Guyana Times 23 September,2019.

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THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Claims of ‘hooliganism’ just manufactured lies – Teixeira

Issue No. 4055

monday, september 23, 2019

See story on page 3

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WHAT'S INSIDE:

P9 Allegedly drunken driver slams into parked truck Masked gunmen rob “Cheese Please” customers P2

– points to veiled threats against protesters, parliamentary Opposition – reminds that Govt ignored PPP’s previous offer to extend life

Christian leaders join calls for President to respect Constitution Page 7

– urge GECOM staff to conduct duties with integrity, professionalism

7-year-old burn victim laid to rest P10

2 perish, millions lost as fire razes buildings at Vreed-en-Hoop Page 11

P8 Prisoner escapes Police Outpost by chopping off handcuffs

MMA-ADA Ex-convict stabbed to death threatens dozens with after leaving bar repossession of land Page 13

Page 7

– suspects arrested, assisting with probe – says it's owed over $50M in rent, D&I fees

Teen attacked, chopped while walking along P2 roadway

2 news

monDAY, september 23, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Teen attacked, chopped Masked gunmen rob while walking along roadway “Cheese Please” customers

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teenage construction worker is battling for his life at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) after he was attacked and brutally chopped about his body by a male while walking along the Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara (WCD) public road on Saturday evening.

Reports are that the injured youth, Denzil King, of Lot 21(C) Ever Green Street, New Road, Vreed-en-Hoop, WCD, returned home from work around 18:00h but went back on the road.

However, less than 30 minutes after King had left his residence, his sister received a telephone call from a friend who notified her that her brother was attacked and chopped.

According to a police source, King had been walking along the public road in the village, when a vehicle stopped close to him and queried if he was “okay”

Commander of D Division (West Bank Demerara-East Bank Essequibo), Senior Superintendent Linden Lord

but the teenager did not respond.

The driver of the vehicle promptly drove away from King. Moments later, an unidentified individual attacked King from behind with a cutlass and dealt one blow to his right shoulder. He was also chopped to his left elbow, abdomen and back.

The severely injured young man managed to walk to his friend’s home, which was a short distance away and related what took place.

The female friend rushed the bleeding King to the West Demerara Regional Hospital where he was immediately admitted for emergency medical attention.

However, due to the severity of his wounds, the young man was transferred to the GPHC for further medical treatment. His condition is presently regarded as “serious.”

Meanwhile, Commander of D Division (West Bank Demerara-East Bank Essequibo), Senior Superintendent Linden Lord when contacted stated that investigations into the matter are still ongoing and that statements are being taken and reviewed with the hopes of apprehending the culprit(s) soon. (Kristen Macklingam)

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our armed men executed a brazen robbery on a trio who was waiting for their meals outside the popular food outlet “Cheese Please” in Kitty, Georgetown, on Saturday evening.

Based on reports received, at about 23:00h on the night in question, the three persons were outside of the food establishment when the armed bandits arrived in a silver-grey motorcar.

As the car came to a halt, the four men exited and approached the three victims, brandishing their firearms while demanding that they hand over their cash, jewellery and other valuables.

The petrified victims immediately complied; a businessman of Plaisance, East Coast Demerara handed over his LG cellular phone along with an undisclosed sum of cash to the bandits while the other two victims

Cheese Please

were relieved of their cellular phones and an undisclosed sum of cash also.

The four perpetrators then rushed back into the vehicle and made good their escape along the David Street, Kitty, route.

Although an alarm was raised and Police arrived at the scene, the culprits were long gone. According to a police source, investigators reviewed the CCTV footage

from nearby cameras but did not find any useful information.

In the midst of the chaos and confusion, the victims were unable to register the license plate number of the silver-grey car that the bandits used to execute their robbery.

Efforts to contact the proprietors of the Cheese Please establishment proved futile on Sunday.

news

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monDAY, september 23, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

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

Monday, September 23 – 13:00h – 14:30h and Tuesday, September 24 – 14:30h – 16:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Monday, September 23 – 11:45h – 13:15h and Tuesday, September 24 – 13:05h – 14:35h.

Claims of ‘hooliganism’ just manufactured lies – Teixeira

– points to veiled threats against protesters, parliamentary Opposition – reminds that Govt ignored PPP’s previous offer to extend life

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High Tide: 11:31h and 23:59h reaching maximum heights of 2.15 metres and 2.25 metres.

Low Tide: 04:48h and 17:25h reaching minimum heights of 0.95 metre and 1.10 metres.

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PPP Executive Gail Teixeira

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eople’s Progressive Party (PPP) Executive Gail Teixeira has called out the Police and President David Granger, for their utterances against peaceful protesters, coupled with the disregard for the Constitution.

During a programme “Over the Red Line”, Teixeira noted that if one examined footage from last Thursday’s protest in front of the Pegasus Hotel, it would show that PPP supporters were not violent during the protest. Teixeira denied claims that attempts were made to tip over a Minister’s vehicle.

“Let’s look at the Police.

From all the footage from the protest, this was a noisy but peaceful protest. When they talk about the Minister and overturning the vehicle, all the footage shows that the people were far away, several feet away from the car.

“These are manufactured lies,” Teixeira stressed.

“They have tried to create a situation that the Ministers’ lives were threatened, which is totally fallacious. We’re not interested in that. We believe the person accountable is Granger.”

Teixeira then pointed to intimidatory tactics and statements from Congress Place, in which the protesters were described as hooligans. She also expressed her concern at the veiled threats contained in the Guyana Police Force’s press release on the protests.

“We have seen the backlash by the Government, (with President Granger) saying that the intellectual authors of these protests, he hopes they know how to stop it. So these intimidatory tactics are totally unacceptable and an indication that this government is going to move more and more in a direction to a road (of trampling on) human rights in our country: the right to assembly, expression of our views, etc.

“What is good is we have seen the Bar Association come out, the Chamber of Commerce, FITUG, CIOG, Dharmic Sabha and, of course, the international community – the United States, Britain, the EU. Teixeira noted that once a government took the Constitution and violated it,

the country was in a state whereby whoever was holding the reins of government was illegally and unconstitutionally squatting in office.

“That is the definition of a dictatorship. One of the things we had warned was that when any government overthrows the Constitution, it is not just an issue of elections and no confidence motion. Other democratic rights are going to be vulnerable.

“The first indication we had of that is at the picketing, where persons were exercising their right to protest and show their anger and frustration at a government that is violating the Constitution and is illegal.”

When it comes to the PPP returning to Parliament and providing the necessary two-thirds majority to legally extend the Government’s life, Teixeira made it clear that the time for that had passed. She noted that when the PPP wrote Granger offering to give him the necessary two-thirds majority, its overture was completely ignored.

“We wrote him saying that 1) we would give our two-thirds in Parliament for elections on or before April 30, when the life of the voters’ list would expire. We put conditions; that is no new contracts, no procurement, no bilateral sale of our resources. Mr Granger ignored it completely. He did not even have the decency, and he’s always concerned with etiquette, to write a letter saying he acknowledged our letter.”

The constitutional dead-

line for holding elections, as set out by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), had expired as of September 18.

When it made its June 18, 2019 ruling on the no-confidence cases, the CCJ had said that the effect of the No-Confidence Motion was on pause while the cases were being litigated.

That process, CCJ President Adrian Saunders had clearly said, was no longer on pause following the court’s ruling, which upheld the validity of the no confidence motion, thus triggering the need for fresh elections.

In keeping with the constitutional three months’ provision once a No-Confidence Motion is passed, this would mean

that General and Regional Elections should be held on or before September 18, 2019.

Despite Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairperson, Retired Justice Claudette Singh informing the President on Thursday that the elections body would be in a position to hold elections

by February 2020, President Granger is yet to set an election date.

It has now been over nine months since the No-Confidence Motion was passed against his Government.

The Constitution of Guyana stipulates that elections must be held within three months of the passage of such a motion.

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guyanatimesgy.com

MONDAY, september 23, 2019

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

Constitutional crisis in Guyana

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he refusal of erstwhile President David Granger to obey the pellucid command of the Constitution to proclaim an elections date by Sept 18, three months after the NCM had been ruled as validly passed on June 18 by the CCJ, has triggered a constitutional crisis in our country. The US introduced the norm of a written constitution in 1897 and since that time they have faced several constitutional crises, including one brewing in the present. As such, their perspective might be useful to our much younger republic to handle our present crisis.

In May of this year, the media group Vox solicited the opinion of several constitutional experts on the nature of constitutional crises and we offer them as background for discussion here.

Peter Shane, law professor, Ohio State University explained: “The purpose of a constitution is to structure legitimate government, so that the exercise of power over an entire citizenry by a relatively small handful of elected and appointed officials is morally justified. In a democracy, that moral justification depends on several things: the protection of human rights; adherence to the rule of law; structures and practices that help assure, in public policymaking, genuine consideration for the interests of everyone who is subject to the government’s authority; and opportunities for all citizens to participate as meaningful political actors in the processes of collective self-determination.

“I define a constitutional crisis as a situation in which existing constitutional arrangements no longer realistically promise to serve the foundational values of democratic constitutionalism.” Under this test, Granger has definitely precipitated a constitutional crisis. In parting he noted the foundational value that Granger lacks: “A 19th-century British prime minister once said, “Every political constitution in which different bodies share the supreme power is only enabled to exist by the forbearance of those among whom this power is distributed.” Granger has shown he lacks this restraint with the power he was conferred.

A second pertinent and analytical perspective was offered

by Keith Whittington, politics professor, Princeton University: “I think a constitutional crisis is best understood to be moments when the constitutional system itself seems to be breaking down. This can happen in two ways: a crisis of operation and a crisis of fidelity.

“A crisis of operation occurs when important political disputes cannot be resolved within the existing constitutional framework. An effective constitution is one that provides a structure for contesting and resolving political disputes. When a constitution can no longer do that and our disputes spill outside the constitutional framework, then the constitution itself is in crisis.

A crisis of fidelity occurs when important political actors are simply unwilling to adhere to the constitutional commitments as they understand them. If consequential political actors determined that a constitutional rule or a prescribed constitutional outcome should be ignored because some other political priority than following the constitution is more important, then the Constitution’s ability to guide and constrain political behavior has, to that degree, been cast into doubt.”

Granger is ignoring the dictates of Art 106 (6) and (7) because he prioritises the fortunes of the PNC over that of the country.

Finally, Jessica Silbey, law professor, Northeastern University pointed out: “All members of government swear an oath to uphold the US Constitution, which provides rules for governing as well as for debating changes to those rules.

Refusing to follow these rules is one feature of a constitutional crisis.” Here Granger swore an oath to protect our constitution but now traduces it by seeking to influence the elections process.

Sibley warns of the consequences of this move: “But if the enforcers are cheating, and the rules for electing new government are constrained by the existing ruling party — constraints such as … limiting access to the ballot — the people cannot solve the crisis within our democratic and constitutional norms. This kind of constitutional crisis can lead to revolution because of the profound inequality, the constraints on liberty the consolidation of power creates, and the feeling of hopelessness both produce.”

Ahead of the United Nations climate summit starting today, millions of young people around the world took to the streets on Friday in Global Climate Strikes to express the fear and outrage they feel over the failure of Governments to control greenhouse gas emissions, which hit a record high last year. In this photo, young environment activists participate near the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment office in Bangkok, Thailand, September 20 (Reuters/Soe Zeya Tun)

How low can Moses go?

Dear Editor, For the first time in many years, I felt like I wanted to puke. So what could have brought on this sudden feeling of nausea and outrage?

Well, I made the mistake of listening to Moses Nagamootoo, the usurper Prime Minister, as he was being interviewed on the NCN programme, InSight, last Wednesday, September 18.

Now, this is the same man who, while campaigning in Whim, Berbice, on April 2, 2015, (https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=k013CAcuJbk) tried to convince his supporters of his virtues by claiming he was the first Minister to refuse a salary increase unless the salaries of nurses and teachers were also increased. “I have never, as a Minister, stayed at a hotel, 5-star; 3-star; 4-star, any hotel at the expense of the Government of Guyana. I have never travelled first class in an aeroplane while I was a Minister” he added.

So what has caused Nagamootoo to change, or did he?

Moses Nagamootoo, a former “Jaganite” who withdrew his membership from the PPP just before the 2011 General and Regional Elections because he believed he was being “bulldozed” out of the leadership of the party, a position he claimed was bequeathed upon him by the late Cheddi Jagan

during some private discussion.

But these were all lies, made up to satisfy his massive ego. He was annoyed with the PPP because he was not elected the PPP/C Presidential Candidate in 2011. Moses Nagamootoo is an opportunist who will say and do anything as long as it benefits Nagamootoo.

This is the same man who was quoted in an October 21, 2011 article in the Kaieteur News as saying, “I hold dearly his (Dr Jagan’s) great ideals for a free and democratic Guyana where leaders ought to be judged by character, integrity and honesty.”

But now that he is enjoying “the good life” under the APNU/AFC coalition, Nagamootoo has forgotten all about those virtues and great ideals he learnt from Cheddi Jagan and has morphed into the biggest apologist and defender of a dictator who now squats in Government. How low can Moses go?

During his InSight interview, the usurper was asked about the significance of the date, September 18. Here is his shameless response in part: “To me, it was a wrong, a false interpretation of the Constitution following a No-Confidence Motion… But our situation here was quite different. The 90 days came and pass. The issue of the

No-Confidence Motion was engaging the attention of the courts. And so the 90 days lapsed. So when the courts (CCJ) pronounced eventually on June 18th that the No-Confidence Motion was valid, was properly passed, there was an interpretation by the political Opposition that the 90 days begin to run all over again.

But as I wrote in my article, there is no second 90 days… for me [it is] a fiction, it’s a figment of the imagination of persons who, for their own reason, would want to see elections held and the intention is to see the back of this Government. “ As a lawyer, Nagamootoo is familiar with our Constitution and the 3-month limitation within which elections must be called following the successful passage of a No-Confidence Motion.

But like Basil Williams, he chooses to ignore that.

It is obvious that the once outspoken defender of the Guyana Constitution is now prepared to disregard its continuous abuse and to hang on to power for the sole purpose of protecting the super-rich Cadillac lifestyle he now enjoys: A monthly salary of over $1.7 million, plus another million or so in perks per month; the brand new $22 million customised luxury Land Cruiser he drives with sirens and police escorts, and the

fleet of 20 more vehicles at his disposal.

He spent over $19 million of taxpayers’ money on overseas travel from October 2015 to July 2017; and can now import unlimited vehicles which will be exempted from Value Added Tax (VAT).

In addition, his wife, Seeta, whom he takes on all his overseas travels, gets to see the world in all its fine glory at taxpayers’ expense. Did I mention that they both travel first class, reside in 5-star luxury hotels and don’t have to give account for the thousands of US$ in taxpayers’ money they spend upon return from these trips?

Interestingly, it was Nagamootoo who often referred to the former PPP/C Cabinet Ministers as “fat cat” and condemned the living of a “Cadillac lifestyle in a donkey-cart economy” when he was sitting on the Opposition benches before May 2015.

Moses Nagamootoo may have once championed the cause of cane cutters and rice farmers and ordinary Guyanese, but in the end, greed and personal ambition have overcome any decency he had left, and have now reduced him to a mere rubber stamp. Again, I ask, how low can Moses go?

Regards, Harry Gill PPP/C Member of Parliament

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monday, september 23, 2019

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Paying the dues: Keeping the faith Dear Editor, Thursday, September 19, 2019, was indeed an eventful day of progress and setbacks. We of the PPP and PPP/C are keeping the faith in our Guyanese people and in Guyana; keeping our eyes on creating an ever more prosperous, ever brighter future; overcoming and putting our hurt feelings aside, seeking and focusing on paths to keep Guyanese and Guyana whole through the twists and turns of life.

I will not pretend: unhappy, disappointed and angry we have often been in the way our non-conforming President and non-resigning Cabinet have played things out since December 21, 2018, trying and testing our faith, implicitly daring us on a number of occasions to take it or leave it.

But we will persevere in that good fight, carrying on the fight of Cheddi Jagan, Founder of the PAC, the PPP and the PPP/C: Cheddi Jagan, that first-generation Guyanese who must have had a large portion of rebellious, revolutionary yet responsible, compromising and constructive nature in his genes; and who has been second to none in sacrificing and paying his dues for his commitment to the people and land to whom he was born.

History records the ef-

forts and sacrifices of Cheddi, and his colleagues in the leadership and membership as a whole, and the lengths to which they went to make the leadership of the PAC and the PPP from their founding in 1946 and 1950 respectively, representative of all of the people of our country.

Clearly, Cheddi would have known of the arguments, that in an essentially bi-racial society such as ours, with our history, stage of development, and overlapping of significant differences amongst our peoples, it would have been a huge challenge if at all possible, to attract a membership and generate a leadership representative of all of the people of our country. Cheddi accepted that challenge and could never accept that his party, the PPP, could ever be looking to win membership from only one race, speak for only one race, advocate for only one race or be concerned about the well-being of only one race, and not for all Guyanese and all Guyana.

Cheddi and the PPP have been paying the price for swimming against the tide, without rancour and bitterness: from the split of 1955, the anti- PP propaganda from the run-up to the 1957 and 1961 elections through our troubled times of 1962, 1963, 1964 and that long period

of openly unfair and rigged elections from 1964-1992.

Thus it was that Cheddi and the PPP, when free and fair elections once again appeared to be likely, who reached out to embrace all Guyanese whatever their history as long as they were not then hostile to the PPP and were willing to work with the PPP, to form the PPP/C. That call has been maintained and is emphasised again and many Guyanese, recognising their past distorted views of the PPP, have been finding welcome.

Editor, the leadership of the PNC, PNCR, APNU and the coalition is aware of and has been exploiting the paradox, that it is he/ she/they who have already given more to something, having more invested in it, who have more to lose are the ones who continue contributing more. We see good returns of the dues that we have been paying.

We of the PPP and PPP/C see good reason to be optimistic that the walls of ethnic insecurity are crumbling however slowly, and that more and more, our deeds and realistic programmes bringing benefits to all will be rewarded with our peoples’ votes.

To be frank, many of us not getting what we expected might be questioning the choice of Chairman of GECOM, but just think

that we might have been, still, today, without a Chairman of GECOM; and yes we would have wanted a Chairman who might have more deliberately and precipitously reversed the imposition of that suspicious H2H new registration and thrown it all out. As pointed out

by GECOM’s legal adviser, Excellence Dazzell and later acknowledged by the CEO, Mr Keith Lowenfield, the list of the last LGE in 2018 could have been refreshed and we could have had elections this October/November. Would that have been the occasion for the disturbances of which our former AG, Basil Williams has been hinting? (Something that should be a matter of regret and not a threat).

Therefore, should it not now be seen that the Leader of the Opposition and General Secretary of the PPP, walking in the footsteps of previous PPP leaders, has been providing Guyana with the leadership of growing maturity, responsibility and wisdom?

Mr President, name the date for elections and let’s get on with it!

Yours sincerely, Samuel A A Hinds Former President and former Prime Minister

Announcement of an election date can calm the present political turmoil Dear Editor, I have full confidence that a date for the upcoming elections will be released soon and a return to calm will ensue.

There is no need for anyone to be portrayed as uncivilised or uncouth and less need for aggression and revenge. We must avoid the potential for violence and the insulting of each other.

We the people of Guyana are all looking for a transparent and trustworthy election process free of violence, disorder and corruption. Once a date is provided, which will be soon, the key issue left outstanding is to ensure we as a nation have a very successful election process supported by our confidence in the list of voters. GECOM should have been working in parallel to the judicial process, but that is now water under the bridge.

A partial House-to-House Registration process is concerning and the rationalisation of the lists should not be a complicated process. Data processing in this day and age is not in need of supercomputers for such a small data set.

The lack of ongoing registration throughout the years is the possible root cause of today’s problems and has allowed for the current list to be seen as obsolete. I do not disagree that GECOM is an inde-

pendent body, but the current Administration of President Granger should be supplying additional resources to ensure the acceleration of the election process to meet the required constitutional timeline. Given the level of anxiety within the populace, we must ensure that a thorough job is done to provide a result free of the perspective of corruption.

Increase the size of the House-to-House Registration team and utilise the Local Government resources to speed up the process. It is now also in the Opposition’s best interest to participate to ensure a transparent and trustworthy list is finalised. The aim of this should be a completion date of one month max and should be reflected in the election project plan. The question the Executive should ask is what will it take to make this possible? Then it is the Executive’s responsibility to provide the team with what they need to be successful.

The consolidation and finalisation objective should reflect a similar timeline. While training and preparation of polling stations are completed simultaneously. The final month should be used to finetune the list, printing of ballots, and the correction of any minor errors while absorbing potential delays. GECOM at a

minimum should be providing weekly updates on progress to ensure that if additional resources are needed, they can be provided by the Executive branch in a matter of days. As the date for elections draws near the end of the 3-month timeline, a progress report should be provided at least twice a week and in the final weeks, this should be daily so as to mobilise resources quickly, and jointly resolve any issues that may arise.

Instead of continually worrying and extending the time to get things done, we need to

shift to getting busy at resolving the issues. There should be no need to request an extension from the National Assembly at this late juncture, this will only add to the controversy, and for this election season, such a request should only be made in the case of a national disaster or an act of God (force majeure). It is time for all hands on deck to get the job done correctly, quickly and peacefully.

Best regards, Mr Jamil Changlee

Chief caretaker Granger missed opportunity to unite country Dear Editor, Chief plenarist or chief caretaker, Mr Granger has plunged his PNC into being an illegal Government once again, as the PNC was during the rigged years of 1968-1992. Hoping they would be the change; how quickly all the goodwill and trust placed in the coalition has evaporated. The same way the PNC did not follow the Constitution and did not hold credible elections until 1992 when it lost, the PNC has done it again.

For the first time, in 2015, the PNC was a barely legal Government. Now it has become illegal again.

Mr Granger reminds me of the little boy with chocolate smeared all over his face who tells his Mommy, “I did not steal the chocolate chip cookies.” What really does Mr Granger mean when he says, “we are following the Constitution” when Cabinet has not resigned and elections have not been held 9 months after the Government was defeated? And he says silly things like this to the international community that he is following the Constitution!

Granger has lost a good chance to work for national unity. Realising that it won the elections by one vote in Region Eight, (and there has not been a recount,

and the PPP’s election petition was never heard), the chief caretaker should have made a deal with the PPP for a shared Government on a proportion basis, so that if and when it loses the next election, they do not lose everything. Instead of losing all the pie, it would have kept half of the pie if it entered into shared governance. Now the PNC stands to lose the whole pie when the PPP wins the new elections.

PNC’s credibility continues to dip in geometric progressions the longer Mr Granger takes to announce elections. At some point, the national interest must matter more than the interests of the PNC party and its elite. The current political crisis has been created by the PNC and the PNC alone. It is Mr Granger’s Government that is refusing to follow the Constitution, not the PPP. Mr Jagdeo’s party has again stood up for democracy and the rule of law when the other parties are nowhere to be seen.

It makes you wonder, with all the political and legal advisors they have, who really is advising the PNC as they go deeper and deeper down the hole.

Sincerely, Jerry Singh

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Monday, september 23, 2019

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Foundation

…8 reasons why I’m worried, and hopeful, about the next generation Conclusion Why there is hope [on digital rights]:

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he challenge facing us all today is to ensure that we design systems that maximise the positive benefits of big data and artificial intelligence, while preserving privacy, providing protection from harm and empowering people – including children – to exercise their rights. And we are beginning to see action: Governments are strengthening regulatory frameworks; Private Sector providers are recognising their role; and educators are thinking about how to equip children with the tools to navigate the online world safely.

It is a start.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child makes it clear that children have a specific right to privacy and there is no reason this should not apply online. Contextualising children’s right to privacy within the full range of their other rights, best interests and evolving capacities, it is evident that children’s privacy differs both in scope and application from adults’ privacy and there is a strong argument that children should be offered even more robust protection.

Where children use social media they need to have real opt-in or opt-out opportunities in relation to how their data are used by the provider or other commercial interests, and the terms and conditions need to be clear and understandable to children.

As some children have argued themselves, this might extend to deleting historical social media profiles for example.

Where data is collected about children through tracking their online behaviours, it is crucial that clear, transparent and accessible privacy policies are made available so that

children have a better chance of offering informed consent, can understand their rights, and know what the intended usage of the collected data is.

Equipping young people with the knowledge and skills to claim their digital rights is essential.

Private Sector Internet Service Providers and social media platforms have a crucial role to play in strengthening protections for children.

They must develop transparent, ethical standards and implement heightened scrutiny and protection for the full range of data concerning children, including information on children’s location and browsing habits and especially regarding their personal information.

“The Convention on the Rights of the Child makes clear that children have a specific right to privacy and there is no reason this should not apply online.”

And some new regulatory frameworks, such as the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), represent a promising attempt at progress. The EU GDPR says that Internet users, including children, have the right to be provided with a transparent and clear privacy notice, which explains how their data will be processed, that they should be able to get a copy of their personal data, and have incorrect information about them rectified.

Global Pulse is a United Nations initiative that explores how new, digital data sources and real-time analytics technologies can provide a better understanding of changes in human well-being and emerging vulnerabilities, with the potential to support development. Responding to legitimate concerns about privacy and data protection, in

Henrietta H Fore consultation with privacy experts, Global Pulse has developed a set of privacy principles which ensure transparency about the purpose of data use, protect individual privacy, acknowledge the need for proper consent for use of personal data and respect a reasonable expectation of privacy, while making all reasonable efforts to prevent any unlawful and unjustified re-identification of individuals.

You might be the least trusting generation of citizens ever Why I’m worried:

Every child has the right to actively participate in their societies, and for many of you, your first experiences of civic engagement will be online.

However, the majority of you will grow up as natives of a digital environment that is saturated with misinformation and so-called ‘fake news’, which undermines trust and engagement with institutions and information sources.

Studies indicate that many children and young people today have a hard time distinguishing fact from fiction online and as a consequence, your generation is finding it more difficult to know who and what to trust.

A United Kingdom Parliament-backed Commission on Fake News,

run in partnership with Facebook, First News and The Day, found that only a quarter of the children reading online news actually trust the sources they are reading.

It is tempting to see this as a positive sign of healthy critical thinking skills at work, but the same study also found that just two per cent of children and young people in the United Kingdom have the critical literacy skills they need to tell if a news story is real or fake. Worryingly, almost two thirds of teachers said they believe fake news is harming children’s well-being by increasing levels of anxiety and skewing children’s’ world view. And a study in the United States on schools from 12 states assessing ‘civic online reasoning’ – or the ability to judge the credibility of online information – found that when evaluating information on social media, children and young people are easily duped.

We know the impact of misinformation is pernicious and has real-world impacts.

For example, thousands of the current generation of parents have been misled by misinformation spread through social media and mobile messaging apps about the safety of vaccines, prompting a wave of vaccine hesitancy and a worrisome resurgence of measles in high- and low-income countries alike, including France, India and the Philippines.

Misinformation campaigns have duped children into handing over money, giving away their data, and being groomed and exploited for sex. And in the past few years, we’ve seen how misinformation can skew democratic debate, voter intentions, and sow doubt about other ethnic, religious or social groups – creating division and unrest.

This is a global issue, with reports emerging from countries as diverse as Brazil, Ukraine and the United States where sophisticated disinformation campaigns have necessitated the teaching of ‘Learn to Discern’ classes in schools.

And in Myanmar, it has been alleged that a misinformation campaign played a role in inciting horrific violence against the Rohingya minority.

This is only the tip of the post-truth iceberg. As the technology to deceive improves, and verifying content becomes more difficult, the potential for lowered trust in institutions and social discord grows exponentially. For example, with sophisticated video manipulation technology using AI-generated synthetic media, it is becoming easier to distort and manipulate reality, making it seem as though individuals have said things they have not, in so-called ‘deep fakes’. If these technol-

izens to resist manipulation and retain a trusting connection to reliable and verifiable information and institutional knowledge.

ogies advance, with no mitigating action to help the next generation root out fakes, they have the potential to fundamentally undermine confidence in science and medicine, erode core institutions and beliefs, divide communities, and pose a grave threat to our democracies.

We can no longer rest on the naïve assurance that truth has an innate upper hand against falsehood in the digital era, and so we must, as societies, build resilience against the daily deluge of falsity online. We should start by equipping young people with the ability to understand who and what they can trust online, so they can become active, engaged citizens.

of the influential international PISA tests, seeing critical judgment as a global competency, and similar initiatives could help to mainstream education and training in digital literacy skills that could be among the most important for the next generation.

Moreover, we must work hard to build meaningful connections between young people and institutions, rebuilding trust, if we are to preserve democratic societies in the future.

Why there is hope:

There is some evidence to suggest that adults should place their trust in children and young people not to fall for fakes. A recent research study published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science found that social media users over 65 shared nearly seven times as many articles from fake news domains as the youngest age group. While the reasons for this are as yet unexplained, it may indicate that a higher level of digital and media literacy among ‘digital natives’ acts as a protective filter. Nonetheless, it is clear we need to work harder to prepare savvy young cit-

“We need to work harder to prepare savvy young citizens to resist manipulation”

While social media platforms appear to be serious in their attempts to combat misinformation and work with news organisations to clearly label trusted sources, we cannot rely on the supply side for solutions. Children have a right to an education that prepares them for the world they will live in, and today, this includes much improved digital and media literacy, critical thinking and weighing up evidence. The Director of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development is including questions about distinguishing what is true from what is not true in the next round

A final word...

Finally, the biggest reason for hope is because you – the children and young people of today – are taking the lead on demanding urgent action, and empowering yourselves to learn about, and shape the world around you. You are taking a stand now, and we are listening.

Just as the children of 1989 have emerged as leaders of today, you the children and young people of 2019 are the leaders of the future. You inspire us.

We want to work together with you to find the solutions you need to tackle the challenges of today, to build better futures for yourselves and the world you will inherit. (UNICEF) UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore

7 MMA-ADA threatens dozens with repossession of land news

monDAY, september 23, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

– says it's owed over $50M in rent, D&I fees

A

number of landowners are facing the repossession of hundreds of acres of farmland after the Mahaica Maichony Abary-Agricultural Development Authority (MMA-ADA) issued a notice naming a number of landholders whose land it would repossess.

According to the notice, MMA-ADA claims that the landowners have collectively racked up over $50 million in outstanding payments for drainage and irrigation and land rent, towards the agency.

The MMA-ADA has had a rocky relationship with some landowners in Berbice

Listing the names, acreages and addresses of these debtors, who number over

60, MMA-ADA urged that “the following persons who control State lands in the

Christian leaders join calls for President to respect Constitution – urge GECOM staff to conduct duties with integrity, professionalism – as pressure continues to mount on President to call elections

C

hristian leaders from the Zadok Ministers Fellowship (ZMF), a network of Christian churches and ministers across Guyana, have become the latest to add its voice to a number of organisations calling on President David Granger to comply with the Constitution.

President Granger had publicly said that once he is advised by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), he would speedily fix an election date. He was so advised on Thursday last. However, he has not set a date.

According to a statement on Sunday from Apostle Terry Thomas of the Zadok Ministers Fellowship, the group was deeply concerned over the fact that Guyana is facing a political and constitutional crisis.

“As a Christian organisation, we believe that we do have a responsibility to play a role in [preaching to] the nation. We do offer a clarion call and give pro-

President David Granger has been criticised from all sides, even as Guyana approaches the one-year anniversary of the NoConfidence Motion

phetic guidance to bring us out of these unchartered waters. We do, therefore… call on the President to comply with the Constitution and name a date expeditiously for the holding of General and Regional Elections.”

“We [also] call on GECOM Secretariat and all of its staff nationwide to act with the highest standards of integrity and professionalism.

We are mindful that some of the staff are members of our

various congregations and we expect that the biblical teachings of fairness, justice and righteousness be evident in their performance.”

The organisation also urged that all political actors, some of whom are part of its congregations, continue to exercise restraint.

It also expressed hope that no support from the international community to GECOM would be spared. turn to page 12

MMA-ADA Project Area 2 are requested to treat urgently their outstanding debts to the MMA for land rent and drainage and irrigation services provided”.

In the case of one group of landowners, who were described as the “heirs of Dindyal Roopnarine” by the MMA-ADA in its notice, they were alleged to owe $1.578 million. This includes $940,705 in land rent owed up to June 2019 and drainage and irrigation fees owed up to that same period which amounted to $638,254.

Kenneth Sealey, of Farm Maichony, was cited by the MMA-ADA for allegedly owing $1.928 million. There were even some allegedly owing as much as $4.990 million, as was the case with a Mohamed Rafooeedeen, of Bath Settlement.

The MMA-ADA has had a rocky time when it comes to collecting land rental and D&I fees, while aggrieved homeowners have also had cause to take the agency to court over the repossession of their land. In fact, claims have been made that the agency has been reallocating repossessed lands to supporters of the Government.

There was the case of a co-op society calling for the repossession of lands at Trafalgar, West Coast Berbice (WCB), which were leased by the Mahaica Mahaicony Abary – Agricultural Development Authority (MMA-ADA) back in 2006, after which permission was inexplicably given for persons close to the coalition party to operate on the land, even though the previous lease was still valid.

Head of the co-op society and Councillor of the Region Democratic Council (RDC) of Region Five (MahaicaBerbice), Lloyda Angus had explained back in April that the lease was granted for persons to utilise three plots of land after regis-

Some of the landowners subject to the notice

tering with the Friendly Society Organisation.

Shares were sold and 30 persons obtained a spot to conduct economic and agricultural activities. The lease was valid for some 50 years.

However, in 2015 the office was visited by a group of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) supporters, who demanded that she hand over the key to the building, indicating that they would be the new occupants. Angus said she was also told to relinquish the lease documents.

In May, five rice farmers represented by former Attorney General Anil Nandlall, who had sued the State over the cancellation of their leases by the Mahaica Maichony AbaryAgriculture Development Authority (MMA/ADA) won their case before the High Court.

In 2015, another set of

farmers - Phillip Johnson, Rupert Blackman and Rawle Miller - had filed legal action against the MMA-ADA, challenging the cancellation of State Land Leases in Rear of Seafield, West Coast Berbice.

The farmers had claimed that the leases were granted by former President Donald Ramotar and only the Head of State has the right to make such a cancellation.

After months of hearing, former Chief Justice Ian Chang in February of 2016 quashed the cancellation of the leases in favour of the farmers.

However, the farmers said they were subsequently informed by General Manager of MMAADA Aubrey Charles that President Granger has cancelled their leases. Besides their leases being revoked, farmers have also had to deal with land rental fee increases.

8 news Prisoner escapes Police Outpost by chopping off handcuffs C monDAY, september 23, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

haos broke out at the Stabroek Police Outpost on Thursday last when a prisoner armed himself with a cutlass, chopped off the handcuffs from his hands and made good his escape.

According to information, on the day in question, around 16:30h, ranks arrested Gary Grant, a 34-year-old resident of Norton Street, Georgetown, who allegedly stole a cellular phone from a female resident.

The Corporal who was in charge of the night shift at the Outpost instructed his subordinates to handcuff the man’s right hand to a metal bar that was attached to a wall inside the structure and place him to sit on a bench.

Ranks stated that the man had been banging on the walls and throwing items at them throughout the afternoon.

Subsequently, one of

Stabroek Police Outpost

the ranks attached to the Outpost informed the Corporal of the man’s behaviour and suggested that he be sent to the Brickdam Police Station, but the request was denied.

The rank further stated that the prisoner was shouting at the top of his voice claiming that he was very strong and was a good sprinter, but they ignored

the outbursts and slurs.

At approximately 22:20h the same night, the prisoner suddenly jumped into the air and kicked down the plywood counter of the outpost.

A cutlass that was hidden under the counter was then revealed, and the prisoner used it to chop off the handcuffs and made his escape.

However, before leaving, the prisoner used the cut-

lass to chop several electrical wires thus resulting in the Outpost plunging into darkness.

Nevertheless, a large crowd gathered after seeing and hearing the commotion.

A public-spirited citizen quickly got into action and attempted to prevent the prisoner from escaping, but he did not succeed as the prisoner kept ‘firing chops’ at them with the cutlass.

The lone female Police rank out of fear began to run as the man went after her with the cutlass in his hand.

As the woman made efforts to escape, she stumbled over two bread stalls at the Market.

The prisoner eventually backed off and made good his escape by running around the fence of the Parliament Building. The patrol vehicle that was summoned arrived shortly after the chaos, at the scene.

The horror…

I

…of barbaric reversion n Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness”, the protagonist Kurtz emerges from the jungle where he’d been trying to impart “civilisation” to the natives. So shocked at what he’d become, he could only mumble, “The horror!!

The horror!!” As a Polish refugee in 19th Century Britain, Conrad was a keen observer of the striving of “outsiders” to join the world of civilised manners and mores. He couldn’t miss the sometimes-grotesque efforts of some who imitated the forms, but missed the substance of what it took to rise above their innate barbarism.

As your Eyewitness observes the PNC’s trampling on our Constitution – which was supposed to establish the rules of civilised governance in our neck of the former empire on which the sun never set – all he can do is mumble, “The horror!! The horror!!” Since December 21, 2018, he’s witnessed the mask of civilised behaviour slowly corroding from Granger and his myrmidons’ faces to see at last what was always there: the mark of the depraved drive for power at any cost. And it’s made even uglier by their insistence that those who oppose their descent into depravity are “vulgarians”!!

One of the institutions the British passed on to us to imbibe the rules of civilised behaviour is the game of cricket. We learnt on the playing fields of our schools that the rules of cricket are sacrosanct and the decisions of the umpire, who enforces those rules, aren’t to be questioned. It’s just “not cricket!” For instance, the rule of being “out” if you inadvertently back into your stumps may not be “fair”, but that’s the rule and you walk back to the pavilion. We in the West Indies became noted for walking in all sorts of circumstances even when the umpire hadn’t noticed our error. WE KNEW, and that’s what mattered for us to keep our honour.

Running a country is serious business, but ultimately it comes back to the morality that our leaders were supposed to have imbibed on the cricket fields and in their homes to “do the right thing” and “walk” when the rules say so. But this is where the PNC under Burnham started the precedent of bending and breaking the rules of the game of running the country just to stay in power.

He made a mockery of the foundational rule that it’s the people who vote their government in and out of office, by rigging elections. He made us a Banana Republic.

And that’s the morality his protégé David Granger is living by. The umpire of the Constitution – the Judiciary – determined his government ended on September 18.

But he refuses to walk. The horror!! The horror!! …of the Police State Even before the PNC under Granger acceded to office with the help of the AFC, your Eyewitness raised concerns about the number of ex-Disciplined Forces officers who’d been recruited into the PNC/APNU apparatus. And lo and behold, when those ex-officers were all placed into strategic positions in every Government department and Ministry, the alarm bells went off even louder.

And it’s not, as some apologists complained, that military officers weren’t educated and well trained for jobs.

The question was, what were they educated and trained for!! First of all, not about democracy: they’re trained to do whatever the fella above them says. Remember those officers who killed civilians who were simply trying to ensure ballot boxes were secure?? Granger complimented those officers: just following orders, man!! As a matter of fact, Granger was the young officer Burnham picked to indoctrinate the Officer Corps of the Disciplined Forces into his ideology of “Burnhamism”.

From that, Granger sees the armed forces as a “modernising force” that will lead Guyana “for their own good”.

In the Police State! …of intimidation What kind of mind would think businessmen would plot to have politicians embarrass Granger? The “trained” military, security mind of former Head of the Disciplined Forces, Gary Best would!!

To a hammer, everything’s a nail!

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

news

9

monDAY, september 23, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

“Illegal Govt” will have dire

consequences on investment – PPP/C

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n light of the constitutional crisis that Guyana was thrown into with an “illegal Government”, foreign investors have already begun to scrap projects that would have provided jobs and much-needed revenues.

This was according to former economic adviser to the PPP, Peter Ramsaroop, who told reporters on Friday that Guyana has already suffered a major economic decline over the past four and a half years and with the reluctance of President David Granger in announcing an election date, the situation can worsen.

“I have spoken to two British companies this (Friday) morning and they were in the process of getting to some funding from the British Government to fund a few projects, they now have to back off because the British Government will not sign any new agreement

with an illegal Government.

And that is what is going to impact our nation.

Granger’s madness needs to stop. We the people are going to suffer and continue to suffer and it is time for him to call elections and demit office as soon as possible.”

He stated that Guyana’s economy became stagnated shortly after the APNU/ AFC Government took office in 2015, with at least 20,000 persons fired, and having no means of sustaining their livelihoods but that with the present political uncertainty in the country, more negative effects are expected.

“You have the international community starting to put their sanctions against him (Granger), the statements by the Americans, British and European Union are very powerful, and what it entails is that they can’t engage with the Government anymore, they

have said that they have to now stop all their investors coming in. No one can sign a contract; if you are representing the American Government in the business or the British Government, their advice to those compa-

Guyana Times understands that the victim spent the night imbibing with friends at a popular bar before deciding to venture home on his bicycle at around 22:25h.

However, while doing so, the man reportedly crashed into a parked truck along the La Jalousie Public Road, WCD. After colliding with the truck, eyewitnesses revealed that the cyclist was flung from his bicycle and fell onto the roadway and

sustained injuries.

He was picked up in an unconscious state by a group of public-spirited citizens and taken to the Leonora Cottage Hospital where he was admitted and treated.

According to the police, Sookanand received injuries to his head, neck, arm and other parts of his body.

He is, however, said to be in a serious but stable condition.

The matter is being investigated.

PPP/C member Peter Ramsaroop

Allegedly drunken driver slams into parked truck

A

cyclist who was allegedly under the influence of alcohol is presently nursing injuries at the West Demerara Regional Hospital (WDRH) after he reportedly slammed into a parked truck on the La Jalousie Public Road, West Coast Demerara (WCD), on Friday evening.

Ramjit Sookanand, 35, of Leonora, West Coast Demerara (WCD) was said to be making his way home at around 22:45h when the incident occurred.

nies is that you cannot sign any contract with the current Guyana Government.”

According to Ramsaroop, with the recent release from the diplomatic community, it will have an economic impact on Guyana. “…and for a man like David Granger, an uncaring man that can look into people’s eyes and allow this economic decline to continue and get worse. We have not even gotten to oil money, could oil money come into Guyana if he continues to stay in that seat, in

an unconstitutional environment? So we have got to continue to push, the business community is very upset…. the longer he (Granger) waits for a date for elections impacts the businesses which ultimately impacts our people.”

He reminded that since the APNU/AFC Government took office, several new taxes were introduced, and this immediately became burdensome on the populace but noted that coupled with the lack of foreign investment, Guyanese would have a difficult time in progressing.

“This decision or indecision by him to postpone elections so long and hide behind the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) will continue to have an impact on us…we are calling on Mr Granger to call elections and demit office.”

On Thursday the United States of America’s Ambassador to Guyana, H E Ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch, United Kingdom High Commissioner to Guyana, H E Greg Quinn and the European Union Ambassador to Guyana, H E Ambassador Fernando Ponz Cantó issued a joint statement on the GECOM

proposed elections timeframe.

“The United States, United Kingdom and the European Union thank the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) for devising a proposed elections timeframe for conducting General and Regional Elections. However, we deeply regret that, by surpassing September 18, the Government is currently in breach of the Constitution following its failure to adhere to the decisions of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on 18 June and its subsequent orders. This situation comes at great cost to the people of Guyana.”

According to the release, the prevailing political uncertainty undermines Guyanese institutions, compromises economic opportunities and delays development across all areas including infrastructure, education, health, and social services.

“It also hinders our ability to support Guyana’s development needs. We therefore call upon the President to set an elections date immediately in full compliance with Guyana’s Constitution,” the statement added.

10 news

monDAY, september 23, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

7-year-old burn victim laid to rest

S

even-year-old Shaniya Persaud, who succumbed at the Shriners Hospital in Galveston, one month ago in Texas was given an emotional farewell on Sunday.

The child whose leg and fingers were amputated had suffered severe burns about her body and had to be taken overseas for treatment with the hope of staying alive.

Saving Hands Emergency Aid (SHEA) in a Facebook post confirmed that Persaud’s remains arrived from the US and were handed over to her parents for the funeral.

A funeral service was held at her Lot 101 Mon Repos North, East Coast Demerara home after which the body was taken to the Good Hope Cemetery where she was interred. Guyana Times understands that

Shaniya Persaud

scores of people went to pay their last respects.

On August 5, the now dead child and her brothers, Akeem Persaud, 9, and Brandon Anthony, 13, were left at home alone as their mother, Samantha Gayadin, attended a wedding in the community. However, the fire, which was later confirmed to be arson, com-

pletely gutted the house but not before Persaud ensured that her brothers were safe.

She was seen walking out of the burning building. She was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where she was admitted and treated for second and third-degree burns to 97.8 per cent of her body. The SHEA organisation assisted the family and the child was taken overseas after a total of US$42,000 was successfully raised to offset some of the expenses.

Persaud was medevaced from the Georgetown Public Hospital on August 10 to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, where she boarded a chartered flight to the United States.

During the short period, several corrective surgeries were performed in an effort to save the child’s life. continued on page 11

news

11

monDAY, september 23, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

2 perish, millions lost as fire razes buildings at Vreed-en-Hoop

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he charred remains of two Chinese nationals was on Sunday morning removed by undertakers following a massive fire which broke out in the wee hours of Sunday at the main commercial area at Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara (WCD).

The fire, which reported-

started in a Chinese supermarket following a fluctuation of electricity supply in the area. Among the businesses destroyed are the Chow Singh Chinese Restaurant, Wishful Supermarket, a multipurpose complex which housed Nauth’s Fashion, Robin’s Bookstore and a mobile

permarket which was heavily secured by an electric door.

Guyana Timeswas informed that the men might have been unable to exit the building since there was no electricity in the area at the time to open the door.

However, the fire, according to an eyewitness, broke out at the supermarket and quickly spread to the other building.

“Dem building deh here years, many many years, I know the man that used to own it before so by the time the fire start, the place burnt quickly” the man told Guyana Times.

As the fire was spotted, the Guyana Fire Service

The destroyed Chow Singh Chinese Restaurant

Pooran Brothers also rendered assistance in putting out the blaze. After hours of battling with the heat and fire, the firemen eventually put out the blaze. When

er, were removed as family members who had gathered, looked on.

ing with water to prevent the flames from spreading across. The owner expressed great joy that her life was saved.

Owner of Mobile Guru, Rajaran Suknanan told this newspaper that he would have lost about $30 million due to the fire.

According to one of his employees, he was called to the scene but by the time he arrived, the buildings were already engulfed in flames.

“When I came, everything was already on fire, nobody couldn’t have saved anything, everything was already gone” the teen lamented.

When Guyana Times ar-

The ruins of the buildings

ly started at about 01:50h, also flatted at least five other businesses in the area, resulting in millions of dollars in loses.

The blaze reportedly

store along with Mobile Guru.

Based on information received, at the time of the fire, the two now dead men were asleep aback the su-

The rubble

Owner of the Mobile Guru and employees inspecting damage

(GFS) was summoned but according to residents, its efforts to save the buildings were fruitless due to the lack of sufficient water.

After some time, the firefighters started to pump water from a canal to put out the blaze.

In addition to the GFS,

Guyana Times arrived at the scene at about 11:00h on Sunday, small pockets of fire were still being put out by firefighters.

As the fire came under control, the charred remains of the Chinese nationals, which were huddled togeth-

7-year-old burn...

Nevertheless, she died a few days later. SHEA stated that “Shaniya fought a long and difficult battle, but her fragile body could no longer continue. Her heart stopped

from page 10

twice and her doctors tried desperately to resuscitate her”.

That announcement came one day after the NonGovernmental Organisation

Speaking to this publication, owner of Nauth’s Fashion store expressed disappointment with the work of the fire service.

According to the woman, she would have lost millions of dollars since nothing was saved from her business place.

Another section of her business was, however, saved as firefighters worked quickly to soak the build-

rived at the scene, curious onlookers had gathered.

Workers from Guyana Power and Light (GPL) along with the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) were assessing the damage and more so, replacing those facilities that were destroyed by the fire.

An investigation is presently ongoing. (Kizzy Coleman)

(NGO) revealed that the child’s wounds were not healing, especially those suffered internally.

Meanwhile, Fire Chief Marlon Gentle stated that investigations have concluded and the fire was an act of

arson and the matter is now being dealt with by the police who are tasked with finding the perpetrator(s) and to determine for what reason/purpose the act was committed.

However, no one has been arrested for the crime.

12 news

MONDAY, september 23, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Environmental impact of Ogle bypass road up for consultation

Connector – 1 takes off from 4.955 km on Main Alignment on RHS and joins with the existing Aubrey Barker Road; Connector – 2 takes off from 7.705 km on Main Alignment on RHS and joins with the existing Haags Bosch Road; Connector – 3 takes off from 10.145 km on Main Alignment on RHS and joins with the existing Mocha Arcadia Road and Connector – 4 takes off from 14.885 km on Main Alignment and joins on RHS with the existing Great Diamond Road (This image was attached to the Draft Environmental and Social Impact Assessment)

T

he Government organisation, in a notice published in one of the daily newspapers on Saturday, said the document was recently submitted to the EPA by Indiabased consultant RITES Limited.

“In accordance with the EPA Act Chapter 20:05, the Environmental Protection (Amendment) Act 2005, and the Environmental Protection Regulations 2000, members of the public are hereby invited, within 60 days of the publication of this notice, to review the report and make written submissions to the Environmental Protection Agency, as they consider appropriate.”

The document can be viewed and downloaded from the agency’s website or purchased from the EPA’s office at Ganges Street, Sophia, Greater Georgetown, upon request.

Back in 2016, Finance Minister Winston Jordan had signed a US$50 million loan with the ExportImport (EXIM) Bank of India for the construction of the bypass road, which will provide an alternative route connecting the East Coast of Demerara at Ogle to the East Bank at Diamond.

The preliminary cost of the project was pegged at US$104 million. However, when he presented the 2019 budget last year, the Finance Minister revealed that the projected cost had spiked to some US$120 million and as such, Guyana would either have to approach its bilateral partner for more funds or just await revenues from the nascent oil and gas sector.

However, former Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, Venkatachalam Mahalingam had told this publication back in June that his Government could come up with the additional

funds, but there would have to be a formal proposal from the Guyana Government.

Since the Indian Government is funding the project, it is required that contracts be awarded to companies from that country and as such, a 10-month design consultancy project was awarded to RITES Limited. The consultants have already submitted a Detailed Project Report (DPR) outlining the draft final design of the bypass road.

Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson told the National Assembly in May that the project was turning out to be of a much bigger scale than previously envisioned.

“What was previously envisaged when the loan was taken was a single road linking house lot developments, [but] what has been designed and is being reviewed at the moment is a dual carriageway, which is

not just for linking house lots; it is actually an additional new entryway into the city. So, it’s new bypass road [design], so, therefore, it is vastly improved than what was initially perceived,” Patterson had told the Committee of Supply as he successfully sought additional funds.

The Minister requested an additional $67.41 million to cover payments for consultancy services provided by the Indian firm as well as to carry out preparatory works on the route earmarked for the new bypass road.

He explained that along the area identified for the new road link, there was a “swampy” section and part of the monies sought would be injected into clearing that area.

When the final design is approved by Government, the project will go to tender for a contractor, which will also be an Indian firm.

The Diamond-Ogle bypass project will see some 26 kilometres of road constructed, linking two of the country’s main thoroughfares. This new road link will also be connected to key communities in Georgetown and along the East Bank of Demerara. These include Diamond, Mocha and Eccles – all on the East Bank – and Aubrey Barker Road in Georgetown.

Environmental impacts

When it comes to the Environmental Impacts, it was noted that construction works will require large quantities of water which will be supplied “mainly

from nearby streams”.

On the other hand, it was also noted that “Potential impacts to soil could result from the development of the roads, site clearing and access road diversion and construction can potentially result in soil loss through increased soil erosion.

Roads and other transport lines in the terrain may result in increased soil erosion. If site clearing activities coincide with the rainy season, heavy rainfall may increase erosion on roads and surrounding areas”.

Dust emissions from the road will also be a concern as was highlighted in the assessment but to reduce the impacts on air quality, speed limits will be instituted and water will be sprinkled to keep the dust levels down.

Christian leaders join...

From Page 7

“We do express thanks to the International Community and our Developmental partners for support given in the past and we do request that no resource be spared in lending support to Guyana and GECOM in particular, so that it can fulfill its mandate in delivering Free and Fair Elections as is constitutionally mandated.”

“We do council the Christian community scattered across the nation that we act responsibly, speak wisely, participate conscientiously to be the voice of reason in ensuring that we have an environment that is free from fear. It is anticipated that we submit ourselves to the commands of the scripture that our prayers be guided by Matthew 6:10 “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done”.

It was only days ago that

members of the diplomatic corps, such as representatives of the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union, called for the President to immediately name an election date, while noting that the President was in breach of the constitution.

Strong criticism for the President’s inaction has also come from the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG). And it was only on Friday that the Bar Council of the Bar Association of Guyana condemned the Coalition Government for its failure to hold General and Regional Elections within the period mandated by the Constitution, which it reminded is supreme law.

This came after protests against the President and pressure from the diplomatic community, to ensure the

government acts in accordance with the constitution.

The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has already warned that they will continue to agitate for constitutional compliance until the President names an election date.

The Central Islamic Organization of Guyana (CIOG) has also urged for political players to be responsible and exercise restraint. According to CIOG President Shahabudeen Ahmad in a statement over the weekend, the organization’s main concern is ensuring stability and a lasting peace transcends polling day.

The Zadok Minister’s Fellowship represents more than 100 local churches and ministries across Guyana.

It was launched last year, with the aim of bring churches together in unity.

news

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MONDAY, september 23, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Ex-convict stabbed to death after leaving bar – suspects arrested, assisting with probe

A

n ex-convict was in the wee hours of Sunday stabbed to

during an argument.

The dead man has been identified as 33-year-old

The grieving relatives

death on Main Street, New Amsterdam, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne)

Delroy James called “Slant Eye” and “Mafia” of Lot 12 Patrick Dam Mount Sinai

referred to as Angoy’s Avenue.

According to the police, James and the suspects were imbibing and subsequently engaged in an argument, which resulted in a scuffle.

“At about 03:45h. James was found lying motionless with wounds to his lower back. He was taken to New Amsterdam Public Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The suspects are in custody assisting with this investigation,” a police release said in part.

However, Guyana Times understands that while in the vicinity of Main and St Ann Streets, James attempted to rob one of the suspects of a gold band and a scuffle ensued between them.

As a result, James was

NTC conference set for October

T

he National Toshaos Council (NTC) has informed local stakeholders and community development officials of their annual conference, which will be held over the course of five days next month.

Under the theme “Guyana’s first people united in the promotion of the green economy through preservation of our languages, lands and rights”, the conference is scheduled for October 7 to October 11.

Throughout this engagement, Toshaos and other personnel will be able to share issues that are affecting their people and villages. In recent time, the Indigenous peoples have complained about the issuance of land titles, which was promised by Government.

After heavy criticism, Government approved grants for the establishment

of legal boundaries in the communities of Parabaru, Region Nine (Upper TakatuEssequibo); Rockstone, Region 10 (Upper DemeraraBerbice), and in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), Tasserene and Kangaruma.

Meanwhile, existing communities which had their grants approved for extensions are Mainstay/Whyaka, Mashabo and Capoey, on the Essequibo Coast, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam).

This was announced

by Director General at the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon, who told reporters that these approvals were granted based on recommendations from the Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Ministry, which has responsibility for the ALT Project.

The Amerindian Land Titling process was facilitated by the Amerindian Act of 2006 which catered for land

titling and extensions.

This led to the establishment of the Amerindian Land Titling Project, which commenced in 2013 and was scheduled to end in 2016.

This was a US$10.7 million project funded by the GRIF programme and according to the Director General, the allotted sum has not been exhausted.

The Amerindian Act of 2006 states that a village may apply in writing to the Minister (of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs) for a grant of State lands as an extension to its village lands.

Furthermore, Indigenous communities can apply in writing to the subject Minister provided that it has been in existence for over 25 years at the time of application and for the immediately preceding five years, it comprises at least 150 persons among others.

Dead: Delroy James

stabbed and subsequently collapsed but while on the ground, he was stabbed again.

He was picked up and taken to the New Amsterdam Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

At the home of the now dead man, one of his cousins denied the allegation that James was about to commit a robbery when he was stabbed. “A lil gold band – he doesn’t do dem petty things…”

The dead man’s mother, Carol James, speaking with this publication said she received a message stating that her son was stabbed but by the time she enquired further, the news bearer had already left.

The woman related that as she made her way to the scene, she was told that he had already passed.

The emotional mother stated that she was able to place her hands on his body but was overcome with emotion.

However, she said she was told by one of the eyewitnesses that there was no scuffle prior to the stabbing incident.

“Some people just saying that he went and rob and he went and thief, I don’t care.

Is me son – I don’t care. He is not the first nor the last.”

The grieving mother was also critical of comments made by a senior police officer who allegedly stated that he was happy that “Mafia” was killed.

She said that officer also has children. “I am his mother and I have to get justice, if they don’t give me, I know how to get it,” she said.

One of the suspects in custody and James served

me saying anything about that.”

She referred to the now dead man as being loving and kind. He was someone who did not like to see persons who were disadvantaged, she added. James was the eldest of three siblings. He leaves to mourn one child.

James was released from prison in 2010 after serving an eight-month sentence for armed robbery.

In June 2011, he was remanded to prison for the New Year’s Day murder of wash-bay attendant Seao Craig who was killed during a robbery at Mars Gas Station and Variety Store, Snackette/Beer Garden at Stanleytown,

The area where the man was stabbed to death

prison time together.

Some reports suggest that the stabbing was as a result of a grievance the two men had in prison.

However, Carol said she could not confirm that.

“I don’t know if they had any brush in prison because he never complained to

New Amsterdam.

In March 2012, Magistrate Adela Nagamootoo, sitting at New Amsterdam Court, discharged the accused after upholding a no-case submission by Defence Counsel Charrandas Persaud.

(Andrew Carmichael)

14 news

MONDAY, september 23, 2019| guyanatimesgy.com

OAI commissions $70M taxiway to cater for oil and gas activities

T

he Eugene F Correia International Airport in Ogle, East Coast Demerara, on Thursday commissioned a $70 million “taxiway” to be used for helicopter activity, especially in the oil and gas sector.

The taxiway, “Foxtrot” has been in the making since March of this year and was officially completed last month.

The 200-metre long and 15-metre wide strip will provide a special space for helicopters to operate without mixing with fixed-wing aircraft and passengers.

Its Pavement Classification Number (PCN) is 16-R/B/ X/T which is in excess of the Aircraft Classification Number (ACN) of aircraft types similar to Liat’s ATR 72 Aircraft.

The airport’s Public Relations Consultant, Kit Nascimento, during the

Junior Public Infrastructure Minister Jaipaul Sharma cuts the ribbon with Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority, Egbert Field to commission the new “taxiway” in the presence of the airport’s Public Relations Consultant Kit Nascimento and other executives

commissioning ceremony explained that the new taxiway will connect Taxiway Bravo and Charlie to the main runway.

As such, he noted that

the new taxiway will vastly improve efficiency and economy of the aircraft operations when taxiing to and from the runway and greatly reduce runway occupan-

cy time. “It will also improve the safety of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopter operations”, he noted.

Meanwhile, Junior Public Infrastructure

Minister, Jaipaul Sharma pointed to the importance of the runway in aiding ExxonMobil’s operations.

“Ogle (Eugene F Correia International Airport) is facilitating the oil and gas sector which is very important.

Without the ground handling facility that the operators there will be offering to the oil and gas sector, ExxonMobil in particular at this point in time, they cannot do their operations, 120 kilometres out there where they [are] operating because they need the services that this airdrome is offering”, the Minister stated.

Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Egbert Field congratulated the private firm on the new facility.

He added that the airport is preparing to meet the needs of the tsunami of industries coming to Guyana.

Already, the airport has signalled its intent to construct more of such taxiways to cater for the growing aviation sector.

Back in January of this year, Field told Guyana Times that the GCAA was preparing itself for a busy year, especially with increased helicopters given that oil production was mere months away.

At that time, he explained that the helicopters which will be brought in will perform the same functions that are being carried out presently which involves trips from the shore to the oil rigs. He said over 10 flights daily can be expected. “There will be a little more activity…maybe 10 flights or 12 flights a day, they may be doing more so my air traffic controllers will have more work on their hands,” Field asserted.

Completion of CJIA expansion delayed once again

– Government blames “weather”

D

espite promises by the APNU/AFC Government that the expansion of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) would have already been completed in August last, the Administration is now looking at another date.

Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson on Friday told reporters that he is unable to provide a date for when the project will be fully completed.

This, the Minister stated, is as a result of the “weather” that Guyana has been experiencing of late.

“This is supposed to be the driest period in the year… for the past days, we

had almost four inches of rain…”

Meanwhile, of the four air bridges that have been constructed at the CJIA, only two are functioning at maximum potential with the other two being “suspended” from operations.

According to the Minister, this is no fault of the Government.

“It is about the Chinese contractor; his warranty came to an end or he had to renew his warranty and one of the issues that was claimed in renewing his warranty is that now we are now in this warmer weather there was some rutting underneath the air bridg-

es. We decided that what we should do is out a quick fix on it. Rutting means when you go on the asphaltic concrete you would see a track and any other movement; we consider could be dangerous.”

He noted that works are ongoing to ensure that the suspended air bridges are up and running in the new week.

The US$150 million CJIA expansion project was scheduled for completion within 32 months of its commencement in 2013.

However, the deadline was extended to December 1, 2017, since the project would have experienced sev-

An artist’s impression of the expanded airport at Timehri

eral delays.

In 2012, Guyana, under the leadership of former President Donald Ramotar, had secured a US$138 mil-

lion loan from the China Exim (Export-Import) Bank to fund the expansion and modernisation project, for which the Guyana

Government has injected some US$12 million.

However, when the coalition Government came in to power in 2015, the project was put on hold, but following discussions between Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson and the contracting company China Harbour Engineering Corporation (CHEC), it was announced that the project would be continued.

Last year, Project Manager of the Public Infrastructure Ministry, Carmichael Thorne had been optimistic of the project being completed by 2017. At a project update briefing, Thorne noted that of the US$150 million, only US$37.3 million had been expended to date. Of this amount, some US$33 million was spent by CHEC, which included US$1.9 million of local funds put up by the Government of Guyana.

As it relates to the works being done, the Infrastructure Ministry’s project manager told media operatives that while the initial plan was for the northern end of the runway to be extended, because of difficulties with the terrain, a decision was taken to extend the runway from both the northern and southern ends, in order to minimise the cost.

news

15

MONDAY, september 23, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

What the people say VOX POPULI I SAY...

Do you think that Grade Two children should be required to take after school lessons?

Andrew Khan Yes, Grade Two children should be required to take after school lessons because it has some children in Grade Two who do not know to count and read etc. That’s where the after school lesson come in.

Some kids are slow learners so the after-class lessons would boost them up.

Wendy Hernandez After school lessons are of great benefit to all grades of students but the number of hours that Grade Two students would have to spend doing that is worrying. I think they should have lessons but just for one hour and not more.

Ramona Luthi I don’t believe this is something that should be required. It should be an option so that kids who might be learning at a slower pace can keep up and better themselves, however, as I said, I don’t believe after-school classes should be mandatory for such young kids.

Lester Glenn No too much pressure. A child should remain a child.

They want to create smart kids or robots?

Shaunell Wilson There should be a means for children that are underperforming in every grade to get some catch-up classes that their parent’s request. After school lessons isn’t necessary for every child and should not be mandatory.

Early childhood, special needs school to be constructed in Bartica – Chairman

I

n observance of Education Month 2019, Region Seven’s (CuyuniMazaruni) Education Department on Friday hosted its grand road march, rally and cultural presentation which saw the attendance of students and teachers in their numbers.

During the opening of the activities, Regional Chairman Gordon Bradford in his feature address used the opportunity to divulge

and Upper Mazaruni region, some of which have already started.

On this note, the Chairman reiterated the importance of delivering quality education to the nation’s children.

“The national and regional budgets, both, reflect significant allocations towards education, because your Government recognises the importance of education in the development of

Regional Chairman, Gordon Bradford during his feature address

Students during the Education Month road march in Bartica

plans for the construction of an early childhood school and a special needs school in Bartica, along with the construction of several primary schools in the Cuyuni

the nation, and is sparing no effort to equip you with the right skills to take on the imminent challenges of nation-building”, he said.

The march culminated

at the Community Centre Ground for the rally and talent show which saw participation from teachers and students, as well as education and regional officials from several schools within and neighbouring the region.

Among the schools that participated were Three Miles and Bartica Secondary, St John the Baptist Primary, St Anthony’s Primary, High Achievers School of Learning, Adult Education Institute and the St Michael’s Private School.

Alicea Davidson I have a cousin who is a Grade Two student, and he takes after school lessons but it’s not every day, and doesn’t last for more than 2 hours which I think is good. They are children which means they need recreational time so while lesson is of much benefit to them, they also need some free time.

Denisia Chapman No, I don’t think it’s necessary at such a young age. Children’s attention span is already too limited at that stage.

Tanisha Petty No, children so young should not have to take lessons, that’s too much at such a young age. There is a time for everything. When they are older, yes, but not so young.

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guyanatimesgy.com

Monday, september 23, 2019

Regional

Police clash UN rights chief Bachelet says feels Nicaragua with protesters urging ‘sorry’ for Brazil under Bolsonaro President to quit U P

nited Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, who earlier this month came under personal attack from Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, says she feels sorry for Brazil, according to a Chilean media report published on Sunday.

Bolsonaro, a far-right former army captain, accused Bachelet of “meddling” in Brazil´s affairs after she raised concerns about a jump in killings by Rio de Janeiro Police, backtracking on democratic norms and attacks on Indigenous communities.

He also took aim at the former Chilean President herself as well as her father, an air force general who remained loyal to Socialist President Salvador Allende

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet attends a session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, September 9, 2019

after Chile´s 1973 military coup and died in jail. “(Bachelet) forgets that the only reason (her) country isn’t like Cuba is thanks to those who had the cour-

age to put a stop to the left in 1973,” Bolsonaro wrote.

“Among those communists was her ... father.”

In an interview with Chilean national televi-

sion due to be screened on Sunday evening, extracts of which were carried in the morning in La Tercera newspaper, Bachelet responded.

“I was asked in a press conference about the situation in Brazil and we gave the information that we have, which is the number of people who have been killed and the difficulty for civil society to continue doing the things they were doing before,” she was quoted as telling TVN. Asked specifically about Bolsonaro’s reaction to her criticism, she alluded to Brazil´s own military dictatorship between 1964 and 1985, which Bolsonaro has praised as “glorious”. (Excerpt

olice have fired tear gas and rubber bullets at anti-government protesters in Nicaragua, injuring two people.

The demonstrators are demanding President Daniel Ortega stand down and call an election.

According to dw.com, Opposition leader Felix Maradiaga said protesters were calling for a “halt to repression and the murder of farmers” and demanding that authorities “free more than 120 political prison-

ers”.

Nicaraguan authorities have banned Opposition protests and accuse its activists of trying to overthrow Ortega’s Government.

The embattled President has faced stiff opposition since April 2018, when a pension reform plan sparked regular demonstrations and calls for his ouster.

Hundreds of Nicaraguans have been killed, imprisoned or forced into exile since the anti-government protests began. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera and dw.com)

Jamaica: Phillips again calls on PM to discuss national Firefighters in Bolivia lose hope of taming blazes consensus on crime

as burned area doubles

B

olivian volunteer firefighters, exhausted from battling blazes sweeping rapidly across the country’s lowlands, are starting to lose hope and retreat from the front lines of some infernos in the drought-stricken region.

The fires this year are Bolivia’s worst in at least two decades, with the size of burned land across the country nearly doubling in less than three weeks, destroying

swathes of biodiverse forest and ranches and farms that sustain thousands of people.

In the dusty cattle ranching town of Concepcion, despite nearly two months of non-stop firefighting, blazes that had been put out in surrounding dry forests have reignited while others continue to spread toward the Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, a gateway to pristine Amazonian rainforest.

“Nothing has been con-

trolled. The fires continue,” said Elias Johns, the Deputy Governor of the province of Nuflo Chavez, where Concepcion is located.

While helicopters have doused flames around Concepcion, the Boeing supertanker 747 that Bolivian President Evo Morales ordered to battle blazes across the country has not yet made it there. The heat and smoke are so intense along part of the front lines that firefighters cannot remain working for more than several minutes at

documents filed in appellate court cases by non-litigants with a strong interest in the subject matter.

The briefs advise the court of relevant, additional information or arguments that the court might wish to consider. A well-written amicus brief can have a significant impact on judicial decision-making.

The Tri-Caucus includes the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC); Congressional Black Caucus

(CBC) and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC).

Clarke, who represents the predominantly Caribbean 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn, New York, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that the briefs were filed for various cases in the State of California, the State of New York, and the Southern District of New York.

The amicus briefs argue that the public charge rule was “written with discriminatory intent against non-

from Reuters)

a time.

Local firefighters with Bolivia’s volunteer-based force say they are poorly equipped with little more than backpacks of water, hoses and machetes, lacking heavy machinery to clear debris and stop fires from advancing.

Some 700 to 800 volunteer firefighters have gone home, Johns said. The province now mostly relies on foreign units from Argentina and France and Bolivian soldiers sent to help. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Congresswoman opposes public charge rule on C’bean immigrants

C

aribbean American Congresswoman Yvette D Clarke has joined members of the United States Congressional Tri-Caucus in filing amicus briefs opposing the Trump Administration’s public charge rule aimed at legal Caribbean and other immigrants who wish to remain in the US, but whose dearth of financial resources are deemed likely to make them a burden on US taxpayers.

Amicus briefs are legal

white, non-European immigrants and violates both the Equal Protection Clause and the Administrative Procedure Act.” The public charge rule would expand the definition of who is considered a “public charge” and consequently make it more difficult for Caribbean and other immigrants to come to the United States or receive green cards if they are likely to use benefits they are legally entitled to, such as Medicaid, housing assistance, and nutrition assistance. (Excerpt from CMC)

Tropical Storm Karen brings floods, damage to Tobago

R

eports of damage are pouring into the Tobago Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) as a result of Tropical Storm Karen.

At least seven fishing vessels have sunk in the Plymouth area and parts of the dilapidated Plymouth Jetty have collapsed into the sea. The watercourse adjacent to the Starfish Hotel (previously Turtle Beach Hotel) has overflown its bank causing flooding.

There are also reports of a collapsed house in Mason

The damaged Plymouth Jetty in Tobago

Hall and severe flooding in Scarborough.

According to a report from the Associated Press, Tropical Storm Karen is

continuing to spread blustery winds and flooding rains around the southern Windward Islands.

“Karen formed earlier

on Sunday. The National Hurricane Center said the storm had top sustained winds of 65 kilometres per hour (40 miles per hour) as of Sunday afternoon and was expected to approach Puerto Rico and the US and British Virgin Islands on Tuesday.

“Elsewhere, Tropical Storm Jerry is raising the risk of tropical storm-force winds as it moves closer to Bermuda. But forecasters say it’s still too early to determine what impacts Jerry may have on Bermuda,” the AP reported. (Excerpt from Trinidad Guardian)

P

eople’s National Party (PNP) Leader, Dr Peter Phillips has again called on Prime Minister Andrew Holness to convene the long-promised meeting of stakeholders to discuss a national consensus on crime.

He says the meeting, which was agreed on by himself and Prime Minister Holness in January, has yet to materialise.

The Opposition Leader made the call in his address at the Party’s 81st annual conference on Sunday at the National Arena in Kingston.

The proposed meeting is expected to include the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ); the Church; the Peace Management Initiative (PMI), and others. (Jamaica

Observer)

Rio violence: Protests as girl, 8, “killed by Police”

The eight-year-old girl was with her mother in a van when she was killed

P

rotests have erupted in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro after an eight-year-old girl was allegedly killed by Police, as the number of victims in operations by security forces continues to rise. Ágatha Vitória Sales Félix was with her mother in a van when she was shot in the back in a poor area on Friday.

Residents said officers had targeted a motorcyclist when she was hit. Police said they had responded to an attack.

A record 1249 people have died in such raids in Rio from January to August. Ágatha is the fifth child to die as a result of violence blamed on the Police this year.

Critics say the hardline approach of Governor

Wilson Witzel, who came to office in January, is behind the growing number of victims in the city’s poorest areas – favelas – many of them controlled by powerful drug gangs. Ágatha was going back home with her mother on Friday night in a van when she was shot in the back in Alemão, one of Rio’s largest favelas. She was sent to a hospital but died.

In a statement, Police said officers had responded to attacks from criminals, which led to a confrontation. An investigation has been launched.

But Ágatha’s family disputed this, saying officers had targeted a motorcyclist that was passing nearby when she was hit, and there was no gunfight happening at the time. (Excerpt from

BBC News)

guyanatimesgy.com

Monday, september 23, 2019

17

Around the World

‘Howdy, Modi!’: Trump attends Indian PM’s rally in Houston

U

S President Donald Trump joined a rally in Texas to welcome Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is visiting the United States - a rare mass showing for a foreign leader on the American soil despite trade tensions between the two countries.

Nearly 50,000 Indian Americans and NonResident Indians gathered at Houston city’s NRG Stadium

on Sunday for the “Howdy, Modi!” rally hosted by Hindu nationalist Modi’s supporters in the US. “Howdy, my friends,” Modi said as he began his address. “When you say ‘Howdy, Modi’, my answer is that everything is fine in India.”

The 69-year-old Indian leader said he admired Trump for his “sense of leadership” and “strong resolve to make America great again”.

US President Donald Trump and Indian PM Narendra Modi at the ‘Howdy, Modi!’ rally in Texas

“From CEO to commander-in-chief, from boardrooms to the Oval Office, from studios to the global stage…he has left a lasting impact everywhere,” Modi said, with the US President standing by his side.

Amid chants of “USA, USA” by the crowd, Trump in his address said Modi is “doing a truly exceptional job for India”.

“We are proud to have you as Americans. We thank

you, we love you, and my Administration is fighting for you every day,” the US leader said.

India and the US have been talking for months to try to resolve trade issues.

In June, the Trump Administration accused India of imposing a wide range of trade barriers, and the US ended preferential trade deals with India. In return, India levied higher import duties on US goods. (Excerpt

from Al Jazeera)

Iran warns foreign forces to stay out of Gulf, amid World Health Organisation: Tanzania not sharing new US deployment

I

ran’s President has warned that foreign forces are threatening the security of the Gulf, after the US said it was deploying troops to the region.

Hassan Rouhani said foreign forces had always brought “pain and misery” and should not be used in an “arms race”.

The US is sending more troops to Saudi Arabia after an attack on Saudi oil facilities both nations blame on Iran.

Rouhani also said Iran would present a new Gulf peace initiative at the United Nations in the coming days.

This year has seen con-

tinuing tension between the US and Iran, following President Donald Trump’s abandonment of a deal aimed at limiting Iran’s nuclear activities in return for the easing of sanctions.

He was speaking on the anniversary of the start of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, and alongside a series of military parades in Tehran and other cities.

“Foreign forces can cause problems and insecurity for our people and for our region,” he said in the televised speech.

He called the deployment of such forces in the past a “disaster” and told them to “stay away”.

“If they’re sincere, then

information on Ebola

T

Hassan Rouhani said foreign forces had always brought “pain and misery”

they should not make our region the site of an arms race... The farther you keep yourselves from our region and our nations, the more security there

will be.”

Rouhani said Iran was “ready to let go of the past mistakes” made by regional neighbours. (Excerpt from BBC

News)

The party will decide our Brexit position, says Corbyn

L

abour leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Sunday his party would guide him on how to campaign in a second Brexit referendum, pledging to offer voters a choice between staying in the European Union and a “credible” deal.

At the start of Labour’s annual conference in the English seaside resort of Brighton, Corbyn was under renewed pressure from

party members and even some of his top team to unequivocally back remaining in the EU in any new vote.

But so far the Labour leader, a leftist who is an instinctive critic of the EU, has struck a neutral stance, saying it was more important to hold the party together by embracing its “remainers” and those who want to leave the bloc.

Just weeks before Prime

Minister Boris Johnson has vowed to leave the EU “do or die”, Labour, like the governing Conservatives, is deeply divided over Brexit, increasing the uncertainty over Britain’s departure, the country’s biggest trade and foreign policy decision for more than 40 years.

Asked whether Labour would campaign to remain in the EU or to leave with a deal, Corbyn told the BBC he would stage a special

conference to determine his party’s stance after an election which is widely expected to come before the year-end.

But his foreign affairs policy chief, Emily Thornberry, urged Labour to decide now its stance in a new referendum, voicing growing fears that having an unclear position on Brexit might punish Labour at an election. (Excerpt

from Reuters)

Arab parties endorse Gantz, breaking tradition to oust Netanyahu

I

srael’s main Arab political parties endorsed ex-military chief Benny Gantz for Prime Minister, breaking a nearly 27-yearlong standard of not endorsing a candidate in the hope of ousting Benjamin Netanyahu.

The leader of the socalled Joint List, Ayman Odeh, said on Sunday the alliance’s decision was not an endorsement of Gantz’s policies or the man himself.

Gantz’s centrist Blue and White party won the most seats in the September 17 election with 33 out of Parliament’s 120 seats, while Netanyahu’s Likud finished second with 31.

Meanwhile, the Joint List

coalition won 13 seats, making it the third-largest grouping.

Sixty-one seats are needed to form a Government.

Neither the Joint List nor the Blue and White Party indicated they planned to work together if Gantz forms a coalition Government.

But the endorsement “is a clear message that the only future for this country is a shared future, and there is no shared future without the full and equal participation of Arab-Palestinian citizens”, Odeh wrote.

It was the first time that majority Arab parties had endorsed a candidate for Prime Minister since 1992,

Members of the Joint List coalition endorsed Benny Gantz for Prime Minister in a bid to stop Netanyahu [Menachen Kahana/Reuters]

when they backed Yitzhak Rabin, who went on to sign the Oslo Accords, agreements aimed at fulfilling the right to self-determination for Palestinians.

Rivlin, who as President must designate someone to form a Government at the end of the discussions,

has said he believes both Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud and Gantz’s centrist Blue and White should be in the next coalition.

There has been speculation he will bring Gantz and Netanyahu together to explore options for a unity Government. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

anzania is refusing to provide detailed information on suspected Ebola cases, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in a rare public rebuke as the region struggles with an outbreak already declared a global health emergency.

Transparency and speed are key to combating the deadly hemorrhagic fever because it can spread rapidly. Anyone deemed to have been in contact with potentially infected people must be quarantined and the public warned to step up precautions such as handwashing.

WHO said in a statement late on Saturday that it was made aware on Sept 10 of the death of a patient in Dar es Salaam, and unofficially told the next day that the person tested positive for Ebola. The woman had died on Sept 8.

WHO said it was unofficially told that Tanzania

had two other possible Ebola cases. One had tested negative and there was no information on the other.

Officially, the Tanzanian Government said last weekend it had no confirmed or suspected cases of Ebola.

“The limited available official information from Tanzanian authorities represents a challenge,” the UN agency said.

Authorities in east and central Africa have been on high alert for possible spillovers of Ebola from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where a year-long outbreak has killed more than 2000 people.

The WHO was heavily criticised by experts during West Africa’s 20142016 Ebola epidemic, which claimed more than 11,300 lives in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, for not moving more quickly to contain the outbreak, which remains the world’s worst. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Hong Kong protests: China flag desecrated as fresh unrest erupts

A

ctivists in Hong Kong have desecrated a Chinese flag and vandalised a shopping centre on the 16th straight weekend of anti-Government protests.

Escalators and glass panels were targeted at the New Town Plaza in Sha Tin. Police have closed it and fired tear gas at brick-throwing protesters.

Police earlier prevented major unrest on the airport metro system.

The protests were sparked by a now-withdrawn extradition bill but morphed into a wider pro-democracy campaign.

Issues such as universal suffrage, a demand for an inquiry into Police actions and the alleged involvement of gangs in countering the protests have come to the fore.

The campaign, mostly conducted by young people, was peaceful to start with but has become increasing-

ly violent.

The unrest has become the biggest challenge to China’s rule since Hong Kong’s sovereignty was handed back by Britain in 1997.

Hong Kong is part of China, but enjoys “special freedoms”. Those are set to expire in 2047, and many in Hong Kong don’t want to become “another Chinese city”.

Protests began in June in opposition to a proposed bill that would have made it possible for people in Hong Kong to be extradited to mainland China.

The bill was initially shelved, and later withdrawn completely, but this has failed to quell the protesters’ anger.

Their demands have been rejected by both Beijing and Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam, who on Sunday again vowed to stop the violence. (Excerpt from

BBC News)

18

guyanatimesgy.com

mONDAY, september 23, 2019

ARCHIE

ARIES

dilbert

(March 21April 19)

Don’t let emotions stand in your way. If something comes up that you want to do, jump in. Broaden your horizons and live life your way. Romance is favored.

TAURUS (April 20May 20)

Set a high standard and make your position clear.

How you present what you want to do will affect the changes you can make. Be bold.

GEMINI (May 21June 20)

CANCER (June 21July 22)

Peanuts

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

Calvin and Hobbes

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

SUDOKU

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

Self-improvement projects will help you recognize your potential. Discipline and hard work will be necessary for you to overcome obstacles. A partnership should be re-evaluated.

Don’t lose sight of your longterm goals.

Make changes conducive to getting ahead, and put a stop to situations that are bringing you down. Stay calm, keep the peace and do what’s best for you.

Get together with people you haven’t seen in some time. The information you are given will provide insight into something that can help you redirect your energy.

Participate in an event or conference that will introduce you to new ideas and people who can help you parlay your skills and experience into something exciting.

Size up your situation and make adjustments. If you wait for someone else to make the first move, nothing will be accomplished.

Trust your instincts and do what needs to be done.

The more you know, the better. Dig deep, ask questions and embrace new experiences with enthusiasm.

Listen and observe, but don’t reveal too much about your beliefs or personal life.

Refuse to let someone SAGITTARIUS ruin your day. If you trust (Nov. 23your judgment, you will Dec. 21) avoid being led astray. A personal gain will depend on how hard you work.

Thoughtfulness will be key.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19)

SATURDAY’S WORD

solution for SATURDAY’s puzzle AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 19)

PISCES (Feb. 20March 20)

Put more thought into how you handle your finances and avoid trying to buy love or favors. If someone doesn’t like you for who you are, be prepared to walk away.

If you look for opportunities, you will discover a way to use your skills to get ahead. An unexpected opening should not be pondered over. Be aggressive and take action.

What you do to help others will be challenging, but will also lead to interesting encounters with people who can influence your future. A change looks promising.

monday, september 23, 2019

19

Clinical South Africa level series against India T

esting left-arm seam from Beuran Hendricks, making his first appearance of the series, and a breezy halfcentury from Quinton de Kock have led South Africa to a serieslevelling nine-wicket win against India at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The victory was emphatic, arriving with 4.1 overs still left to play, but South Africa’s cause was aided by India’s strategy, which was drawn up with one eye on next year’s T20 World Cup Tournament.

No team had ever chosen to bat first in six previous T20Is at this ground, but India did so.

Virat Kohli said this is because they wanted to improve on their weaker suit - setting targets and defending them.

“Come the World Cup,” Kohli said, “toss is not in your control.”

On an evening when conditions changed significantly at the innings’ break, the toss turned out to be quite significant. Dew came into play particularly during the second innings, and batting became easier. Even so, de Kock was in terrific form, and there was little India’s bowlers could do to stop him. All the trademark shots: the pulls, the flat-bat slaps over the covers, the pick-up shots over backward square leg, were in evidence as he ran to an unbeaten 79 off 52 balls, with Reeza Hendricks and Temba Bavuma slipping neatly into his slipstream in partnerships of 76 and 64 (unbroken) for the first two wickets.

India could have had de Kock when on 28, as he missed a sweep off

Washington Sundar’s offspin, but they had a confident lbw appeal turned down by Umpire Nitin Menon. Ball-tracking suggested that the ball would have gone on to hit a good chunk of leg stump, but India had wasted their review in the previous over, when Deepak Chahar hit Reeza’s front pad with a delivery that would definitely have missed leg stump.

That appeal apart, India didn’t seem to have any real ideas to use to dismiss de Kock or even tie him down.

Two of India’s less experienced bowlers, Navdeep Saini and Krunal Pandya, had off-days, going for a combined 65 in 5.5 overs; and Hardik Pandya - who took the only wicket went for 23 in two overs as de Kock punished anything

spin-bowling all-rounders at Nos. 7, 8 and 9. With this cushion below them, the top order seemed to be under instructions to go after the bowling and not worry too much about

Tabriz Shamsi celebrating the wicket of Shikar Dhawan

Quinton de Kock

man in the 30-yard circle.

When Dhawan fell for 36 off 25 in the eighth over -Beuran Hendricks had earlier dismissed Rohit Sharma for the third time in only four balls in all T20 cricket -- India seemed well placed at 63 for 2. But the pitch was beginning to change perceptibly, with the ball no longer coming on with the shine off, and South Africa’s bowlers were beginning to find ways to exploit it. There was turn for spinners Shamsi and Bjorn Fortuin, and the seamers began varying their pace regularly and bowling into the surface. Runscoring became a struggle, and the big hits stopped carrying.

(ESPNcricinfo)

SCOREBOARD

Beuran Hendricks

remotely short.

In the past, India had often adopted a conservative, ODIinflected approach that has hurt them against teams with more hitting depth.

In this series, their selection emphasised batting depth, with three

preserving wickets.

The new approach helped them get off to an excellent start, with Shikhar Dhawan looking full of purpose, moving around the crease or stepping out of it to try and put bowlers off their lengths and exploit the Powerplay restrictions.

It was most evident in the sixth over, against the left-arm wrist-spin of Tabraiz Shamsi.

Mid-on was initially inside the circle, and Dhawan stepped out and hit a six over that fielder. Mid-on dropped back, long-off became mid-off, and Dhawan launched the next ball over the new

India S Dhawan c Bavuma b Shamsi 36 RG Sharma c RR Hendricks b BE Hendricks 9 V Kohli (c) c Phehlukwayo b Rabada 9 RR Pant † c Phehlukwayo b Fortuin 19 SS Iyer st †de Kock b Fortuin 5 HH Pandya c Miller b Rabada 14 KH Pandya c †de Kock b BE Hendricks 4 RA Jadeja c & b Rabada 19 Washington Sundar run out (†de Kock/Rabada) 4 DL Chahar not out 0 NA Saini not out 0 Extras (b 1, lb 2, w 12) 15 TOTAL 134/9 (20 Overs, RR: 6.7) Fall of wickets: 1-22 (Rohit Sharma, 2.2 ov), 2-63 (Shikhar Dhawan, 7.2 ov), 3-68 (Virat Kohli, 8.3 ov), 4-90 (Rishabh Pant, 12.4 ov), 5-92 (Shreyas Iyer, 12.5 ov), 6-98 (Krunal Pandya, 14.3 ov), 7-127

(Ravindra Jadeja, 19.1 ov), 8-133 (Washington Sundar, 19.4 ov), 9-133 (Hardik Pandya, 19.5 ov) BOWLING: BC Fortuin 3-0-19-2; K Rabada 4-0-39-3, BE Hendricks 4-0-14-2, AL Phehlukwayo 4-0-28-0, T Shamsi 4-0-231, D Pretorius 1-0-8-0 South Africa Innings (target: 135 runs from 20 overs) RR Hendricks c Kohli b HH Pandya 28 Q de Kock (c) † not out 79 T Bavuma not out 27 Extras (lb 2, w 4) 6 TOTAL 140/1 (16.5 Overs, RR: 8.31) Fall of wickets: 1-76 (Reeza Hendricks, 10.1 ov) BOWLING: Washington Sundar 4-0-27-0, DL Chahar 3-015-0, NA Saini 2-0-25-0, KH Pandya 3.5-0-400, HH Pandya 2-0-231, RA Jadeja 2-0-8-0

Liverpool cling on to beat Chelsea – as winning streak continues

W

Roberto Firmino and Trent Alexander-Arnold scored the goals as Liverpool ran out 2-1 winners. (Credit EPA)

ith five minutes to go, Jurgen Klopp was hopping up and down literally in frustration, as the ball kept coming back into the Liverpool penalty area and the pressure grew.

It will be pressure all the way this season, it seems; but Liverpool held on, and, in winning away at Chelsea, re-established their five-point lead at the head of the Premier League.

The fact is: despite the comeback they faced -- with three Chelsea defenders sinking to the ground in frustration, and Frank Lampard dropping to his haunches as Mason Mount spurned a 90th minute chance to equalise -- this was another vital victory.

After Manchester City’s 8-0 humiliation of Watford, Liverpool needed a riposte; and here it was, as

they became the first team to win their first six Premier League games in two successive seasons, and stretched their record run of league victories to 15, even if they were stretched at times.

Up until they rallied after half-time, it had appeared that Chelsea -- committed as they are to playing the kids -- were boys against men facing Liverpool. But there is promise in this team, and they need to be persevered with, even if they are yet to gain a clean sheet under Lampard, or win at home.

There was a certainty, a sense of surety about Liverpool’s first-half goals, with both coming from well worked free kicks. For the first, Sadio Mane was clumsily fouled

by Andreas Christensen on the edge of the Chelsea penalty area, and Jordan Henderson shaped to take the free-kick, before it was rolled by Mohamed Salah with the soul of his foot to Trent Alexander-Arnold. The change of angle did it for a disorganised Chelsea defensive wall, which was made more chaotic when Jorginho turned his back on the ball as Alexander-Arnold fired it past him and high into top corner of the net.

Chelsea were also at fault for the second. They argued vehemently that Cesar Azpilicueta had not bundled over Georginio

Wijnaldum, but the free-kick was given, and again it was played short, with this time Andrew Robertson crossing from the left.

He picked out Roberto Firmino, who rose between Christensen and Marcos Alonso – neither of whom had marked him – to head home from close range.

Alonso was a first-half substitute for Emerson, who went off injured, and Christensen also had to be replaced after he collided with team-mate Fikayo Tomori, which added to the sense that there had been some self-inflicted wounds.

Chelsea also felt aggrieved after Referee Michael Oliver had eventually ruled out an effort by Azpilicueta following a VAR check. Again, the delay was lengthy but the decision was correct, with replays showing that Mason Mount had half a leg too far forward as he collected the ball in the move that ended with Azpilicueta finding the net after Adrian had done well to push out a deflection off Alexander-Arnold.

If it had been allowed, it would have made the score 1-1, and Chelsea should have struck before that, when Christensen slid a pass between the Liverpool centrehalves for Tammy Abraham to run on to, with Joel Matip failing to track. (Excerpted from Telegraph)

20

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

monday, september 23, 2019

Silica Sandport Inc 3rd Annual Golf Extravaganza

Hussain takes the glory O

n the heels of a win 2 weeks ago -- in the Odyssey Sightseeing Tours Guyana Inc. Golf Tournament, played on Saturday September 7, 2019 -- LGC President Aleem Hussain has again displayed his skill in the game when he took advantage of easy conditions to emerge champion in the Silica Sandport Inc. (SSI) 3rd annual Golf Extravaganza, played on Saturday, September 21.

A few years ago, Hussain had declared that he would be in contention at a Guyana Open tournament, and he is seemingly on a mission to fulfil that prediction at the Guyana Open International Golf Invitational upcoming in October 2019.

With the weather being excellent for golfing and with the course in pristine condition, the highly competitive golfers continue to show great improvement in their performances. SSI tournament host Haresh Tewari again excelled in his flight, and this time has graciously refused the honour of the win, allowing other golfers to benefit from his tournament sponsorship.

A year ago, in the SSI tournament, ‘Pandit’ Haresh Tewari made history when, besides winning his flight with a score of 68/19, he also secured on the same green 2 chip-in birdies for holes 4 and 13.

Although injured, 9-time Guyana Open Champion Avinash Persaud still turned in a great score, and excelled by winning yet another ‘long drive’ prize, this time almost reaching the green in one!

In picture above, winners pose with members of the Tewari family. From left, Avinda Kishore, Avinash Persaud, William Walker, Brian Hackett, Mahendra Bhagwandin, President Aleem Hussain, Dr Joaan Deo, Satrohan Tiwari, Kayshav Tewari (son of Pdt Haresh), Mrs Tewari and Haresh Tewari

Former Guyana Open Ladies Champion Shanella London was in top form, besting Dr. Joaan Deo as the ladies prepare for the Suriname Open in two weeks’ time.

Ascending to the top position in their respective flights were Rommel Bhagwandin and William Walker, with Walker winning from Robin Tiwari on a countback to secure the first place.

The table below shows the great performances of many of the golfers. Prizes were awarded to golfers with 1st and 2nd best net scores in each flight. Net winners in the Ladies Flight were: 1st – Shanella London (68/15); 2nd – Dr Joaan Deo (74/14).

In the 20 – 28 Flight, winners were: 1st – Mahendra Bhagwandin (71/20); 2nd – Brian Hackett (73/22). In the 11 – 19 Flight, winners were:

1st - William Walker (69/12); 2nd – Satrohan Tiwari (69/17). In the 0 – 10 Flight, winners were: 1st – Aleem Hussain (66/9); 2nd – Avinda Kishore (67/5).

Specialty prizes were awarded as follows: For Longest Drive – Avinash Persaud; Nearest The Pin – Avinda Kishore; Overall Best Gross (72) – Avinda Kishore; and Overall Best Net (66) – Aleem Hussain.

Silica Sandport Inc. produces white sand, screening and washing of Silica in a state-of-the-art sand washing facility that obtains sand from part of an extensive silica sand vein that has verifiable reserves in excess of 500 million tons, thus enabling SSI to confidently supply washed and graded sand in quantities that fulfil particular needs.

In addition to washed

sand product, SSI has the capacity to supply a nematode-free, unwashed sand product for use in various manufacturing, construction, landscape and beach applications.

The SSI plant is capable of removing all but a trace of the sand fines, clay, silt and organic matter from indigenous Guyanese sand deposits to reveal a pure, brilliant white to translucent product that is excellent for golf courses. The company’s sand also meets specifications for glass manufacturing, concrete production, and moulding and casting applications.

Silica Sandport Inc. is headquartered at 63 Lusignan, East Coast Demerara, and can be contacted on Tel:592-627-4575 or 592-220-6409, and website: www.silicasandport. com.

CEO and founder,

Haresh Tewari, has served as Treasurer of the Lusignan Golf Club in previous years.

Exciting comments for embracing future wins came from Avinda Kishore, Brian Hackett and Alfred Mentore.

Kishore, who has not played in a tournament for nearly 2 years, sees himself winning the Guyana Open again, since in the SSI tournament he made 4 bogeys and 2 birdies in the front 9, and 2 bogeys and 2 birdies in the back 9.

“My play will be alright when I settle in,” he confidently affirmed.

Hackett sent a warning to others in the 20-28 Flight: “My play is constantly improving, which shows that I am looking for a place in the Guyana Open 2019!” he said, implying that he expects to be one of the winners.

Mentore also commented that his net score of 69 was a prize-winning score.

However, he expects much greater performance in the next tournament, as this time, “I lost 5 strokes from simple putting error, gaining 3 bogeys and 2 pars when I should have gained pars and birdies!” he pointed out. He intends to be a winner in the Guyana Open 2019.

The Tewari family has committed to hosting future tournaments, and has promised that the next one would be even better than the first three! Speaking for the family, Kayshav said both he and his sister are extremely proud of their dad, and their involvement with the game in the Lusignan Village would continue for years to come.

President of the LGC, Aleem Hussain, thanked the sponsor, who had recently donated loads of special sand for the greens. Hussain said that was a contributing factor to his win, since the course was in the best condition ever due to the hard work done by staff members Avinash, Barney and Danai, with assistance from the Lusignan Prison Service.

“With the course playing so easy, we will see better performances from all our players as we ramp-up for the Suriname and Guyana Opens”, Hussain has said, adding that there will be an incredible field of top golfers who are coming from USA, Canada, Colombia, Trinidad, Suriname and several other countries.

BCB/Stag Beer First Division Tournament…

Tucber Park defeat Blairmont

– RHT Thunderbolts, Upper Corentyne also victorious

A

Damion Vantull had an all-round game for Tucber Park

s the Berbice Cricket Board/Stag Beer First Division Cricket Tournament commenced across the Ancient County of Berbice over the weekend, Tucber Park defeated the Blairmont Community Centre by four wickets in a match played on the latter team’s home ground.

Batting first, Blairmont were restricted to 143 all out in 30.5 overs, with Damion Vantull taking 3-13 and the Guyana Under-19 all-rounder Leon Swamy taking 2-23. Former National Youth pacer Nial Smith grabbed 2-41, while off-spinner Kwesi Mickle took 2-36.

Chasing 144, Tucber Park ended on 145-6 in 24 overs, to be declared victorious.

Maxi De Jonge starred in the batting department with a top-score of 38, while the right-handed Clifton Lindie hit a spanking 35. Vantull ended with an unbeaten 30 in Tucber Park’s win.

In the match between the RHT Thunderbolts and Young Warriors of

Cumberland Canje, played at the ‘Area H’ ground on the Corentyne, a masterclass from former National Wicketkeeper/batsman Delbert Hicks helped the former team to a 6-wicket win over the latter team.

Some disciplined RHT bowling on the small ‘Area H’ outfield restricted the visiting Young Warriors to 168 all out. Former Berbice Under-19 player Keith Simpson returned figures of 3-31 with his left-arm spin, while Junior Sinclair and Eon Hooper each took two wickets.

Former Guyana Under-19 player Kasim Khan top-scored for the Young Warriors with 34, while Linden Austin contributed 23.

In reply, RHT were off to the poorest start imaginable, losing four early wickets for only 18 runs as the impressive Trevon Stanislaus grabbed 4-24.

However, captain Eon Hooper and Delbert Hicks took full control of things with a 150-run partnership, in which Hicks blasted an unbeaten 107 while Hooper supported with an undefeated 33.

In other matches played on Saturday last in this tournament, Rose Hall Town Thunderbolts defeated Young

Warriors, Upper Corentyne defeated Albion, Skeldon upset Port Mourant, and Police arrested Rose Hall Canje.

Two big clubs, Albion and Port Mourant, have signalled that they would be protesting the results of their matches.

Delbert Hicks smashed a century for RHT Thunderbolts

guyanatimesgy.com

monday, september 23, 2019

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Limacol Football Tournament

21

Santos ‘keep it clean’ with 3rd win T

he Santos Football Club Under-20 team on Saturday evening continued their domination of the Limacol Football Tournament by turning in good performances to keep their streak clean in the round-robin stage of this tournament.

Having previously defeated Black Pearl FC and Timehri Panthers FC, the youthful Santos team found themselves confronting the experienced Camptown FC as the latest hurdle that had to be crossed.

Playing at the Ministry of Education Ground on Carifesta Avenue, Camptown took the advantage early, and held on for the first half as they frus-

Santos in action

trated the youngsters from Santos.

Kayci Roberts was ‘the

man with the lucky kick’ for Camptown, having scored in the 18th minute.

Whatever was said to the Santos XI during the break was presumably highly motivational, as this under- 20 outfit returned with fresh vigour and determination to bag a third win.

Rondel Peters netted in the 51st minute to level the scores; and when it looked as though both sides would have to settle for shared points because of their inability to hit the mark, Brandon Solomon recorded his name on the score sheet in the 85th minute when he gave Santos the winning goal in this 2-1 encounter.

The other game of the night resulted in a walkover for the Georgetown Football Club (GFC), as the Northern Rangers were a no-show.

Action in this Limacol tourney will continue tonight at the same venue with Pele FC going toeto-toe against ‘Police B’ at 19:00hrs; while Mahaica Determinators and Dynamic FC would each hunt a second win when they meet at 21:00hrs.

This 4th edition of the Limacol Football Tournament is sponsored by the New GPC Inc with support from WJ Enterprise, the sole distributors of Croxley Paper. Its eventual winner will walk away with $400,000, while second place receives $200,000. Thirdand fourth- place winners would pocket $100,000 and $50,000 respectively.

Heritage Games 2019…

Kako, Kamarang secure spots in male and female football finals – Region 1 cop swimming title

By Timothy Jaikarran

T

he highly anticipated Heritage Games continued at the Everest Cricket Club ground on a Sunday night that was full of action.

In the night’s football fixture, Kamarang females battled Sebai, and the result was an absolute shocker. On the previous night, Sebai had administered an 8-0 thrashing on Coomacka, but on Sunday night Sebai found themselves confronting a situation in which the proverbial tables had turned, in that Kamarang handed them a 4-1 beating.

Most of the crowd had thrown their support behind Sebai, but those ladies were unable to replicate their performance of the previous night; as, in the first half, Kamarang had scored 3 goals with consummate ease, and re-

turned in the second half to register another goal while conceding a single goal to their opponents, thus securing their spot in the finale.

In the second match of the night, Kako battled Siparuta in a tense penalty shootout that saw Kako heading into the finals.

From the sound of the first whistle, an intense see-saw battle ensued, in which neither of these evenly- matched teams conceded anything as each sought to impose their will on the other.

After the first half, the score remained at nil-all, but heading into the second half, Kako drew first blood.

However, what looked like a potential 1-nil win quickly became a 1-all contest as Siparuta levelled the playing field.

At the end of full time, neither team could advance from that 1-all score, and even after 15 addition-

Part of the action in the male football tournament

al minutes had been added to the match, the results remained the same. The resort was therefore to the penalty route, and Kako emerged victorious by 4 goals to 3.

Swimming

In the swimming compe-

tition held at the National Aquatic Centre, Region One (Barima-Waini) emerged overall champions with a total of 282 points, while Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam) were runners-up with 177 points.

Region Three (E/bo

Islands-West Dem) secured the third spot with 68 points, while Region 5 (M/ hca-B/ce) were fourth with 62 points. The other spots were occupied by Region 7, with 39 points; Region 9, with 24 points; and Region 6, with just 5 points.

‘Iron’ Mike Tyson seeking to reap rewards in Antigua F

ormer World Heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson is in the state of Antigua and Barbuda in the hopes that a partnership involving the Government and his marijuana farm would reap massive rewards.

Tyson, who became the WBC Heavyweight Champion in 1986, before losing his crown and his fortune after a string of life-changing mishaps, has the backing of Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne.

Browne told a press conference that Tyson’s investment went further than marijuana, extending to entertainment, leisure, and accommodation.

“Their interest goes beyond marijuana products or hemp products. They are also

looking at the whole area of entertainment and leisure, and one of the most exciting projects that they will establish within the next nine months is the establishment of an annual marijuana conference here in Antigua,” said Browne. “It will be like the Davos of cannabis. It will take place on an annual basis, and will bring stakeholders from throughout the globe; for that matter, right here on Antigua, to discuss various opportunities within the industry.

So we are very excited about that.

“They are also interested in establishing a hotel accommodation property, and they will be looking at a number of sites, to determine suitability,” Browne added.

Tyson believes the association will turn his marijuana farm, Tyson Ranch, into becoming a powerhouse. Tyson Farm is just one arm of the larger Tyson Holistic Holdings, which sells marijuana strains, edibles and merchandise. (Excerpted from Sportsmax)

22

monday, september 23, 2019

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

Jamaul upstages Briton in ‘battle of the Johns’ tion), Andrew Hicks (fourth) and Andre Padlock Green (fifth).

Team Evolution’s Christopher Griffith defied all odds after his accident during the race to finish in sixth position, Marcus Keiler came in seventh, and Kemuel Moses came in eighth. They were the other top finishers in the senior category.

In the j u -

nior category, Berbician lad Ajay Gopilal occupied first position, while Justin Thom and Jonathan Ramsuchit rode in second and third respectively.

In the veterans’ category, Junior Niles came in first, while Alexis Mendes and Kwame Ridley rode in second and third respectively.

Light showers that descended on Sunday did not prevent the huge crowd that lined the roadways from witnessing the Johns compete for supremacy in this event.

How the race unfolded

Battle of the Berbicians!

Andre Green, Curtis Dey and Andrew Hicks Story and Photos by Brandon Corlette

J

amaul John and Briton John made the 17th annual Victor Macedeo Cycle Race their own, completing the 30-lap event around the outer circuit of the National Park in first and second position respectively.

With 39 starters pedalling off in front of the big tree on Vlissengen Road to go on to Carifesta Avenue, and then into Camp Street and onto Thomas Lands before returning for the finish at the point of origin, Team Cocos rider Jamaul John tri-

umphed over the competition in a time of two hours, 48 minutes and four seconds, capping his sterling performance with three sprint prizes.

In second position in the senior category was the redhot Briton John, who had won two races during the last weekend, and had also captured five primes prizes.

Completing the top-five positions in the senior wheelsmen category were the Berbice trio of defending Victor Macedeo Champion Curtis Dey (third posi-

Jamaul and Briton John led the pack throughout this race

Some 39 of the country’s top wheelsmen assembled at the starting point under overcast conditions to compete in this event.

After the first lap, Briton John was at his trademark best, breaking away from the others.

This time around Jamaul held on, and from that point onwards, the Johns -- who are by no means related – dominated the race.

The heavens opened up, and as early as lap seven, cyclists dropped out of the race. During lap eight, Briton had a flat tyre and had to change his bicycle to maintain command at

the top with Jamaul.

Notable cyclists who fell out of the race were Romello Crawford, Walter Grant-Stewart, Deeraj Gharbharan and Paul De Nobrega; while Michael Anthony had an offday and was lapped during the race.

Battle of the Berbicians

A group of six had an intense battle, the boys from the Ancient County enjoyed that battle in the second bunch. In the prevailing cool conditions, Dey, Hicks and Green patrolled at top speed early, but as the weather changed in the latter part of the race, they toned down the pace.

It was then the final lap, and the man to win that battle was Dey, who outsprinted his fellow Berbicians in the close finish for third position.

Jamaul John speaks

“The race was a good one, and the change of weather made it a tough one,” champion cyclist Jamaul John declared after his win. Heading into this race with a plan to lap a few riders, the hardworking Jamaul added that it was tough, since he is not in top form.

When the chasing group was a minute away, Jamaul John became confident he could outsprint Briton John and clinch victory. Speaking about the getaway move from Briton, Jamaul said he continued to press on.

The next race is the Gold Race, and Jamaul John is focused on achieving greatness therein. He also has his eyes set on representing Guyana on overseas tours come the new cycling season.

Heritage Games 2019…

Mahdia, Region 1 cop male and female cricket titles

– archers enjoy successful outing

Alex Pearson – 1st; Jude Edwin – 2nd, and Aubrey De Souza – 3rd, placed well in the Male Others category

By Timothy Jaikarran

T

he final day of the Heritage Games culminated with lots of action at the Everest Cricket Ground, with a number of finals being held in the course of the day.

Female cricket

In the finale of this sport, pitted against each other were the ladies of Region 4 and Region 1.

These teams showed no mercy to each other in their encounter, as either team gave their all on the field. Region 1 won the toss and elected to bowl first, but Region 4

wasted no time in blasting runs at an alarming rate. They were able to post 88 for 4 from their allotted 10 overs. Top-scoring was Tomica Wilson with 37, while Abigail Scott supported with 14.

What looked like a competitive figure was soon put to rest, as Region 1 were merciless in winning the game with a score of 90 for 3.

Leading at the top of the order was Marva Benjamin, who bludgeoned an unbeaten 45 to single-handedly take her team over the line and hand Region 1 the title.

Male cricket

Male cricket action was non-

Male Champions Mahdia stop from the first ball bowled; as Mahdia, labelled the black sheep or controversial team of the competition, silenced their critics when they raced to the title that had evaded them in 2018.

Pitted against Region One after knocking out defending champions Laluni, Mahdia restricted their opponents to 85-5 in 10 overs.

Top scoring for Region 1 was Michael Sutton, who dug his team out of a hole with a quickfire 40 that included 5 maximums and 2 boundaries. Arshad Ali’s 2-14 were the best bowling figures for his side.

Needing 86 for victory, Mahdia raced to their target in 4.5 overs, ending on 91 without the loss of a wicket.

Ershad Ali was again the dom-

inant factor, blasting 45 from 11 balls, inclusive of 6 maximums and 2 boundaries. He was supported by Andrew Gibson, who contributed 35 to afford Mahdia the win by 10 wickets.

Archery

The archery was a spectacle, as archers from across Guyana gave of their best in their respective categories. In the Cadet female under-12, coming out on top were Marisha Melville of Region 4 with 27 points, Alliya Melville of Region 7 with 12 points, and Anjalie Adams of Region 4 with 1 point.

In the Cadet male 12-and- under, Ravedo Kanhai with 25 points was first, Robeno Kanhai with 17 points and Stephen Pearson with

12 points were respectively second and third. All archers were incidentally from Region Two. In the males 13-17, George McLee won with points, while Bert Paul came in second with 8 points. In the female category, Sara Fredricks was first with 14 points, and Serena Clenkian with 7 points.

In the adult women 18+, Ausilda Paulin won with 13 points, while Rusal Dundas and Bernette Gordon came in 2nd and 3rd respectively with 10 and 6 points.

In the ‘male others’ category, Alex Pearson won with 39 points, while Jude Edwin and Aubrey De Souza took second and third place with 28 and 24 points respectively, to end the archery action.

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monday, september 23, 2019

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Amazon Warriors into play-offs after 6th successive win and trapped him in front for a fourball duck.

Tridents were 85-5 at the end of the 10th over, after they lost Captain Jason Holder for two.

Holder was set up nicely by his opposite number Malik, who was economical in his approach.

JP Duminy, who was getting into his stride, watched wickets tumble from the other end. He lost a partner in Leniko Boucher with the score on 97-6. The pace of Odean Smith led to the demise of the new-boy Boucher, who struggled in his brief innings of eight.

Ashley Nurse was stumped by the sharp Nicholas Pooran, as Green, who bowled one over early into the innings, came to add the finishing touches at

Chandrapaul Hemraj and Brandon King scored their third 50-plus partnership this season

A

career best bowling effort of 4-14 from Chris Green and another brilliant unbeaten innings of 51 from Brandon King ensured Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW) secure their sixth win in a row in the 2019 Hero Caribbean Premier League.

GAW won the match by 12 runs (DLS method) after ending victorious on 81-2 in 11 overs, chasing a revised target of 97 for victory when rain ended play at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown Barbados.

Shoaib Malik continues his impressive tournament.

He had 1-10 in four overs (CPL/Getty images)

d e r k i d Lamichhane for a 23-ball 20, during which he struck two fours and one six.

Shimron Hetmyer came and went quickly, playingd an unnecessary shot that went high into the night sky and gave Duminy a catch off his own bowling.

With t h e score o n 66-2 i n 8.3

overs, the reliable Malik partnered King. After King was dropped by Nurse, he capitalized on this good fortune by searching for yet another fifty.

Rain enters Kensington

Tridents’ furious start

After a short delay due to some heavy wind blowing across the ground, the match finally got off with GAW winning the toss and bowling. On a pitch that the mark with a beautiful square drive, but his promising innings of 11 came to an end when the dancing Romario Shepherd got in his way.

Alex Hales, who returned from England just a few hours before this match, looked in sublime form, but his 15-ball innings of 24 was cut short by the impressive Imran Tahir. Hales, who smashed one six and two fours, found the safe hands of Shimron Hetmyer in the deep.

At 63-3, in 6.1 overs, it was time for GAW to stop the fast flow of runs.

Green, Malik, Tahir halt scoring rate

JP Duminy held the Tridents innings together looked good for batting, Tridents openers showed intensity from the inception.

Keemo Paul, bowling on the shorter side, leaked 17 runs in the opening over, but re-

while Hemraj timed the ball sweetly in the 61-run opening partnership.

Hemraj gifted his wicket to won-

moved Johnson Charles (11) with his fifth delivery.

Tridents continued to motor along, scoring their joint highest power-play score in CPL history by adding 63 in six overs. The elegant Justin Greaves got off

The Tridents failed to gather rhythm after their power-play exploits. Malik chopped and changed his bowlers incessantly during the middle overs. Tahir continued to cover the real estate when he celebrates a wicket. He spun webs around Jonathan Carter

the end.

Green, who got extra bounce at Kensington, was on his way to his best figures in T20 cricket. At 1248 in 17.3 overs, Green sent back the anchor, Duminy, for a top-score of 38 from 32 balls. In successive balls, the Australian removed Raymon Reifer (11) and took a good high catch off his own bowling to end Sandeep Lamichhane and the Tridents innings on 138 all out.

Green ended with 4-14 in 3.2 magnificent overs, while Tahir grabbed 2-22 and Malik was tidy with 1-10 in four overs, as the GAW spinners again reigned supreme.

King, Hemraj off to stylish start

Realizing the extra bounce in the surface, the GAW openers had a cautious start, but scored runs well. At the end of the power play, GAW openers had posted 52 runs, their third 50-plus total this season.

King was the aggressor,

At the halfway stage, the heavens opened up at 20:39h with the GAW on 77-2 in 10 overs. King was standing tall on 49 from 30, while Malik was unbeaten on two.

At that stage the GAW were way ahead with the

Duckworth Lewis Stern (DLS) par score being 612.

Chris Green became the leading wickettaker this season after his four-wicket haul However, the covers came off and play resumed at 21:55h with the GAW requiring 20 more runs from four overs, as the revised target was set at 97 in 14 overs.

After six balls in a Duminy over, which saw King reaching his third CPL fifty, the rain descended on the Oval again and ended play with the GAW on 81-2.

Tridents will play their next home match today, Monday September 23, against the Trinbago Knight Riders from 18:00h.

SCOREBOARD Barbados Tridents Innings (20 overs maximum) J Charles c Imran Tahir b Paul 11 AD Hales c Hetmyer b Imran Tahir 24 JP Greaves c Rutherford b Shepherd 11 JP Duminy c Rutherford b Green 38 JL Carter lbw b Imran Tahir 0 JO Holder (c) c Green b Shoaib Malik 2 LS Boucher † c Hetmyer b Smith 8 AR Nurse st †Pooran b Green 11 RA Reifer c Rutherford b Green 11 JK Lalor not out 10 S Lamichhane c & b Green 0 Extras: (b 8, lb 2, nb 1, w 1) 12 TOTAL 138 all out (19.2 Overs, RR: 7.13) Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Johnson Charles, 0.5 ov), 2-32 (Justin Greaves, 3.3 ov), 3-63 (Alex Hales, 6.1 ov), 4-64 (Jonathan Carter, 6.6 ov), 5-83 (Jason Holder, 9.2 ov), 6-97 (Leniko Boucher, 12.3 ov), 7-115 (Ashley Nurse, 15.4 ov), 8-124 (JeanPaul Duminy, 17.3 ov), 9-138

(Raymon Reifer, 19.1 ov), 10-138 (Sandeep Lamichhane, 19.2 ov) Bowling:-KMA Paul 3-0-461, CJ Green 3.2-0-14-4, Imran Tahir 4-0-22-2, R Shepherd 2-0-13-1, Shoaib Malik 4-010-1, OF Smith 3-0-23-1 Guyana Amazon Warriors Innings (target: 70 runs from 14 overs) BA King not out 51 C Hemraj c & b Lamichhane 20 SO Hetmyer c & b Duminy 2 Shoaib Malik (c) not out 4 Extras: (lb 1, nb 1, w 2) 4 TOTAL: 81/2 (11 Overs, RR: 7.36) Did not bat: N Pooran †, SE Rutherford, KMA Paul, CJ Green, R Shepherd, Imran Tahir, OF Smith Fall of wickets: 1-61 (Chandrapaul Hemraj, 7.1 ov), 2-66 (Shimron Hetmyer, 8.3 ov) Bowling: JO Holder 3-0-17-0, JK Lalor 1-0-11-0, S Lamichhane 3-0-21-1, AR Nurse 1-0-15-0, JP Duminy 3-0-16-1

monday, september 23, 2019

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

guyanatimesgy.com

Page 23

Brandon King was in superb touch

Amazon Warriors into play-offs after 6th successive win

Chris Green picked up four wickets in a top bowling effort

Jamaul upstages Briton in ‘battle of the Johns’ Female champions Region 1

Page 22

Heritage Games 2019…

Page 22 Mission accomplished! Jamaul John, celebrating after his sprint to the finish

Mahdia, Region 1 cop male and– archers female cricket titles enjoy successful outing

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