Guyana times -Saturday 27, 2019

Health Expo 2019 to focus on preventable diseases P13

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

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Issue No. 3906

saturday, april 27, 2019

PRICE

Clear policy needed on conflict of interest – TIGI

$80 vat included

WHAT'S INSIDE:

Cops arrested for fraud at P10 Police Finance Department

See story on page 3

…as more contracts given to Minister’s company

Ex-soldier shot Coalition Govt 4 times during honours convicted terrorist as “stalwart” money dispute – as 4 new MPs sworn in

Child labour rate in Guyana higher than Caribbean, Latin American countries – P12 UNICEF

Page 7

Page 10

1 year later

Wounds still fresh after deadly piracy attack Page 15

Dead: Gowkarran Outar

Dead: Mahesh Sarajoo

Dead: Tilacknauth Mohabir

Survivor: Dhramdeo Persaud

Guyanese woman charged with smuggling migrants to P5 Miami Pomeroon farmers fume over lack of technical support P11

Wife of dead fisherman, Tilacknauth Mohabir

“My salary is not affected” – Minister …says move from Housing Patterson-Yearwood Ministry not a demotion Page 7

Miner seeks $50M Block maker takes blame for cocaine in damages from in fire extinguisher Govt for trespassing …jailed for 48 months, fined $5.1M Page 9

Page 8

10-year-old commits suicide P11

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3 Clear policy needed on conflict of interest – TIGI news

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BRIDGE OPENINGS

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

Saturday, April 27 – 12:00h-13:30h and Sunday, April 28 – a night retraction at 01:00h and a day retraction from 13:00h-14:30h.

…as more contracts given to Minister’s company

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Saturday, April 27 – 10:50h-12:20h and Sunday, April 28 – 12:00h-13:30h.

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

WEATHER TODAY Sunny intervals are expected during the day, followed by clear skies in the evening.

Temperatures will range between 21 degrees Celsius and 31 degrees Celsius.

Winds: East North-easterly to North-easterly between 2.23 metres and 4.91 metres.

High Tide: 09:02h and 21:53h reaching maximum heights of 2.19 metres and 2.05 metres respectively.

Low Tide: 02:33h and 15:15h reaching minimum heights of 1.11 and 1.04 metres.

WEDNESday, april 24, 2019

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DISCLAIMER: WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ERRORS IN PUBLICATION. PLEASE CALL THE HOTLINE FOR CONFIRMATION - TEL: 225-8902

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ocal transparency watchdog, Transparency International Guyana Inc (TIGI) has underscored the need for clear policy to avoid conflict of interests in light of fresh revelations that the multi-media company owned by, Public Telecommunications Minster Cathy Hughes, has in fact received multiple contracts from the government.

The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) on Thursday disclosed that Videomega Productions, the company owned by Minister Hughes has benefited from several lucrative contracts from the Ministry of Public Telecommunications, which she heads.

According to the PPP, within the space of months the minister’s company cashed in on over $10.3 million in government contracts including ones from her ministry.

The party revealed that the company received a contracts value in excess of $900,000 and $100,000 for advertisement of vacancies and Facebook page respectively in June 2018 and then another in September to the tune of $2.2 million for CTU/ ITC Roadshow – all from the Telecommunications Ministry which Hughes heads.

In addition, PPP said Videomega Productions also benefited from another five contracts awarded by other ministries.

These include the Public Infrastructure Ministry in September 2018 for television advertisement at more than $250,000; Business Ministry in September 2018 for Caribbean Tourism Diaspora Forum at over $190,000; Education Ministry in July 2018 for video production at $1.4 million; Natural Resources Ministry in May 2018 for artwork at $1.4 million, and the Public Health Ministry in July 2018 for advertisement value $3.5 million.

No denial However, in a response to the PPP, the company sent out a statement after midnight on Thursday in which it did not deny receiving the contracts mentioned by the Opposition but instead, refuted the value of the contracts as stated by the PPP. “The payments received

by Videomega are paid over directly to the media houses (where the ads were placed) and therefore, it is disingenuous for the PPP to say

that $10.3 million is revenue earned by Videomega Productions when they know that the payment goes directly to the media houses.

The company will provide the invoices issued for the sums referred to in the PPP statement as soon as it retrieves it from its auditors,” the company assured.

It went onto reiterate in the missive that Minister Hughes “does not participate in the running of the company.”

Despite this, however, TIGI in a statement on Friday explained that while there may not be any direct actions that constitute a ‘conflict of interest’, whenever a minister or public official owns or have private interests in a company then there is the possibility of favoritism being be shown to that company due to the known association with the government.

TIGI pointed out that an examination of the procurement procedures would provide important insights on the potential for such an occurrence. As such, the transparency watchdog noted that in order for Guyana to make progress with regards to “transparency and corruption perception” then it is important to address issue that arise decisively and in ways that close opportunities for recurrence.

Public Telecommunications Minister Cathy Hughes

“Establishing a clear policy on specific actions that should be taken by minsters and other public officials who have firms that compete for local business especially with the government would enhance our attempts to address conflict of interest in government. We should also recognize that the code of conduct for public officers is weak. It fails to articulate any specific

penalties for breaches and it should be strengthened,” TIGI contended in a statement on Friday.

According to the local transparency body, conflict of interest is a huge problem in Guyana and this recent cases within the Coalition Government highlights the need now more than ever for this matter to be properly dealt with especially as the country is on the cusp of becoming on oil producing nation.

“This conflict of interest situation provides Guyanese with an opportunity for reflection on the companies that will be generated in the petroleum economy and on whether our elected leaders will have the consciousness of history to take steps to safeguard the interest of the (the country and its people),” the transparency watchdog stated.

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

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Child labour

nited Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) representative to Guyana, Sylvie Fouet on Friday made another startling revelation when she announced that this country is higher than the average figure of other countries in Latin America, as well as the Caribbean, where about one in every 10 children in the country are engaged in some form of child labour.

Comforting however was the announcement that Guyana is among the first sets of Caricom countries to lead in the policy process.

According to the United Nations, with 218 million children between the ages of five and 17 are in employment. Seventythree million are in some form of hazardous employment – supply chains, from agriculture to manufacturing, services to construction.

International Labour Orgainsation (ILO) Director, Guy Ryder in addressing the issue of child labour, had said that no place in well-functioning and well-regulated markets, or in any supply chain. He said countries must act now to stop child labour, once and for all, and this has been affirmed by the Sustainable Development Goals. Acting together, it is within everyone’s means to make the future a future without child labour.

To support businesses in their actions to remove child labour from their supply chains, the ILO and the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) had jointly created the Child Labour Guidance Tool, a resource for companies to increase their knowledge and ability to conduct business in line with international labour standards on child labour.

The tool draws on the long experience of the ILO’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (ILO-IPEC) in collaborating with employers to combat child labour in supply chains and incorporates contributions from the a wide variety of companies.

The Government of Guyana a few years ago announced that a unit to focus specifically on the issue of child labour will be established by the Social Protection Ministry. This announcement came mere days after a survey revealed that there is an alarmingly high number of Guyanese children involved in the worst forms of child labour.

Guyana’s National Child Labour Rapid Assessment Survey was conducted in Georgetown, New Amsterdam, Linden, Corriverton, Black Bush Polder, Number 58 Village, Charity, Kwakwani, and Ituni. It was done among three categories of children: 15 years and younger; 15 to 16, and 16 to 18. A total of 532 children and young workers were involved in the survey.

The survey had detailed that many of the youths who participated in the research in all three categories, were involved in selling and agricultural activities. It was also highlighted that hidden evidence of prostitution activities were found in all of the age ranges.

Another disturbing fact revealed by the survey was that a minor percentage of the working youths sustained illness and injuries while working especially in areas of weeding, begging or carrying out sexual activities. Also found were many children and young workers involved in carrying heavy loads and operating machinery and were exposed to chemicals, pesticides and gases at their places of work.

Troubling also was the fact that most of the households that the children were from were headed by single females who had more than one dependant. The study also highlighted that guardians/parents reported the main reason for the children working was to help support their families.

The study also highlighted that 67 per cent of the children in the 15 years and younger category were males, with 40 per cent of this age group not in school and 36 per cent of them employed on a full-time basis. A significant per cent of the children, according to the survey, were involved in rice farming while eight per cent were involved in prostitution and stripping.

After the survey was released the Government announced that urgent steps to address the issue of child labour will be taken. Among the strategies to address the problem the Administration had said was the enforcement of child labour laws; the removing working children off the streets and ensuring they are in school; and providing more funding to facilitate labour inspections. The announcement of a national child labour policy is welcoming.

Women dressed as brides celebrate the day of St Agatha in Sicily. “They bring with them a red flower, because it has a strong meaning: the love,” says Your Shot photographer Antonella Platania (National Geographic)

US slaps sanctions on Venezuela’s Foreign Minister, Judge

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he US Treasury Department on Friday imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s Foreign Minister and a Venezuelan Judge, according to a statement on the department’s website.

Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza and a Judge, Carol Padilla, were targeted over the ongoing crisis in Venezuela, the Treasury Department said, the latest in a list of officials blacklisted by US authorities for their role in President Nicolás Maduro’s Government.

The designation of Arreaza and Judge Carol Bealexis Padilla de Arretureta freezes any assets they have in the United States and prohibits any US citizens or entities from having financial dealings with them.

Arreaza is a prominent figure in the Maduro Government who has represented Venezuela at the United Nations amid the deep political and economic crisis in the South American country.

The Judge approved the jailing of an Opposition pol-

Venezuela Minister of Foreign Affairs Jorge Arreaza holds a picture while speaking during the United Nations Security Council meeting about the situation in Venezuela

itician last year in connection with an apparent assassination attempt of the President. She reportedly also approved the detention of a top aide to the opposition head of the National Assembly, Juan Guaidó.

Guaidó, who is backed by the US, argues that Maduro’s 2018 re-election was illegitimate. Guaidó, in January, invoked the country’s Constitution to declared himself interim President – a move Maduro called an attempted coup.

The sanctions are aimed at increasing pressure on Maduro and senior officials in his Government.

Pressure on Maduro

Washington recognised the Venezuelan opposition leader Guaido as the South American nation’s interim President and has asked Maduro, a socialist in power since 2013, to step down.

“The United States will not stand by and watch as the illegitimate Maduro regime starves the Venezuelan

people of their wealth, humanity, and right to democracy,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

“Treasury will continue to target corrupt Maduro insiders, including those tasked with conducting diplomacy and carrying out justice on behalf of this illegitimate regime,” he added in the statement.

Adding them to the list is part of an effort by the Trump Administration to press Maduro to leave office.

Separately, Venezuela’s Opposition-run National Assembly said on Friday that Opposition politician Gilber Caro had been arrested, which it said in a Twitter post was a violation of his parliamentary immunity.

Caro had previously been jailed along with hundreds of other activists involved in protests against Maduro, according to human rights groups.

More than 50 other governments, in addition to the US, view Maduro’s re-election last year as illegitimate and have recognised Guaidó as interim President. (Al Jazeera)

9 Venezuelans rescued after boat headed to T&T overturns

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he Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard (TTCG) says it has so far rescued nine Venezuelans after a boat carrying passengers bound for the twin island republic overturned near the Bocas Islands on Wednesday.

In an updated release late Thursday, TTCG said that five more people, in addition to the four previously rescued, were found by the Venezuelan Coast Guard in Venezuelan waters approximately 55 kilometres north of the crash site, which was close to Los Patos island (near the Bocas).

The stranded passengers were found approximately 44 kilometres north of

Punta Peñas, Venezuela.

The TTCG was also informed that although there were 25 people on the registered list of passengers, there were nine people who were on the vessel but had not been listed.

As a result, at the latest count, although nine people were rescued, 25 people are still missing at sea.

The TTCG said vessels were deployed to assist with the rescue operation after the vessel capsized near Los Patos Island in the Gulf of Paria late Wednesday. ”Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard assets have already been actioned to aid in the search and rescue operation and further vessel de-

ployments will be coordinated, once required.”

The TTCG said it received a report around 11:40 pm on Wednesday that the B/P Jhonnaly Jose which left Güiria, Venezuela on Tuesday, had overturned at sea.

The Coast Guard was told that the boat’s last known position was just east of Patos Island (an island in the northwestern Gulf of Paria which forms part of Venezuela) around 8:30 am on Thursday.

Several Venezuelans have come here to escape the economic and political situation in the South American country where the United States is leading an offen-

sive to remove President Nicolas Maduro from office.

The Trinidad and Tobago government said it had agreed to open a two-week registration for Venezuelans to allow them an initial stay of six months in which they can also work in the twin island republic.

Venezuelans, who arrive here legally or illegally, will benefit from the process and National Security Minister Stuart Young said the Venezuelans would undergo medical examinations and at the end of the six months, will have their situations evaluated before another six-month period becomes available to them.

(Jamaica Observer)

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Guyanese woman charged with smuggling migrants to Miami

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n an unusual sting operation, a woman from Guyana has been arrested by federal authorities on charges of illegally bringing a boatload of undocumented foreigners from the Bahamas to Miami.

Marcia Sunita Pestano, 44, was granted a US$250,000 bond Friday as an alternative to detention before trial in Miami Federal Court. Her defence attorney, Marshall Dore Louis, declined to comment about the case. Her arraignment is set for May 7.

Pestano was arrested earlier this week after Homeland Security inves-

tigators coordinated an undercover operation targeting the Guyanese woman, who was suspected of directing “alien-smuggling ventures from various third [world] countries through the Bahamas to the United States,” according to a criminal complaint.

Deploying such a sting in a human-smuggling investigation is uncommon.

On April 14, 2019, Pestano met with an undercover agent in the Bahamas to smuggle seven undocumented migrants from Freeport to Miami, the complaint says. She paid $24,900 in US curren-

cy and an additional $6100 in Bahamian dollars to the agent for the illegal trip.

The following day, Pestano arranged for the seven migrants to travel by boat to Miami — although she was unaware that the vessel was “surreptitiously operated” by Homeland Security investigators, the complaint says.

When the boat arrived in Miami, it was stopped by federal authorities.

However, there were 12 undocumented migrants on board — including the seven whose passage was arranged by Pestano. It was unclear from the complaint

why there were 12 passengers on board.

At the Coast Guard Station in Miami Beach, US Border Patrol agents interviewed the dozen people from Caribbean and Latin American countries. They were then transported to the Border Patrol Station in Dania Beach.

Between April 16 and April 22, Pestano contacted another undercover agent who was posing as a corrupt Government official. “She sought assistance [from the agent] to get the [seven undocumented aliens] out of immigration detention so that she would not lose the

money she was supposed to earn for arranging for them to be smuggled to the United States,” according to the complaint.

Pestano, who went by the name “Julie,” also asked the undercover agent to assist with her own travel to Miami so she could obtain the release of the people from the vessel.

On Monday of this week, the agent arranged for Pestano to travel from Nassau to Miami and set up a meeting between her and two Indian nationals at a hotel in Doral, “for what they believed would be an exchange” of money for

their release, the complaint says.

Homeland Security investigators then detained Pestano and the other two Indian nationals, who were not identified. After her arrest, investigators found she possessed $13,000 in US money and an additional $26,000 in Bahamian and Guyanese currency, the complaint says. The Indian nationals had about US$33,950 on them.

Pestano was charged with conspiring to encourage and induce aliens to enter the United States in violation of federal law. (Miami Herald)

Since when do we side with evil Needed: a mechanism in its worst manifestation? to licence counsellors Dear Editor, April 26, 2019, will surely be recorded as a day of infamy, for it is the date when the Granger Administration Members of Parliament successfully passed a motion to eulogise convicted international terrorist Abdul Kadir. What message has our nation delivered to a world reeling from terrorist attacks on a seemingly daily basis? The headlines screamed of hundreds dead from suicide bombings in Sri Lanka; of the deadly shooting deaths in New Zeeland; uncertainty pervades every major city on the planet, nowhere is safe and amidst all of this, our National Assembly is offering an official seal of approval to a disciple of the infamous Iranian terrorist Mohsen Rabbani. Abdul Kadir had indeed served as a PNC MP but the shame he brought to our dear land

with his involvement in terrorist activities negates that service. Abdul Kadir is a blot on our book and he should not be celebrated as a highlight.

The specific charges Kadir was convicted of were: conspiracy to attack a public transportation system, in violation of 18 United States Code § 2332f; conspiracy to destroy a building by fire or explosive, in violation of 18 USC § 844(n); conspiracy to attack aircraft and aircraft materials, in violation of 18 USC § 32; conspiracy to destroy international airport facilities, in violation of 18 USC § 37; and conspiracy to attack a mass transportation facility, in violation of 18 USC § 1992(a)(10).

Editor, it is now up to Guyanese not connected to the Granger Administration to let the civilised world know that we do not share

the sympathies nor do we endorse the actions of those MPs who delivered this message ostensibly on behalf of our nation.

I can categorically state that endorsement of terrorism, in any shape or form is not representative of my view and urge all persons and organisations to make their position know publicly.

President George W Bush, after 9/11, at the launch of his anti-terrorism campaign said “Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists”. I never thought there would be a day any segment of Guyanese would side with evil in its worst manifestation.

Respectfully, Robin Singh

Dear Editor, Last month, a young lady died by suicide. Her father had paid a ‘counsellor’ to counsel his daughter, having recognised that the young lady was suicidal.

Yet, the daughter took her life while under the care of the counsellor. As it turned out, the person doing the counselling possessed neither requisite qualifications nor clinical experience.

However, this is not a one-off situation. The Caribbean Voice knows of a number of individuals who also paid for counselling that failed to help them and who then came to TCV where they obtained the requisite counselling free of charge. We had previously pointed out that there are a number of individuals engaging in counselling others even though they are not bona fide counsellors.

We had even queried a few,

who as it turned out, considered themselves counsellors either because they had undergone counselling themselves or attended short training sessions of a day or a few days’ duration. In fact, TCV has found that some persons who have a certain public status, feel that even they are qualified to counsel others.

There is even an entertainer who once counselled students in a secondary school with the permission of the Administration.

Given this reality and the consequential dangers, which TCV has also pointed out many times over, we once again call on the Government to set up a mechanism to licence counsellors so that all practising counsellors must possess both academic credentials and supervised clinical experience. As we previously pointed out, we

have among our diaspora members, a mental health consultant who has experience in licensing protocols, having worked with the International Registry of Counsellor Education Programmes (IRCEP). She not only indicated a willingness to help set up such a licensing mechanism in Guyana but has spoken to IRCEP which expressed a willingness to accredit her towards this end.

Meanwhile, we beseech the Ministries of Health and Social Protection to police the counselling landscape and ensure that those who ply the trade have the requisite qualifications and professional experience to do so. Counselling saves lives but quacks parading as counsellors can and do lead to more suicide.

Sincerely, The Caribbean Voice

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Foundation

…new research shows that interpersonal connection boosts social learning

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ver tried to convince a baby to try a new food like broccoli?

You probably ate some yourself and made yummy noises. The lesson you hoped the baby picked up –from your example rather than direct experience – was that broccoli is delicious. Some children just don’t seem to learn, however, and others, much to their parent’ frustration, often do the opposite of what was suggested.

Now, for the first time, neuroscientists have looked at what’s going on inside the brains of both babies and mothers as they engage in this kind of social learning.

The findings show that how well a baby’s neural activity syncs with its mother’s predicts some aspects of social learning. The research also provides an explanation for why some babies are so darn contrary.

Neuroscientist Victoria Leong and her colleagues at the University of Cambridge used a technique called hyperscanning to watch two brains – mother and baby – at once. Hyperscanning can be done with a range of neuroimaging technology, but this study used EEG (electroencephalography).

The results were reported at a symposium on “the emerging neuroscience of social connectedness” at the annual meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society last month in San Francisco. It will be published later this year.

With her baby sitting in a high chair, each mother was instructed to hold up one toy, smile and say something like, “Oh, I like this.

Let’s play with this one.”

For the second toy, she was instructed to frown and say, “This is bad. I don’t want to play with this one.” Then the toys were put in front of the baby and the researchers tracked which toy each baby grabbed.

Social learning is powerful and important, but it is complex to study in part because it involves two people. “There’s the information being transmitted, but also who is talking and who

ed by the level of synchronicity between the pair’s brainwaves. The more in sync the mother and baby were, the more likely the baby was to learn.

But the results were a little more complicated, and a little more interesting, than that. One-quarter of the babies consistently chose the negatively-modelled toy.

They were learning what their mothers preferred, but their response was to choose the other toy. The research-

says. “It was so strong we were shocked.”

The only thing that predicted learning likelihood was how in sync the brain patterns of mother and baby were, what Leong calls “the interpersonal connection between the mum and the baby”. The study measured alpha waves. One of several bands of brainwaves, alpha waves were chosen for the strength of their signal.

Brain synchronicity means that those alpha waves rise and fall at the same rate, or that the peaks and troughs of each person’s oscillations match. Such synchronicity has been seen in audience members watching the same concert or students who are highly engaged in a biology class. Leong speculates that receptivity to learning might be higher at certain points in an oscillation and that learning improves when the cycles of brain waves are synchronised.

Temperament

is listening and whether the person listening decides that they will believe you,” says Leong, who also has a lab at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Although this form of learning has been studied behaviourally for decades, neuroscientists have shied away from it, Leong says.

Synchronicity

In her new study, if the baby picked one toy over the other more often than chance would predict, she considered that learning.

The likelihood that learning took place could be predict-

ers called this phenomenon “learning valence,” to reflect the direction of the child’s emotional choices. Did the baby tend to follow mom’s lead or not?

In their analysis, Leong and her team separated these two measurements: learning likelihood and learning valence.

What they found surprised them.

“There was an almost perfect dissociation in the brain patterns that predict emotional valence as compared to whether or not the child’s actually going to learn on this trial or not, which is learning likelihood,” Leong

Whether or not the baby then took mom’s advice depended entirely on the baby’s own internal brain activity, not the connection between baby and mother. Intrigued, the researchers looked further into what predicted learning valence with a set of psychological measurements of temperament of both mother and baby. Similarity in temperament was a strong predictor.

The finding makes senses, Leong says. “You’re a very introverted, quite quiet and shy baby who doesn’t like a lot of extra stimulation. And you’ve got this super extroverted outgoing

mum who loves things that are really intense. Maybe over time this child has learned that what my mum likes, I actually don’t really like. That might explain why if the babies had a very different temperament from their mum’s, they tended to go for the opposite object.”

If that kind of difference describes you and your baby, do not despair. On both fronts, learning likelihood and learning valence, there was encouraging news.

Mothers who were more sensitive to their baby’s responses, using more eye contact and infant-directed language (the higher-pitched, sing-song cadences we naturally use with infants) were more in sync with their babies than moms who were less responsive. Those are skills that can be taught and practiced. (In a previous paper, Leong showed the power of eye contact.)

It is early days as this

kind of work is so new, but Leong hopes it could have real benefit for mothers who suffer from post-partum depression or other conditions where interaction between babies and parents needs strengthening.

The work is also a sign of how nuanced social learning really is and how important it will be to study it with hyper-scanning. “That’s the brain activity confirming that there are two different kinds of learning processes and they’re indexed by different neural circuits,” Leong says. “If we had only measured the brain activity of the child, we would be able to see the learning valance, but we would never have been able to see the moment-by-moment changes that predict whether the child is going to learn because all of that was happening in the interpersonal space.” (psychologytoday.com)

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“My salary is not affected” – Minister Patterson-Yearwood …says move from Housing Ministry not a demotion

Former Housing Minister Valerie Patterson-Yearwood

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ormer Housing Minister Valerie Patterson-Yearwood does not believe her reassignment from the Communities Ministry to the Agriculture Ministry is a demotion stemming from a recent controversy involving the award of a multimillion-dollar contract to her husband.

Earlier this month it was revealed that the Minister’s husband, Godfrey

Yearwood, was awarded a contract to build homes for a project spearheaded by the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA); an agency which she had responsibility over as Housing Minister.

However, one day after President David Granger announced a reshuffle of his Cabinet which saw Minister PattersonYearwood being removed as Housing Minister and placed at the Agriculture Ministry with responsibility for Rural Affairs, she told reporters that this move is not a demotion since there were no chances to her remunerations.

“What is a demotion? My salary is not affected, my allowances (or) anything not affected. Nothing is affected so why would it be a demotion? I see it as a promotion because I’m going into new and exciting areas,” Minister Patterson-Yearwood told reporters on Friday.

However, even as the Minister denied that her

Demerara), who claims that he is yet to be paid for the works done more than a year ago.

According to TIGI, this situation is particularly pernicious since it comes at a time when Guyanese workers are struggling for fair treatment.

“We are learning that a local company – even one connected to a Minister of Government – is failing to pay its workers… This is another issue that causes us to wonder whether the persons who end up as our leaders appreciate the vast responsibility placed upon them to ensure the interests of our society as a whole are properly safe-guarded,” the missive added.

Jagdeo had disclosed at a press conference earlier this month that the construction worker went to him after he had exhausted efforts to collect his payments from the Minister’s husband.

According to the Opposition Leader, the man had writ-

Godfrey Yearwood, husband of Minister Valerie Patterson-Yearwood

among others.

Upon his return to the National Assembly, Williams noted that, as Advisor to the Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Minister, he would be pushing issues that would see the development of the country’s first people.

“I will continue to drive Government’s agenda, which essentially seeks to do a number of things; but principally happening now has to do with the revision of the Amerindian Act, securing an extension to the Amerindian land-titling project, and to ensure that the question of land tenure is addressed,” Williams noted, while adding that he would also be working to ensure that President David Granger’s vision of connecting the hinterland to the coastland is realised.

Sarabo-Halley, who has

been appointed the new Public Service Minister, said she would share her plans for the ministry after being sworn in as the minister.

But nevertheless, she lauded the coalition Government for giving young persons a chance to serve the country.

As a result of the resignation of four senior ministers, not only from the National Assembly but from Cabinet as well, President Granger has reshuffled his Council of Ministers, a development which has seen several junior ministers being reassigned to new ministries and the appointment of two new ministers to Cabinet.

In addition to SaraboHalley, the Head of State also appointed Coalition MP Haimraj Rajkumar as the new Business Minister, replacing Dominic Gaskin.

Additionally, Junior Minister Dawn Hastings

“What is a demotion?

My salary is not affected, my allowances (or) anything not affected.

Nothing is affected so why would it be a demotion?” – Minister Patterson-Yearwood reassignment had nothing to do with the issue involving her husband, local transparency watchdog, Transparency International Guyana Inc (TIGI) said it supports calls for the multimillion-dollar contract to be reviewed.

This issue came to the limelight earlier this month when Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo disclosed that the Minister’s husband had sub-contracted the project to a contractor from Victoria (East Coast

ten President Granger four times over the past year for the Head of State’s intervention but only got acknowledgement responses so far.

Chief Executive Officer of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), Lelon Saul had revealed that he was aware of this issue of non-payment.

“A complaint was lodged at the Ministry, I think it was sometime last year, and we would have called in both

parties and we advised them to settle the issue,” Saul told reporters earlier this month.

Furthermore, the CH&PA Head had also noted that the award of the contract to the Minister’s husband for works under a Ministry she was heading, was a clear conflict of interest even if the contract was awarded through a competitive bidding process.

“If the contractor in question is the spouse of the Minister, certainly it would be a conflict of interest,” he posited.

To this end, the CH&PA head called for a review of the awarding process so that there is no reoccurrence of such a situation.

“The award of contract is above my level. But I think the (CH&PA) Board should review that (awarding process) based on recommendations coming from the agency,” Saul asserted.

It was noted that while the contract was a one-off award, the project is still ongoing.

Coalition Govt honours convicted terrorist as “stalwart” …as 4 new coalition MPs sworn in

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ollowing a threemonth interval pending the outcome of challenges to the no-confidence motion in the local courts, the National Assembly resumed sitting on Friday with a motion to honour the death of convicted terrorist Abdul Kadir.

Kadir, a former People’s National Congress (PNC) Member of Parliament and Mayor of Linden, died back in June 2018 in a penitentiary in the United States of America, where he had been serving a life sentence for plotting a 2007 terror attack at the John F Kennedy International Airport, New York.

The motion – Sympathy on the Death of Mr Abdul Kadir, former Member of Parliament – was tabled by Minister Valerie PattersonYearwood.

The motion states: “Be it resolved that this National Assembly records its deep regret on the death of Mr Abdul Kadir on 28th June, 2018, and pays tribute to his dedicated service to the Parliament of Guyana as a Member of Parliament, where he served in the Eighth Parliament, from 17th April, 2001 to 2nd May, 2006, and to the people of Guyana.

“The people of Linden and Guyana have lost a great man, a stalwart; a bold and courageous man. So I ask this National Assembly that we direct an expression of sympathy (to) be conveyed to his sorrowing wid-

ow, children, grandchildren and relatives,” Minister Valerie Patterson-Yearwood said as she tabled the motion, which was eventually carried in the absence of the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Opposition.

New MPs

On the other hand, Friday’s sitting of the National Assembly saw four new Coalition Members of Parliament (MP) being sworn in to replace the four former ministers who were forced to resign as a result of their dual citizenship.

The four new Parliamentarians on the Government’s side, who took the oath of office in the half-empty House, were Working People’s Alliance (WPA) Chairperson Tabitha Sarabo-Halley; Branch Manager of NCN Berbice, Donna Mathoo; former Parliamentarian Mervyn Williams, and Reynard Ward.

These four new MPs were sworn in to replace former Public Service Minister Dr Rupert Roopnaraine; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge; Minister of State, Joseph Harmon; and Business Minister Dominic Gaskin respectively, who were all forced to resign from the National Assembly after recent court rulings deemed it illegal for persons holding dual citizenship to be sitting in the House.

Speaking with report-

Convicted terrorist Abdul Kadir

ers on Friday, the new Parliamentarians shared some of the areas they would be pushing for in their new roles. Ward spoke about advancing agriculture issues, since he came from a farming background.

“I’m from an agriculture base, so I’ll be looking at young people in agriculture. I’ll be looking at the rural-urban migration and creation of jobs within the rural communities. I’m a rural person myself. I was born and raised on the East Bank of Berbice in a farming community; both my parents are farmers still, and I am a farmer myself, among other things within the agriculture sector,” Ward stated.

Meanwhile, Mathoo said she would be focusing more on issues relating to women and youth empowerment, as well as gender-based issues,

has been appointed Minister of State, replacing Joseph Harmon. She told reporters that she is ready to tackle the vast responsibilities awaiting her.

House Speaker Dr Barton Scotland also announced that Opposition MPs Gail Teixeira, Odinga Lumumba and Adrian Anamayah had also tendered their resignations earlier this month.

However, he is awaiting their replacements to be selected from the PPP/C’s list.

Friday’s sitting was held in the absence of the Opposition MPs, who indicated that they would not attend any parliamentary sessions until the hearing and determination of the appeal cases on the no-confidence motion filed at the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). These cases are coming up on May 9 and 10 for arguments.

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Block maker takes rap for cocaine in fire extinguisher …jailed for 48 months, fined $5.1M

Shuffling…

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Jailed: Dinesh Dias

Freed: Anthony Collins

wenty-six-year-old block maker, Dinesh Dias was on Friday jailed for 48 months and fined $5.1 million after he pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of 1.8kg of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. He was additionally fined $15,000 after he also pleaded guilty to having 1.89kg of cannabis in his possession for the purpose of trafficking. Failure to pay the fine will result in him serving an additional week

in prison.

Dias, also called “Anil”, of Timerhi Base Road, East Bank Demerara, was jointly charged with Anthony Collins called “Black Boy”, 31; Seenarine Mathura called “Desi”, 43, and Mohamed Inshan, 48.

They all appeared at the Providence Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Sunil Scarce. After Dias admitted to the offence, the charges against his co-defendants were all dismissed.

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Freed: Seenarine Mathura

Freed: Mohamed Inshan

The fire extinguisher filled with cocaine

The court heard that on April 23, 2019, agents of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) swooped down on Dias’ Lot 26 Timehri Base Road, EBD home during which the cocaine was unearthed in a fire extinguisher. The cannabis was also found in his home.

He along with the three men were arrested and an investigation was launched.

Dias, in taking the rap for the offence, told the court that his friends had no knowledge that the cocaine and ganja were at his house during the time of their visit.

CANU, on Thursday had stated that the cocaine-laden fire extinguisher was expected to be placed on an aircraft leaving the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) for an international destination.

…the same pack of cards hree months after Chief Justice George declared that the unambiguous language of the Constitution barred dual citizens from sitting in the National Assembly, President David Granger finally moved to comply with her order; unanimously reiterated by the Appellate Court.

The four APNU/AFC MPs -- all of whom had ministerial responsibilities -- finally resigned, and were “replaced”.

And it’s in these “replacements” that we see it isn’t only in Ukraine that a comedian is the president of a nation.

Surely, Granger gotta be joking with his announcement!

Imagine him saying that Joseph Harmon is no longer the “Minister of State in the Ministry of the Presidency”!! But since there was no replacement, what does this mean, when we all know he’ll be the Cabinet Secretary with all the powers he formerly possessed?? Basil Williams hoped that his number one rival would’ve been eliminated.

Just as shameful is the supposed “resignation” of Carl Greenidge, the Foreign Affairs Minister. No one was named to replace him, and most likely Granger will be handling the portfolio with Greenidge as his “Presidential Advisor”.

Now, is this any way to run a country with its arch enemy Venezuela on the west - which has claimed two-thirds of our territory - unravelling and on the brink of a civil war??

And us having hauled them to the World Court!!

The resignation of his son-in-law, Dominic Gaskin, as Minister of Business is really irrelevant, since he’s done absolutely nothing in the last four years, and is totally clueless about business in any case. He’d set such a low bar for performance that his replacement, Hemraj Ramkumar, will have to start practising the limbo!!

The last replacement – of Rupert Roopnaraine - from the Ministry of the Public Service in the Ministry of the Presidency is of no consequence, since he’d been pretty much put out to farm. His WPA replacement, Tabitha Sarabo-Halley, should at least be able to perambulate to press the WPA flesh with the coalition’s full court press on elections!

Granger had the opportunity to deal with some of the scandalous behaviours of his Ministers, and here again, it was just the old three card monte!! Simona “I is” Broomes - of New Thriving “run them over for fried rice fame” - was moved from Natural Resources to Ministry of the Presidency with responsibility for Youth Affairs. Presumably, she’s needed there to ensure PNC youths inculcate her trademark bullyism as they “boom out” Marley’s “War!” to the PPP!!

Valerie Yearwood’s move from Housing to “Rural Agriculture” presumably leaves Holder with “Urban Agriculture”, for which he’s probably more suited!! She’s replaced by Annette Ferguson from MPI. This was no “replacement” by Granger; just a reshuffling of the same old pack of cards!! …towards anarchy As we await the CCJ decision, we gotta admit the PNC got what they wanted – a ‘get out of jail’ card from the NCM. Even if the CCJ were to rule that 33 is in fact greater than 32, as the PNC’s GECOM ‘Plan B’ is executed, they would’ve gotten their full five-year term of office. But the question is, to what end??

Just look at what they’ve done to our Constitution and our bifurcated democracy to achieve that. In all political systems -- but especially in severely divided ones like ours -- if the rules of the game aren’t respected, but are bent and twisted opportunistically just to retain power, anarchy is inevitable. Our politics is analogous to two boxers duking it out in the ring, with the Constitution as the referee. If the latter’s decisions aren’t accepted as final - let’s say on hitting below the belt - boxing inevitably becomes brawling.

And that’s where we’re headed, aren’t we?? …the tactics The TUC says the PPP shouldn’t be boycotting Parliament, since their MPs are collecting their salaries.

Really? So when public servants strike – like for 57 days in 1999 – the PPP Government should’ve withheld their salaries??

Or, more pertinently, the union should return striking workers’ contributions?

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

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Miner seeks $50M in damages from Govt for trespassing

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n East Coast Demerara (ECD) miner has taken the Government to court for constructing the Mahdia Magistrate’s Court on his land. The miner had previously threatened to take legal action if the construction was not halted but the contractors continued.

The defendants in the case are listed as Attorney General Basil Williams; the Registrar of the Supreme Court, and Pierre Walcott; along with Maria Ann Walcott of M&P Investments at Lot 1165 Block 1, Eccles, East Bank Demerara.

Royston Stuart of Lot 70 Ann’s Grove Housing Scheme, ECD, in his statement of claim filed in the High Court said he is the

Attorney General Basil Williams

holder of Claim Licence, dated September 2, 2016, issued under the authority of the Mining Act 1989 and the mining regulations

OHS policy to be implemented countrywide

– working conditions, rights, safety of workers main focus

I

n order to improve occupational health and safety by 2020, the Social Protection Ministry has officially launched a new Occupational Health and Safety policy that is to be implemented country-wide.

This is according to Permanent Secretary of the Social Protection Ministry, Lorene Baird, who stated that the aim of this policy is to protect all workers from health and safety hazards while they are at their respective jobs.

“It sets out duties for all workplace parties, rights for workers, establishes procedures for dealing with workplace hazards…it provides for enforcement of laws where compliance has not been achieved voluntarily. The continued improvement of such a policy is important as workplace health and safety procedures are important for the wellbeing of the employees given that human loss is immeasurable and intolerable.”

She pointed out that looking after health and safety makes good business sense as workplaces that neglect health and safety risks prosecution, may lose staff, and may face increased costs and reduced profitability due to more accidents and downtime.

“Therefore, we all have a duty. We all have a moral responsibility towards employees’ protection which can only be achieved

through such policies…policies which devote resources to deliberating and strategising about safety precautions.”

Meanwhile, representative of the Consultative Association of Guyanese Industry (CAGI), Earl Morris pointed out that health and safety measures are not expensive and that contrary to public opinion, systematically applying well-planned safety and health measures have proven to give good returns on investments at the company level.

“Apart from reducing costs…and related to absenteeism, accident and disease reduction, Occupational Safety and Health measures help to improve a companies’ image, their position in the labour market and customers’ appreciation. Academic research also shows that high-quality working conditions that trigger job satisfaction may indirectly influence workers’ health and improve job satisfaction over time,” Morris said.

He explained that while there is no statistical evidence that economies with poor safety and health measures are more competitive, research by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) suggests that countries where working conditions are among the poorest have greatly reduced competitiveness.

Turn to page 11

by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) in respect to a certain tract of State land in Mining District Number Two. Despite that Claim Licence being valid and subsisting, Stuart alleged that without his permission, lease, let or licence, a group of men, unknown to him, have entered upon a part of the land allotted to him in the Claim Licence and have begun the construction of a building that is intended to be used to house the Mahdia Magistrate’s Court.

As such, the miner has sought the help of former Attorney General Anil Nandlall to get the author-

ities to cease construction.

The claimant is also seeking in excess of $50 million for trespass and an injunction restraining defendants from continuing the construction of the building on his claim.

In a previous effort for an amicable resolution in the matter, a letter dated March 22, 2019, which was also copied to the acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Yonette CummingsEdwards; acting Chief Justice Roxanne George; and Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman as well as Junior Natural Resources Minister, Simona Broomes, the claimant had asked for the construction

works to cease and for all structures constructed be demolished and removed.

However, this was not done but instead construction works continued. In that letter it was also pointed out that Stuart had previously lodged a complaint with the GGMC since 2017 and as a result, a mines officer of the Commission had informed those conducting the construction that it was being done on Stuart’s licenced claim and that the works must cease. However, those orders were ignored. Stuart had also filed a complaint in writing on January 17, 2019 with both Natural Resources Ministers Raphael Trotman

and Simona Broomes but they too did not respond to him.

The Mahdia Magistrate’s Court is being constructed in Region Eight (PotaroSiparuni) at the cost of $140.385 million. The construction of the court comes under provisions made available to the Supreme Court to fund its 2019 work programmes.

The Chancellor had said last year that the Mahdia Magistrate’s Court is among several district court offices expected to open and will see regular sittings of the court and the availability of centralised services.

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under close arrest for Ex-soldier shot 4 times Cops fraud at Police Finance during money dispute Department

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n ex-soldier is now battling for his life in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) while another is nursing a gunshot wound to his back, after they were shot at the corner of Durban Street and Mandela Avenue, Georgetown.

Injured are Marlon Rodney, 37; and Shaquille Dion, 24.

Rodney, the ex-solider, was shot four times by three gunmen who opened fire on him, while Dion of Lot 52 D’Urban Street, Lodge, who was walking in the area was

hit by a stray bullet.

Guyana Times was told that the shooting occurred at about 09:30h and stemmed from a disagreement Rodney had with one of the gunmen. According to reports, Rodney and one of the men reportedly had a heated argument over money owed to him by Rodney when the suspect left and returned with two others.

Following another headed argument, the trio, who were reportedly brandishing guns, opened fire on Rodney.

Dion, who was walking on the roadway, was shot to his back.

Following the shooting, the suspects escaped.

The injured men were picked up and rushed to the GPHC where Rodney’s condition was listed as critical. However, Dion was discharged on Friday afternoon.

“They (doctors) are saying to us that the foot is so badly damaged that they might have to amputate it because like the bones in the foot break up,” a relative of the injured man told this newspaper on Friday.

An investigation has been launched.

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wo sergeants attached to the Finance Department of the Guyana Police Force were detained on Wednesday and remain under close arrest at the Tactical Services Unit, Eve Leary, as investigations continue into an alleged fraud.

According to a source close to the investigation, the ranks are being investigated for alleged conspiracy to commit fraud. The source said that the ranks were called in for questioning on Wednesday after a number of irregularities pertaining to the accounting system at the Guyana Police Force appeared to have been compromised.

According to the source, the two sergeants have been working within the finance department for a number of years. The source related that the irregularities found are with respect to monies and vouchers for ranks, who would have performed extra duties and were to receive additional payments. Among the duties some ranks were to be paid for were for working at shows, cricket games and other national events.

Guyana Times was told that the parents of one rank and other relatives close to the other rank were

called in for questioning on Friday afternoon.

“This is all part of the investigation process. We are dealing with serious allegations here,” the source said. In the past, police ranks complained that they were either short-changed or in other instances, not paid at all for extra duties. There are also claims by some that they would sign for the monies but those monies are not given to them. “There are lots of allegations and [they] are all being investigated.

Information is being gathered right now after which charges will follow if necessary. We are carrying a very thorough investigation because this has been going on for quite some time and we are leaving no stone unturned,” the source said.

Efforts on Friday afternoon to contact Crime Chief,

Deputy Commissioner Lyndon Alves and Deputy Commissioner with responsibility for administration Paul Williams all proved futile. The Guyana Police Force has not yet released an official statement on the matter.

Just recently, Police Commissioner Leslie James had urged police ranks to desist from accepting bribes and any involvement in unlawful activities, stating that they will be “penalised.” The Top Cop had made these comments while addressing the opening of a training programme at the Officers’ Training Centre, Eve Leary, where he also stated that he is looking for a change in performance of ranks and fewer allegations of corruption. He added that while the force will be engaging particular departments to tackle the issue of corruption; if the ranks believe that their salaries are too small, they should tender their resignation.

“If you’re not comfortable with your salaries, leave the job. You came on, you were told what is being offered and you decided to become an agent of the Force. How come you have an issue with your remuneration,” the Commissioner stated.

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saturday, april 27, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Pomeroon farmers fume over lack 10-year-old commits suicide of technical support F armers in the Upper Pomeroon River, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) have raised concerns over the lack of technical support and advise from Agricultural

Richie Mohabir

Grieving mother, Darshnie Ramnauth

he lifeless body of a 10-year-old boy was on Friday afternoon removed from a shack at the back of his Bush Lot Village, Corentyne, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) home.

Dead is Richie Mohabir, a student of Crabwood Creek Primary School.

The discovery of the boy’s body was made by his older sister, who had been calling him for his lunch but got no response. Mohabir’s sister went to take a bath but as she exited the bathroom, she realised that her brother was hanging in the shack and raised an alarm.

According to his mother, Darshnie Ramnauth, 35, her son was very jovial earlier in the day.

The mother of five, who was not at home at the time of the incident, said that before she left home he was playing with his kite.

She said he also assisted her with chores during the morning period and wanted to go fishing with her.

She said that she told him to stay at home. As the woman was fishing, she received news of her son’s demise and upon rushing to the scene, she was inconsolable. She said that on two previous occasions her son had tied a piece of twine and canvas around his neck while playing. On both occasions, she said she warned him about the dangers of playing like that.

“I don’t short him for anything. I does make sacrifice and give them what they want. I ain’t know what he do that fuh. Me can’t tell you,” she said.

Mohabir was six-monthsold when his father died.

An investigation has been launched into the incident.

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OHS policy to...

“This Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) policy is contributing towards ILO’s objective to achieving decent work. A healthy workforce and a safe working environment are the ideal combining factors that will contribute towards higher output and sustain development.

Therefore, adopting a safe and healthy approach at work create benefits for workers, employers, as well as the country.”

According to Morris, Guyana must continue to invest in the quality of work, since all workers have the right to work in decent, safe and healthy work environments.

“The national OHS policy is being launched at a time when our country is embarking a new frontier, the oil and gas as well as the green industry. Our safety and health measures are definitely going to be tested.

This OHS policy is, therefore, timely since it places obligations on various stakeholders in managing those challenges from the traditional industries as well as the newer ones as we face them.”

Similar sentiments

From page 9

were made by General Secretary of the Federation of Independent Trades Union of Guyana (FITUG), Dawchan Nagar, who pointed out that considering the changes that have taken place in the country and also changes that are occurring presently, there must be continuous consideration of development at the local, regional and international levels.

“National development and advancement have changed our outlook on circumstances since the Occupational Health and Safety Act came into being.

For instance, the oil and gas…industry was absent from our national landscape at that time. The construction industry since then has adopted new methods and is reaching new heights, literally and figuratively.

Those realities among several others have emerged over the years and have also brought focus and the necessity of Occupational Safety and Health giving the occupational risks that our workers are facing in the jobs of 2019.” (Kristen Macklingam)

quality produce, more demands, better markets, and affordable prices. The farmer added that in addition to this, they are also faced with a long dry spell which is affecting the growth and

tion, no drinking water, we have to pay high cost to go to Charity to purchased food, water and other household items and getting nothing for our crops, we have no say those purchasing our

cial said the Institute has no knowledge of the issue.

“We send extension workers out and the purpose of them going there is to provide assistance to the farmers, if it is that these

Some of the crops that are being plagued with pests and diseases

Extension Officers dispatched to the region.

According to the farmers, this issue has been ongoing for the past four years, and as such, they are requesting answers from the relevant authorities as to why these trained officers are not of any assistance to them.

Reports reaching Guyana Times indicate the farmers who plant banana suckers, plantain and citrus crops are losing income as a result of diseases and pests which are significantly impacting their production.

They said the losses are due to the lack of much-needed advice on pest and disease control techniques; this cycle goes on with farmers incurring high figures of cultivation cost and low figures of profit.

The concerned farmers related to this publication that all attention is now being given to the coconut farmers in the lower Pomeroon, while the other crop farmers in the Upper Pomeroon are completely being ignored. These affected farmers are suggesting that the authorities send officers back into the fields to do research so that they can come up with solutions to the problems affecting the farmers. This, they say, will help them get sufficient income so they too can survive.

According to a farmer, more scientific reliable and cost-effective farming can provide more jobs, more

markets for produce.

Another farmer said the cost of living in the Pomeroon region is very high, “we have children to send to school who have to use boats for transporta-

produce are the ones calling the prices,” he stated.

When Guyana Times reached out to the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) on Friday, an offi-

farmers are complaining that they are not getting any help then we will have to go there and talk to the farmers themselves to find out what’s going on,” the official stated.

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Child labour rate in Guyana higher than Caribbean, Latin American countries – UNICEF

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Child Labour Policy has been launched by the Social Protection Ministry, one that will focus heavily on the prevention of child labour, as well as preventing the exposure of children to situations which

do not augur well for their well-being.

This is according to Social Protection Minister, Amna Ally, who at the launching ceremony on Friday stated that with regard to child labour – whether it is the traf-

this policy will provide outcomes that include strengthened coordination and collective action, promotion of decent livelihood in Guyana for adults and youths of legal working age, mitigate economic vulnerabilities associated with child labour, mitigate the impact of social detriments that often lead to child labour, expand school access to vulnerable populations and increase access to post-secondary and vocational education.

ficking of children for sexual exploitation or for purposes of forced labour in dangerous abusive circumstances – the outcomes are the same.

“These children are robbed of their childhood, robbed of their education,

Social Protection Minister Amna Ally

robbed of their future and as a consequence, the cycle of poverty is perpetuated. A nation can neither achieve nor sustain prosperity on the backs of its children.

The exploitation of children must not be tolerated under any circumstances or for any reason. When children are exploited for the economic gains of others, everybody loses – the children lose, their families lose, the nation loses. When even one child is exploited, every one of us is diminished,” she vehemently said.

The Minister explained that this is why the launch of Guyana’s first Child Labour Policy marks an important milestone in the fight against the worst forms of child labour in the country.

“Fight against child labour requires a multi-sectoral approach. No single agency can deal with this problem considering the many dimensions it takes and different skills required in addressing each form of child labour,” she added.

According to the Minister, it is in this context that all stakeholders need to work together, pooling our resources and expertise to enable our nation to eliminate child labour in all of its forms. It is envisaged that the implementation of

High rates

UNICEF representative, Sylvie Fouet, while addressing the gathering at the launching ceremony, explained that the Child Labour Policy for Guyana is a result of a three-year effort by various stakeholders, both locally and internationally.

“We have been pleased to support the journey. In 2017, we begun with reviewing the law together. Then last year and this year elaborating the policy and also drafting an action plan that will operationalise the policy and supporting key intervention. As you may know, Guyana is among the first sets of Caricom countries to lead in the policy process… the police and the national action plan are steps to prevent and reporting on child labour.”

She noted that the rate of child labour in Guyana is higher than the average figure of other countries in Latin America as well as the Caribbean where about one in every 10 children in the country are engaged in some form of child labour. It is hoped that this new policy will correct such a situation soon.

Meanwhile, representative of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Claudia Coenjaerts stated that the policy provides a coherent framework on the

UNICEF representative Sylvie Fouet

way forward in tackling child labour issues in Guyana and that its implementation is very important.

As part of collaborative efforts, and in keeping with guidelines of this policy, in the next few weeks there will be the piloting of a child labour risk identification model in the country.

“This is a statistical tool…which really uses national data to identify levels of risks for child labour in specific geographical areas. So it will make it easier to identify where prevention but also operationalisation of active measures would be more important.”

Additionally, General Secretary of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), Lincoln Lewis, stated that the launch of such a policy forms an important ingredient in the armoury of Guyana’s Development Strategy.

“This launch, while significant, can be insignificant if we do not as a people, continue to influence the policies and decisions of that institution. Once again, on behalf of the GTUC, let me commend the Government of Guyana and the ILO for the significant work both are involved in,” he added.

(Kristen Macklingam)

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Health Expo 2019 to focus on preventable diseases

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he Public Health Ministry on Friday launched a number of activities for this year’s Health Expo, which will continue as a biannual event to develop communication among the general populace while supplying persons with adequate healthcare services.

The event is slated for June 5 to the 8, at the Sophia Exhibition Center, Georgetown featuring private and public partners from the medical arena.

Some will be conducting medical checkups and tests, while others will be featuring their pharmaceuticals.

Speaking at the event, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Colette Adams revealed that there will also be a career day activity, whereby persons can seek training in several medical field.

This year, they are seeking to have more local organisations on site to offer on the spot healthcare.

“We will be having a career fair, identified to introduce students to a career in a health field and will give them the opportunity to seek training in various areas such as nursing and oth-

tality rate of 21 per cent for every 100,000 persons. Each year, some 100 women die as a result of cancer.

As such, Lawrence stated that this initiative is critical in meeting the sustainable development goals and reducing cases of preventative diseases. She noted that child obesity is also on the rise.

“Health Expo 2019 provides yet another opportunity for us in the health sector wage war on the alarming

An idea of the many booths which will be on display during the expo

er allied profession,” she revealed.

The Food Policy Division will be introducing the food based dietary guidelines along with the launching of the Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) risk-factor reduction campaign.

“This year, we expect to have more local and international organizations, practitioners, manufacturers and suppliers participating in the health expo. Exhibitors who are eager to showcase

what practices and services in health you have,” said Adams.

Meanwhile, Public Health Minister, Volda Lawrence emphasized on the scourge of maternal mortality and cancer deaths, which places Guyana at the top of the list in negative ways.

Back in 2017, Guyana had the highest mortality for premature cardiovascular diseases and diabetes in the Americas,

followed by Trinidad and Tobago. According to the International Diabetes Federation, the statistics for Guyana was a whopping 52,400 at that time.

Last year, Guyana emerged at the top of the list for the number of recorded cancer deaths, with a mor-

statistics on preventable diseases that constantly bombard us. Child obesity is also on the increase as the consumption of sweetened beverages and sugary substances take a strong hold on our young population,” the Minister informed.

She added, “We have that strong will to reverse this trend of negativity. Too many of us are becoming statistics and our young people seem to be at the worrisome top of the list.”

14 News Over 1800 girls Stakeholders benefit from CSN introduced to ICT international standards workshop saturday, april 27, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

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O

ver the course of seven years, girls from a number of communities have benefited from International Communication Technology (ICT) and efforts made at changing the trajectory of the field to include more women.

In an interview with Guyana Times, Assistant Engineer Melissa Layne of the National Frequency Management Unit declared that the number of these girls currently stands at just over 1800.

Some persons have used their skillset to advance further into the Guyana Girls Code programme, to create databases and other programmes.

“In the past seven years, we have actually been able to reach over 1800 girls and exposed them to the potential benefits of tech. And in addition to that, we have been seeing programmes like the Guyana Girls Code initiative that are taking off from the ICT initiative,” Layne said.

According to her, girls are introduced to programming courses to develop their coding skills, which place them in a position to obtain a position in the field. The increased number of women also makes for a comfortable working environment. In the past, ICT had been seen as dominated by males.

“The girls are exposed to free programming classes, and they’re developing their coding skills, which make them an asset to any job market. We definitely feel that this will make women feel more comfortable in joining the field. We get responses that persons are considering it as a career choice, rather than before, when only the traditional things were being thought of,” Assistant Engineer Layne explained.

It is estimated that technological fields will grow

National Frequency Management Unit Assistant Engineer Melissa Layne

in the future; but currently, they are seen as a lucrative opportunity if used to attract the needs of a wider audience. For this, women are encouraged to get onboard at an early age.

“We have girls from as young as 12 who have actually programmed applications. As we know, tech is one of the highest paying and fastest growing fields, so we definitely want more people, especially women, to take up jobs in this field,” Layne related.

Some persons have also entered the Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) initiative using their knowledge to create robotics with specialised features.

Girls in ICT Day is usually observed every year on April 26 in all member countries and organisations of the United Nations’ International Telecommunications Union (ITU). In Guyana, it is spearheaded by the National Frequency Management Unit (NFMU).

Back in March, it was announced that 10 students would benefit from an ICT internship with local tech companies.

ersonnel attached to both private and public organisations within Guyana were on Wednesday last given the opportunity to benefit from a workshop geared at increasing the knowledge regarding the impact of international standards on locally owned business.

The workshop was organised by the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) in collaboration with the Commonwealth Standards Network (CSN) where it mainly focused on increasing the visibility and understanding of the benefits that international standards can bring to support development and export potential to Guyanese businesses.

GNBS Marketing and Communications Head, Syeid Ibrahim in remarks at the launch of the workshop underscored that international standards play an important role in promoting productivity and efficiency, reducing

Participants during a session at the CSN international standard workshop

costs, removing barriers to trade, and driving economic growth. Hence, building upon the Commonwealth advantage can trigger significant additional economic gains to Guyana and local businesses.

The workshop was conducted by CSN Technical Standardisation Expert

Glenn Bosmans along with Head of International Engagement British Standard Institution (BSI) Peter Sissons and GNBS Technical Officer Andrea Mendonca.

This collaboration started at the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting,

when the United Kingdom Prime Minister announced the establishment of the CSN to tackle non-tariff barriers and promote strong trade amongst all Commonwealth states through the participation, adoption and implementation of international standards.

GPL blames faulty circuit breaker for prolonged power outage

T

he Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS), which is controlled by the Guyana Power and Light (GPL), experienced a shutdown on Thursday, affecting several areas across the coastal region.

The company explained on Friday that the shutdown occurred at approximately 13:35h due to a fault in one of the circuit breakers at the Garden of Eden Power Plant.

This caused a “lock out” of the busbar facilitating the transfer of power from four generators. According to the GPL, the “sudden” loss of 18 megawatts of generator capacity resulted in the shutdown and technicians were

deployed and managed to restore power in the first area by 13:56h. According to the utility company, by 15:00h, the defective breaker was replaced and all communities were supplied with electricity.

The utility company noted that prior to this shutdown, some sections of

Georgetown, the East Coast and East Bank of Demerara, experienced periods of service interruptions “due to localised area faults caused by the inclement weather”.

Over the years, the woes of citizens have been directed towards poor services being offered by the company, with numerous power outag-

es for trivial incidents.

Just a few months ago, a loan was granted from the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) to the tune of US$20 million, for upgrading the services to be provided by the Guyana Power Light (GPL).

The loan was expected to facilitate the rehabilitation of 153km of GPL’s medium voltage and low voltage network and 6941 smart meters, including the associated transformers, service lines and distribution boxes along with the rehabilitation and extension of two 69/13.8KV substations at Kingston and Vreed-enHoop.

news

15

saturday, april 27, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

1 year later

Wounds still fresh after deadly piracy attack O

n April 27 and 28, 2018, pirates attacked several fishing boats with Guyanese fishermen in what is being considered the worst piracy attack on Guyanese fishermen.

Four fishing boats with a total crew of 20 were attacked during the two-day period. Five of the fishermen survived after being chopped and thrown into the Atlantic Ocean. The bodies of three of the missing men were recovered.

On the anniversary on the incident, survivors and family members of the missing are still finding it very difficult to cope.

One of the survivors, Dhramdeo Persaud, called “Achie Boy” told Guyana Times he still has nightmares. He said many nights he would wake screaming after reliving the incident in his dream.

Survivors of the attack had reported being burned with hot oil, attacked with cutlasses and forced to jump overboard with anchors tied to their bodies at Wia Wia Bank, just off the French Guiana Coast in the Atlantic Ocean.

Persaud receives several chops to his right hand, both legs and his head before being told to jump into the cold water. He swam until he was rescued.

Three of the survivors, including Persaud, had reported seeing the alleged mastermind as one of the attackers.

He told this publication that he does not want to discuss the incident having received treats. Another survivor refused to say anything other than, “I am alright I don’t want nobody to pub-

Survivor: Dhramdeo Persaud

Wife of deceased fisherman Tilacknauth Mohabir

Deceased Tilacknauth Mohabir

Deceased: Mahesh Sarajoo

Deceased: Gowkarran Outar

lish anything about me.”

Over the past year, several relatives have also reported being threatened.

In fact, in January, a 16-year-old daughter of the alleged mastermind of the piracy attack was arrested at the Springlands Court in relation to threats made to relatives of the deceased and witnesses in the trial.

Meanwhile, Persaud has been unable to work since the attack and has also not received the $100,000 which Government had promised survivors and relatives on the missing fishermen.

“Sometimes I have to sweep people bottom house for food. I am not supposed to do that. I got to do runner-boy wuk because I can’t wuk; if anybody send me to the shop or send me to the market that is what I have to do just to get something to survive,” Persaud said in a sad voice.

Since the attack, four bodies have been discovered.

The bodies of Tilacknauth Mohabir; Mahesh Sarajoo, also called “Cobra”, are the only two who have been positively identified after the deadly piracy attack.

One other body which was found in Surinamese

waters is still to be identified via DNA testing, while the body of Gowkarran Outal, also called “Gavin” was found on the Number 63 Beach, Corentyne on May 10, 2018, and was positively identified by a tattoo on his chest.

Eleven are still missing and are believed to have also died.

Since the attack, two men have been taken before the courts in Guyana; Nakool Manohar, called “Fyah” – the alleged mastermind of Number 43 Village, Corentyne; and his co-accused, Premchand Persaud, also called “Sinbad”.

Under the Piracy Act 2008 Chapter 14, it states that where an act of the offence is committed outside of Guyana, the person committing the offence may be dealt with in respect of the commission of the offence as if the offence had been committed at any place within Guyana or its territorial waters.

The two are accused of the murder of Mohabir, called “Caiman”.

It is alleged that between April 26 and May 3, 2018, while at sea, Manohar and Persaud murdered Mohabir.

The preliminary inquiry is still ongoing and the prosecution has 38 witnesses. However, the defence which is being let by Attorneys Joel Edmondson and Sanveef Datadin have decided that they will only be cross examining three of the witnesses.

On Thursday, they concluded cross-examination of one of the witnesses. The case will be called again at the Whim Magistrate’s Court on May 16, when the prosecution is expected to present video evidence and the defence is expected to further cross examine two other witnesses.

However, in neighbouring Suriname where several persons were arrested and placed before the court on charges in relation to the said piracy attack; several of them have received life sentences.

finding it difficult to cope even one year after.

One of the missing men, Denish Persaud, called “Vicky”, left two children behind. His wife Tarmattie Ibrihim remembers the incident as if it were yesterday, when he called her saying he was going to cook. That conversation happened only moments before the boat was attacked.

According to the widow, over the past year she has had to move from place to place; her recent and fourth move to Topu, Corentyne.

This, she says, has had a negative impact on her children’s schooling.

According to the mother of five, she was initially able to secure public assistance for her two youngest children and her eldest son had to leave school and start working.

However, the 30-year-old mother has not received any public assistance for her two other children. The past 12 months Ibrihim says have

been very difficult.

She recounted that when Persaud was in their lives, she could depend on him but with him gone and having a pre-school child she cannot go out to work.

Other family members say they have not been compensated from the employers of the missing fishermen.

Government had given $100,000 to some of the affected families buy that sum they say has been inadequate.

“That just basically cover our transportation to Suriname and accommodation, the Government have not really done anything,” the sister of one of the missing men said but asked not to be named.

While authorities in Suriname have officially given up the search for the 11 missing fishermen, family members in Guyana are expecting a miracle.

Still in mourning

Meanwhile, family members of those missing are

Zeelugt man critical after being repeatedly stabbed to face

Several CPGs to be established in Regions 5, 6

S

everal new Community Policing Groups (CPGs) will soon be established in Regions Five and Six. Administrator of the CPGs, Dennis Pompey made this disclosure during an interview with the Department of Public Information (DPI).

“We were able to identify persons who are willing to form groups based on the crime situation in their respective communities. It also helps us to understand what is happening in the various communities,” he explained.

Pompey noted that two groups, each from the Corentyne and West Coast of Berbice, have made requests adding that he has already outlined for them the procedures they need to follow in forming the groups. The administrator said that he is optimistic that by next week, the groups in Corentyne

should be formed.

The outreaches, according to Pompey, are a major plus for the expansion of the CPGs countrywide stating that “it helps us to improve and expand on community policing in the various regions”.

Community Policing Groups have, over the years, played an integral role in assisting the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to clamp down on serious crimes. This was credited largely to the continued expansion of the CPGs countrywide.

During the rollout of the CPGs 43rd anniversary earlier this year, Pompey stated that “this has helped us uncover intelligence of prime criminal activities such as the carjacking ring that was dismantled on the East Coast and the SoesdykeLinden Highway, an illegal airstrip in Region Nine,

also in Kwakwani we were able to recover stolen equipment such as outboard engines”.

Additionally, it was revealed that Guyana’s borders are now strengthened with the establishment of Community Policing Groups (CPGs) in several hinterland regions.

Additionally, in 2017, there were just over 5000 patrols carried out by CPGs compared to over 9000 carried out in 2018, a significant increase which has proven to be fruitful.

After taking office in 2015, the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change Government had taken away the vehicles from the CPGs and handed them over to the Guyana Police Force. In 2017, realising the importance of CPGs, Ramjattan announced that several of those resources have since been returned to the CPGs.

Ron “Otsey” Rodriquez

A

29-year-old man of Zeelugt, East Bank Essequibo (EBE), is battling for his life after he was repeatedly stabbed to his face under circumstances currently unknown.

Ron “Otsey” Rodriquez was discovered laying on the roadway in the vicinity of Cinderella Park on the evening of Monday last.

His mother, Rosita Singh, on Friday said that her son went out with several family members at Cinderella Park.

However, as the group was about to leave, Rodriguez stayed back to hang with his friend who had just shown up.

Sometime later, Singh

said a family friend visited her at home, informing that her son was killed.

After making contact with the police, the woman rushed to the scene of the crime where she discovered her son on the roadway, with his face badly disfigured.

Upon inspection, she realised that her son was still breathing and as such, he was immediately rushed to the Leonora Cottage Hospital. He was later transferred to the West Demerara Regional Hospital and then the Georgetown Public Hospital where he is said to be in a “coma-like” state.

According to Singh, doctors have informed her that her son received a blunt force trauma to the back of his head after which he was stabbed multiple times to his face.

The blunt force trauma and stabbing have caused a part of his brain to be severely damaged.

“They stabbed up his whole face, only his face.

The doctors say the lash in his head fracture the nostril and all the stab wounds fractured his left side face,

kill half of his brain so that even if he recovers, he is a vegetable…and you know how that is” Singh cried.

The mother of eight revealed that unconfirmed reports are that Rodriguez may have gotten in the middle of a fight which caused his injuries.

She explained that friends of the miner told her that a fight broke out which prompted the group that Rodriguez was a part of to leave the park.

His mother is pleading for justice to be served.

“I want justice for me son, justice, ow man that is the best son I got, people know he so good, he don’t disrespect elders its always aunty and uncle even if he don’t know you, ask neighbours, look it have the neighbours upstairs crying tears, stranger because he was such a good boy…I need justice. The police them ain’t doing anything, is only today (Friday) since we put out the story to the media that we get one call to go down to the station and this thing happened since Monday,” Singh cried.

An investigation has been launched.

16

guyanatimesgy.com

SATURday, april 27, 2019

Regional

Brazil states forge ahead in climate change T&T Coast Guard searching for missing Venezuelans fight despite Bolsonaro ambivalence

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro attends a ceremony at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil April 25, 2019

S

tate governments in Brazil have agreed to work toward fulfilling the country’s Paris Agreement climate change commitments, despite far-right President Jair Bolsonaro’s ambivalence over the pact.

Bolsonaro said on his campaign trail he would withdraw Brazil from the accord, although later walked back those remarks.

The country remains party to the agreement, with a commitment to reduce its national emissions by 37 per cent by 2025.

Representatives for 12 state governments made the commitments at an event in Rio de Janeiro that ended late on Thursday, according to Alfredo Sirkis, the coordinator of the Brazil Forum for Climate Change, which organised the event.

Those states account for just over half of the country’s gross emissions of carbon dioxide equivalent, according to data compiled by the Climate Observatory, a Brazilian non-Government organisation.

The move parallels 23 US states that have commit-

ted to upholding the country’s prior national commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions after President Donald Trump pulled out of the Paris agreement, Sirkis said.

But unlike in the United States, Bolsonaro has not pulled out of the Paris Agreement and the states are acting pre-emptively in the face of uncertain climate change policy at the federal level, he said.

Brazil’s Environment Minister Ricardo Salles told Reuters in December it was unclear whether humans are causing global warming, but said his “inclination” was to stay in the agreement.

Bolsonaro has also said that the Amazon rainforest, which absorbs vast amounts of carbon dioxide emissions, should be opened to mining and other economic development. (Excerpt from Reuters)

T

rinidad and Tobago (T&T) Coast Guard officers and fishermen were up to late Thursday assisting their Venezuelan counterparts in a massive search and rescue mission for 25 Venezuelan migrants who remained missing after their boat sank on the way to Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday night.

A release issued by the T&T Coast Guard around 18:00h on Thursday said their Venezuelan counterparts were able to rescue nine of the victims between Wednesday night and Thursday evening.

However, some Venezuelan news sources reported that 11 people had in fact been rescued up to late Thursday.

Five of the rescued

Venezuelans were reportedly found 55 kilometres North of where their vessel originally sank just off Patos Island.

According to reports, the vessel Jhonnaly Jose, left the Port of La Salina in the Valdez Municipality of the Sucre State on Tuesday night to make a three-hour journey to the western coast of Chaguaramas, Trinidad.

The ship, which was reportedly overloaded, began experiencing difficulties in the notoriously choppy waters off the East coast of Patos Island – an uninhabited Venezuelan territory located five kilometres from the South American mainland and 10 kilometres Westsouth-west of Chacachacare Island, Trinidad. It eventu-

ally sank.

The T&T Coast Guard release stated that the vessel was scheduled to transport 25 people to west Trinidad but contained nine additional passengers who were not listed on the vessel’s approved crew and passenger list. Most of the passengers were reportedly women.

The incident was not the first involving Venezuelans fleeing their country’s ongoing political and economic turmoil. On January 11, a vessel carrying 28 Venezuelans reportedly sank while on its way to Curacao. Four people drowned and washed ashore, while 24 were not immediately found. (Excerpt from

Trinidad Guardian)

China intensifies posture on mutual LIAT’s imminent closure catastrophic opportunities in “US backyard” for the Region, says aviation consultant

T

he demise of LIAT would have a catastrophic impact on the Caribbean, according to aviation consultant with a Caribbean speciality, James Lynch.

Lynch was responding to Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr Ralph Gonsalves’ assessment that LIAT’s closure is imminent.

Gonsalves is Chairman

of the LIAT shareholders government group of countries and has predicted that the regional airline will go under because most of the countries that use its services are not responding favourably to the airline’s request for US$5.4 million to ensure its survival.

Lynch told a local radio station that LIAT’s folding would be bad for regional air travel and begging for cash injections periodically cannot be the recipe for the survival of the airline. (Caribbean News Now)

Hundreds of migrants in southern Mexico board “The Beast” heading North

Central American migrants, moving in a caravan through Juchitan, Oaxaca are pictured atop a train known as "The Beast" while continuing their journey toward the United States, in Mexico April 26, 2019

H

undreds of migrants hoping to reach the United States boarded a freight train in southern Mexico late on Thursday, frustrated by efforts to slow their progress by the Mexican Government, which is under pressure from US President Donald Trump.

The risky move to board the train, known as “La

Bestia” (The Beast), followed a mass breakout of migrants from a holding centre in the southern border city of Tapachula on Thursday night. The government estimated some 1,300 people escaped but said a majority later returned to the centre.

Men, women and children from various countries boarded the slow train as it pulled out of the town

of Arriaga in the southern state of Chiapas, Mexican media reported. Migration authorities said at least 395 people had boarded the train.

The large group descended from the train on Friday after it reached the town of Ixtepec to the northwest of Arriaga.

Erick Morazan, 28, a Honduran migrant in Zapata, a few towns north of Ixtepec, said he knew several people on the train, adding that he wanted to jump aboard himself.

Trump has threatened to close the US-Mexico border if the Administration of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador does not put a stop to illegal immigrants reaching the US frontier.

Migrants are paying little heed so far. The breakout from the Tapachula holding centre was one of the biggest in recent years, and came after Mexico had stepped up efforts to round up and send home migrants. (Excerpt from Reuters)

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang

A

t a news conference, China’s Foreign Ministry representative Lu Kang explained mutual opportunities and cooperation between China and Latin America countries in the “US backyard”, citing the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), to help improve the region’s economy and bring tangible benefits of peace and stability to Latin America and the Caribbean.

This includes Ecuador, the most recent to receive approval to start the internal procedures to become one of the countries from the Pacific Alliance that will facilitate joint initiatives, especially with China.

Alongside the mutual opportunities to Latin America, Ecuador’s ambassador to China, Carlos Larrea Davila, noted the growth of the middle class in China is an opportunity for Latin America to be a provider of resources and cooperation in many important and strategic aspects.

On April 11, Jamaica became the fifth Caribbean nation to sign onto the BRI, following Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Guyana and Barbados. Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Kamina Johnson Smith, and Chinese ambassador to Jamaica, Tian Qi, signed the BRI agree-

ment. Through this initiative, the Chinese are expected to invest heavily in each country’s infrastructure and economy.

US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, following his four-day trip to US allies Colombia, Chile, Paraguay and Peru, said on Friday, Chinese investments are “corrosive, giving life to corruption, and eroding good governance.”

China-Chile trade exceeded US$42.8 billion far higher than Chile-US trade of US$24 billion.

China also invested more than six billion in Chile.

Kang refuted Pompeo’s comments as “groundless”, claiming that the United States is the one that severely damages the peace and stability of Latin America by treating the region as its “backyard,” and imposing frequent military intervention or sanctions to that region.” (Excerpt

from Caribbean News Now)

BVI Premier gets multiple assassination threats

B

ritish Virgin Islands (BVI) Premier Andrew Fahie has revealed that he has received three major death threats and the matter has now been classified as a national security issue.

Fahie, whose Virgin Islands Party (VIP) was swept to power in the general elections earlier this year, said Commissioner of Police Michael Matthews has been informed of the threats and law enforcement authorities already have some leads.

He made the disclosure in the House of Assembly.

But he made it clear that

although he had increased his personal security, he would not be deterred from doing his job.

“Since becoming Premier, it is now documented through authorities that I have received three major threats of assassination. And I want to tell these three entities here today, that you aren’t going frighten me from doing the business of the people,” Fahie told the House.

Defending the decision to hire bodyguards, which has been the subject of criticism and ridicule, the Premier said it had to be done.

He said that before the elections, it had been prophesied by religious leaders that he would lead the BVI, and there was another prophecy that his life would be threatened.

And the Premier said his bodyguards have been advised to use lethal force against any would-be attackers. “If anybody makes the attempts, I tell them to shoot and kill them,” he disclosed. Fahie’s VIP won eight of Parliament’s 13 seats in the General Election on February 25, 2019. (Excerpt from Caribbean360)

guyanatimesgy.com

saturday, april 27, 2019

Sri Lanka Police hunt 140 after Easter bombings as shooting erupts in East

S

ri Lankan police are trying to track down 140 people believed linked to Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the Easter Sunday suicide bombings that killed 253, as shooting erupted in the east during a raid.

Muslims in Sri Lanka were urged to pray at home after the State Intelligence Services warned of possible car bomb attacks, amid fears of retaliatory violence.

And the US Embassy in Sri Lanka urged its citizens to avoid places of worship over the weekend after authorities reported there could be more attacks tar-

geting religious centres.

Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith told reporters he had seen a leaked internal security document warning of further attacks on churches and there would be no Catholic masses this Sunday anywhere on the island.

Illustrating the tension that has gripped the country, shooting erupted between security forces and a group of men in the east during a search and cordon operation, a military spokesman said.

The raid took place in the town of Ampara Sainthamaruthu near

Batticaloa. The spokesman said there was an explosion in the area and when soldiers went to investigate they were fired upon. No details of casualties were immediately available.

Police have detained at least 76 people, including foreigners from Syria and Egypt, in their investigations so far.

Islamic State provided no evidence to back its claim that it was behind the attacks. If true, it would be one of the worst attacks carried out by the group outside Iraq and Syria. (Excerpt from Reuters)

17

Around the World

Xi Jinping vows transparency over Belt and Road

China’s President Xi Jinping speaking on the second day of the Belt and Road summit

C

hina’s President Xi Jinping has sought to ease concerns about its Belt and Road project at a summit in Beijing.

Speaking at the forum, Xi vowed to ensure transparency and the “fiscal sustainability” of all projects.

The initiative is seen by some as a bid for geopolit-

ical influence and has been criticised for indebting recipient countries.

Xi also sought to address key US trade concerns ahead of talks between the two countries next week.

Speaking on the second day of the Belt and Road summit, Xi said the aim of the infrastructure programme was “to enhance connectivity and practical cooperation”.

The ambitious initiative, which is expected to involve more than $1 trillion in investments, has already funded trains, roads, and ports in many countries.

He said the programme was about jointly “delivering win-win outcomes and common development”.

“Everything should be

done in a transparent way and we should have zero tolerance for corruption,” he said.

“We also need to ensure the commercial and fiscal sustainability of all projects so that they will achieve the intended goals as planned.”

The project has been criticised for leaving some countries saddled with debt, with Sri Lanka forced to hand over control of a port in 2017 to pay back some of its foreign loans.

In his speech, Xi said China would boost efforts to secure intellectual property protection, increase imports of goods and services and ensure a fair trading environment for firms, while also stressing the need for equitable treatment. (Excerpt

Deadly cyclone leaves trail of destruction across Mozambique Trump state visit: Corbyn boycotts Buckingham Palace banquet

The cyclone brought storm surges and wind gusts of up to 280km per hour [UNICEF via Reuters]

C

yclone Kenneth has killed at least one person and left a trail of destruction in northern Mozambique, destroying houses, ripping up trees and knocking out power, authorities said on Friday.

The cyclone brought storm surges and wind gusts of up to 280km per hour when it made landfall on Thursday evening, after killing three people in the island nation of Comoros.

It was the most powerful storm on record to hit Mozambique’s northern coast and came just six weeks after Cyclone Idai battered the impoverished nation, causing devastating floods and killing more than 1000 people across a swath of Southern Africa.

The World Food Programme warned that Kenneth could dump as much as 600mm of rain on the region over the next 10 days - twice of that brought

by Cyclone Idai.

In rural areas outside Pemba, many homes are made of mud. In the main town on the island of Ibo, 90 per cent of the houses were destroyed, officials said. Around 15,000 people were out in the open or in “overcrowded” shelters and there was a need for tents, food and water, they said.

However, Michael Charles, an officer for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), said heavy rains over the next few days were likely to bring a “second wave of destruction” in the form of flooding.

Before Kenneth hit, the Government and aid workers moved around 30,000 people to safer buildings such as schools. However, authorities said about 680,000 people were in the path of the storm. (Excerpt from

Al Jazeera)

Thousands of migrants rounded up in southern Yemen: IOM

FILE PHOTO: Ethiopian migrants, stranded in war-torn Yemen, sit on the ground of a detention site pending repatriation to their home country, in Aden, Yemen April 24, 2019

Y

emeni authorities have rounded up about 3000 irregular migrants, predominantly Ethiopians, in the south of the country, “creating an acute humanitarian situation,” the UN migration agency said on Friday.

“IOM is deeply concerned about the conditions

in which the migrants are being held and is engaging with the authorities to ensure access to the detained migrants,” the International Organisation for Migration said.

The migrants are held in open-air football stadiums and in a military camp, it said in a statement.

The detentions began on Sunday in the city of Aden and the neighbouring province of Lahj, which are under the control of the internationally recognised Government backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Iran-aligned Houthi rebels control Sanaa, the capital, and other major urban centres.

Both sides are under international diplomatic pressure to implement a United Nations-sponsored ceasefire deal agreed last year in Sweden and to prepare for a wider political dialogue that would end the four-year-old war.

Thousands of migrants arrive in Yemen every year, mostly from the Horn of Africa, driven by drought and unemployment at home and lured by the wages available in the Gulf. (Excerpt

from Reuters)

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and US President Donald Trump

J

eremy Corbyn has said he will not attend the state banquet at Buckingham Palace in honour of Donald Trump.

The Labour leader argued it would be wrong to “roll out the red carpet” for the US President, whom he accused of using “racist and misogynist rhetoric”.

The US-UK relationship did not need “the pomp and ceremony” of June’s state visit, he added.

Prime Minister Theresa May promised Trump the

honour after he was elected in 2016.

Commons Speaker John Bercow and Liberal Democrat Leader Sir Vince Cable have already declined to attend the dinner.

In a statement, Corbyn said: “Theresa May should not be rolling out the red carpet for a state visit to honour a President who rips up vital international treaties, backs climate change denial and uses racist and misogynist rhetoric.

“Maintaining an im-

from BBC News)

portant relationship with the United States does not require the pomp and ceremony of a state visit. It is disappointing that the Prime Minister has again opted to kowtow to this US Administration.

“I would welcome a meeting with President Trump to discuss all matters of interest.”

The banquet is scheduled to take place on the first evening of the state visit, which will last from June 3 to 5.

About 150 guests are expected to be invited, including political leaders and other public figures with cultural, diplomatic and economic links to the US. During their visit, the President and First Lady Melania Trump will be guests of the Queen and attend a ceremony in Portsmouth to mark 75 years since the D-Day landings. (Excerpt from BBC News)

North Korean leader warns of return to tension; Trump thanks Putin

N

orth Korean leader Kim Jong Un told Russian President Vladimir Putin that peace and security on the Korean peninsula depended on the United States, warning that a state of hostility could easily return, North Korean media said on Friday.

Kim’s remarks during talks with Putin on Thursday appeared aimed at pushing Washington to be more flexible on North Korean demands for an easing of international sanctions.

US President Donald

Trump, who ended a second summit with Kim in February without a deal for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons, seemed unperturbed, saying a lot of progress was being made toward an agreement and welcoming Putin’s support.

Putin said after holding his first face-to-face talks with Kim in the Russian Pacific port of Vladivostok on Thursday that US security guarantees would probably not be enough to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear programme.

He said he believed any

US guarantees might need to be supported by the other nations involved in previous six-way talks on the nuclear issue, which included Russia, China, Japan and South Korea as well as the United States and North Korea.

The first face-to-face talks between Putin and Kim, held on an island off the Russian Pacific city, did not appear to yield any major breakthrough.

Putin said a deal on North Korea’s nuclear programme was possible by moving step by step to build trust. (Excerpt from Reuters)

18

guyanatimesgy.com

saturday, april 27, 2019

ARCHIE

ARIES (March 21April 19)

TAURUS (April 20May 20)

dilbert

Your enthusiasm will help you attract attention.

Sharing feelings, stories and dreams will help you realize what you need to do to achieve your goals. Romance is highlighted.

CANCER

Take time to think and to assess situations. Refuse to let anyone push you into something you don’t want to do. Follow your instincts and make both creativity and stability priorities.

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

Calvin and Hobbes

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

SUDOKU

Only share what is necessary. Expect someone to offer misleading information. A handshake will not be good enough; if you want to make a deal, get what you want in writing.

GEMINI (May 21June 20)

(June 21July 22)

Peanuts

Participation will get you revved up about things you care about. If you speak up and take action, you will meet people who can help your cause.

Don’t change course to follow someone else. You’ve got plenty to offer, and your enthusiasm will put you in a leading position if you take the initiative and do what you do best.

Let go of the past. If you carry baggage or seek revenge, you will miss out on something that can greatly improve your life. Put a positive plan in place.

If you get together with close friends or relatives, you’ll be offered valuable information that will encourage you to make a personal change. Romance is in the stars.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

Traveling, exploring new interests or picking up skills, information or qualifications will help you get ahead personally and professionally.

Shy away from emotional discord.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23Dec. 21)

Think big, but don’t take on the impossible. If you share your ideas with someone close to you, the feedback you get will help you find a practical way to achieve your goal.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19)

solution for LAST PUBLISHED puzzle AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 19)

PISCES (Feb. 20March 20)

The personal changes you want to make may not align with the plans of someone close to you. Discuss and compromise to come up with a workable solution.

Make a positive change that will help you achieve something awesome.

Creative endeavors, improvements to self and home, and a better health regimen are encouraged.

Romance is highlighted.

You can think big, but when it comes down to business, you are best off keeping your plans simple, affordable and beneficial to you and your loved ones.

saturday, april 27, 2019

19

Irresistible Mumbai complete the double against Super Kings A SCOREBOARD forty-over contest was virtually decided in the two Powerplays as Mumbai Indians completed the double against Chennai Super Kings, also inflicting upon the hosts their first defeat chasing at Chepauk since 2013. The defining innings of the match came upfront from Rohit Sharma, who struck 67, his first fifty of the season. Mumbai put up 51 in six overs, which was not very rapid, but in comparison, Super Kings were 40 for 3.

Krunal Pandya had 1 for 3 in two overs, and with an indisposed MS Dhoni absent on a wearing pitch, Super Kings knew only a miracle could take them over the line, and that didn’t materialise.

Dhoni was also missed in the field. Rohit and Evin Lewis had added 75 runs for the second wicket, but during the course of the partnership, standin wicketkeeper Ambati Rayudu missed hearing an outside edge from Lewis when the left-hander was on 12. Rayudu had caught the ball cleanly off a Harbhajan off-spinner, but neither the bowler nor the keeper realised there had been a feather on it, and Lewis batted on.

Mumbai suffered a brief stutter when Mitchell Santner returned for a second spell and the pitch revealed its true colours.

First, he had Lewis hole out at deep midwicket, thereby quashing the notion that the ball spinning back into the left-hander isn’t a threat. He followed that up with Rohit’s scalp, whom he had caught at long-on in his final over to finish with figures of 2 for 13, and it looked like Mumbai were going be restricted to below 150. However, Hardik Pandya took apart Dwayne Bravo in his final over, much like he had at the Wankhede when these two teams played their first match of IPL 2019, as Mumbai finished with 155 for 4. It was their third-lowest score having lost four or fewer wickets, but one that seemed above par on the surface.

That was confirmed soon after, as five of the top six Super Kings batsmen failed to reach double figures, struggling to come to terms with a tired surface. Ironically, that difficulty was best demonstrated by top scorer M Vijay’s - playing his second match since last season - charmed life in the middle. In the third over from Lasith Malinga, Vijay chipped three balls over the cover field and was early into the shot each time. He was then dropped at point by debutant Anukul Roy, who ran back, circled around it, and in the end struggled to get a finger on it. Eventually, despite a brief rearguard from Bravo and Santner, Super Kings fell well short of the target.

Win toss, lose match?

Arguably, the most decisive moment of the match came even before a ball was bowled. Stand-in captain Suresh Raina opted

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to bowl, pointing out that there could be dew later. However, he seemed to have badly misread a pitch that deteriorated rapidly after the first ten overs of Mumbai’s innings, which meant that the visitors had the best of the conditions. To their credit, Mumbai used that advantage optimally. They put up 51 in the Powerplay, as Super Kings’ best bowler during that phase, Deepak Chahar, was taken for 36 in three overs - the most he has conceded in that period this season. After ten overs, Mumbai were 84 for 1.

In the remaining 27.3 overs that the match lasted, only 180 runs were scored while 13 wickets fell.

Harbhajan and Tahir have an off-day On a normal day, on a normal pitch, on another ground, combined figures of 1 for 60 from eight overs would be considered a pretty reasonable return for two spinners. However, this was a pitch that came gift wrapped for the experienced Harbhajan Singh and Imran Tahir. Part of their relative ineffectiveness was down to Mumbai’s strategic brilliance. Tahir had been introduced immediately after the Powerplay to exploit Rohit Sharma’s well documented weakness against leg spin, and Harbhajan bowled out without a break as he was turning the ball away from Lewis.

But Lewis took the majority of the strike when the legspinner operated, taking Tahir for 17 in seven balls, with the help of a six and a four. At the other end, Rohit dented Harbhajan’s final figures, as he stepped out to deposit him over deep midwicket and then over his head. This also ensured that Mumbai’s momentum never broke, even as the field spread.

Mitchell Santner’s mid-innings choke The first signs of the pitch starting to play tricks came on Santner’s first ball in the 11th over, that spun sharply past Rohit Sharma’s outside edge. In his next over, Lewis stepped out to hoick over the leg side, but Santner shortened his length, and as a result, the ball held in the surface, leading to the miscue

Mumbai Indians Innings (20 overs maximum) RG Sharma (c) c Vijay b Santner 67 Q de Kock † c †Rayudu b Chahar 15 E Lewis c Bravo b Santner 32 KH Pandya c Santner b Imran Tahir 1 HH Pandya not out 23 KA Pollard not out 13 Extras (lb 1, w 3) 4 TOTAL (20 Overs, RR: 7.75) 155-4 Did not bat: SA Yadav, AS Roy, RD Chahar, JJ Bumrah, SL Malinga Fall of wickets: 1-24 (Q de Kock, 2.4 ov), 2-99 (E Lewis, 12.1 ov), 3-101 (KH Pandya, 13.1 ov), 4-122 (RG Sharma, 16.2 ov) BOWLING DL Chahar (4-0-46-1) H Singh (4-0-23-0) I Tahir (4-0-37-1) DJ Bravo (4-0-35-0) MJ Santner (4-0-13-2)

Chennai Super Kings Innings (target: 156 runs from 20 overs) M Vijay c Yadav b Bumrah 38 SR Watson c Chahar b Malinga 8

SK Raina (c) c Yadav b HH Pandya 2 AT Rayudu † b KH Pandya 0 KM Jadhav b KH Pandya 6 DR Shorey c Chahar b Roy 5 DJ Bravo c & b Malinga 20 MJ Santner c Pollard b Malinga 22 DL Chahar c KH Pandya b Bumrah 0 H Singh c HH Pandya b Malinga 1 I Tahir not out 0 Extras (lb 1, nb 1, w 5) 7 TOTAL (17.4 Overs, RR: 6.16) 109 all out Fall of wickets: 1-9 (SR Watson, 0.5 ov), 2-22 (SK Raina, 3.1 ov), 3-34 (AT Rayudu, 4.3 ov), 4-45 (KM Jadhav, 7.2 ov), 5-60 (DR Shorey, 9.6 ov), 6-66 (M Vijay, 11.4 ov), 7-99 (DJ Bravo, 15.6 ov), 8-101 (DL Chahar, 16.3 ov), 9-103 (Harbhajan Singh, 17.2 ov), 10-109 (MJ Santner, 17.4 ov) BOWLING SL Malinga (3.4-0-37-4) KH Pandya (3-0-7-2) HH Pandya (2-0-22-1) JJ Bumrah (3-0-10-2) RD Chahar (4-0-21-0) AS Roy (2-0-11-1)

which was caught comfortably at deep midwicket. In his next 17 deliveries, Santner induced a leading edge, beat the bat on numerous occasions, and took the crucial wicket of Rohit Sharma, who had just started to cut loose. At that stage, Super Kings were on their way to restricting Mumbai to a much lower total.

Watson goes early, with him Super Kings’ chances It seems as though the key to stopping Watson from having an impact on a match is offering a few freebies first up, creating a false sense of security, and then inducing an error. In the last match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, in an eerie throw-back to last year’s final, Watson looked all at sea in the first over against Bhuvneshwar Kumar but finished with a match-winning 96. Here, he was first offered width outside off - crunched through the covers. One followed on the pads - clipped past short fine-leg for four. Then a juicy half volley on the pads again, which Watson, brimming with confidence by now, clipped straight to short fineleg, who took a sharp chance. Crestfallen, he trudged off the field, taking with him his side’s chances of chasing the target. (cricinfo)

England’s Alex Hales banned for recreational drug use

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ngland batsman Alex Hales has failed a drugs test. Hales, who was named in England’s provisional 15-man World Cup squad last week, is understood by ESPNcricinfo to have tested positive for a recreational drug in recent weeks. The England selectors are not thought to have known about the test result at the time the squad was announced.

According to a report in the Guardian, he is currently serving a 21-day ban after returning a second positive test, having pulled out of Nottinghamshire’s Royal London Cup campaign, shortly after the World Cup squad was announced, for undisclosed personal reasons.

The drugs violation is understood to have been detected after Hales underwent a routine hair follicle test, which all professional men’s cricketers and centrally-contracted women’s players undergo at the start and finish of every season. The policy was introduced in 2013 in the wake of the death of Surrey’s Tom Maynard, and can detect banned substances in the system for up to three months.

For a first offence, which is treated as a health and welfare issue, players are offered advice and support with only the county director of cricket being notified.

A second violation can invoke a three-week ban and a 5 percent fine of the player’s annual salary, at which point the player’s county is informed, as well as the ECB chief executive, Tom Harrison, and PCA chief executive, David Leatherdale.

A third offence, such as that committed by Durham’s Jack Burnham in 2017, can lead to dismissal - although in Burnham’s case, the club chose instead to ban him for 12 months and give him the chance to revive his career this year.

It is nevertheless another significant black mark for Hales, who was recently banned for six white-ball games (four of them suspended) and fined £17,500 by the ECB for his part in the Bristol brawl that led to Ben Stokes’ arrest and subsequent acquittal. England are not obliged to name their final World Cup squad until May 23.

Although the loss of Hales at the World Cup would be significant, as things stand he would have served his suspension. He is still expected to join up with the squad for their training camp in Cardiff at the weekend.

While he is not currently seen as part of the first-choice side, he was set to be the reserve batsman in the squad. He has an outstanding ODI record: only nine men have scored more than his

Alex Hales drives through the covers

six ODI hundreds for England; only Jason Roy has a higher individual score in the format than the 171 Hales made against Pakistan. With Roy (back spasm) having recently experienced some fitness concerns, there was every chance he would win an opportunity at some stage during

the tournament.

Ashley Giles, the England’s men’s team director, Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket, and the ECB all declined to comment when contacted by ESPNcricinfo. (cricinfo)

20 Premier League: Mané and Salah doubles push Liverpool to reclaim top spot GUYANATIMESgy.COM

saturday, APRIL 27, 2019

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ll Liverpool can do now is win and hope. The first part of their title duty was fulfilled in rampant and historic fashion as Huddersfield were routed at Anfield. Top of the Premier League with two to play, their longing for a favour turns to Burnley on Sunday. Manchester City are acutely aware that Jürgen Klopp’s team will not go quietly.

Liverpool returned to the summit with a comprehensive victory over Jan Siewert’s relegated team, who looked every inch a Championship side from the first minute. Klopp’s leaders rarely had to exert themselves to break new ground. They have earned 91 points, eclipsing the total won by 105 of the 119 champions of English football if applying three points for a win to every season. Mohamed Salah overtook Roger Hunt and Sam Raybould for the most number of goals in his first 100 games for Liverpool. Numbers 68 and 69 arrived here, the latter courtesy of Andy Robertson’s 11th Premier League assist of the season. That equals the record for a defender set by Leighton Baines and Andy Hinchcliffe.

Sadio Mané also scored twice and would have celebrated a hat-trick of headers but for the woodwork. Mané and Salah have 20 and 21 league goals respectively while Alex OxladeChamberlain generated the loudest ovation of the night with his first appearance in over a year. Klopp had a multitude of reasons to insist his thoughts were on Liverpool’s accomplishments, not what City may do, after watching his team equal their biggest win of the campaign.

An opponent that had been relegated in March and taken a pitiful four points since November were always welcome for a team in title mode, yet it was still a surprise how obliging Huddersfield proved to be. They gift-wrapped Liverpool their quickest goal in the Premier League era – timed at 15 seconds – with an opening that defined naivety and ineptitude.

The visitors opted to play out from the back with their central defenders out wide against a Liverpool side rather well known for its prowess in the press. Goalkeeper Jonas Lössl passed to recalled central midfielder Jon Gorenc Stankovic who took far too long in possession and invited Naby Keïta to close him down. Stankovic’s attempted pass found Salah who released Keïta through the gaping hole in the Huddersfield defence to score with a low

Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané celebrate after the Senegalese forward scored Liverpool’s second goal

finish off the inside of Lössl’s far post. Liverpool’s 100th goal of the campaign in all competitions would have settled a few nerves inside Anfield had there been any. It was the start of a creative, energetic and dominant display in central midfield from Keïta.

In fairness to Huddersfield they responded well to their calamitous start and briefly took the game to Liverpool. Two dreadful corner routines and weak shots from Stankovic and Steve Mounié provided a further reminder of why they are rooted to the foot of the table.

Liverpool doubled their lead from a familiar source when Robertson collected Virgil van Dijk’s pass out on the left and, under no pressure, delivered a pinpoint cross into the heart of the opposition penalty area. Mané, under no pressure from Terence Kongolo, headed his 10th goal in the last nine games beyond the exposed Lössl.

Robertson has an internal competition with Trent AlexanderArnold over which full-back will provide the most assists this

campaign and the 20-year-old responded in kind on the stroke of half-time. The right-back floated a delightful ball in the channel between Kongolo and Erik Durm for Salah to sprint through on goal. Huddersfield’s goalkeeper charged out and the Eygpt international accepted the invitation to lob Lössl’s to score.

Records have tumbled throughout Salah’s time at Anfield but a 68th goal in a century of Liverpool appearances is a staggering achievement. And he was not finished yet.

Another glowing statistic that reflects the foundation of Liverpool’s title challenge was the 20th clean sheet kept by Alisson, the goalkeeper equalling the club record set by Pepe Reina in 2005-06 and 2008-09. The Brazilian would have been kept waiting for a share of the record had Karlan Grant connected in front of an open goal when Juninho Bacuna’s shot deflected his way or if Mounié had moved with any degree of urgency when played clean through. Both opportunities were squandered before Bacuna drew a fine save from Alisson with a fierce longrange drive.

Huddersfield had conceded four goals in three of their previous five games and it was always only a matter of time before the outclassed visitors made it four in six. Salah had gone close to another memorable goal at the Kop end when he sent a half-volley just wide from distance after flicking the ball over Kongolo. From their next attack Jordan Henderson whipped a first-time cross in from the right and Mané, despite being in a penalty area containing five Huddersfield players, was unmarked to steer his second header of the game beyond Lössl. Mané’s 20th league goal of the season was also a career first for the Senegal international and underlined his merited place in the PFA Team of the Year.

Salah sealed the rout from Robertson’s low centre late on, the full-back released behind the visiting defence by substitute Xherdan Shaqiri. The only concerns for Liverpool concerned injuries ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final second leg at Barcelona. Van Dijk declared himself fit after Mounié landed painfully on his foot while Klopp’s post-match update on Roberto Firmino left an element of doubt over the striker’s involvement. There are no question marks over their desire to take City to the wire. (The Guardian)

Azerbaijan GP: Leclerc tops practice after safety fears cause cancellation

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harles Leclerc led a Ferrari one-two in an incident-packed second practice at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The 21-year-old led the way for much of the session and ended it 0.324 seconds ahead of nominal team leader Sebastian Vettel with Lewis Hamilton third.

Hamilton was 0.669secs off Leclerc’s pace as Ferrari made a flying start to the weekend with an upgraded car.

There were two red-flag periods after crashes for Lance Stroll and Daniil Kvyat.

Stroll lost control of his Racing Point at Turn Two early in the session, taking off his front-left corner after losing the rear on the way into the corner.

And Kvyat had a big impact at Turn Seven with about 25 minutes to go, again because of a rear-end snap, heavily damaging the left-hand side of his Toro Rosso.

Kvyat’s crash brought to an end what had been until then a promising session for the Russian. He had a late start to the session as the team fixed a problem on his car, but he had just beaten team-mate Alexander Albon by 0.039secs to go sixth quickest when he braked too late trying to go for a faster time and smashed the car into the wall.

The car of Williams’ George Russell is recovered in Baku

Safety concerns

The two incidents cost the teams more time, after the first session was cancelled because George Russell’s Williams hit

a manhole cover, destroying his car.

In farcical scenes, the truck bringing Russell’s car back to the pits crashed into a bridge over the track.

That leaked hydraulic fluid on to Russell’s car beneath.

Only the two Ferraris had set lap times when Russell’s incident happened, and the session was ended so officials could repair the cover and check the more than 300 around the rest of the track.

In the Formula 2 support race qualifying session that followed two marshals were run over by the rear wheels of a stricken car.

And the stewards may be busy after the second session following two scary-looking incidents.

In one, Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly went straight on at Turn Three despite there being waved yellow flags there because Romain Grosjean’s Haas had already gone off. Waved yellows means a driver has to slow down and be prepared to stop.

A few minutes later, Hamilton had a contretemps with Grosjean’s team-mate Kevin Magnussen on the fast run towards Turn 15, the Dane swerving towards the Mercedes at high speed and then gesticulating at the world champion.

(BBC Sport)

Nadal claims comfortable Osaka beats Vekic Archery Guyana now win to reach semi-finals to reach semi-finals affiliated with NPCG

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afael Nadal moved a step closer to setting an ATP record as he eased into the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open with a straight-set victory over Germany’s JanLennard Struff.

Nadal, 32, is bidding to become the first player to win the same event 12 times and breezed through this quarter-final match, winning 7-5 7-5.

The former world number one will next face 2017 finalist Dominic Thiem.

“I’m feeling better in my game,” said the Spaniard.

“I hope to keep improving here at home,” added Nadal, who last week suffered a shock semi-final defeat to Italian Fabio Fognini at the Monte Carlo Masters - an event he has also won 11 times.

Nadal also had a struggle in the early rounds in Barcelona, losing a set at the event for the first time in four years in his win over Leonardo Mayer on Wednesday.

Austrian Thiem also had a comfortable passage into the semi-finals, overcoming Argentine Guido Pella 7-5, 6-2.

Meanwhile, Japan’s two-time champion Kei Nishikori beat Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena 6-4 7-5 to reach the semi-finals of the tournament for the fourth time.

Nishikori will take on Russian Daniil Medvedev on Saturday after the seventh seed defeated lucky loser Nicolas Jarry of Chile 6-3 6-4.

Naomi Osaka is into her first semi-finals since winning her second Grand Slam title in Melbourne at the start of the year

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saka is into her first semi-finals since winning her second Grand Slam title in Melbourne at the start of World number one Naomi Osaka came from behind in the final set to beat Croatian Donna Vekic and reach the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix semi-finals.

Osaka won 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-4) in Stuttgart and will next face Estonian Anett Kontaveit, who progressed after her opponent Victoria Azarenka retired.

Azarenka had been a game away from the last four but let her advantage slip as she struggled with a shoulder issue.

Petra Kvitova will face Kiki Bertens in the other semi-final.

World number three Kvitova overcame a poor start to beat Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova 2-6 6-2 6-3.

Dutch sixth seed Bertens progressed by beating home favourite and reigning Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber 6-3 6-4. (BBC

Sport)

rchery Guyana, a nascent sporting body which has recently become an affiliate of the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA), is now also affiliated with the National Paralympic Committee of Guyana.

This achievement typifies Archery Guyana’s desire and drive to ensure that every Guyanese, however abled they are, is afforded the very best opportunity to excel and pursue their dreams and ambitions to participate at the highest levels in sport.

President of Archery Guyana, Mohamed Khan; and Secretary-General Vidushi Persaud-McKinnon, at a simple ceremony on Wednesday, received the Certificate of Affiliate status from President of the National Paralympic Committee of Guyana (NPCG), Wilton Spencer; and Secretary-General Beverly Pile.

Spencer noted that the NPCG is affiliated to the International Paralympic Committee, and emphasised how pleased he was to grant the affiliate status to Archery Guyana, while noting that Archery Guyana is at this time the first and only affiliate sporting body of the NPCG. Khan has described Archery Guyana’s pleasure in achieving this status as not only ground-breaking, as the first sporting body to be accredited, but also as the completion of a circle of objectives desired by Archery Guyana.

guyanatimesgy.com

saturday, april 27, 2019

21

Clash of Leaders marks restart of Bartica Senior Male League

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fierce battle at the top of the points standing marked the restart of the GFF-Bartica Football Association’s (BFA’s) Male Senior Football League following a short break for the Bartica Regatta activities.

The second of two matches so far played for the week has seen River’s View FC and Beacon FC going at each other for command of the top spot on the points table.

Coming into the match, Beacon were one point behind River’s View, whose points stood at 13, and Beacon needed a win to rise above that. This made for an enthralling encounter, as their opponents had other ideas of their own.

On a cool, overcast afternoon at the Bartica Secondary School Ground, Andrew Simmons broke the deadlock to give River’s View the lead ten minutes into the second half.

But being a goal down only seemed to energize the Beacon boys and bring the best out of them, as they began to put on a display of skill and team work against a determined River’s View team.

Their efforts paid off in the 70th minute, when they were awarded a free kick at the top of the eighteen-yard box, and Kurt Welcome’s kick was perfect in defeating both the defense wall and the keeper.

In the end, it took a goalie error at the Beacon end of the pitch and a cool finish by Omario Lake to decide the match

Andrew Simmons and Omareo Lake of the River’s View team

Beacon’s Kurt Welcome

in favour of River’s View, which guaranteed them a fourpoint lead at the top.

In the other match, newcomers Agatash United FC valiantly battled a depleted Mil Ballers FC, but came up with

a 2-nil loss. Mil Ballers emerged via goals from Nandcoomar Samwaru and Rawle Simon; while Agatash United’s goal came by way of 13-year-old prospect Shalimar Crighton.

League matches will continue over the weekend.

DCB Under-19 Inter-Association tournament 2019…

East Coast and Georgetown secure wins

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n the DCB Under-19 Inter- Association tournament for 2019, Georgetown thrashed West Demerara by 49 runs in a match played at the Wales community centre ground.

West Demerara won the toss and elected to field. This decision apparently favoured Georgetown, who thought it was a good batting surface and sought to take advantage of their opportunity to bat first. They could muster only 118 all out from 38 of their allotted 50 overs.

Adrian Hinds top scored with 28, while Dequan Bamfield was not out on 18, and Bryon Bowen chipped in with 15.

Bowling for West Demerara, Satesh Bisram was most destructive, grabbing 5 for 29; while Joshua Rahaman collected 3 for 20.

In reply, West Demerara struggled to reach their victory target, and were bowled out for a mergre 69 from just 25 overs.

Taijanath Tadunauth was the only batsman to score double- figures -- 18. Daniel Mootoo was the most terrify-

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ing bowler, claiming 4 for 9; while Joel Spooner took 3 for 30.

Georgetown won the encounter by 49 runs.

Meanwhile over at Lusignan, East Coast won the toss and elected to bat first. They scored a well composed 188 for 4 from their reduced 45 overs; with Robin Williams scoring a brilliant 109 which included 10 sixes, while Pradesh Balkishun chipped in with 28 not out.

Bowling for East Bank Demerara, Vickash Jaikaran collected 2 for 29.

In reply, East Bank Demerara cautiously achieved their target, scoring 189 for 7 in 44.5 overs; with national under-15 player Mavindra Dindyal top-scoring with 58, while Yustridar Persaud and Andsuega Rodrigues scored 43 and 42 respectively.

Bowling for East Coast Demerara, Sheffek Khan took 2 for 24, as East Bank won the encounter by 3 wickets.

The final round of the DCB Under-19 Inter-Association tournament will be played today, Saturday 27th April, 2019, with East Bank Demerara battling Georgetown at Wales, and East Coast Demerara facing West Demerara at Lusignan.

All matches start at 9:00 hours.

Mavindra Dindyal

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Banks Softball League 15/15 Knockout Tournament…

Essequibo Zone set for Sunday

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he highly anticipated Essequibo Zone of the Banks Softball League 15/15 Knockout Tournament will kick off tomorrow with the preliminary stages commencing at 09:00 hrs.

The first set of matches will be played at the Affiance Number 1, Reliance, Walton Hall and Queenstown grounds. The preliminary stages will then continue on May 5 at the Affiance Number 1 ground and at the Pomona and Reliance grounds. The semifinals and finals well then be held on May 12 at the Affiance Number 1 ground.

This competition will feature 32 teams vying for top honours. The winner of the competition will receive $150,000, while second place will pocket $100,000; third place will settle for $50,000; and fourth place bags $25,000. All prizes are inclusive of trophies which were provided by Trophy Stall.

Entrance fee is ‘buy three cases of Banks Beer’. Admission is free.

Charlestown dominate ABSAA-KFDA round of play

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he Alex Bunbury Sports and Academics Academy (ABSAA) and the Kingston Football Development Academy (KFDA), formerly the Kingston Grass Roots Soccer Academy, continued their Easter Indoor Boys and Girls Community Football Festival at the National Gymnasium with eight matches highlighting the play on Thursday evening.

Continuing in the under-16 league, the first matchup of the night saw Tucville Ballers battling Eastville to a 1-1 ending of the match. In spite of goals coming from Kevin Mullin and Antwone Vasconcellos respectively, neither team could break the other’s defenses.

Match number two then saw Charlestown ‘A’ defeating Mahaica 1-0 after William McKenzie had managed to break through the Mahaica defenses.

The third game featured Buxton Stars battling to a 2-2 ending against Kingston. Scoring goals for Buxton were Daquasi Waddle and Rickford Emmanuel, while Vishal Sookhoo and Jonathan McKenzie scored for Kingston.

Charlestown ‘B’ overcame Tucville Go Getters in a thriller, with the match ending 3-2.

Scoring goals for Charlestown ‘B’ were Shamar Welch and Tariq Pryce, while Tucville saw Jamal and Osafo Hinds taking the score to 2-2.

Pryce, however, returned in the end to wrap things up with another goal to help his side advance.

In the other fixtures, Kingston defeated Tucville 1-0, while Buxton Stars crushed Charlestown ‘B’ 3-1.

The night’s action culminated was Charlestown ‘A’ flexing their muscles to crush Eastville 3-0, while Tucville Ballers and Mahaica ended in a stalemate at the end of play.

Proprietor of Trophy Stall, Ramesh Sunich, poses with the winners’ trophies alongside Brian Choohen, Banks Beer executive; and Jeoff Clement, Brand Manager of Banks DIH Ltd

The competition caters for boys and girls in the under-6, U-9, U-12 and U-15 categories. Some of the teams being featured in the competition are: Kingston, Tiger Bay ‘A’ & ‘B’, Lodge ‘A’ & ‘B’, Tucville, Mocha, West, Plaisance, East, and Grove.

Trophies and medals are up for grabs for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places in the under U-12 and U-15 divisions. Any person or entity desirous of becoming a sponsor can contact Simone Bazil-Lyte on 688-1927, or Junior Forrester on 6960658.

The entities on board include the Pet Shop, Namilco, NSC, Trophy Stall, GFF and ABSAA.

22

saturday, april 27, 2019

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

Can Bishoo regain a spot in the ODI squad? ─ Nurse, Allen secure spinners’ spots

By Brandon Corlette

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ricket West Indies has announced two different One Day International (ODI) squads in recent times, in both of which 33-year-old leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo was omitted.

The team that will tour Ireland from May 5 to May 17 includes Ashley Nurse, Fabian Allen and Roston Chase as the spin-bowling options; and the World Cup squad to England has two spin-bowling options in Nurse and Allen.

Guyanese legspinner Bishoo has played in the ODI Series

Devendra Bishoo

against England, wherein he had the poorest of five-match series. He picked up one wicket bowling 24 overs, and conceding 170 runs at an economy rate of 7.08, with a bowling average of 170.

Has the 2019 ODI Series against England been the last for Devendra Bishoo? Clearly, Cricket West Indies (CWI) has shown preference to the off-spinner Ashely Nurse, who has also had an inconsistent run in ODIs. In that same series against England, Barbadian off-spinner Nurse had one wicket in the five-match Series. Nurse bowled 30 overs and conceded 189 runs, with a bowling average of 189.

The 23-year-old slow left-arm orthodox bowler Fabian Allen is the second spinner in the World Cup squad.

This lad from Jamaica has played four ODI matches in his blooming career, and is yet to pick up his maiden ODI wicket.

Chairman of Selectors, Robert Haynes, has said that Allen has shown much promise, and is a versatile player in the sense that he offers more with the bat and is an outstanding fielder.

Devendra Bishoo has 42 ODI matches under his belt, with 38 wickets to his name. This player from Albion on the Lower Corentyne Coast in East Berbice has a best bowling figure of 3-30 and a bowling average of 43.89, with a fair economy rate of 4.94.

In an era when leg-spinners are seen as the wicket-taking bowlers, Bishoo has struggled.

Rashid Khan, Adil Rashid, Kuldeep Yadav, Imran Tahir and Yuzvendra Cahal are all seen as top legspinners or wrist spinners in the world. These bowlers are equipped with variations that the Guyanese lad lacks in his armory.

Speaking of lacking variation, West Indies front-line spinner Ashley Nurse has 45 ODIs under his belt and has 42 wickets. His bowling average is 43.26, with a best bowling figure of 4-62, an economy rate of 5.16, and a strike rate of 50.2.

The 30-year-old Nurse lacks variation in his bowling. He bowls a stock delivery that fails to trouble batsmen in the modern era. Yet, for all his inconsistencies, he still made the cut to the World Cup. Is this because he is a Bajan?

During the press conference wherein the World Cup (WC) squad was announced, the explanation behind Nurse’s selection was unconvincing. It was revealed that Nurse also has the ability to

b a t , and the conditions in England will suit the faster bowlers, those who exceed 90mph.

Only time will tell whether Nurse and Allen’s WC selection was the right call. The burning question, however, remains: Was Devendra Bishoo’s omission from the ODI squads to Ireland and England the end of his Fabian Allen ODI journey?

GBF shortlists 35 for Nike and FIBA Development Programme tryouts

Jermaine Taylor

T

he Guyana Basketball Federation (GBF) is currently seeking to put together its next generation of national players, so

that they might participate in a youth development programme organised by Nike and FIBA in July 2019.

The best five (5) un-

der-17 players will be selected on a number of basketball parameters set out by the governing body, to ensure a high level of athletes attend the development programme.

These tryouts will be conducted in Puerto Rico in July 2019 against a number of other countries, with a final selection to be picked for the Basketball World Cup in China 2019.

The Guyana national selection short-list for this youth development programme is set for April 27 & 28, 2019 at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall from 0900hrs. The Federation has selected 35 players, 15 of whom were selected from Youth Basketball Guyana.

According to a release,

Shortlisted players are: Bacchus, Keron - Georgetown Lim, Gabriel - Linden Walton, Aubrey - Georgetown Carter, Kesi - Georgetown Bates, Calvin - Berbice Nicholas, Jamal - Georgetown Dover, Kadeem - Kwakwani Shortt, Royon - Kwakwani Conway, David - Kwakwani Roberts, Josiah - Georgetown Petrie, Kyle - Georgetown Neils, Raheim - Linden Moses, Jaden - Georgetown Chapman, Ishmail - Georgetown Harris, Jether - Georgetown Mohan, Lugard - Georgetown the Federation plans to keep the next generation of Guyana national basketballers together as a unit, as other international engagements are on the horizon

Wong, Ming - Linden Thomas, Justin - Georgetown Lewis, Duard - Georgetown Harlequin, Craig - Georgetown Craig, Jadan - Georgetown Lim, Gabriel - Linden Friday, Lamon - Georgetown Arthur, Tyrees - Linden Wilson, Stephan - USVI Wilson, Shaqeem - Plaisance Richmond, Timothy - Georgetown Farrington, Kahil -Tortola Whitney, Kareem - Georgetown Pilgrim, Adrian - Georgetown Hazlewood, Hasani - Georgetown Whitney, Kareem - Georgetown France Jr, Kempton - Georgetown Gill, Shaquawn - Georgetown Shamol, John – Bartica

in the near future, such as Centro Basketball and CBC U17 Championships, slated for 2020.

The GBF is currently collaborating with two overseas

coaches, Rich Mahler and ex-NBA player Jermaine Taylor, who previous played for the Houston Rockets, for selection of the elite 5 players to represent Guyana.

NA Prison boxing gym resuscitated T

he New Amsterdam Prison boxing gym is being resuscitated. Corentyne businessman Ameer Bacchus has donated the equipment needed to resuscitate this gym, which had in the past produced some of Guyana’s champion boxers.

The businessman has made a generous donation of boxing gear and books to the New Amsterdam Prison, to be used for the benefit of both the male and female prisoners therein incarcerated. The boxing gear was donated with the aim of resuscitating the gym at that correctional facility, which has for some time become defunct. The books, which amount to approximately one hundred, include educational materials and novels. They were sourced through a US-based Guyanese, and will serve to establish a library.

According to Bacchus, he is concerned about the welfare of others, regardless of their background, and accordingly was prompted to make the contribution to ensure the inmates were provided with adequate recreational activities.

He says he has recognised the importance of the inmates being gainfully engaged while they await their trials or serve their sentences.

Acknowledging that it is the Easter season, Bacchus expressed the view that some people fall off the narrow path for different reasons, and therefore should not all be written off and forgotten.

He emphasised that many of us have been given second chances in life, and if we can contribute to someone else’s second chance and to the happiness and betterment of the lives of others, we should not hesitate to do so, no matter how insignificant it may seem.

Bacchus has also committed to providing the services of a private boxing coach for the prisoners, and to continue donating wood for fuel for the preparation of meals for the inmates.

Officer-in-Charge of the New Amsterdam Prison, Deoraj Gyandat, in expressing gratitude, promised maximum use of the items.

He recalled that the Republican Boxing Gym was one of the best gyms across Guyana.

“We are trying to have that prestige back again within the Guyana Prison Service. Mr Bacchus

Some of the boxers pose with the equipment donated to the NA Prison's boxing gym

also promised that he will assist with the resuscitation of the gym area, and we are looking forward for that greatly; and by doing all of this, it will largely contribute towards the integration of inmates into society, causing them to live good lives in society,” he declared. (Andrew Carmichael)

guyanatimesgy.com

saturday, april 27, 2019

23

CWI 2019/2020 Players’ draft…

Assad Fudadin

Yadram picked up by Windwards in regional draft

─ Rutherford not in Jaguars‘ 15 list

O

ne of Guyana’s finest youth players, Bhaskar Yadram, has been drafted to the Windward Islands Volcanoes in the Regional Players’ Draft that was conducted by Cricket West Indies (CWI) on Friday last in Antigua.

This former West Indies U-19 player has played two FirstClass matches for the Guyana Jaguars franchise to date, and the 19-year-old lad from Enterprise, East Coast Demerara has had a top-score of 25, yet has not found a place in the team since the 2017/18 season.

In the Guyana Jaguars list of 15 players, Sherfane Rutherford is not among the 15 listed, his having opted out of a contractual obligation to play for the Guyana Jaguars on a “pay for play” basis, since he was not among the 10 listed protected players.

The dynamic duo of Shimron Hetmyer and Keemo Paul will operate in the Guyana Jaguars set-up if there is no clash with West Indies matches, since they are CWI contracted players.

Five-time defending champions Guyana Jaguars have listed ten protected players and five draft players. Christopher Barnwell, Gudakesh Motie, Keon Joseph, Ramaal Lewis and Tevin Imlach are the draft players; while Anthony Bramble, Romario Shepherd, Veerasammy Permaul,

Leon Johnson, Raymon Reifer, Vishail Singh, Clinton Pestano, Chanderpaul Hemraj, Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Devandra Bishoo are the protected players.

The head of Cricket Guyana Inc. (CGI), Anand Sanasie, made brief comments on the 15 players selected for the Guyana Jaguars. “This team is balanced, it has a mixture of youth and experience”, Sanasie told this reporter.

He added that the players will be aiming to capture the Regional 4-Day title for the sixth consecutive time.

With the La Bonne Intention (LBI) cricket facility almost completed, Sanasie said the Jaguars’ players will use that facility as their home ground while preparing to reap success.

Meanwhile, Rose Hall Town’s finest, Assad Fudadin, has been listed as a Jamaican Scorpion protected player.

The 2019/2020 Regional season will bowl off with the Super50 tournament in November, while the 4-Day tournament will commence in the following month.

The list of Regional teams is as follows: Barbados Pride: Shamarah Brooks, Jonathan Carter, Miguel Cummins, Justin Greaves, Keon Harding, Chemar Holder, Kyle Mayers, Shayne Moseley, Shamar Springer, Tevin Walcott, Roshon

GCA/American Youth Premier Cricket League U-19…

NY Tri-State blow away DCC by 8 wickets in championship victory

By Brandon Corlette

S

ealed with a boundary off the bat of Captain Sanjay Stanley, the NY Tri-State team thumped a depleted Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) team by eight wickets at the Everest Cricket Club on Friday last.

DCC were bowled out for 96 in 26.2 overs, while NY Tri-State reached 100 for 2 in a comfortable win.

Earlier, a third string Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) team won the toss and elected to bat first on an Everest pitch that was filled with moisture.

In a match reduced to 32 overs because of inclement weather, DCC were without their stars Ashmead Nedd and Sachin Singh, who are in a West Indies U-19 training camp; while Alphius Bookie and Qumar Torrington were involved in the DCB Inter-Association’s U-19 cricket.

The New York (NY) Tri-State team had a costly start, the opening over bowled by right-arm seamer Abhayit Khangura going for 15 runs.

Guyana U-15 opener Jaden Campbell got off the mark with a streaky inside edge, but timed two other deliveries to hit classy fours in an over that set the tone for the match.

Six runs later, DCC left-hander Brandon Jaikaran fell for four when he was in no position to pull a short ball. He was out caught off Gautham Ravindran off Vedant Parwal with the score on 21-1.

A 24-run partnership between Campbell and Ezekiel Wilson ended in premature fashion, with Campbell being run-out for a promising 20 from 30 balls that were decorated with three fours.

In the middle overs, when the slower bowlers were introduced, the floodgates of disaster were opened when DCC lost five wickets for 15 runs.

They were reduced to 73-7 in 22 overs, with only Ezekiel Wilson batting at number three occupying the crease with 22 from 47 balls and stroking a lone boundary.

Osoppho Greene smashed a breezy 19 from 18 balls, hitting two fours and one six; but DCC crumbled to 96 all out in 26.3 overs. Only three of their batsmen reached double figures in a pedestrian batting effort.

The organised NY Tri-State boys bowled collectively. Left-arm spinner Tamesh Persaud had 3-17 in seven overs of bowling from the northern end, while Adil Shivakumar had 3-16 in 2.3 overs.

Sherfane Rutherford

Primus, K’Jorn Ottley, Tion Webster, Kenroy Williams, Dominic Drakes Leeward Islands: Keiran Powell, Montcin Hodge, Devon Thomas, Jamar Hamilton, Rahkeem Cornwall, Keacy Carty, Jeremiah Louis, Sheno Berridge, Damion Jacobs, Quinton Boatswain, Terance Warde, Amir Jangoo, Jason Peters, Nino Henry, Adelvin Phillip T&T: Jeremy Solozano, Joshua Da Silva, Kyle Hope, Jason Mohammed, Denesh Ramdin, Imran Khan, Khary Pierre, Bryan Charles, Anderson Phillip, Odean Smith, Daniel St. Clair, Keagan Simmons, Yannic Cariah, Isaiah Rajah, Akael Hosein Jamaica Scorpions: Barndon King, Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Aldaine Thomas, Paul Palmer Jr., Derval Green, Assad Fudadin, Nicholson Gordon, Andre McCarthy, Akim Fraser, Denis Smith, Marquino Mindley, Dennis Bulli, Christopher Lamont, Alwyn Williams Windward Islands: Sunil Ambris, Alick Anthanaze, Roland Cato, Kirk Edwards, Kavem Hodge, Devon Smith, Shermon Lewis, Obed McCoy, Ray Jordon, Josh Thomas, Bhaskar Yadram, Larry Edward, Kenneth Dember, Desron Maloney, Dillon Douglas.

(Brandon Corlette)

GFF/KFC U-20 Independence Cup kicks off today

In reply, NY Tri-State lost Ishaan Bansal for three, but Saiteja Mukkamalla and Captain Sanjay Stanley took the game away from the depleted DCC team, adding 44 runs with some cautious batting, and being assisted by some fielding blemishes from the DCC team.

Mukkamalla was dismissed for 26 from 29 balls after he had hit three fours.

The level-headed skipper Stanley hit some impressive shots, along with his partner Chaitanya Parwal. It was the fourth wicket partnership of 40 that led the NY Tri-State to the championships.

Stanley ended unbeaten on 41 from 48 balls, which was decorated with three fours and one huge six into the sight screen.

His partner, Parwal, supported well with an unbeaten 20 from 27 balls.

Bowling for the DCC boys, leg-spinner Jafar Pinder had 1-25 and Muniram Singh had 1-11 in a losing effort.

Players and officials are geared for kick-off of the GFF-KFC U-20 Independence Cup tournament

G

Sanjay Stanley top-scored for the NY Tri-State (Brandon Corlette photos)

uyana’s first ever national U20 club tournament -- the GFF/KFC U-20 Independence Cup -- kicks off today with a special double-header event at the GFF National Training Centre at Providence.

The East Bank Football Association leg of the national knockout bonanza starts with a clash between Timehri Panthers and Agricola Red Triangle at 14:00 hrs, which follows the tournament launching ceremony at 13:00 hrs.

“We are delighted to kick off this historic tournament with this incredible support from KFC at our new home of football at Providence this weekend,” said GFF President Wayne Forde.

“The GFF-KFC U-20 Independence Cup is going to capture the imagination of football fans by showcasing up-and-coming talent across the country. We urge all communities to come out and support their young players.”

Sponsored by international restaurant brand KFC, part of the Beharry Group of

Companies, the U-20 tournament is a crucial component of the GFF’s 2015-2019 strategy to establish national club competitions for all youth development age groups from U-13 to U-20.

“This youth tournament is another good initiative and a step in the right direction for our football,” said Timehri Panthers U-20 Head Coach Delon Williams.

“It’s great to have KFC on board, and to have their support to make this happen.”

Agricola Red Triangle U-20 Head Coach Colin John said: “This is a very important (tournament), as it gives players at U20 level the means to keep playing football. It could change the direction of someone’s life and give our young talent the opportunity to keep improving their technique and skills.”

After the inaugural GFF/KFC U20 Independence Cup match, a selection from the Guyana U-17 boys’ national squad will take on Elite League side Den Amstel at 4pm as part of the GFF Technical Department’s preparations for the CONCACAF U-17 Championships in May.

saturday, april 27, 2019

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

guyanatimesgy.com

GCA/American Youth Premier Cricket League U-19…

Page 23

championship victory CWI 2019/2020 Players draft…

Page 23

Yadram picked up by Windwards in regional draft

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