention of inciting public terror is that there is a kidnapping situ-

ation in Guyana. The very fact that these individuals can spew such baseless claims without any remorse for the implications of such on the Guyanese populace is exactly why they are part of the Opposition, and not Government.

About a week ago, we saw Gavin Matthews take to social media claiming that he was kidnapped by PPP/C agents. This resulted in the

entire APNU+AFC cabal and their affiliates creating nonsensical postings all over social media for their followers to be “informed” of the situation. However, if there was any truth to this kidnapping claim, why didn’t Gavin Matthews and his people name these so-called PPP/C agents? Why weren’t reports made with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), so that an investiga-

tion can be launched into the allegations?

The reason why that was not done is because it simply could not have been done. The only intention of Gavin Matthews and his affiliates is to incite fear in the Guyanese populace by misinformation.

In fact, according to reports from Commissioner of Police (ag) Nigel Hoppie, the Guyana Police Force has

Let the trial begin: election fraudsters on show

Dear Editor, At long last, time has stepped in, and come June 11, 2021, Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan will face off with Chairperson of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), Volda Lawrence; Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo; and APNU/AFC’s activist Carol Joseph, who have all pleaded ‘not guilty’ to various elections charges facing them as regards the March 02, 2020 Guyana Elections.

When they return to court on June 11, 2021, the public will get a glimpse of their modus operandi, as they were ordered to present their ‘disclosure of statements.’

Let me remind readers that electoral fraud involves illegal interference with the process of an election (which finishes after a declaration is made). This is usually done by increasing the vote share of a favoured candidate, or via decreasing the vote share of rival candidates; it can be both. This, I add, often goes hand-in-hand with voter suppression, and as we know, APNU+AFC (A Partnership For National Unity+Alliance For Change), via Mingo and his two cohorts, attempted openly to hijack proceedings during the post March 02 period all the way to August 2020. After this first showdown on June 21, the Chief Magistrate will set a date to begin their trial.

Editor, I am very curious to see how Nigel Hughes, the lawyer for the embattled trio, will defend something that is now common knowledge in this country, that is the attempted rigging of the elections back in March of 2020. He did request that the charges against his clients remain indictable, that is, where the matter will be heard by a judge and jury. This manoeuvre will result in the Magistrate holding a preliminary inquiry (PI) to determine whether or not there is sufficient evidence to commit the trio to stand trial at the High Court.

The Chief Magistrate ruled against it.

Let me recap the situation for our readers: Lawrence was slapped

with two charges of conspiracy to commit fraud at the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections; and Joseph was charged jointly with Mingo for forgery. All three of the accused were granted bail on various amounts.

This issue on hand (and there are a number of other matters that will surface in the near future in relation to crimes committed during the March 02, 2020 Guyana Elections) is almost a farcical drama.

I cannot understand why the now notorious trio just did not plead ‘guilty.’

When a crime is obvious and open to all and sundry, the best course of action, as I see it, is to always enter into a plea bargain, and look for some form of leniency. In this Guyana situation, footage is available to be examined both personally and globally - everyone with interest at the time was privy to the attempts to derail due election processes.

As we all know, the gist of this court battle resides in the statements of poll for Region Four; it is really the genesis and crux of the March 02 Elections’ horrors. I recall how the

European Union Election Observation Mission desperately wanted to verify the said statements of poll for Region Four.

The request was made by the mission to Clairmont Mingo, Returning Officer of Region Four, Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). It was very specific and rooted in the constitution too, as it was the Constitution of Guyana that Mingo was so flagrantly flouting.

I quote: “Pursuant to Section 4 (1) and (3) of the General Elections (Observers) Act, as well as Section 6,7, 8 and 9 of the Administrative Arrangement between the Delegation of the European Union in Guyana and the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, I (Alexander Matus, Deputy Chief Observer, of the Mission) am hereby requesting to examine the Statement of Polls based on which you (Mingo) have prepared the spreadsheet of results before the ascertainment of results for Region Four is completed,” the letter of request said. I note that this was almost two weeks

after the Mingo shenanigans started.

We are talking here of a case where there was a public attempt to disenfranchise thousands of voters. It is now of a folklorist nature that the Mingo crew tried to pull off an impossible stunt.

Mingo departed from the public reading and tabulating of the SOPs for Region Four. The process started well, but Mingo tried stunts of malingering, changing of venue and using a fabricated spreadsheet to proffer figures unheard of and unverifiable.

So, I am wondering, with evidence galore for public consumption, how the defence will pan out. I remind readers that their lawyer, Nigel Hughes, is the originator of the now infamous 34/31 required for the No Confidence Motion. He was debunked.

I think this will be no different. And I am wondering if the APNU+AFC SOPs are lodged in the court - they will be needed when the Election Petition case comes up.

Regards, Todd A Morgan

recorded a 46.6 per cent decrease in serious crimes for the period January 01 to March 05, 2021. Evidence of this was plastered in the newspapers in early March, after the Commissioner spoke at the opening ceremony of the Police Officers’ Annual Conference. For the sake of clarity, especially for the likeness of Gavin Matthews and his affiliates, serious crimes include murder, robbery under arms, robbery with violence, robbery with aggravation, larceny from a person, break and enter and larceny, burglary, rape, and kidnapping.

It is clear that people like Gavin Matthews, and now more recently Chris Gopaul, are focused solely on discrediting the administration for their commendable efforts. The most recent propaganda orchestrated by the APNU+AFC and spread by individuals like Chris Gopaul is that the so called “kidnapping situation” in Guyana is becoming increasingly alarming. They have even managed to circulate voice messages through social media platforms in order to make their baseless

claims appear worrisome to Guyanese. Such distasteful actions must be ridiculed by all right-thinking citizens, as they are only geared at inciting panic and unnecessary fear.

If people are being kidnapped as they are claiming, where is the evidence?

Who are these individuals?

Why were the Police not informed? Why were there no reports in the media of such kidnappings? The reason for this is simply because it’s all lies. Guyana does not have a kidnapping situation ongoing.

I will conclude by urging all Guyanese to reject these attempts that are being made by APNU+AFC and their cohorts to incite fear in the society, even amidst the pandemic. The fact that they can peddle such misinformation and baseless claims reflects the type of people they are. The PPP/C Government shows determination in making Guyana all that it can be. Do not let the APNU+AFC distort such truth with their lies.

Yours respectfully, Erin Northe

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021

Page

Foundation ◄

Question 1

Tuesday’s answers

Questions: What type of poem is it? What is it all about? How did you know what it was about?

H

ave you ever played with dominoes? One way to play is to stand up the little rectangles in a long line, then knock over the first domino to set off a chain reaction. Well, it turns out you can play dominoes with cereal boxes. This elementary school just set a world record for the “most cereal boxes knocked down in a domino run.” The teachers and students set up more than 6000 boxes, and 3730 of them fell! It took 4 tries to get that many boxes to fall. After that last attempt, all the cereal was given to a food bank. Domi-no way to beat that!

Wee ones: A rectangle has 4 sides. Can you name a shape that has 3 sides?

Little kids: If the domino pattern has a box of Cheerios, then a box of Fruit Loops, then a box of Rice Krispies, and then repeats, what type of cereal is the 8th box? Bonus:

What about the 14th box?

Big kids: If the school set up exactly 6000 cereal boxes and knocked over 3730, did more than half the boxes get knocked over? Bonus: If every one of those 6000 boxes held 10 bowls of cereal, how many bowls of cereal were in the domino chain? (bedtimemath.org)

WORD SEARCH

NEWS

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Provide the evidence – Pres Ali challenges Aubrey Norton on racial claims

…says they expose intentions to create mischief

P

resident Irfaan Ali has slammed People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Executive, Aubrey Norton for hurling allegations of racism against the current Administration, as he demanded evidence to support these fictitious claims.

In a recent engagement with the media, the Head of State was asked to share his point of view on Norton’s accusation that there is discrimination towards the Afro-Guyanese population.

But the PNCR Executive came under fire for his statements - actions which the President labelled as mischievous.

“I think it’s a horrible statement. I think it’s a reckless statement. It’s a statement that has no basis in facts and I don’t want to do this. Let us just have a factual analysis of all the entities in Government. What nonsense is Mr Norton getting on with? Is this the way we’re going to move our country forward?” he ques-

President Irfaan Ali

tioned.

Ali vehemently condemned these remarks, noting that it drives a deeper wedge in dividing the country and moreover, Government’s quest to have national unity and inclusion.

“To have Mr Norton, without any basis, making such a statement. There is no evidence that he pointed to. Making such a state-

ment is reckless. It shows his depth of leadership. It shows his commitment to national healing and national development and it exposes his intentions to create mischief, to create distrust, to create disharmony and for that, I have no respect.”

Just last month, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo refuted claims by the APNU/ AFC coalition that the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Government is on a witch hunt against Afro-Guyanese. Jagdeo had posited that the Opposition coalition is using this charge of vindictiveness against Afro-Guyanese as a means to cover up corrupt acts.

“When we talk about corruption, we’re not saying Afro-Guyanese are corrupt.

Any race – Afro-Guyanese and Indo-Guyanese – can be corrupt… They didn’t say anything when the Government sued BK [owned by Brian Tiwari] to recover [prime Kingston, Georgetown, properties]

that we believe were sold way below the value… We sued Larry Singh [for undelivered $369 million in guns and ammunition]. We sued the other guy, Maraj (of S Maraj Contracting Services) for breach of a $413 million contract for rehabilitation of the Leguan Stelling, but nobody says anything. But if you only go after an AfroGuyanese, it becomes racist,” the VP had contended.

Further, VP Jagdeo explained that these claims against the PPP/C are not only affecting the Government but also young Afro-Guyanese, who are being hindered from tapping into opportunities.

“When you reach out to the communities and you go to a community where people are primed by saying the guy who’s coming is racist and discriminating against everyone, then it sets up a kind of suspicion in the villages and the communities when you want to engage young people. It harms them. They are reluctant

PNCR Executive Aubrey Norton

to engage. They are reluctant to explore the opportunities. I want young AfroGuyanese kids to see us as their Government too. They must explore every scholarship option, every job option,” he stated.

After taking office last year, President Ali had warned that persons who are engaged in race-baiting or caught spewing racial

hate and hostility will face the full brunt of the law. He had committed to doing everything within his power, and to use all the laws at his disposal, to put an end to this behaviour.

The Guyanese leader went on to remind persons guilty of this abuse of social media that freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution, as a fundamental right and freedom, does not relate nor extend to hate speeches or other expressions, in whatever form, capable of exciting hostility or ill-will against any person or class of persons.

“I further remind that such conduct, publications and utterances constitute grievous criminal offences under the Racial Hostilities, Cybercrime and other similar penal legislation and the State will not hesitate to resort to these provisions in our laws in appropriate circumstances,” the Head of State was quoted as saying in a missive. (G12)

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

2 inmates injured during brawl at Lusignan Prison

T

wo inmates of the Lusignan Prison are now nursing injuries about their body following a brawl at the facility on Sunday evening.

The injured men are Gerald Jones,26, of Middle Walk, Buxton and Kaley Roberts, 26, of Blueberry Hill, Linden.

Police stated that on the day in question about 19:55h, Jones, who is housed in Holding Bay Two, allegedly left his section and went to Holding Bay One in which Roberts was held.

As a result, a heated ar-

gument broke out between the two men which quickly escalated into a fight.

Preliminary reports stated that Jones, who was armed with an impro-

vised cutlass, attacked and chopped Roberts to his right hand.

In retaliation, Roberts, who was armed with an improvised ice pick, dealt Jones several stabs to his chest.

The duo was extracted from the prison and taken to the infirmary where they were treated, but owing to the seriousness of Roberts’ injuries, he was transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he was admitted. His condition is listed as stable.

An investigation has since been launched into the incident.

Back to…

H

…backtrack? ere it is, just when your Eyewitness thought that the “backtrack” route to the US had been shut down for good (by the US giving out visas like Father Christmas!), there came the news that four Guyanese lads drowned when the boat transporting them from the Bahamas to Florida capsized. The backtrack route, of course, had flourished for decades, going all the way back to the 1980s, and several present “big ones” here started with loot raked in from the trade. There was big money involved with the going rate per body being a cool US$10,000 and up.

With all that money sloshing around, there were quite a few schemes in play back then. Substituting pictures of persons into passports of some authentic visa holders was a simple one. People working their way to the Bahamas, from where they’d be ferried over to Florida was another.

Getting into Canada legally (the Canadians were more lenient with visas) and then being smuggled over the border (secreted into false wall dividers in vans) into the US near Detroit was another.

But the biggest scam of all wasn’t really a scam, but an American consular officer operating out of the US Embassy in Georgetown giving out LEGAL visas to individuals garnered by the official’s local bag men. Since the fella was caught and convicted, your Eyewitness can tell the tale of Thomas Carrol, which rocked the operations of what had been assumed to be one of the most secure institutions in the world - an American Embassy!

It all occurred between 1999 and 2000, by which time Carroll had already completed the first year of his posting, and was tempted by the huge sums he could make with American visas so much in demand. With just 5 visas a day, five days a week at US$8000 a pop, he was making US$200,000 a week! His henchmen, notably one fella from West Demerara, who procured the bodies with the necessary cash, made their cut by adding another US$2000 onto the “basic” US$8000.

Now, you may want to know where all this money came from? Well, some came from friends and relatives of the bodies, who’d go as far as selling their homes. But since they had to deliver the money in US dollars, the demand created by Carroll actually drove up the exchange rate of the greenbacks!! Most of the money, however, came from relatives of the bodies living in the US; they passed in the cold cash to the middle man from WCD. Carroll was busted when a Diamond dealer finked to the US authorities: Carroll had cornered his sellers to smuggle his money to the US in diamonds!!

Diamonds weren’t his best friend! …a complete lockdown?

With the COVID-19 infection numbers and deaths creeping inexorably upwards, some are calling for a lockdown. Now, there’s no question that a complete lockdown - where no one, say, can leave their house - would solve the problem. With everyone unable to interact with others, the spread would be brought to a grinding halt! But we know that’s impossible, don’t we?

So, the best we can do is strike a balance between what’s possible and what’s practicable. And here’s where we’ll have to become serious and accept that we haven’t followed the practices of those countries that have halted the spread - like China. First of all, they had their lockdown early: which, in our case, the PNC blew with their playing politics!

Then there’s the observance of the non-medical protocols: it’s only now we’re getting serious. But we’ve fallen down on the “contact tracing” the authorities have to conduct once it’s discovered that someone was infected.

And this is where more needs to be done.

…justice at last Forty years after the PNC railroaded Donald Rodney, the brother of Walter whom they’d assassinated, and convicted him for possessing a walkie talkie with a bomb, the “judgement” was overturned.

Maybe the COI Report will now be officially released?

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

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

40 years later

Appeal Court overturns Donald Rodney’s conviction 1980 killing of his brother.

However, two years later, he was convicted for possession of explosives without lawful authority and was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment.

Following this, an appeal was filed by Donald Rodney against conviction and sentencing. He was placed on bail pending his appeal hear-

Donald Rodney

Dr Walter Rodney

orty years after he was convicted for possession of an explosive device, Donald Rodney, who was found guilty and sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment, on Tuesday had his conviction set aside by the Guyana Court of Appeal. The unanimous decision was delivered by Chancellor of the Judiciary (ag) Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards, who along with Justices of Appeal Dawn Gregory and Rishi Persaud deliberated on the matter.

In 1982, Donald Rodney

detailed.

Ali-Hack pointed out that though Donald Rodney was pardoned, it only applies to his sentencing and not his conviction. The DPP admitted that Donald Rodney’s right to a fair trial within a reasonable time as guaranteed under Article 144 of the Constitution of Guyana was breached due to the case spending an unduly long time within the criminal justice system.

Meanwhile, during his submissions, Sanjeev Datadin, the appellant’s de-

– the brother of the late Guyanese politician and historian, Dr Walter Rodney, who was assassinated in June 1980 in a bomb explosion, was convicted of being in possession of explosives without lawful authority by a Magistrate.

The Court of Appeal, in overturning the decision of the Magistrate, noted that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack, SC, conceded that there was no evidence to support the conviction.

She explained that there is insufficient evidence to prove that Rodney knew the “walkie-talkie” he may have possessed was filled with explosives.

“There is no evidence to prove that the walkie talkie was an explosive; people don’t see a walkie-talkie as a container thinking that it will be filled with something,” she

fence attorney, lamented that his client being pardoned does not remove his conviction. As such, though he received a relief from his sentence, the conviction still lingers over his name.

Initially, when the hearing commenced in March, Datadin had stated that the conviction has deprived his client of essentially most of his life.

“A criminal conviction to an honest man is worse than a death sentence. He can’t travel, he cannot do the things he likes, because every form asks whether you have had a conviction,” Datadin noted, adding that his client is a graduate of the Hugh Wooding Law School and has been unable to practise in Guyana because of the criminal conviction to his name.

According to reports, Donald Rodney was the only eyewitness to the June 13,

F

ing.

Further, in 2014, Donald received a presidential pardon by then President Donald Ramotar.

Dr Walter Rodney, who was the co-leader of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), was killed in Georgetown when a walkie-talkie given to him ex-

ploded in his car. A 2015 Commission of Inquiry (CoI), held into the death of Dr Rodney, found that his death was a State killing and that the then Prime Minister Forbes Burnham had to have known about the plot.

“Further, given the manner in which the country was run coupled with the threats

issued by Prime Minister Burnham to the members of te WPA and the evidence of Mr Robert Allan Gates, we conclude that Prime Minister Burnham knew of the plan and was part of the conspiracy to assassinate Dr Walter Rodney,” the COI into Walter Rodney’s assassination declared.

10 NEWS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Controversial “bottom-house” warehouse

George Norton charged for misconduct in public office F ormer Public Health Minister under the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Administration, Dr George Norton was on Tuesday charged for misconduct in public office over the controversial Sussex Street drug bond scandal.

Dr Norton appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts, where he was not required to plead to the indictable charge.

The charge stated that Dr Norton while performing duties of Public Health Minister within the Government of Guyana between June 1, 2016 and January 1, 2017, wilfully misconducted himself in performing his duties when he instructed former Permanent Secretary Trevor Thomas to sign a contract dated July 20, 2016 between the Public Health Ministry and Linden Holdings Inc for the rental of a property situ-

ated at Lot 29 Sussex Street, Albouystown, Georgetown for monthly rent of $12,500,000.

The charge further stated that the contract was drafted for a three-year rental period.

He was granted bail in the sum of $400,000 and will make his next court appearance on April 27. Dr Norton is being represented by Attorneys Nigel Hughes and Marissa Leander.

As a condition of bail, Dr Norton was required to lodge his passport.

The Audit Office had conducted a special audit into the Sussex Street drug bond rental which found that there were clear breaches of the Procurement Act and recommended that the Police be called in and the Legal Affairs Ministry take disciplinary steps where necessary.

According to the report on the special audit produced

by Auditor General Deodat Sharma and addressed to Attorney General Anil

Former Public Health Minister, Dr George Norton

Nandlall, SC, the contract for a medical storage bond was not advertised or publicly procured by the former Administration.

This is a breach of Tender Board procedures and the Procurement Act of 2003.

The then Public Health Ministry always claimed that it rented the bond from Linden Holdings Inc because it was needed on an emergency basis. However, the Audit Office found that despite $25 million being paid for the first two months the bond

was rented (July and August 2016), the bond was not used until the third month.

Another issue is the fact that the bond was underutilised and under-equipped despite contractual stipulations. For instance, the contract mandated that the building would be equipped with 16 upright refrigerators. But at the time of physical verification on April 11, 2017, only 14 were seen.

Additionally, physical verification done by the Audit Office in 2017 found that the bond contained only 472 IUD kits and associated supplies and 1200 umbilical cord clamps. In addition, there were 2130 amphotericin 50mg injections and 8300 condoms.

There is also uncertainty about the date the contract actually ended. The contract was supposed to last from June 1, 2016 to June 30, 2019. In accordance with the need for one-year notice, then Public Health Ministry Permanent Secretary Trevor

Thomas had sent an initial Notice of Quit letter dated October 31, 2016, informing Linden Holdings of the intention to vacate the premises by November 1, 2017.

“However, examination of this letter revealed that it was unsigned and issued without the official letterhead of the Ministry.

Evidence was seen whereby someone would have signed a Document Transmission Slip on 8 November 2016 receiving the Notice to Quit,” the AG had said.

Further, Linden Holdings Inc, which is owned by Larry Singh, has always contended that because of the lack of official letterhead or stamp, the Notice to Quit was not valid. This was cited by Singh’s lawyer, late Senior Counsel and former acting Chief Justice Ian Chang, back in October 2017.

Additionally, Chang had noted that the Notice to Quit lacked “due cause”. In the letter, Singh’s legal team had maintained that the

agreement continued for its fixed three-year term until June 2019, in which case the Government would still have $137.5 million owed minus a $12.5 million security deposit.

“Mr Chang stated that his client Linden Holdings Inc rejects any wrongful repudiation by the Ministry and elects to treat the Agreement of Tenancy of the 1st June 2016 as subsisting beyond the 31st October 2017 to the expiry of the fixed term of three (3) years i.e. until the 30th June 2019,” the AG found.

However, former Attorney General Basil Williams had sought a legal opinion on the matter and such was given by law firm Hughes, Fields and Stoby for the sum of $690,000. According to the legal opinion, Larry Singh should not be given any further payments “given that the Tenant has given notice and has vacated the premises as at 31st day of August, 2018”. (G1)

NEWS

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021|| GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Guyana’s relief arrives in St Vincent on Friday

T

he 300-tonne relief supply that disembarked Guyana en route to St Vincent and the Grenadines will arrive there on Friday, providing needed items to the affected people of the volcano-rocked nation.

The Meena vessel set sail with supplies as listed as immediate needs by the Government of St Vincent. Apart from critical food supplies, the shipment also includes 10,000 hygiene kits, 5000 disinfectants, over 100,000 bottles of water of varying sizes, 6000 water tanks, 10,000 folding cots, 30,000

blankets, 1000 sleeping mats, 1000 respirator masks among other items. While Guyana has been able to mobilise 350 tonnes of supplies, the ship can only carry 300 tonnes. As such, the remaining supplies will go as part of another shipment.

As the final items were packed aboard the vessel on Monday night, Director General of the Civil Defence Commission, Lieutenant Colonel Kester Craig said it was a remarkable public-private partnership to realise this massive effort.

“It’s the first time in a very long time I’ve seen the public-private partnership and the corporate social responsibilities by all the Private Sector agencies working so quickly, to amass a large supply of relief items to be distributed. We were able to provide supplies ranging from food items, safety items, water, sanitisation items. All the needed items that the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines need at this time…We don’t want to take items that cannot be used. These items are the correct items and would be very useful.”

Meanwhile, President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Timothy Tucker said some businesses immediately came on board to donate.

Tucker identified, “The GCCI has reached out to all of its members and one of

The vessel being loaded with the relief items

our members has stepped up to make a sizeable donation, approximately $1.1 million

worth of food items and relief stuff for the St Vincent disaster…This goes to show

not the first time the GCCI has partnered with the CDC. Even last year through the COVID pandemic, we would have donated at that point in time too.”

Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud added that it is an obligation to assist fellow Caricom states in times of need, especially when Guyanese are also affected on the island.

“We’re a sister Caricom state. They’re in a state of distress and I think it's our obligation, our duty to help and support. We have close to 4000 Guyanese living in St Vincent and the Grenadines. Those who are in the red zone, based on the report we received from our Consul General, they have been relocated particularly with other Guyanese in the green zone,” the Foreign Secretary pointed out.

On Monday, President

that the business community in the time of need always steps up to the plate. This is

Dr Irfaan Ali told media operatives that Government is gearing towards continuous

support and these efforts are spearheaded by Prime Minister, Brigadier (retired) Mark Phillips.

“This will be continuous support. What St Vincent is going through is not going to be a one-off event. All we can, we have worked on mobilising, with the Private Sector, various commodities. The Prime Minister himself is looking at this,” the Head of State was quoted as saying.

The La Soufrière volcano started erupting last Friday and heavy ashfall left most of St Vincent and the Grenadines coated in thick ash, prompting immediate evacuation for over 14,000.

The UWI Seismic Research Centre said on Tuesday that it was 42 years to the day that the vol-

cano erupted, commemorating the anniversary with another explosive episode.

The most recent report

Captain Michael Andrews of the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) receives a donation of 24,000 goggles worth $2.4 million from Mike Packwood of Giftland Group of Companies

emanating from the Centre’s team identified the alert level as red.

Seismic activity continued the pattern established on Monday, with short

bands of continuous seismic tremor interspersed with long-period earthquakes.

Following the latest band of tremor, at 01:30h, the long-period earthquakes have steadily become more frequent.

“Audible venting was heard associated with some periods of tremor and long-period earthquake activity. The volcano continues to erupt explosively and has now begun to generate pyroclastic density currents - hot (200°C-700°C) ground-hugging flows of ash and debris.

Explosions and accompanying ashfall, of similar or larger magnitude, are likely to continue to occur over the next few days impacting St Vincent and neighbouring islands,” an update further detailed.

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

88 new COVID-19 cases recorded in 24h GTT appoints new CEO

P

ublic concern about the increased coronavirus cases continue to surface but this spike in positives is linked to heightened testing through public and private institutions.

Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony in Tuesday’s COVID update pointed out that the public testing capacity is supported by three private entities that offer PCR testing.

Another eight also provide antigen tests to the population.

For April, Guyana has seen an increase of almost 1000 new cases – a trend which the Minister associated with the amplified tests.

“We’re doing more testing now and with more testing, we’re seeing more cases so it’s not only the Government system that is testing. We have granted permission to a number of private institutions. Some of them have been licensed to do PCR testing so you have three additional laboratories that are doing PCR testing. Then you have probably eight or 10 that are now doing antigen testing. So our antigen capacity has gone up

Nevertheless, we have trained teams of persons in these different regions so that they are able to, from a regional level, roll out this vaccine,” he explained.

New cases

tremendously,” Dr Anthony informed.

Meanwhile, he said more vaccines will be delivered on Thursday as part of the 200,000 Sputnik vaccines purchased by Government.

On Monday, the second tranche of 30,000 was delivered at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.

“We’re expecting some more on Thursday and in terms of the ones from COVAX, we have been told that we should expect additional vaccines through the COVAX mechanism sometime between now and May. There wasn’t a definitive date but we should be getting additional vaccines.”

The Health Ministry is seeking to scale up vaccination as medical person-

nel become more proficient in the administration campaign. Presently, there are some geographical challenges in reaching the hinterland communities but the Health Minister has assured that everyone will be reached.

“We have deployed to the different regions, enough vaccines for them to use and to make sure that this programme is ongoing. In the hinterland, that can sometimes pose a challenge because sometimes the geographical spread of some of the villages. Therefore, while we’re working in different parts of the hinterland, it would take us some time before we can get to all those villages, to be able to do the immunisation.

The Ministry’s daily dashboard for Tuesday showed a whopping increase of 88 cases in 24 hours, raising the total positives to date to 11,277. A gender breakdown revealed that 5725 males and 5552 females were infected.

There are now 15 persons in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), with 77 persons in institutional capacity, 1131 in home isolation and 12 in institutional quarantine. A total of 9796 persons have made complete recoveries – an increase of 45.

Regionally, one case was detected in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), 16 in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), 42 in Region Four (DemeraraMahaica), 10 in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), five in Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne), six in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), three in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) and one in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).

The cases in Regions One (Barima-Waini) and Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) remain at 1029 and 247. (G12)

G

uyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) has named Damian Blackburn as its new Chief Executive Officer as Justin Nedd steps down from the post.

Nedd at a press conference on Tuesday said that he will be taking up a post within parent company Atlantic Tele Network as Vice President of Strategic Programmes.

Blackburn has signalled his intention to use innovation as the driving force in ensuring that customers receive adequate service. He sports some two decades of leadership with mobile and internet operators across the Americas, the Caribbean and Europe.

Most recently, he served as CEO of Aliv - a successful LTE network mobile operator in The Bahamas. He has also held positions at Virgin Mobile, Vodafone/ Orange and Digicel among others. The new CEO is already hinting at new plans for the oil and gas industry, among other sectors.

“My goal is to listen to our customers and work with our incredible team to make sure that we deliver the country’s vision of exceptional technology and service to meet current and future needs. The company has built a strong foundation – and with a sharpened focus on the needs of our customers, we will rise together with Guyana,”

New GTT CEO Damian Blackburn

Blackburn said.

Chairman of GTT’s Board of Directors, Brad Martin also said in a statement, “Damian is a highly experienced telecoms leader who has the vision to grow GTT and deliver on the changing needs of our customers and the country.

His impressive career has included running companies, building and managing mobile networks, leading growth initiatives, and more. One of the most consistent themes of his work is that he’s been a customer service champion at every level. With a track record of operating highly reliable networks and improving customer experience, Damian will accelerate GTT’s customer-focused mission.”

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14 NEWS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

4 missing Guyanese

Relatives deny paying US$7000-$15,000 to smuggle men into US …no missing person’s reports made to Bahamian authorities

Missing: Krishan “Mark” Sukraj

Missing: Kevin “Davin” Sukraj

hile relatives of the four missing Guyanese are holding out that they did not attempt to cross into the United States via The Bahamas illegally, information reaching Guyana Times suggested that relatives paid between US$7000 to

$15000 for the trip.

The men, Kevin Sukraj also called “Davin” and his brother-in-law, Krishna Sukraj also called “Mark”, and two friends, Rayan Bhodoo and Anil Deonarine, went missing after it is believed that the boat in which they were crossing into the

W

United States capsized.

However, well-placed sources told this publication that the men were each allegedly required to pay US$7000 before the trip and upon arrival in the US, an additional sum would have been handed over. The additional sum, this publication was told, was US$8000.

But when contacted, Vannie Sukraj, who resides in the US, refuted the claims that her brother, Kevin, and husband, Krishna, travelled to The Bahamas to enter the US illegally and more so, that relatives would have paid an exorbitant amount of money to get them there.

In fact, she explained that after the men went missing, she contacted the US Coast Guard when she saw television reports that a boat had capsized. She admitted that the Coast Guard would have given relatives a detailed report on the rescue

mission. To date, however, she noted that they cannot ascertain if those who were on the boat were in fact her relatives.

Initially, the family claimed that they were never in contact with the US Coast Guard but a recording of the rescue operation was forwarded to this publication by a source.

When questioned about the reason for the visit, Sukraj explained that they were in The Bahamas on vacation.

“The Coast Guard did not find any bodies… we don’t know what happened to them… we are just waiting and praying for some miracle that they are on some other island or something.”

No missing person’s report

When Guyana Times contacted the Police in The Bahamas, the spokesper-

A social media post of relatives reacting to the men’s death

The four men after arriving in The Bahamas

son, Superintendent Pinder, directed all questions to the Immigration Department but calls to that unit went unanswered. But a new report coming out of the island stated that the authorities (Police and Immigration) were not in possession of any reports on the missing Guyanese.

Meanwhile, the wife of Kevin Sukraj was contacted on Tuesday and she related that the last time she heard from him was on February 10, 2021 - the same night he disappeared.

She noted that he had called to speak to his son briefly to inform him that he was “heading home soon.”

“That was the last time we heard from him… I know that he and some guys had a scuffle in the hotel and they were arrested by immigration and their passport were taken away… his mother has been updating me from time to time,” the woman added.

She further stated that they had separated more than a year ago but he would still visit and take care of his children.

She also claimed that she had no idea that he had left Guyana until he called to speak with his son. His daughter, she noted, lives

with him in Sophia, Greater Georgetown.

To date, it is believed that the men had planned to travel to The Bahamas where they would have crossed into the US illegally. In a previous report, it was stated that a recording obtained proved that the US Coast Guard was updating relatives on the search and rescue mission after the four men along with two others had disappeared after the boat in which they were illegally crossing over into the US capsized. The boat reportedly capsized due to bad weather.

During the update, members of the US Coast Guard were heard telling the relatives of Sukraj that after more than 63 hours of searching over a three-day period, there were no signs of the missing men. Several boats and aircraft were used in the mission but all came up empty-handed.

The Coast Guards were also heard informing the relatives that based on the location where the boat went down, swimming to shore is quite impossible. Due to the weather and no sighting of the men, the US Coast Guard had made a decision to suspend the mission.

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Ramsammy’s Ruminations Several arrested with ganja, APNU/AFC abandoned their supporters of 2015-2020

T

he hypocrisy is stifling. Joe Harmon, the Leader of the Opposition, is calling on Government to swiftly transfer Linden TV to the people of Linden. This brazen, shameless man sat at the right hand of President David Granger for five years, and was the mover and shaker in the APNU/AFC Government for five years. APNU/AFC deliberately stifled the transfer of the Linden TV to Region 10. They did everything to stop the transfer. Moses Nagamootoo, the then Prime Minister, went to Linden and promised that the transfer would be done in a matter of weeks.

During a walkabout in Linden in August 2016, more than a year after APNU/AFC took control of the Government, Nagamootoo declared that the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority stood ready to grant a licence for Linden TV to operate as Channel 13, an independent TV station outside of the Dr Leslie Ramsammy control of NCN. He had said that, within weeks, the TV station would be transferred to the people of Linden. His excuse then for not immediately making the transfer was that the Government could not hand over the TV station, and that the National Broadcasting Authority could not grant a licence to the “people of Region 10"; he declared then that the licence and the transfer of the station had to be to a "company". Region 10 had established a trust consisting of five persons to own and operate the TV station on behalf of Region 10. Nagamootoo, speaking for the APNU/AFC Government, said the trust had to have at least 15 members, but it had only five. In August 2016, Nagamootoo said the new "company" would be established within "two weeks". In August 2020, when they finally conceded that they had lost the elections, after an intense, ugly, five- month electoral theft attempt, it was a full four years since he promised. Yes, it was more than 200 weeks.

They showed no respect for the people who supported them almost unanimously in 2015. That the unanimous support they received in 2015 showed cracks in the March 2020 elections is therefore not shocking.

APNU/AFC had promised the people they would transfer the NCN Linden station to the people of Region 10. They made that unequivocal promise before the 2015 election, and afterwards for five years while in Government. Nagamootoo’s promise was not the only promise made. Every time a leader of APNU/AFC visited Linden, he or she made that promise. After many renewed promises during the Granger-led APNU/AFC term in office, between 2015 and 2020, they played games and never transferred the TV station to Linden and Region 10. They never intended to. Having always planned to thief the 2020 elections, they never envisaged they would have been out of Government. Simply put, they lied to Lindeners from day 1.

Now Joe Harmon is making excuses. He said they had actually been doing the transfer but there was a sloth in the paperwork. Really?! This same APNU/AFC Government, weeks before the March 2020 elections, signed a more-than-$800M contract with BK to build a school, hastily signing just before the elections at a sum twice the engineer's estimate. They proved they could complete paperwork with ugly haste, within weeks, to grant their friends and donors huge contracts. For their friends, they signed away large tracts of valuable real estate in various parts of the country, including where the deep- water harbor and the oil refinery may be located. But for their supporters in Linden and Region 10, even five years was not enough.

Now they are demanding that the PPP must complete what they promised and never even tried doing.

It is total disrespect to now plead with the people of Region 10, trying to persuade them they did try to deliver on the promise, but that the five years were inadequate to complete the paperwork to enact the transfer. But this disrespect and uncaring attitude to their supporters was most glaring throughout the five years. When they charged a fee for their own supporters to take a picture with a cardboard image of the "Dear" Leader, David Granger, at the Golden Grove election rally in February 2020, the disrespect was not only very visible, but was ugly.

Contrast that with Irfaan Ali and Bharrat Jagdeo, who took thousands of pictures with anyone who attended PPP rallies. Up to today, anywhere these PPP leaders go, people take pictures with them. But right in front of our eyes at this very critical moment, we see that the PNC leaders (this include those in the AFC) have taken their vaccines, protecting themselves, but not encouraging people, especially their own supporters, to take the vaccine. It is ugly and reprehensible that none of the PNC leaders have come out and urge their supporters to take the vaccine. This is how much they care for people. If a political party will remain silent on a matter that is life and death for people, including their own supporters, what really does that say about these leaders? It says they could not care less. The supporters of the PNC (APNU/AFC) must not excuse such dotishness from dotards who disrespect them. In turn, people should simply turn their backs on these leaders.

“molly” during raid in Linden

S

everal persons were arrested during a Police operation in the mining town of Linden in the wee hours of Tuesday.

The raid was conducted at Victory Valley, Silvertown, One Mile and Half Mile, Blueberry Hill, Block 22, Green Valley, Retrieve, Dagarrad Avenue and Mackenzie. During the exercise, which was conducted to search for drugs, illegal firearms, ammunition or anything unlawfully obtained, the Police found 440 grams of ganja and 2.5 grams “molly”.

Those arrested were three youths from Victory Valley for attempt to commit a felony and a 33-year-old unemployed male of Republic Avenue,

The ganja and pills found during the raid

Mackenzie for the offence of break and enter and larceny.

In addition, a 40-year-old man and a 34-year-old female of Oronoque Drive, Retrieve were arrested for possession of 440 grams of cannabis and

2.5 grams of methylenedioxymethamphetamine commonly known as “molly” or ecstasy. The pills were found in 19 transparent Ziploc plastic bags.

They are expected to make their court appearance later in the week.

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Mabaruma youth who went missing was murdered – autopsy T

wenty-year-old Avinash Fernandes, also called “Avi”, whose body was found floating in the Arakaka River, North West District (NWD), Region One (Barima-Waini) days after he went missing was strangled to death.

This was confirmed by an autopsy that was conducted on his remains by Dr Nehaul Singh, who gave the cause of death as asphyxiation due to compression of the neck, consistent with manual strangulation. As such, the Police have launched an investigation.

It was reported that Fernandes of Mabaruma Compound, NWD was last seen alive on April 5, 2021 at his campsite located at 13 Miles Trail Line Backdam, Arakaka.

Avinash Fernandes

Days later, the partially-decomposed body of the young man was found during a search of the Arakaka River.

The body was taken to

the Port Kaituma Public Hospital and examined, but at the time, there were no visible marks of violence on the body.

Only a week ago, the partially decomposed body of Joel Skeete, a University of Guyana (UG) student was found lying face down among the rocks along the western bank of the Demerara River in the vicinity of Belle Vue, West Bank Demerara (WBD).

Skeete, 19, had disappeared after leaving a barbershop at the Demerara Harbour Bridge Mall.

Over the past weeks, a number of persons have been reported missing. This had prompted the public to draw conclusions about suspected kidnappings.

However, Police, in a

Man attacked, chopped at Annandale

T

he Police are on the hunt for three men who attacked and chopped a man on Saturday evening last. The injured man has been identified as Rayon Adams.

Based on reports received, at about 19:00h on the day in question along the Annandale Railway Embankment, East Coast Demerara, Adams travelled to Annandale to uplift mon-

ey owed to him by an acquaintance who is commonly called “Dul Dul”.

However, while Adams was waiting to collect same, he was attacked by three men who were armed with cutlasses. One of the suspects, Andy, dealt one blow to his left hand, thus resulting in it being severed from the wrist.

After committing the act, the suspect along with

his two accomplices made good their escape. One of the accomplices is known as “Becko.”

Meanwhile, the injured victim was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. The matter was reported to the Police and an investigation was launched. Up to press time, no arrests were made.

statement, said there has not been any recent report of kidnapping.

“The Guyana Police Force has taken notice of a Facebook post showing concern in relation to the number of recent missing person

reports in the country, particularly teenagers…The Police Force is once more giving citizens the assurance that this is far from reality and that there has not been any report of any kidnapping received by the

Police within recent times,” the statement issued by the Force stated.

The Police Force also said that a system is in place which is publicised periodically where persons can report such matters.

juries on his brother.

The injured man went to the Enmore Police Station where he told ranks about what transpired. He was subsequently escorted to Enmore Polyclinic Centre,

where he was treated and sent away.

Acting on information received, Police apprehended the suspect, who was assisting with the investigations.

Foulis man chopped during argument with brother

A

Foulis, East Coast Demerara (ECD) man was on Tuesday chopped by his brother during an argument at their home.

Deonauth Ramnarain, of 13th Street, Foulis, was reportedly chopped about his back, chest and forehead.

Based on reports received, about 14:58h on the day in question, the victim and his brother were at home when an argument broke out over the breaking of a door lock.

As a result, the 44-yearold suspect became annoyed, went into the upper flat of the house, collected a cutlass and inflicted the in-

Man wanted for robbery arrested at Arakaka

T

hirty-nine-yearold Romel David, a pork-knocker of Pakera Village, North West District (NWD) who was sentenced in absentia on an armed robbery charge was arrested on Monday.

Based on reports, the man was arrested at 5 Miles, Arakaka by a party of Police ranks who were on a mobile patrol.

After the incident, an arrest warrant was issued for his arrest by Magistrate

Dylon Bess, who had sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment after an ex-parte trial on February 8, 2020 when he failed to appear in court. He was on the run up until his apprehension.

NEWS

17

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Men busted with ganja by CANU granted bail

T

wo men who were busted by agents of the Customs AntiNarcotics Unit (CANU) with a quantity of ganja were granted bail by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan when they appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Tuesday.

Derych Roach and Glen Forde were both charged with the possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking.

CANU stated that on April 10, 2021, at Light Street Alberttown, Roach was found with 206 grams of ganja, along with US$20 and $283,700 in local currency.

After the charge was

Derych Roach and Glen Forde

read to him, he refused to plead and as such a not guilty plea was entered on his behalf. As such, he was released on $150,000 bail and ordered to report to the CANU Headquarters once per month until the conclu-

Craig man pleads guilty to Nandy Park, Agricola murders

Orpheus Johnson

O

rpheus Johnson was on Tuesday remanded to prison after he pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter when he appeared at the Demerara High Court.

The Craig, East Bank Demerara (EBD) resident was arraigned before Justice Sandil Kissoon for the 2015 murders of Travis Rudder and Gladstone George. He further admitted to the attempted murder committed on Mowanza Gill and her 18-month-old son Jaleel Rudder.

During his appearance, he pleaded guilty to the charge which stated that on June 21, 2015, he unlawfully killed Travis Rudder. He also admitted to discharging a loaded firearm at Gill and her baby.

It was reported that Travis Rudder, his girlfriend and their 18-monthold son were shot while they were sleeping at their Nandy Park, EBD home on June 21, 2015.

The suspect reportedly went to the home of Rudder where he opened fire on the couple and their baby through a window. The three people were in their bedroom.

As a result of the attack, Rudder was reportedly shot 21 times about his body while his girlfriend was also shot several times to her legs. The couple’s 18-monthold son received injuries to his stomach and leg.

Rudder was subsequently rushed to the GPHC

Murdered: Gladstone George

Murdered: Travis Rudder

where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Gill and her baby were admitted in serious condition. The lad was reportedly hooked up to a life-support machine and managed to pull through.

On the other hand, Johnson also pleaded guilty to killing Gladstone George, whose body was riddled with bullets on April 22, 2015, at Agricola, East Bank Demerara.

Reports are that on the day in question, the victim was a passenger in a minibus and as the vehicle came to a stop at Agricola, EBD, Johnson reportedly walked up to the window and discharged several rounds at George.

The victim, who was shot several times, was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Johnson is set to return to court on May 3 for sentencing, when a probation report is expected to be read.

sion of the matter.

On the other hand, Forde was granted $20,000 bail for the charge and was also ordered to report to

CANU Headquarters once per month.

Forde denied the charge which alleged that on April 10, 2021, at his Lot 54 Fifth Street Alberttown home, he had 33 grams of cannabis in his possession along with $144,710 in cash.

CANU reported that on the day in question, agents conducted a raid in the Alberttown area.

During the search, ranks swooped down on Forde’s home, where they found 33 grams of cannabis along with cash on top of his kitchen cupboard. As a result, he was cautioned and

The ganja that was confiscated during the raid

taken into custody.

Shortly after, ranks conducted a search at the home of Roach during which 206 grams of ganja was un-

Relatives deny paying...

In a report posted on February 13, 2021, on WPTV News in Florida captioned “1 person rescued after boat capsizes off Fort Pierce; Coast Guard searching for 6 other people,” it was stated that the boat capsized off Fort Pierce on February 10, 2021 – the same day one of the sisters last heard from her brother Kevin.

It was reported that the lone survivor was the captain of the 18-foot vessel.

The captain, Orville Lyons, a Jamaican, was rescued by another boat captained by Chase Cornell.

He recalled seeing Lyons’ hands waving at them. “I didn’t know what to do other than start screaming, ‘There’s a guy in the water

up there!’”, he reportedly told the Coast Guards.

Cornell of Southern Eagle Charters in Fort Pierce was at the time on a fishing expedition with a few others. Nevertheless, with the assistance of the others, they reportedly tossed a life ring attached to a rope to Lyons and pulled him to safety.

earthed together with the aforementioned cash.

Both men are expected to return to court on May 12.

FROM PAGE 14

“We got on the VHF radio and called the Coast Guard who told us to stay with the boat,” Cornell said.

“They asked us a bunch of questions about our position I’m assuming so they begin planning a grid search for the others.”

They were about 20 miles offshore of Fort Pierce Inlet.

18 NEWS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Ruling on Parliamentary Secretaries set for April 20 – as lawyers virtually trade blows during hearing

Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC

T

he High Court has set April 20, 2021, to rule on the right of Parliamentary Secretaries to sit in the National Assembly, as a result of a challenge that was filed by the APNU/AFC which was

heard on Tuesday by acting Chief Justice Roxane George.

Attorney for the applicant, Senior Counsel Roysdale Forde kicked off the virtual proceedings by arguing the unconstitutionality of the secretaries’ appointments. He noted that there are only two ways the secretaries, Sarah Browne and Vickash Ramkissoon, could sit in the National Assembly.

“In one category, you can sit and vote. In the other category, you can sit but not vote. The third and fourth respondents do not fall into either class of category. And there’s nothing in the Constitution or any law that states that by virtue of an appointment of a person who was on a successful list of candidates and not extracted, but they

Attorney Roysdale Forde, SC

were appointed to the office of Parliamentary Secretary.

That by virtue of that appointment, they become a member of the National Assembly,” Forde informed the court.

Attorney General and Senior Counsel Anil Nandlall was of the view that the case is a simple one made complicated by the applicant. He noted that Article 113 and Article 186 make it clear that the President may appoint Parliamentary Secretaries who are elected members or eligible to be elected.

“Article 186 in its simplest language tells us that a Parliamentary Secretary may be appointed from persons who are elected members of the National Assembly or are qualified to be. Sarah Brown and Vickash Ramksisson are elected members of the National Assembly and they were appointed

Parliamentary Secretaries, pursuant to Article 186 (1),” Nandlall said.

“And they are qualified to be so elected. They are not voting members in the National Assembly. And under our constitutional construct, Parliamentary Secretaries do not vote. In our affidavit, we referred to two historical and verifiable examples of fact.”

Here, he referred to the cases of Pauline Sukhai, now Amerindian Affairs Minister, who was a Member of Parliament and a Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry she now heads. Additionally, current Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton was an MP and a Parliamentary Secretary in the Health Ministry.

Manoj Narayan, who represented Speaker of the National Assembly Manzoor Nadir, meanwhile noted during the presentation of his legal arguments that the idea of Parliamentary Secretaries is inseparable from Parliament.

“I don’t think you can be elected and unelected at the same time. You’re either an elected member, who was appointed a Parliamentary Secretary, or non-elected.

And I don’t think Article 186 (3), by giving a right to the non-elected member to sit, takes away the right of the elected member to sit.

Because an essential feature of a Parliamentary Secretary is the ability to sit in the National Assembly.

And Article 186 (4) supports that contention,” Narayan said. Acting Chief Justice Roxane George ultimately set April 20 at 15:00h to give her ruling.

Opposition Chief Whip

Attorney Manoj Narayan

Christopher Jones, the applicant in the case, is contending that the appointments of Browne and Ramkissoon as non-elected Members of Parliament (MPs) and Parliamentary Secretaries to the Amerindian Affairs

and Agriculture Ministries, respectively, were done in breach of the Constitution of Guyana.

According to proceedings filed in the High Court, Jones is contending that Browne and Ramkissoon cannot be appointed as non-elected MPs since they were named on the List of Candidates presented by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic for the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections.

Noting that Browne and Ramkissoon continue to be members of the National Assembly, Jones is asking the court to grant an order compelling the Speaker of the National Assembly to prevent them from sitting in and participating in the business of the National Assembly.

Linden PPP Councillor dies S

erojnie Gem Naraine, a People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Councillor in Region Ten’s (Upper Demerara-Berbice) Regional Democratic Council has died.

The PPP in a statement expressed its condolences to the relatives, friends and residents of Region 10 on the passing of Narine.

“Cde Gem was a passionate and dedicated activist and also a community leader of the Speightland Community,” the party said.

Several persons have taken to social media to offer condolences to the be-

Serojnie Gem Naraine

reaved family members and friends of Narine.

NEWS

19

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Jagan's contributions to democracy will never be forgotten – President Ali

– says he inspired PPP/C during last year’s struggle for democracy

P

resident Dr Irfaan Ali has hailed Dr Cheddi Jagan, Guyana’s former President and the founder of the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) for his democratic principles, principles that still inspire the party even to this day.

Ali made this pronouncement during the virtual annual Cheddi Jagan Commemorative Lecture.

He also noted that any suggestion of Jagan’s memory being sidelined has no basis in truth and pointed out that even last year when the party struggled against election rigging, his democratic principles served as inspiration.

"Dr Cheddi Jagan's ideas and ideals are engraved in the psyche of our party and its leaders. They have become part of the PPP's DNA. His examples and contributions continue to inspire us, especially in the

President Irfaan Ali

face of the attempts which were made to derail our elections and to destroy our democracy," the President added while emphasising that the party was inspired and led by the best example of political tenacity.

"Democracy for him went beyond the country's po-

litical system; it encompassed the very substance of the society which was being fashioned. It was not only about elections and respecting human rights, but it was also about realising the full capabilities of our people."

Calling Dr Jagan

Central Immigration Office to process 100 applications daily

The line at the passport office in Georgetown on Tuesday

T

he Central Immigration and Passport Office in Camp Street, Georgetown, on Tuesday recorded a major hike in traffic as persons flooded the entity to process various transactions - an occurrence that has not happened in recent years.

Deputy Chief Immigration Officer Dennis Stephens said this unusual occurrence started a few weeks ago where over 200 persons are being attended to per day.

It was reported that for the past few days, hundreds of persons were seen queuing outside the facility.

Stephens explained that the reason for the heavy traffic is due to the fact that many persons are not utilising the regional passport offices.

“What we have observed, there are two offices, one in Linden and one in Berbice… even though they live in those areas, they still come to town, and that is what really is the problem. What we have decided to do is to only

accept 100 applicants per day. Fifty in the morning, and 50 in the afternoon to be able to solve the problem.”

Stephens said the Immigration Office is forced to put this mechanism in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This mechanism would have taken effect since last week. What occurs, a lot of persons are using their passports for business transactions taken into consideration many of them may not have an ID card. That is why large number of persons are coming for passports.

Persons are also travelling,” he said.

He also lamented that persons are not adhering to COVID-19 protocols when visiting the passport office.

“We are living in Guyana and even though we would have indicated to persons to adhere to the COVID-19 protocol, persons are still breaching the guidelines.”

Meanwhile, a statement from the Guyana Police Force (GPF) on Tuesday af-

ternoon reminded the general public that owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in keeping with the established safety guidelines, the Central Immigration and Passport Office at Camp Street, Georgetown, will be providing services to 100 persons on a daily basis. This took effect from Monday last.

“Fifty persons will be processed commencing at 07:00h and another 50 at 11:30h. A number system will be in effect,” the Police said.

Presently, there are passport offices at Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) and New Amsterdam in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).

Lethem, Mabaruma, Anna Regina, Bartica, and Mahdia are expected to soon get regional passport offices.

The goal is to decentralise immigration services, to reduce the crowds that would be at the Georgetown office on a daily basis.

Guyana’s greatest citizen, Ali pointed out that the party founder never succumbed or compromised the democratic principle during "the 28 years the party was cheated out of office".

The Head of State said that Dr Jagan remains Guyana's foremost democrat, who possessed unfaltering faith in democracy and was committed to the building of a national democratic state resting on a tripod of principles: the right to free and fair elections, respect for human rights, and meeting the needs of the citizens.

"Cheddi Jagan is without question Guyana's greatest citizen. He is considered the Father of our Nation and was widely respected as one of the Caribbean's leading internationalists and the patriarch of the PPP. His heroic 28 yearlong struggle for the restoration of democracy and the foundations which he laid in his abbreviated yet impactful tenure as President, bequeath to him a permanent iconic standing."

President Ali further explained that Dr Jagan believed that democracy was integral to the nationalistic struggle, for the eradication of social ills, for rejecting despotic tendencies and for establishing a peaceful and prosperous Guyana.

He said that the former President knew that democracy was necessary for national sovereignty and independence, for safeguarding the country's ter-

Late President, Dr Cheddi Jagan

ritorial integrity and for shielding Guyanese from anti-popular and dictatorial forms of Government.

Despite being deposed by the suspension of the Constitution in 1953 and in opposition from 1964 to 1992, the President said that Dr Jagan continued to insist that democracy must become part of the solution to the country's political and economic crises.

"Democracy was part of Dr Jagan's worldview.

Some misguided elements, including those once close to him, have sought to insinuate that his support and advocacy of democracy were opportunistic. How little they know of him!

How little they learnt from him!" the President passionately stated.

He said that Dr Jagan had his socialist convictions and never disavowed his ideological leanings but

considered democracy as an important pillar for socialism.

"So, Dr Jagan's ideological position, his ideological underpinning was based on democracy, it was based on freedom, it was based on equality, it was based on the creation of a just society. His ideas and ideology were all wrapped in the tenancy of democracy and freedom."

The Head of State also said that although 24 years have passed since Dr Jagan’s death, the citizens of the country have a duty to protect his legacy—especially his commitment to democracy. He added that since Dr Jagan planted the seed of consultative and participatory democracy, citizens must ensure that the tree of democracy is sturdier and that his legacy is never diluted.

"Never again must Guyana's democracy be imperilled. We must strengthen our electoral laws, including ensuring stronger penalties for those who dare to violate this sacred canon.

We must insist on greater integrity on the part of some of those who manage our elections,” Dr Ali said.

“In safeguarding democratic rights and principles, particularly the right of citizens to elect the Government of their choice at free and fair elections held at regular intervals, we will be honouring his memory and protecting our rights and our country's development.”

20

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021

guyanatimesgy.com

ARCHIE

ARIES

Pace yourself, and you

(March 21- will accomplish all you set April 19) out to do. Gravitate toward

people who are willing to give back as much as they take. Strive for equality in all things.

Extravagant behavior will hold you back.

(April 20- Moderation mixed with disciMay 20) pline and hard work will be your ticket to success. Walk away from temptation, and remain focused on your longterm objective.

TAURUS

DILBERT

Work quietly on your own GEMINI until you are satisfied with (May 21- the results. Presenting a June 20) well-prepared plan will encourage interest, assistance and success. Don’t lose sight of your goals.

PEANUTS

CANCER (June 21July 22)

You can reach out and get help, or you can figure it out yourself. The latter will be significantly more satisfying and the rewards yours to enjoy.

Don’t listen to someone enticing you to indulge.

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

Let your charm, leadership ability and skills help you build your future. You can advance if you keep your emotions out of the equation and put your intelligence to work for you. Romance is encouraged.

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

Information you gather will change the way you do things. A chance to try something new will push you in a new direction. Stay calm, regardless of what others do or say.

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

Put your time and effort into personal growth, fitness and expanding your skills and talents. Use charm to bypass anyone who tries to stand in your way or take control. Learn as you go.

CALVIN AND HOBBES

SCORPIO

SUDOKU

(Oct. 24Nov. 22)

A change of plans will upset you. Begin your journey and continue down the path that beckons you, regardless of what others decide to do.

Someone you least expect will have your back.

Reach out to like-minded SAGITTARIUS individuals and start making (Nov. 23plans that encourage safe soDec. 21) cializing, fitness and self-improvement. Jealousy and possessiveness are apparent.

Don’t let anyone interfere.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19)

Stick close to home. Set up a place where you can relax and develop something you want to pursue.

Distance yourself from those who don’t play by the rules or use inappropriate measures to dominate your time.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 19)

Take a deep breath and put things in perspective.

Spend more time on self-improvement and less worrying about what others think.

Choose peace and love over discord.

SOLUTION FOR LAST PUBLISHED PUZZLE

PISCES (Feb. 20March 20)

Consider what you enjoy doing and find a way to incorporate it into your everyday routine. Refuse to let anyone persuade you into doing something you find taxing and unrewarding.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021

21

Foster, Singh appointed Directors of Cricket West Indies – BCB Committee, West MMZ Cricket Club extend congratulations

B

erbice Cricket Board President Hilbert Foster and current President of both the Guyana Cricket Board and the Demerara Cricket Board, Bissoondyal Singh, were last Sunday appointed Directors of Cricket West Indies when that august body held general elections for office-bearers.

Reacting to news of this development, the Berbice Cricket Board Committee and the West Meten-Meer-Zorg Cricket Club have both extended heartfelt congratulations to these new CWI Directors, and to all other members who have been elected to serve.

The BCB Committee, in a letter, said: “The Executive Committee of the Berbice Cricket Board extend our congratulation to our President, Hilbert Foster, on his appointment as a Director

of Cricket West Indies.

“Foster, three years ago, inherited a cricket board that was in decline, penniless, and heavily in the red, but, along with his team, has today transformed the BCB into a very productive and dynamic organisation.

“His outstanding work at the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club also speaks for itself, and he fully deserves the appointment.

“Congrats are also extended to Bissoondyal Singh on his appointment as the second CWI Director.

“We are very confident that Mr Foster and Mr Singh would be assets to the CWI, and would not only promote the interest of Guyana Cricket, but would look after the overall interest of every player and member country in the West Indies.

“The BCB stands ready to

South Africa Cricket tour tentatively set for T&T

T

HE entire South Africa tour of the West Indies, comprising two Test matches and five T20 matches, is tentatively scheduled to be played in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

It had initially been reported that Trinidad would host matches when Pakistan visit the Caribbean later this year. The option of playing South Africa in Trinidad was discussed at the Cricket West Indies’ (CWI) Annual General Meeting on Sunday.

CWI have tried to limit players' travelling during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sri Lanka and West Indies faced off in three T20 Internationals, three One Day Internationals, and two Test matches from early March to early April. All those matches were played at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium and at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua and Barbuda.

Matches during the South Africa series may be played at the Queen’s Park Oval and at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad & Tobago.

An anonymous source, who works with the TT

Cricket Board (TTCB), told Newsday, “The dates (of the South Africa series) were not confirmed. It is tentatively going to start (in) early June, and it is going to be all here of course…we (TT) were supposed to initially get Pakistan (matches), now we are getting South Africa (matches).”

The South Africa tour would include a four-day practice match.

The source said, “All of this I would say is 80 per cent confirmed, but it still has to get ratification by South Africa.”

South Africa’s tour of the Caribbean will continue a hectic period for West Indies at home. After South Africa visit the Caribbean, Australia and Pakistan are scheduled to travel to the region.

The International Cricket Council Under-19 World Cup would be held in the Caribbean in early 2022.

President of the TTCB, Azim Bassarath, told Newsday recently that the board is working alongside the Sport Company of TT in an effort to bid to host matches. (TT Newsday)

GCB Vice President and CWI Director, Hilbert Foster

GCB President and CWI Director, Bissondyal Singh

offer any assistance needed, as our main objective is to be involved in the development of West Indies Cricket.

“Mr Foster has indicated that members of the public can share ideas with him, and we would like to encourage (those) interested to contact him.

“The BCB Executives would also like to congratulate GCB representatives Roland Williams and Azad Ibrahim on their outstanding work at the recent CWI Annual General Meeting.

“There can be no doubt that cricket in our beloved country is in safe hands. We would like to recommit ourselves to working every day to develop Guyana Cricket and to work along with every dedicated administrator in the country. We would like to appeal to all our counterparts to support the new CWI Directors and the legally elected GCB

executives.

“The board would also like to express our appreciation to Minister of Sport, Charles Ramson Jnr, for his leadership in resolving the decade-long cricket crisis in Guyana. Thanks, Minister, for your courage, wisdom, and most importantly your dedication.”

The West Meten-Meer-Zorg Cricket Club penned similar sentiments, which said, inter alia, congratulations to all the members of the newly-elected Guyana Cricket Board and to the two gentlemen recently elected as Directors of Cricket West Indies: President Bissoondyal Singh and Vice President Hilbert Foster. (They are) arguably the two most trusted and successful cricket administrators in Guyana.

We, the members of the West Meten-Meer-Zorg Cricket Club, are super excited about the

Club Captain and Administrator for West Meten-Meer-Zorg Cricket Club, Troy Khan

future of Guyana Cricket, which was in ‘the dark days’ for almost 10 years. As club captain and administrator for our club team, for Meten-Meer-Zorg Cricket Club, we had a very difficult past with those (whom) we felt were dictators of cricket instead of proper administrators, (and) we are so much pleased (to have) this change.

We are looking forward for brighter days ahead with the Demerara Cricket Board, (and) by extension (with the) Guyana Cricket Board. Our club had to suffer for not supporting those who know nothing about cricket and cricket administration. We do hope that this fresh and knowledgeable bunch of newly elected members (would) look after the interest of all clubs, and not follow in the footsteps of those who were just there for

the personal gain…

Jermin Maxwell and former club President and MetenMeer-Zorg Cricket Club Master Captain Azeem Troy Khan said it’s been a very challenging past for cricket, not only at MetenMeer-Zorg, but in all Guyana.

“To the men who worked so hard to ensure democracy is restored to Guyana Cricket, I say a big thank you. Sadly, one of those men, Pretipaul Jaigobin, was called back by God Almighty after he had seen the light at (the) end of a long tunnel”.

I have played cricket with the newly-elected President and Director of the Guyana Cricket Board, Bissoondyal Singh, and I have known Vice President Foster for a number of years. These two gentlemen are undoubtedly the best candidates to fly The Golden Arrowhead once again and return Guyana Cricket where it belongs.

Congratulations to all of Guyana’s cricket clubs and boards. I see this new Guyana Cricket Board not like those before; rather, (as) a team working together for all of Guyana Cricket. I (would) like to say to clubs in West Demerara: If you are serious about the future of cricket in our area, it’s time you wake up; the dark days are over. Let us play cricket.

22

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021

Mumbai Indians pull off unlikely win over – as Rahul Chahar, Suryakumar Yadav, Knight Riders Trent Boult star in match

R

ahul Chahar, Krunal Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah pulled a rabbit out of the hat to give Mumbai Indians their first win in IPL 2021. Down and out in their defence of 153, they strung together pressure on a slow surface, and then let Knight Riders crack.

Victory had looked a mere formality for the Knight Riders when openers Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill had walloped 72 in 8.5 overs.

Where calmness could've done the job, Knight Riders paid the price for ultra-aggression, collapsing from 104 for 2 to 122 for 5; and then seeing Krunal, who finished with 4-0-13-0, and Bumrah string together dots to leave themselves needing 15 off the final over.

Trent Boult then delivered a masterclass, first deceiving Andre Russell with a slower ball, and then destroying Pat Cummins's off-stump with a searing yorker to close the game out.

Mumbai had extended their dominance over the Knight Riders, winning 10 out of their last 11 games against them.

KKR's spin-centric powerplay The Knight Riders' first five overs were bowled by spinners.

After the returning Quinton de Kock fell in the second over, Suryakumar Yadav offset the early loss quickly. He forced Harbhajan Singh to tweak his line by sweeping him from way outside off, so when he went straighter, Yadav brought his steely wristwork out to whip him over midwicket. Then Singh teased him by tossing one up outside off, only to be creamed through extra cover. Yadav had three fours in his first five, and Mumbai were on their way, finishing the powerplay on 42 for 1.

Suryakumar keeps up the tempo One of the hallmarks of Yadav's improved T20 game is his ability to take off from the get-go, and then being able to sustain it for a considerable period. The effect was that Mumbai played just two dot balls between overs six and ten.

While Sharma played risk-free cricket in a halfcentury stand, Yadav went for his shots. His fellow debutant from the England series, Prasidh Krishna, bore Andre Russell bagged 5-15

the brunt, as he was picked for two fours and a six in a 16-run first over.

Yadav's ability to play different shots to similar deliveries added to Krishna's challenge.

After jumping across to whip a length ball over deep midwicket, Yadav stayed leg side of the ball as Krishna went wider, and then used the width to hit him inside-out over cover for consecutive boundaries.

Now Krishna went short,

perhaps expecting Yadav to jump out to pull, only to instead be dabbed past short third man.

But the shot of the evening was reserved for Pat Cummins, who was picked over the roof, as Yadav hopped across his stumps to whip one over deep squareleg.

It raised a 33-ball fifty. But the Knight Riders then hit back by dismissing him and Ishan Kishan in the space of four deliveries.

Even at that point, 88 for 3 in the 12th over, ESPNcricinfo's predictor pegged the Mumbai Indians to make 174, factoring in a set Sharma and the firepower of the Pandyas and Kieron Pollard.

brought not two, but three.

While Rahul Tripathi was out to square turn, opened up completely by one that pitched way outside leg, Morgan dragged one to deep midwicket.

Knight Riders needed 49 off 43 then, but there was another twist. Chahar had a fourth when he had Rana stumped off a slider that he pushed through as the batsman advanced.

At that point, Knight Riders were tottering at 122 for 5.

It could've become 123 for 6 had Krunal Pandya held on to a return catch off Russell. The tension was palpable. Bumrah had two overs remaining. Would the batsmen try and see him off?

Russell takes 5 wickets in 12 balls T h e

Bumrah, Boult close it out in style Russell certainly wasn't fancying a big hit, but only until he

moment the fast bowlers went cross-seam or banged cutters into the deck, the slowness of the pitch became apparent. It told you two things: how well Yadav had batted, and that it wasn't going to be easy for a new batsman to come in and get going.

Sharma, who Nitish Rana scored 54 hadn't gotten out of second gear, fell after digging in, as he chopped on to Cummins.

Hardik was out looking to loft Krishna's slower delivery to mid-off; and it turned into a full-blown collapse when Russell's use of the aroundthe-wicket angle to go full and wide resulted in the dismissals of Pollard and Marco Jansen in the same over.

Russell took 3 more in his next over - the last of the innings - to finish with 5 for 15, his IPL best. It was reward for excellent use of angles, and changes in pace and trajectory.

The result: Mumbai had gone from 86 for 1 to 152 all out, that's nine wickets for just 66 runs.

Blazing start from Rana, Gill At times a middling target can force a batsman to tweak his approach, Rana left nothing to chance.

After imperiously square driving the first ball f ro m Boult to the cover-point fence, he advanced down the pitch to deposit a full delivery over extra cover for six.

This approach rubbed off on Gill, who then lent a touch of improvisation to take Marco Jansen for three boundaries in the sixth over, all peppering different corners of the leg side.

Chahar cracks open the game Gill soon became victim to his overaggression, as he holed out a ball to long-off after he had clobbered Chahar for a big six. By then the Knight Riders had wiped out 72 in 8.5 overs.

However, one

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was helped along by a no-ball. the final over.

The free-hit was whacked to It proved the fence, the shackles were d i f f i c u l t broken, and Knight Riders a g a i n s t appeared to have recovered.

B o u l t ' s But Bumrah, coming in with 19 needed off 12, delivered an excellent penultimate over, Suryakumar Yadav top scored with 56 attacking Russell with the short ball into the body, and then besting masterclass.

Karthik with his change in pace, (ESPN to leave them with 15 to get in cricinfo)

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SCOREBOARD MUMBAI INDIANS INNINGS (20 OVERS MAXIMUM) Rohit Sharma (c) b Cummins 43 Quinton de Kock † c Tripathi b Varun 2 Suryakumar Yadav c Shubman Gill b Shakib Al Hasan 56 Ishan Kishan c Prasidh Krishna b Cummins 1 Hardik Pandya c Russell b Prasidh Krishna 15 Kieron Pollard c †Karthik b Russell 5 Krunal Pandya c Prasidh Krishna b Russell 15 Marco Jansen c Cummins b Russell 0 Rahul Chahar c Shubman Gill b Russell 8 Jasprit Bumrah c Shakib Al Hasan b Russell 0 Trent Boult not out 0 Extras (lb 4, w 3) 7 TOTAL (20 Ov, RR: 7.60) 152 Fall of wickets: 1-10 (Quinton de Kock, 1.6 ov), 2-86 (Suryakumar Yadav, 10.3 ov), 3-88 (Ishan Kishan, 11.1 ov), 4-115 (Rohit Sharma, 15.2 ov), 5-123 (Hardik Pandya, 16.2 ov), 6-125 (Kieron Pollard, 17.2 ov), 7-126 (Marco Jansen, 17.3 ov), 8-150 (Krunal Pandya, 19.3 ov), 9-150 (Jasprit Bumrah, 19.4 ov), 10-152 (Rahul Chahar, 19.6 ov) BOWLING Harbhajan Singh Varun Chakravarthy Shakib Al Hasan

O-M-R-W 2-0-17-0 4-0-27-1 4-0-23-1

Pat Cummins Prasidh Krishna Andre Russell

4-0-24-2 4-0-42-1 2-0-15-5

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS INNINGS (TARGET: 153 RUNS FROM 20 OVERS) Nitish Rana st †de Kock b Chahar 57 Shubman Gill c Pollard b Chahar 33 Rahul Tripathi c †de Kock b Chahar 5 Eoin Morgan (c) c Jansen b Chahar 7 Shakib Al Hasan c Yadav b KH Pandya 9 Dinesh Karthik †not out 8 Andre Russell c & b Boult 9 Pat Cummins b Boult 0 Harbhajan Singh not out 2 Extras (b 4, lb 5, nb 1, w 2) 12 TOTAL (20 Ov, RR: 7.10) 142/7 Did not bat: Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna Fall of wickets: 1-72 (Shubman Gill, 8.5 ov), 2-84 (Rahul Tripathi, 10.3 ov), 3-104 (Eoin Morgan, 12.5 ov), 4-122 (Nitish Rana, 14.6 ov), 5-122 (Shakib Al Hasan, 15.2 ov), 6-140 (Andre Russell, 19.3 ov), 7-140 (Pat Cummins, 19.4 ov) BOWLING O-M-R-W Trent Boult 4-0-27-2 Marco Jansen 2-0-17-0 Jasprit Bumrah 4-0-28-0 Krunal Pandya 4-0-13-1 Kieron Pollard 1-0-12-0 Rahul Chahar 4-0-27-4 Rohit Sharma 1-0-9-0

Hopetown Strikers Club join Berbice Volleyball Association

I

n defiance of the COVID-19 pandemic and inclement weather, the Hopetown Strikers Volleyball Club was launched yesterday in that West Coast Berbice village in Region 5 (Mahaica-Berbice).

This club consists of both male and female teams, and the launching was by way of having goodwill matches against the Port Mourant Under-17 youths, and an exhibition match against the senior and junior Port Mourant males combined.

President of the Guyana

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(Ext 55)

NOW!

Hopetown male and female teams

Volleyball Federation, Levi Nedd, welcomed the Hopetown teams to “the Volleyball family”, and thanked them for playing volleyball under the guidance of their coach, national player Ronaldo Bobb.

The day’s event was a success, with Port Mourant youths drawing first blood 30-19 and then being defeated by Hopetown in a return match 30-22. Mixed teams of both males and females continued play, after which an exhibition match was played.

The senior Port Mourant

team won that match in 3 straight sets 25-18, 25-23, 25-22.

In the end, tokens of encouragement were given to outstanding players. In the female category, senior player Kenna Thom-Ifill and junior players Wileta Isaacs and Tamara George received tokens of encouragement. For the males, Jason Lachman of Port Mourant juniors and Roberto Sijlman, Eaton McDonald and Shakeel Garraway of Hopetown juniors received tokens.

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23 National Stadium ready to host WI, U-19 tours WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

…following Sport Minister, GCB visit

T

he newly-elected Executive Committee of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) made a request of Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Hon. Charles Ramson Jnr, to meet him and have him give them a guided tour of the Providence National Stadium.

In response, Minister Ramson acceded to their request and, in the meeting, updated them on works ongoing at the National Stadium at

Providence, and in particular the playing area.

He told them he is well aware of the upcoming international tours to the region, and the Government of Guyana, when necessary, would be bidding for matches to be played at the Stadium, including the West Indies vs Pakistan T20 tournament and the ICC Under-19 World Cup Championship, to be played in the West Indies in August 2021 and January 2022 re-

spectively.

The GCB members were all impressed with the facilities at the Stadium, and noted that the ground and pitch were in excellent condition and up to international standard.

Minister Ramson took the opportunity to again congratulate the Executive Members of the GCB on their recent appointments, and urged them to build a strong cricket structure and establish

partnerships with all cricket stakeholders in this new dispensation.

He reminded that cricket is Guyana’s national sport, and advised that in the discharge of their duties and responsibilities, they raise the bar in cricket administration.

He assured that the Government of Guyana would be willing to partner with the GCB to ensure that Guyana is firmly placed as a cricket tourism destination, and he noted

that the GCB is the only sporting body in Guyana that is governed by an Act of Parliament.

He disclosed that that makes it incumbent on the Executive Committee to leave an exemplary legacy of accountability, good governance, and public confidence.

The Minister took the opportunity to reiterate his profound sadness at the passing of GCB Treasurer Pretipaul Jaigobin, and suggested that the GCB should consider

having a cricket competition played in Jaigobin’s honour.

GCB President Bissoondyal Singh responded by thanking Minister Ramson for accommodating the GCB visit, before praising the Minister for the pivotal role he played in resolving the cricket impasse. He added that the GCB looks forward to working with the Minister and the Government of Guyana to realise the aims and objectives of the Board.

Guyana bow out early in Latam table tennis qualifiers – Edghill, Britton to return for mixed doubles

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uyana is unlikely to see representation in the singles’ table tennis arena at the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games, as the entire team missed the mark (some by a narrow margin) on their opening day at the Olympic Qualifiers competition in Argentina.

Guyana was represented by a four-member team along with a coach at the 2021 Latin America Singles and Mixed Doubles qualifiers which got going on Tuesday morning in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Shemar Britton, Joel Alleyne, Natalie Cummings, Chelsea Edghill and Coach Idi Lewis comprised Guyana’s team.

Alleyne came in as a replacement for National Champion Christopher Franklin, who opted not to travel.

According to Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) President Godfrey Munroe, the task of getting the team to Argentina in the midst of a

Godfrey Munroe

coronavirus surge there was an uphill one.

“I can say that this has been a truly Herculean task to get the team there, and the cost factors have tripled, quadrupled now, given the protocols for COVID. As you’re aware, Argentina recently had a spike (in cases), so the visa requirements and regulations were tightened,” The GTTA President shared prior to the team’s departure.

He added, “At one point, we weren’t sure if this qualification event would’ve been held, but we’ve been given assurance by the local organising committee,

which comprises the Argentine Federation and the Olympic Committee, that they’re working with the Government to ensure that (happens).”

The racket action served off on Tuesday morning with the men’s singles competition, in which Joel Alleyne went down 4 sets to none at the hands of Chile’s Gustavo Gomez: 11-6, 11-5, 11-8, 11-2.

Although missing out, Shemar Britton had a better showing, going down 4-2 to Paraguay’s Alejandro Toranzos.

Their sets went 11-5, 8-11, 112, 8-11, 11-3, 11-3.

Munroe had shared that he believed Chelsea Edghill, who trains professionally, had the best prospects at qualifying.

“I think Chelsea has a great prospect for qualification. She is a recent qualifier for the Pan American Games, and the next step is the Olympic Games.

Some of the players that she defeated to gain qualification to the Pan Am games will be there, and we’re hoping that her

Guyana’s table tennis team prior to the start of action in the Olympic qualifiers

experience from in Portugal, playing professionally, would help her,” Munroe had said.

However, on Tuesday evening, Edghill barely missed the mark in a thrilling 7-set game against Mexico’s Monica Munoz. Munoz took the first two sets 11-5, 118, but Edghill rebounded to command the next two sets 11-9, 11-4. Munoz and Edghill then won one set each respectively 11-6, 8-11.

Boxing in Berbice to punch off soon …with revival of the county’s Boxing Association

It all came down to the final set, in which Edghill battled relentlessly but lost 9-11.

Natalie Cummings’s fortunes were similar to her teammates’; she lost 4-0 to Guatemala’s Lucia Cordero.

Their sets went 11-9, 11-6, 117, 11-8.

Chelsea Edghill and Shemar Britton will, however, join forces on Saturday, April 17, to take on Ecuador’s Alberto Mino

LGC stages Memorial Golf Tourney in honour of the late Colin Ming

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G

Executive members of the newly-formed Berbice Boxing Association

uyana’s “ancient county” is in due time expected to be graced with boxing action following the official launch of the Berbice Boxing Association (BBA).

After the BBA launch, an election for members of the board of executives was hosted with the hope that working together would be an effort that would revive boxing in Berbice. The poll that was taken resulted in 41-year-old businessman Roy Jafarally of Ordinance Fort Lands in the East Canje area being elected President

of the BBA. In his inaugural address at the helm of the association, Jafarally noted that the team recognises that boxing had died within the county and there therefore are plans to resuscitate across Berbice the boxing gyms that have been dormant.

"We already have coaches who would have resigned to their homes and not doing anything to come back into these gyms and to stimulate the process of having the youngsters now execute their interests in boxing, taking into account all the COVID-19

protocols" Jafarally declared.

Berbice had four boxing gyms, each of which had to close its doors as a result of the COVID-19 measures and the lack of equipment needed by boxers to engage in the sport.

The Berbice Boxing Association, it was revealed, intends to hold dialogue with the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jnr, given his interest in boxing across the country.

"The Minister has encouraged other boxing boards across the country, like our

body here in Berbice, to formulate and stimulate boxing across the region, so that the Government can give their olive branch towards those associations that are being formed."

The members who were elected to serve on the BBA are Vice President Eli Hazel, Secretary Pinky Arthur, Treasurer Greggory Cort, and Public Relations Officer Royan Abrams.

The BBA is expected to host its first statutory meeting on April 30th, and is required to meet on the last Friday of every month.

and Nathaly Paredes in the mixed doubles division.

The Latin American Qualification offered four Olympic spots in the men’s singles in a field of 24 competitors, while there were 3 spots on offer for the ladies, who had 21 players competing. One Olympic spot is still up for grabs in the mixed doubles arena, which will see participation from 13 pairs.

Memorial Golf Tournament and a Celebration of Life Ceremony were held at the Lusignan Golf Club on Sunday April 11, 2021 to honour the life and contributions of the late Colin Ming, a former longstanding member of the club.

The day’s events commenced with a 9-hole golf tournament which began at 9am and saw the participation of approximately 20 golfers.

The tournament was won

by Gavin Todd, who had a high score of 10 gross 43 net 33. Second place was won by Patrick Prashad with a high score of 5 gross 39 net 34, and third place was won by William Walker with a high score of 6 gross 40 net 34.

A count back was done between Prashad and Walker to determine their respective positions. The trophies were presented to the winners by the late Colin Ming’s three children.

The ceremony to honour Ming’s life took place shortly after the end of the tournament.

That event was attended by some of the late golfer’s immediate family members.

Several glowing and

touching tributes were made by members of Guyana’ golfing fraternity, including Club President Patanjilee Persaud, Vice President Paton George, Club Captain Patrick Prashad, and Ming’s longstanding friends, among whom were Brian Glasford, Troy Cadogan, Andre Cummings and Bryan Hackett.

Some funny, lighthearted stories were shared, which also added to the day’s special significance. A moment’s silence was also observed in Ming’s honour.

The day’s proceedings were chaired by the Club’s PRO, Anasha Ally.

Stanley Ming, brother of the late Colin Ming, offered a few words in response to all of the tributes paid to his brother.

The morning was a fitting tribute to a fallen stalwart who had contributed enormously to sport in Guyana, and it left several attendees in awe of what a valued treasure Colin Ming had been to his family members and his peers.

A plaque was also unveiled in honour of the late Colin Ming, who had played a game of golf shortly before his passing.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021

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

National Stadium ready to host WI, U-19 tours Pg 23

Sport Minister Charles Ramson (C) is flanked by GCB President Bissoondyal Singh and other executive members at the National Stadium at Providence

…following Sport Minister, GCB visit

See stories on page 23

Boxing in Berbice to punch off soon

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