Guyana times 20 january 2018

P15

Guyana, Brazil seek to establish bilateral health committee THE BEACON OF TRUTH

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

Saturday, January 20, 2018

Issue No. 3456

Majority of sugar workers' severance still in limbo See stories on pages 3 and 11

…46% to receive full severance this month …PPP willing to fund workers’ legal challenge ... Jagdeo calls for probe into GuySuCo's subsidies

80 graduate from small business training programme

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Policeman P slapped with rape charge 11

Reorganising Local Govt system

Consultative approach needed for P7 modern administration – Granger

Page 13 19 months later

Marudi miners finally get P10 mining blocks

Women empowerment: Eighty women from the West Coast of Berbice (WCB) graduated from professional tutoring on the development of businesses organised by the National Committee for Sisters' Affairs (NACOSA) and funded by the International Development and Relief Foundation (IDRF) of Canada. In photo are some of the participants of the programme during the graduation exercise at the D’Edward Masjid, WCB. Inset: Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, Lilian Chatterjee; IDRF's Chairman Winston Kassim; Programme Manager of IDRF, Nabil Ali; Director of Education and Dawah at CIOG Sheik Moeen ul Hack; and Chairperson of the Rights of the Child Commission and the head of the Women's Arm of CIOG, Aleema Nasir

Teenage girl placed in lock-ups for 4 days

Page 14

Wife dies after PPP to file legal severe beating action for transfer into Consolidated Fund from husband Sand price increases on Essequibo Coast US$18M oil bonus

Page 11

Page 7

…debunks Govt excuse on private account

…after GGMC orders Onderneeming sandpit closed …2 years later, truckers facing economic woes

Page 2

Berbice residents complain of high meter readings, water quality P10

Bill for Witness Protection P10 programme passed – as concerns raised over capacity to fully support venture

Alert GDF rank foils 2 students P12 from committing suicide

2 News

saturDAY, january 20, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Sand price increases on Essequibo Coast …after GGMC orders Onderneeming sandpit closed …2 years later, truckers facing economic woes

By Lakhram Bhagirat

T

he Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) had ordered the Regional Administration of Region Two (Pomeroon/ Supenaam) to cease all operations at the Onderneeming sandpit until all the relevant permission had been obtained.

That was more than two years ago, but truckers who earn their living through the operation of this sandpit continue to express their dissatisfaction at the way the issue was handled by the GGMC. They are expected to petition Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman for his intervention.

Region Two Chairman Devanand Ramdatt has said the administration

had received a correspondence from the GGMC instructing that the sandpit be closed because there are certain documents which the region must get before the sandpit can again be operational. He noted that since receiving that correspondence, the regional administration has organized all the relevant documents, but the process to secure permission is a lengthy one, and the time factor is important since it is the livelihood of people that is being dealt with.

“The regional administration (has) done all the paperwork to secure the land, but that takes a long time, because the document requested for the land has to go to (the Guyana) Lands and Surveys Commission, and that will take a while,” he

Region Two Chairman Devanand Ramdatt

lamented.

The Regional Chairman has met with truckers operating out of the Onderneeming sandpit on Thursday, and they have since expressed disap-

pointment with how the entire situation was handled.

The operators opined that there should have been some consultation between the Region, the GGMC and the local Neighbourhood Democratic Council, to arrive at an amicable solution to the issue.

The Regional Chairman has reported that the truckers have been forced to increase their price per load of sand by between $3,000 and $5,000, depending on where they have to deliver sand.

The current price for sand in the region ranges from $8,000 to $10,000, but can now become as high as $15,000 with the current increases, depending on the area where sand has to be transported.

The Regional Chairman has noted that this could

Gun, ammo possession land duo in court

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amien Favourite of Festival City, Georgetown and Carl Lockhart of Herstelling, East Bank Demerara were on Friday arraigned before Georgetown Magistrate Fabayo Azore on joint charges of alleged posses-

sion of an illegal gun and ammunition.

The charges stated that on January 17, 2018, at Festival City, Georgetown, the two 31-year-old men were found in possession of one .38 pistol and two .38 live rounds of ammunition

without either man being the holder of an ammunition and/or firearm licence.

The men denied the allegations when those was read to them, and their attorney, in a bail application, told the court that the house in with the illegal items were found

does not belong to either of his clients.

Bail was, however, not granted the defendants, and they both were remanded to prison until January 26, when the case is set to be recalled.

be drastically reduced if the pit is reopened. He added that although the issue has been ongoing for a while, the concerns of the truckers are of paramount importance, since addressing those is one way of addressing the economic stagnation in the region.

“If the economy is struggling and you have this additional burden, then you are putting unnecessary burdens on our people. We met with our truck operators this morning (Thursday) and they indicated that they ought to have been consulted on the issue. We have to make sure that we work swiftly towards bringing an end to the issue. The operators are (going) to petition the minister, expressing their concerns,” he disclosed.

Regional Chairman Ramdatt has said he would have already written Minister Trotman seeking his intervention, but he has been informed that that letter never reached the minister.

He added that it is his intention to pen another letter to inform Minister Trotman of the overall negative economic impact the decision to close the sand pit has been having

on the region.

He reiterated that it is an additional cost factor that burdens the already struggling citizens of Region Two, and he said that decisions regarding the development of the region would have to be made in light of the issues that plague the region.

“So, in the meantime, as a recommendation as was done in the past, we, as the Region, can continue to manage an area to extract sand. To carefully manage how it is being extracted and how the environment is being utilized temporarily until these paper works (have been) processed.

“We are hopeful that the minister would grant the permission to reopen the pit. So if the permission is granted to reopen, we will set up a committee to monitor the operations until the relevant permission is granted (from the GGMC),” Ramdatt explained.

The truckers have expressed their support for this proposed solution, since they see it alleviating their economic burden and assisting other residents who have to pay more per load of sand.

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saturDAY, january 20, 2018 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

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

Saturday, January 20 – 05:00h-06:30h and Sunday, January 21 – 05:00h-06:30h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Saturday, January 20 – 06:00h-07:30h and Sunday, January 21 – 06:35h-08:05h.

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

WEATHER TODAY

Thundery to heavy showers can be expected in the morning, with light showers in the afternoon. Light cloudy skies can be expected in the evening, with temperatures expected to range between 23 degrees Celsius and 28 degrees Celsius.

Winds: East North-easterly to Easterly between 2.68 metres and 5.81 metres.

High Tide: 06:28h and 18:43h reaching maximum heights of 2.54 metres and 2.63 metres respectively.

Low Tide: 00:03h and 12:17h reaching minimum heights of 0.58 metre and 0.67 metre respectively.

wednesDAY, january 17, 2018

LOTTERY NUMBERS M

09 12 13

20 22 23

1 Bonus Ball

FREE TICKET

FRIDAY, january 19, 2018

DAILY MILLIONS 01 05 11 24 25 LUCKY 3 8 7 1

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

Majority of sugar workers' severance still in limbo

…46% to receive full severance this month …PPP willing to fund workers’ legal challenge

H

our after Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, put the Coalition Government on blast for their “illegal” actions”, relative to withholding full severance payments to sugar workers terminated by the state-owned Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), the Government moved to the National Assembly to ask for approval for $1.93B – initially $1.75B – to pay some, not all, sugar workers the full sums of monies owed.

Finance Minister Winston Jordan on Friday told the National Assembly that the dismissed sugar workers whose severance packages are $500,000 or less will be paid in full by January 31. The Minister made the statement as he sought a supplementary provision of $1.931 billion in an effort to provide 50 per cent of severance packages to the fired workers.

This decision to pay some of the workers full severance was made during a meeting on Friday between union leaders and a delegation of Ministers who met with President David Granger at the Ministry of the Presidency. Prior to Jordan’s announcement in Parliament, Minister of State Joseph Harmon earlier Friday disclosed that almost half of the redundant workers will get all their severance money.

Minister Harmon said the unions were forthright in their position during the meeting, something which Government appreciates.

Meanwhile, Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) President Komal Chand also stated that the meeting was held in a positive atmosphere with both sides engaging in meaningful discussions.

President Granger, who addressed members of the union, said this is the start of talks between the two sides so that an agreement can be reached at the earliest possible time. The Head of State noted that this is the time for all stakeholders to come together, putting aside all prejudices and partisan interests and work for the national good.

The Government on Friday also stated that the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) as well as the Port Mourant Training Centre will be utilised to train and upgrade the skills of the workers. Additionally, the service of the Micro Credit Unit at the Social Protection Ministry is available to lend assistance, as there is micro-financing available for start-up projects.

Union representatives and Cabinet members along with President David Granger at the meeting on Friday morning

Robust debate

During the robust debate, GAWU President Komal Chand questioned whether Government was aware of the number of workers that had been made redundant from each estate, noting that there was a disparity between the numbers provided to the House and the numbers the Union received from the Ministry.

He noted that according to a Ministry’s document 1789 persons were fired from Skeldon, 1356 from Rose Hall, 1705 from East Demerara and 375 from Wales.

In response, Agriculture Minister Noel Holder explained that 1851 were from the Skeldon Sugar Estate, 1181 were from the Rose Hall Estate, 1480 were from the East Demerara Sugar Estate and 251 from the Wales Sugar Estate. Holder, however, contended that the statistics provided by Chand were from a different period.

Chand also asked Holder to provide a number of managerial and security personnel that had been relieved of their jobs to which the House was informed that security staff had not yet been severed since protection is still needed at the various estates to prevent vandalism.

Former Trade Unionist and Opposition MP, Gillian Burton-Persaud questioned the House as to whether the sum being sought included overtime payments, which were still outstanding. She also probed Holder to determine whether he is aware of the provisions in the Termination and Severance Pay Act that speaks to fines and the computation of severance.

Opposition Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira questioned why provisions for severance were not made in the 2018 Budget presented in November of 2017, while her colleague Bishop Juan Edghill sought to have Holder disclose when the

Government became aware of the number of workers made redundant.

Holder explained that Government became aware of the number on November 30, 2017, hence the reason for the provisions not being made in the Budget.

Minister Holder, in response to Opposition MP Neil Kumar, informed the House that of the total amount, $609 million will be paid to Skeldon workers, $705 million to Rose Hall workers, $815 million to East Demerara workers, and $150 million for Wales.

Legal challenge

In a gesture of magnanimity, PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo announced on Friday that his party stands ready to fund any legal challenges which sugar workers may bring against the Government for their full severance.

This is besides the pro-bono legal service the party lawyers have already been providing to disaffected sugar workers. Jagdeo made it clear that separate severance payments are illegal and called for the Government to follow the law in its entirety.

This is a reference to the Termination of Employment and Severance Pay Act, which stipulates that severance must be paid in a timely manner after termination of work.

Moving forward, the Opposition Leader said, “We

will continue to battle for the sugar workers.” He added that since the Opposition’s call for no closure of sugar estates has been ignored, the political Opposition will be working to ensure that there are “decent private investments” moving forward – all in the interest of creating jobs for sugar workers.

He stressed too that once the PPP/C resumes office any “underhand” dealings will not be legitimized, but dealt with accordingly.

The issue of 50 per cent severance came in a presidential address to the National Assembly read

by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo at the January 10 sitting of the National Assembly.

The coalition Government closed all but the Albion, Blairmont and Uitvlugt estates.

A Special Purpose Unit set up by the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited has contracted PricewaterhouseCoopers to evaluate the assets of the closed estates at Skeldon, Rose Hall and Enmore before selling them. Thus far, a number of foreign and local companies, including the Demerara Distillers Limited, have expressed their interests in buying the Enmore and Skeldon Estates.

Since the closure of the estates, Government has been heavily criticised for not having a clear direction to steer the terminated workers.

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guyanatimesgy.com

saturDAY, january 20, 2018

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

Reintegrating deportees

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ccording to a recent US Immigration report, a total of 137 Guyanese were, for various reasons, deported from the USA in 2017. This, of course, is a significant increase when compared to the previous year (2016), which had seen ninety-three (93) Guyanese nationals being sent back home.

With regard to the rest of the Caribbean region, Haiti saw five thousand, five hundred and seventy-eight (5578) of its nationals being deported in 2017. Similarly, that figure represents a massive increase when compared to 2016, when just three hundred and ten (310) Haitians were sent back home. Also, in 2017, seven hundred and eighty-two (782) Jamaicans were deported; Trinidad and Tobago saw one hundred and twenty-eight (128) being sent back home, and The Bahamas saw ninety-five (95) persons being deported.

Other Caricom nations also saw a small number of their citizens being deported in 2017.

The report was very vague in relation to the reasons for the deportations, and also did not provide much detail regarding the background of the deportees. This, of course, has been a major problem for regional governments, which have always complained that such persons are forcibly being sent back to their countries of birth after years of living in their adopted countries, without adequate information in relation to the deportees’ medical and criminal backgrounds being provided.

Caricom heads have complained bitterly that the practice was having a severe negative impact on the region, especially as it relates to crime and security issues. They have also noted that very little help is provided by the US and other developed countries in terms of reintegrating the deportees in their country of birth.

It is no secret that while some deportees try as much as possible to turn their lives around in their new environment, many of them gravitate towards crime, which in most cases places a huge burden on the State. For this reason, regional Governments have been lobbying the US authorities to be more understanding as to the tremendous negative impact the practice is having on countries. However, the US officials have resisted the argument that the deportations are to be blamed for the increase in violent crimes in the region.

It should be noted that the US has deported hundreds of convicted criminals to the Caribbean annually since 1996, when Congress mandated that every non-citizen sentenced to a year or more in prison be deported upon release.

Security officials in Guyana have routinely placed the blame for some high-level crimes on criminal deportees, particularly those crimes that occurred during the 2002 to 2004 crime wave that gripped the nation, when the Government at the time was forced to enact the 2002 Amendment to the Crime Prevention Act, which stated that any deportee who poses a threat to public safety can be placed under police surveillance.

Additionally, deportation has caused devastating psychosocial effects, not only for deported persons, but for other family members; and in particular their children, the vast majority of whom have been left behind in the US, Canada, or in a few cases other countries, and who have little or no contact with the deported parent.

There is no need to elaborate on the challenges that confront countries such as ours when persons who have migrated many years ago are sent back after serving their time in jails overseas. What Caricomgovernments need to focus on now is establishing an effective deportee resettlement programme for such persons, to cater for their smooth reintegration into the society; so that once again they can become productive and useful citizens. Many would want to believe that most of the persons who are deported are willing to reform their lives, but the absence of an effective and functioning support mechanism makes this process very difficult.

Caricom and its partners must continue to lobby their US counterparts in relation to information and intelligence sharing regarding criminal deportees, in particular access to complete dossiers on medical and criminal histories. Caribbean leaders must also lobby for more financial and technical assistance to establish re-integration programmes within Caricom member states, to ensure that each person who is sent back to their country of birth becomes a productive citizen once more.

London lit up by Lumiere festival: ‘The Light of the Spirit Chapter 2’ by Patrice Warrener at Westminster Abbey (BBC)

Minister Holder misinformed Dear Editor, Our Union was bemused after it read that Agriculture Minister Noel Holder was quoted on January 16 in sections of the media as saying that “in 1992, GuySuCo had nine estates and 38,000 workers”.

The Minister, it seems, was given incorrect information by his officers; or maybe by GuySuCo. At least, we hope that’s the

case.

For Minister Holder’s edification, the 1992 Annual Report of GuySuCo, at page 21, speaks to eight (8) estates operable. We would be happy if Minister Holder could tell us about the ninth estate he speaks of.

The Minister also speaks about 38,000 workers in 1992. Our Union, which has been associated with the sugar industry

for decades now, cannot recall such a large number of employees being employed.

Such numbers may have been engaged during the height of slavery and indentureship, but would have fallen as technological advancements in the industry were implemented.

For the Minister’s guidance, when the industry was nationalized in 1976

with eleven (11) operable estates, there weren’t 38,000 sugar workers.

We sincerely hope that this would prompt the goodly Minister to go back and double-check the information he is receiving, in order to avoid him speaking incorrectly.

Yours faithfully, Seepaul Narine General Secretary GAWU

Let us cooperate to build the Cooperative Republic of Guyana Dear Editor, In the media, the Government is asking for viable options for the closed estates. We have already seen the despair and negative economic impact of this large-scale retrenchment of workers -- such as has never been seen in our country, or at least in my lifetime.

Also, I had read in one of the print media that the Agriculture Minister, during his 2018 Budget contribution, said that with the closure of the estates in 2017 and the research, restructuring, and other efficiency changes, yields for 2018 would be up by some 48%.

Thus I expect that with these changes GuySuCo

should be returned to profitability sooner rather than later.

I am maintaining that these terminations have nothing to do with the losses GuySuCo is incurring, but more with the closure of the sugar industry to weaken the political base of the PPP/C. Nevertheless, as the Government is saying it would welcome viable options, we should present options for the closed estates, and thus the saving of the industry.

I am a believer in the old proverb ‘where there is a will there is a way’. If the Government is willing, I am sure the workers would find the way to remain producers, rather than a bur-

den on anyone.

I would like to see the closed estates handed over to the workers, and within the following parameters: * The estates be handed over to the workers and the Government take a commensurate percentage of the company * Government make a loan of US$8 million available to the new company with a 5-year moratorium on payments to the Government * The workers put half of their severance in the new company, with bonds or shares for their contributions * The workers hire a competent management team * That GuySuCo be

mandated to buy the production from these estates for at least five years * Government compensate the new sugar entity for maintaining drainage and other infrastructure works which are not solely for cane production.

This may sound simplistic; however, it is the start of ideas for work towards the preservation of jobs, the preservation of the industry, and the creation of wealth. The potential for such an option could be unlimited. It could be the start of a fully integrated, worker-led, private ownership in the sugar sector.

Yours sincerely, Manzoor Nadir

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saturDAY, january 20, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Coalition Councillors threaten to shut down Region 5 RDC again Councillor Gloria Wolf noted that in 2017, Ramphal did not attend the function when President Granger visited the region to commission two David ‘G’ busses in December of 2016.

She said last week the President was in the region again to commission another bus and the Regional Chairman did not attend the function. In fact, he picketed the President. The

Councillor asked for an explanation.

According to Ramphal, he was not officially informed of the President’s visit. (Andrew Carmichael)

Lindener jailed, fined for narco-trafficking

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An argument broke out at the conclusion of the Region Five RDC meeting

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oalition Councillors of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) of Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) have threatened to shut down the RDC for the rest of the year. The threat came as the Council met on Thursday.

The residents of Region Five were given a holiday present in December when the RDC met on December 21, 2017. The coalition side of the Council promised they would be put first in 2018 and as such, they will participate in the RDC meetings but that promise might have only been short-lived for one meeting.

The threat was made at the end of the meeting and the Chairman was asked to reconvene the meeting. After stating that it had ended, some of the Councillors stated that he will not have a chance to close another meeting with them again and reminded

him of what was done in 2016 and 2017.

Prior to that, the meeting could have been considered fruitful with several recommendations being made and the REO being instructed to implement them while several issues were debated.

The coalition claimed that the Chairman, Vickchand Ramphal, concluded the meeting abruptly and without giving some Councillors a chance to address an issue.

In both 2016 and 2017, the coalition refused to sit in most of the meetings.

Between January and July 2016, the coalition Councillors refused to sit at the meetings demanding an apology from the Chairman for not attending a function in the region at which President Granger was the guest of honour. In was until the President addressed the issue in August of that year stating that he did not

want an apology that the coalition Councillors returned to the table.

In May 2017, they walked out after the Regional Executive Officer, Ovid Morrison, demanded an apology from the Chairman saying his creditability was at stake when Ramphal called for an investigation into allegations that two NDC officials had used an NDIA machine to carry out personal work.

Morrison said he saw the machine being used and is of the opinion that since he stated that he saw the machine carrying out personal work, no investigation is needed and to call for an investigation is an insult to his integrity.

However, in December last, the Council assured residents that in 2018, the Council would put the development of the region first.

Meanwhile, during Thursday’s meeting,

Lindener was sentenced to three years in prison by Magistrate Clive Nurse, in addition to being fined $63,000 for the offence of being in possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking.

Troy Francis, 48, of Victory Valley, Wismar, Linden, made his final court appearance at the Linden Magistrate’s Court on Thursday where he was found guilty of two counts of narcotics trafficking, but was found not guilty on one count. Together, he had a total of three narcotic trafficking charges.

The charges against him read that he had 25 and 42 grams of cannabis sativa in his possession at his home and shop for trafficking purposes on February 4, 2017 and June 13, 2016 respectively. He was found not guilty of the former charge, while being jailed and fined for the latter.

In handing down the guilty verdict, the Magistrate asked Francis why the court should be lenient with him, to which he noted that he was a first-time offender and denied knowledge of the prohibited drug. “I don’t sell no weed. I don’t know how it meet in the shop,” the man

Police outpost needed at Onderneeming Sand Pit Dear Editor, With criminal activities escalating in the Food for the Poor Housing Scheme where some 200 families live alone aback of the Onderneeming Sand Pit in Region Two, a call is being made for a police outpost to be set up there.

To some extent, the abominable situation can well be regarded as alarmingly replete with abounding lawlessness ever so very detrimental to the community.

Excessive rum drinking compounded with the prevalent use of narcotics, especially among adolescents,

are the contributory factors to the worrying and despicable situation.

Some of the offences being committed are: rape, break-and-enter, larceny, kick-down-the-door banditry, larceny from the person, assault, fighting, wounding, praedial larceny, attempted arson, and larceny of livestock.

The high rate of underage pregnancy is a common occurrence as well.

Enforcement of the law is necessary to restore some measure of respectability to the society, with the agencies in the district being

charged with the responsibility to do so lacking ever so much.

A well organized criminal gang of eight persons from within the area are known to be culprits. The Police had pursued this gang in the backlands, but in crossing the Itiribisci Lake the boat capsized, and the mission was aborted without any ca-

sualties.

Unfortunately, a high-powered AK-47 rifle fell overboard, and could not be retrieved despite reputable divers being engaged in the operation to retrieve this weapon.

Yours faithfully, Leroy Williams

Jailed: Troy Francis

said, while begging the court for leniency. Magistrate Nurse noted however that the offence is a serious one and the court had to ensure that the penalty serves as a deterrent to ensure that the offence is not committed again.

Magistrate Nurse said based on the quantity of the drug found (42 grams) it proves that it had been for trafficking purposes. The Magistrate therefore handed down the minimum sentence of three years in addition to the $63,000 fine.

In relation to the other charge, the court heard that on February 4, 2017, Police ranks visited the home of the man to arrest him on an assault charge committed against the mother of his child. It was there that they found the prohibited drug in a bag on a shelf inside a shop at the same location as the house. However, after perusing the evidence, the Magistrate noted that there were several contradicting stories told by the testifying ranks while under cross-examination. He also noted that the court failed to establish that the defendant had exclusive entrance into the shop and that the prosecution failed to establish that the drug belonged to the defendant. As such, Magistrate Nurse ruled that there was insufficient evidence against him and ruled that he was not guilty of the charge.

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saturDAY, january 20, 2018

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guyanatimesgy.com

Foundation

– parents, communities and manufacturers share responsibility for solutions Part 1

By Michael Ungar, PhD

M

y inbox has been inundated with reports that our kids are literally dying because of excessive cell phone use. From an editorial in the Lancet to my local radio station, the news is alarming. In many cases, I’m told, our children are on their phones eight or more hours a day, with experts saying it should be limited to just two. Jean Twenge’s new book Igen has been front and centre insisting that we do something and do it quick. Kids are using their cell phones way too much and putting their mental health at terrible risk.

National surveys are showing that kids today are more anxious than ever before, with spiking rates of depression and suicide. Twenge suspects that this uptick in problems (which every mental health professional knows is happening) occurred at just about the same time as cellphones became a common accessory for most teens. Correlation doesn’t imply causation, but in this case, one has to wonder if the very real increase in emergency room visits for mood disorders and self-reported anxiety among teens isn’t a by-product of more accessible technology that both connects and isolates at the same time.

There is definitely something addictive about the ping of a text and the scrolling counter telling us how much others “like” us. It’s made us all (children and adults) into gamblers, sitting in our bedrooms just like slots players sit in windowless casinos, forgetting the time of day, addicted to the next spin and the possibilities it brings.

There’s more bad news too. Seems that with all that online addiction is also coming more bullying, which is only fuelling our kids’ anxiety. A recent article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal by a group of researchers based mostly in Quebec, Canada, found that among a large sample of teens 59 per cent reported moderate exposure to bullying, and 14 per cent reported chronically high exposure to bullying, both in person and online.

That’s not a trend or a disease. At those rates, children’s experiences of bullying are almost as common as high school graduation.

If all of this has made you depressed as a parent, it’s time to think about what you (and others) can do to put the brakes on this spiralling chaos. Here’re a few

solutions that have made recent headlines.

First, start with the corporations.

They have to provide us with the tools as families so that if we want to, we can limit our children’s (and our own) access to our cellphones. I’ve been reading a lot about the California State Teachers’ Retirement System that are huge investors in Apple and their petition to force the company to do something to protect kids from the potential harms of overuse.

I am totally on board with this initiative but only up to a point. I’m sure smartphone producers could find a way to build into their operating systems a simple password that anyone (even teens themselves) could type in that would lock the phone after a set number of hours each day, except for incoming and outgoing texts/calls with caregivers. It could help us prevent cell phones from peddling “likes”, the online equivalent of crack.

The problem with such a solution is that it won’t work. Young people will simply migrate to new platforms and new devices to communicate. Hackers will find ways to unlock locks. Bullies will keep on bullying.

Corporate social responsibility can only ever be one tool among many.

Second, let’s talk about our communities.. There is, for example, the success Iceland has experienced tackling worrying trends among teens with regard to delinquency, drugs and alcohol abuse. An American professor of psychology, Harvey Milkman who teaches part of each year at Reykjavik University, showed during his dissertation two decades ago that drugs and alcohol give children’s brains different types of stimuli depending on the child’s biology.

Addiction creates a change in brain chemistry and that change is what drives the compulsion for an addiction. Children, Milkman argued, who want a rush are going to find that through substance abuse or shoplifting or violence.

Children who are anxious are going

to use substances (like alcohol) to calm themselves down and lose the inhibitions that are a consequence of their anxiety.

The brilliance of what Iceland implemented was a nationwide effort to substitute natural highs and other ways of changing brain chemistry through real experiences that could compete with the synthetic highs found in drugs (and maybe even cellphones).

It worked in Iceland. From 1998 to 2016 the rate of teens who reported being drunk in the past month dropped from 42 per cent to 5 per cent. Cannabis use dropped from 17 per cent to 7 per cent, and cigarette use declined from 23 per cent to 3 per cent. Much of this change is attributed to providing young people with lots and lots (and lots) of opportunities to stay engaged with each other, to participate in arts and sports activities, and to have safe spaces after school to hang out. The entire system is incentivised with subsidies and tax breaks for parents.

While there is no word on whether these programmes are being threatened by cell phone use (do heavy cell phone users avoid the programmes?) it would appear that at least part of the solution to our children’s cellphone addiction is to offer them equally stimulating, and socially engaging opportunities to do things that produce the same brain chemistry as eight hours staring at a small blue screen. (psychologytoday.com)

B y B rad E S achs , P h D

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f more relevance, and usually of more interest, is a family meeting that explores the possibility that the family unit itself is in the midst of a significant transformation, and the ways in which its members can best collaborate on this transformation so that everyone survives and thrives.

One exercise that I often suggest to families that provides them with a framework for this kind of conversation is a sequence of questions that provide a snapshot of the family’s functioning, past, present, and future, on three different dimensions: responsibility, power, and relatedness.

When it comes to the issue of responsibility, here are some questions for the family to begin exploring: What aspects of life is the young adult solely responsible for right now?

What aspects of life are the parents solely responsible for right now?

Where is the overlap between the two? Where does responsibility still get shared between the two generations?

How did this balance look a year ago?

How would all of you like this balance to look a year from now?

When it comes to the issue of power, here are some questions for the family to begin exploring: What is the young adult completely in charge of right now?

What are the parents completely in charge of right now?

Where is the overlap between the two? Where does power still get shared between the generations?

How did this balance look a year ago?

How would all of you like this balance to look a year from now?

And when it comes to the issue of relatedness, here are some questions for the family to begin exploring: What is the young adult allowed to do entirely on his/her own right now?

What are the parents allowed to do entirely on their own right now?

Where is the overlap between the two? When is or should there be time that is spent together?

How did this balance look a year ago?

How would all of you like this balance to look a year from now?

Parents are important to children at any stage of development when they provide a mirror that reflects back to them an image of who they are and how they come across.

But parents can also be important to children at any stage of development by functioning as a beacon, a light that illuminates the many pathways that can carry each family member, and the family as a whole, forward, enabling them to remain engaged with each other in healthy ways even as they begin to differentiate from each other.

Nobody has a crystal ball when it comes to predicting the future, but children – even young adult children – who see that their parents are willing to contemplate and envision the evolution of family life are, themselves, more likely to evolve. It is when the agenda for a family meeting expands beyond addressing the nitty-gritty details of family life and enables its members to reflect upon the past, take stock of the present, and gradually create and become acquainted with their future that such a meeting truly takes on significance, and promotes growth, for both generations. (Excerpt from psychologytoday.com)

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saturDAY, january 20, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

US$18M oil bonus

PPP to file legal action for transfer into Consolidated Fund

…debunks Govt’s excuse on private account

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ne week after a private citizen filed a legal challenge seeking to have Government transfer the ExxonMobil US$18 million signing bonus into the Consolidated Fund, the Opposition PPP/C party has announced that it would also be moving to the courts on this matter.

At a press conference on Friday, PPP/C Leader Bharrat Jagdeo made this announcement as he debunked the Government’s excuse for holding the funds outside of the Consolidated Fund.

Government has said that the money was kept in a private account to pay legal fees for Guyana should it have to take its border case with Venezuela to the International Court of Justice.

“We said to this Government, ‘If you need US$100 million (for) the legal fees to fight our case at the ICJ against Venezuela, the PPP will be the first to sup-

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

port it…to pay as much money (as required)’,” Jagdeo affirmed.

He added that there is no need to keep the money outside of the Consolidated Fund.

“So they don’t need to keep money outside (of the Consolidated Fund). That’s an excuse (legal fees) to keep it outside the Consolidated Fund.

“And by the way, I saw TIGI file an action against

it (Govt), and we plan to join that action, cause we were contemplating filing but we heard that civil society would file. And so we will file to have the money paid into the Consolidated Fund, because it is illegally there (in a separate account),” the Opposition Leader said.

Jagdeo also pointed out that while the Government is scrambling to siphon money from the budgets of other agencies in order to pay former Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) workers their severance, this money (US$18 million) is just sitting there.

Jagdeo is contending that the Government’s intention was always to hide the money, but they were caught with their hands in the proverbial cookie jar.

Oil bonus

The bonus in question was paid to the Government’s Central Bank account by US oil giant ExxonMobil in

President David Granger

2016. The existence of this bonus and the renegotiated oil agreement with the company was kept a secret until evidence of the transaction was leaked in December 2017.

The correspondence of September 20, 2016 which was leaked to the media was addressed to the Governor of the Bank of Guyana with the subject being, “Signing bonus granted by ExxonMobil – Request to open bank ac-

count”.

It showed Finance Secretary at the Finance Ministry, Hector Butts, requesting that a foreign currency account be opened at the Bank in order to receive a deposit in the form of a ‘signing bonus’ to be given by the oil company.

The letter stated, “This account should not be treated as part of the Bank’s reserves.

Instead, the proceeds should be held in the currency of the deposit, that is, United States dollars, and invested in secured interest-bearing securities.”

After mounting criticism, President David Granger defended the transaction by saying it was the thing to do at the time. He also noted that the money was placed in an escrow account, though observers have disputed this.

After the fact, Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman also defended the secrecy by saying the money would be used to defend Guyana’s sovereignty in the legal process.

At present, Guyana is

awaiting a ruling from the United Nations Secretary General on whether or not the country would have to proceed to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). In the meantime, however, this sum of money remains outside of the Consolidated Fund.

Head of Transparency Institute of Guyana, Troy Thomas, took the Government to court last week in his private capacity.

The action was filed on his behalf by Attorney-at-Law Christopher Ram in the High Court.

He wants the court to grant orders directing Finance Minister Winston Jordan to deposit this money directly into the Consolidated Fund, as is provided for in the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act (FMAA).

When the matter was called, however, the challenge had to be retracted after Chief Justice Roxanne George had ruled that the litigation’s format was flawed.

It now has to be refiled and served on all parties before the court can proceed.

Reorganising the Local Govt system

Consultative approach needed for modern administration – Granger

President David Granger and Government Ministers along with the regional leaders from across the country at the conference on Friday at the Marriott Hotel

P

resident David Granger is calling on leaders from the various municipalities, Regional and Neighbourhood Democratic Councils to work together to achieve an effi-

cient and effective public administrative system.

The Head of State made this charge at the opening of the second annual meeting of the National Regional Development Consultative

Committee (NRDCC), which was held at the Marriott Hotel on Friday.

The event was held under the theme, “Strengthening regional governance through leadership and human re-

source development.”

In his feature address, President Granger posited that the move by his Government to decentralise the local Government system is being done against the backdrop of difficulties in accessing basis administrative services by citizens in remote regions.

“Government is continuously trying to strengthen the system of public administration by making each region administratively more resourceful, geographically and

infrastructurally more integrated, economically more robust and depending on your efforts, demographically more populous,” he noted.

According to the President, the current system of administration was very slow to adapt to modernity and this has led to not only administrative deficiencies but great discomfort on the part of citizens in our population.

As such, he noted Government envisages that each region would possess

its own capital town, which is necessary to deliver administrative services and to promote economic development. He wants to see public services and other amenities such as aerodromes, banks, chambers of commerce, courts, factories, hospitals, museums, radio and television stations, Police stations, schools, regional offices and so on, so as to drive independent commercial activities that would see it even attracting investors.

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saturDAY, january 20, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Repeat offender slapped with narco-trafficking charge

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epeat offender Leon Hussain of Cane Grove, East Coast Demerara was on Friday morning taken before Magistrate Wanda Fortune to answer a narcotics possession charge, for which he was remanded to prison.

The 31-year-old labourer denied that on January 18 last, he was found to be in possession of 14 grams of cocaine and 134 grams of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.

Leon Hussain

The Prosecution is contending that ranks in ‘C’ Division swooped down on Hussain’s home and found the drugs hidden in a basket. As such, he was cautioned, told of the offence, and was arrested and charged.

Reports are that, in 2015, this defendant had been charged for a similar offence; and in 2016, he had been charged with the offence of wounding.

The narcotics possession case will continue on February 16.

Man remanded for narco-trafficking

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keem Callender of Lot 186 Charlestown, Georgetown has been remanded to prison

by Georgetown Magistrate Fabayo Azore, before whom he was arraigned on Friday to answer a possession of narcotics charge which stat-

ed that on January 5, 2018, he was found with 338 grams of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.

Police Prosecutor Simone Payne told the court that Police ranks swooped down on Callender in Charlestown after he was seen acting in a

suspicious manner. A search was conducted on a bag he was carrying, and Police unearthed leaves, seeds and stems which they suspected to be cannabis. He was told of the offence, taken to the station and charged.

Callender’s Attorney,

Melville Duke, in a bail application, stated that his client is young and has no previous convictions.

However, the lawyer’s submission was overruled, and Callender was remanded until February 2.

Leopold St man on $25,000 bail for ganja possession

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awle Bharat of Lot 81 Breda and Leopold Streets, Georgetown was on Friday arraigned before Georgetown Magistrate Fabayo Azore on a charge alleging that on January 18 last, he had in his possession 11.8 grams of cannabis.

Unrepresented by legal counsel in court on Friday, the 39-year-old initially pleaded guilty to the charge with the explanation that he had recently separated from his partner with whom he had shared a business.

He claimed that after they

had separated, he left her with all his possessions and started a new business on his own; and he did have a “joint” in his possession only because of the stress he was facing.

He also said that the “joint” he had could not

amount to 11.8 grams, but was rather about five grams.

Based on his explanation, a not-guilty plea was entered, and the defendant was placed on bail at $25,000. The case continues on February 2.

Root cause…

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…of crime in Guyana here was a revealing exchange of views when President Granger accepted the report of the Security Sector Reform Action Project (SSRAP) from the British security expert Russell Combe, who was brought in a year ago to resuscitate the project the PPP had abandoned a decade ago. The PPP had claimed that the Brits had wanted to run the show as in the days of (colonial) yore.

The PPP’s initiative was called “Security Sector Reform Project (SSRP), and the addition of the word “action” in this new iteration presumably signals the different orientations of the two administrations.

Granger accused the PPP of “bluffing”, and not actually being interested in real “security reform”. His administration means business!!

Observers are anxiously awaiting details of this “action plan”, which the President insisted would focus on the “root causes” of crime in Guyana, rather than “symptoms”.

But there appears to be a disjunct between the President, who’s supposed to be a security expert in his own right, and the British Security Expert who operated out of his office for the year he’s been here.

The President believes crime in Guyana is driven by “narcotics smuggling,” and that the PPP just wanted to deal with the spate of murders back in 2007 – and not with the “root causes”. This approach, according to the President, corrupted the Guyana Police Force, since many Police officers participated in the murders rather than going after narcotics dealers. One would presume that, from the President’s perspective, the plan would seek to eliminate narcotics trafficking.

The British expert, however, seemed to have another take on the “root cause” of crime. He said, “Security Sector Reform includes the criminal justice system…what you’re saying (the root causes of crime) is driven really by economics, and whilst that is important to tackle, that is not an area where I would be in a position to offer advice to the President.” He obviously feels “poverty” is the “root cause” of crime, and in fact suggested that, with oil coming down the pike, the Government would be in a better position to solve crime. This, of course, is a textbook approach that goes back to “blaming society” for crimes.

But the President also seems to be a bit simplistic in his approach – rather strange for an ‘expert” who commented rather extensively on the crime situation back in 2007 and the PPP’s efforts to contain it. Back then, the PNC, which he now is the leader, had insisted on a strategy of “slow fyaah; mo’ fyaah” which led to protests, riots, and eventually “African Freedom Fighters” taking on the Police and the state from a base in Buxton.

Was “narcotics” then REALLY the cause of crime? Or is the President barking up the wrong tree? …of SOCU’s sloth A week or so ago, another British crime expert – this time against “organised crime”, being tackled by SOCU -- complained that after all the hard work he’d done a year ago, the cases were lagging in the DPP and the Legal Advsor’s office. “No so!” replied the two officers of the law, who just happens to be females.

So we have a biiiig problem here! After all, these aren’t your garden variety, everyday crimes. No siree Bob!!

These include accusations of pillaging of state assets by the previous administration’s officials, which to a large extent was the reason the APNU/AFC coalition slipped into Government by a nose. One of the biggest cases is the so-called “Pradoville II” caper, in which SOCU claimed no other than former President Jagdeo snapped up land for his house at below market value.

Government’s legal advisor, Justice Claudette Singh, pointed out that the land was being valuated, and wondered whether the case should be prosecuted without proof.

Doesn’t she understand the point of the prosecution?

It’s all political mudslinging!! …of whistleblowing The Government is smirking about the “Whistleblowers’ Bill” it just passed. It wants to encourage insiders to reveal inside hanky-panky.

Like Finance Minister Jordan viciously excoriating the official who released details about the Exxon bonus!!

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

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saturDAY, january 20, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Bill for Witness Protection programme passed – as concerns raised over capacity to fully support venture

By Jarryl Bryan

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he Witness Protection Bill 2017, one of two pieces of legislation designed to encourage and protect whistleblowers, was passed on Friday in the National Assembly.

According to the parliamentary Opposition, however, it is a deficient bill coming at a time when the institutional capacity to support same is lacking.

In his presentation, Opposition Parliamentarian Odinga Lumumba argued that the bill is being tabled at a time when Guyana does not have the capacity to support the bill's provisions. He questioned whether there are provisions to fund relocated witnesses, or even to facilitate the integration of juvenile participants of the programme into the school system.

Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman acknowledged the concerns raised by Lumumba, but noted that time is of the essence with the oil industry impending. According to the minister, with the coming of oil, new threats would arise, and the Government could not wait.

“This bill is part of the continuum towards (regional security). We will be protecting witnesses from a certain category of crime when violence or the threat of violence is made,” Trotman explained in his presentation.

He referred to the current regional security status, where legislation must be put in place that will foster regional cooperation.

Trotman also noted that if one refers to witness protection programmes in the United States and other jurisdictions, no programme is perfect.

On the matter of financing for the Witness

Lack of witnesses

The Witness Protection Bill being debated in the National Assembly

Protection Programme, Trotman expressed hope in Finance Minister Winston Jordan handling this.

“Copy and paste”

Opposition Chief Whip Gail Teixeira categorised the bill as another work of “copy and paste”. According to Teixeira, the original bill the former administration drafted in 2006 has returned to the house 11 years later with little to no changes.

Teixeira noted that there are even omissions when compared to the previous bill. While she stressed that in principle the PPP support bills offering protection to whistleblowers and witnesses, she said that much more work could have been done on this bill. As such, she argued for the bill to be sent to a select committee.

But according to Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams, some flaws pointed out by the Opposition are actually not reflective of the bill's contents. He refuted one charge from the

Wife dies after severe beating from husband

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ighteen-year-old housewife Lorinda Thomas of Barama Line, Baramita, North West District in Region One died at the Baramita Health Centre on Thursday after allegedly receiving a severe beating from her reputed husband on Wednesday night.

Guyana Times understands that the young woman had been imbibing with family members on Wednesday last. At about 19:30hrs, on her way home, she was approached by her reputed husband, and an argument reportedly ensued between the two over her decision to consume alcohol.

The teen housewife was reportedly pushed to the ground and kicked several times to her face and abdo-

the former participant, in which case he or she is allowed 28 days to apply to the President of Guyana for a review of the centre's decision.

men. She subsequently became unconscious, and was reportedly left on the roadside. Sometime later that night, she regained consciousness and went to her relatives’ home. Her relatives rushed her to the Health Centre at about noon on Thursday after she complained of experiencing severe pains to her abdomen following the physical abuse. She, however, died while being prepared for transfer to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC).

This newspaper was told that abrasions were evident on the young woman’s face and abdomen.

The matter was reported to the Police, and a manhunt has been launched for her reputed husband, who has since not been seen following the alleged incident.

Opposition -- that excessive Government oversight had been put into the witness protection programme.

Williams insisted that he has no operational or managerial role in relation to the bill, while the President can only review petitions from a participant who is cut from the programme. In light of this, the question was put, and the bill was passed in the National Assembly.

The bill is expected to complement the Protected Disclosures Bill which had been passed the day previous.

The bill

Part VI of the long-awaited bill binds anyone, including participants or former participants, from disclosing information in relation to the programme. The penalty for breaching this provision is a $1 million fine and 10 years in prison.

According to Section 20 (1), this law applies to anyone who, without lawful authority, reveals information about the identity or location of someone who

had participated in the witness protection programme which can compromise that person’s safety.

Section 20 (2) stipulates that someone who had undergone assessment to be considered for inclusion in the programme is barred from revealing their participation. They also cannot

provide information as to the modus operandi of the programme.

The Witness Protection Bill makes provision for an administrative centre which would handle identity changes. The bill also allows for the centre to withdraw this protection and restore the identity of

The Police have for years complained about difficulties with certain crimes, owing to the lack of witnesses. Some have posited that crimes are recorded as unsolved or remain a mystery possibly because witnesses are not brave enough to testify, or they are afraid to be held accountable for someone’s sentencing.

At a recent seminar, Principal Parliamentary Counsel Joann Bond pointed out that the Witness Protection Programme is designed to protect persons involved in both civil and criminal matters.

The administrative centre, she had explained, would then collaborate with the Head of State, the Attorney General, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), and the Commissioner of Police.

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saturDAY, january 20, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Berbice residents complain of high meter readings, water quality

19 months later

Marudi miners finally R get mining blocks

Minister Trotman and a team from the GGMC met with Marshall Mintz of Romanex Guyana Exploration in Marudi (File photo)

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19-month standoff between miners and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) has finally been resolved with several mining blocks being earmarked for miners in the Marudi area in Region Nine (Upper TakutuUpper Essequibo).

Some of the blocks earmarked will be allotted to the Rupununi Miners’ Association, while another set will be allocated to the Guyana Women Miners’ Organisation (GWMO), for its members who are operating in Mining District 6.

The new lands assigned to the miners are adjacent to the Romanex Concession.

This move by the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNRE) has come after small scale miners were mandated to vacate mining lands on Marudi Mountain that were licensed to the Romanex Guyana

Exploration Limited. The controversy was sparked when the company sought the removal of the miners from the area in order to conduct an Environment and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) before beginning any large-scale mining.

Natural Resources Minister Rafael Trotman had committed to working collaboratively with the GGMC in order to find a long-term solution that would allow the miners to have their own concessions.

The MNRE emphasizes the need for prospecting before the commencement of mining, since this can be cost-effective. The MNRE also stresses the importance of proper mining practices and the need for miners to be cognizant of the wellbeing of residents of surrounding communities.

Minister Trotman had, in April 2016, intervened in a

standoff between small scale miners from the Marudi Mountain area, representatives of Indigenous communities, and Romanex Guyana Exploration Limited.

The miners and Indigenous residents had held a series of protests and had refused to vacate the mining area.

The facilitation of a mediation process was initiated with the help of MajorGeneral (retired) Joe Singh.

This had given rise to the signing of the ‘Mediation of the Marudi Mountain Mining Dispute Agreement’.

Minister Trotman has said that, during the second week of February, he plans to have a consultation with the relevant stakeholders, including representatives of the South Rupununi Indigenous communities, to receive feedback with hopes of guiding the process forward.

esidents of Sheet Anchor Village in East Canje, Berbice, Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne) have complained bitterly about receiving water with high iron content and about high meter readings, issues that the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) has pledged to look into.

After listening to the various concerns, GWI Managing Director Dr Richard Van West-Charles reassured customers that GWI is committed to delivering potable water of World Health Organisation (WHO) standards.

This engagement took place at a GWI public meeting held at the Fort Ordnance Primary School in the East Canje area.

With regard to the water quality, GWI will be flushing all lines and introducing SeaQuest, a product that would remove the presence of iron in the water so as to significantly improve its quality. This product will serve as a temporary solution, even as a treatment plant is being constructed in the Sheet Anchor community.

Additionally, in light of the testimonies provided by residents, GWI management will explore waiving a portion of the outstanding debt to reflect their normal rates.

It was also agreed at

GWI Managing Director Dr Richard Van West-Charles addressing residents at Sheet Anchor in East Berbice

the meeting that residents would begin paying a metered rate only once they are satisfied with the quality of water being received following the implementation of SeaQuest.

Dr Van West-Charles further informed them that “GWI will continue to install meters in the area due to the agreement with the InterAmerican Development Bank.”

GWI is also moving to meter the entire country.

According to the GWI Executive Director of Operations, Mr Dwayne Shako, “Prior to the upgrading and installation of water meters, GWI’s Customer Field Representatives will be visiting residences and businesses to verify account

information, in order to update or correct accounts on the GWI database.

“We are appealing to all customers to cooperate with the GWI staff and contractors conducting the survey and those conducting the upgrades, since the programme will significantly improve the service provided by GWI,” Shako said.

GWI is appealing to all domestic and commercial customers to support its countrywide “Metering Programme,” as the company continues to aim towards metering 100 percent of its customers.

GWI wishes to advise that, in the production of treated water, the company adheres strictly to WHO standards.

GTU teams up with The Caribbean Voice …training teachers on social issues

General Secretary of GTU, Coretta McDonald

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n an effort to cushion the mental and social effects of the recent laying off of more than 4,000 sugar workers in Region Six, the Guyana Teachers Union has teamed up with the Caribbean Voice, a non-profit organisation, to train teachers to deal with social and mental issues affecting students and the larger community.

General Secretary of the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU), Coretta McDonald, noted that the union decided to begin collaboration with The Caribbean Voice with the interest of the students in mind. She added that while the union is concerned about the welfare of its teachers, the needs of the students are also of para-

mount importance.

“The GTU is much more than just more money and better working conditions.

We see our members as being important; we see our charges for the students and pupils as being even more important, because they’re the ones who are going to be our leaders for tomorrow.

We have to ensure that we put systems in place for this.

It is against that backdrop that we decided that we are going to have this partnership with The Caribbean Voice, because we recognize that in everything we cannot stand alone,” she explained.

McDonald added that the union recognises that “in this partnership, because of the areas we are going to focus on, we are going to achieve a few things that GTU could not have done on (its) own -- save lives, developing and nurturing new attitudes and behaviour patterns.”

She added that the GTU also recognises that the partnership will not only build teachers in terms of assisting them in developing new skills in terms of dealing with social ills, but it is going to enlighten them so that they can pass the knowledge on to students.

The Guyana Coordinator of The Caribbean Voice, Nazim Hussain, has said

Coordinator of The Caribbean Voice (Guyana), Nazim Hussain

that one such training exercise has already been conducted with over 100 teachers in the Canje, East Berbice area.

“The sugar estates are closing. The Rose Hall Estate is one of the affected areas, and we have seen signs of school children being affected by the spill-off, and GTU said we should train the teachers so that they can train students and parents,” he noted.

He explained that the teachers have been trained to deal with a range of issues, inclusive of suicide and violence of all sorts.

The next leg of the training workshop with teachers would be held at the Berbice High School on January 26.

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saturDAY, january 20, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Sugar sector

Jagdeo calls for probe into GuySuCo subsidies E xpressing suspicion as to how the Government has used the billions it allocated to the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) since taking office in 2015, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) is calling for a probe to be launched into how these monies were spent.

Articulating the Party’s position on the matter during a Friday morning press conference was PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo. According to Jagdeo, there are discrepancies between the figures quoted by President David Granger in his January 10 speech and Agriculture Minister Noel Holder.

Jagdeo quoted verbatim from Granger’s speech, in which the President pointed out that “a new factory at Skeldon in the East BerbiceCorentyne region was built at a cost of US$212 million and $48 billion was expended in financial support to the industry since 2011, while $32 billion was spent over the past 30 months, which when

Former President Bharrat Jagdeo

calculated sums up to a rate of about $1 billion a month.

This Government cannot sustain the sugar industry in its current state. It has had to make difficult choices in order to ensure the industry’s viability.”

The PPP General Secretary noted that the figure quoted in Granger’s speech was divided by the number of months. Jagdeo, an economist by training, observed that this was how the

figure of a billion a month was arrived at. According to Jagdeo, however, this does not add up and there is a clear contradiction between the President and his Agriculture Minister.

“Holder said over the past seven years, Government pumped $48 billion in GuySuCo. $600 million in 2011; $4 billion in 2012; $5.3 billion in 2013; $6 billion in 2014; $12 billion in 2015; $11 billion in 2016; and $9 billion in 2017,” Jagdeo stated, quoting the Minister.

“So when you add this, you see $48 billion over seven years.

(But Granger) added $32 billion on top of it in his speech. Then he divided by the number of months and that’s how he came up with $1 billion a month. He over inflated the figures by two times in his speech to the nation. And Holder gave the ac-

curate figures.”

“Even in those figures, you would see that the period 2011 to 2014, an average of $4 billion a year was given in subsidy to GuySuCo. Between 2015 to 2017, $10.6 billion average. And that is impossible. It’s more than double the subsidy in just three years. We need to have a full-fledged investigation into whether this money was given, how it was spent.

And knowing the nature of this Government, I suspect a significant portion of this money may have disappeared.

And if they were so good at management, the figure should have deteriorated.”

Government had announced that it will pay 50 per cent of the severance benefits to dismissed sugar workers by the end of this month. This commitment represents over $2 billion in severance payments, with a

Agriculture Minister Noel Holder

paper seeking to appropriate supplementary funds being laid and debated in the House.

It was during this announcement that President Granger in a speech read by the Prime Minister spoke of $48 billion being spent since 2011 on the industry. Jagdeo expressed the belief, however, that the incorrect figures were no mere mistake.

“Now when Guyanese hear this figure (from the

President), they will say yes it can’t be afforded because it is a large sum of money. So that is what I believe it was designed to do, to say that we can’t afford to keep the sugar industry alive,” he stated.

Soon after coming to office, the coalition Government doubled the subsidy to GuySuco to $12 billion. Nine billion dollars was also budgeted for early in the year, with a further $2 billion after the Corporation approached the Government requesting approximately $3.5 billion.

A further $9 billion was approved in 2017 for GuySuCo, with Finance Minister Winston Jordan announcing that If Government adhered to the requests for specific monies for GuySuCo, it would be money wasted.

In May 2017, Government announced plans to close the Enmore and Rose Hall Sugar Estates, sell the Skeldon Sugar Factory, reduce the annual production of sugar, and take on the responsibility of managing the drainage and irrigation services offered by GuySuCo.

2 drivers charged for causing death Policeman slapped with rape charge

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wo drivers who allegedly caused the death of a Diamond, East Bank Demerara woman were on Friday charged with causing death by dangerous driving.

Keith Hollingsworth, 47, of Linden and Ron Walker were jointly charged for causing the death of Samsonisha Batterlamo by driving dangerously on August 21, 2017.

It is alleged that they respectively drove motorcar PJJ 8918 and motor lorry GGG 9877 in a dangerous manner, thereby causing the woman’s death.

Walker failed to appear in court on Friday, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.

In Hollingsworth’s presence, the court heard that the deceased had just left the Diamond Diagnostic

Centre in a taxi when it collided with the two defendants’ vehicles, as they were said to be overtaking the car in which she was travelling.

Hollingsworth has been placed on $200,000 bail, and is expected to report to the Ruimveldt Police Station on a weekly basis. His passport also has been lodged with the court.

The case will continue on February 13.

Consultative approach needed...

“A rich country cannot build on poor regions; rich regions require cooperation among the local government organs in order to ensure that they’re working towards the achievement of common goals,” he posited.

However, the Head of State outlined that this vision cannot be achieved without cooperation among all stakeholders.

“Government operates at three levels – local, regional and national – and all must work together if we are to achieve our achievements that we seek,” Granger asserted.

Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan had stated that the conference would allow for greater consultations and collaborations among the regions. “(The President’s) call for regional development to be centred in the establishment of regional towns in which public, financial and economic services are satisfactorily delivered, demands a consultative corridor to be established to enable greater communication, calibration and coordination of national, regional and lo-

cal policies and plans,” the Minister said.

He went on to say that the NRDCC is intended to serve as a mechanism for coordinating the developmental agenda of all three spheres of Government, while supporting the bottom up approach to democratic governance.

“Since the principle function of the NRDCC will be to facilitate collaborative financial planning and administration, it will allow for more accountability, more transparency for partnership for among key stakeholders and planning, which will aid in the effective delivery of public services throughout Guyana,” the Communities Minister stated.

The ceremonial opening of Friday’s conference was followed by the Business Session and Caucus Deliberation. During these, regional chairpersons (RCs) were required to detail policy directions and plans for future development of their RDC for the year; discuss specific issues of national importance and arrive at resolutions; report on chal-

From page 7

lenges, lesson learnt and success stories and development in the region, and propose policy recommendation to strengthen the system of regional administration.

Additionally, the Business Session heard from RCs as to progress and timelines on: the renaming of the regions; implementing regional flags and symbols, and establishment of Capital towns in Regions Three (Essequibo IslandsWest Demerara), Four (Demerara-Mahaica) and Five (Mahaica-Berbice).

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olice Constable Jamal Whyte was on Friday arraigned before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan on a charge alleging that he had had sexual relations

with a 15-year-old girl.

The court heard that in August 2017, at Roxanne Burnham Gardens in Georgetown, the 21-year-old cop had engaged in sexual

activity with a female under the age of 16.

He was placed on bail in the sum of $250,000, and the case has been set to continue on January 30.

12 news Alert GDF rank foils 2 students Ex-Policeman, friend charged for robbery, forgery from committing suicide A A saturDAY, january 20, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

n alleged attempt by two young teenagers to end their lives was thwarted on Friday afternoon after they were intercepted by ranks of the Guyana Defence Force’s (GDF) Coast Guard.

According to a statement from the Army, the incident occurred sometime around 15:00h on Friday at the Kingston Jetty, Georgetown, and involved two secondary school students.

It was reported that the Coast Guard rank along with the Unit’s Welfare Officer confronted the teenagers as they were about to jump into the water.

“The two teenagers, who were allegedly preparing to jump into the deep waters at the mouth of the Demerara River, were spotted by an observant rank who immediately intervened with the assistance of the Unit’s Welfare Officer,” the military’s post on Facebook stated.

It further detailed that the Guyana Police Force was subsequently summoned to

the scene and the teens were taken into custody.

When contacted, A Division (GeorgetownEast Bank Demerara) Commander Marlon Chapman told this newspaper that he was unaware of the incident. However, the Force’s Public Relations Officer Jairam Ramlakhan was able to confirm the incident but was unable to provide further any information.

If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, kindly seek help from the Guyana Inter Agency Suicide Prevention Helpline, on telephone numbers (+592) 223-0001, 2230009, 600-7896, 623-4444, or email: guyagency@yahoo. com, Twitter: guyanaagency; WhatsApp: (+592) 6007896, 623-4444; Facebook: Guyana Inter-agency Suicide Prevention Help Line.

n ex-Cop and his alleged accomplice appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan on Friday, charged for robbing a man of five gold chains at a party.

Timothy Waldron, the ex-Policeman of Lot 1832 Unity Place, Festival City, Georgetown; and Shawn Archibald, 38, of the said address, appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts and denied the charges against them.

Both men pleaded not guilty to the charge which alleged that on December 31, 2017, at Republic Avenue, Mackenzie, Linden, they robbed Trevor Campbell of his five gold chains valued $740,000.

According to their attorney, Melville Duke, his clients were involved in a fight with the Virtual Complainant (VC) and others when the man’s chains were pulled from his neck. However, he is only accusing Archibald and Waldron of the crime. On this ground, he made a bail submission.

However, Police Prosecutor Sumeil Evans revealed to the court that both suspects are also being investigated in C Division (East Coast Demerara) and by the Criminal Investigations Department for several other incidents.

As such bail was denied and both men were remanded to prison until February 6 when the case will continue.

Meanwhile, both men on Friday made a second court appearance, this time before

Shawn Archibald

Magistrate Fabayo Azore where they were both charged for forgery. Archibald also had another robbery under arms charge read to him.

That charge alleged that on January 1, 2018, at West Ruimveldt, Georgetown, while being armed with a gun, he robbed Ray Juandoo of two chains valued $220,000 and one iPhone valued $186,000.

The forgery charge alleged that on September 5, 2017, he forged a car registration plate PTT 1946 which was affixed to a silver Toyota Premio motorcar, knowing same to be false.

He was remanded to prison on both charges.

Graphic video

NTC condemns killing of Guyanese – as Police search for family of deceased

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horrific video has been shared on social media of a young man -- believed to be Guyanese -being butchered by persons suspected to be Venezuelans, and reports are now surfacing that the young man was killed by his alleged employers after he demanded payment for work done.

This is according to a statement from the National Toshaos Council (NTC), whose members have said they have been following developments of someone missing in a mining district and never having been heard from, until the video surfaced of the said young man being gruesomely killed.

It was initially reported that the young man in the video had been a resident of Hosororo in Region One (Barima-Waini). In the vid-

eo, he was seen lying on his back, gagged and bound as his killers recorded the act.

An individual with a machete approached the young man and cut off both his ears. The individual then inflicted a chop wound across the victim’s neck which caused him to bleed profusely. The armed man then proceeded to chop the young man repeatedly in the back.

No confirmation

Local Police have since been unable to confirm whether the young man in the video had indeed been Guyanese. In fact, Divisional Commander of Interior Locations, Commander Ravindradat Budhram, told Guyana Times on Friday that ranks are still making efforts to confirm that the now dead young man in

the video had indeed been Guyanese.

He said that while information received revealed that the victim had reportedly been a resident of Hosororo, when the Police went there in search of his family, they were unable to locate anyone.

“The Police visited his home, but the parents were not there…they are somewhere in the North West District, so we’re trying to make contact with them because we need a relative to come forward and confirm (that the young man in the video is Guyanese),” the commander related.

Nevertheless, the commander noted that ranks are speaking with neighbours in the area and gathering statements in the meantime.

The NTC, on the other hand, has said its members “have attempted to contact the family, and we ask that the public respect the privacy of the family at this time.”

In condemning the murder of one of its Indigenous members, the NTC has rubbished claims made in the video that the killers are actually farmers who had caught a thief. The NTC said, “We were reliably informed that the young man was employed by his murderers and (was) never paid.

When he asked for his payment, his employers took to this process to address and deter others from seeking fair compensation for their work.”

The NTC went on to highlight that there is no justification for such acts, adding that the difficulties

being experienced in neighbouring Venezuela should not be taken lightly nor taken advantage of.

“While we continue to ask that our leaders provide as much humanitarian support (as is possible) to those Venezuelans in need, we also ask that our hospitality (be) not (taken) advantage of, nor taken for granted. For those who think of retribution, we ask that you walk a higher ground and show respect for your brothers and sisters, regardless of nation. These are difficult times,” the Council urged in a statement on Friday.

The NTC used this opportunity to call on Government, through the offices of the Public Security Ministry, Foreign Affairs Ministry, Social Protection Ministry, Natural Resources Ministry,

and the Indigenous Peoples Affairs Ministry, to conduct a thorough investigation into this brutal act, and to take the necessary steps to protect all Guyanese citizens from exploitation and murder.

The body also reiterated calls for enhanced security to be implemented at the country’s borders, to better protect the vulnerable Indigenous peoples in border and mining communities.

The NTC has also urged that efforts be made, both at the levels of the Education Ministry and among families, to ensure that Indigenous young people get access to better education, so they could develop themselves and not have to cross the borders in search of employment to earn a living.

news

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saturDAY, january 20, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

80 graduate from small business training programme …focus placed on rural communities

Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, Lilian Chatterjee; IDRF's Chairman Winston Kassim; Programme Manager of IDRF Nabil Ali; Director of Education and Dawah at CIOG, Sheik Moeen ul Hack; and Chairperson of the Rights of the Child Commission and the head of the Women's Arm of CIOG, Aleema Nasir

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ighty women from the West Coast of Berbice (Region Five) are now empowered and equipped with the skills needed to operate a small business following completion of a six-month skills training project.

These women have received training in cooking, catering and sewing.

The programme was conducted in groups of 40, with each given professional tutoring on the development of businesses.

The Women

Empowerment Project, held at the D’Edward Masjid, was organised by the National Committee for Sisters’ Affairs (NACOSA), and was funded by the International Development and Relief Foundation (IDRF) of Canada. It concluded on Wednesday.

This was the first of two skills-based training for self-development and self-sufficiency projects organised by NACOSA to assist women to empower themselves.

On Thursday, the second

programme commenced for women in the Meten- MeerZorg community on the West Coast of Demerara. These women empowerment projects are geared to helping women become self-supportive.

Speaking at Thursday’s graduation exercise, Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, Lilian Chatterjee, committed the Canadian Government’s support to empowering women.

According to the IDRF chairman, Winston Kassim, who heads the global monitoring projects, the organisation has a strong and longstanding partnership with a number of non-profit groups in Guyana, particularly the CIOG. Also attending the exercise were Program Manager of IDRF, Nabil Ali; Director of Education and Dawah at the Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG), Sheik Moeen ulHack; and Chairperson of the Rights of the Child Commission and head of

Eighty women attended the Meten-meer-Zorg programme

the Women’s Arm of CIOG, Aleema Nasir.

According to Nasir, the programme was held for rural women from all denominations. She added that on Thursday, a similar programme was launched for women in the Meten- MeerZorg area of the West Coast of Demerara.

She noted that another eighty women have been registered for that programme, which would also run for six months.

“An important aspect of this project is the business component, where they receive training in starting and managing their own

businesses… It’s a skillsbased training for self-development and self-sufficiency project,” she said.

Nasir said she has had interviews with some of the women from the Wales community, where many persons are out of a job, and has gotten IDRF to pay their transportation so they can attend the programme.

IDRF is a Canada-based charitable organisation which was founded in 1984.

It provides humanitarian aid and sustainable development assistance around the world to the poor and disadvantaged, and to those who have been displaced by nat-

ural disasters and conflict.

IDRF supports the provision of basic necessities, such as food, clothing, shelter, hygiene kits, trauma counselling, clean water and medical assistance to people affected by floods, cyclones, famines and earthquakes in Japan, Pakistan, Haiti, Myanmar, Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, and East Africa.

Additionally, it has opened clinics, built homes, created clean water facilities, provided job skills, helped erect waste management facilities, and much more for hundreds of needy communities from Africa to Asia.

National Cadet Corps reintroduced in schools not limited to, technical education,” Brigadier West said.

The Chief-of-Staff went on to urge parents and students gathered at the event to seize the opportunity presented to them, as he pledged the Army’s continuous support.

GDF’s second component, the Guyana People’s

GDF Chief-of-Staff, Brigadier Patrick West and Ministers George Norton and Nicolette Henry (seated centre) along with officials from the various Ministries pose with some of the participants of the newly reintroduced National Cadet Corps

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ome 487 students from six schools across Guyana will benefit from developmental, leadership and life-skills training as the National Cadet Corps (NCC) programme is reintroduced.

After months of consultations with stakeholders, the programme was re-launched on Friday at Hope Secondary School, on the East Coast of Demerara, under the motto “Moulding today’s youth, securing our future”. It is being spearheaded by the Education Ministry in collaboration with the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), the Social Cohesion Ministry and the regional adminis-

tration.

The 400 plus participants were taken from schools such as North Ruimveldt Multilateral, Stewartville Secondary, Hope Secondary, Berbice Secondary, St Ignatius Secondary and the Mackenzie High School. The cadets will receive training in a number of areas including environmental and dexterity training, communication skills and academic training in modern language, civic education and home management.

Delivering his address at the opening ceremony, Social Cohesion Minister with responsibility for culture, youth and sport, Dr

A section of the gathering at the re-launching of the National Cadet Corps programme on Friday at Hope Secondary School

George Norton reaffirmed his commitment to programmes which are designed to foster the development of all Guyanese, particularly youths.

The Minister commended the course content which contains a number of activities aimed at moulding and transforming the cadets into productive citizens.

Meanwhile, Education Minister Nicolette Henry said the programme is designed to produce youths who have the “seriousness of purpose to fulfil their potential as good citizens with the spirit of Guyanese culture and renewed values”.

Meanwhile, outlining that the re-launch of the National Cadet Corps is a directive from the Commanderin-Chief, President David Granger, Chief-of-Staff of the GDF, Brigadier Patrick West highlighted that the programme aims at building character and teaching young people life skills in preparing them for adulthood.

“The programme therefore, aims to build character and teach young people vital life skills for tomorrow’s world which includes, but is

Militia, was re-established back in December 2015 despite much criticism by sections of society.

Friday’s launching concluded with much ceremonial pomp and flare as schools participating in the programme entertained the Ministers with poetry recitals, from the students

of the host school, steel pan renditions from the North Ruimveldt Steel Pan Orchestra and a march pass from the COFORNA Drum Corps.

Chief Education Officer, Marcel Hutson and the Assistant Director of Youth Leslyn Boyce also attended the ceremony.

14 news

saturDAY, january 20, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Teenage girl placed in Police lock-ups for 4 days

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Corentyne, Berbice mother is seeking answers after her 16-year-old daughter was placed in the lock-ups for four days. The mother was also asked to pay $100,000 station bail after the minor was accused of simple larceny.

The 16-year-old was locked up since last Friday.

According to her mother, Radikha Udho, last Thursday morning, an elderly woman from the village told her that she could not find her US Green Card.

She said she went and assisted the elderly woman in the search for her Green Card. The villager then discovered that gold and silver jewellery was also missing.

Udho said when she was at the market later that day, she received a telephone call stating that the Police were at her home. She said she went to the Number 51 Police Station to enquire and was told that the elderly woman had accused her daughter of stealing the jewellery.

However, on Friday, she took her daughter to the

Police station as requested.

A statement was taken and the teenager was detained and subsequently placed in the lock-ups.

Guyana Times is in receipt of recordings where a Police Officer is heard saying it was the station Sergeant who had set the teen’s bail.

Addressing the issue, a senior Police Officer from the Division [B Division] stated the bail required was excessive. The officer said

given the circumstances, the officer could have used his discretion. However, after much lobbing, the station bail was reduced to $50,000.

Meanwhile, the senior officer told this publication that the matter should have been handled differently and if it was that the teenager had to be detained, it could have been done without placing her into the lockups for such a long period.

(Andrew Carmichael)

Officials urge support for Linden Hospital blood drive

– stress “poor” annual response

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alls are being made to residents of Region 10 (Upper Demerara- Berbice), moreso the Linden community, to support the annual blood drive hosted by the Linden Hospital Complex (LHC).

The calls are being made by officials of the medical institution as it continues its quest of saving lives through blood transfusions. In an interview with the Guyana Times, Senior Medical Technologist attached to the hospital, Melanie Sinclair, said response from members of the community has generally been “poor” over the years.

She pointed out that there is need for more awareness and education campaigns geared towards motivating people to donate blood. She said more needs to be done

LHC PRO Toshanna Alicock

in terms of educating members of the public on the importance of so doing.

“Because even if you go on television and you say you’re having a blood drive and what is the venue, if

persons don’t know why they need to give blood, the importance of it, you find that they won’t come,” she pointed out.

She added that the hospital is hoping to expand the blood drive in terms of stakeholder contribution.

Meanwhile, LHC’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Toshanna Alicock, said this year, in an effort to improve support for the blood drive initiative, the health institution will be targeting companies to come on board. She appealed to members of the public to show support, noting that one pint of blood can save three lives.

“We hope that companies would get on board. We know that they house a lot of employees, so we’re appealing to different companies; that’s the plan. We haven’t sent out official letters as yet, but we’re hoping that the companies would accommodate us...especially corporations... to see how best they can accommodate us for our blood drive this year”, she explained.

Alicock said the hospital would also be hosting blood drives at various exhibitions this year. As is customary, she said, the LHC also plans to have a booth set up during the hosting of the annual Linden Town Week event this year to cater for blood donations.

Motorists urged to use Vlissengen Rd/Carifesta Avenue with caution …infrastructural works in progress

The Vlissingen Road/Carifesta Avenue intersection

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oordinator for the Public Infrastructure Minsitry’s Works Services Group, Geoffrey Vaughn is urging motorists to proceed with caution at the intersection of Vlissengen/Carifesta Avenue since infrastructural works are ongoing.

Speaking with the Department of Public Information (DPI), Vaughn reminded that preliminary work for the construction of a roundabout at the Vlissingen and Carifesta Avenue junction was being executed at the time. The coordinator also emphasised that persons should always be cautious when proceeding along the junction.

“Roundabouts don’t usu-

ally have traffic lights, but persons need to practice using the area with caution, if they don’t, then it will give you an idea of how people would utilise the roundabout when it is completed.”

While the Public Infrastructure Ministry will consider engaging the relevant authorities to have the traffic lights functioning as per normal, Vaugh said his office will also recommence its campaign to sensitise road users on the ‘dos and don’t’s’ of manoeuvring the roundabout.

Vaughn said “currently the area takes the shape of a roundabout, so the Ministry has to begin an early campaign to inform persons on how to use the area safely. Road users

need to be aware that persons who enter the intersection should move first. Also, persons who wish to make a right turn, should approach the roundabout in the right lane, then signal right as they approach the roundabout and continue to signal right until they are ready to exit. Then, signal left before you exit the roundabout.

These are things we want people to know.”

Contracts for the roundabout are still out for tendering and will soon be awarded following which infrastructural work will commence. In the interim, the WSG Coordinator is asking pedestrians to be patient and use the area with caution.

Brazil’s Health Minister visits President

From left: Brazil’s Ambassador to Guyana, Lineu Pupo de Paula; Federal Deputy of São Paulo, Bruna Dias Furlan; President David Granger; Vice Governor of Paraná, Maria Aparecida Borghetti; and Brazil’s Health Minister, Dr Ricardo Jose Magalhāes Barros at the Ministry of the Presidency

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resident David Granger was Friday paid a courtesy call by Brazil’s Minister of Health, Dr Ricardo Jose Magalhāes Barros and a delegation from that country, who are currently in Guyana on an official visit to discuss areas in which the two states can strengthen cooperation, particularly in the health sector. The meeting was held at the Ministry of the

Presidency.

The visiting minister’s delegation included the ViceGovernor of Paraná, Maria Aparecida Borghetti and the Federal Deputy of São Paulo, Bruna Dias Furlan.

President Granger said that the fact that the minister’s visit came so soon after his own State Visit to Brazil, shows a commitment and willingness on both sides to strengthen the cordial

50-year-old diplomatic relationship. The President also noted that while Guyana welcomes cooperation in the health sector, it looks forward to deepening cooperation in other areas such as oil and gas, infrastructure and environmental security.

The visiting delegation also met with Health Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence and officials from the health ministry.

news

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saturDAY, january 20, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

MoE fosters relationships with stakeholders in Lethem – town hall meeting

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s part of its efforts to improve the standard of education across Guyana, the Eductaion Education took its townhall meeting to the hinterland community of Lethem in Region 9 (Upper Takatu/ Upper Essequibo) on Wednesday.

According to the ministry, the ongoing town hall meetings are aimed at exploring fresh approaches in the quest to create a modern, participatory education system.

The initiative is the brainchild of the Minister of Education Nicolette Henry.

It’s aim is to foster a closer relationship between parents, the school, and the ministry.

Addressing a packed auditorium of parents, guardians, teachers, and stu-

Chief Education Officer Marcel Hutson with other education officials on Wednesday in Lethem

dents at the St. Ignatius Secondary School, Chief Education Officer (CEO) Marcel Hutson told the gathering that Region Nine has potential. It is against this backdrop that parents and teachers must collabo-

rate to harness the potential of students in the region, the CEO charged.

Further, Hutson told those in attendance that the ministry is serious about closing the gap between the schools on the coast and

those in the hinterland.

“We must create a level playing field for all our children to have a good education and that is why we are here,” he is quoted by the Department of Public Information as saying.

The chief educator announced that plans are intrain to address issues at the critical early childhood stage in Region Nine.

Towards this end, the CEO announced that the establishment of a school for autistic children is on the cards to complement the diagnostic centre that has been built in the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) compound.

Hutson said that he is confident that similar services will be extended to Region Nine.

The region was commended for their much-improved performance at the 2017 National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA).

According to CEO Hutson, this improvement is due in large part to the approach that was taken by

the MOE. He noted the acquisition of mathematics kits and the hiring of a number of mathematics inspectors who are tasked with ensuring that the content and methodology being taught at schools are in keeping with what is expected.

National Coordinator of the Parent Teachers Association (PTA), Nadia Hollingsworth in her presentation told parents that it is imperative that they are integrally involved in their children’s education.

The coordinator said many times schools are only visited by some parents when there is an issue. “You cannot only visit the school when there is an issue, but you have to visit to be apprised of how your child is performing.”

Guyana, Brazil seek to establish bilateral health committee

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he first steps towards the establishment of a bilateral committee to address the strengthening of health services between Guyana and Brazil were taken on Friday with talks between health ministers from the two countries. The discussions were held at the Public Health Ministry’s boardroom.

Public Health Minsiter Volda Lawrence outlined some of the objectives that will be focused on, including collaboration with the School of Medicine of Brazil on Antidotes, laboratory exchanges and training in tropical diseases among others. The Minister added that her ministry is looking forward to continuing the training offered to local health officials in neighbouring Brazil.

“While we (government) had many other things listed, I would like to indicate also our gratefulness for the training we have received in the public health

Brazil Health Minister, Dr Ricardo Jose Managaines Barros and Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence

sector from your country.

The persons who have been able to have those experiences and gain the necessary knowledge were able to come back to Guyana and to provide immense services to our people,” the minister is quoted by the Department of Public Information as saying.

Minister Lawrence not-

ed that Brazil’s willingness to assist in the eradication of Asthmatics has been welcomed by the administration. “We (government) want to ensure by sitting in this part of the world and on your border, that we can also be one of the countries on the list of Pan America Health Organisation/ World

Health Organisation’s (PAHO/WHO) to have eradicated this disease.”

Brazil’s Health Minister Dr Ricardo Jose Managaines Barros pointed out that the visit will help to advance several agenda items proposed by both countries that will further enhance cooperation on matters relating to

health.

“We (Brazil) have a great interest in cooperation regarding border access especially due to Venezuelan migration tourism. We also have cooperation regarding serum for snake bites and we would also like to talk about the attention to the citizens of Guyana in Boa Vista hospital,” Dr Barros said. He assured that assistance will be provided to correct shortfalls in the local health system, such as education/training, basic health coverage and structure. It was highlighted that there is the need for reinforced primary health care service and health literacy to be tailored to residents in the hinterland and rural areas to ensure

that persons are properly educated about health related-matters. This visit comes days after the Public Health Ministry expressed their interest in establishing a possible partnership with Brazil to provide improved healthcare services for residents in Regions Eight and Nine. The idea is to have persons residing in border communities utilise health care services in neighbouring Brazil rather than face hours of travel to access health care in Georgetown. Minister Lawrence thanked her Brazilian counterpart and his team for their visit, noting that the meeting is expected to have several positive outcomes.

Siblings nabbed in 5kg cocaine bust

Facebook to boost ‘trustworthy’ news

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acebook has announced it will prioritise news sources deemed to be more trustworthy on its News Feed.

The firm said the social network community will determine which outlets are reliable via the use of user surveys.

Founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said news content will soon make up around 4% of what appeared in people's News Feeds - down from 5% before.

The move is the latest attempt by the company to quell the spread of so-called fake news and propaganda on the network.

As part of that continuing battle, Twitter also announced on Friday that

Facebook Founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg

it had notified 677,775 US-based users who had retweeted, liked or followed Russian bot accounts on the network in the run up to the 2016 US presidential election.

The change is an attempt

to shift the key judgements over bias and accuracy away from Facebook's employees, and onto its user base.

"We could try to make that decision ourselves, but that's not something we're comfortable with,"

Zuckerberg said.

"We considered asking outside experts, which would take the decision out of our hands but would likely not solve the objectivity problem. Or we could ask you - the community - and have your feedback determine the ranking."

Users will be asked, as they sometimes are about advertising, whether they recognise a news brand and if they trust it.

Facebook's theory - yet to be tested on a large scale is that while there are many partisan outlets that have readers that trust them, there is a smaller subset of media companies that a majority people find "broadly trustworthy", whatever their particular leanings.

(BBC)

The suspected cocaine

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hree persons, including a brother and sister, are in custody following a drug bust at Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara on Friday afternoon.

Reports are five kilo-

grams of suspected cocaine, several vehicles and a quantity of cash were seized by the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU).

Investigations are ongoing.

16

guyanatimesgy.com

saturDAY, january 20, 2018

Regional

Pope Francis says Amazon Indigenous Mexico shaken by 6.3 people under greater threat than ever magnitude earthquake

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Pope Francis, wearing gifts, leaves after a meeting with representatives of Indigenous communities

ope Francis has warned that the Amazon’s Indigenous people have “never been so threatened in their territories as they are now” and demanded an end to the relentless exploitation of the region’s timber, gas and gold.

Addressing an Indigenous audience in Peru’s jungle city of Puerto Maldonado, the pope ex-

panded on the environmental message of his 2015 encyclical, taking aim at the multiple threats faced by the Amazon rainforest and telling its Indigenous inhabitants they were a “call to conscience for a way of life which could not measure its own costs”.

“We must break with the historical paradigm that sees the Amazon as an inexhaustible larder for oth-

St Lucia taking steps to be removed from EU tax haven list – PM

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he St Lucia Government Friday said it expects to join fellow Caribbean Community (Caricom) neighbours, Barbados and Grenada, in being removed from a new list of global tax havens by the European Union.

The EU has signalled its intention to remove the Caricom countries after they submitted plans to change their tax rules. But jurisdictions set to remain on the blacklist are American Samoa, Bahrain, Guam, the Marshall Islands, Namibia, Palau, St Lucia, Samoa, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Prime Minister Allen Chastanet said he had a conference call with EU officials on Friday to identify the problem areas.

“Every month there is a review committee that as-

sesses where the defaulting countries are, so we expect to be told specifically what the concerns are to which we will respond,” Chastanet said, adding that Castries has done everything “within its power” to meet the tax requirements.

He said he hopes that by the time the next review is conducted the island will be off the so called blacklist.

“St Lucia’s GDP (gross domestic product) is one million dollars and we only have 5000 people in our IDC (International Development Corporation) Act, so once I understand the specifics of what the complaints are, like Grenada and Barbados we should be able to get off the list, and hopefully by next month we would have accomplished that,” the Prime Minister added. (Excerpt from Jamaica

Observer)

er countries without taking into account its inhabitants,” he told native Amazonians, many of whom were wearing traditional feathered headdresses, patterned tunics and intricately beaded jewellery.

Pope Francis said the Amazon was not only a source of biological riches but a “cultural reserve” under threat from new types of colonialism. He also re-

ferred to the issues of territorial rights, land titles and informed consent, including the right to veto infrastructure projects.

On his first visit to the Amazon biome, the pope met members of several Indigenous groups who described the threats to their way of life posed by illegal mining, logging, oil and gas exploitation, monoculture and roads invading their territory.

Thousands of native Amazonians had travelled to see Pope Francis in Puerto Maldonado, a city on Peru’s Amazon frontier and the capital of Madre de Dios, a region assailed by illegal gold mining, which has made it an epicentre for people trafficking and modern-day slavery. (Excerpt from The

Guardian)

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ourist hotspots in Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula were shaken Friday by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake – but no injuries or damage were reported, authorities said.

The epicentre was located in the Gulf of California, 76 kilometres North-east of Loreto, a small city in the state of Baja California Sur, the National Seismological Service said.

“There are no reports of people being affected or material damage,” Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto posted on Twitter. The Baja California peninsula, which borders the United States, is home to various resorts including Los Cabos – a favourite among North American and European tourists. Richard de la Cruz, director general of Mexico’s

civil defence, confirmed to Milenio Television that areas near the epicentre were not significantly affected.

“Nobody was injured or killed,” he said. According to De La Cruz, “all safety protocols were activated,” with schools and hospitals evacuated following the tremor, which “was felt moderately” in Baja California Sur. He added there was a small aftershock, although neither a change in sea level nor a tsunami risk is expected. On September 7 and 19 of last year, Mexico suffered two earthquakes measuring 8.2 and 7.1 on the Richter scale respectively.

The first killed 100 people in Oaxaca and Chiapas, South-eastern Mexico, while the second left more than 360 people dead, mostly in the capital Mexico City.

(Jamaica Observer)

Cuban delegation to discuss bilateral exchanges

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oreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Kamina Johnson Smith has welcomed a delegation of Cuban officials to discuss bilateral exchanges in the area of culture.

“It is my understanding that there have been fruitful bilateral exchanges with specific local ministries and agencies, and the engagement has successfully promoted greater levels of technical and economic cooperation between Jamaica and Cuba,” Johnson Smith said.

The Minister was speaking at a reception on Thursday at the residence of the Cuban Ambassador in Kingston to celebrate the 59th anniversary of the Triumph of the Cuban Revolution (National Day).

Members of the delegation, headed by the

Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith (left), and newly appointed Ambassador of Cuba to Jamaica, Inés Fors Fernández raise a toast to the Government and people of the Republic of Cuba at a reception to celebrate the 59th anniversary of the Triumph of the Cuban Revolution (National Day) on January 18 at the Ambassador’s residence in Kingston, on Thursday

Deputy Culture Minister of the Republic of Cuba,

Maria Elena were at the

Salgado, function.

Johnson Smith said the visit will bring the two countries “a step closer to fulfilling that unwavering Caribbean dream of unity, community and cultural synthesis”.

She praised Cuba's contribution to disaster relief in the Caribbean, and the support Jamaica and the Caribbean Community (Caricom) received after two hurricanes last year.

The Minister recalled that Cuba sent more than 750 health workers to several islands ravaged by hurricanes Irma and Maria, even though the country had been affected by the two storms.

In the spirit of solidarity, she said the Jamaican Parliament last year unanimously approved a motion calling on the United States to lift the embargo. (Excerpt from Jamaica

Observer)

Colombia says 550,000 Venezuelans LIAT appoints new have fled to the country Chief Financial Officer

C

olombia says the number of Venezuelans fleeing a severe economic crisis to live in Colombia has increased by 62 per cent in the last six months.

Migration officials say more than 550,000 Venezuelans are now living in Colombia, mostly illegally.

The influx is putting pressure on the government especially in border areas to provide the migrants with food, shelter and medical care. The number of Venezuelans travelling through Colombia has doubled.

Officials say a million Venezuelans have registered for a migration card that allows them to come and go across the border to buy food and other products scarce in their own country.

On an average day in 2017, more than 30,000 Venezuelans used the card to enter and leave Colombia across a border where smugglers thrive selling increasingly unavailable but heavily subsidised Venezuelan products to Colombians.

L

The main border crossing links Cucuta in Colombia to San Antonio de Tachira in Venezuela

Of the Venezuelans living in Colombia, 126,000 have legal permission to stay including some 69,000 who have taken advantage of a humanitarian visa introduced in July.

Last week, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the UN was willing to send more aid to Colombia to help with the growing influx of migrants. (BBC News)

IAT has announced the appointment of Rojer Inglis as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

He replaces Julie ReiferJones who assumed the office of chief executive officer last year. His appointment took effect from January 8.

Reifer-Jones, who is now chief executive officer of the Antigua-based airline, said Inglis is an asset to the company. “We are looking forward to working with Mr Inglis at LIAT as he brings a wealth and variety of financial experience to the company, especially at this time when the airline industry is undergoing rapid changes,” she said.

Prior to joining LIAT, Inglis, who is a Chartered Certified Accountant with membership of the Association of Chartered Certified

Accountants (ACCA), worked for over 30 years in senior financial and leadership positions.

He was the CFO of National Health Insurance Plan, Turks and Caicos and has held positions at WASA St Lucia and Cable and Wireless Barbados Ltd. Inglis said he is looking forward to his role in helping the company as it works towards financial stability and sustainability. LIAT’s management also expressed its gratitude to Andrea James who acted in the position of Chief Financial Officer for the period of vacancy.

“Mrs James, through her leadership of the finance department, was able to help us navigate some very turbulent times while the search for a CFO took place,” noted ReiferJones. (Caribbean360)

saturDAY, january 20, 2018

guyanatimesgy.com

US shutdown: Senate bill on verge of collapse amid rancour

President Donald Trump has called off a trip to his Florida golf club this weekend until a deal can be struck

T

he Republicancontrolled Senate's bid to avert a US government shutdown is teetering on the brink of collapse as it races against a midnight deadline. The House of Representatives voted 230197 on Thursday night for a budget bill to extend funding until next month.

But the upper chamber is set for a nail-biting

vote, with Republicans and Democrats still split on immigration. President Donald Trump has called off a trip to his Florida golf club this weekend until a deal can be struck.

He invited Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer, a fellow New Yorker, to the White House for last-ditch talks.

Emerging about an hour lat-

er, Schumer told reporters "some progress" had been made, but a "good number of disagreements" remained, including a difference in opinion regarding the Democrats desire to extend talks for another five days.

Instead, the president encouraged a four-week extension of federal funding but tweeted that the preliminary meeting was "excellent" and that they were "making progress".

This would be the fourth short-term budget measure to squeeze through a gridlocked Congress since the fiscal year began in October.

Federal agencies are funded through annual budget appropriations bills.

But at the moment Capitol Hill is too engulfed by rancour over how the cash should be spent to agree a longer-term package. (Excerpt from BBC News)

17

Around the World

India's ballistic missile test is a 'direct threat' – Chinese State-owned newspaper

I

ndia’s test this week of a long range intercontinental ballistic missile with the capability of hitting China’s eastern coastal cities constitutes a threat to regional security, a China’s State-owned newspaper has declared, calling for increased Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean to counter its regional rival.

The ballistic missile test, India’s fifth, “poses a direct threat to China’s security as well as a big challenge to the global efforts of nuclear-nonproliferation,” China’s Global Times writes. The missile, called the Agni 5, was launched from eastern India on Thursday and travelled 3000 miles, the New York Times reported, putting China’s coastal cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, in range. India’s last missile test was in December 2016.

The missile is India’s most advanced in its Agni

India's Agni 5 missile test travelled for 19 minutes and 3000 miles, putting China's eastern coastal cities in range

series – the name means fire in Hindi – and is capable of delivering a payload of 1.5 tons, enough to carry a fusion-assisted fissile nuclear warhead, according to the Delhi Defence Review, an India-based security publication.

“With a range of ‘easily more than 5500 km’ [3400 miles], the Agni-V clearly confers upon India the ability to hold all of China’s

Eastern Seaboard cities at risk from Peninsular India,” the journal said.

Other estimates have put the missile’s range at as much as 5000 miles, with Du Wenlong, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Military Science, previously telling the Global Times that India had “deliberately downplayed” the missile’s capacity to “avoid causing concern.” (Excerpt from Yahoo! News)

Museveni: Uganda may Canadian jury clears rail workers in Lacreintroduce executions Mégantic runaway train disaster

U

ganda could begin enforcing the death penalty again, President Yoweri Museveni has said, 13 years after the country's last execution. Museveni said his "Christian background" had prevented him from going ahead with executions, but this "leniency" was encouraging criminals.

Human rights groups have warned against the move. In Uganda, 28 offences merit the death penalty, the highest in East Africa. Some 278 people are on death row.

He also said he would "hang a few" at a graduation ceremony for prison wardens in Kamapala on Thursday.

Rights groups were quick to criticise the president.

"Executing prisoners won't end crime," the executive director of Uganda's Foundation for Human

Rights Initiative, Livingstone Ssewanyana, told the Washington Post.

In recent years crime has risen, with 20 women murdered in four months in the capital Kampala last year.

Some critics say Police put more effort into targeting President Museveni's opponents than into catching criminals.

However, other observers suggested Museveni may not be serious about restarting executions. Nicholas Opiyo of rights organisation Chapter Four told Reuters that Museveni's tweet was "political talk" aimed at boosting his popularity.

The President, 73, angered some Ugandans earlier this year when he amended the country's constitution so that he could run for re-election in 2021. (Excerpt from BBC News)

This photo provided July 8, 2013 by Sûreté du Québec, shows wrecked oil tankers and debris from a runaway train that derailed and exploded in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, Canada

A

Canadian jury on Friday cleared three railway workers of criminal negligence in one of the nation’s worst train disasters, which killed 47 people in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec in 2013.

Former Montreal, Maine & Atlantic

train engineer and conductor Thomas Harding, operations manager Jean Demaître, and railway traffic controller Richard Labrie, faced 47 counts of criminal negligence one for each death in the disaster.

The 12-person jury struggled over

nine days to reach the verdict, asking the presiding judge on several occasions for clarifications on matters of law, raising concerns they might have become deadlocked.

“It was a long process, but now it’s over and my only hope is that we can actually turn the page and become anonymous again, as we were before 2013,” an emotional Labrie told reporters in the courthouse.

In addition to the casualties, some 30 buildings in Lac-Mégantic were completely destroyed on July 6, 2013, when a 72-car train carrying shale oil came loose in the middle of the night, rolled downhill unmanned, derailed and exploded. More than 2,000 people had to be evacuated from the picturesque lakeside town. Firefighters needed two days to put out the raging blaze.

After Friday’s decision, Harding’s lawyer, Tom Walsh, said this was “a very fair verdict,” adding that his client was “terribly relieved and terribly thankful to the system". (Excerpt from France24)

'Gangsta jihadi' Denis Cuspert killed fighting in Syria China says sunken Iranian tanker may now be D leaking heavy oil enis Cuspert, also known as “Deso Dogg”, was one of the so-called “Gangsta Jihadis” who travelled from European cities to join Isis after it declared a caliphate in Syria and Iraq.

Cuspert, 41, toured with the US rapper DMX in 2006 and was married briefly to an FBI translator assigned to monitor him. He was killed on 17 January during clashes with anti-Isis forces in Deir ez-Zor province in eastern Syria.

Previous reports of his death proved unfounded but this time a pro-Isis media network released pictures of his bloodied corpse, SITE, a US-based consultancy that monitors extremist propaganda, reported.

Isis has lost almost all its territory in Syria and Iraq, continuing to hold only a few scattered villages and enclaves. Thousands of its foreign recruits and dozens

A German rapper turned Islamic State fighter notorious for holding a human head on camera has been killed fighting in Syria

of senior commanders have been killed.

The thousands of volunteer fighters who travelled from Europe to join Isis included many who had criminal backgrounds in their home countries.

Cuspert had a German mother and Ghanaian father, and grew up in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district. He became involved in gangs, spent several years in young offenders’ institutions and was convicted of a series of minor offences.

As Deso Dogg, he recorded three albums which achieved moderate success, but ended his musical career in 2010. He converted to Islam in about 2007 but became interested in more radical strands of the faith after a serious car crash three years later. He left for Egypt in 2012 after falling under the influence of another convert and hardline preacher.

He reached Syria in about 2013, and was designated a global terrorist by the US state department in 2015. He appeared in a number of propaganda videos, including one in which he held up the head of an execution victim.

(Excerpt from The Guardian)

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sunken Iranian oil tanker may be leaking heavy bunker fuel as well as light oil off the East coast of China and the best remedy was to recover the vessel, officials said on Friday.

It was unclear how much bunker fuel was left aboard the tanker when it sank on Sunday after being ablaze for days but experts estimated it may have been carrying about 1000 tonnes at the time of collision.

“There have been multiple appearances of oil slicks of different sizes and types at the sinking spot and nearby... the slicks exceeded 200 square kilometres (77 square miles) on Thursday,” Huo Chuanlin, of the State Oceanic Administration’s Ecological Protection Department, told re-

porters.

It was not immediately clear where the oil could wash up or the extent of the damage it could cause. The large tanker Sanchi sank in the world’s worst oil ship disaster in decades. The crew of 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis are all believed to have been killed.

The tanker had been adrift and ablaze after crashing into the freighter CF Crystal on January 6.

Strong winds pushed it away from the Chinese coast, where the collision happened, and into Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

Huo said no oil spills had been detected near the coast, though it was hard to predict the impact on ocean life. (Excerpt from Reuters)

18

guyanatimesgy.com

saturDAY, january 20, 2018

ARCHIE

A physical change should ARIES be researched before you pro(March 21- ceed. Don’t take anything for April 19) granted. The information you receive will be limited and inconclusive. Romance will improve your life.

Learn from a situation you TAURUS encounter. Get involved in ed(April 20- ucational pursuits that will May 20) increase your skills or add to your qualifications. Practice proper diet and stay fit.

dilbert

Make sure you are lookGEMINI ing at an emotional situation (May 21clearly before you decide to June 20) take action. Someone is likely to mislead you in order to avoid an uncomfortable discussion.

Your creative imagination CANCER will lead to interesting pas(June 21- times and people who can ofJuly 22) fer insight and enlightenment.

Socializing, traveling and spending time with those who share your beliefs are favoured.

Peanuts

Anger will surface if you LEO act on an assumption. Ask (July 23- questions and look for alterAug. 22) natives that will help keep the peace and ensure that everyone is treated fairly.

Make alterations at home VIRGO that will help improve your (Aug. 23cash flow. Cutting back on Sept. 22) things you don’t need or changing your living arrangements to lower your overhead will lead to more options.

Calvin and Hobbes

You will uncover seLIBRA (Sept. 23- crets you didn’t want to face.

Oct. 23) Looking back is the best way to help you move forward.

Personal improvement and romance are encouraged.

WORD GAME

SUDOKU

A creative approach to the SCORPIO way you live will help bring (Oct. 24peace of mind and the desire Nov. 22) to follow a less complicated path. Take better care of your health.

Emotional disillusionSAGITTARIUS ment will take control if (Nov. 23you are naive or have taken Dec. 21) someone at his or her word.

Instead of being disappointed, get the facts and counteract what’s being said.

solution for LAST PUBLISHED Puzzle

RULES OF THE GAME: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. For example, if “bake” is used, “baked” or “bakes” is not allowed, but “bake” and “baking” are admissible. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed. To contact Word Game creator Kathleen Saxe, write to Word Game, Kathleen Saxe, Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

Copyright 2015, Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS

CAPRICORN Prospective changes should be simple and within your means.

(Dec. 22Refuse to get caught up in someJan. 19) one else’s enthusiasm regarding a product that promises the impossible. Discipline will help prevent a mistake being made.

Refuse to let little aggraAQUARIUS vations bother you. Look for (Jan. 20the simplest way to solve Feb. 19) any problem you face. Refuse to argue or get involved in something that you cannot afford.

Channel your energy into PISCES (Feb. 20- creative endeavours. Refuse March 20) to let self-deception cloud your vision or send you in a questionable direction.

Assess your skills and focus on what you can accomplish.

saturDAY, january 20, 2018

England hold on to take 2-0 series lead

Jos Buttler's 32-ball 42 took England towards their target (AFP)

E

ngland held their nerve to take a 2-0 lead in the one-day international series with a four-wicket victory over Australia in Brisbane.

Set 271 to win after Aaron Finch hit 106, the tourists eased to 119-1 only to be checked by the wickets of Alex Hales, Jonny Bairstow and Eoin Morgan.

Joe Root and Jos Buttler rebuilt before Mitchell Starc removed the wicketkeeper and Moeen Ali in quick succession.

But Root and Chris Woakes calmly guided England home with 34 balls to spare.

Despite those wobbles during the chase, it was a largely commanding performance by Morgan's side, who bowled superbly to restrict Australia on a good Gabba pitch that offered turn.

England can now clinch the five-match series with victory in the third ODI at

19

Sydney on Sunday.

The basis for England's victory was a self-assured bowling display, backed up by shrewd captaincy from Morgan.

A f t e r D a v i d

Warner and Finch made an untroubled start against p a c e , M o r g a n turned to spin, with Moeen finding turn straight away and removing Warner, who edged to Root at first slip for 35.

Adil Rashid

was then duly introduced to the attack, before part-time off-spinner Root also came on and bowled brilliantly, trapping Australia captain Steve Smith lbw for 18 and taking an easy return catch to dismiss the skittish Travis Head for seven.

With Moeen and Root providing both control and threat, Morgan could keep attacking with Rashid even when the leg-spinner started to leak runs. The reward was the key wickets of Mitchell Marsh, stumped for 36, and Marcus Stoinis,

Aaron Finch toils away to his second consecutive century (Getty Images)

caught behind by Buttler for four, to prevent the hosts making a late surge.

Liam Plunkett returned to remove Finch for his 100th ODI wicket, while Woakes bowled tightly at the death, also displaying fine footwork to run out debutant keeper Alex Carey (27) by kicking

the ball onto the stumps as Cameron White (15 not out) tried to take an ill-advised single.

Woakes then also ran out Andrew Tye off the final ball of the innings to limit the hosts to 270-9, once again 30 or so runs short of a challenging target. (BBC Sport)

SCOREBOARD

Australia Innings (50 overs maximum) DA Warner c Root b Ali 35 AJ Finch c Roy b Plunkett 106 SPD Smith* lbw b Root 18 TM Head c & b Root 7 MR Marsh st †Buttler b Rashid 36 MP Stoinis c †Buttler b Rashid 4 CL White not out 15 AT Carey† run out (Woakes) 27 MA Starc c Roy b Woakes 3 AJ Tye run out (Woakes) 8 Extras (lb-2, nb-1, w-8) 11 Total (For 9 wickets; 50 Overs) 270 Did not bat: JA Richardson Fall of wickets: 1-68 (DA Warner, 11.4 ov), 2-110 (SPD Smith, 19.4 ov), 3-124 (TM Head, 23.5 ov), 4-209 (MR Marsh, 39.2 ov), 5-213 (AJ Finch, 40.1 ov), 6-216 (MP Stoinis, 41.2 ov), 7-255 (AT Carey, 47.4 ov), 8-261 (MA Starc, 49.1 ov), 9-270 (AJ Tye, 49.6 ov) Bowling Wood 9-0-55-0, Woakes 9-0-37-1 (w-1), Plunkett 8-0-43-1 (w-5), Ali 7-0-311, Rashid 10-0-71-2 (w-2), Root 7-0-31-2 (nb-1)

England Innings (target: 271 runs from 50 overs) JJ Roy c Finch b Starc 2 JM Bairstow c Warner b Richardson 60 AD Hales b Richardson 57 JE Root not out 46 EJG Morgan* b Starc 21 JC Buttler† c †Carey b Starc 42 MM Ali b Starc 1 CR Woakes not out 39 Extras (lb-1, w-5) 6 Total (For 6 wickets, 44.2 Overs) 274 Did not bat: AU Rashid, LE Plunkett, MA Wood Fall of wickets: 1-2 (JJ Roy, 0.4 ov), 2-119 (AD Hales, 19.2 ov), 3-129 (JM Bairstow, 21.3 ov), 4-157 (EJG Morgan, 27.1 ov), 5-225 (JC Buttler, 37.1 ov), 6-227 (MM Ali, 37.4 ov) Bowling Starc 10-0-59-4 (w-1), Richardson 10-1-57-2 (w-1), Head 7-0-55-0, Tye 9-0-47-0 (w-1), Finch 3-0-17-0 (w-1), Stoinis 4.20-34-0 (w-1), M Marsh 1-0-4-0

McGregor's Ostapenko beaten, reign set to Wozniacki advances end, says UFC W C

orld number seven Jelena Ostapenko was beaten by Estonia's Anett Kontaveit in the third round of the Australian Open.

The French Open champion suffered a 6-3 1-6 6-3 defeat by world number 33 Kontaveit in one hour and 53 minutes.

Kontaveit, who has reached the fourth round for the first time in Melbourne, will next play Spain's world number 39 Carla Suarez Navarro. Elsewhere, second seed Caroline Wozniacki reached the last 16 with a straightforward win over Kiki Bertens.

Wozniacki beat her Dutch opponent 6-4 6-3, saving four break points in the final game before serving out the match.

The Dane will next

face Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova.

Ostapenko's exit means that Angelique Kerber and Maria Sharapova - who play each other on Saturday - are the only two Grand Slam champions remaining in the women's draw.

There were 11 double faults in a scrappy affair on Margaret Court Arena, with Latvia's Ostapenko losing all five of her service games in the first set.

Ostapenko took a medical timeout before the second set for treatment on her thigh and she found enough rhythm to take the game into a third set.

Despite some solid defence from Ostapenko, Kontaveit got the decisive break before winning eight of the final 10 points of the match to claim victory.

Caroline Wozniacki will face Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova in the quarter finals

onor McGregor’s reign as UFC lightweight champion looks to be over after the organisation’s president Dana White said on Friday that American Tony Ferguson and Russian Khabib Nurmagomedov will fight for the undisputed title on April 7.

The UFC had previously announced that interim lightweight title holder Ferguson would meet Nurmagomedov at UFC 223 in Brooklyn, and the winner of that fight will now become the undisputed champion, White told a news conference on Friday.

However, the UFC chief did not say that Irishman McGregor had already been stripped of his belt, despite repeated questions from the media.

By far the sport’s most high-profile athlete, McGregor rose through the UFC ranks, knocking out Jose Aldo in 13 seconds to be crowned featherweight champion in December 2015 and adding the lightweight belt less than a year later.

But the 29-year-old’s time as a two-weight champion was short-lived as he was soon stripped of the featherweight belt.

McGregor has not mounted a title defence in either weight class.

His only outing since beating Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight belt in November 2016 was a lucrative boxing match in August last year against the undefeated Floyd Mayweather, which the Irishman lost in the 10th round. (Reuters)

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GUYANATIMESgy.COM

saturDAY, january 20, 2018

GBBC, MCG Inc/ Sangre Malo – Bad Blood

Stage set for fireworks tonight

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midst a brilliant turnout at the weighin for the Guyana Board of Boxing Control (GBBC)/ Nexgen Global Marketing fight card “Sangre Malo” which means bad blood, the Venezuelan contingent issued a stern warning to their Guyanese opponents.

The three Venezuelan fighters are all in prime physical shape and have turned in rigorous preparations ahead of tonight’s fight.

G u y a n e s e Bantamweight, IBF Intercontinental and WBC FECARBOX Champion Elton Dharry will face off against Jesus Vargas tonight; this bout is being touted as one of the most exciting fights of the night.

They two squared off at the weigh in and the tension was vivid; Dharry well ripped and looking fit as ever tipped the scale

at 119.6lbs while Vargas’ weight was exactly 122lbs exactly.

Meanwhile the fighters of the co-main event, Trinidadian Shawn Corbin and Guyanese Sheldon Lawrence will be fighting for the light heavyweight WBC FECARBOX title.

Corbin’s mark on the scale on Friday reached 174lbs while Sheldon Lawrence weighed in at 175lbs.

Dexter “Cobra” Gonzalez one of Guyana’s most dangerous boxers in the modern era will have his hands full despite having reach advantage over his opponent, Venezuela’s Felipe Barcelo.

The latter is a stocky, solid looking boxer who from all appearances seems to be focused on just winning.

The “Cobra” who retired Clive Atwell back in 2016, weighed in at 134.4lbs while Barcelo had the weight advantage weighing in at 135.4lbs.

Dharry who has been undefeated in his last 18 fights has already thrown down the gauntlet by declaring that he is aiming to knockout his opponent, Jesus Garcia.

The main supporting bout on the card will feature Corbin facing Lawrence in a 12-round contest for the World Boxing Council’s Fecabox light heavyweight title. Corbin is making a return to the ring after losing to England’s Nathen Clevery in 2014 for the vacant WBA InterContinental cruiserweight title. He has won 15 of his 22 professional fights and lost five with two draws.

Lawrence has won 10 fights (eight by knock-out) and lost one. He won his last four bouts.

United States -based Guyanese, Elton Dharry, who is the current CABOFE and Inter-Continental bantamweight champion will

take on Jesus Garcia of Venezuela in an eight round contest.

Dharry arrived in Guyana on early Tuesday while the local boxers continued their rigorous training routines throughout the week. The fighters met with Minister of Social Cohesion with responsibility for Sport, Dr George Norton on Wednesday and the Minister promptly declared his support for the Guyanese corner.

Heavyweight debutants Moore (Guyana) and Emmanuel (Barbados) will faceoff in a four-round contest.

G u y a n a ’ s Anson Green and Barbados’ King will clash in a four-round junior middleweight contest also.

Elton"The Bully" Dharry squares off with opponent Jesus Vargas ahead of tonight's "Sangre Malo" fight card

Clinical Bangladesh too much for Sri Lanka and by the end of the first Powerplay, they had lost both their openers and only three fours had come off the bat.

Mashrafe, who bowled a first spell of eight overs, had Tharanga caught at mid-off before sending back Kusal Mendis in similar fashion in the 14th over.

Dickwella, who came in for the injured Angelo Mathews, was bowled by Mustafizur Rahman in the 19th over, before Shakib's brilliance on the

Shakib removed Gunaratne and Wanindu Hasaranga off successive balls in the next over. Thisara Perera unleashed a burst that was all-too-short, lashing Shakib for two fours and as many sixes in the 30th over, but fell later in the same over, caught at long-off attempting another ambitious stroke.

Rubel Hossain ended the procession with wickets in successive overs as Sri Lanka folded in the 33rd over. He fin-

Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan put on 99 runs for the second wicket (Associated Press photo)

B

angladesh's four seniormost cricketers came to the fore to deliver them a 163-run win their biggest in ODIs - over Sri Lanka in Mirpur.

It was a wretched performance from Sri Lanka all around. In the face of a daunting Bangladesh total of 320 for 7, their batsmen lasted just 32.2 overs. And their bowlers hardly tested Bangladesh's line-up.

Each of Bangladesh's batting core came good. Tamim Iqbal made 84 off 102 balls.

Shakib struck an aggressive 67 at more than a run a ball. And Mushfiqur Rahim blasted 62. All of that meant Bangladesh managed good

partnerships through their innings. Their first three pairs, involving Tamim, Anamul Haque, Shakib and Mushfiqur, each strung together 50-plus partnerships, only the second time that their first four batsmen have made such a productive start.

Tamim and Anamul began by putting on 71 for the first wicket, before Shakib joined Tamim for a 99-run stand. It laid a solid foundation as a 300-plus total looked imminent very early.

Sri Lanka had no such flourish when they replied.

Mashrafe Mortaza shut out any chances of a brisk start in a fine opening spell. Kusal Perera fell in the third over,

Sri Lanka lost Kusal Perera early in their chase when the opener stepped out and missed a straight ball (Associated Press photo)

field sent Sri Lanka plummeting further - a direct hit from mid-off catching Dinesh Chandimal short of his crease in the 25th over.

ished with two wickets, as did Mashrafe, while Shakib took three wickets to go with his 67. (ESPN Cricinfo)

SCOREBOARD Bangladesh Innings (50 overs maximum) Tamim Iqbal c †Dickwella b Dananjaya 84 Anamul Haque c †Dickwella b NLTC Perera 35 Shakib Al Hasan c & b Gunaratne 67 Mushfiqur Rahim† b NLTC Perera 62 Mahmudullah c NLTC Perera b Pr adeep 24 Sabbir Rahman not out 24 Mashrafe Mortaza* c Dananjaya b Pradeep 6 Nasir Hossain lbw b NLTC Perera 0 Mohammad Saifuddin not out 6 Extras (b-4, lb-1, w-7) 12 Total (For 7 wickets; 50 Overs) 320 Did not bat: Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman Fall of wickets: 1-71 (Anamul Haque, 14.5 ov), 2-170 (Tamim Iqbal, 29.1 ov), 3-227 (Shakib Al Hasan, 37.5 ov), 4-277 (Mahmudullah, 45.1 ov), 5-284 (Mushfiqur Rahim, 46.3 ov), 6-297 (Mashrafe Mortaza, 47.6 ov), 7-298 (Nasir Hossain, 48.2 ov) Bowling Lakmal 9-0-600 (w-1), Fernando 10-0-662 (w-1), Dananjaya 10-040-1 (w-2), Perera 9-0-60-3 (w-3), Gunaratne 5-0-38-1, de Silva 7-0-51-0

Sri Lanka Innings (target: 321 runs from 50 overs) MDKJ Perera b Nasir Hossain 1 WU Tharanga c Mahmudullah b Mashrafe Mortaza 25 BKG Mendis c Rubel Hossain b Mashrafe Mortaza 19 N Dickwella† b Mustafizur Rahman 16 LD Chandimal* run out (Shakib Al Hasan) 28 DAS Gunaratne c Mohammad Saifuddin b Shakib Al Hasan 16 NLTC Perera c Mahmudullah b Shakib Al Hasan 29 PWH de Silva c †Mushfiqur Rahim b Shakib Al Hasan 0 A Dananjaya c Shakib Al Hasan b Rubel Hossain 14 RAS Lakmal b Rubel Hossain 1 ANPR Fernando not out 0 Extras (lb-6, nb-1, w-1) 8 Total (All out; 32.1 Overs) 157 Fall of wickets: 1-2 (MDKJ Perera, 2.1 ov), 2-43 (WU Tharanga, 9.4 ov), 3-62 (BKG Mendis, 13.4 ov), 4-85 (N Dickwella, 18.4 ov), 5-106 (LD Chandimal, 24.2 ov), 6-117 (DAS Gunaratne, 25.4 ov), 7-117 (PWH de Silva, 25.5 ov), 8-150 (NLTC Perera, 29.5 ov), 9-152 (RAS Lakmal, 30.5 ov), 10-157 (A Dananjaya, 32.2 ov) Bowling Nasir Hossain 4-0-201, Mashrafe Mortaza 8-1-30-2 (nb-1), Rubel Hossain 5.2-0-20-2 (w-1), Mustafizur Rahman 5-020-1, Shakib Al Hasan 8-1-47-3, Mohammad Saifuddin 2-0-14-0

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Golf action will continue month-end much to the delight of local golfers

A

s golf action intensifies in 2018, the executives of the Lusignan Golf Club (LGC) will tee off a club-organized Open Tournament,

their second competition of the month on Saturday January 20 at the Lusignan Course.

The one-day tourney, a follow up to last

Mexico sink Jamaica

4-0

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The Jamaica ‘Reggae Girls’ will look to bounce back against USA in their next fixture

M

exico unbeaten in nine all-time CONCACAF Under-20 Women’s Championship openers, earned a 4-0 win over Jamaica to launch its 2018 campaign on Friday at Ato Boldon Stadium.

The result provisionally places the Tricolor atop the Group B table, with the four-time defending champion the United States to face Nicaragua later.

An unmarked Jacqueline Ovalle struck for the first goal in the 26th minute, when – from eight-yards out – her downward header bounced into the right side of the net from Dayana Cazares’ right-sided cross.

Seven minutes later, Mexico’s advantage was doubled as an Ashley Soto cross from the right found Katty Martinez, who darted in front of Gabrielle Gayle to head forcefully off the underside of the crossbar and over

the line from seven-yards out.

After the break, the Mexicans added two more goals.

In the 55th minute, Jamaica defender Chyanne Dennis directed Daniela Espinosa’s right-sided cross into her own net for a 3-0 Mexico lead.

Belen Cruz completed the scoreline in the 79th minute. A long free kick played into the box by Miriam Garcia appeared to deflect off a Jamaican defender and fall to Cruz for a shot from seven yards that goalkeeper Sydney Schneider nearly prevented from finding the back of the net.

For next up for Mexico – now 7W-2D-0L in nine all-time games to start its CU20W schedule -- is a meeting with Nicaragua on Sunday, while Jamaica will look to bounce back against the USA. (Sportsmax)

21

weekend’s Trophy Stall Open according to LGC President Aleem Hussain; was another method of getting players acclimatized to the greens which is still in its early rehab stages. He also pointed out that more tournaments means more practice time for the players as they look to get an early jump into form ahead of the upcoming major events.

With the club commencing an all-out remodeling project, the golfers were treated to their first competition of 2018 last weekend when Trophy Stall took honors in being the clubs first tournament sponsor of 2018.

The President confirmed that some 25 golfers have already registered for Saturday’s event, adding that a good turnout is expected including several of the country’s top contenders who will be vying for this year's Guyana Cup Open.

Also, the LGC’s partnership with the Students of the University of Guyana will play a role on Saturday as some of the 32 registered students are expected to get a taste of real competition when they participate in the open.

Prizes up for grabs include; trophies for winners’ first to third with additional awards for Best Gross and Nearest to the Pin there to be won.

Hussain meanwhile confirmed that the club’s new parking lot is under construction while upgrades on the Fairways and Greens are ongoing.

Tee off time is set for 12:30h.

Hurricanes take charge after Volcanoes collapse

V

eteran batsman Devon Smith failed to spark at the top of the order as the Windward Islands Volcanoes were dismissed for 197 on the opening day of the WPCL Regional 4-Day match at Warner Park.

Smith the competition’s most prolific batsman to date, having scored 944 runs, showed none of the blistering form that has landed him five centuries so far. The 36-year-old was dismissed for a duck having faced just one delivery after being caught by Jahmar Hamilton off the bowling of Jeremiah Louis.

Smith’s dismissal seemed to trigger a collapse at the top of the order and the Windwards lost their first three wickets with a mere eight runs on the board.

Kavem Hodge (45) and Roland Cato (46), however, stabilized the batting order with a fourth-wicket stand worth 65 before a strong display lower down the order from Delorn Johnson pushed the score further along.

Johnson blasted five fours and three sixes as he scored 48 from 53 balls before being dismissed by Montcin Hodge off the bowling of Chaim Holder.

Holder, Louis, Rahkeem Cornwall and Terance Ward each accounted for two wickets.

In response, the Leeward

Islands closed the day at 93 for 2. Montcin Hodge (31) and Devon Thomas (56) were the not out batsmen, while Kieran Powell (4) and Keacy Carty (0) were sent back to the pavilion.

Both wickets were taken by Sherman L e w i s .

(Sportsmax)

Jeremiah Louis

22

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

saturDAY, january 20, 2018

Cycling season pedals off with Ricks & Sari Meet

L

ong serving national cycling coach, Hassan Mohamed will unveil another packed cycling season on January 27 with the 25th annual Ricks and Sari 11-race programme.

Once again, the inner circuit of the national park in Georgetown has been identified as the venue when the first rolls off.

This will be the 25th year the company would be sponsoring this specific event, making it one of the longest active partnerships in local cycling.

Mohamed said the support of Ricks

and Sari Agro Industries has been phenomenal over the years and he is grateful for the strong alliance with the company which has produced lots of cyclists.

The feature race of the day would the 35-lap School Boys and Invitational, which is expected to attract the senior riders and those up and coming cyclists. Alanzo Greaves won last year’s race in one hour, 18 minutes, but he is currently serving a ban, which means a new champion would be crowned.

In the Junior category, Romello

Crawford would look to defend his title from last year, while Warren McKay would want to maintain a hold of the Veterans Under-50 title. Jamal Heyliger won the 12-14 Boys and Girls race last year, while Shane Bourne took top honours in the Mountain Bikes division.

Officials of Ricks and Sari Agro Industries, including marketing representative Sven D’Oliviera, will be on hand to witness the races and assist in the presentation of prizes after.

Duminy smashes 37 in an over

J

P Duminy broke the South African List A record for most runs scored in a single over when he hit Eddie Leie for 37 runs in a Momentum one-day cup match on Wednesday.

It happened when the Cape Cobras were comfortably placed at 208 for 2 in the 36th over of a chase of 240 against the Knights.

But Duminy, batting on 34

off 30 balls, sensed the opportunity to steal a bonus point. And it helped that the man he was facing was a legspinner, turning the ball into his hitting arc.

The carnage began with a slog sweep. It continued with a biff straight down the ground. Then came a couple of heaves into the grass banks on the leg side. Four balls. Four six-

Haiti edge T&T 3-2

N

erilia Mondesir scored three goals as Haiti rallied to defeat Trinidad & Tobago, 3-2, in both teams’ opening match in the 2018 CONCACAF Under-20 Women’s Championship at Ato Boldon Stadium on Thursday.

With the result, the Haitians finished the evening behind Canada – 3-1 winners over Costa Rica – in the Group A standings only on goal difference.

Mondesir gave Haiti its first lead on a brilliant individual effort in the 54th minute to complete her hat trick. She evaded one defender to win the ball 35 yards from goal, cut inside a second defender at the edge of the 18-yard box and then fended off a third to score inside the near post.

The first-ever CU20W meeting between the Caribbean rivals was a memorable one as T&T raced out to a 2-0 lead in a little more than 10 minutes before Haiti equalled on a

Haiti’s next game is against Costa Rica also at the Ato Boldon Stadium

Mondesir brace in a breathtaking four-goal first half.

The Haitian captain first placed a powerful open header past Trinidad goalkeeper Kill Keshwar in the 26th minute and then found the equalizer deep in first-half stoppage time.

Mondesir took down a sublime Roseline Eloissaint cross and tied the score at two with a clinical finish from eight yards out.

Dennecia Prince opened the scoring on three minutes

when she followed her own blocked shot to slip a shot inside the far post to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

Trinidad & Tobago made it 2-0 eight minutes later on a remarkable Olympico by Kedie Johnson as the midfielder curled her corner kick inside the far side netting.

Group A play resumes Saturday with Haiti tackling Costa Rica and Canada taking on the hosts Trinidad & Tobago. (Sportsmax)

JP Duminy

es. Two more and he would match Herschelle Gibbs' feat in the 2007 World Cup. Duminy took strike again as excitement built around Newlands. But Leie doused it all by making sure his fifth delivery cost only two runs.

There was only one ball left in the over and it seemed like the record wouldn't be broken. Except Leie coughed up a no-ball, and Duminy hit it for four through extra cover. That took the tally to 31 runs off the over and it was game on again.

Duminy took his stance.

Leie ran in. A split second later the ball was soaring away for six. Duminy had not only won the match but secured his place in history as the batsman to hit the second-most runs in an over of List A cricket. In October 2013, Zimbabwe's Elton Chigumbura had played a big hand in ransacking 39 runs against Bangladesh's Alauddin Babu in the Dhaka Premier League. (ESPN Cricinfo)

Australian Open

Nadal, Kyrgios storm into last 16 Rafael Nadal is yet to drop a point in the tournament

W

orld number one Rafael Nadal continued his straightforward progress through the Australian Open with a 6-1 6-3 6-1 win over Bosnia's Damir Dzumhur.

The 31-year-old, who has won only one of his 16 Grand Slam titles in Australia, wrapped up his third-round victory in an hour and 50 minutes.

The Spaniard is yet to drop a set so far in the tournament and will face Argentine Diego Schwartzman next.

Nadal has won all three of his previous matches against the world number 26.

The Spaniard is seeded to meet Marin Cilic in the quarter-finals before a last-four meeting with Grigor Dimitrov and a final against Roger Federer.

Dzumhur never looked like derailing those plans, slipping 5-0 down in the opening set and offering up a total of 16 break points in the face of constant Nadal pressure.

Croat Cilic, a runner-up at Wimbledon in 2017, saw off American Ryan Harrison in straight sets, winning 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 7-6 (7-4) to set up a meeting with 10th seed Pablo Carreno Busta.

Kyrgios beats Tsonga

Nick Kyrgios kept home hopes very much alive in the men's singles at the Australian Open with victory over France's JoWilfried Tsonga.

The 22-year-old 17th seed beat 15th seed Tsonga 7-6 (75) 4-6 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-5) in the third round.

Kyrgios goes on to face Bulgarian third seed Grigor Dimitrov in the last 16.

On a day when temperatures peaked in the afternoon at 40.2C, Kyrgios benefited from playing in the cooler night session.

Tsonga, 32, was one of the Australian's childhood heroes and a finalist in Melbourne 10 years ago.

The Frenchman gave a serious examination of the man most likely to end Australia's 42-year wait for a male champion, but Kyrgios held his nerve impressively in three tiebreaks. (BBC Sport) Nick Kyrgios is the final Australian left of the nine that featured in the men's main draw this year

saturDAY, january 20, 2018

guyanatimesgy.com

23

CWI/Digicel 4-Day Championship 2017-18…

Rutherford, Reifer make it merry for Jaguars

…lead reaches 331

By Akeem Greene

D

ay two of Guyana Jaguars clash with Trinidad and Tobago Red Force was all about the home-side’s batmen jumping deep into the fountain of runs on offer at the National Stadium, Providence on Friday.

Led by flamboyant half-centuries from all-rounders Sherfane Rutherford and Raymon Reifer, Jaguars are on course for registering a comprehensive victory in the final round of the 2017/18 Cricket West Indies (CWI)/ Digicel Four-day championship.

Rutherford’s 93 and Reifer’s unbeaten 85 charged the four-time champions to 466-7 at stumps, with the lead stretching to 331 after ending the first day on 116-1 replying to 135 all out made

by Red Force.

Describing the visitors, it was simply a battle of attrition with them seeing no light at the end of the tunnel for what has been a horrendous season given that they sit in the cellar position on the six-team points table.

However, they struck early, removing Tagenarine Chanderpaul after he flirted at a wide delivery from left-arm seamer Daniel St. Clair for a juggling catch to be completed by Bryan Charles in third-slip, after adding just two to his overnight score.

At the other end, Test batsman Shimron Hetmyer who was sedate the day before pounced on anything fractionally short or full and took a toll on off-spinner Bryan Charles smashing him for towering sixes

on both sides of the wicket.

Charles was switched to the Media Centre End and at first, the change seemed not to work as Hetmyer waded into another flighted delivery for a thumping six over wide- long-off.

The attractive innings which was his first since returning from international duties was curtailed when he got over ambitious and tried to repeat the shot off of

visitors deservedly won the first session though Jaguars reached 198-4, with a lead of 63. During the opening session, the hosts scored 82 runs of which 21 came off the bat of Akshaya Persaud playing in his second First Class and first at home.

Persaud, who looked very attractive in his stay at the crease was undone with the fourth ball of the afternoon session by bowled through

Anthony Bramble about to launch a delivery into the stands

the very next ball. However, this time the ball spun and bounced more and Hetmyer was already committed to the lofted drive but only succeeded in getting more height than distance and was taken on the third attempt by Anderson Philips on the ropes at long-off.

The 21 year-old smashed seven fours and one six in his high-tempo innings which helped Jaguars add 50 within the first over.

Captain Leon Johnson, who was very patient pulled St. Clair disdainfully through mid-wicket to get off the mark in his scratchy 72 balls innings before being dismissed by Yannic Cariah caught at bat-pad in the final over before lunch and the

the ‘gate’ by the tournament’s joint leading wicket taker, Imran Khan.

After that, Jaguars turned the table on the visitors with runs being served on a platter and the highlights show began.

The in-form Anthony Bramble treated the sprinkling of spectators and CWI Chairman of Selectors Courtney Browne with array of boundaries all around the expansive outfield.

He took a liking to the leg-spin of Cariah bashing him into the South-East (Orange) Stand then delightfully driving through cover. The Berbician looked in full control of proceedings and caused shrouded faces and dropped shoulders in

the Red Force camp to surface.

His four sixes and two fours were a shot too many with him holding out to a well-judged catch at deep mid-wicket for a shot-filled 31-ball 42.

Pocket rocket Rutherford

The sun began beaming in its all of glory, further drying out the pitch which set the stage for the innings defining partnership. While Reifer took his time to gather momentum, his 19-yearold partner was going at a pocket-rocket rate, stamping his authority with some audacious shots both sides of the field.

Known for his pugnacious ability, he kept his shape, hitting in the ‘V’ and raced to eight fours and one six as the total reached 3416 at tea and the lead building to 206. The session yielded 143 runs from the 29 overs sent down for the loss of Persaud and Bramble.

In the final session, the pair added the icing to the cake by extending the partnership with even more positivity taking Jaguars pass the 400-run mark.

Rutherford laced the gaps with stroke after the stroke and the picture was being painted with him scoring his maiden ton at the FirstClass level.

He entered the 90s with a crisp shot through the covers and attempted to replicate the shot but unluckily got an inside edge unto his stumps for the long walk back to the pavilion thinking ‘what could have been.’

The demise brought an end to a scintillating 161run stand for the seventh wicket in which Rutherford

Sherfane Rutherford showcased great power in his electrifying innings of 93 (Akeem Greene Photo)

smashed 11 fours and four sixes.

Let’s not forget Reifer was at the other end mixing this aggression with his grittiness, as he too was driving down century lane for what would be his first stop at triple figure mark. So far he has reached the ropes on nine occasions in the 165 deliveries faced.

Keemo Paul came and continued the assault; his brief innings was a delight with the right-hander treating the spectators which in-

cluded his father and his friend from Wakenaam to seven delightful fours for his 35 in just 32 balls in the quick-fire 55-run unbroken partnership.

When play resumes today at 09:30h, Jaguars will look to continue the quest for quick runs in the attempt to complete another innings routing victory against their opponents like they did in round four, when the teams met in Trinidad at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in November.

SCOREBOARD

Trinidad and Tobago Red Force 1st innings 135 Guyana Jaguars 1st innings (overnight 116-1) T Chanderpaul c Charles b St. Cl air 36 C Hemraj Charles b St. Clair 72 S Hetmyer c Philipp b Charles 46 L Johnson* c Solozano b Cariah 13 A Persaud b Khan 21 A Bramble+ c Webster b Cariah R Reifer not out 85 S Rutherford b Webster 93 K Paul not out 35

Extras (b 8, lb 0, w 3, nb 8) 19 Total: (for 7 wickets; 133 overs) 466 Yet to bat: V Permaul, G Motie FoW: 1-109 (Hemraj, 34.2 ov), 2 – 134 (Chanderpaul, 48.5 ov) , 3 - 164(Hetmyer, 55.6 ov) , 4 - 198( Johnson, 72.6 ov) , 5 - 198(Persaud , 73.4 ov) , 6 - 250( Bramble, 82.4 ov), 7-411 (Rutherford 123.4 ov) Bowling: Phillip 21-7-49-0, St. Clair 18-3-69-1, Charles 327-107-2, Webster 11-0-56-1, Khan 36-7-100-1, Mohammed 6-3-9-0, Cariah 9-1-68-2

FIFA Forward Programme…

Deadline extended for completion of pitch

A

s a result of the recent inclement weather, Greenfields, the company responsible for the laying of the turf at the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) ‘Training and Development Centre’ and the country’s first ‘football stadium’, has shifted the deadline from the end of January to April this year.

The GFF’s president, Wayne Forde, first Vice President Bruce Lovell, second Vice President Rawlston Adams and Technical Director Ian Greenwood updated the media on the progress of the work done on the 8.5 acres of land which was leased from the Eccles/Ramsburg Neighbourhood Democratic Council.

Nabi and Sons was sub-contracted to work along Greenfields and upon visit, contractors were busy ‘back filling’ the area where the pitch will be laid.

Adams who also happens to be the project manager, told reporters that the GFF doesn’t not see the shift in completion as a ‘delay’, but rather one that was necessary and understandable given the increased rainfall experienced.

Forde said that it is the hope of the GFF to have the facility functional, since it will be equipped with lighting in accordance with CONCACAF and to accommodate between 3000 to 5000 spectator until it’s fully completed.

“The lighting system

(L-R) GFF’s Technical Director Ian Greenwood, first VP Bruce Lovell, second VP Rawlston Adams and President Wayne Forde examining the ongoing work on their ‘Training and Development Centre’

that will go in will be specific and we have selected the

lighting level and it being specked in accordance with

the CONCACAF system. We have selected tier two lighting which would allow us hold high level CONCACAF tournaments at this venue once it’s completed,” Forde explained.

While there will be other modifications to the facility such as the addition of a technical department that will also see the instalment of various training apparatuses that will allow for the development of talent; according to Forde this will in turn deviate from the original plan to have various types of pitches at the facility.

Forde said that in keeping the plans to turn the facility into training and development centre, the proposed modifications could see beach football

and/or futsal having one of their several pitches removed.

Under the FIFA Forward Programme, National Federations are entitled to US$750,000 annually, but, in the case of Guyana, given the fact that it is the country’s first, Forde said that FIFA wanted to ensure that as much resources as possible are available, and as such, it was not possible for him to state the estimated cost of the entire project.

The GFF president also noted that the Federation and FIFA will next look to build a similar structure in Linden, and then Rupununi, after which the other parts of Guyana will ‘fall in line.’

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

SATURDAY, january 20, 2018

guyanatimesgy.com

CWI/Digicel 4-Day Championship 2017-18…

Rutherford, Reifer Pg 23

make it merry for Jaguars …lead reaches 331 Leg-spinner Imran Khan seemed to be the most threatening bowler for the Red Force

Raymon Reifer showcased great elegance in his fluent innings (Akeem Greene Photo)

GBBC, MCG Inc/ Sangre Malo – Bad Blood

Stage set for

fireworks tonight

Pg 20

Fighters of the "Sangre Malo" International Fight Card after the weigh-in ceremony on Friday

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