Guyana Times - Wednesday, July 6, 2022

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Issue No. 5061

THE BEACON OF TRUTH WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022

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Significant progress being made in slashing Caricom food import bill – Pres Ali

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WHAT'S INSIDE:

See story on page 7

...transport & logistics also addressed at Caricom Heads of Govt Meeting

Region to capitalise on agri-strategy presented by Guyana – Caricom Chairman See story on page 3

Major multi- P14 million-dollar infrastructural projects underway countrywide – Min Edghill P2 GDF rank arraigned for murder of Berbice hairdresser

2nd dose Pfizer vaccine for P16 children 5-11 years to commence soon – 42 new infections detected in 1 day

Challenge to constitutional appointments, promotions

...as 43rd Regular Caricom Heads of Govt Meeting concludes

Opposition, Slowe ask Chief Justice for “urgent P8 hearing” on applications filed

Quindon Bacchus’s death

Lance Corporal remanded on murder charge – 2 other cops charged with attempting to obstruct the course of justice Page 9

Lance Corporal Kristoff De Nobrega

CANU intercepted 2238kg ganja, 89kg cocaine between Jan-July 2022 Page 11

Lance Corporal Thurston Simon

Sergeant Dameion McLennon

1 dead, 2 injured in separate accidents on Caricom Day Page 18

AmCham’s inaugural Security Forum addresses corporate security in Guyana P13

SASOD calls on Govt to implement policies to address LGBTQ+ P19 issues

2 NEWS GDF rank arraigned for murder of Berbice hairdresser WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Murder suspect: Collin Hazel

Murdered: Donalesa Park

serving member of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) was on Tuesday remanded to prison for the murder of 29-year-old Donalesa Park, a hairdresser of Number Two Village, East Canje, Berbice.

Thirty-two-year-old Collin Hazel appeared before Magistrate Renita Singh at the New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Court where he was not required to plead to the indictable charge which stated that between June 29

and 30, he murdered Park.

As such, he was remanded to prison until August 23, and the matter was transferred to the Albion Magistrate’s Court. Park’s body was found stuffed in a garbage bag and dumped on an empty plot of land along the No 2 Village Public Road – one day after she went missing.

It was reported that the mother of one had left her home on June 29 at about 08:00h to plait a client’s

A

hair, but never showed up.

The following morning, relatives became worried and started to call friends and other relatives to enquire about her whereabouts.

The woman’s body was then discovered at about 07:00h wrapped in plastic. However, following the discovery, CCTV footage showed the victim entering the suspect’s house, hours before her body was found at a location in close proximity to the house.

Additionally, an umbrella that Park left her house with was found in the suspect’s bedroom. A post-mortem performed on the body proved that the woman was manually strangled to death.

From reports received, the suspect used the hairdresser’s head tie to commit the murder.

Park lived with the father of her five-year-old son and was reportedly having an affair with the suspect.

Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum on Saturday stated that while the soldier did not admit to killing Park, he told investigators that he will “live with the conse-

The area where the woman’s body was found

quences” of his action and “whatever will be, will be”.

Meanwhile, investigators have confirmed that the last person to see the woman alive was the suspect’s sister, who admitted to detectives that she saw Park being physically assaulted by the suspect.

Following the discovery, an uncle, Mortimer Amsterdam, explained that his niece had been in the hairdressing business for

about 15 years. He said he had received a telephone call from his sister, who told him that her daughter had not been seen since Wednesday morning when she had left the house. In addition, calls to her cell phone went unanswered for a short period, and the phone was later turned off.

He noted that the woman would conduct business with a serving member of the Guyana Defence Force,

and she might have gone to collect the items.

“He does normally bring detergent for Donalesa from Lethem…so she went to collect the stuff, and since then they ain’t see she back…,” Amsterdam added.

The aggrieved uncle further stated that they were home when they received information that the woman’s body was found along the Corentyne.

NEWS

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS OPENINGS BRIDGE

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

Wednesday, July 6 – 10:00h – 11:00h, 22:30h – 00:00h and Thursday, July 7 – 23:00h – 00:30h.

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Region to capitalise on agri-strategy presented by Guyana – Caricom Chairman ...as 43rd Regular Caricom Heads of Govt Meeting concludes

T

he Caribbean C o m m u n i t y (Caricom), cognisant of the urgency in reducing its food import bill, is taking action to implement the “25 by 2025” food security strategy that President Dr Irfaan Ali-led Government presented to regional leaders earlier this year.

This is according to Caricom Chairman and Suriname President Chandrikapersad Santokhi, during a press conference on Tuesday to mark the conclusion of the 43rd Caricom Heads of Government meeting in Paramaribo, Suriname.

“Guyana is the lead head on the agri-business.

So, there’s a comprehensive strategy, we sent it to the heads, which was approved already. And there are a lot of actions planned now for the implementation of this strategy,” he said.

Santokhi further explained that a crucial area in which action is planned is in improving logistics and connectivity between countries. According to him, a timeline will be developed to ensure all these decisions are implemented.

“And yes, if you want to have this movement of agricultural products and business, you need to remove other barriers in the area of logistics and connectivity.

And that was one of the issues. The transportation issue was on the agenda.

“And we approved, also, a timeline that we’ll decide for a comprehensive study on one hand, how we can strengthen the connectivity among all the islands, but also to take quick steps to allow us to move forward, bringing our products to destinations,” President Santokhi added.

Meanwhile, one of the decisions taken by the Caricom Heads of Government on the removal of non-tariff barriers on agricultural produce included to have experts and other key stakeholders meet by the end of the month, in order to advance the processes.

Back in March at the 33rd Inter-Sessional Meeting of Caricom, President Dr Irfaan Ali’s presentation on sustainable food security and agriculture was described by then Caricom Chairman and Belize Prime Minister John Briceño as one of the highlights of the proceedings.

“One of the highlights of the meeting was the important and stimulating presentations by President Ali of Guyana, who laid out a comprehensive plan for the development of the agri-food sector that was embraced by

President Dr Irfaan Ali in discussion with Caricom Secretary General, Dr Carla Barnett (right) and T&T Prime Minister, Dr Keith Rowley (centre) during the summit

all. I congratulate President Ali and his team for their excellent work,” the Prime Minister had said.

According to Briceño, the study done by President Ali and his team served to show the challenges faced by different countries in the Region when it comes to food security, as well as the products each one could grow and supply, and a path towards sustainable food security. Among the findings was that countries outside of Caricom were the source of 98.8 per cent of poultry imports in the Region in 2020

– a needless diversion of regional finance.

“For instance, we import poultry. There’s no need for us to be importing poultry, or some of the greens, like corn. The different meats.

All of that can be grown here in the Caribbean… one of the ideas that [Barbados] Prime Minister [Mia] Mottley brought up, which is about the industrialisation working group policy,” Briceño had also said. “(This) is because there are a lot of products that we can grow, but we’re not adding value to them. As op-

posed to selling the raw programme,” he had said, adding that Guyana’s study foresaw a $6 billion food market in Caricom that, if captured, could create opportunities for member states.

The “Vision 25 by 2025” initiative builds on a plan that was previously presented by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo to Caricom back in 2005 when he was President of Guyana – dubbed the “Jagdeo initiative”. Many of the regional leaders involved in the discussions have lauded the efforts of both Guyanese leaders to push the food security agenda in the Caribbean.

“Vision 25 by 2025” envisions that in the next four years, with the assistance of more diversified crops, Caricom’s food import bill would be reduced by 25 per cent as the Region ups its own production of food.

Months after assuming office, President Ali had charged the Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ministry to assess and address the hurdles related to exporting food and agricultural products to markets within the Region. As such, concerns about barriers to trade in some Caricom markets were raised with the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) earlier this year.

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guyanatimesgy.com

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022

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

Intimate Partner Violence

O

n Tuesday, another member of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) was remanded to prison for murder. Collin Hazel has been charged for the death of his 29-year-old girlfriend, Donalesa Park, a hairdresser of Number Two Village, East Canje, Berbice who was killed and dumped in a garbage bag.

If one can recall, former GDF Captain Orwain Sandy admitted to shooting his reputed wife to death on March 31, 2018, and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Both instances involved intimate partner violence that ended deadly.

It is no secret that women worldwide, including those in Guyana, continue to face unacceptable levels of violence in various forms. The World Health Organization has estimated that nearly one in three women worldwide has experienced physical and/or sexual violence, mostly by an intimate partner.

The COVID-19 pandemic has further contributed to increasing the risk of violence, particularly domestic violence, against women.

Locally, a 2020 report from the University of Guyana showed that the “incidence of domestic violence by an intimate or previously intimate partner in Guyana increased from 74.8% in 2011 to 89% in 2017”, with more than 80% of the victims being female.” Many of those “intimate partners” are mothers, and this offers a clue as to what is really going on.

The males inflicting that horrendous level of violence on persons supposed to be their “better halves” had to have been socialised in homes where such behaviour was normalised. A report from the year before claimed, “Half of all women who experienced Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in Guyana never sought help. Victims, community members and stakeholders attributed this to lack of knowledge of available help, perceptions of being blamed or stigmatised by their situation becoming known throughout the community, and inadequate support structures to ensure victim safety after reporting violence to the Police.” The LAPOP poll explained that indifference when it showed that 62% of Guyanese feel that intimate partner violence is a “private matter”. In Guyanese parlance, a “man and wife thing”.

While it is routinely touted that “the family” is the building block of society, in Guyana, at least 30% of “families” are headed by mothers, without fathers to complete the normative “nuclear” family.

As such, Edith Clarke’s 1957 study of the phenomenon in Jamaica, her classic “My mother who fathered me”, has recently been expanded and reissued because it remains relevant in the entire Caribbean.

The university poll cited also explains why this may be so: “Socialisation matters more than the circumstances in predicting the normalisation of intimate partner violence.” But it also suggests a way to reduce the despicable behaviour: “Education has the largest predicted effect on attitudes towards IPV: more educated individuals are 24 percentage points less likely to normalise IPV (i.e., more likely to see it as a matter that merits the public attention).”

For starters, the curricula of our educational institutions from nursery to university should have explicit modules that socialise our next generation to view any form of domestic violence, including IPV, as reprehensible, and not to be tolerated. There must also be a sensitisation of the wider society through a programme of public education through billboards, messages on social and mainstream media etc. against IPV. Every year, between 25 November and 10 December - 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence – Guyana joins the WHO and other partners to raise awareness about the global need to prevent and respond to violence against women, and provide support to survivors.

However, not many women admit to being victims of violence.

The Human Services Minister had some time ago said, “Domestic violence remains a taboo, shuttered behind closed doors and only emerging as bloody faces, bruised limbs, broken spirits and dead bodies. Fear of societal judgement, insecurities about children and finances, family pressure and manipulation keep this a hushed conversation, or results in an overwhelming silence”.

As pointed out by the Human Services and Social Security Minister, “Violence against women is a heinous crime and a pervasive breach of human rights. Yet, it continues to be one of the longest, hardest challenges to the world, and involves psyches, attitudes, poverty, cultures, emotional manipulation, substance abuse, and lack of education”.

We echo the call by the Minister that better can and must be done. Everyone must work in every home, school, office, community in every part of our country to expose violence against women where it exists; support the women; work with the perpetrators; create safe spaces; educate persons, and share solutions.

Muslim pilgrims circle the Kaaba and pray at the Grand Mosque as Saudi Arabia welcomes back pilgrims for the 2022 haj season, after the Kingdom had barred foreign travellers over the past two years owing to the coronavirus pandemic, in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, July 1, 2022 (Reuters/Mohammed Salem)

Police structural reform

Dear Editor, Finally, there appears to be wide agreement by diverse sections of our citizenry that the Guyana Police Force needs to be reformed.

More than two decades ago, on January 17, 1999, “ROAR against Crime” was launched in reference to the very need. But we cautioned: “We should not be stampeded into taking ad hoc initiatives without formulating a plan that addresses the need to make fundamental changes in its structural base – or the malfunctions will continue unabated. “Modernisation” of the Force must not be equated simply with improved weaponry”.

In addition to over twenty specific recommendations, four medium-term structural changes were suggested, which are still relevant.

Recommendation #1 was “Balancing the Force”. It echoed the conclusion of Dr Cynthia Enloe, who studied Guyana first-hand after a worldwide survey in her essay, “Police and Military in the Resolution of Ethnic Conflict”. “Any lasting resolu-

tion of ethnic conflict may require that the distribution of political authority and influence in the society be basically reordered and that, as part of that reordering, the Police and military be ethnically reconstituted at the top and the bottom. Resolution of inter-ethnic conflict will be tenuous if the security that is achieved is merely state security and not security for each of the state’s resident communities.”

Recommendation #2 was, “Decentralising the Force”. We showed that unlike the Police Forces of most low crime jurisdictions that were decentralised, the GPF was heavily centralised due to the historical imperative of the colonial power to suppress, rather than to protect, the local population. This authoritarian orientation is rooted in the concentration of all Police strength to protect the strategic centre.

We suggested in 1999: “The centralised structure of the GPF has led to widespread ineffectiveness and dislocations.

Administrative effectiveness is not the sole test of Police competence, which should rather be the greatest effort

in the promotion of the Rule of Law and entrenching citizens’ security. We recommend that the GPF be split into six separate forces: MetroGT, Demerara, Berbice, Essequibo, Rupununi and a Central Force (like an FBI).

“Each Force would have its own Commissioner and its own command structure. The Central Force wound oversee a Central Forensic Lab, the Anti-Drug Unit, Intelligence and international co-ordination”. We note the timid move

by APNU/AFC towards decentralisation in appointing a Commander for each of the 10 regions. This does not go far enough.

Recommendation #3: “Supplementing the Force”: The first part proposed “Community Policing”, and argued that minor crimes in communities, if unpunished, led to major crimes and massive social breakdown. The goal was to allow neighbourhoods to police themselves and reduce crime. The role of Police through this type of “community policing” is to reduce fear through foot patrol, maintaining order, and the ju-

dicious use of officers’ discretion. In so doing, they would only be responding to the previously unacknowledged demand in poor and at-risk communities for the same sense of lawfulness enjoyed in wealthy areas.

Recommendation #4: Streamlining the Force: We pointed out that, “Only approximately 30% of the GPF are engaged in crime detection and prevention. We elaborated on all the various non-policing elements that could be farmed out, especially to civilian staff, thus freeing up personnel trained for real Police work.

We asked: Does immigration really qualify as a “policing” task? Shouldn’t each Police Force have its own Prosecutors Office manned by high-calibre, qualified, permanent staff?

The APNU/AFC accepted the recommendation on hiving off Immigration, but much more needs to be done to make the Police focusing only on policing.

Sincerely, Ravi Dev

Cops charged for Quindon Bacchus’s death

Dear Editor, The three Policemen charged with the murder of Quindon Bacchus have been railroaded by the mob from Golden Grove and the weak acquiescence of the Police Complaints Authority. I can find no other explanation for a recommendation of a charge of Murder One, given the facts.

Quindon Bacchus was the target of an undercover operation to catch those selling ille-

gal guns. Bacchus got into the car with the undercover officers to go to collect the gun.

Once in Haslington, Bacchus called an associate, who brought the gun to the car on a bicycle. It was this friend who then passed the gun to Bacchus, but also told him that he recognised one of the undercover operatives and identified him as a Policeman.

Quindon Bacchus jumped out of the vehicle, and Officer DeNobrega pursued, shots

were exchanged and Bacchus was hit and died.

Justice William Ramlall (Retd) based the recommendation to charge Officer DeNobrega on the fact that the Byrco 59 pistol was not working when there was an attempted ballistics test.

Bryco Arms went out of business after losing the famous ‘Saturday night special’ lawsuit in 2015 that proved the guns had design flaws and were poorly made; a Bryco

59 retailed for US$57 at the height of production.

It is quite conceivable that Bacchus shot at the Police, or the gun went off by accident (as they were proven to do).

Whatever the situation, the officer knew Bacchus was in possession and he heard a shot, this/these bullet/s could also have been fired by Bacchus’s bike-riding associate, all of this is in the heart of an operation going ‘south’ quickly.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

guyanatimesgy.com

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022

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News

Guyana air traffic numbers surging; more passengers expected in 2022 than in pre-pandemic years – 95% of pre-pandemic numbers recovered as of May

D

espite the worldwide impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Guyana’s air traffic numbers are recovering faster than the industry average and more passengers are, in fact, expected by the end of 2022 than the pre-pandemic levels.

This is according to Minister within the Public Works Ministry Deodat Indar, who is currently in South Korea for the Conference on International Air Transport Cooperation.

He stated Guyana’s passenger numbers are on course to increase by 5 per cent this year, compared to pre-pandemic numbers from 2019. This is a turnaround from 2020, when domestic air traffic dropped by 46 per cent.

“In Guyana, international traffic declined by 72 per cent in 2020 and 47 per cent in 2021 against 2019 records but fortunately, we are recovering much faster than the industry, and as of May 2022, we are 95 per cent of

Minister within the Public Works Ministry, Deodat Indar in South Korea

the pre-pandemic passenger numbers.”

“And we expect to close 2022 with 5 per cent more passengers than in 2019.

Guyana’s domestic aviation sector experienced a 46 per cent and 30 per cent drop in passenger movements in 2020 and 2021, respectively, when compared to 2019,”

Indar said.

Indar noted that while the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic is easing in Guyana, cooperation is still necessary to deal with the ever-present threat of climate change. According to the Minister, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) esti-

Cops charged for...

Editor, if we continue to abandon/railroad our law enforcement officers every time there is mob action, we will quickly descend into chaos. I am certain that all of those who were quick to condemn

the lack of action by the Police in preventing the looting and destruction in Mon Repos would be baying for blood had the Police taken any action that harmed members of the Golden Grove Mob.

mates that the aviation sector is responsible for 12 per cent of CO2 emissions from the transportation sector.

“According to ICAO, both international and domestic aviation combined contributes approximately 2.1 per cent of global CO2 emissions or 915 million tonnes of CO2. Without interventions,

FROM PAGE 4

Where, too, does this leave the members of the public who do not belong to mobs?

Who can we turn to for protection? Maybe we should try to find Quindon’s associate and get in on those ‘Saturday

Night Special’ deals? Justice must be for all, not those willing to be the most violent.

Respectfully, Robin Singh

the impact of aviation on the climate will continue to increase over time with negative effects such as changing weather patterns and increased torrential rainfalls.”

“This will lead to loss of airport capacity and infrastructure due to sea level rise, network disruptions, and adverse effects on aircraft performance due to more extreme temperature changes. We must act now and swiftly! As the aviation sector globally employs 11.3 million people and transports 4.5 billion passengers as recorded in 2019,” the Minister also said.

This year’s International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) conference is the 7th edition, with the theme being “Leap Forward to Better Skies”. It is held every three years. This year, it is being hosted by Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport.

Over the last few years, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has identified plans to make Guyana a hub for regional travel as part of its agenda. Last year, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill, had said that Guyana has made significant progress towards its goal of attracting and having the capacity for increased regional air traffic.

Investments in this regard have included establishing a State Safety Programme/Safety Management System (SSP/ SMS), as well as upgrading the Communications Navigations Surveillance/ Air Traffic Management System to improve the performance of the Air Navigation System.

Efforts have also been made to enhance Air Traffic Control monitoring capabilities using the Automatic Dependent SurveillanceBroadcast (ADS-B) technology at strategic locations throughout the country.

Last year, the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) Director General, Lieutenant Colonel Egbert Field announced that six new airlines are showing interest in starting operations in this country.

Earlier in 2021, reports had indicated that air service providers such as FlyAllWays, InterCaribbean Airways, One Caribbean Limited, JetAir Caribbean, Skybus Airlines, Sky High Aviation Services and Guyana Rotorcraft Services Inc had expressed interest in operating in Guyana. So far, Skybus Airlines, and InterCaribbean Airways have obtained approval to begin operations out the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).

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06:00 06:30 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 11:18 11:30 12:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 17:45 19:00 20:00 20:30 21:30 22:30 23:30 00:00

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022

Page Foundation MINISTRY OF EDUCATION MATHEMATICS PAPER 1

National Grade 6 Assessment, practice test 3, Mathematics paper 1, 2020

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Significant progress being made in slashing Caricom food import bill – Pres Ali ...transport & logistics also addressed at Caricom Heads of Govt Meeting

P

resident Dr Irfaan Ali, who is in Suriname for the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Heads of Government meeting, has reported that significant progress is being made towards eradicating trade barriers and slashing of the regional food import bill by 25 per cent by 2025.

The 43rd Meeting of the Caricom Heads of Government is being held in Paramaribo, Suriname, from July 3 to July 5. During a sit-down on Tuesday with the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC), President Ali was asked about what progress has been made towards the 25 by 2025 target. This is a target that has particularly been pushed by Guyana.

“We have made tremendous progress, in terms of achieving a 25 by 2025 target. This is not only a political commitment. This is a commitment that includes the farmers, the private sector, young people, women,” the President said.

“So, what we have done is develop an overarching

strategy that encompasses all the players and stakeholders in the Region and individual countries themselves. We’ve outlined a strategy that is measurable and has very specific targets. In that strategy itself, it outlines the specific actions required by each state in achieving a 25 by 2025 plan.”

The President noted that Caribbean countries have been showing tremendous commitment, especially on the financing side. He explained that since Guyana held its agri-investment forum in May, Barbados held one and another is planned this month, in Trinidad.

“Since the agri-investment forum, we have had an agri expo in Barbados.

We have a continuation of that forum, on the 19th to the 21st, in Trinidad and Tobago. And what we are seeing is a tremendous commitment from the financing side in advancing the food security plan.”

Heads of Govt

According to President

President Dr Irfaan Ali during his interview

Ali, an integral part of this plan is transportation and logistics. He noted that there has been great movement at the Heads of Government meeting, towards surmounting this challenge.

“At this meeting we’re seeing great movement, in not only the infrastructure and the architecture to bring about the transportation plan and to action it, but also a commitment in advancing the work to get the financing and get this operational, as quickly as

possible.”

“The third issue is barriers, within the Region itself.

And there is a clear commitment, from all the leaders, that the time for discussing and talking about these barriers is over. And we’re now working on a strategic, timebound approach on the removal of these barriers,” President Ali noted.

The President Ali-led Government has been at the forefront of an aggressive campaign to dismantle regional barriers to agricultur-

al trade. President Ali has said that in the next four years, with the assistance of more diversified crops, Guyana would aim to reduce Caricom’s food import bill by 25 per cent.

Months after assuming office, President Ali had charged the Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ministry to assess and address the hurdles related to exporting food and agricultural products to markets within the Region. As such, concerns about barriers to trade in some Caricom markets were raised with the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) earlier this year.

The Ministry subsequently formed a National Working Group on Barriers to Trade against Exports from Guyana. According to the assessment on market access by the Working Group, most of the challenges found were related to technical measures including sanitary and phytosanitary measures. It also found several technical and

administrative regulations that were all hampering the export of Guyanese products.

Other countries have been onboard in supporting Guyana’s drive to improve regional food security, with Guyana signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in May with Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). The two countries agreed to work with each other in eradicating trade non-tariff barriers, as well as in the areas of infrastructure development and transportation.

Among the resolutions contained in the MoU, is for the two parties to work assiduously on the removal of barriers to the trade of agricultural products throughout the Region. This includes phytosanitary standards.

A high-level bilateral commission was also to be established to overlook the implementation of the agreement. The commission will include high-level members of the Government and private sector.

Kiosk to be built at CJIA to support small businesses

G

uyanese small business owners will soon have the opportunity to display their goods and services to both locals and tourists at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri, where a modern kiosk will be constructed.

This is part of the PPP/C Administration’s manifesto commitment geared at providing a friendly environment for businesses to grow,

in addition to implementing favourable fiscal and monetary policies.

The initiative is the brainchild of His Excellency, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, and will be branded “Guyana Shop”.

The announcement was made by Tourism, Industry and Commerce Minister Oneidge Walrond at a ministerial outreach held in Buxton, East Coast Demerara, on Monday.

“At the airport, when it is completed, we will have a place for Guyanese-owned businesses, like how we did the expo at the oil and gas. We are going to have a similar arrangement. All Guyanese products will have a place to be there to be displayed at the airport permanently, selling all of your stuff; craft, wine everything.”

On the other hand, Public Works Minister Juan

Edghill stated that one of the reasons the CJIA is being expanded is to facilitate more concession areas.

“There is not enough space currently for concession areas and that is the problem, so, we are expanding the super-structure which is the agreement we had with China Harbour so we will be able to put in more concessions.”

Works on the kiosk are being undertaken by

China Harbour Engineering Corporation (CHEC). The structure will accommodate about 20 concession areas, and is still at the design stage.

Meanwhile, the CJIA is undergoing major infrastructural development, which will see the construction of an office building. The building will be joined to the existing terminal building and will house a conference room, offices for the airlines

and other supporting agencies, and a duty-free bond.

It will also see the rehabilitation of the international apron and the building of a taxiway.

The modernisation of the airport will have also two additional boarding bridges to accommodate large transatlantic aircraft, and a new commercial complex to house additional duty-free shops, restaurants and lounges.

8 NEWS

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Challenge to constitutional appointments, promotions

Opposition, Slowe ask Chief Justice for “urgent hearing” on applications filed

Paul Slowe

Oppositon Chief Whip Christopher Jones

Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton

hrough their attorney-at-law, Retired Assistant Commissioner of Police Paul Slowe and the parliamentary Opposition have requested urgent hearings

from Chief Justice Roxane George in applications that have been filed challenging constitutional appointments and promotions.

Slowe had taken action in a bid to block the promo-

tion of 132 senior officers of the Guyana Police Force. On the other hand, Norton has challenged the appointment of the new Police Service Commission.

The APNU/AFC coali-

T

Attorney-at-Law Selwyn Pieters

tion also challenged the appointment of acting Top Cop Clifton Hicken in a lawsuit filed by Opposition Chief Whip Christopher Jones.

TURN TO PAGE 18

A tale of two...

T

…Buxtons

here’s been a whole lotta schupidness peddled in a false report about the cop suspected of shooting Bacchus being released from open arrest, which precipitated the Mon Repos Riot!! Nonsense and piffle!!

That was the first narrative by the organisers, who kept in the background, pulling the strings of the folks they’d been grooming for months – with stories of discrimination, murder, racism, and whatever other oppressive behaviour that might pop up on their social media feeds. It should be no surprise that after a Police action at Golden Grove on the evening of the Riot, the Police were accused of staging an “INVASION” of the village. After all, Putin and the Ruskies did invade Ukraine!!!

Hard on the heels of the “false report” narrative came the “PPP infiltrators” narrative. One variant had been pulled out after the attempted PNC 2020 elections heist, when they claimed the PPP had infiltrated the system with their operatives and had rigged themselves into power!! And this even though their fearless Security Maven Ramjattan – with his trusty sidekick Cathy – had sprung a trap and captured some PPP Russian pencil hackers!! Never mind that their other elections’ narrative was that Sara-Ann Lynch had “INSTALLED the wicked and illegal PPP cabal” (IWIPC)!!

In the Mon Repos Riot, the organisers insisted that it was the PPP who had their “infiltrators” all primed and ready on the East Coast – to pounce so viciously and beat, pummel, and rob the stallholders. And burn a bus and some cars for good measure, before carting off all sorts of groceries on their heads, bicycles and motorcycles!! Well, your Eyewitness saw these “infiltrators” in his smartphone feed, and he expects the organisers – who had also seen them – to picket the Police for them to be located and charged! Just so the “IWIPC” can be exposed once and for all times!!

But on top of all this drama on protests came a showdown reminiscent of that great classic – “Gunfight at OK Corral”. Seems the organisers of the Mon Repos Riot Protest had organised another protest at Buxton Public Road on Monday – a holiday this year. The Government then apparently decided to beard the protesters in their stompin’ ground – by organising an outreach on the same day in the village’s sports field. It was a test of who had more support in what has historically been a PNC village!!

The Govt’s team was headed by PM Phillips – who’d announced that as an African Guyanese who’s spent his entire life serving the country in the army, the people of Buxton needed development, and not protest!!

From the turnouts, the PM clearly won hands down!! …Police hierarchies There’s also a whole lotta hoopla being made by the Opposition types about the changes being made by the Government on staffing the top brass of the GPF. All it proves is the Police play a critical role in the politics of Guyana on account of its volatile nature – where all hell can break loose at any moment – like it did at Mon Repos. But as soon as Granger had entered office in 2015, he’d appointed a former COP – Felix – as a Minister – in face of earlier protestations when on the job that he wasn’t PNC!!

Granger then used one of the flimsiest of concocted excuses – a rumshop gyaaf – to fire the top COP, decapitate his deputy (both of whom were Indian Guyanese) and install his handpicked team. The persons who’re yelling bloody murder now didn’t raise a “coo” then. But here, sauces for goose and ganders aren’t the same, are they??

All your Eyewitness can say is that we must ensure that the Constitution is followed!! …“food hampers” Your Eyewitness gasped at the size of the “hampers” given out by the PM’s team in Buxton. He guesses they had to match the outsize bags of groceries carted away by the “infiltrators” at Mon Repos!!

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

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

NEWS

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Quindon Bacchus’s death

Lance Corporal remanded on murder charge – 2 other cops charged with attempting to obstruct the course of justice

The gun reportedly found on Quindon Bacchus Lance Corporal Kristoff De Nobrega

Lance Corporal Thurston Simon

lmost one month after 23-year-old Quindon Bacchus was murdered, three cops were on Tuesday charged in relation to his death.

The policemen appeared virtually before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts to answer to their respectable charges.

Lance Corporal, 22-year-old Kristoff De Nobrega of Lot 130 Downer Canal, Liliendaal, was charged with murder.

The two others, 24-yearold Thurston Simon of Bareroot, East Coast

Demerara; and 35-year-old Dameion McLennon of B Field Sophia were charged with attempting to obstruct the course of justice. Simon was slapped with a second charge for conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline.

They were all remanded to prison. The case against De Nobrega is fixed for July 19 and was transferred to the Cove and John Magistrate’s Court while the cases against the others are fixed for July 12 at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

Bacchus, a father of one,

A

Sergeant Dameion McLennon

was shot six times about his body following an encounter with Police ranks. It was reported that on June 10, ranks were conducting an intelligence-led operation in the Haslington New Scheme area of the ECD after receiving some information earlier in the day.

The ranks went to Bacchus’s home, where he was seen with a firearm in his possession. He had reportedly intended to sell it.

The plainclothes rank, who was armed, made arrangements to purchase the firearm from Bacchus.

In the process of hand-

ing over the firearm to the rank, an alarm was raised. A chase ensued and shots were fired, hitting the now deceased man about his body.

Police said Bacchus was picked up in a conscious state and escorted to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he was seen and examined, but subsequently died. A post-mortem examination revealed that Bacchus was shot five times to his back.

While the Police had originally claimed that Bacchus had opened fire on the Police, the court was told that there was no evidence of Bacchus opening fire on the ranks.

Based on ballistics tests, the gun which Bacchus allegedly

used to fire at the ranks was not working.

A few days ago, the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) concluded its investigation into the fatal shooting, and recommended that the three Police officers be charged. Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack, SC, then decided the charges to be instituted.

The recommendation for charges comes days after a violent protest erupted at several ECD villages.

The protest led to several vendors at the Mon Repos Market being robbed while their stalls were vandalised and goods looted.

Some of the protesters

Killed: Quindon Bacchus

who were armed with cutlasses, knives, iron bars, and other handy weapons, destroyed vendors’ goods, burnt stalls and vehicles, shattered windscreens of vehicles, and even terrorised vendors. The vendors were compensated by the Government.

Threats were also made against President Dr Irfaan Ali’s life which led to the arrest of a 35-year-old man of Golden Grove, ECD, Marvin Richmond, known as “Wakie”, a psychiatric patient. Following the protest, 16 men were arrested and charged with the offence of riotous behaviour.

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

NEWS

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

CANU intercepted 2238kg ganja, 89kg cocaine between Jan-July 2022

CANU Head James Singh

T

he Customs AntiNarcotics Unit (CANU) seized a whopping 2238 kilograms of cannabis from January 1 to the present. This showed a 475 per cent increase in seizures when compared to the same period in 2021. In 2021, 471 kilograms of cannabis was seized.

In addition, in 2021, 11 kilograms of cocaine was seized but for the first half of 2022, the drug enforcement unit intercepted 89 kilograms. This showed a whopping 800 per cent increase in seizures when compared to the corresponding period.

With respect to ecstasy, less than half a kilogram was intercepted. According to information received, 62 cases were made out against drug traffickers with 22 convictions to date.

However, of the drugs intercepted, 64 per cent were

in Region Four (Demerara Mahaica) while 24 per cent were found in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), five per cent in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo).

The remainder was found in Regions Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), Three (Essequibo IslandsWest Demerara), and 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).

These seizures were done at wharves, rivers, farms, the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Guyana Post Office Corporation (GPOC) and along roadways and on the premises of private properties.

Further, CANU has seized 16 firearms for the year thus far. Head of the drug enforcement unit, James Singh during a telephone interview with Guyana Times praised the multi-agency approach that is taken to fight the drug traffickers.

“We have better coordination with the various agencies – the Guyana Police Force, The Guyana Revenue Authority and the Guyana Defence Force – and the results have been overwhelming… we also have international co-operation in terms of sharing intelligence, training of staff and other collaborations.

Recently agreements signed

by Minister Benn and his counterpart in Brasilia to strengthened cooperation and we have similar agreements with Colombia, Suriname and other countries.”

Charged: Lena Narine

Charged: James Herbert

Charged: Jennifer Butcher

Charged: Michael Morgan

In addition, several other factors were helpful including the establishment of a maritime section, establishment of a joint container scanning unit, the presence of CANU at key locations across the country, and more importantly, improved relationship with the public.

“What we have seen for the past seven months, persons in the community coming forward to share information because they recognise that once the drugs get into their areas, it can cause harm… We have built a good rapport with the communities and this has turned out to be very useful,” Singh added.

Further, he related that the unit has been doing a lot more work with the Ministries of Health and Education to sensitise the public including in the schools about the various illegal drugs. He admitted

that Guyana is a transhipment point and more focus is being placed in this area.

“The demand for the drugs is not here in Guyana but overseas…so what we have been doing is to make sure that our main ports of entry are well secured… when we have this type of security, persons must be conscious and hesitant to ship the drugs… we want to create that fear in the drug mules that if they attempt to smuggle the drugs, they will be caught.”

Singh nevertheless stated that there are concerns about the passage of ecstasy pills including Molly (a drug that is imported) into Guyana.

“These pills and Molly can easily be brought to Guyana by someone sending a barrel or any cargo… these can be easily slipped into and hidden among other items…our hope is to nip

this in the bud so that the presence of these drugs can be detected before getting on the streets. Hence our close collaboration with customs officers at the various ports.”

On this, he noted that this is where the security at the various wharves and ports needs to be on the alert. Meanwhile, he explained that the Government through the Home Affairs Ministry has been providing the necessary resources to tackle and put a dent in the drug trade. “The performance of CANU is an example of the GoG desire to fight the drug trade in trade.”

Presently, the unit has just over 100 staff who are spread across various regions of Guyana with the aim of executing its mandate. This has definitely contributed to successful surveillance and apprehension of the so-called ‘big fishes’ in the business.

Over the past months, CANU has intercepted several persons who have been under surveillance for the past 25 years. These include Kay Butcher, James Herbert, Lena Narine, Michael Morgan and others.

Back in April, Butcher, Narine, and Herbert were nabbed with $12.9 million worth of cocaine and ecstasy pills. They were later slapped with drug trafficking charges when they appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts and were all released on cash bail.

Only recently, Michael Andrew Morgan was arrested with several firearms, ammunition, and a quantity of cocaine. The cocaine had a total weight of 3.27 kg (7.1 pounds) and a street value of approximately $3.5 million. He was subsequently charged and remanded to prison.

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

NEWS

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

AmCham’s inaugural Security Forum addresses corporate security in Guyana

Participating stakeholders in the Security Forum

T

he American Chamber of Commerce of Guyana, through its Governance and Security Sub-Committee, hosted its Inaugural Security Forum, emphasising on corporate security and challenges to national security.

It also focused on the threat assessment for the region and the strategic plans and initiatives set out

by Guyana Police Force to tackle crime in Guyana.

The Governance and Security Sub-Committee

of AmCham Guyana was formed with the aim of mediating, collaborating and interacting with Guyana’s national security network to address issues related to crime and the overall security of the population, that may potentially have adverse effects on the local business community and investment climate.

The Chamber’s overall aim was to provide a platform for dialogue, information sharing and constructively addressing these

concerns, and included presentations from key representatives of Guyana’s national security network.

Attendees at the forum were given the opportunity to engage with Commissioner of Police Clifton Hicken; National Security Advisor, Captain Gerald Gouveia; Private Sector Chairperson-OSAC Guyana, Retired Colonel Brian Chin and Security Manager for ExxonMobil Guyana, Curt Clements.

TURN TO PAGE 19

14 NEWS

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6,, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Major multimillion-dollar infrastructural projects underway countrywide – Min Edghill

S

everal multimillion-dollar infrastructural development projects are being rolled out countrywide, in an effort to bolster Guyana’s economy and improve citizens’ lives.

This is according to Public Works Minister Juan Edghill, who stated that the Government is rolling out these projects with the intention of developing Guyana without discrimination.

“The PPP/C Administration, President Irfaan Ali and his Cabinet, we are working in every single community; the ones who have voted overwhelming for us and the ones who didn’t vote for us because we are not developing a PPP/C Guyana, we are developing a ‘One Guyana’, and in developing a One Guyana, we bring development to all the people.”

In Region One, citizens will benefit from a number of rigid pavement concrete roads in the sub-regions of Mabaruma, Moruca, Port Kaituma and Matarkai.

New stellings are being constructed in the various sub-regions to facilitate the docking of the new North West ferry (MV Ma Lisha), which is expected to set sail

to Guyana in the coming months.

Two massive infrastructural development works are in progress on the Lima Sands and Onderneeming roads, Region Two. Works on the sea defences at Charity River Dam and several miscellaneous roads in every NDC are also ongoing.

In Region Three, the alignment for the Del Conte Road, which begins at Parika, East Bank Essequibo, and goes all the way down the East Bank Essequibo area into Goshen has already been cut and established. This road will link Region Three to Region Seven, creating massive development. In addition, similar alignment works were executed on the Schoonord to Parika roads.

Minister Edghill noted that these projects will boost the regions’ economic development.

“These are going to be major new infrastructure that we will put in for the opening up of new lands, getting products to market, being able to help with industrialisation, and gas-to-energy project coming in at Wales with the possibilities of downstream

Public Works Minister Juan Edghill

petrochemical industries including the production of fertilisers.”

In Region Four, multibillion-dollar contracts for the East Coast, East Bank and Georgetown have been signed for the construction of the Ogle to Haags Bosch, Eccles road network. This road network will be linked to the ongoing Eccles to Great Diamond four-lane highway. The major infrastructure project that is geared towards cutting travel time will be completed within 18 months.

Major road works are being executed in Region Five,

from the Mahaicony area in every NDC. Additionally, the Minister highlighted that the residents from traditional areas in Region Six will now benefit from rigid pavement concrete roads and footpaths. Works are being executed in Little Africa, Little India, and Crabwood Creek among other areas, and are being undertaken by residents from the various communities. This initiative is geared at making residents more proactive in the execution of developmental projects within their communities.

The Government has developed a plan which will see the development of Region Seven into a service hub for the mining sector, which will in turn benefit over 21 communities.

Works on the Timehri to Bartica road are ongoing. This is one of the Government’s major transformational projects. Works are also ongoing on the Bartica to Mahdia and Issano roads.

In Region Eight, the construction of a hinterland road link that connects the region to Region Nine is underway. When completed, the road will alleviate the high cost of transportation, thus creating social and economic benefits for users. The 72-mile hinterland road link begins in North Rupununi, Region Nine, and will connect to Region Eight at Monkey Mountain.

The road maintenance project will benefit some 15,000 residents from 28 villages in the region.

Additionally, the KatoKurukabaru, KurukabaruItabac, and KamanaKopinang roads are set to be rehabilitated to the tune of some $39.8 million.

In Budget 2022, the sum

of $2.5 billion was approved for Region Eight, which would go towards its development.

In Region Nine, works including rehabilitating and building access roads and bridges and installing lights and other infrastructure in and around the region are progressing well.

The Government only recently signed a US$190 million contract to construct 121 kilometres of road from Linden to Mabura Hill, Region 10, and a contract to the tune of $3.1 billion to construct 32 concrete bridges along the KurupukariLethem corridor to facilitate the construction of an asphaltic road that will eventually lead from Linden to Lethem.

The Ministry is currently in the process of awarding contracts to the tune of $800 million for the rehabilitation of road works in the region.

Road networks are a major aspect of a country’s development, not only do they ease transportation and cut costs, they integrate communities and boost people’s development, hence the Government’s major focus on building the country’s road networks.

15 Ramsammy’s Ruminations Accessibility is a hallmark of the President Irfaan Ali’s One PPP/C Administration – Dharamlall Guyana plea is resonating NEWS

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

throughout the country

P

resident Irfaan Ali’s call for ONE GUYANA is not, and has never been, a call for assimilation. It is a call for integration, for unity of purpose, for collaboration among our people. It is an official recognition that Guyana is a country made up of diverse people with rich ethnic and cultural backgrounds, people with a history of struggles. It is a call for us to work alongside each other for the benefit of everyone who live in our country. It is a call that seeks unity in our fight against poverty and discrimination, against those things that divide us. It is a call to celebrate our diversity, and embrace it as our common asset. Some have dismissed the call for ONE GUYANA. But if Guyana is to reach its potential as a country, if Guyana is to take its rightful place as the leader in Caricom, we must unite as a nation.

While some people see ONE GUYANA as utopian, the majority of Guyanese have welcomed the aggressive push by President Ali and the PPP Government to achieve Dr Leslie Ramsammy ONE GUYANA. Monday, July 4, CARICOM Day, was a crucial test. President Ali’s cabinet held an outreach in Buxton for the people of Buxton and adjoining communities. It was a day for the community to meet cabinet members and other high officials in Government, for them to talk of the issues they feel are important, to raise their problems, and to seek answers. In response, the Opposition and their sycophants called for a Day of Protest. Instead of supporting the people and joining them in articulating their issues and demanding Government responses, the Opposition and their sycophants decided to ask the people to protest and boycott the Government. Instead of proclaiming unity, the Opposition decided to promote division.

The people of Buxton and the adjoining communities answered back - they chose to engage the Government. They embraced the ONE GUYANA call. They rejected the Day of Protest called by the Opposition. The Government came to an Opposition stronghold.

Outside of Linden, there is no stronger support base for the PNC than Buxton. The Opposition drew a red line, telling the Government it cannot come to Buxton, that the people will be in the protest line, leaving the Government by itself in the Buxton Community Ground.

But this goal of the Opposition and their cohorts failed miserably.

The people of Buxton and the adjoining communities flocked to the Buxton Community Ground, they left a handful of persons who were brought in from various other communities to hold placards.

The Opposition had a lonely vigil along the roadside. It was a sad denunciation of the Opposition, as the people decided they chose unity and ONE GUYANA instead of confrontation.

The cabinet outreach has become an everyday occurrence in Guyana. Multiple Government ministers are on the ground in every region and every community. More people have chatted with, touched, and voiced their concerns with the President himself, the Vice President, the Prime Minister and other cabinet members than ever before. Bharrat Jagdeo had started cabinet outreaches when he was President. President Irfaan Ali has adopted that strategy and has built on it. When he was President, Bharrat Jagdeo started an engagement with faith leaders and faith groups. He made the faith community an important part of his consultation and engagement.

President Ali has brought the faith leaders into a critical engagement with the Government. Sports organisations, the business community, social NGOs, and trade unions have all become a part of everyday engagement.

Last week, when protesters under the guidance of Opposition elements decided to enter the community of Mon Repos and attack Indo-Guyanese vendors and loot and burnt their stuff, the President and his cabinet did not respond with force. Yes, the Police had to do their job and restore quiet, but the President himself, without being surrounded by the mighty weapons of the Police and army, entered both the Mon Repos community where people were attacked, and went into Golden Grove and Buxton and other villages to talk about peace and to ask people to work together to solve our problems.

While the Government of Guyana is pursuing positive interaction and promoting unity among our people, The Opposition and their sycophants are pursuing division. The people of Golden Grove and Guyana have a right to question Police killings. A citizen was killed by a Police officer. An investigation has led to a Police officer being charged with murder and two other officers being charged for various other crimes associated with the killing.

Citizens should be, and ought to be, upset, but two wrongs do not make a right. When Opposition elements decided to support and promote a protest that damaged public and private properties, which led to looting and injuries to innocent citizens in what was clearly a protest targeting Indo-Guyanese, that protest deserves condemnation. Instead, the Opposition is defending the protest and blaming the Government.

The citizen killed was an Afro-Guyanese. The Police officers charged are Afro-Guyanese. Yet there are elements in the Opposition fringes trying to fool people that the officers were Indo-Guyanese.

What would motivate them to make this a racial story? Clearly, these are people out to promote racism. Guyana is faced with a choice – the Opposition divide and rule and the Government’s ONE GUYANA. The Guyanese people appear to have chosen – ONE GUYANA. The views expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Guyana Times’ editorial policy and stance

Several Ministers of Government at the Buxton outreach on Monday

A

high-level ministerial team on Monday held an outreach in Buxton, East Coast Demerara (ECD), where Local Government and Regional Development Minister Nigel Dharamlall pointed out that “accessibility” is a hallmark of the PPP/C Administration.

Dharamlall told attendees that the Government, through this and a number of similar outreaches across the country, is aiming to build better relationships with citizens of all walks of life.

“Leadership is about building trust and you can’t trust us if you can’t relate to us and we cannot work for

you, if we don’t have trust in the system…one of things that is the hallmark of the PPP/C Government is our accessibility,” he expressed.

“You are not going to get development if people don’t listen you…if the leaders in the community don’t listen to the people, we are not going to be making progress,” he added.

In this regard, the Local Government Minister reasoned that the community of Buxton is not short of leadership. He further posited that the community has a lot of potential which the Government is looking to harness.

Moreover, he highlighted that the issues faced in the community which include the maintenance of roads, schools and drains and the provision of job opportunities, among others, are no different from the ones faced by other communities in the country.

Nevertheless, Minister Dharamlall explained that these issues will be addressed in a manner which will provide targeted opportunities for those who reside in the community.

“All the projects that we are going to be doing from now to the end of the year, we’re not going to give to any contractor who already has

contracts…any project that has to be done in Buxton must be done by a company in Buxton, a registered business in Buxton, by the people of Buxton,” he noted.

Meanwhile, Minister Dharamlall said the lack of resources that is challenging the work of the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) should no longer be an issue under the Dr Irfaan Ali-led Administration.

He noted too that there are currently over 40 persons employed by the Local Government Ministry that are working in the Buxton NDC to undertake projects such as clean-up exercises.

16 NEWS 2nd dose Pfizer vaccine for children 5-11 years to commence soon WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

– 42 new infections detected in 1 day

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he rollout of the second COVID-19 dose for children five to 11 will commence this week, and parents have been urged yet again to get their children immunised.

Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony on Tuesday informed that 4000 children between the ages of five and 11 have already taken their first doses. However, there is still a lot of work to be done to boost these figures.

“We need to do a lot more and encourage more parents to bring their children out to be vaccinated. During this week, we will start administering the second doses. Most persons who got the first dose, after 28 days they can now get the second dose.

They should come back to get the second dose,” the Minister announced.

Meanwhile, in the 12 to 17 group, 35,006 doses or 48.1 per cent took one dose. Of this number, 25,647 or 35.2 per cent are fully vaccinated.

“We have vaccination sites in every region and if parents would like their children to be vaccinated, they can come to any one of these sites,” he added.

Adult vaccination is progressing slowly. First dos-

es stand at 442,872 or 86.5 per cent while second doses are at 343,640 or 67 per cent.

Additionally, 68,984 booster doses were administered.

Some 860 active coronavirus infections are being monitored across the country. Region Four (DemeraraMahaica) is leading with the highest active positives.

On the other hand, there is zero in Region Eight (PotaroSiparuni), owing to the fact that people are not showing up for testing.

New cases

However, new statistics released by the Ministry showed that another 42 new coronavirus infections have been reported thus taking the confirmed cases to 65,698.

The death toll remains at 1256. In addition, 33 persons are in institutional isolation, 824 in home isolation and four in institutional quarantine.

There are 33 hospitalised cases, with 22 of those at the Infectious Diseases Hospital.

Three persons are in the Intensive Care Unit.

Additionally, 65,583 persons have recovered while 662,354 tests have been processed to date.

An analysis shows new cases dispersed among five administrative regions, with one three in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), 15 in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), 12 in Region Four (DemeraraMahaica), four in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) and eight in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).

Region One (BarimaWaini), Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), Region Nine (Upper TakutuUpper Essequibo) and Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) did not report any increase in positives.

In the Region of the Americas, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases are pegged at over 162 million with a death toll of 2.7 million. Globally, the confirmed positives stand at over 545 million with more than 6.3 million reported deaths.

If anyone is displaying any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19 or needs any additional information, they are asked to contact the COVID-19 Hotline 231-1166, 226-7480 or 624-6674 immediately or visit www.health. gov.gy.

GUYANA COVID-19 DASHBOARD JULY 5, 2022 UPDATE

NUMBER OF NEW CASES

42

NUMBER OF PERSONS IN INSTITUTIONAL ISOLATION

33

NUMBER OF PERSONS IN HOME ISOLATION

824

NUMBER OF PERSONS IN COVID-19 ICU

3

NUMBER OF PERSONS IN INSTITUTIONAL QUARANTINE

4

TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES BY GENDER (FEMALES)

36,621

TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES BY GENDER (MALES)

31,078

TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES IN GUYANA SINCE 2020

67,699

NUMBER OF RECOVERED CASES

65,583

TOTAL 1st DOSE VACCINATED FULLY IMMUNISED TOTAL NUMBER OF DEATHS

DISTRIBUTION OF TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES SINCE MARCH 2020 REGION 1

2584

REGION 2

2948

REGION 3

8447

REGION 4

33,655

REGION 5

2468

REGION 6

6544

REGION 7

2507

REGION 8

886

REGION 9

4079

REGION 10

3581

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

443,802 343,575 1256

Keep a physical distance of at least 6 feet.

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

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

NEWS

17

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

69 educators graduate from Education Management Certificate Course

Valedictorians Deonarine Hardat and Jessica Goodchild

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ixty-nine educators from Regions Four (Demerara-Mahaica) and Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), on Tuesday graduated from the Ministry of Education’s Education Management Certificate Course.

The educators, who be-

gan the course in 2019, were celebrated for completing the two-year course which was created to improve the management skills of educators across Guyana at a small graduation ceremony hosted in the Queen’s College auditorium.

These included 67 educators in the Region Four Education district and two from Region Eight’s Education district.

The programme was executed through the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD). It is a specialised course designed to improve teachers’ leadership skills and is open to Heads of Departments, Senior Teachers, and Head Teachers.

The course was completed over a two-year period, from 2019 to 2021.

Delivering the feature address, NCERD Director Quenita Walrond-Lewis encouraged the educators to be the leaders to rebuild, recapture and restore the education sector.

She noted that one of the key factors influencing effectiveness is the nature of leadership and management. Hence, quality leadership and management

NCERD Director Quenita Walrond-Lewis

are fundamental factors in changing the status quo.

The NCERD Director highlighted that proper leadership skills are needed now more than ever to guide students on the path to becoming valuable and contributing citizens.

She urged them to adapt to change in the prevailing environment. She pointed out that over the last few years, the education sector has been transformed, particularly by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic not only highlighted several challenges in the sector but

also provided the opportunity for more creative means of education delivery.

The course saw two educators sharing the Valedictorian award.

School Boards Directors, Deonarine Hardat and Jessica Goodchild in their remarks encouraged their batch mates to be an example of excellence towards the holistic development of the nation’s children.

The graduating teachers were from nursery, primary and secondary schools across the education district.

18 NEWS 1 dead, 2 injured in separate accidents on Caricom Day WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

The vehicle belonging to the GPF

O

ne person was killed and two others were injured in separate accidents along the Success Public Road, East Coast of Demerara (ECD), and the Soesdyke Public Road, East Bank Demerara (EBD), on Monday.

The first accident claimed the life of 22-yearold Ajay Ali, a fisherman of Unity Village, Mahaica, ECD. According to reports received, Ali was killed while he was allegedly attempting to cross the Success Public

Road. Police stated that a motor car bearing registration number HB 5349 driven by a 46-year-old resident of Cane Grove, ECD, was proceeding along the Success Public Road when the fisherman allegedly ran into the path of the vehicle.

As a result of the collision, Ali fell onto the roadway where he received several injuries. He was later pronounced dead at the scene.

Police at the time conducted a breathalyser test on the driver but no trace

The motor car that was involved in the accident

of alcohol was found in his system. The driver currently remains in Police custody assisting with investigations.

Meanwhile, on the same day at about 11:30h on the Soesdyke Public Road, EBD, Jiang Chen, a 28-year-old resident of Timehri, EBD, was seriously injured while another received minor injuries after the motor vehicle in which they were travelling collided head-on with a motor pick-up owned by

the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and attached to the SWAT Unit.

The other injured person is a member of the SWAT unit whose name was not given by the Police.

The Force vehicle (PAB 3120) was at the time being driven by 29-year-old Mike Millington, a Police Constable.

Two other SWAT ranks were in the vehicle at the time of the accident. The ranks were on official duty, heading to the airport to escort cricketers.

Reports are that the pick-up was proceeding in the direction of the airport at a fast rate of speed, when the driver overtook a motor car and in so doing, collided head-on with the motor vehicle which was proceeding in the opposite direction.

Chen, who was driving the vehicle at the time, was reportedly pinned and had

Opposition, Slowe ask...

Attorney-at-Law Selwyn Pieters penned, “We are requesting an urgent omnibus hearing of these applications so that the appropriate orders may be made to ensure the applicants’ rights, interests and remedies are not prejudiced.”

The most recent application was filed by Slowe, asking a Judge to grant an injunction restraining the

PSC from promoting officers until his legal challenge to President Dr Irfaan Ali’s June 2021 suspension of the PSC is determined.

President Ali had suspended the PSC after its Chairman, Paul Slowe, and a Commissioner, Clinton Conway, were slapped with fraud charges. They, along with other retired and serving members of the GPF, have been implicated in a $10 million fraud over duties delegated to them for revising the Police Force’s raft of Standing Orders. It is alleged that they collected payments amounting to $10 million, but never provided the Force with a raft of revised Standing Orders.

In addition, Slowe is facing three counts of sexual assault. It is alleged that on three occasions in 2019, at Police Headquarters, Eve Leary, Georgetown, he sexually assaulted a senior Policewoman.

The suspension, Slowe added, prompted the Commissioners to file a Fixed Date Application (FDA) seeking, among other things, a declaration that the President’s suspension of the PSC was contrary to, in violation of, and ultra vires the Constitution, and therefore was of no force or effect; an order directing the Commission’s Secretary to prepare formal letters to the ranks named on the official promotions list, informing them of their promotion; and an order nullifying the President’s suspension of the Chairman and members of the Police Service Commission.

The retired cop, in his new case, told the High Court that he was advised by his lawyers, and verily believes, that the injunction would assist in preserving the status quo of the pending proceedings. He reasoned that should the injunction be refused, the reconstituted PSC would be allowed to promote officers, causing in-

Ajay Ali who was killed in the accident at Success

to be assisted out of the vehicle by public-spirited citizens. Police said his condition is listed as stable.

A breathalyser test was conducted on the drivers which revealed no trace of alcohol in their systems. An investigation is underway.

FROM PAGE 8

evitable difficulty at the end of the pending matter.

The former PSC Chairman further pointed out that if the injunction is not granted, and this matter is subsequently completed and the previous promotions on the past list are effected, there would be inevitable issues as to which officers are of a higher rank than others, if the promotions would be backdated, and there would be future problems as to who will be entitled to be Commanders and even the Commissioner of Police.

Slowe contended that under the Civil Procedure Rules, the High Court has the authority to grant an interim injunction restraining the PSC from promoting members of the GPF until the hearing and determination of the other matter.

On May 31, President Ali swore in the members of the PSC at the Office of the President. They are Attorney-at-Law Mark Conway, businessmen Ernesto Choo-a-Fat and Hakeem Mohammed, and Pastor Patrick Findlay, who will serve as Chairman.

Shortly after the members took the oath of office, Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton threatened to take legal action, citing that President Ali was carrying out constitutional duties without engaging him. But the President responded by stating that the development of the country will not be held hostage by political objects.

The PSC is a constitutional body established under Article 137 (1) of the Constitution, and has been given the authority under Article 212 (1) subject to the provisions of Article 211 (1) to make appointments to any office in the Police Force of or above the rank of Inspector, and exercise disciplinary control over and to remove persons holding or acting in such offices.

NEWS

19

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Police cease search for missing teen – uncle released from custody

T

he mother of 16-yearold Akeem Bissoon of A Field Sophia, Greater Georgetown, who disappeared without a trace at the Aruwai airstrip in Region Seven (CuyuniMazaruni) on June 14 said the Police have halted their search for her son.

In a previous interview with Guyana Times, the woman, Jennifer Henry, had said that the Police were showing no form of interest in locating the teen, and had only gone to search for him once.

However, on Tuesday, she said it has now been three weeks since her son went missing, and the

Police have halted their search completely.

“It is now 21 days and nobody not contacting me, nobody not telling me anything. The Police stopped looking for him. Why did the Police stop the search?” the woman asked.

On the day Bissoon went missing, the woman’s brother-in-law, with whom the teen was staying, claimed he was cooking inside the house while the teen was sitting outside at the door, and within two to three minutes the teen disappeared and was nowhere to be found. His phone and slippers were in the trail.

The woman said even

though her son went missing, her brother-in-law never called to inform her of her son’s disappearance.

She said it was until someone else called her that she found out that her son was missing.

The teen had left Georgetown on June 8 and went to Region Seven with his uncle-in-law. Bissoon’s mother said he had been living with her sister and brother-in-law since he was three years old.

She said she had left her son with the couple since they offered to keep him while she worked to provide for her family.

After the teen’s disap-

Missing: Akeem Bissoon

pearance, the woman said her brother-in-law was arrested by the Police but was later released from custody.

“He was arrested last week for 72 hours and they release him. The Police said that they have nothing that they can arrest him for because every time they question him, he has the same story, his story not changing,” she explained.

Henry said what is even more frustrating is that everyone around her seems to be tight-lipped and is showing no remorse that her son is missing, “Everyone is so tightlipped. My sister, my broth-

er-in-law, nobody is saying anything to me. If I did not call them to find out about my child then I would not have known that my son is missing. I am just praying that my son is alive. He is just a child, not an animal,” the tearful woman said.

When asked what is next moving forward, the woman said she does not know what else to do.

“I don’t know who to turn to, and where to turn to. I am just hoping for the best.”

Anyone who has information about the whereabouts of Bissoon is asked to contact the nearest Police station or his mother on telephone number 6847056.

SASOD calls on Govt to implement policies to address LGBTQ+ issues - says no safe space in schools for vulnerable group

T

he Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) is not seeking any superficial support from politicians on LGBTQ+ issues, according to the organisation’s Managing Director, Joel Simpson, who made it clear that policymakers should offer meaningful support or no support at all.

Simpson, in an interview with Guyana Times, said that the organisation and the LGBTQ+ community are not interested in politicians who only voice their support verbally, but not by fighting to implement policies that would benefit the vulnerable group.

“I don't think [politicians’] presence at pride without doing anything meaningful at the policy legislative level is sufficient. We don't want political leaders who just come and say the right thing at receptions. But don't use the office, don't use their position to change any laws, to change policy, and don't use their portfolio to be more inclusive of LGBT people in their programmes and in the services that administer by the office.”

The LGBTQ+ rights activist said that that act is called “pink washing”, and the organisation has no interest in it. “That doesn't make any sense to us. That's pink washing and we don't want that.”

He noted that the organisation would like to see meaningful changes and engagements being made by Guyana’s policymakers and not politicians gaslighting

SASOD Managing Director Joel Simpson

the community into thinking that change is coming their way.

“What we would like is meaningful change, meaningful engagement. So, for almost all of the Ministries, there is some intersectionality that can address LGBTIQ issues, from a human rights perspective, from a development perspective, from a perspective of gender equality, inclusion, diversity, [and] equality. And what is more important for us is that that engagement is meaningful in that regard so that we have lasting change,” Simpson explained.

He further lamented that there is no governmental leadership on LGBTQ+ rights issues. “So, there is no governmental leadership on this issue. That is severely lacking. I think that's where we need to start.”

Education system

Meanwhile, he added that the school system is lacking safe spaces for LGBTQ+ members to be themselves as

there are no policies in place that would create such an environment.

“There isn't a safe space for LGBTIQ students in schools, I can say that without a doubt. We have clients that reach out from time to time to students that face bullying in schools, another issue,” Simpson shared.

Simpson said, that despite the organisation’s cries to the Ministry of Education to develop and implement clear policies and guidelines that govern students of the LGBTQ+ community, it is yet to be done.

“The first thing that the Ministry needs to do, which they have not been doing, and which you have not done, despite repeated calls for it to be done, is to have clear policies and guidelines in place which outlaw, which specifically outlaws bullying against LGBTIQ students.

That doesn't exist. And we've been going for that for many years.”

He revealed that the organisation has been trying to

AmCham’s inaugural...

FROM PAGE 13

The success of this Security Forum was a direct result of the collaboration and cooperation of AmCham Guyana’s Executive Committee, secretariat and large network of committed members, including Shanti Persaud, Dallas Thomas and Mark Lim, who serve as the executive members of the Chamber’s

Governance and Security Committee.

President of AmCham Guyana, Devindra Kissoon lauded stakeholders and the distinguished panel for their participation and support. He expressed that this would be the first in a series of events focused on security in the sector.

“The Chamber plans to continuously highlight the value of sound governance and security in light of the tremendous development taking place throughout Guyana and will continue to urge for collaborations between the private sector and the country’s national security network,” a statement underlined.

have the non-discrimination clause in the teachers' code of conduct amended to reference sexual orientation.

“We have engaged with the Minister of Education Priya Manickchand, when she was Minister of Education previously on it and had gotten nowhere then, on amending the teachers' code of conduct…it has a non-discrimination clause in there. And we've been asking for that to be amended to specifically reference, sexual orientation, sex characteristics, gender identity, and gender expression. So, that LGBTQ bullying could clearly be pro-

hibited in schools.”

He added that bullying against students who identify as gay, non-binary, lesbian, bisexual, and other sexual orientations on the LGBTQ+ spectrum is often prevalent in schools, not only by their peers but also by teachers and administrators.

The approach to address the issue, according to Simpson, is incomplete because it is not being addressed on a policy level but rather on a case-by-case scale which he describes as putting a “band-aid on the wounds when there's a lot more that can be done to pre-

vent these incidents from occurring in the first place.”

Studies have shown that LGBTQ+ students are often bullied by peers and sometimes, even teachers – be it in-person or electronically.

Globally, there has been increased advocacy for more investments in both bullying and suicide prevention initiatives that explicitly have protections for LGBTQ+ youth.

This year, pride month will continue until July 16, with SASOD already having planned a host of activities celebrating the LGBTQ+ community.

20

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022

guyanatimesgy.com

DAILY HOROSCOPES

ARCHIE

You’ll find it difficult to say no to a persuasive talker or someone who’s trying to sell you something. When temptation sets in, rethink your steps.

Personal improvement will pay off.

(March 21-April 19) You’ll be quick to make decisions.

Put a hold on voicing your opinion or making promises you haven’t thought through. Don’t limit your possibilities by tying up your time and energy.

DILBERT

(April 20-May 20) Seize the moment, do something you find inviting and immerse yourself in mastering what you set out to achieve. Don’t wait for someone to take charge. Romance is encouraged.

(May 21-June 20)

PEANUTS (June 21-July 22)

Exhaust all your options before making a move. Getting along with others will be mandatory if you want to get things done on time. Stick to what’s feasible, and avoid overreacting and overspending.

Pay attention to how you present yourself. Your image will make a difference when networking. A chance to impress someone you feel drawn to will pay off. Go for the brass ring!

(July 23-Aug. 22)

CALVIN AND HOBBES

(Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

(Sept. 23-Oct. 23)

Keep your emotions in check.

Refuse to let someone upset you or back you into a corner. Look for ways to improve what you can offer, and move forward quickly. Don’t let anyone hold you back.

Keep your thoughts to yourself.

Focus on self-improvement instead of trying to change someone. Look for a chance to nurture and improve your relationships, and you will inspire others.

Don’t shun your responsibilities.

Take care of duties before moving on to more enjoyable or creative tasks.

Having a clear mind will make it easier for you to develop an original plan.

SUDOKU (Oct. 24-Nov. 22)

(Nov. 23-Dec. 21)

Put your strengths to the test, and don’t stop until you reach your goal.

Self-improvements will fetch compliments and encourage talks about intentions and plans with someone you love.

Keep everything in perspective.

Too much of anything will leave you in a quandary. Concentrate on positive changes at home, and nurture relationships you have neglected.

SOLUTION FOR LAST PUBLISHED PUZZLE

(Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

(Jan. 20-Feb. 19)

(Feb. 20-March 20)

Put everything you’ve got into making your environment better. Spend time at home going over pending matters and cleaning up unfinished business. What you accomplish will buy you some freedom.

You can think big, but when it comes to putting your plans in motion, do so with a minimalist approach. Use only what’s necessary to reach your target. Waste not, and you’ll have no regrets.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022

21

India vs England: Test 4 of 4…

No stopping Root and Bairstow as 'new' England make it 2-2

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Ben Stokes and Jasprit Bumrah shared the series trophy 2-2

ngland came to Edgbaston having gunned down targets of 277, 299 and 296 in their last three Test matches.

On Tuesday they made it four in a row, pulling off their highest successful chase in Test cricket as Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow completed sparkling unbeaten hundreds, making India's

celebrated bowling attack look utterly bereft of ideas in nearperfect batting conditions.

Root sealed victory with a reverse-sweep, a symbolic moment if there ever was one.

He played the shot or variants thereof - including a reverselap off Shardul Thakur for a six over the slips - four times in the

closing overs of the game, as England picked off the last 46 runs of their target in just 34 balls. Pure Bazball.

This has been an unusual summer of relatively flat pitches and an exceedingly flat batch of Dukes balls, but this sequence of audacious chases has come against two of the

best fast-bowling attacks in the world - attacks that came to England last year and went away with a 1-0 series win and a 2-1 series lead respectively. A remarkable achievement for Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, the new captain and coach, even if the long-term viability of their all-out-attacking philosophy will be put to test more rigorously in due course, when England play in more bowling-friendly conditions.

England began the last day needing 119, and India needing seven wickets. England had never successfully chased a target of this magnitude, and India had never lost while defending one of this magnitude. Now, venomous early bursts from Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami were India's only way back into the game.

A ball-change in the second over of the morning - two balls had gone out of shape in the first 59 overs of England's innings, and the third would also be replaced by the time the match was done - brought India a brief window when the replacement Dukes moved around appreciably, but it didn't translate into a wicket.

Bumrah and Shami beat

RHTY&SC’s annual cricket academy…

Bakewell-powered cricket academy bowls off on July 18th …Over 120 youths to attend

A

part from 2020 and 2021, the years when the novel coronavirus was on the rampage, the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (RHTY&SC) has, since its formation in 1990, hosted an annual cricket academy as part of its cricket developmental programme.

The club is forging ahead with plans for a massive two-week academy, which close to 120 youths are expected to attend.

Plans for the academy received a major boost last Friday when Bakewell, RHTY&SC’s long-time sponsor, came on board with a major sponsorship.

RHTY&SC Secretary/CEO Hilbert Foster has disclosed that the academy is very important for the future of the club, as it would ensure that players are identified for future inclusion in the club’s under-13, under-15, under-17 and under-19 teams.

During the two years mentioned above, when the club was unable to host the academy, a major setback had confronted its junior section. In 2022, special emphasis would be placed on females, with the club looking to attract close to 20 girls between the age of 10 and 14 years. A battery of four coaches would conduct the academy, and they would be on the lookout for promising talents while improving their charges’ techniques and knowledge of the

Bakewell’s Natasha Bhikhari handing over the sponsorship to RHTY&SC’s Hilbert Foster

game.

The coaches would include Winston Smith and Delbert Hicks, while Foster would head the organising committee for the academy, which would be held at the Area H Ground and in the compound of the Rose Hall Town Primary School. Sessions would be from 9:00am to 1:00 pm daily starting from July 18 and ending on August 2.

The RHTY&SC would provide all the necessary gear and equipment for the academy, while lunch/ snacks would also be provided.

The youths would also be involved in classroom sessions on topics of interest to them, including the importance of discipline, history of cricket, role of a sports ambassador, table manners, fielding positions, public speaking, rules of cricket, and public manners.

Foster has disclosed that the club is determined to develop its

players on and off the cricket field, as most of them would not go on to play cricket at the professional level. Each of the youths at the academy would receive a school bag and educational materials, while numerous prizes would be up for grabs, including bicycles, tablets, food hampers, cricket uniforms, food hampers and household items.

The long time Secretary/ CEO, who is also President of the Berbice Cricket Board, has said the academy would see participation of 50 youths from the Guyana Police Force Community Outreach Programme. Foster had made an offer to Region Six Commander Boodnarine Persaud to host the students, and the Commander readily accepted. The Region Six Police Division would provide transportation for the youths, who hail from across the region, to attend the academy.

Bakewell’s sponsorship would cover payment to coaches, obtaining gear for the academy, and providing educational materials for the class sessions. This company has been sponsoring the RHTY&SC’s Under-17 and Second division teams since 2000, and Foster has hailed the company for its continued support, especially after the two-year break due to COVID. Special mention has been made of Bakewell’s General Manager Rajin Ganga and Secretary Natasha Bhikhari, who have been described as “close friends of the club and cricketers”. Over the years, the academy has produced hundreds of players for the club. Over 100 of those have gone on to play for either Berbice, Guyana, and/ or the West Indies. They include Esaun and Royston Crandon, Assad Fudadin, Jonathan Rampersaud, Shawn Pereira, Delbert Hicks, Khemraj Mahadeo, Shevon Marks, Shemaine Campbelle, Sheneta Grimmond, Kevin Sinclair, Kelvon Anderson, Junior Sinclair, Plaffina Millington, Shabaki Gajnabi and Erva Giddings.

In his remarks, Ganga said that Bakewell is pleased to be associated with the club, as the club has always represented the Bakewell brand with pride and passion. Moreover, he expressed confidence that the academy would be a success.

the edges of both batters, and on one occasion Root insideedged the ball narrowly past his stumps, but the two fast bowlers were also erratic, drifting too wide or too straight, with Shami conceding eight byes in the space of two overs.

These errors were ruthlessly punished, and often even reasonably good balls. Bairstow met an off-stump ball from Bumrah with a full face to punch it between mid-on and midwicket, and Root opened his bat-face late to routinely steer good-length balls in the corridor either side of gully.

One such back-cut brought up Root's 28th hundred in Test cricket, and England were rushing along by this stage, with Root hitting five fours in the space of just four overs. At one stage, it appeared as if Root could dash to the target all by himself; Bairstow had beaten Root to 90, but he was still in the 90s when Root had moved to 135.

Bairstow wouldn't be denied his second hundred of the match,

of course, and his fourth in his last five Test innings, getting there with a scampered single after pushing Ravindra Jadeja into the leg side. He celebrated with three back-to-back boundaries in the next over - slapped through point, drilled down the ground, pulled through midwicket - with Mohammed Siraj at the receiving end.

That over, the penultimate over of the match, left Siraj nursing figures of 15-0-98-0. He went for nearly six an over in the first innings too, though there were four wickets to go with it.

Thakur, meanwhile, conceded 113 in 18 overs across the two innings, while taking just the one wicket. These two were part of an India attack that created sustained pressure on England last summer. On this visit, the two of them and Ravindra Jadeja, who extracted very little from the pitch while bowling a negative line from left-arm over, left Bumrah and Shami carrying too much of a burden to manage by themselves. (ESPNCricinfo)

SCOREBOARD ENGLAND 2ND INNINGS (Target: 378 runs) Alex Lees run out (Mohammed Shami/Jadeja) 56 Zak Crawley b Bumrah 46 Ollie Pope c †Pant b Bumrah 0 Joe Root not out 142 Jonny Bairstow not out 114 Extras (b 8, lb 7, nb 2, w 3) 20 TOTAL 76.4 Ov (RR: 4.93) 378/3 Did not bat: Ben Stokes (c), Sam

Billings †, Matthew Potts, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach, James Anderson Fall of wickets: 1-107 (Zak Crawley, 21.4 ov), 2-107 (Ollie Pope, 23.1 ov), 3-109 (Alex Lees, 24.1 ov) BOWLING O-M-R-W Jasprit Bumrah 17-1-74-2 Mohammed Shami 15-2-64-0 Ravindra Jadeja 18.4-3-62-0 Mohammed Siraj 15-0-98-0 Shardul Thakur 11-0-65-0

National Schools District Kayaking Championships 2022…

Linden (District 10) in clean sweep

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zekiel Persaud and his partner Limuel Wilson have emerged victorious in the male relay event of the National Schools District Kayaking Championships held at the Watooka Guest House in Linden Region 10 on Monday.

Their victory sealed a clean sweep for the Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Kwakwani) team in the tournament, and created history in such an exciting competition.

This event concluded the first ever National Schools District Kayaking Championships held in Guyana, and the events were witnessed by a large crowd. Speaking with the press after the win, Persaud said his team was prepared like in the previous event, and that there was no challenger to come close to them.

“We did what was expected of us to win, and we executed all as planned. We will continue to prepare as a team for upcoming events,” he promised.

Results of the championships

Male Relay Event 1. Ezekiel Persaud/Limuel Wilson, Upper Dem/KK 2. Job Grimes, Bartica 3. Kandar Winter, Rupununi 4. Eric Baptist, Reg 8 5. Odonell Dublin, Reg 1 6. Aveion Smith, Reg 2 7. Joshua Benjamin, New Amsterdam 8. Rashid Pajaram, ECD 9. Ezekiel Watson, WCB Female Individual Race 1. Shaneeza Cornelious 2. Shanez Debideen 3. Duan Williams Male Individual Event 1. Iwayne Torez 2. Stewart France 3. Zain Andrews Female Relay Event 1.

Upper Demerara/ Kwakwani 2. Essequibo Coast 3. Rupununi Male Relay Event 1.

Upper Demerara/ Kwakwani 2. Bartica 3. Rupununi

22 RBL renews sponsorship of RHTY &SC Grade Six Summer Camp CLASSIFIED WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

…Club makes donation to RHT Police Outpost, Nursery School

T

he longstanding relationship between the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club, MS, and Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited was renewed last Thursday when the bank, through its branch in Rose Hall Town, handed over a cheque for the sponsorship of the club’s Grade Six Summer Camp to the management of the club during a simple presentation ceremony attended by club executives Jonathan Rampersaud, Ravindranauth Kissoonlall and Tyrone Pottaya.

Rampersaud, a national junior player, has expressed gratitude to the management and staff of the Rose Hall Branch of the RBL, especially Manager Sattie Cox, for the Bank’s continued cooperation, and has said the club would make sure that the camp is not only successful, but achieves all of its objectives.

Rampersaud, has said that every child attending the camp would receive a special educational package, including a school bag, and numerous prizes would be up for grabs, including bicycles, food hampers, tablets, educational grants, household items, and sports gear.

Rampersaud, the RHTY&SC Asst Secretary/CEO, has said the bank has consistently been sponsoring the summer camp since 2008, apart from the years 2020 and 2021, when no summer camp was held because of the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The main objectives of the summer camp are to prepare

also committed themselves to assisting with first aid kits and electric fans in the near future.

The teams also handed over

a donation of trophies, medals and certificate frames to the RHT Nursery School for their upcoming graduation ceremony.

ExxonMobil National School Basketball Festival…

Republic Bank Rose Hall Branch Manager Sattie Cox handing over sponsorship to Jonathan Rampersaud, while other Bank staff and RHTY&SC officials look on

grade six students to make a successful transition from primary to secondary school, and to prepare them for the different culture of dealing with more mature peers.

This camp would commence on Monday July 18, and would be supervised by the club’s cricket teams. The club has been overwhelmed by the large number of applications, but would accept only 50 students in total.

Over a period of four weeks, those students would be taught Mathematics, English Language, Social Studies and Science, and would be involved in basic cricket coaching and numerous social sessions as the teams strive for them to be fully prepared for secondary school.

Among the topics to be covered are: the importance of education, peer pressure, table manners, personal hygiene, classroom manners, how to choose friends, and discipline.

Meanwhile, RHTY&SC Secretary/CEO Hilbert Foster, at a meeting with students of the Rose Hall Town Primary School, disclosed that the school’s top student at the upcoming National Grade Six exams would receive an educational grant of fifty thousand dollars and several other prizes when school reopens in September.

The teams of the RHTYSC are Poonai Pharmacy Under-13, Farfan and Mendes Ltd Under- 15, Bakewell Under-17 and Second Division, Pepsi Under-19 and Intermediate, Metro Female, Vitality Under-23 and NAMILCO Thunderbolt Under-21 and First Division.

On Friday last, these teams handed over a quantity of items to the Rose Hall Town Police Outpost as part of their outreach programmes. The donation included cricket gear, stationery, clock, radio, hand sanitizers, face masks, trophies, and a box of cricket balls. The teams

QC, Bishops', Marian Academy record wins in respective categories

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ENTERTAINMENT

Bishops' High School are into the semifinals

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chool Basketball Festival at the Cliff Anderson Sportshall as Queens College, Bishops, Marian Academy among others emerged victorious in their respective categories. Youth Basketball Guyana Cofounder Chris Bowman is grateful for the four days of action as the tournament can be hosted yet again after a two year hiatus.

In the U16 girls’ division Presidents College A duked it out with Queens College and once again the QC ladies emerged winners 10-9. Scoring for QC was Cianna Barkoye with 6 points and 4 rebounds, while Ronessa Romalho top scored for her side with 4 points and 3 rebounds.

In the second game Presidents College B shared the same fate as their ‘A’ team losing out to Marian Academy 10-3, leading the charge was Angel Ramjaram 6 points, 8 rebounds.

Game three saw D-UP Academy bowing out to GT Academy by a whopping 45-1, Kassidy Woolford was the chief tactician with 29 points, 7 steals and Sharay Johnson chipping in with 8 points, 3 assist, 6 steals.

The action then shifted to the U16 boys where The Bishops' High mauled West Demerara Secondary 43-14, leading the scoring were Yaniel Easton 15 points, 8 steals and Keyan Mars 11 points, 19 rebounds.

In the final game of the night Queens College spared no thought in destroying Covent Garden 57-13. Leading the charge for QC were Francois Myers 24, 19 rebounds, Owen Hooper 17 points, 10 rebounds and Ezekiel Griffith 10 points, 9 rebounds. The highest scorer for Covent Garden was Jonathan Giddings with 7 points, 4 rebounds.

Sharing his thoughts after the games was YBG Cofounder Chris Bowman who said, “The tournament has gone well so far. I mean there has been four days without incidents, and we are happy about that. We have had for the first time we have had two days of competition, the round of 16 and the under 18 division and that went really well. We have the four teams

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secured for the semifinals; the real surprise would be Kwakwani being knocked off in a really classic game. Presidents College is the defending champion, and they are also in the semifinal, the Bishops high school team looked very good and then Linden Technical Institute who are five time champions. It has been a good tournament so far, we started with the girls and under 16 competition and that has started off well.”

Bowman noted that while there are some disparities in the scores, it can be expected as basketball was not played for the last two years due to the Covid 19 pandemic. He explained that after a two-year hiatus most of the female teams are rebuilding, however, he noted that some girls have been working on their game during that two year period which has made them a bit more advanced and favoured in the competition.

The YBG Cofounder further went on to relay that the under 16 girls will continue through Thursday and the quarterfinals for the boys under 16, followed by the all-star games on Saturday and the semifinal for that category. He reiterated that he is happy to have four days of competition and from this he can take away the value of the National School Basketball Festival and what it means to the athletes who can have this yearly gathering and test their skills and work on their game.

Bowman closed by saying, “There is no tournament like this and we are very pleased to have a competition like this.”

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23

…Knight Riders, Patriots announce international players

T

he Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) draft is scheduled for Thursday, July 7th, 2022, and all eyes would be on how the six franchises would complete their teams for the 2022 season, which gets under way on August 31.

In the lead-up to the player draft, however, two teams -- the Trinbago Knight Riders and 2021 champions the St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots -- were the first to announce their international player signings on Tuesday.

Patriots The St Kitts & Nevis Patriots have announced their overseas signings for the 2022 Hero Caribbean Premier League. This year, they will be joined by Sri Lankan legspinner Wanindu Hasaranga.

Hasaranga will be available after the first few matches of the Patriots

Knight Riders’ Director, Venky Mysore (TT Newsday Photo)

season, and Pakistani offspinner Qasim Akram will be

with the franchise until he arrives.

Akram led the Pakistan team which took part in the U19 Cricket World Cup in the Caribbean earlier this year.

Also heading to the Patriots is the hugely exciting South African batter Dewald Brevis, who has impressed for the Mumbai Indians at the Indian Premier League.

South African all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius and Afghan leg-spinner Izharulhaq Naveed will also be with the Patriots for their first appearances at the Hero CPL. The Patriots have one more overseas spot left to fill, and that would be announced in the coming weeks.

The Patriots will have five more spots to fill at the Hero CPL Draft, and details of these picks would be released during the Draft Show, which will be broadcast this Thursday – 7 July – at 9am Eastern Caribbean Time.

Knight Riders The Trinbago Knight Riders have announced their overseas signings for the 2022 Hero Caribbean Premier League.

Colin Munro, the Hero CPL’s leading overseas runscorer of all time, and fellow New Zealander Tim Seifert are back with the Knight Riders for the 2022 tournament.

They will be joined by

Milo U18 Schools Football Tournament…

PC dislodge Lodge, Annandale survive penalties

Action in the Milo School’s Football Tournament

A

change of coaching staff seemed to have hampered Lodge Secondary School, as their winning ways came to an abrupt halt on Monday afternoon at the hands of President’s College.

President’s College have pulled off what could thus far be considered the biggest upset of the Milo Under-18 Schools Football tournament when they ousted tournament favourites Lodge Secondary from the competition.

Scheduled as the final matchup on game day, President’s College and Lodge Secondary were pitted against each other in what was thought to be a walk in the park for Lodge. However, Allister Henry was the hero for the boys in purple, netting a hat trick for their unprecedented win. Henry netted first in the 20th minute and Lodge’s T. Fraser replied in the 45th to level the scores and make for an entertaining game.

However, in the dying minutes of the game, Henry found his second in the 60th and then another in the 70th

for PC’s 3-1 victory.

The straight-knockout tournament being played at the Ministry of Education (MoE) Ground on Carifesta Avenue, Georgetown also witnessed Annandale, Dolphin and Friendship Secondary appearing in winners’ row.

Earlier in the day, Annandale Secondary were finally able to shake Golden Grove Secondary 4-1 on penalty kicks. The game went down to penalties after a 1-all score at the end of regulation time.

Golden Grove were actually one up first by way of an early Shamar Walton goal in the 5th minute. After leading for the first half, Dekossi Robinson levelled the scores in the 37th, and it remained locked for the remainder of regulation time.

In the following game, Dolphin Secondary eased past New Central High School in a 2-1 encounter. Jaquan Cole opened the scoring for Dolphin in the 13th, but Daniel Pollard ensured that New Central levelled with a strike in the 16th minute.

In the second half, Cadwell

Peters was able to find the game winner for Dolphin in the 41st.

Tucville Secondary battled fiercely, but Friendship Secondary were clinical in the final minutes of the game for their win.

Dwayne Kellman put Tucville up first in the 8th, but Friendship’s Randy Spencer equalised in the 20th. Just before the half, Eon Smith made it 2-1 in Tucville’s favour.

However, Permaul Reddy, Twayne Seabra and Jamal Cordis netted in the 50th, 60th and 70th minutes to craft a 4-2 victory for Friendship.

Quarterfinal action in the Milo U18 School’s Football Tournament is expected to commence this weekend at the Ministry of Education (MoE) ground. Christianburg Wismar Secondary, West Ruimveldt Secondary, Cummings Lodge Secondary, North Ruimveldt Secondary, President’s College, Annandale Secondary, Dolphin Secondary and Friendship Secondary are the final 8 teams remaining in the competition.

USA international Ali Khan, who is with the Knight Riders for another year, having first joined them in 2017.

Sri Lankan internationals Maheesh Theekshana and Seekkuge Prasanna round out the overseas signings for 2022, with Prasanna rejoining the Knight Riders, having been with the franchise in 2019.

The Knight Riders will have five more spots to fill at the Hero CPL Draft, and details of those picks would be released

during the Draft Show which would be broadcast this Thursday – 7 July – at 9am Eastern Caribbean Time.

“We are very happy with our overseas signings this year. The idea was to maintain the core of the team while adding a few new resources to bolster the squad for CPL 2022,” said Venky Mysore, Director of Trinbago Knight Riders.

“Colin Munro, Ali Khan and Tim Seifert have all made significant contributions to

TKR in the past, and share a great bond with our local players and the franchise.

“We also look forward to welcoming the two Sri Lankans Seekkuge Prasanna and Maheesh Theekshana to complete our overseas roster for TKR this year. Seekkuge, of course, has already represented us in 2019, and with Theekshana coming in, the squad for this upcoming edition is shaping up very nicely for us,” Mysore has said.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022

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

2021 Champions St Kitts and Nevis Patriots and the Trinbago Knight Riders are the first two teams to announce their international players for the 2022 season of the Hero CPL

Page 23

…Knight Riders, Patriots announce international players ExxonMobil National School Basketball Festival…

Milo U18 Schools Football Tournament…

QC, Bishops', Marian PC dislodge Lodge, Academy record wins Annandale Page 23 in respective categories survive penalties Pg 22

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