Guyana Times - Wednesday, October 12, 2022

Doctors to be trained to detect depression, provide basic psychiatric care – Dr Anthony

Doctors

countrywide will be trained to detect depression and provide basic psychi atric care to the popula tion, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony announced on Tuesday as part of Government’s overall efforts to place more emphasis on mental health.

He made the announce ment at a ceremony host ed by the Ministry of Health’s Adolescent Health Unit in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO), UNICEF and Desert Flower Guyana for the Launch of World Mental Health Awareness Day 2022 Activities and the “Do Your Share” Campaign.

Dr Anthony said the ulti mate goal of the Government is to reduce mental health cases in the country and pro vide the necessary support

to ensure the health and well-being of all Guyanese. He said the intention of the Health Ministry is to make mental health programmes more community-oriented.

“We’re deinstitutional ising our patients…and we want to treat more of our patients within the commu

nity. For us to do that, we have to train our doctors so that they will be able to of fer basic psychiatric care at the community level, and the plan is that all the per sons who are working at the health centre level would be trained over the next couple of years,” Dr Anthony said.

Another important as pect, he said, is to train doc tors to detect depression. “If we are able to detect depres sion early, it means we will be able to work with those patients and we will be able to prevent cases of suicide.”

These initiatives form

part of a 2022-2028 mental health plan developed by lo cal authorities with support from PAHO.

Other significant compo nents of that plan are work ing in schools to address substance abuse and to work in rural areas to prevent sui cide.

Dr Anthony emphasised that a lot of mental health issues remain invisible to people and this is a stigma that needs to be addressed.

“This is something that we don’t see and very often we might be affected but we sometimes don’t know that we are suffering from vari ous mental health issues.

He reminded that mental health illnesses cover a wide spectrum of some 22 cate gories that speaks to more than 250 disease entities.

This can range from mat ters of autism, which peo ple are born with, to neuro degenerative diseases which

are developed when peo ple get older. Regardless of the situation, the Health Minister said it is the Government’s role to devel op policies to ensure every citizen is included in society.

In fact, he posited that over the last two years, there has already been sig nificant transformation of the mental health environ ment, referring to the pas sage of the Mental Health Bill. According to the Health Minister, the previous legis lation was utterly outdated.

“Back then, they used to see the patient as someone you need to take away from society and lock them up in an institution so that they are not in contact because somehow these patients were a danger to society… that’s not the approach we have now. Our approach is a rights-based approach,” he noted.

Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony addressing the gathering at the launch of the World Mental Health Awareness Day 2022 activities

BRIDGE OPENINGS

President Ali explores collaboration in energy, aviation with Qatar

…as high-level delegation visits Guyana

FERRY SCHEDULE

WEATHER

Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

President

Dr Irfaan Ali on Tuesday met with Minister of Energy Affairs of the State of Qatar and Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Qatar Energy, Saad bin Sherida Al-Kaabi.

Al-Kaabi is leading a high-level delegation that is visiting the country to ex plore various opportunities here.

In a brief statement re leased by the Office of the President, it was noted that discussions between the two countries centred on poten tial collaboration in the ar eas of energy, food, infra structure and aviation.

At those talks, Guyana was also represented by Foreign Affairs and International Corporation Minister Hugh Todd, Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill, Minister with the Public Works Ministry Deodat Indar and Director of Projects at the Office of the President Marcia-Nadir Sharma.

In April of this year, President Ali and his team had met with a delegation from the Qatari Investment

Mission to advance discus sions on investment oppor tunities in the country.

The Qatari Investment Mission representatives were Group Chairman of Power International Holding, Moutaz Al Khayyat; Group Chief Venture Officer of Power International Holding, Ali Kazma and the company’s Chief Business Development Officer, Mazen Alsbeti.

Also, in November 2021, President Ali had met with senior officials of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) – the sovereign wealth fund of the Middle Eastern State. The visiting team comprised of two QIA Executives, Abdulhadi F A Al-Hajri and Dany Farah Nakhoul. Their visit was a follow-up to talks started by President Ali and the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh

During that meeting, the Guyanese Head of State had highlighted Government’s desire to make Guyana the hub for agriculture and food security within the Region and further afield. He also pointed to the numerous opportunities in other sec tors that would promote the overall growth and develop ment of Guyana.

The State of Qatar is among several Middle Eastern nations that ex pressed serious interest in investing in various sectors in Guyana during President Ali’s visit in 2021 for the Dubai World Expo.

Meanwhile, as the rela tionship between the two countries grow, Guyana in September of this year of ficially welcomed the coun try’s first tourists from

Qatar.

In a statement from the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, it was noted that while Qataris have visited Guyana for official Government en gagements and religious purposes, Dr Nasser Saqr Al-Mohannadi and his wife Galyiah Al-Mohannadi are the first to travel as tourists.

“Dr Nasser Saqr AlMohannadi was Qatar’s first Ironman and is a pro fessor at the Department of Petroleum Engineering in Qatar. While in Guyana, the couple will visit sever al tourism hotspots, includ ing Kaieteur,” the statement had noted.

Subject Minister Oneidge Walrond had also expressed hope that the couple’s visit will encourage more citizens of Qatar to visit Guyana.

President Dr Irfaan Ali and a Government delegation on Tuesday met with Minister of Energy Affairs of the State of Qatar and Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Qatar Energy, Saad bin Sherida Al-Kaabi and his team who are in Guyana

Mailing

Atlantic Investment Estate

Accidents at DHB

Theaccident that resulted in four spans of the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) being severely damaged, putting the Bridge out of operation for days, had left thousands of commuters who normally use the facility with no choice but to use water taxis at the old ferry stellings at Vreed-enHoop and Georgetown.

This is not the first time the bridge has been rammed by an oceangoing vessel, resulting in damages and also much inconvenience to commuters.

If one can recall, only months ago, another ship had caused damage to the structure that led to its closure. Then there was another incident in which logs, which at the time were being transported on a truck across the Demerara Harbour Bridge, fell off and disrupted traffic in the process.

Before that incident, a barge had slammed into the Bridge, causing it to be closed for a few days. That incident had occurred on the first day of the new school year, and chaos had ensued at the Georgetown and Vreed-en-Hoop ferry stellings as commuters had flocked to access the services of speed boats to cross the Demerara River.

There is no disputing the very high volume of commuters and vehicles that cross the DHB on a daily basis, with traffic buildup on both ends bringing much frustration to all. The unusually easy flow of traffic on the East Bank public road puts into perspective the volume of vehicles that traverse the DHB from the West Side.

With the continued establishment of new housing schemes across the country, thousands of persons have now been relocated from the city to other suburban and rural areas, where they were allocated house lots to build their homes. Most of these persons have to travel back to the city, where they work or attend school.

While commendable measures were put in place, including Police presence, extension of the deadline for the boats to traverse the river, and ambulance for medical emergencies, there have been many similar incidents in the past that offer experience to establish a more friendly environment at the Georgetown stelling.

Such interventions would constitute a simple component of a more detailed and effective contingency plan to deal with disruption in operations of the DHB, and to mitigate historic challenges. It’s not about who didn’t do what, but what must be done; done in a timely manner to safeguard the welfare of commuters.

It would be interesting to know if any assessment was done on capacity and safety levels of the Georgetown stelling area used to access the water taxis. People must travel for work, regardless of the mechanism.

Equally important is the movement of food, critical medical supplies, and patients who must access services in the city. Additionally, there is an added cost to many who have to divert and use the water taxis.

While the Police are out in numbers when dealing with the challenges an inoperable Harbour Bridge poses, there may be enough information, through past incidents, to necessitate a review of its holistic approach.

This latest disruption was just over three days, as light vehicles are now accommodated, and the DHB crews that worked around the clock must be commended.

However, in a scenario where the disruption could be more extensive, what plans are in place to ensure a far less challenging commute, the supply of goods and services, and the minimising of additional financial burdens?

Any national contingency plan has to be holistic to cater for various situation until a new Demerara River crossing is put in place.

We support President Dr Irfaan Ali when he said that Government would expedite work on the new bridge, which has a two-year timeframe to be completed once work starts.

To quote the President: “…we’ll try to expedite the work on the new bridge. But one of the things with the frequent hitting of the bridge is that it is actually devouring all our spare capacity.”

We are pleased that efforts are being made to accelerate the construction of a modern bridge across the Demerara River, since it is clear that the present structure had become inadequate a long time ago.

We also commend the engineers and workers who worked fervently around the clock to have bridge operational again.

Suicide is not a crime

By Ali HAsnAin

Morethan 700,000 people die by sui cide every year. Many more attempt suicide but survive. The theme of this World Mental Health Day, on October 10, is to make mental health and wellbeing for all a global priority. As part of achiev ing that ambition, we must give people the support they need, so they do not reach a place where suicide seems the only way out.

And yet, many countries make providing that support more difficult by criminalis ing suicide. There are still at least 20 countries worldwide where suicidal behaviour is a criminal offence, carrying a maximum penalty of up to three years in prison. Rather than being offered the sup port they need, survivors of suicide in these countries, often people with a pre-ex isting mental health condi tion, are either arrested or subjected to extortion, along with their family members.

Health workers and Police officers often take ad vantage of the law and the suicide survivor’s vulnerable condition. The law also finds ways to punish the deceased posthumously, as well as their families. Bangladesh, Kenya and the Bahamas, for instance, have provisions in place to invalidate the wills of those who have died by suicide, creating barriers in matters of succession and in heritance.

A law that criminalises suicide only serves to exacer bate the existing stigma and discrimination against peo ple with mental health con ditions. People who attempt suicide are treated as crim inals, potentially receiving a permanent criminal record, robbing them of opportuni ties in work and life they vi tally need.

Criminalising suicide also makes it very difficult for people to talk to those around them and seek help, out of fear of incriminating themselves and others.

Criminalisation leads to an under-reporting of inci dents of suicide and suicide attempts, resulting in an in accurate picture of the scale of the problem, and less ur gency in devoting resources needed to deal with the chal lenge.

This is why the report of the Lancet Commission on Ending Stigma and Discrimination in Mental Health is so important. Launched on World Mental Health Day, its recommen dations include the decrim inalisation of suicide to de-stigmatise mental health conditions and align legisla tion with human rights.

Why, then, do these laws still exist? In some countries, they are a lingering legacy bequeathed by British colo nialism, dating back more than a century. These laws have never been repealed, despite the United Kingdom itself having done so in 1961. This brings into question the argument put forward by countries such as Nigeria, Malaysia and others, that the laws are a reflection of current cultural or religious beliefs.

Another common argu ment made in support of these laws is that they deter suicide attempts. However, there is little evidence to support this assertion. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) takes the opposite view. It pro poses decriminalisation as a means of reducing suicide rates in its Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013-30, a roadmap en dorsed by all WHO mem ber states. In the absence of strong evidence, the logic of attempting to deter someone

willing to take their own life with the threat of imprison ment does not stand up to much scrutiny.

Thankfully, we are start ing to see progress. In recent years, countries such as the Cayman Islands, Cyprus, India and Singapore have all either repealed or updated legislation to stop criminalis ing suicide. In Pakistan, the Senate — the upper house of parliament — recently passed a bill to decriminalise suicide, thanks to a concert ed effort by campaigners, in cluding a local mental health advocacy organisation called Taskeen.

The senator who pro posed the bill, Shahadat Awan, put his reasons for doing so aptly: “Attempted suicide is not a crime. It is a mental ailment, and it should be treated according ly.”

Yet unless we are careful, these gains can prove to be a double-edge sword. Egypt has implemented successful campaigns destigmatising suicide. Earlier this year, however, an Egyptian mem ber of Parliament, Ahmed Mahana, proposed a bill to criminalise suicide, a move backed by many of his fel low lawmakers. He cited al legedly rising numbers of cases, when in fact that in crease might be a result of better reporting, thanks to the country’s anti-stigma campaigns.

Decriminalising suicide is also a human rights’ issue. Countries must remember, and must be reminded, when necessary, of their commit ments made under the WHO Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan, to de velop or update their mental health laws in line with in ternational and regional hu man rights’ instruments.

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, for instance,

places an onus on ratifying countries to modify or abol ish existing laws that dis criminate on the basis of disabilities, which include mental health conditions.

In all, 185 countries have signed and ratified the con vention, including all coun tries that criminalise sui cide, except South Sudan.

A simple solution

The path ahead is straightforward. As the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) says, suicide needs to be de criminalized, and measures need to be put in place to support individuals who might contemplate taking their lives. Over the longer term, both the WHO and the IASP recommend the devel opment and implementation of national strategies to re duce suicide rates.

On this World Mental Health Day, it is vital that these calls to decriminal ise suicide and support those struggling with men tal health challenges rever berate around the world, for all those suffering in silence, who cannot speak for them selves out of fear, shame or threat of oppressive legisla tion.

As global leaders proud ly announce the encourag ing advancements made in their countries on mental health, let us not forget that, in many nations, the lives of those contemplating, at tempting, or surviving sui cide remain in the balance. Our action or inaction could make all the difference. (Al Jazeera)

(Ali Hasnain is a Barrister and mental health advocate who leads the sui cide decriminalisation work at United for Global Mental Health as a consultant, and chairs the suicide working group of the Global Mental Health Action Network.)

Labour Minister Joseph Hamilton joined students at the inaugural North Georgetown Secondary Business, Science and Technology Expo 2022. The expo aims to lead the way in preparing students for entrepreneurship (DPI photo)

Stabroek Market fatal stabbing

Kitty man found guilty of manslaughter

ed not guilty to a charge for the capital offence of mur

At the time of his de mise, Noel lived at Kitty, Georgetown, and worked as

State Counsel Muntaz Ali led the prosecution’s

A sentencing hearing for McKenzie will be held on November 3 at 15:00h.

Afound

25-year-old man who was ini tially indicted for murder, guilty of manslaughter, over the fatal stabbing of an other man at the Stabroek Market, Georgetown.

Timothy McKenzie of Kitty, Georgetown, was con victed of unlawfully kill ing Richard Noel, called “Nippo”, 20, on June 4, 2018.

The jury delivered its verdict on Tuesday, finding him not guilty of murder but guilty of the lesser offence of manslaughter.

When his trial com menced on September 22 be fore Demerara High Court Judge Sandil Kissoon, McKenzie, who was rep resented by Attorneys-atLaw Ronald Daniels and Kiswana Jefford, had plead

Police reports indicate that the murder reportedly stemmed from an old griev ance between the two men, allegedly involving the sis ter of Noel, whom McKenzie had reportedly hit, and that had resulted in a fight be tween the two men.

However, on the day of the murder, the men had re portedly crossed paths, and McKenzie had been heard asking Noel if he “wanted a problem”.

It has been reported that Noel had walked away, and McKenzie, aggravated, al legedly went after him and stabbed him twice to his chest.

After Noel had fallen, McKenzie had reportedly stomped him on his chest.

Noel had been rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries one day later.

McKenzie along with his father were initially charged for Noel’s murder. But following a Preliminary Inquiry (PI), the older

JetBlue, CAL in near mid-air collision …JetBlue pilot takes evasive action

Thepilot of a JetBlue Airways aircraft

approaching the Piarco International Airport around 12:30h Monday, was forced to take evasive action to avoid close con tact with a Caribbean Airlines aircraft which was on a trajectory to cross JetBlue’s path at nearly the same altitude.

The pilot took the decision independent of air traffic controllers, as he spotted the danger and alerted the Piarco Tower to it.

JetBlue 1817 was flying at 4150 feet in an easterly direction over the Gulf of Paria on its final approach to Piarco at 12:34h when it con tacted the Piarco Tower and was told by an air traffic controller to continue its approach.

The air traffic controller asked the pilot to confirm his position and altitude and told the pilot to continue the approach.

After confirming the instructions, the pilot then told the tower that he was seeing “traffic at 11 o’clock, same altitude”.

The pilot said, “JetBlue 1817, 4000 feet starting descent on the (inaudible) left we got Caribbean 521 ahead of us. We’re climbing.”

The air traffic controller then asked, “JetBlue 1817 confirm you are descending to

The pilot then replied, “Negative, JetBlue 1817 climbing to avoid traffic conflict with Caribbean Airways crossing final two miles

ahead of us right now.”

The air traffic controller then told the pi lot to contact the Piarco Approach controllers, which the pilot confirmed.

Flight Radar data showed the Caribbean Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 flying in a souther ly direction at 4225 feet at 12:30h.

Both planes were arriving from JFK, New York.

The JetBlue flight was allowed to con tinue its approach after and landed ahead of the Caribbean Airlines plane. (Trinidad Guardian)

Guilty: Timothy McKenzie

Dead: Richard Noel

Page Foundation

Circles cont’d

circumference and area are calculated by using a special long decimal, written as the Greek letter π, pronounced pi. To make calculations easier, pi is often rounded to 3.14. Pi is the ratio of a circle’s diameter to its circumference – a ratio that is exactly the same for every circle.

Acircle’s

Calculating the circumference and area of a circle is actually fairly easy to do. A circle’s circumference = pi times its diameter (πd). A circle’s area = pi times the square of its radius (π r2).

Example:

If a circle has a radius of 5cm, you can find its circumference by multi plying the radius x 2 and then multiplying that number x π.

Its circumference = (2 x 5) π cm = 10 π = 31.40cm

To find this circle’s area, you have to

Exercises: Calculate

1) Calculate the circumference of the circle below. Use 3.14 for π.

2) Calculate the circumference and area of a circle with a radius of 3m.

3) Calculate the circumference and area of a circle with a diameter of 53cm.

4) Name the chord shown in the figure below.

5) What is the perimeter, or circumference, a circle whose diameter is 24cm.

build awareness of how you see and use water, keep a daily water journal, using the format published yesterday. Younger kids might draw a way they see water in their home or environment.

To

Share their journal entries with a partner or with the class.

Making a journal:

1. In your water log, list all the places where you encounter water in the environment. (ex: rivers, rain, shower)

2. Place a bucket outside to measure and record rainfall or place a graduated cylinder of water in a room and measure the amount that evapo rates each day.

3. List the ways you use water each day.

4. Discuss the connection between the water we see outside and the water we use inside. Where does the water in your house come from?

How does it get there?

5. Discuss why it might be important to conserve water. Challenge yourself to use less water the following day.

7. At the end of the week, consider making a graph of the total amount of water that your family used each day. (Adapted from chicagochil drenmuseum.org)

CONTINUED FROM TUESDAY

By The BroThers Grimm

GYSBI, T&T Merchant Bank ink deal to fund shore base expansion

…additional deal between GYSBI, local banks expected to be signed

Guyana Shore Base Incorporated (GYSBI) and NCB Merchant bank of Trinidad and Tobago, have signed a US$10 million syndicat ed loan for GYSBI to ex pand its shore base opera tions and ability to service oil companies offshore Guyana.

Signing the deal was GYSBI General Manager Robert Albiez and Marli Creese, the head of corpo rate and investment bank ing at NCB Merchant Bank. Albiez described the deal as a bridge facility that will lead to an even bigger deal between GYSBI, NCB and three local banks.

“This bridging loan agreement is a precursor to a more significant multimil lion-dollar deal involving NCBMBTTL and three oth er Guyana banks to provide capital for projects that will further build and enhance GYSBI’s capacity to sup port Exxon Mobil’s offshore drilling campaign.”

Meanwhile, Creese not ed that the NCB Merchant bank backs GYSBI and their vision for how they want to develop. He also reminded that his bank is no stranger to Guyana, having played a role in ar ranging the US$20 mil lion syndicated loan for the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) back in 2018.

“We were able to pro vide financing that is flex ible, forward thinking, and facilitative of GYSBI’s busi ness model. By taking the time to understand Guyana Shore Base, we were able to create a custom-tailored fi

nancial solution,” the Bank official said.

It is expected that the loan will allow GYSBI to expand their capacity for berthing supply vessels and other forms of logistical support. GYSBI has been around since 2015 and has its operations at Houston on the East Bank of Demerara.

In 2015 Muneshwers Limited, Pacific Rim Constructors, LED Offshore, and Total Tec Oilfield Services – all com panies with relevant ex perience and expertise, combined interests to es tablish GYSBI. The com pany was later awarded a 5-year mandate to pro vide ExxonMobil with shore base services which has been subsequently extend ed to 2032.

In the past five years, GYSBI has directly invested over US$300 million in en abling port infrastructure, real estate development, warehousing, and support services; has recruited,

trained, and certified more than 1000 Guyanese for key operational positions with in the industry and beyond through its affiliates.

This has catalysed more than US$500 million in in vestment in the Houston/ McDoom, East Bank Demerara corridor by pro viding the enabling infra structure and establishing the first oil and gas activity hub in Guyana and creating direct and indirect employ ment for more than 2000 persons.

The oil rich Stabroek Block that GYSBI pro vides logistical support to, is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometres). Exxon, through subsidiary Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), is the operator and holds 45 per cent interest in the Block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd holds 30 per cent interest, and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNOOC

Limited, holds the remain ing 25 per cent interest.

So far, Exxon’s total in vestments in Guyana total GY$1.3 trillion on its own and over GY$3 Trillion with its partners. Additionally, the joint venture’s explora tion and production plans up to 2025 will likely in crease their investments to more than GY$6 trillion.

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

The third project – the Payara Development – will meanwhile target an es timated resource base of about 600 million oil-equiv alent barrels, and was at one point considered to be the largest single planned investment in the history of Guyana.

Meanwhile, the Yellowtail Development, which will be oil giant ExxonMobil’s fourth devel opment in Guyana’s waters, will turn out to be the sin gle largest development so far in terms of barrels per day of oil, with a mammoth 250,000 bpd targeted. (G3)

Vehicles weighing up to 18 tonnes only allowed to cross DHB between midnight and 4am

Vehicles weighing 18 tonnes and un der are now allowed to traverse the Demerara Harbour Bridge, the Public Works Ministry has an nounced.

This took effect as of Tuesday midnight. According to the Ministry, this will only be facilitated under a special arrangement.

Public Works Minister Juan Edghill is quoted as saying that following an other inspection of the Demerara Harbour Bridge by structural engineers, the Bridge’s Management Team has advised that the retrac tor span can accommodate 18 tonnes with specific re

strictions.

“Firstly, structural en gineers are recommending that the weight of 18 tonnes and under be allowed to cross the bridge, but only be

tween the hours of 00:00hrs (12:00) to 04:00hrs (AM), when there is far less traf fic on the bridge,” Edghill is quoted as saying.

From left; GYSBI General Manager Robert Albiez and Marli Creese, head of corporate and investment banking at NCB Merchant Bank, as they sign the loan

2011 Robb Street granny murder

CCJ upholds brothers’ convictions, reserves ruling on appeal against 50-year sentence

Broadening...

…education delivery

The Minister of Education has just assured the nation that by 2025 – which coincidentally is when the next national elections are due! – teenagers in our mudland would have universal access to secondary education. Thing is, your Eyewitness NEVER even imagined we didn’t have universal access!! He had assumed that those kids who weren’t attending secondary school had CHOSEN to do so! You know…they’d rather go into fishing or farming, or just hanging around on street corners in villages and around the Stabroek Market in Georgetown!!

By Feona Morrison

Following two hours of arguments on Tuesday, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ruled unanimously to dismiss the appeals filed by two brothers—Orwin and Cleon Hinds—against their convictions for the murder of 71-year-old Clementine Fiedtkou-Parris, who was gunned down at her Lot 42 Robb Street, Georgetown residence on June 30, 2011.

However, in relation to their appeal against a 50year jail sentence which was imposed on each of them by the Court of Appeal of Guyana, which their law yer, Arudranauth Gossai argued is excessive and not in keeping with established sentencing guidelines, the CCJ has reserved its ruling.

After a trial before Justice Navindra Singh in 2015, the two men along with Roy Jacobs and anoth er man, Kevin October, who passed away in jail, were jailed for 81 years each with the possibility of being pa roled after 45 years for the pensioner’s murder but had their sentences reduced to 50 years each in April by the Court of Appeal.

Dissatisfied with the ruling of the local appellate court, the brothers lodged separate appeals at the CCJ. It is unclear whether Jacobs has filed an appeal with the regional court.

During the men’s appeal hearing at the CCJ, their lawyer cast doubt on the identification evidence and confession statements used to convict his clients, argu ing that if these were to be excluded, their convictions would be rendered unsafe and therefore should be quashed.

But the CCJ led by its President Justice Adrian Saunders rejected all of the grounds of appeal against their convictions advanced by Gossai, finding that they had no merit. The panel of five Judges retired for a 10-minute break before re turning with their decision

to dismiss the pair’s appeal against their conviction.

Among the grounds of appeal against their con viction were that there was a “lack of description” of Orwin Hinds from the eye witness who had pointed him out on an identification parade, that the trial Judge failed to give the jury proper directions on the law relat ing to alibi defence and that the caution statements giv en by the brothers was not freely and voluntarily made because they were beat en by Police ranks while in custody to affix their signa tures to them.

“Manifestly excessive” sentence

In his clients’ ap peal against the sentence, Gossai submitted that the 50-year jail term imposed on each of the men by the Court of Appeal is mani festly excessive and not in keeping with established sentencing guidelines, in cluding those set out by the CCJ.

Given the directions outlined by the CCJ in the local case of Jarvis Small and Bibi Shareema Gopaul v Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), he said that a sentence ranging from 15 to 20 years would be reasonable, since be sides the use of a gun, and the woman’s death being a murder for money, there are no other aggravating factors.

Gopaul was initially

sentenced to 106 years in prison for the 2010 murder of her 16-year-old daughter Neesa Gopaul. But in 2021, the Court of Appeal found that the sentence imposed by the trial Judge—Justice Singh—was manifestly ex cessive and therefore re duced it to 45 years.

The 57-year-old woman challenged her sentence at the CCJ, which in August, held that the 106-year sen tence imposed on her, with a starting point of 60 years, exceeded the life expectan cy of a human being and was grossly disproportion ate and manifestly exces sive.

The CCJ also found that the sentence itself of 45 years, though not as gross ly disproportionate as the trial Judge’s sentence, was still manifestly excessive. As such, the Trinidad-based court reduced her sentence from 45 to 25 years, order ing that she be considered for parole “not before 15 years”.

Unlike the Gopaul case in which there was a stat utory minimum starting point of 15 years, Gossai said that his clients were charged under Section 100 (1) (d) (i) of the Criminal Law (Offences) Act which provides a penalty of either death or life imprisonment.

Asked by Justice Saunders if he believes that in a case of joint enterprise that each party must re ceive the same sentence, Gossai replied “no”.

He went on to add, “be cause the evidence may un fold that despite the fact that this is a charge of joint enterprise... all are equally liable, there may be partic ipation by one in the actu al commission of the crime, while another, for example, may not have participated”.

According to him, Orwin Hinds confessed that he stood outside while his accomplices attacked the old lady, telling them that “I’m not going in there [the woman’s house]”.

In such a circumstance, the lawyer reasoned that

the court could exercise its discretion and impose a lesser sentence on him, though he is not an in nocent bystander, for his “non-participation” in the actual commission of the act which led to FiedtkouParris’s death.

He submitted that the court could consider differ ent sentences for Orwin and Cleon.

“In relation to a life sen tence for Orwin Hinds, if the court was minded to go along that line, that some definition... [as was done in a case from Barbados] as to what can be considered life imprisonment, that a simi lar exercise be done in the Guyana context,” he said.

The lawyer explained that his reason for request ing this is because there is no definition of what consti tutes life imprisonment un der the laws of Guyana.

“Do you need a defi nition? Life imprison ment means life imprison ment...,” responded CCJ Judge Denys Barrow who went on to explain that the imposition of a life sentence means that parole will not be granted.

For his part, Justice Saunders expressed that the problem he has with this appeal like with many other cases is, “when sen tencing is carried out in the manner in which it was done,” while alluding to the trial Judge’s failure to hold a sentencing hearing for the brothers.

Maybe that IS so - cause the Minister commented that the school system was now “retaining” more kids than before. So, since they’re not locking them in, more kids gotta be deciding to remain in school after primary! Might it be due to their expecting jobs gonna be opening up that’ll demand a high school education?? If so, maybe we should make secondary education compulsory up to age 16, like in the UK - rather than 14, like it is now??

But your Eyewitness thinks we might be putting the cart before the donkey. (We never really did move on to horses, did we?) We ought to get a handle on why exactly those kids didn’t continue through secondary school. Surely, it wasn’t because there weren’t enough spaces for them!! We all know by now that a major part of the problem is some kids aren’t interested in the TYPE of education the secondary schools were offering!! Too academic!! Does every school kid HAVE to solve quadratic equations?? What in the world have we used them for, after torturing us for years??!!

There’s been talk about increasing the number of classes in technical and vocational educational training (TVET). Well, we ought to be talking a tad more focusedly, and accelerating the rollout of programmes across the country.

Back in the day, the PNC had introduced the National Service, which played a role in delivering this type of education. Problem was the military component Burnham insisted on to bolster his security. And also, there weren’t enough jobs when the graduates returned to civvy life. The TVEC schools should fill this void, and the specific courses should match the needs of the evolving economy.

And it’s not only the new factories and mega farms that’ll need skilled workers. Just look at what the thousands of new homes have – air conditioning, washers, generators, solar heating, etc. Each of these equipment gotta be serviced regularly - and occasionally repaired. And all of this on top of the now computer-aided reconditioned vehicles that are already mandatory for each household – and need servicing as soon as they roll off the wharves!!

All in all, kudos to the Govt…but let’s use a rifle rather than a shotgun approach!!

…cricket

Well, now that the T-20 Hero CPL Tournament - and the Cricket Carnival to which it’s evidently now joined at the hip – are over, let’s talk a bit about cricket in its wider context. Meaning that since clearly the place of cricket in our hearts is unquestioned, we gotta ensure it’s well taken care of. Can’t take it for granted!! So, since we mentioned “schools”, why not make it compulsory that every school – primary and secondary – have a cricket programme??

And don’t say it can’t be done!! Back in the day –when conditions were quite dire under the Brits’ colonial jackboots, according to our political leaders - that was the case; so, why not now that oil money is gushing into our coffers!??! While the Brits might’ve selectively and opportunistically used the rules of cricket, who can doubt they built team spirit, cooperation, integrity, pride; and, most of all, rewarded merit, regardless of one’s wealth or lack thereof!!

With cricket in schools, maybe we might even straighten out our politics?!! Dreamin’?

…our cooperation

Very few Guyanese had thought the DHB could’ve been ready for traffic as promised by Sunday night!! But there it is – it has happened!! Shows you what we can do with all shoulders to the wheel!!

Congrats, everyone!!

L-R: Orwin Hinds, Cleon Hinds, Roy Jacobs and Clementine Fiedtkou-Parris

CCJ President Justice Adrian Saunders

CCJ Judge Jacob Wit

Licences for Guyanese fisherfolk Emails reveal Suriname had promised to issue fishing licences since 2021

cence, under Surinamese law.

These suggestions in cluded having the fishermen register their vessels in their own name and the appoint ment of a State-owned com pany to be their business partner and sign a “vessel basing” agreement.

“This company will take care of the further registra tion of the vessels over here and also take care of the li censes by which your fisher men will pay just the normal fees. The company will also sign the purchase and oth er agreements needed with your fishermen,” the email stated.

Emailcorrespon

dence sent from high officials in the Surinamese Government, to their Guyanese coun terparts, reveals that Suriname had promised Guyana that the fishing li cence for Guyanese to fish in Surinamese waters would have been issued on January 1, 2021.

In the email dat ed December 13, 2020, which was seen by this publication, Surinamese Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Prahlad Sewdien had writ ten to Guyana’s Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, informing him that the fishing licenc es would be issued from January 1 of the next year and that they would try to have preparations complet ed within two weeks.

The email also acknowl edged the list of fishermen that Mustapha had sent to Sewdien, while also sug gesting various actions that should be taken to complete the process of issuing the li

Meanwhile, Sewdien had also promised to track down the Surinamese middlemen who had been renting licens es to Guyanese fishermen, at exorbitant prices. In the email, he asked Mustapha to have the fishermen mail cop ies of their licences.

“We would like to rec ognise the middlemen on whose names the licenses were issued. Ask the fisher men to mail a copy of the li censes of 2020 to my Director of Fisheries Mrs. Parveen Amritpersad, who is also in cluded in this mail.”

“With that, it will be easi er for us to trace the middle men. These middlemen have registered the boats on their own names in the Fisheries Register at our Maritime Authority. We will have to get it changed,” Sewdien also said in the email.

In the past, the Surinamese opposition has pushed their Government for clarity on the issuance of the licence to Guyanese fishermen. It is understood that the issue was raised by Opposition Parliamentarian

Melvin Bouva, in the Suriname National Assembly, on Tuesday.

The matter of Suriname’s harassment of Guyanese fishermen and the Dutchspeaking republic’s con tinued refusal to grant li cences to them, has been a topical issue in recent times, that even escalated to the point where Guyana’s Ambassador in Suriname, Keith George, was sum moned last month to a meet ing with the Surinamese Foreign Minister, Krishna Mathoera, on this very issue.

Following the high-level meeting in Guyana during August 2021 between President Dr Irfaan Ali and Surinamese President Chandrikapersad Santokhi, the two leaders had issued a joint press statement in dicating that the age-old is sue of licences for Guyanese fisherfolk to operate in Suriname’s territorial wa ters would be addressed.

These fishermen op erate from the Corentyne coast and have to use the

Corentyne to get access to the Atlantic where they get most of their catch. The Corentyne River is consid ered Surinamese territory. Currently, the licences are issued to Surinamese busi nessmen at US$100 per year and rented to the Guyanese fisherfolk at US$3000 annu ally.

About 150 boats oper ate from the Number 66 Fisherman’s Co-op Society thus providing direct em

ployment for about 800 fish ermen. Additionally, some 200 persons are employed in providing services which include transportation, fish vending and repairs to ma chinery and equipment.

Guyana has already said that it will be bringing this matter before the Caribbean Community (Caricom), since Suriname is also a member state. Moreover, Attorney General Anil Nandlall has also said that legal measures

could be taken, if necessary, to get compensation for the fishing boats and equipment that Suriname had seized and subsequently sold.

And comments by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo that Surinamese business es could be met with recip rocal treatment in Guyana, were met by the Surinamese Government pleading in a statement for all parties to await a diplomatic resolu tion of the issue. (G3)

Guyana’s Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha

Surinamese Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Prahlad Sewdien

Kaieteur

robbery

Ex-employee confesses, implicates others …over $6M in stolen cash, gun, ammo recovered

Aday

after three ban

dits walked into Kaieteur News at Saffon Street, Georgetown, and carted off with millions of dollars in cash, an ex-em ployee of Kaieteur News, Ryan Wharton, who was ar rested on Monday and fur ther questioned by investi gators, has since confessed to being the mastermind be hind the armed robbery.

The 33-year-old former research assistant at the entity implicated one of the on-duty security guards, Joshua Junor, 35, in the

crime.

Junor was the securi ty officer that was seen in CCTV footage of the rob bery, being held at gunpoint and forced into one of the rooms of the Kaieteur News’ office building.

Wharton told investiga

tors that while he used to work with Kaieteur News, in the year 2021, he be came friends with Junor, the 35-year-old security guard who is employed with Kaieteur News.

The items that were recovered by Police

Ivor Belingie, called “Wildlife” Joshua Junor

Collis Haywood Lemuel Grant

Harry Strongster Former KN employee Ryan Wharton

Man caught on video chopping friend remanded

Guyanese man kills ex-girlfriend, dies by suicide in Nevis

Police and Fire depart ment authorities of Nevis Island are in vestigating a crime involv ing murder and suicide in cident.

A man, who was revealed to be a Guyanese National, was with his ex-girlfriend and her friend in Nevis when he stabbed the wom an. Following this, the man set the house on fire and took his own life.

Dead are Standford Azore and his ex-girl friend, identified as Shenyl Grosvenor. He allegedly stabbed Grosvenor to death.

Mark

Anderson of Two Sisters Street, Rose Hall Town, Corentyne, who was caught on camera chopping a friend during a bicycle ownership dis pute, was remanded to prison by Magistrate Rabindranauth Singh on Tuesday.

The 26-year-old man appeared at Albion Magistrate’s Court where an attempt to commit murder charge was read to him.

It was reported that the cane harvester of Rose Hall Town and 56-year-old Lawerence Rodrigues, a labourer of the same communi ty, were feuding.

Rodrigues reportedly removed his ped al cycle from in front of Anderson’s premis es, which caused the cane harvester to arm himself with a cutlass and subsequently deal the victim several chops about his body.

Video footage captured of the incident showed the cane cutter unleashing sever al chops at Rodrigues who lay helpless on the ground while using the bicycle to bar off some of the chops.

He was remanded to prison and the case will continue on November 7. (G4)

The police officials in vestigating the crime have revealed that a friend of Shenyl Grosvenor, the mur der victim, was also attacked by Azore. The reports state that the friend survived the attack, and is hospitalized. He is recovering from his in juries.

According to some re ports by the police author ities and investigators, the couple was in a relationship before the woman, Shenyl Grosvenor (murder victim), broke it off. The couple had two young children togeth er. Further, the police and investigating officers have also revealed several pri or complaints and charges placed on the man by his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his children.

The Guyanese national

had allegedly made several threats over a period of sev eral months to the victim.

The Nevis Police au thorities have recovered two adult dead bodies from the charred remains of the house. The Premier of Nevis, Mark Brantley, shared his condolences with the victim, Shenyl Grosvenor’s family. He expressed his profound sorrow on the act of violence.

Premier Brantley of Nevis took to his Facebook account to share his condo lences and sorrow in words:

Our island has had some truly tragic news over the past several days. Today (Oct 10) highlighted the hor rible human capacity for cruelty. My deepest condo lences to those who mourn and my fervent hope that as a society we can end violence in all its forms.

The whole of Nevis Island is in a state of shock and sadness over the news. People have come forward to share their grief and condo lences. (SKN News.com)

This scene grab taken from video posted on St Kitts-Nevis Times social media page shows the house that was set on fire

Remanded: Mark Anderson

A scene grab of the incident captured on video by an onlooker

Positive attitude towards LGBTQ+ community can boost economic activities, tourism – THAG Head

Apositive attitude

from the local pop ulation towards the LGBTQ+ community can translate to a boost in eco nomic activities, according to President of the Tourism Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) Harrinand Persaud.

Weighing in on the find ings of a recent survey which found a greater level of ac ceptance of the queer com munity among Guyanese, the tourism advocate be lieves this is an achievement that needs to be examined and acted upon in a holistic

way.

During an interview with this publication, he indicat ed that stakeholders can capitalise on this develop ment and push to promote Guyana as an LGBTQ+ safe and friendly environment to visit and even seek employ ment.

“With the new oil indus try, we know that we are at tracting a lot of different per sons to come here. We have to be open to what they’re accustomed to in their own country. They want to feel welcomed, knowing they can come here and not be

discriminated against,” Persaud explained.

According to him, this must be the position in terms of LGBTQ+ persons coming here for vacation and to work. He said tour ism operators such as hotels and restaurants must adopt policies that do not discrim inate against such persons utilising their services.

“From a tourism stand point, we want Guyana to be known as open and accept ed [towards LGBTQ+ per sons],” the THAG President noted. And he admitted that umbrella bodies like THAG

THAG President Harrinand Persaud

have an important role to play.

“Within our tourism body, we need to be more supportive as a group first of all and then let it [trick le down] to all the members. Let them be aware that we need to make a more con scious effort to be more ac cepted…whether its employ ees or guests, the same rule should apply,” he noted.

Major support is also needed from Government, he explained, especially as it relates to national policies and even law.

“There is no reason why Guyana should be left be hind,” Persaud remarked when asked about eliminat ing laws that discriminate based on sexual orientation.

“For THAG, we see it being positive for tourism. People must feel they can come here as a couple, re gardless of their sexual ori entation and gender identi ty, and not think that this destination will not accept them. A lot of the laws are very outdated. This partic ular Government is open to

change. They’re not stuck in time. I’m very confident that things will change,” he add ed.

Like most issues, Persaud contended that change cannot be driven by one entity alone and encour aged all stakeholders to get on board.

“THAG is part of the Private Sector Commission and the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry. We all need to come together to have a pol icy. Let it be clear-cut that we see these persons for the value they bring, we respect their decisions, and we en sure that they are given the same equal opportuni ties and chances as every one else. We have to set up some more policies within the work arena to make sure everyone is treated equally.”

Commissioned by the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) and conducted by RMK Consulting Enterprise, a poll titled “A Study of Perceptions and Attitudes towards LGBT Persons in Guyana” found that an in crease in positive attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ popu lation.

This year’s national poll was conducted almost a decade after the first-ev er public opinion poll on LGBT people and issues was done by the Caribbean Development Research Services (CADRES) in 2013.

According to results from the 2022 poll, LGBTQ+ ac ceptance in Guyana has soared since then, moving

from 19 per cent to 34.5 per cent with an overall percent age of 72.4 per cent of re spondents stating that they accept and tolerate LGBT persons.

It was also noted that ha tred of LGBTQ+ people de creased by 50 per cent, from 25 per cent in 2013 to 12 per cent in 2022.

Other key results in clude that nearly a major ity of Guyanese believe the Government should prior itise legally protecting the rights of LGBTQ+ people, with 49.6 per cent of re spondents replying positive ly that it should be a prior ity for the Government to prioritise legally protecting LGBTQ+ people.

Further, the poll found that a clear majority of 53.9 per cent of the Guyanese population are likely to sup port the elimination of the law criminalising sex be tween men.

The results also showed that 72 per cent of the popu lation were likely to support legislation that ensures pro tection against workplace discrimination for LGBTQ+ people in Guyana.

A total of 1070 respon dents were interviewed in person between June 18 and July 11, 2022 for the study.

For over 19 years, SASOD Guyana has been at the forefront of calls to re peal the laws which crim inalise same-sex intimacy and disproportionately af fect LGBTQ+ people, lead ing to increased levels of dis crimination in all areas of their lives. (G11)

Doctors to be trained to...

Dr Anthony also under scored the importance of striking a better work-life balance, indicating that this is something that needs to be promoted more.

“In a world where we have so much stress and where we are always in a hustle and a bustle, it is sometimes, people fail to cope and it becomes a big challenge…,” he expressed.

Meanwhile, the overall objective of the commemo rative activities on World Mental Health Day is to raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilise efforts in support of mental health.

Observed on October 10, the day provides an oppor tunity for all stakeholders working on mental health issues to talk about their work, and highlight the needed efforts to make men tal health care a reality for people worldwide. The men tal health awareness activi ties are being observed un der the theme “Creating Hope through Action”. The vision behind this theme is to work towards the achieve ment of universal health coverage.

These activities are in tended to increase aware ness on suicide prevention, mental health and reduce the stigma attached to men tal health illnesses.

Meanwhile, PAHO/WHO Representative to Guyana, Dr Luis Codina said that Guyana has undertaken a new approach through the development of the new mental health laws which focuses on the aspects of hu man rights, social protection and health promotion.

Moreover, Nicolas Pron, UNICEF Representative to Guyana and Suriname said that his organisation rec ognises mental health as a global priority and will con tinue to work with its part ners to ensure the rights and well-being of all chil dren across Guyana.

Also present at the event were Director of Primary Health Care Services, Dr Ertensia Hamilton; Adolescent Health Coordinator, Cilandell Glenn; Dr Timothy Morgan of the Mental Health Unit; Representative of Desert Flower Guyana, Abigail Fraser and Miss World Guyana Andrea King. (G11)

School screening programme to be introduced to detect health issues among students

Health

Minister Dr Frank Anthony on Tuesday an nounced that the Guyana Government will soon intro duce a screening programme within schools that will help in detecting various health issues among students.

This initiative, which will be piloted at a select in stitution and then rolled out countrywide, will cater for the screening of students at “critical points during their school year,” the Health Minister said.

He noted that het pro gramme will look at areas of dental care, eyecare, and hearing as well as a number of “other parameters”.

“We see school health as a very important aspect of delivering healthcare in Guyana,” Dr Anthony ex pressed, noting that it is an area that has been ignored over the years.

In addition to the screening programme, the Health Minister said the Government plans to en courage the formation of health clubs in schools.

“With these health clubs, we’ll be promoting and sort of reinforcing some of the things that they’ve been taught in school pertaining to health so that they can

live and embrace a healthy lifestyle.”

According to the Health Minister, one of the goals is to get young people more physically active.

“Young people, in a lot of ways, have been sitting down and playing games, board games and video games and they’re not as active as they ought to be.

So, we’re trying to encour age physical activity, foot ball, volleyball, cricket and so forth.”

Another key area the Health Minister noted, is nutrition. “We want them to choose the right foods, avoid fatty foods, avoid trans fats, avoid sugar sweetened bev erages, avoid salt and so forth. So, in the health clubs,

Vehicles weighing up to 18 tonnes...

“There is also a stipu lation with the speed lim it, drivers must adhere to the speed limit of 32Km/h while traversing in one di rection at a time,” he add ed.

The Public Works Minister said shift supervi sors, along with the special constabulary ranks will be closely monitoring the tran sit of vehicles on the bridge to ensure adherence to the

temporary special arrange ments.

“I want to reiterate my gratitude to commut ers and drivers for their patience during this un expected ordeal and urge them to use the bridge with care, I implore you to fol low the rules, your safety is very important, and we want you to reach your des tination safely,” Minister Edghill emphasised.

On Monday evening, the bridge was reopened for light vehicular traffic and trucks up to 12 tonnes fol lowing two days of closure after a fuel vessel collided with the floating structure.

At the reopening, Minister Edghill had noted that the Government will have to get two pontoons on an emergency basis.

Meanwhile, the pi lot of the MV Trade Wind

Passion , the Panamanian fuel ship that was trans porting fuel when it crashed into the bridge, remains confined to the ship along with his crew.

Reports are that the MV Trade Wind Passion was transporting fuel to the Guyana Oil Company (GuyOil); it was heading south and was the last of five vessels to cross the bridge, when it collided

we’ll have programmes that are geared to teach some of these things.”

Dr Anthony made these disclosures at an event to hand over various pack ages of sports and hy giene equipment to the Ministry of Health as part of the “Promoting Safe & Healthy Learning & Living Environments” project sup ported by Canada and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Funded by Canada and implemented by UNICEF in partnership with the Government of Guyana, the project is already mak ing a difference in the lives of children here. In Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), for example, healthcare and community workers have been trained and are delivering Early Childhood Development ser vices.

Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana Mark Berman & UNICEF representative Nicolas Pron spoke about the project’s goal to provide gender re sponsive programmes for health that caters to both boys and girls, and the ben efits for vulnerable children, especially those in the hin terland and host/migrant communities.

It was also explained that the supplies hand ed over will support the ex pansion of school health clubs and boost adolescent health services across se lected hinterland commu nities. Nearly 10,000 chil dren will benefit from this aspect of the project. “I want to emphasise that this proj ect is not only gender-re sponsive but we aim for it to be gender-transformative,” the UNICEF representative said at the event. (G11)

with the bridge.

A Board of Inquiry is meanwhile continuing its probe into the incident, af ter which they will be ex pected to make their recom mendations and establish culpability where neces sary. The Board has seven days in which to conclude its investigation.

Moreover, with respect to DHB Ship Supervisor, Andy Duke, who was direct

ing the vessel through the retraction and attempted to get it to stop after realis ing it was out of alignment, Edghill had said that he is still hospitalised with his fractured leg and may have to undergo surgery. At the time of the incident, Duke was injured after he had to jump from his post to get out of the path of the ves sel that eventually crashed into the bridge. (G11)

Some of the items handed over to the Health Ministry as part of the “Promoting Safe & Healthy Learning & Living Environments” project supported by Canada and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

Ramsammy’s Ruminations

Give sugar a chance –sugar’s place in Guyana’s economy remains critical

This column takes great pleasure in congratulating the sugar workers of Guyana. Their earning of a day’s pay as bonus last week across Guyana is a blessing. Even as that news made our hearts glow, workers at the Demerara River Bridge were struggling to get the bridge back into operation after an oil barge had collided with the bridge and rendered it inoperable.

The damage was the worst ever experienced by the bridge in its history. In the past, such extensive damage, four spans in length, would have rendered the bridge inoperable for weeks. But the workers were able to defy the odds and get it back into operation by Monday evening at 9.00pm, about 60 hours after it was damaged. It is testimony to what we can achieve when we work together.

Soon after the damage, the President himself, with Minister Juan Edghill, was on site. The President was on site twice on Saturday, twice on Sunday, and early on Monday morning. He inspired the workers, and they delivered the impossible. Both the sugar workers and the Demerara River Bridge engineers and workers deserve Guyana’s highest praise.

Last week the weather was sunny, little to no rain. Sugar workers in Albion, Blairmont and Uitvlugt Sugar Estates met and surpassed their targets, and thereby earned a day’s pay as bonus for the week’s performance. In fact, each time the weather has been good, one or more of the estates have earned bonuses, and the others always come close. It would be unfair to blame the weather for all the woes sugar has faced in Guyana. There are other factors to GuySuCo’s problems, but only those who are bent on sugar failing, those who spend their time desperately hoping each and every week that GuySuCo would fail, would not concede that the weather has been one of the main factors for GuySuCo’s problems over more than a decade now.

Climate change has genuinely challenged GuySuCo, but in spite of global and national issues that have affected sugar in Guyana, when the weather is good, sugar still performs. After more than a decade of weather challenge, we are still trying to figure out how to maintain high production with the new weather pattern.

In 2012, the weather was a major issue for production. In that year, major issues at Skeldon Sugar Estate also created difficulties for GuySuCo. In addition, major changes were taking place at other estates, as a deliberate effort was made to convert field configuration to accommodate mechanised field production. By 2014, some of the changes at Skeldon and at other estates began to bear fruit. In 2014, GuySuCo surpassed its target of 218,000 tons. In 2015, because of a massive first crop, with Skeldon producing its highest ever production, GuySuCo surpassed its target of 242,000 tons. Albion led the way in both 2014 and 2015. However, Skeldon, in 2014 and 2015, began to show its potential.

After the first crop of 2015, the new APNU Government led by David Granger claimed credit for GuySuCo’s performance, although they were not in Government at any time during the first crop of 2015. Moses Nagamootoo, the then self-anointed “champion of the sugar workers”, boasted that they were responsible for the sudden turn-around. There, in fact, was no sudden turnaround. The 2014 production and the 2015 production were the result of the changes made in the industry between 2012 and 2014. The truth is that because APNU then changed management of the industry, there was a real sudden downturn in the fortunes of GuySuCo. The downturn did not begin in 2016; it began immediately in the second crop of 2015. Based on the first crop production in 2015, GuySuCo could have surpassed a production of 270,000 tons in 2015, had it not been for the poor performance in the second crop, when weather was not a factor. GuySuCo is still reeling from the utter mismanagement that has dogged the industry since the second crop of 2015.

Since August 2020, GuySuCo has had to navigate many problems. The weather has been especially brutal throughout 2021 and the first crop of 2022. This in no way means we must go easy on management. Management ought not hide behind the brutal weather. The weather is way beyond our control, and GuySuCo will have to create a production strategy that lives with the changed weather pattern. Management must take responsibility for the failure to yet define a meaningful way to navigate the weather pattern and keep sugar production at a reasonable level.

Yet, I believe that working together, Guyana will find a way to do exactly this. For one, GuySuCo must accelerate its mechanisation programme.

Sugar remains a critical industry in Guyana’s socio-economic landscape. GuySuCo still is one of the largest employers in Guyana, supporting a village economy that provides succor to more than 80,000 people. Guyana cannot afford to add sugar as one of our imports. Guyana cannot afford to give up the foreign currency earnings that sugar brings. Sugar’s drainage and irrigation system contributes significantly to Guyana’s agriculture success, especially in Regions 5 and 6, the country’s agriculture epicentre. Giving up on sugar, therefore, is reckless. As last week showed, the sugar workers are capable of lifting sugar to heights it has reached in the past. Let us give the sugar workers and the industry a chance.

CCJ upholds brothers’ convictions...

Justice Saunders said, “I don’t know anything about Orwin Hinds. How old is he? Does he have children? What are the factors that produced this kind of per son? What does the people he lives with say about him? Can you really sentence someone [in the absence] of all of those factors?”

Considering this, the CCJ President stressed the need for trial Judges to con duct sentencing hearings during which the court will, among other things, obtain a pre-sentence report which will detail the offender’s background.

Gossai agreed with Justice Barrow’s suggestion that this matter “should be sent back for sentencing so that these considerations can be explored so that a sentencing report can be prepared...”

For the CCJ to re-sen tence the convicts without considering these factors, the men’s counsel submit ted that this “would not as sist the jurisprudence” in relation to sentencing.

Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Teshana Lake reminded the court that she filed submis sions in the matter before the court rendered its deci sion in the Gopaul matter.

Like Gossai, she too, pointed out that the sen tence for the category of murder for which the men were convicted is death or imprisonment for life.

Lake, however, submit ted that Section 100A (3) (a) of the Criminal Law (Offences) Act specifies that should the trial Judge sen tence the offender to life, he/or she must serve not less than 20 years before being eligible for parole.

Considering this, Lake advocated for the duo to both be given the life sen tence. As it relates to their eligibility for parole, she said that a “reasonable” starting range “maybe” be tween 20 and 30 years.

This, she pointed out, will ensure that mur ders under [Section 100 (1) (d) of the Criminal Law (Offences)] Act do not at tract the same sentence as the murder in Gopaul’s case did.

“We are requesting this

starting range so that there will be consistency in the methodology and approach es for sentences. We are asking for them to get the same sentence because of the roles they played in the murder. Both of them pro vided the [murder] weap on [a gun]. It is just that Orwin got further involved in planning the execution of the murder,” Lake said.

Interjecting, CCJ Judge Jacob Wit highlighted that the four men were offered some GY$1.2 million to kill the elderly woman and asked whether there was an investigation into who hired them.

The prosecutor told the court that indeed an inves tigation was done but it did not lead the Police to who authorised the killing. She said that the State has all the information about the land transaction over which Fiedtkou-Parris was mur dered.

In relation to the oth er convict, Jacobs, she told the CCJ that his 50-year sentence “will have to at tract our Parole Act be cause once prisoners are of good behaviour, they are

granted remissions on their sentence. So, if he is a mod el prisoner, his sentence should be far less than 50 years.”

The prosecutor ex plained that the DPP’s Chambers usually receives files from the Parole Board after a convicted person has spent 15 years in prison. “It is a matter of practice,” she informed the Justices.

In Jacob’s case, she noted that it would be in cumbent on the DPP’s Chambers to advise the Parole Board that he be comes eligible for parole af ter 20 and not 15 years in keeping with Section 100A (3) (a) of the Criminal Law (Offences) Act.

Responding to Justice Saunders’s question about the matter being re mitted to the trial Judge for a sentencing hearing, Lake said that Guyana does not have laws that allow for the case to be sent back and urged the panel to exercise their sentencing discretion with the information that is before the court given the length of time the case has been ongoing.

Besides Justices

Saunders, Barrow and Wit, Justices Andrew Burgess and Maureen Rajnauth-Lee were the other Judges who deliberated on the siblings’ appeal against their convic tion and sentence.

Execution

The charge the men had faced detailed that, on June 30, 2011, they murdered Fiedtkou-Parris pursuant to an arrangement wherein money was intended to be passed from one person to another. The elderly wom an was shot and killed on the night of June 30, 2011.

It was reported that three men had gone to the woman’s home asking for “Auntie”, and when she emerged from her bedroom, one of them pulled out a gun and shot her several times to her upper body.

The men then fled the scene in a waiting mo tor car while the elderly woman was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, where she was pronounced dead. It is be lieved that a bitter dispute over a property might have been the motive for her kill ing.

Dr Leslie Ramsammy

CCJ Judge Maureen Rajnauth-Lee

CCJ Judge Denys Barrow

CCJ Judge Andrew Burgess

2 senior Police Officers are Guyana’s newest Attorneys

...Crime Chief to be called to the Bar today

After enforcing the laws of Guyana for many years, two se nior Police officers will now be practicing the law follow ing their admission to the Bar on Tuesday.

Deputy Commissioner (ag) Calvin Brutus and Assistant Superintendent Delon Fraser vowed to act ethically and with integrity in their legal careers when their petitions to practice as lawyers in and before the courts were presented be

fore Demerara High Court Judge Sandil Kissoon.

Brutus’s petition was presented by attorney Liksham Kissoon, while Fraser’s was presented by attorney Dexter Todd in a courtroom packed with their family members, friends, and colleagues.

Acting Commissioner of Police Clifton Hicken was also there and congratulat ed the Policemen-turnedlawyers on their academic achievements on behalf of

himself and the Police Force.

Meanwhile, in a Facebook post, Brutus ex pressed that he was eternal ly grateful to everyone who supported him throughout his legal studies.

“It is with great joy that I express gratitude to my family, batch mates, tutors, friends and others who have stood with me during these intense years of study. I wish to give a special appre ciation to Commissioner of Police Acting Clifton Hicken

for his support role and Attorney-at-Law Kissoon for presenting my petition to the court ...,” he wrote.

Brutus; Fraser; Deputy Commissioner Law Enforcement, Wendell Blanhum; and Assistant Superintendent Domnick Bess were among the over 30 Guyanese students who graduated from the Hugh Wooding Law School (HWLS) last Saturday with their Legal Education Certificate (LEC)—the fi nal academic qualifica tion to practice as an attor ney in the Commonwealth Caribbean.

Crime Chief Blanhum’s Bar call is scheduled for to day. Guyanese students copped several coveted awards when the Trinidadbased law school held its graduation for the Class of 2022 on Saturday last. (G1)

Labourer jailed for illegal gun, ammo possession

The gun and ammunition

Dave Williams of Skull City, West Bank Demerara (WBD), was on Tuesday charged for the offences of possession of a firearm and ammunition without being a holder of a licence.

The labourer appeared before Magistrate Faith Mc Gusty at the Vreeden-Hoop Magistrate Court on Tuesday where the two charges were read to him.

He pleaded guilty to both charges and was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment.

Reports are that about 15:15h on Sunday, Police ranks in Regional Division Number Three were on mo bile patrol duties when they stopped the motorcyclist of Skull City, West Bank Demerara (WBD).

According to Police, the man was riding motorcycle CJ 2534 when the search was carried out on his per son, which unearthed a .38

Sentenced: Dave Williams

snub-nosed revolver without serial number along with three rounds of matching ammunition concealed in his pants crotch.

Police said following the discovery, the man claimed that someone named “Sherwin” gave him the items. (G9)

From L-R: Deputy Commissioner (ag) Calvin Brutus and High Court Judge Sandil Kissoon

Assistant Superintendent Delon Fraser (left) with Justice Sandil Kissoon

Ex-employee confesses, implicates...

He said after he left the job, he conspired with Junor and told him that they could “thief money” from Kaieteur News and he reportedly agreed.

However, on Sunday last, at about 11:00h, Wharton said Junor went to his home with his motor car, along with another accused, Ivor Belingie, also known as “Wildlife”, a 25-year-old unemployed man of Back Circle, East Ruimveldt, and they made plans to rob Kaieteur News.

Wharton admitted to cops that he asked Belingie if he had a gun and Belingie responded in the negative. He said he then told Belingie that he would provide him with a gun and that they would rob Kaieteur News and they all agreed.

Junor and Wharton then left, after which he called a friend, Harry Stongster,

a 36-year-old taxi driv er of Hyde Park, Timehri, on his cell phone and told him about the plan to rob Kaieteur News and Harry agreed to go with them.

Police also stated that Wharton said he called his cousin Lemuel Grant of Charlestown and asked him to borrow his Spacio and Grant lent him the vehicle.

Wharton said he proceed ed to change the number plate on Grant’s vehicle and

replace it with a fake num ber plate HC 5152. At about 23:00h, Stongster went to his home with a motor car and Wharton gave Harry a phone number for Belingie and told him to call Belingie and pick him up at Back Circle in East Ruimveldt, which Harry did.

Shortly after, Harry re turned with Belingie, whom he gave his unlicensed 9mm pistol and they pro ceeded to Kaieteur News,

in the Spacio vehicle which Wharton drove.

On arrival, Belingie held Junor, the security officer and two others at gunpoint, as they had planned, while Wharton and Harry went up to the Accounts Department where he knew the safe was located.

They claimed that they pushed open the office door, and broke off a padlock on a desk drawer. Wharton along with Harry then lifted out the safe which was under a desk and put it in the back seat of Grant’s car. Then, he along with Harry and Belingie drove to his home, where they opened the safe, and removed a large sum

of cash, a firearm, ammu nition, one holster, mag azines, and firearm hand grips.

They then divided the money into four.

Belingie collected Junor’s share on his behalf and the men proceeded to burn the clothes they used to conduct the robbery.

Stongster and “Wildlife” then left Wharton’s home and threw away the emp ty safe in a trench at Cane View Avenue, South Ruimveldt Gardens.

Wharton then took his share of the loot and handed it over to his child’s moth er, a policewoman, for safe keeping and told her that

he had won the cash while playing a Superbet game.

Wharton also placed the gun and ammunition re moved from the safe along with the gun used in the robbery, firearm grips, and holster into a haversack and gave them to his friend, Collis Heywood, at Tucville.

Since the confession, in vestigators have arrested all of the suspects that were involved and implicated in the crime, and have since recovered over $6 million of the stolen cash, the sto len pistol and ammunition, the broken safe, and the car used in the robbery.

Investigations are ongo ing. (G9)

Kaieteur News’ office building

Pres Ali meets with investors, new merchant bank Chairman

…discusses investment climate

Inkeeping with the Government’s commit ment to facilitate more investments, President Dr Irfaan Ali on Tuesday met with a group of investors at the Office of the President, during which they discussed exactly that.

The investors were led into the meeting by Chairman and founder of the New Hayven Merchant Bank, Guyanese Professor and Financial Analyst Floyd Haynes, who only opened his bank in July of this year.

Besides Haynes and the investors, the Head of the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest), Dr Peter Ramsaroop, was also present at the meeting.

The New Hayven Merchant Bank is the first merchant bank to be li censed in Guyana in 30 years. The bank opened its doors in a ceremony in July of this year, to assist inves tors and small businesses in the country’s growing devel opment.

At the time, Haynes had underscored that in the pres ence of opportunities and growing demands for invest ment, the ability to finance ventures is missing from the equation. It is a gap which the bank will be addressing.

“It is that gap that we sought to fill. That was the

impetus for starting New Hayven…It is obvious that there is huge capital gap or money gap. In other words, there simply isn’t enough money to finance the trans formation and development of this country in country.”

“So, some of those mon ies will come from multilat erals, friendly governments but it’ll be a loan. But a large part of that has to be private capital and that’s where we see New Hayven playing a crucial role,” Haynes had underlined.

The founder added that the strides to establish this merchant bank was years in the making but comes at a time when it is greatly needed. According to him, Guyana is at that time in its development trajectory where opportunities abound.

Meanwhile, President Ali had been present at the open ing and had even delivered the feature address, during which he had underscored Government’s vision for shared prosperity and ideas to drive the country towards greater economic success.

“Sometimes we look for transformation in a road and building because that is physical but there are a number of things that must occur behind the scenes that you can’t see physically that are equally important in the transformation process,” The Head of State had ex pressed.

“The development of Guyana must be built on a foundation that delivers equal opportunities for ev eryone. But those opportuni ties must not only be spoken

and that is why this invest ment is so critical.”

According to Ali, he will not support any “sideshow” events that have little bear ing on the country’s devel opment, but rather invest in areas to enhance Guyana in all sectors, not only in the economy but also the social sector.

“The road to sustainable and resilient development and a future that we can all look forward to requires di versification. It requires us to understand that the econ omy must stand on many dif ferent platforms. It requires us to understand what de fines the diversification that we’re talking about.”

“If you try to understand diversification as financial diversification, you will fail. When we’re talking about national development it has to be an economic diversifi cation that incorporate so cial components,” President Ali had said. (G3)

NDC Chairman dies after bee attack

Almost two weeks af ter he was attacked and stung by a swarm of Africanised bees, the Chairman attached to the Wyburg/Caracas Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), has passed.

Dead is Cheemanlall Youardhan, Chairman of the Wyburg/Caracas Neighbourhood Democratic Council.

At the time of the bee at tack, Youardhan was car rying out community work. Youardhan passed away on Monday after being attacked by the bees on September 27.

Overseer of Wyburg/ Caracas Neighbourhood Democratic Council, Macy Youardhan explained that the Chairman had gone into the field upon the request of a farmer.

She said that there was bulldozer working there and she was subsequently able to speak with the operator.

“He told us that there were too much bees and no one could have gone in and help him; it was too much.”

She said the operator was able to get to the bulldoz er and close the door behind him.

The overseer, who is also the daughter of the now dead NDC Chairman, said she was also able to speak with her father while he was hos pitalised.

“My dad told me that he was on the tractor when the bees came and he couldn’t drive off because the bull dozer was on the middle of the dam. He jumped off of the tractor and jumped into

the side trench. He said that it was so deep and he would [not] have been able to swim, so, he came out and ran,” the overseer painfully related while noting that her father told her he tried to fit him self in a tube to prevent more bees from stinging him.

That tube, that her fa ther was trying to seek ref uge in, was in the sluice, she explained.

“He said it was so much that he couldn’t help him self,” she added.

“My dad told me that they were all over his head and he feel like they were going into his mouth, all in his ears and his eyes the inside they sting.”

Youardhan was tak en to the New Amsterdam Hospital and subsequent ly transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital three days later and re mained there until his pass ing.

He leaves to mourn a wife and six children. (G4)

Murder, She Wrote star Angela Lansbury dies at 96

Dame AngelaLansbury, who won international ac claim as the star of the US TV crime series Murder, She Wrote, has died aged 96.

The three-time Oscar nominee had a career span ning eight decades, across film, theatre and television.

Born in London in 1925, she was one of the last sur viving stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.

Dame Angela died in her sleep just five days before her 97th birthday, her fam ily said in a statement.

"The children of Dame Angela Lansbury are sad to announce that their mother died peacefully in her sleep at home in Los Angeles," the family said.

Born in London, Dame Angela later moved to New York and attended the Feagin School of Dramatic Art.

She was noticed by a Hollywood executive at a party in 1942, and given her first role as a maid in the 1944 film Gaslight.

Her subsequent career took her from Broadway to Hollywood, with success on the big and small screen.

But it was her portrayal of sleuth Jessica Fletcher in the television series Murder, She Wrote which gained her millions of fans across the world. She took up the role in 1984, and continued for 12 years and nine seasons.

The show made her one of the wealthiest women in

the US at the time, with a fortune estimated at $100 million.

She earned Oscar nom inations for her role as the maid in Gaslight, and as Sibyl in The Picture of Dorian Gray in 1945, and Laurence Harvey's ma nipulative mother in The Manchurian Candidate in 1962.

She was also given an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement, aged 88 in 2013.

During the ceremony, fellow actor Geoffrey Rush praised her as the "living definition of range".

It followed a lifetime achievement award from Bafta in 2002, as well as a star on the Hollywood walk of fame.

Tributes following her death lauded a "legend" of Hollywood.

She is survived by three children and her brother, producer Edgar Lansbury, as well as several grandchil dren and great-grandchil dren.

Dame Angela Lansbury

President Dr Irfaan Ali during the meeting with the investors at the Office of the President

Dead: Wyburg/ Caracas NDC Chairman Cheemanlall Youardhan

Oil settles lower on China

COVID flare-up, recession fear

Oil prices settled 2 per cent lower on Tuesday, extending the previous session's almost 2 per cent decline, as recession fears and a flare-up in COVID-19 cases in China raised concerns over global demand.

World Bank President David Malpass and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva warned on Monday of a growing risk of global recession and said inflation remained a continuing problem.

Brent crude settled down US$1.90, or 2 per cent, to US$94.29 a barrel while US West Texas Intermediate crude settled down US$1.78, or 2 per cent, to US$89.35.

"There is growing pessimism in the markets now," said Craig Erlam of brokerage OANDA.

Oil surged early this year, bringing Brent close to its record high of US$147 as Russia's invasion of Ukraine added to supply concerns, but prices have slid on economic fears.

US crude oil stockpiles were expected to have risen last week after having fallen the prior two weeks, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Tuesday.

Fears of a further hit to demand in China also weighed. Authorities have stepped up coronavirus testing in Shanghai and other large cities as COVID-19 infections rise again.

"From an economic perspective, it seems like China's throwing the baby out with the bathwater by continuing to lock down its population to lower cases," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC in New York.

Oil also came under pressure from a strong dollar, which hit multi-year highs on worries about interest rate increases and escalation of the Ukraine war.

A strong dollar makes oil more expensive for buyers with other currencies and tends to weigh on risk appetite.

Losses were limited, however, by a tight market and last week's decision by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, together known as OPEC+, to lower their output target by 2 million barrels per day.

President Joe Biden is re-evaluating the US relationship with Saudi Arabia after OPEC+ announced last week it would cut oil production, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday.

"An undersupply is even looming next year because the production cut is supposed to apply until the end of 2023, according to the OPEC+ decision," a Commerzbank report said. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Around the World

Ukraine-Russia war: G7 countries will back Kyiv "for as long as it takes"

Leaders of the G7

group of rich nations have said they will back Ukraine for "as long as it takes" in the wake of Monday's major Russian missile strikes.

The group, which met for emergency virtual talks, said it would keep on giving mil itary and humanitarian aid.

NATO also said it would stand with Ukraine for as long as necessary.

At least 19 people were killed and scores more in jured, as Russian missiles hit regions across Ukraine, including central Kyiv.

Strikes continued into Tuesday, with civilians ad vised to stay in air raid shel ters.

Russian President

Vladimir Putin said the at tacks were in retaliation for a strike on a key bridge link ing Russia with occupied Crimea, for which he blamed Ukraine.

Western leaders were quick to condemn the

NASA says DART mission succeeded in altering asteroid's trajectory

Thespacecraft that NASA deliberately crashed into an aster oid last month succeeded in nudging the rocky moonlet out of its natural orbit -- the first time humanity has al tered the motion of a celes tial body, NASA's chief an nounced on Tuesday.

"This is a watershed mo ment for planetary defence and a watershed moment for humanity," NASA chief Bill Nelson told reporters in an nouncing the results.

Findings of telescope ob servations unveiled at a NASA news briefing showed that the suicide test flight of the DART spacecraft on Sept 26 achieved its primary objec tive: changing the direction of an asteroid through sheer ki netic force.

The $330 million proofof-concept DART mission, which was seven years in de velopment, also marked the world's first test of a plane tary defence system designed to prevent a potential dooms

day meteorite collision with Earth.

The celestial target of the DART flight was an egg-shaped asteroid named Dimorphos, roughly the size of a football stadium, orbiting a parent asteroid about five times bigger called Didymos once every 11 hours, 55 min utes.

The aim was to fly the DART impactor vehi cle - no bigger than a vend ing machine - directly into Dimorphos at about 14,000 miles per hour (22,531 kph), creating enough force to shift the moonlet's orbital track closer to its larger companion.

Comparison of pre- and post-impact astronomi cal measurements of the Dimorphos orbit around Didymos showed a 32-minute shortening of its trajectory, proving the exercise as a via ble technique to deflect an as teroid from a collision course with Earth, if such an as teroid were ever discovered. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Peruvian Prosecutors increase pressure on President, order allies detained

Peruvian Prosecutors on Tuesday presented a constitutional com plaint against embattled President Pedro Castillo, hours after detaining five of his allies on corruption alle gations.

Presidents in Peru have immunity and cannot nor mally be charged with crimes. The constitution al complaint is a key step to lift that restriction and represents the most aggres sive move yet by Prosecutors against Castillo.

Prosecutors said the de

tentions were carried out against people who had al legedly helped Castillo's for mer Secretary avoid deten tion for corruption charges earlier this year.

Prosecutors also ordered raids that were part of a separate operation, includ ing raiding a house inhabit ed by Castillo's sister as well as the homes of six lawmak ers who have supported his Administration.

The raids and detentions are set to further weak en Castillo's presidency at a time when lawmakers in

the Opposition-controlled Congress are openly talking about launching a fresh im peachment attempt against him.

Left-wing Castillo has al ready survived two impeach ment attempts since taking office in July last year and is the subject of five criminal investigations. The probes include alleged obstruction of justice and influence ped dling.

Among those detained are Auner Vasquez and Biberto Castillo, who worked at Peru's government pal

ace, where the President's office operates.

The Government said it would issue a statement lat er on Tuesday on the deten tion and the raids.

Castillo condemned the raid on his sister's home in a tweet, calling it an "abu sive act".

This is not the first in vestigation to touch on Castillo's family and wheth er they have benefited from his presidency. His sisterin-law was detained earli er this year. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Russian escalation, and the G7 on Tuesday reiterated its commitment to Ukraine.

"We will continue to pro vide financial, humanitari an, military, diplomatic and legal support and will stand firmly with Ukraine for as

long as it takes," the group said in a statement.

The bloc also condemned Putin's recent attempts to annex four regions of Ukraine with self-styled ref erendums.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked the G7 for further air de fence capabilities.

He also asked the alli ance to support an inter national mission on the Ukraine-Belarus border.

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenkoa close ally of Putin - has agreed to deploy forces with Russian soldiers at the bor der with Ukraine, say ing this is in response to a threat from Kyiv. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Haiti crisis: Clashes and looting as anger boils over

Police confronted demon strators as anti-Government protests descended into loot ing.

Anger has been boiling over as gang violence has spi ralled out of control, disrupt ing shipments of fuel and food.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry has asked for for eign assistance, but the call has been criticised by some Haitians who see it as foreign interference.

In the capital, Port-auPrince, protesters erect ed burning barricades out of tyres and threw stones at Police, who in turn fired tear gas. Some protesters proceed ed to loot a hotel.

Shots were fired and pic tures taken at the scene by a Reuters photographer showed a bloodied woman ly ing dead on the ground.

A protester told AFP she had been shot by the securi ty forces: "It is a crime per petrated by the Police. This

young girl posed no threat. She was killed expressing her desire to live in dignity."

Police have not yet com mented on the incident.

There were also pro tests in the western city of Gonaïves, where demonstra tors stormed a court build ing, and in Cap-Haïtien, on Haiti's north coast.

According to local media, many of those in the streets on Monday were angry at the Prime Minister's request for foreign armed forces to be de ployed in Haiti".

Prime Minister Henry asked for foreign assistance on Wednesday without going into specifics. Two days lat er, the Government officially authorised him to ask the in ternational community for a "specialised armed force".

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has since called for the im mediate deployment of a special international armed force to Haiti, but it is not yet clear which countries would provide the members of such a force and what its task would be.

President Volodymyr Zelensky addressing a G7 video call, chaired by Germany

At least one woman was reportedly killed as protesters clashed with Police in Haitian cities on Monday.

There were protests in the capital, Portau-Prince, as well as other cities

HOROSCOPES

Follow the money until you are sure where every penny is going. Keeping track of your expenditures will help you make better decisions. A physical en counter will bolster your confidence.

(March 21-April 19)

SUDOKU

(April 20-May 20)

A change will turn in your favor. Go with the flow and enjoy the ride. Refuse to let someone’s demands slow you down. Put your energy, money and time where you feel most comfortable. Don’t share secrets.

Pay attention to protocol and do ev erything by the book. Reinvent your skills to suit trends. Show others what you can do under pressure. Make prom ises and keep them. Don’t be afraid to commit.

(May 21-June 20)

Situations will get blown out of pro portion at home and work. Take a mo ment to reflect on what’s going on and how you can tip things in your favor. Keep your valuables safe.

(June 21-July 22) (July 23-Aug. 22)

Digest information and process your options before you make a move. Don’t feel pressured by someone trying to get you to make a premature decision. Focus on clear-cut opportunities.

A change of heart will prompt you to learn something new and change how you live. Mingle with people who can of fer answers, suggestions and a helping hand. Make your actions count.

(Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

Take the plunge to get things done. Hesitation will work against you. Redirect your energy where it counts, and keep an eye on transactions that can affect your finances.

(Sept. 23-Oct. 23)

(Oct. 24-Nov. 22) (Nov. 23-Dec. 21)

Don’t let confusion and uncertain ty stand in your way. Consider what’s working for you and head in that direc tion. Look for opportunities to meet new people and to do something positive.

Stick to the point. If you embellish something, someone will expect more than you are willing to give. Put great er emphasis on your positive attributes and how you can put them to work.

Stick close to home. Keep the peace and go about your business. Make subtle changes that will add to your comfort. Take care of debt and unfinished busi ness. Beware indulgence.

(Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

Don’t jump to conclusions. Ask ques tions, decide how to proceed and put in the time, effort and resources to ensure you do things right the first time. Trust yourself, not others.

(Jan. 20-Feb. 19)

A change in how you do things will spark interest. Connect with people who share your concerns and want to make a difference. Don’t waste time arguing. Anger will only get in your way.

(Feb. 20-March 20)

India vs SA, ODI series: Match 3 of 3…

India storm to series’ win over South Africa

-as Kuldeep Yadav leads spinners' show

India have stormed to a fifth successive ODI se ries’ win with a crushing victory over South Africa in Delhi. Their spinners com bined to bowl South Africa out for 99 – SA’s lowest ODI total against India, and

in 2022, after they were dis missed for 83 by England.

Batting collapse apart, Tuesday added to a mount ing list of concerns for the vis itors ahead of the T20 World Cup: regular captain Temba Bavuma, stand-in skip

Kuldeep completing his third four-for against South Africa.

As a result of the series’ loss, South Africa ended at 11th position in the Super League table, after having already cancelled their ODIs against Australia. They must finish in the top eight if they seek direct qualification for the 2023 World Cup.

This is the fourth time in ODI history that South Africa have been bowled out for un der 100, and the second time

target in the 20th over. The chase was as routine as they come, after India had already won the match in the field with a bowling performance that exposed South Africa's perennial weakness against spin, and what appears to be a return of the yips that creep in in pressure situations.

Their line-up was com pletely blown away by spin, although it may not be very ef fective during the T20 World Cup in Australia. However, it has still left big questions about their readiness for the

through the covers, a short one through square leg, and then hit the shot of the in nings in terms of timing and placement: a stunning drive. But his fun did not last long. Malan mistimed the next ball to Avesh at deep square, and Avesh had just been placed there in the position.

By that point, Reeza Hendricks had successful ly reviewed being given out lbw to Avesh when ball track ing showed it was too high, but he couldn't make his re

prieve count. He was undone by a Siraj short ball which he sliced to short fine.

South Africa finished the powerplay on 26 for 3 - their joint-lowest score until the first ten overs since 2008.

Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen saw off five boundary-less overs, be fore Markram's trial by spin failed. Unlike in the first ODI, when he was foxed by Kuldeep, in this match, it was the left-arm orthodox spinner Shahbaz who drew him for ward and found the edge.

South Africa's boundary drought ended when Siraj misfielded a Klaasen backfoot punch at mid-on, before Klaasen earned his next four when he went back to pull a Shahbaz half-tracker through midwicket. He stayed in his crease to cut at a Washington short ball, but just when his partnership with Miller was starting to stabilise South Africa, Miller missed an arm ball from Washington and was bowled.

Andile Phehlukwayo mis read a googly from Kuldeep and played on, which might not do his chances of replac ing Dwaine Pretorius in the T20 World Cup squad any good.

Marco Jansen, the oth

er contender for Pretorius's place, gave a better account of himself, and sent Kuldeep over long-on for the innings' only six.

But Klaasen, who did not play one shot on the front foot, couldn't stay with him, and was beaten by a Shahbaz ball that spun away before he was bowled, after which Kuldeep cleaned up the tail. He struck Bjorn Fortuin under the knee roll with a loopy delivery, and then beat Anrich Nortje with a googly off back-to-back de liveries. Kuldeep's hat-trick ball was against Lungi Ngidi, who, however, blocked it.

Jansen then took South Africa close to 100 with a re verse sweep off Shahbaz, but then tried to slog sweep Kuldeep and hit him to deep square.

In reply, India's opening pair raced to 42 off the first 37 balls, and it did not look like anyone in the South African attack could separate them. Eventually no one did, and it took a mix-up for South Africa to get their first wick et, when Shubman Gill called Shikhar Dhawan through for a run and then sent him back. Dhawan was run out for 8, with a top score of 40 from his last five innings.

Ishan Kishan was the oth

er India batter who did not capitalize, and was caught be hind off Fortuin for 10. Gill went on to 49 - his highest score of the series - and ex ecuted himself particularly well against the short ball. He cut and pulled well, and had Shreyas Iyer - the series' highest run-getter, for com pany - as India marched to wards victory.

Iyer had one nervy mo ment when he upper cut Nortje to the tall Jansen at deep third. Jansen jumped, got fingertips to the ball, re alised he was going over the boundary and tossed the ball back up, but then lost control as he made his way back on to the field. The end result was six runs, an angry Nortje and a disappointed Miller, which just about summed up South Africa's series.

Iyer went on to slam Fortuin straight down the ground for two fours in three balls, and Gill sent an Ngidi half volley through the cov ers for his eighth four. Gill was only one away from fifty when he played around a full Ngidi delivery and was struck in front of middle stump, to be given out lbw.

Iyer hit the winning runs when he lofted Jansen for six over long-off. (Cricinfo)

Windies batsman John Campbell considering filing appeal against doping ban

West Indies batter John Campbell is considering appeal ing against the four-year ban he was handed on October 7 for an anti-doping violation.

The decision to ban Campbell was taken by an independent panel after he was accused by the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) of refusing to pro vide a blood sample at his home in Kingston in April.

Campbell's legal represen tatives, Jamaican law firm Nunes Scholefield Deleon & Co, have said in a statement

that "he was not properly no tified by JADCO" regarding the incident wherein he did not provide the sample, and that there were "several mit igatory factors, supported by evidence, which were not challenged by JADCO and which ought to have militat ed against the imposition of the maximum penalty".

The statement also emphasised that Campbell has "to date never returned an adverse analytical finding for banned substances".

"Mr John Campbell and his legal team are very dis

John Campbell

appointed with the ruling of the Independent Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel," the statement, which was put up on the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) website, read. "Mr Campbell has been a clean athlete throughout his outstanding career as a bats man, and he remains commit ted to clean sport…

"The allegation concerned refusing or failing to sub mit to sample collection after proper notification pursuant to Article 2.3 of the JADCO Anti-Doping Rules. Our client has, to date, never returned

an adverse analytical finding for banned substances…

"Mr Campbell's position was that he was not proper ly notified by JADCO. There were several breaches by JADCO of the mandatory International Standards for Testing and Investigations in respect of the notification of the athlete which, in our view, were not adequately ad dressed by the Panel.

"Additionally, there were several mitigatory fac tors supported by evidence which were not challenged by JADCO and which ought

to have militated against the imposition of the maximum penalty, even if the Panel found that the athlete com mitted a violation…

"Our client will therefore at this time consider exercis ing his right of appeal…and will make a decision shortly."

Campbell, 29, has played 20 Tests, six ODIs and two T20Is for West Indies. While he has not played white-ball cricket for them since 2019, he opened in all five Test match es they have played so far this year, scoring 248 runs at 35.42, with one fifty. (Cricinfo)

Back-to-back wins for Golden Stars FC; Hi Stars fly past Silver Stars in latest play

Golden Stars Football Club were in unstop pable form in turn ing back the challenges of Silver Stars FC and Capital FC when competition in the Upper Demerara Football Association’s (UDFA’s) leg of the GFF/NAMILCO Thunderbolt Flour Power Under-17 Intra Association League continued last week end at the Mackenzie Sports Club ground and at the Wisburg ground.

Playing at the MSC Ground on Monday, Golden Stars outshone Silver Stars by five goals to nil, with five different players getting on the score sheets. Latrel John opened the scoring in the 28th minute, and was followed by Azekiel Webster in the 44th. Alazane Chester touched in one of his own

four minutes later, and Raheem Williams had his name entered on the score

Windies Coach Simmons says preparation is

West Indies Head Coach Phil Simmons has said his team would use the of ficial warm-up period to fi nalise their planning for the crucial qualifying stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia. Twotime world champions West Indies have defeated United Arab Emirates on Monday at Junction Oval, and will take on the Netherlands at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (today) on Wednesday at 7pm (4am Eastern Caribbean/3am Jamaica time).

“The two warm-up games are about getting things to work together; about getting the plans we have in place; about mak ing sure players are get ting sharper and sharper as they go along,” Simmons has said. “The mood in the camp has been very good. We played two games against Australia…and we lost the two games, but at the same time, some of the things we’re trying to put in place are starting to come in place, and the mood in the camp has been excel lent.”

In Monday’s match, West Indies were led to vic tory by Brandon King, who made a stylish half-century at the top of the order, and by left-arm seamer Raymon Reifer, who took three wickets in the crucial mid dle overs’ phase of the UAE innings.

West Indies will be go ing in search of a third ICC T20 World Cup title. They won in 2012 and 2016, both times under the captain cy of Daren Sammy, and remain the only team to have won the trophy twice. (Windies Cricket)

Phil Simmons, speak ing about the 2022 T20 World Cup, has said:

“The batsmen under stand what we need to add to get to where we want to be, and they’ve been work

ing hard. So far, the enthu siasm and excitement (are) there in all the players; so, that’s good to see. We see this as a journey. We want to win the World Cup, but we will be focusing on it match by match …in stag es.”

Following the warmups, West Indies will travel to Hobart, Tasmania, where they take on Scotland, Ireland and Zimbabwe in Group B, with the top two teams advancing to the main draw.

MATCH SCHEDULE

Round 1

Group A : Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands, and Namibia Group B : Scotland, West Indies, Zimbabwe, and Ireland

(Top two teams from each group advance to Super 12s)

Round 1 - Match Schedule (all played at Bellerive Oval in Hobart).

October 17 : West Indies vs Scotland – 3pm (12 midnight Eastern Caribbean/11pm Jamaica on October 16)

October 19 : West Indies vs Zimbabwe – 7pm (4am Eastern Caribbean/3am Jamaica) October 21 : West Indies vs Ireland – 3pm (12 midnight Eastern Caribbean/11pm Jamaica on October 20)

Super 12s

Group 1 : England, Australia, New Zealand, Afghanistan, A1 and B2. Group 2 : India, Pakistan, Pakistan, South Africa, A2 and B1.

(Top two teams from each group advance to the semi-finals)

SEMI-FINALS

November 9 : SCG, Sydney November 10 : Adelaide Oval, Adelaide

FINAL November 13 : MCG, Melbourne

sheets in the 50th minute. Then Romario Hamilton closed things out ten min

utes later for the Golden Stars’ 5-nil win.

At the Wisburg ground

on Saturday, Golden Stars set the winning tone for the weekend when they took care of business against Capital FC, coming from a goal down to register a 3-1 win. Gordon Samuels of the Golden Stars responded al most immediately after his side went down in the 10th minute through a Keyland Samuels’ goal scored in Capital FC’s favour.

Samuels rocked the nets in the 12th minute, to re store balance to the proceed ings; and thereafter, Golden Stars took things to the next level by firing in two unan swered goals, compliments of Alazane Chester in the 22nd minute and Kenneth James in the 40th minute, to seal full points.

The other team record ing a win was Hi Stars

FC, over their counterparts Silver Stars, on Saturday at the Wisburg Ground. Azeinno Bengamine netted for the winners in the 14th minute, Shemiah Samuels did like wise in the 42nd, Duqain Samuels followed suit in the 48th minute, and Malih McLear found the back of the net in the 55th minute.

The other match contest ed on Monday at the MSC Ground produced an exciting 1-1 draw between Eagles FC and Amelia’s Ward FC. The Eagles had taken the lead in the first half through a Dixie Pierre goal in the 31st min ute, and they kept that ad vantage until the 82nd min ute, when Amelia’s Ward were able to fire back through a Dexter Milo goal, to earn an equal share of the points.

Caribbean Mini and Pre-Cadet Table Tennis Championships… CASH to burn from Oct 14 to 19

TheGuyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) will be host ing the 2022 Caribbean Mini and Pre-Cadet Table Tennis Championships during the period October 14th to 19th, and tennis fireworks are ex pected to take place at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall on Homestretch Avenue during that time.

These Caribbean Mini and Pre-Cadet Championships engage players from the age of 11 years up to 13 years and under, and have been the ig nitors and incubators of the development of regional table tennis, since they represent the first steps taken into the careers of many players at Caribbean level.

With the COVID-19 pan demic inhibiting the hosting of these championships over the last two years, the compe

pre- cadet players: 8 boys and 8 girls in the 11-years-andunder category, and 8 boys and 8 girls in the 13-yearsand-under category, in addi tion to allowing the GTTA to promote and work with our young, talented players as an asset for future success and growth of the sport, as we embark on the road of excel lence, growth, and enhancing the wellbeing of the game it self.

In this regard, the GTTA has selected some of its emerging talented, disci plined and brightest pros pects to represent Guyana at this engagement. We have competitive players in the 13-years-and-under category in Samara Sukhai, Jasmine Billingy and Akira Watson, along with Malachi Moore, Ebo Mc Neil and Darius Daniels; with Jasmine and

• Implementing the MCYS and NSC nurs ery training and competi tions programmes, National Table Tennis for Schools pro gramme, and marketing of these programmes to schools across Guyana, among other initiatives.

Countries such as Barbados, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Suriname have confirmed their partici pation. Teams would start ar riving (today) on Wednesday 12th October from Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The Guyana Table Tennis Association sees this as a great opportunity to invest in the future of Guyana’s table tennis, and to develop our ca pacity to host key events.

with singles in the respective age categories. First set of matches will start on Friday, with the formal opening slat ed for Saturday 15th October at 3pm.

WANTED

tition has taken on a different level of importance to region al table tennis development, given that the absence of the competition has robbed play ers from across the region of the opportunity to vie for re gional table tennis suprem acy, in addition to adminis trators indicating that their developmental programmes at this level have suffered negative impacts from the non-hosting of the games.

These championships pro vide Guyana the opportunity, as host, to expose and show case thirty-two (32) of our

Samara being strong con tenders for the girls-13 and 11-years-and- under catego ries.

The association’s plan is to use this championship as a catalyst/stimulus to jump start/synchronise and market our national cadet and devel opment programmes. In this regard, our association has already commenced the fol lowing:

• Inviting schools to wit ness the championships, and engaging in strategies to in volve children in our develop mental programmes.

Action will be daily at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, running from 10am to 12:30pm and from 2:30pm to 6:00pm.

Categories to be contested include

• Boys and girls 13-yearsand-under team events: sin gles, doubles and mixed dou bles

• Boys and girls 11-yearsand-under team events: sin gles, doubles and mixed dou bles.

Matches will start with team events doubles and mixed doubles, and conclude

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Guyana out of TT singles’ medal hunt, Fernandes presses on in Squash

The South American Games in Asuncion, Paraguay continued on Tuesday with another day of mixed fortunes for the Guyanese team. With boxing and badminton com pleted, the primary focus has now shifted to the ta

on an exceptionally high note.

Watched on the sidelines by her fellow Guyanese ath letes, who are also com peting at the Games, Fernandes was decisive in her quarterfinal match against her Brazilian op ponent Tatiana Damasio Borges, whom she defeat ed 11-4, 11-3, 11-3 to book her spot in Tuesday night’s

Consequent to her win, the famous Guyanese squash player has set up a semifinal meeting with Maria Paula Moya Lopez of Ecuador, which was sched uled for Tuesday night.

However, Fernandes’s fortunes on the court did not trickle over to her team mates, as Guyana was oust ed from the Women’s dou bles quarterfinal on Tuesday morning. Coming up against Colombia’s Andrea Gabriela Soria Madrigal and Lucia Paola Bautista Sarmiento, the Guyanese team of Taylor Fernandes and Larissa Wiltshire went down 11-2, 11-3.

Table Tennis

Cummings and Shemar Britton were the trio that rallied into the Round of 16 of the individual events, slat ed for Tuesday morning. However, Edghill was the only racquet wielder who managed to walk away with a win, and a com manding one at that.

The Guyanese Olympian was

three sets 12-10, 11-9, 11-8 in stylish fashion, but the Peruvian bounced back in the fourth set, winning 6-11.

Edghill did not tolerate any come backs, and

Daniela Yolita Ortega Gomez. Gomez won 115, 11-7 11-3, 11-6. A fourset loss was also written in the stars for Britton, who was tasked with battling Jorge Alberto Mino Puga of Ecuador. Puga won 11-2, 11-6, 11-6, 11-3.

On Tuesday, Edghill re turned to the tables for her quarterfinal contest, but was unable to find a reply for Colombia’s Cory Tellez Meija’s tactics, and lost the match 6-11, 6-11, 6-11, 2-11.

Chelsea Edghill

Fernandes closed off Monday night’s proceedings

semifinal of the Women’s singles.

There was a single win on the cards for Guyana in table tennis on Tuesday, but it also meant that the team came to the end of the road with respect to their individual campaigns in the men’s and women’s singles.

Chelsea Edghill, Natalie

drawn against Isabel Rosario Duffoo Guevara of Peru, and found her self locked in a five-set bat tle. Edghill took the first

2022 Suriname Open golf tournament…

ensured her 4-1 victory with a win in the fifth set, 11-7.

For Natalie Cummings, it was a straight 4-set de feat at the hands of Chile’s

George satisfied with team’s performance

-focus now on Guyana Open

By TimoThy Jaikarran

A team from the Lusignan Golf Club (LGC) recently partic ipated in the 2022 Suriname Open golf tournament in Paramaribo. The Guyanese contingent of more than 30 players acquitted them selves well, and while ev eryone was not able to med al, they each showed great fight and persistence as they game the Surinamese team excellent competition.

LGC Vice President Paton George has said he is proud of the team and their results, as it bodes well for the Guyana Open golf tour nament, which is scheduled for October 29-30, 2022.

The beautiful Paramaribo Golf Course had its fair share of tests, and was a sight to behold as all 90 registered golfers put their skills to the test. Thus, when the results were an nounced, one could tell that everything was played fair ly and evenly.

The final day saw the

golfers coming out from as early as 6:30am as they looked to finish their quo ta of 18 holes. However, the rains came in the afternoon session and the tone was set for the rest of the day. With the course soaked, the players had to be care ful when driving, as the ball would stick in the course, as against bouncing a few ex tra yards when the course is dry.

The condition provided some advantage in regard to chipping and putting, as even if a golfer’s shot had too much power behind it, the wet condition would slow the ball down, thereby improving the odds for that golfer.

Nevertheless, the tour nament was played with an admirable spirit of cama raderie, and the Guyanese players thoroughly enjoyed themselves during play, and supported each other

inating the female catego ry, while Avinda Kishore walked away with acco lades for the longest drive and Men’s Overall Gross. Brian Hackett was also the winner of Class B, while Patanjilee Persaud came in second. Carlos Adams took third in Class C, and

out the awards for Guyana. Speaking with this pub lication, LGC Vice President Paton George was asked to comment on the team’s per formance, and he said, “As I spoke to you before, the per formance of the team was spectacular. We had the two top golfers in Guyana,

Avinda Kishore. They both won the highest prizes at the Suriname Open this year. So, it wasn’t bragging, but it was just what was ex pected, based on their skill level, as they are highly skilled players.”

Regarding the perfor mance of the Surinamese players, George rated it as very good. He said he believes that the Suriname team had won more prizes than the Guyanese contingent over all, but he explained that if the tournament were to be judged country by coun try, Guyana would definitely have the edge. Nevertheless, he said, the Surinamese golf ers represented their country really well.

Although Guyana is now out of contention in the sin gles, doubles and mixed dou bles table tennis events, the 6- member team still has the team events to look forward to. According to the Games’ schedule, Guyana’s women will come up against Chile’s women today, and against Ecuador’s women tomor row, Thursday, October 13. Guyana’s men will be looking to overcome Argentina’s men today and Ecuador’s men to morrow, Thursday October 13.

whether they won or loss.

The 2-day competition saw Shanella London dom

Eureka Giddings came in third in Class E, to round

who won the 2021 Guyana Open, Shanella London and

Comparing the Paramaribo Golf Course with the Lusignan Golf Course, George has said, “It plays a little bit differ ent from Lusignan, but both courses are in top condition. Suriname Golf Club is in good condition, as I have seen it, and that is cred

it to their grounds staff, as they had a bad period due to rain. They were able to get the course in good shape re ally fast. they had a little bit of help due to the rains on Sunday to slow the greens down a bit; but, overall, it was in perfect condition.”

With the Suriname Open done and dusted, George has said LGC mem bers would now turn their focus to the Guyana Open, set for October 29-30. He clarified that the Suriname Open was used as a warmup for the Guyana Open, and a lot of Surinamese are expected to participate in the Guyana Open.

He is also optimistic that the Suriname side would bring their ‘A’ game and make the Guyana Open a big competition. However, what ever happens, he is predict ing that the big players out of Guyana, such as Avinda Kishore, Avinash Kishore and Rackesh Harry, are go ing to have to contend with some serious competition.

Shemar Britton

A portion of the Guyana team at the competition

Guillermo Escarraga holding his pose

Avinda Kishore (in red) being congratulated by his fellow Guyanese for hitting the golf ball some 330 yards

The rains came and practically changed the latter stage of the tournament

out of

singles’ medal hunt,

on