Guyana Times, Friday October 25, 2019.

UG business students urged to be practical leaders

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

Issue No. 4087

THE BEACON OF TRUTH friday, OCTOber 25, 2019

PRICE

Opposition Leader stresses urgency for int’l oversight in elections preparations See story on page 3

$80 vat included

WHAT'S INSIDE:

Landlord, P9 wife injured after fire engulfs home

Anna Regina township P12 gets tough on food safety …Food and Drug Dept swoops down on businesses

Businessman’s murder

WINNERS: Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr KJ Srinivasa and President of the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha, Dr Vindhya Persaud pose with the winning team from Marian Academy at the Sabha’s annual Georgetown Schools’ Rangoli Competition

Page 8

Guyanese AFC threatens busted with split from APNU …after Ramjattan rejected as cocaine at PM candidate …AFC not only party in JFK Airport coalition Govt ꟷ Granger

See story on page 7

PPP Presidential Candidate obtains doctorate from UWI

Page 7

File to be P11 sent for legal advice ꟷ Crime Chief …doctor, 6 others remain in custody

Republic P14 Bank’s ATM system to be closed next weekend …as upgrade gets underway

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friday, october 25, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

news

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friday, october 25, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

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

Friday, October 25 – 02:00h and 14:30h-16:00h and Saturday, October 26 – 03:00h and 14:30h-16:00h.

Opposition Leader stresses urgency for int’l oversight in elections preparations sistance offered by the UNDP has been distorted at the level of the Commission. He pointed out that GECOM has refused the urgently-needed IT assistance from the UNDP, but accepted help in the form of media monitoring.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Friday, October 25 – 14:25h-15:55h and Saturday, October 26 –15:10h-16:40h.

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

Sense of urgency

WEATHER TODAY Sunny conditions are expected throughout the day. Clear skies are expected at night.

Temperatures should range between 21 degrees Celsius and 32 degrees Celsius.

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

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Winds: Northerly to West North-Westerly between 1.78 metres and 4.02 metres.

High Tide: 14:13h reaching a maximum height of 2.64 metres.

Low Tide: 08:03h and 20:29h reaching minimum heights of 0.61 metre and 0.55 metre.

wednesday, october 23, 2019

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t a time when the Guyana Elections C o m m i s s i o n (GECOM) is in the process of preparing its Official List of Electors (OLE) for the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has stressed the need for there to be international oversight so as to ensure credibility in the process.

Speaking at his weekly press conference on Thursday, Jagdeo lamented the delays by GECOM in accepting international oversight assistance from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

GECOM had indicated previously that it was in need of technical support particularly as it related to Information Technology (IT) .

As such, the Commission had requested assistance from the UNDP last year in preparation for the November 2018 Local Government Elections (LGE) and the 2020 General Elections.

A Needs Assessment Mission (NAM) was subsequently deployed in May last year to evaluate the current electoral environment in Guyana, and assess the form of future UN electoral assistance while also recommending the type of assistance that should be provided and the parameters, including the length of assistance, and modalities that would govern such assistance.

Among the recommendations of the NAM, which was presented shortly after the visit, was for the UN to provide technical assistance to GECOM in a clear framework. It had recommended too that priority areas of assistance should include database management, systems design, and software development to improve the integrity of GECOM’s database, including voter registration and a solid results transmission system.

GECOM had started talks with the UNDP; however, it was subsequently reported that there were a breakdown in those discussions.

Deliberate blocking

In fact, Jagdeo had accused Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield of deliberately blocking the UNDP’s assistance.

At Thursday’s press conference, the Opposition Leader reiterated that the as-

“We believe the offer from UNDP was distorted when it went to the Commission to create the impression that the offer of the IT assistance, that oversight or collaboration in IT, that that offer was no longer available and that there was an offer for media monitoring,” he noted.

It was against this backdrop, Jagdeo said, that the People’s Progressive Party (PPP)-nominated Commissioners at GECOM required a report directly from the UNDP to seek clarity on the assistance offered. This report was supposed to be discussed by the seven-member Commission at Tuesday’s statutory meeting and make a decision, but according to the Opposition Leader, this was not done.

“There should be a sense of urgency to get people here now particularly in the IT section, because that’s where the preliminary list and all the other lists are being generated and, therefore, you need oversight now and in this period. I suspect they’re trying to delay oversight until the OLE is created, which could have flaws. But even then, we will ask for an international testing of the list.

You can do random testing to see that none of the data from the unverified [Houseto-House] data would’ve contaminated the list,” Jagdeo stated.

Moreover, he went on to question the delays in making a decision on a matter

that was crucial to the quality of the elections. He noted that this was a simple decision to make, but there seemed to be a reluctance on the part of the GECOM Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh to accept oversight assistance from the UNDP. “At the end of the day, she is overall in charge [of GECOM] and I thought by now, she would want to have second opinions, more people looking out to see if everything is done properly if they want free and fair elections. So, critical going forward is oversight over IT too and the early acceptance and installation of international oversight mechanism. Why we have had these delays on simple decisions so far, I can’t explain. It defies logic that if you want free and fair elections and you want them to be helpful in the discharge of your duties, you should embrace all international support readily,” the Opposition Leader contended.

Assistance

Nevertheless, Jagdeo said on Thursday they were happy about the recent approvals for assistance from the Commonwealth and the Canadian Government. Last week, it was revealed that retired Chief Electoral Officer of Canada’s elections body, Jean-Pierre Kingsley, will be offering technical assistance to the Elections Commission here.

A d d i t i o n a l l y , Government-nominated Commissioner Charles Corbin told reporters earlier this week that GECOM would be receiving help from the European Union (EU), which would be fielding an observer team for next year’s elections. Moreover, he noted too that the Commission was

GECOM Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh

also in talks with Canada and the United States as well.

“The Commission is open to receiving any assistance that corresponds with the need that they have,” Corbin stated, adding that “most of the major countries— Canada, US, EU – that have engaged with the Commission have made their services available to provide any support that they need.

We’ve already had interventions through diplomatic channels to facilitate some of the work we’re doing to aid our operations and that will continue.”

After President David Granger announced the March 2 elections date last month, a joint statement from British High Commissioner Gregory Quinn, United States Ambassador Sarah Ann-Lynch and Head of the EU Delegation to Guyana, Fernando Ponz Cantol reiterated willingness to offer electoral assistance. Stressing the need for free and fair elections, the diplomats stated that this support would take the form of “elections assistance and monitoring along with other colleagues in the international community”.

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FRIDAY, october 25, 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

Security measures at minibus parks

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ast year the Georgetown Mayor and City Council displaced the East Bank of Demerara minibus and car park in preparation for the relocation of vendors, who are to be removed from the Stabroek market wharf to facilitate much needed repairs there. One year later those repairs are yet to commence by M&CC. The challenge is the obvious smaller area which cannot accommodate the volume of vehicles. The unavoidable searching and jostling for parking spots create congestion leading to traffic buildups in an already overly congested area.

In addition, the area is poorly lit at nights and with the menace of ever-present rampant gangs, many commuters have been robbed.

This seeming norm in criminal activities in that environ creates high risks for all who depend on public transportation, especially women, with reports of some being groped. Children are also exposed to these dangers. With no alternative, commuters have to take those risks every day with fear lingering in their mindsets at a place that is literally a stone’s throw away from the country’s Parliament Building.

Many questions abound. Despite national cognisance of the space constraint in the City, more specifically that area, the question of why would the Council remove that main public transportation park to accommodate vendors is still unavoidable. This does not take away from the fact that the vendors needed to be relocated.

The Council in its defence would cite lack of space.

While that’s a good argument, probingly, it must be asked if the related deliberations were thorough and inclusive of all Councilors. On the surface, it appears that safety and other concerns of commuters were and probably still not given the necessary consideration as thousands are being affected every day.

The Council cannot be oblivious of the security concerns at all transportation parks within the City for incidents of robberies continue to be highlighted in the media. It did make effort towards some lighting and, with the Guyana Police Force, to have some level of security presence. However, it is not adequate and from reports, the security presence is not sustained especially in the evenings and late into the nights.

Even if the necessary security measures are implemented at the parks, it is not a guarantee that crime will disappear.

However, it will offer a much needed and effective deterrent allowing for almost immediate response and very importantly, comfort the troubling mindsets.

Adequate and necessary security measures, including effective lighting, should have been in place immediately upon the relocation of the park. It therefore becomes mindboggling as why such necessary things were not implemented and sustained even months after. All of the bus and car parks within the City are security risks and all are poorly lit including some main roads that lead to them.

That, and the criminal activities it encourage, continues to compromise that aspect of public safety. This is a continuous cycle and with every passing day frustration and fear among commuters increase. One can argue that if the City Council is really concern about commuters’ safety, it would be making more noise increased Police presence, even if it’s just to appease.

The knowledge and presence of security measures have positive psychological effects. Its absence, or being grossly inadequate, causes one to wonder if the leadership and the rest of Council really understand the magnitude of what transpires at those parks especially in the evenings and nights and particularly at the East Bank one in question.

There is great difficulty in accepting the Council being unaware which brings to the fore the frightening scenario of the current inadequacies probably being accepted as adequate with believably scant regard for commuters’ safety.

The Police implements generally effective and pleasing security mechanisms for the Christmas period with temporary outposts at various points. The positive effect of that is known.

The obvious question is why it cannot be sustained to some extent with emphasis on the parks throughout the year?

While the force has its own constraints over resources, collaboration with the Council and strategic planning can result in an acceptable and adequate mechanism that could mitigate the current situation.

CELEBRATING DIWALI: These students from Tutorial High School pose with their rangoli design as part of the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha’s Georgetown Schools Rangoli Competition on Friday at the Dharmic Kendra, Prashad Nagar

In hungry Venezuela, food producers step up exports to survive

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hrimp farming is booming in the western Venezuelan city of Maracaibo, but little of the shellfish is destined for tables in this malnourished nation.

About 90 per cent of this shrimp is headed for Europe and Asia – with the blessing of President Nicolás Maduro.

Venezuela’s leader has lauded food exports on television as a way to raise hard currency to stabilise an economy in crisis. And he is paving the way for more foreign sales. His Administration has loosened restrictions to allow more production to go abroad, 10 food industry entrepreneurs and executives told Reuters.

In addition to seafood, Venezuelan cheese, avocados, citrus, breakfast cereal and candy are finding international buyers.

These new foreign sales are tiny, with most companies billing less than US$1 million per year. Venezuela remains almost entirely dependent on oil exports, which amounted to US$29 billion last year.

Still, the numbers signal a shift for a government that has long blamed the Private Sector for shortages of basic goods. Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chávez, for years accused food companies of hoarding and profiteering.

Business leaders say empty shelves were the result of State policies such as price and currency controls and the nationalisation of farms and factories.

Since 2017, 140 Venezuelan businesses have begun exporting for the first time, half of them selling food products, according to data provided by Scottsdale, Arizona-based advisory firm Import Genius, which collects customs data for the import-export industry.

Some veteran exporters, meanwhile, are leaning more heavily than ever on foreign sales as Venezuela’s currency has collapsed. Fernando Villamizar, the head of a Venezuelan shrimp industry association, said the withering

of consumer spending power at home has forced producers to look abroad for growth.

On a recent morning at a facility owned by a member of the trade group, dozens of workers in baggy smocks, plastic gloves and face masks cleaned shellfish and put them in boxes to be frozen. An order that day was bound for France. The plant also ships to Spain and Vietnam.

“We have to sell outside the country” to survive, Villamizar said.

Venezuelan companies sold US$81 million worth of shrimp abroad last year, up from US$54 million in 2016, making it the country’s fourth-largest non-oil export, according to figures from the Venezuelan Association of Exporters.

Maduro’s enthusiasm for non-oil exports comes as US sanctions have hurt Venezuela’s petroleum sales.

To earn hard currency, his Government is scrambling for alternatives.

In July, Maduro toured a factory outside Caracas that ships chocolate to Japan, television cameras in tow. He said the goal of these and other exports was to generate “euros, rubles, yuan and cryptocurrencies”.

Food producers looking to export need to obtain a variety of Government permits.

Under Chávez, the State frequently denied those permissions, delayed them or never acted on them, the food industry entrepreneurs and executives told Reuters. They said Maduro’s Administration is now granting more permits, allowing them room to manoeuvre.

The Information Ministry did not respond to requests for comment on Maduro’s exports strategy.

The Government this year has also largely given up controlling prices, three of the food industry executives said.

More goods have returned to Venezuelan stores.

But even with more products available, Venezuela’s hyperinflation means few can

A man works on an artificial lake at a shrimp farm near Maracaibo, Venezuela, August 1, 2019

afford to buy. Compared to five years ago, the daily calories now consumed by the average citizen have fallen 56 per cent to 1600 calories, according to Caracasbased Citizenry in Action, a nutrition-focused non-profit.

That is well below the 2000 to 2500 calories per day recommended by the World Health Organisation. Millions depend on Government food handouts and subsidised staples.

Lack of demand has spurred two large Venezuelan food companies – Empresas Polar and rival General de Alimentos Nisa CA, or Genica – to export products that until now had only been sold in Venezuela, said two people involved in those operations and a third with knowledge of them.

The two companies last year exported a combined US$59,000 worth of merchandise, mainly to Argentina and Chile. Among the items headed abroad was a once-popular melted cheese spread made by Polar.

Genica told Reuters it was entering new markets, but would not elaborate. Polar did not respond to requests for comment.

The Venezuelan unit of another major firm, Nestle SA, as of June had exported 18 tonnes of instant cereal worth US$18,600 to the United States, according to port records.

Convenience foods are now beyond the reach of Venezuelan shoppers such as

Doris Molina, a 28-year-old accountant.

Such sales do not violate US sanctions, which forbid American firms from doing business with Venezuela’s Government or State-run companies such as oil giant Petroleos de Venezuela SA. Venezuela’s Private Sector companies are free to sell to US buyers.

Exports by Venezuela’s Private Sector companies increased by 26 per cent in the first quarter of 2019 versus the same period a year ago, even as the economy contracted by 27 per cent, according to the most recent central bank statistics.

Some companies have snagged foreign customers, only to lose them to the vagaries of Venezuela’s precarious business climate.

Dairy firm Bufalinda began selling its mozzarella cheese – made from water buffalo milk – in Florida last year out of an “urgent” need to shore up its finances, said Alberto Duhau, founder of the eastern Venezuela firm.

He said his air freight costs soared 60 per cent this year after US sanctions blocked direct flights between Venezuela and the United States.

Still, Duhau said his US sales are profitable and he hopes to keep expanding there.

“This is an endurance race,” Duhau said. “You can only stay in it if you have a big tank of oxygen.” (Excerpt from Reuters)

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You can send your letters with pictures to: Guyana Times, Queens Atlantic Investment Estate Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown, Guyana or letters@guyanatimesgy.com

There is beauty and strength in diversity My refusal to be ‘regimented’

Dear Editor, An interesting dialogue on identity has surfaced.

As a youth, I embraced being a member of each race in Guyana via my family history, and would easily identify with our country’s motto. It was not until leaving to study in the United States that I was given ethnic boxes from which to select. “Select your ethnicity” was the request.

Never in Guyana was this question asked. Based on our family’s history, I would easily choose all 5/6 races/people of our nation (no one distinguished between those from Portugal and other parts of Europe on their forms), thus 5 would be chosen. It never came to mind to neglect parts of my family’s history.

It was not until I came back home that I noticed the increased separation between each race of Guyana; this

new environment being rooted in what many say are our harsh political realities.

When I first heard the term Afro-Guyanese, it made me smile and think that if you have an Afro, you are with that group. The term Indo-Guyanese (what am I into doing?) made me think that if you are making a dollar now, you are Amerindian; if you eat Chinese food, you are Chinese; if you cook with ghee, you are from Portugal, etc…

It was a childish perspective that we used to share in a respectful manner. The school child in each of us used to establish a nice base for friendly interaction and the building of long & strong relationships.

However, from watching and listening, I quickly came to realise that the topic of race in our nation has escalated in sensitivity to

the point where the harmless jokes of our youth are no longer acceptable, and are frowned upon. Many of these jokes have even morphed into a very disrespectful tone and manner. Now many Guyanese prefer an individual to identify with only one ethnic/racial group. To a larger extent, mutual understanding and respect have left our shores. The recent past has taken unity and significantly broken the linkages we fondly shared.

On the other hand, given the young age of our nation, we still have a good opportunity before us to restart our inter-racial interactions from a position of mutual respect for each other, where we take the time to listen to each other, and then “treat others the way they would like to be treated”. That’s correct, the way they would like to be treated, and not the way you

or I would like to be treated when interacting with another ethnic group. After all, one man’s meat is another man’s poison, and to keep this in mind allows for the eventual return of civility and the de-escalation of the racial tension & racial violence currently present throughout our nation.

There is beauty and strength in diversity, and that’s why our motto continues to be the foundation upon which we are still trying to build. The strength of one may be the weakness of another, and understanding how to create a highly functional, effective and successful team to form a stronger & more beautiful mosaic that is Guyana continues to be our beautiful country’s ambition.

Best regards, Jamil Changlee

Who is in charge at GECOM?

Dear Editor, In the past months, Guyanese have become more bewildered by the question: Who is in charge at GECOM? We were of the opinion that, with all the imbroglio, lies, deceit and illegality encompassing the appointment of the GECOM Chairman, it meant that the chairman would be the person in charge of GECOM; but, instead, it would seem that the Chief Elections Officer is the person in charge, and the Chairperson just abides by his decisions.

In February this year, it was reported that GECOM needed only 148 days to prepare for elections.

According to Lowenfield, the Commission had to grant the Secretariat approval to go into election mode; and the Commission did not. However, by now we are all too keenly aware that the CCJ was used to delay the elections, so when it seemed that GECOM was all ready to go to the polls

by July 2019, the decision of the CCJ had to be awaited.

The Commission could not give the go-ahead without the CCJ’s rulings on the NoConfidence Motion.

The CEO had made it appear that he had a well-oiled GECOM machinery raring to go at that time.

In July this year, just before the CCJ’s decision that the NCM was successfully passed and that Patterson was illegally appointed, Lowenfield went into another delaying mode to support the APNU/AFC’s quest to defer the elections for as long as was possible. He no longer awaited the CCJ’s ruling, but embarked on the GECOM-backed delay by foisting the House-toHouse Registration on the Guyanese electorate. This precipitated the call for another Court intervention and more delay. Lowenfield was in charge, and he made full use of his usurpation of the

power of the Commission.

It must be recalled that the Private Sector Commission upbraided the Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, for commencing and sanctioning ‘an unsanctioned and unverified’ Houseto-House Registration exercise. However, Lowenfield was never sanctioned, and neither was he intimidated in any way. He was fulfilling the PNC’s directives!

In fact, he made it plain by his action that he was in charge, even after the appointment of the new Chairperson, Justice Claudette Singh.

Then, in complete defiance of the HTH Registration, it was reported on July 24th that Lowenfield admitted that the Official List of Voters which expired on April 30th, 2019 can still be used to execute free and fair General and Regional Elections -- going back to what he had said in February.

Then, in regard to the abortion of the HTH exercise, Lowenfield pushed the GECOM field staff to work overtime in an effort to extend the life of the HTH. It was clear that new registrants became the prime target for this extension. In many areas, eligible voters who are deemed PPP supporters were bypassed by GECOM staff.

Again, at the beginning of October, just before the start of the Claims and Objections period, Lowenfield unilaterally extended the Claims and Objections period to 49 days, and then to 42 days from the agreed 35 days.

He claimed that he did that ‘in the interest of giving the electorate more time to have their claims and objections sorted out’. Even though the Chair had promised to correct the period to 35 days, it never materialized, prompting Commissioner Shadick to conclude, ‘We have another Chairman, who is go-

ing against decisions of the Commission…’

This brings me to the million-dollar question: What is Chairperson Claudette Singh doing? Is she incompetent? Or is she giving Lowenfield free rein to do the PNC’s biddings? I simply cannot comprehend that, until now, she is unable to come to grips with the basics at GECOM, despite holding umpteen meetings and being apprised of all the issues.

She is not a novice in election matters, if I could recall.

Now there is the decision to publish the list of registrants captured during the recently concluded HTH registration.

PPP-nominated Commissioners are adamant that no such decision was taken by the full commission.

Whose handiwork is this, if not Lowenfield’s again?

Even the PNC Commissioner has now made a call for Justice Singh to take a stand on certain matters. This bears testimony to the fact that the GECOM Chair is an abysmal failure. She unilaterally aborted the HTH registration, but opened a can of worms when she retained the data collected and decided to ‘merge’ it with what is already there. This will again result in delay.

The Opposition had, in September, also called on Justice Singh to put an end to the ‘prevarications’, and at some point in time she will have to make tough decisions. Well, that time is now, rather than later.

It will not surprise me if there is a twist to the March 2nd Elections date!

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf

by a silly-looking, anachronistic practice Dear Editor, Mr E.B. John’s letter in a section of the media on 24/10/19, titled: “Booker Group, Georgetown Club and stuffed pigeon”, included the regimentation of wearing a tie before entering the Georgetown Club during the height of the Booker days in colonial British Guiana.

This brought back memories of my unprecedented ‘bucking the system’ then by refusing to wear the ‘mandatory’ tie before entering the Georgetown Club.

Interestingly, I am currently a full member (with no tie) of the Georgetown Club.

At that time, I was the Assistant Personnel Manager, and was responsible for the personnel function at Rose Hall Estate.

It is interesting to note en passant that I had, as a cadet, just returned from successfully completing studies in Personnel Management, and had succeeded an expatriate Personnel Manager; but, up until then, only expatriates were accorded the full title of Personnel Manager. It took a lot of persuasive work by my mentor, Mr E.B. John, to influence the late great Harold B. Davis to correct this ‘colonial anomaly’.

At that time, I wore the ‘shirt-jac’ suit for work and

official functions.

As my colleagues and I wended our way from the Headquarters of the Guyana Sugar Producers Association for lunch at the Georgetown Club next door, a man stood by the entrance with a stack of ties in his hand for the staff from the Estates to wear before entering the club. I refused to wear the tie he handed me, and he blocked my way into the club. This held up the line of colleagues behind me, and to add insult to injury, one of the expatriate Directors in the line shouted: “Come on, Nowrang, wear the darn tie”.

I took umbrage at the attempt to impose the wearing of a tie, left the line, and walked across the road to the restaurant run at the time by the ‘nemesis’ of the sugar industry, Mr Richard Ishmael (Head of the labour union, the MPCA). I had a sumptuous lunch, and claimed reimbursement from Bookers Sugar Estates.

Those were the days of serious work and fun, proving that Guyanese could run the industry with or without the paraphernalia of colonialism!!!

Sincerely, Nowrang Persaud

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eenagers who use social media for three hours or more a day struggle to get to sleep before 11 on school nights, new data reveals.

A survey of nearly 12,000 adolescents found that “very high” users of sites such as Facebook and Instagram were 70 per cent more likely to fall asleep

Foundation

ticipants to fall asleep and the difficulties they faced getting back to sleep after waking during the night.

Just over a third of the teens said they spent less than one hour a day on social media, so they were classed as low users, while 31.6 per cent said they spent one to three hours a day on it, and were classed

Heavy users develop “emotional connections” to the sites, the study suggests (Credit: PA)

late.

The study by Glasgow University is the first indepth analysis to tease out the impact on sleep from social media and messaging apps, rather than from screen time more broadly.

The results suggest teenagers are developing “emotional connections” with the sites themselves which leave them “vigilant” for incoming messages and alerts all night.

Published in the BMJ Open, the study compared the social media use of 13 to 15-year-olds with the time they typically fell asleep and woke up on school days and free days.

The research also included how long it took par-

as average users.

Of the remainder, just under 14 per cent were high users – three to five hours a day – and around

one in five were very high users, more than five hours a day.

Very high social media users were roughly 70

per cent more likely to fall asleep after 23:00h (11 pm) on school days and after midnight on free days than were average users.

Both high and very high social media users were also more likely to say they woke later – after 08:00h (8 am) – on school days than average users, and very high users were more likely to say they had trouble getting back to sleep after waking during the night.

Girls tended to spend more time on social media than boys, and to report poorer sleep quality.

“These findings are consistent with the idea that social media displaces sleep: either directly or indirectly,” the authors wrote.

“Direct sleep displacement may be particularly likely on school days, especially for very high users, since limited social media access during school hours means that at least part of this daily time on social media is likely to take place close to bedtime.”

They recommended switching on “do not disturb” before falling asleep.

(The Independent)

I

t could be. A single night of no sleep will not stunt growth. But over the long term, a person’s growth may be affected by not getting the full amount of sleep. That’s because growth hormone is normally released during sleep. If someone consistently gets too little sleep (known as “sleep deprivation”), the growth hormone is suppressed.

Over the long term, a person’s growth may be affected by not getting the full amount of sleep.

That’s because growth hormone is normally released during sleep.

Lack of sleep also can affect other hormones. Studies show that sleep deprivation is linked to obesity and diabetes. Experts are looking into whether this link has to do with hormonal changes.

So in this case your mom may be right. Getting enough sleep also will help you focus better in school and give you more energy and better concentration for sports and other activities.

How much sleep do I need?

Most teens need about 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night.

Getting the right amount of sleep is important for anyone who wants to do well on a test or play their best in sports.

Unfortunately, many teens don’t get enough sleep.

Teen sleep patterns are different from those of adults or younger kids.

During the teen years, the body’s circadian rhythm (an internal biological clock) is reset, telling a person to fall asleep later and wake up later. This change is likely owed to the brain hormone melatonin, which is released later at night for teens than it is for kids and adults. This can make it harder for teens to fall asleep early.

Changes in the body’s circadian rhythm coincide with a busy time in life. For most teens, the pressure to do well in school is more intense and it’s harder to get by without studying hard. And teens have other time demands — everything from sports and other extracurricular activities to working a part-time job.

Using electronics — including phones, tablets, and computers — also makes it hard to fall sleep. Many teens are up

late texting friends, playing games, and watching videos.

Early school start times also play a role in lost sleep.

Teens who fall asleep after midnight still have to get up early for school, meaning that they might squeeze in only 6 or 7 hours, or less, of sleep a night. A few hours of missed sleep a night may not seem like a big deal, but it can create a noticeable sleep deficit over time.

Why is sleep important?

Sleep is important for you to be at your best. Teens need sleep to: pay attention and learn in school improve athletic performance grow and develop normally be healthy Lost sleep can lead to poor grades, relationship problems, and drowsy driving. Falling asleep while driving can cause

serious car accidents.

People with ongoing sleep deficits can have: health problems, like heart disease and obesity trouble fighting infections emotional problems, like depression

Am I getting enough sleep?

Even if you think you’re getting enough sleep, you might not be. You may need more sleep if you: are hard to wake up in the morning have trouble concentrating are falling asleep during classes feel irritable, moody, sad, or depressed

How can I get more sleep?

Here are some things that may help you to sleep better: Set regular bed and wake up times. Try to stick to your sleep schedule, within an hour or two, even on weekends.

Exercise regularly.

Regular exercise can help you sleep better. Try not to exercise right before bed, though.

Exercise can rev you up and make it harder to fall asleep.

Avoid caffeine. Don’t drink beverages with caffeine, such as soda, tea, and coffee, after dinner. Nicotine (smoking and

vaping) and alcohol in the evening can make a person restless and interrupt sleep.

Unwind by keeping the lights low. Light signals the brain that it’s time to wake up. Staying away from bright lights (including device screens), listening to soothing music, or meditating before bed can help your body relax.

Turn off electronics. Don’t use your phone (including texting), tablets, computer, or TV at least one hour before you go to bed.

Don’t nap too much. Naps of more than 30 minutes during the day and naps too close to bedtime may keep you from falling asleep later.

Create the right sleeping environment. People sleep best in a dark room that is slightly on the cool side. Use a nature sounds or white-noise machine (or app) if you need to block out a noisy environment. (kidshealth.org)

NEWS

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friday, october 25, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

PPP Presidential Candidate obtains doctorate from UWI

P

eople’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) P r e s i d e n t i a l Candidate Irfaan Ali has graduated from the University of the West Indies with a Doctorate of Philosophy in Urban and Regional Planning.

Ali was listed to receive the Doctor of Philosophy

degree during a graduation ceremony at the UWI’s St Augustine Campus in Trinidad.

At his weekly press conference on Thursday, PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo extended congratulations to Ali. “I would also like to congratulate our presidential

candidate for attaining his doctorate at the University of the West Indies,” the Opposition Leader said.

Prior to and even after his election as Presidential Candidate back in January this year, Ali had come under scrutiny over his academic qualifications – something which both he and the

Party had defended over the past year.

In fact, during a press conference back in April, Ali maintained that he was an honest candidate and had what it took to carry the Party to victory at the upcoming elections.

“I am an honest candidate; secondly, I am very

AFC threatens split from APNU …after Ramjattan rejected as PM candidate …AFC not only party in coalition Govt – Granger

Leader of the AFC, Khemraj Ramjattan

T

he Alliance For Change (AFC) has threatened to part ways with its coalition partner, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), after its choice for prime ministerial candidate for the upcoming 2020 polls was reportedly rejected.

AFC and APNU, which form the current coalition Government, were in talks over the revision of the Cummingsburg Accord so that they could contest the elections again as a coalition.

The Accord, which binds the two parties, states that the presidential position will be filled by the APNU while the prime ministerial position would be filled by the AFC. However, Treasurer of the AFC, Dominic Gaskin, stated at a press conference on Thursday that these negotiations have been stalled as the parties have since failed to reach a consensus on the prime ministerial candidate.

While the AFC has moved to select Khemraj Ramjattan for that position, the APNU has shown little sign of support for this decision.

Commenting on the mat-

ter, Gaskin indicated, “The AFC wishes to confirm reports that the negotiations of a revised Cummingsburg Accord between the two parties (have been) stalled due to a lack of consensus on this issue. The AFC finds it unacceptable that the matter of the presidential and prime ministerial candidates (has) been repeatedly deferred.”

Gaskin, who has been part of the negotiations, said the deferral was unclear, and his party was not in agreement with reasons provided by its coalition partner.

However, the idea of replacing Ramjattan is not up for debate.

Gaskin hinted that the AFC’s selection of the prime ministerial candidate is that party’s condition for remaining in the coalition ahead of the approaching general and regional elections.

“This was a decision taken by the highest decision-making forum of our party, and it is not up for debate; so it is almost a prerequisite for us entering into a coalition…

“We don’t accept that any other entity or any other party shall tell us or dictate to us (whom) we should choose as our prime ministerial candidate,” the former Business Minister clarified.

He added, “There were a number of reasons given why this matter needed to be deferred, none of which we accept or agree with…It wasn’t very clear with us on what basis the matter kept being deferred.”

Meanwhile, the minority coalition party has also informed the APNU that until this stalemate is resolved, no

renewed its commitment towards coalition politics here in Guyana. Though it has not been discussed, Gaskin stated, that party’s form of association shows it is willing to join with any other party.

Turn to page 8

President David Granger

other decision can be made on the Accord.

“Our position is that we cannot have any further discussions on a revised Cummingsburg Accord until there is consensus on the positions of the presidential and prime ministerial candidates.”

The APNU has thrown its support behind President David Granger to return as president for a second term.

Asked whether the AFC would be willing to make a switch, Vice-Chair Cathy Hughes affirmed, “We’ve had a set process that chose a candidate. On what basis would we begin to re-examine our process that we hold important to the operations of the AFC? We don’t have a basis to change it. Why would we?”

The AFC will be hosting its National Executive Committee meeting on November 2, 2019. There, executives are hoping to forge a definite position on the party’s “mode of participation” in the upcoming national and regional elections amidst these outcomes.

That party has, however,

PPP Presidential Candidate Irfaan Ali

comfortable with my qualifications … I’m very comfortable with who I am; I’m very comfortable as the presidential candidate and my focus now is to take the PPP/Civic onto victory, to create a better Guyana for all Guyanese, to create better opportunities for all of Guyana. That is where my focus, my energy, and life is concen-

trated on,” the Presidential Candidate told reporters earlier this year.

Further, Ali posited that he was confident that he has the competency and experience to lead Guyana into a brighter future under a PPP/C regime.

Only recently, Jagdeo had reiterated the PPP’s confidence in the Presidential Candidate.

Since becoming the Party’s Presidential Candidate, Ali has been conducting an outreach programme, visiting and interacting with residents across the country as well as Guyanese living overseas during which he shares PPP’s development policy.

In fact, he has already spoken about policies in major sectors such as: the economy, education, security, mining, and forestry among others.

8 news

friday, october 25, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Guyanese busted with cocaine at JFK Airport

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fter providing officials at the John F Kennedy Airport in New York with inconsistent travel plans, a Guyanese youth was busted with over 25 pellets of cocaine in his stomach.

The young man has been identified as 23-year-old Kester Anfrany Johnson. He is expected to face the court and answer to drug trafficking charges.

According to information, the drug mule arrived at the JFK Airport on Tuesday on a Caribbean Airlines flight out of Guyana and it was then he was observed acting in a suspicious manner.

His baggage was subjected to inspection and he became increasingly nervous, caus-

Jockeying…

Y

Kester Anfrany Johnson

ing officials there to suspect something was amiss.

A report stated that Johnson failed to properly answer the officials’ questions as well as provide them with the contact information, including the address, of the relative he intended to stay with. Based on his responses and general demeanour, he was subjected to an x-ray which revealed foreign objects in his stomach.

He was taken into custody and subsequently excreted 25 pellets, which were later revealed to be cocaine.

It is suspected that he has more in his body and authorities there are monitoring him.

AFC threatens split...

From page 7

“We’re the Alliance for Change. I think we’ve always said that we’re here to form alliances for the benefit of Guyana, so we have no inherent opposition to forming alliances with anyone”.

Hughes also mentioned, “The Alliance for Change is willing to work with anyone committed to the principles of constitutional reform and the creation of a more equitable Guyana, where everyone has an equal opportunity.”

On October 3, Granger had said that Ramjattan has not been given the green light by APNU, and the prime ministerial candidacy would be determined after negotiations between the two parties. However, in an interview with new podcast INSIDE Sources, Granger on Thursday said the AFC is not the only party in the coalition Government. Granger also said during the podcast that he is open to recommendations from other parties within the coalition.

“The President is the Chief Executive of the country, and I am open to recommendations from all of my parties, and it is my duty to give the country the best team of Ministers in order to accomplish the strategic objectives of the coalition,” Granger is quoted by podcast INSIDE Sources as saying.

…for pole position our Eyewitness hates saying, “I told you so”!!

Well…actually, not really, when it comes to the AFC! From the moment Khemraj Ramjattan joined up with the PNC -- after insisting that if he did, the AFC would become “dead meat” -- we knew Ramjattan and company --especially his new “company, Moses Nagamootoo -- had thrown all principles overboard for what they thought was “pelf and power”.

Your Eyewitness had predicted that all they would ever get from the PNC was “larwah”, and boy, have they gotten this in the end!!

The AFC just announced that the “talks” to renegotiate a new Accord with the PNC – but mainly to settle the PM candidacy for any new coalition - had foundered on the same rocks your Eyewitness had pointed out the moment the AFC picked Ramjattan for the role. Imagine, the old agreement had EXPIRED, and the AFC was insisting its original terms should hold for the new one!! So why the heck were negotiations for a new agreement needed anyway? Especially when the LGE had exposed the AFC for being not only the predicted “dead meat”, but STINK and ROTTING dead meat at that!

But the AFC didn’t only say that the talks had collapsed, according to one report, they issued an ultimatum to the PNC: If their demand wasn’t met, they were going to walk out of the coalition!! Your Eyewitness is willing to bet dollars to donuts that the PNC brass are still ROLTF+LTAO - rolling on the floor laughing their asses off at that “threat”!!

Right off the bat, the question is: “Who from the AFC is even THREATENING to walk??” Trotman, at the head table, for sure ain’t going nowhere. Negotiator Patterson wasn’t even AT the table!!

Note how carefully Trotman parsed his comment: “I don’t see a better alternative to the Coalition, compromise has to be found on both sides. We have to do what is best in the national interest.” Nothing about sticking with his bete noir Ramjattan!! The question you may have, dear reader, is how come your Eyewitness knew what was going to happen so early in the day??

And the answer is: he knows the PNC!! They may call themselves PNCR or APNU or the Vatican, but one thing they can’t change is their nature; and that nature is “PNC don’t share no power”!!

Burnham never did with the UF, nor with Cheddi Jagan even after the latter gave him “critical support”.

He exemplified in the PNC what’s been dubbed “the iron law of oligarchy”: In any organisation, power will inevitably accrete in a single person or small group.

And in the PNC, that ain’t never gonna be no outsider!!

Ramjattan, gwan da side!! You’ve been poled!! …for rigging position As your Eyewitness has been saying, the moment the new GECOM Chair made that decision to not scrap the H2H completely, or allow it to be completed, he smelled a rat. First of all, since the PPP hadn’t participated in the exercise, they’d always have a reason to object in the courts if the data were used. But this would mean a delay in the election’s date – which is what the PNC wants, especially since it would be precipitated by the PPP!! Like having your election and rigging it too!!

Then there was the decision to encode and print out the 370,000 names gathered from the aborted H2H exercise. To what end? The PNC’s Vincent Alexander said to use it as a “comparator” – that is, as a “standard” for comparing the names on the PLE!!! And how would this “comparator” process work? Electronically? Hanging it outside GECOM offices for the citizens to scrutinise like the C&O exercise used on the PLE??

We still don’t know! But what we know is “Something’s rotten in the state of GECOM!! …for obesity and a heart attack We spent $10.9 BILLION annually on imported snacks. Imagine that!! Just look at the waist sizes of the folks when you visit the mall, and you’ll see where it ends up!!

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

news

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friday, october 25, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Landlord, wife injured after fire engulfs home

The damaged North East La Penitence, Georgetown home

Fire victim: Rafeena Leitch, along with one of her children

A

n elderly couple, who are receiving medical attention, and another family member are among the homeless after fire destroyed a two-storey house in North East La Penitence, Georgetown on Thursday.

The fire of unknown origin started shortly after 03:00h at Lot 520 North East La Penitence. The elderly couple were in the upper flat of the building while their tenants were in the downstairs apartment.

One of the fire victims, Rafeena Leitch, told Guyana Times that she lived at the premises for over six years with her two children, her mother, and her brother.

She related that it was neighbours who alerted them to the fire.

“The top floor has my landlord and his wife, but they don’t live here, they just came in the country for a few days. I was sleeping and we hear the big tumbling upstairs, we did not know it was a fire, until

my neighbour next door holler ‘Fire!’, so I don’t know what caused the fire, how it started, but that is all,” the woman related.

She added that the elderly couple were taken to the hospital, where they were receiving treatment for injuries sustained.

According to Leitch, her landlord and his wife are both in their 60s.

“The two of them got trapped in the fire. The back window had to be broken for them to jump through. One jumped through and the other came down the ladder… everything has been damaged.”

Leitch is asking for any form of assistance especially for her young children, as the now homeless persons contemplate their next move.

Meanwhile, an investigation by the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) is currently ongoing to determine the cause of the fire.

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friday, october 25, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

NEws

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friday, october 25, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Businessman’s murder…

File to be sent for legal advice – Crime Chief …doctor, 6 others remain in custody side chest.

Estwic, his alleged accomplice, of Lot 640 South Amelia’s Ward, Linden, Region 10 (Upper DemeraraBerbice), is still on the run.

Doctor’s role

Businessman Deon Stoll

S

even persons -- including the doctor who had reportedly administered medical attention to the suspected injured gunman who had shot and killed businessman Deon Stoll in front of the El Dorado Trading Inc on Da Silva Street in Newtown, Kitty -- remain in Police custody.

This is according to acting Crime Chief Michael Kingston, who on Thursday told Guyana Times that, in addition to these seven individuals, Police are hunting for one other person.

The Police had issued wanted bulletins for Delon “Demon” Morgan and 23-year-old Lennox Estwic in relation to this shooting incident. Morgan was arrested at a Police roadblock at Cove and John, East Coast Demerara (ECD) at about 05:45h on Tuesday. He had a gunshot wound to his right

Meanwhile, the acting Crime Chief has explained that, in relation to the doctor’s alleged role in this matter, the law is currently being researched in an effort to determine what charges, if any, can be laid against him.

“This is the first time that we would have been confronted with a situation of this nature, so the law is being researched at the moment and the file is being prepared at the moment to be sent for legal advice. And so all of that would be expound upon, and at some stage the report will be sent to the Medical Council of Guyana on the doctor’s conduct,” Kingston told this publication.

The Crime Chief (ag) noted that, at some stage of the investigative process, law enforcement officials will engage the Medical Council of Guyana to make that body aware of what the Police have uncovered during their probe into this incident. “…but at the moment, we are looking at a criminal investigation. The file is being prepared for legal advice.

That is why they have legal advisors, so they can advise us on the way forward,” he explained.

Two masked gunmen

Apprehended: Delon “Demon” Morgan

pounced on Stoll and his driver as Stoll was about to enter the El Dorado Trading to conduct business on October 14. Stoll was shot, but managed to return fire at the gunmen. He shot one of the gunmen twice. His driver and a security guard at El Dorado Trading were also shot.

Stoll, also called “Mow”, hailed from Charity, Essequibo Coast, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), but resided in Bel Air Park, Georgetown.

Reports are that the businessman had arrived at the establishment at about 10:20h on that fateful October 14, and as he was about to exit the car, two gunmen who arrived in a white car opened fire on him and his driver, Clayton Powley.

A review of closed circuit television (CCTV) footage

showed that Stoll was sitting in the front passenger seat of motorcar PPP 6727, being driven by Powley. A white Toyota motorcar with tinted windows, which had appeared to be trailing Stoll’s vehicle, also stopped across the road from the business place seconds later. Stoll had earlier visited a business place on Sheriff Street, from whence he had collected an undisclosed sum of cash.

Two gunmen, donning handkerchiefs to conceal their faces, jumped out of the car that had stopped behind PPP 6727 and rushed towards Stoll’s car. One gunman opened the door at the driver’s side and a scuffle began between him and Powley, who soon exited the vehicle to better defend himself. Powley received a gunshot wound to his arm in the process, while his assailant rushed back to the waiting white Toyota motorcar.

The other gunman rushed to the front seat passenger door and opened it before attempting to snatch something from Stoll. The businessman, who also appeared to have been putting up a fight from inside of the vehicle, was shot to his stomach.

His shooter was unable to grab anything from the car.

Initially, it was believed that one of the gunmen was Guyana Defence Force member 18-year-old Olijah Chesney, who was found dead in the Tucville Squatting Area of Georgetown with two gunshot wounds. However, the Police have since said that Chesney was not involved in the robbery.

Stoll was laid to rest earlier this week at his home village, Charity, Essequibo Coast.

Laws governing doctors

Wanted: Lennox Estwic

As he attempted to run away, the injured Stoll returned fire with his handgun. The CCTV footage showed that the gunman was shot twice by Stoll.

He stumbled both times before escaping in the awaiting motorcar, which sped away.

The CCTV footage showed Stoll clutching his stomach as he fell to the ground.

Security personnel attached to El Dorado Trading, along with residents of the neighbourhood, rushed to Stoll and Powley’s aid. They managed to transport the injured men to the Georgetown Public Hospital for emergency treatment. However, Stoll succumbed at the hospital.

Chairman of the Medical Council of Guyana, Dr Navindranauth Rambaran, has recently said it would be premature to pronounce on the fate of the doctor at this time, as Police investigations are still underway; but another senior medical practitioner employed by the Public Health Ministry told this publication that the Guyana Medical Practitioner’s Act does not have a direct rule stating that a doctor must report such incidents to the Police.

He, however, noted that the Police may be looking at the law governing the criminal act of accessory to the offence.

12 news

friday, october 25, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Anna Regina township gets tough on food safety

‌Food and Drug Dept swoops down on businesses

Public health officials packing some of the seized items

T

he Anna Regina Town Council has toughened its stance on businesspersons who have been endangering the lives of citizens by selling expired food items.

On Thursday, a team comprising persons from the Public Health Department of the Anna Regina Town Council and the Government Analyst-Food and Drug Department in Georgetown swooped down on businesses along the Essequibo Coast, Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam).

During the exercise, thousands of dollars in goods, including baby food, was seized from supermarkets, shops, stalls and wholesalers within the township.

Some of the items seized were already expired, had bad labelling or the expiry date was tampered with. The team reported that some of the items seized had labels that were tampered with to show a longer shelf life while others had expired for months.

A tin of expired milk that was on sale

Confiscated items included baby food, milk, juices, jams, cheese, mixed vegetables, peanut butter, jello, tomato paste, corned beef and biscuits.

Customers are being encouraged to check labels before purchasing items.

The campaign, Guyana Times was told, will continue throughout coming months.

News

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friday, october 25, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Fisheries research Online application introduced for unearths need for Indian visas in Guyana integrated maritime T policy in Caricom

T

he Fisheries Department of the Agriculture Ministry has uncovered in recent research the need for an extensive maritime policy which extends to all Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries, since many marine issues are large scale and cannot be contained by a single country.

The research was conducted by Mikhail Amsterdam, as he highlighted that the Caribbean was the second largest region affected by climate change.

Adding to that, the increased warming has caused a loss of coral life, which in turn affects the fishing industry.

“The wider Caribbean region is actually made up of three large marine ecosystems which comprise … approximately 7,000,000 square kilometres of area to cover, of which 70 per cent is oceans and seas…Upon investigating this area, we would have realised that the wider Caribbean area is considered to be the second most-affected area in terms of climate change impact with over 75 per cent of the area being affected by sea level rise, and, of course, the most important resource to the area – fisheries is being affected due to the loss of coral.”

Some of the challenges in combating these issues include territorial disputes among countries, the restricted authorisation of responsible agencies, and conservation. A regional database was cited as one of the needed tools to deploy resources to these areas by maritime planning. In common scenarios, the information retrieved by individual agencies is not shared with foreign counterparts.

“Their (agencies) storage are often separate, and

Researcher at the Fisheries Department, Mikhail Amsterdam

there is need for a regional dataset with regard to marine issues so that planning can be made from that situation. This also trickles down to a national level, the need for a database which covers most of the information,” he insisted.

According to Amsterdam, these problems are expansive, and understanding how Caricom applies to management on a regional level would be helpful.

“There is the need for having an integrated maritime policy in Caricom, as it would be useful in terms of dealing with all the cross-cutting issues within the maritime space,” the researcher added.

According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), marine species affected by climate change include plankton – which forms the basis of marine food chains; corals; fish; polar bears; walruses; seals; sea lions; penguins and seabirds.”

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts a rise of between 1.4 degrees Celsius and 5.8 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, making it likely that some special animals will be eliminated from existence.

he Indian High Commission in Guyana will no longer accept manually filled visa applications and as part of the new process, has introduced biometrics and the Immigration Visa Foreigner Registration Tracking (IVFRT) system.

The High Commission will switch over to online visa application filing with effect from November 1, 2019.

While it will no longer be accepting manually filled-in applications, biometric data collection, including fingerprint data and facial imagery, will be a mandatory requirement for all types of visa applicants.

As a result, all visa applicants will need to first apply online and, thereafter, are mandated to be physically present at the High Commission, located on Church Street, Georgetown for submission of visa applications and biometric data enrolment.

However, before going to the High Commission to sub-

mit the passport and visa applications, all applicants must complete the Online Visa Application Registration Form available at http://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/ Additionally, applicants are being asked to ensure that all columns are filled in completely and correctly. The visa application will not be registered by the system unless the application form is completed properly.

While downloading the Visa Application Registration Form from the website, a temporary application ID will be created by the system. This must be noted down by the applicants for future reference. The application form has four pages. Persons must ensure they continue to the next page(s) by clicking on ‘Save and Continue’ until the last page of the form.

After completing the form correctly, click on ‘Verified and Continue’. Upon clicking this, the form will be registered in the system and a dialogue box with the applicant’s

name and file number will appear. Click on ‘PRINT FORM’ on this dialogue box. Then print out the application form.

Paste (not staple) one photograph (size 2 x 2 cm) of the applicant on the space provided and clip with the application two more copies of the same photograph.

The printed form should be submitted physically at the High Commission on the next day or subsequently along with: (a) passport; (b) additional photographs; (c) fees; (d) other documentation required for the type of visa applied for, and any other relevant supporting documents.

For information on types of visas, documentation required, etc, please visit the High Commission’s website: www. hcigeorgetown.org.

Meanwhile, visa applicants who are resident in St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, and Anguilla should submit the printed application form along with their passport, fees and other documents to the High Commission

of India, Georgetown.

The fees, in full, must be paid by the applicants at the time of submission of the application form and passport at the High Commission. Visa fees, once paid, will not be refunded.

The visa application will further be processed by the High Commission officials and visas will be granted/refused subject to necessary clearances from the Indian authorities.

While, in the normal course, visas will be issued within 48 hours of the submission of the application form and fees at the High Commission in respect of nationals of Guyana, St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda and Anguilla. In the case of foreigners residing in these countries applying to the High Commission in Guyana, visas will only be issued after clearance from the Indian Mission in the country of nationality of the applicant and subject to clearance from other Indian authorities.

14 news

friday, october 25, 2019| guyanatimesgy.com

Republic Bank’s ATM system EBE fatal stabbing…

Fisherman slapped to be closed next weekend …as upgrade gets underway

R

epublic Bank (Guyana) Limited (RBL) has advised that its Automated Teller Machine (ATM) will be closed from Thursday afternoon to Sunday next week.

The commercial bank advised that all ATM outlets across the country would be closed and pointof-sales services would be unavailable from October 31 at 14:00h to November 3 at 16:00h.

During this period, Internet banking and online transactions will also be unavailable.

The Bank also informed that it would be closed on Friday, November 1. Its branches will be closed at 12:00h from Thursday, October 31. On Wednesday, October 30, branches will be closed at 15:00h. Normal opening hours will resume on Monday, November 4.

According to Republic, these changes are to facili-

Republic Bank

tate a migration of its banking system to a newer one and to enhance customers’ banking experience.

Republic Bank Guyana Limited has revealed that its profit before taxation for the year 2018 was a staggering $4.664 billion, and its net income for that same year was a whopping $3.134 billion. This is an increase of 14.4 per cent over the $2.738 billion the Bank had earned in 2017.

In the Director’s Report, RBL Managing Director

Richard Sammy said normal banking operations accounted for $2.951 billion.

He attributed these increased earnings to the sale of the Bank’s fixed assets.

Earlier this year, Republic Bank had had to contend with customers complaining of millions of dollars going missing from their accounts. Some customers even took to social media to call the Bank out over the discrepancies.

In May, RBL publicly confirmed that the mon-

ies were indeed missing, after previously denying knowledge of the reports.

After several customers had reached out to Guyana Times about their missing money, a call to the Bank by this publication was met with denial by one of its managers.

Last November, Republic Bank had announced that it was seeking to acquire Scotiabank’s operations in St Maarten, Guyana, Anguilla, St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Dominica, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Guyana’s Central Bank Governor Dr Gobind Ganga told this newspaper last month that the application was denied in light of concerns about “concentration” and “competition” which would have negative impacts on the country’s financial system.

with murder charge

Dead fisherman Noel Singh

A

20-year-old fisherman is expected to face the court of law today on a murder charge, after he allegedly stabbed a fellow fisherman to death.

This murder suspect, of Meten-Meer-Zorg, West Coast Demerara (WCD), was arrested on Tuesday at Parika Village, East Bank Essequibo (EBE)some two days after the crime had been committed.

A post-mortem examination (PME) conducted on the dead fisherman, 22-year-old Noel Singh, revealed that his death resulted from perforation of the heart due to stab wounds.

It is alleged that on October 20 at about 20:00h, the suspect knifed Singh to death in front of Singh’s residence as he (Singh) was returning home from a local bar, after having consumed alcoholic beverages.

Singh was reportedly in front of his yard when an argument ensued. The argument is said to have been a “continuation” of a verbal row the duo had some six days prior to the stabbing incident. The row on Sunday night escalated, and the suspect reportedly whipped out a knife from his pants waist and stabbed Singh twice to the left side of his chest and once to his back; then he allegedly cut Singh along his left wrist before fleeing the scene.

Singh collapsed and fell into the drain in front of his yard. Bleeding profusely, he managed to climb out of the drain, covered in mud, and was picked up by one of his friends. His brother and parents were alerted, and he was rushed to the Leonora Cottage Hospital in that West Coast Demerara area, but was pronounced dead on arrival.

Body dumped in drain…

Neighbour to face manslaughter charge today

A

man, who after intense grilling by the cops had reportedly confessed to killing his neighbour by dealing him several cuffs, has been charged for manslaughter, and will appear in court today.

This newspaper has been informed that the suspect did not realise he had killed his neighbour – Abdool Ghannie, called “Dennis”, or “Fulla” – until he had returned from work the following day. According to the Police, after this suspect had realised that Ghannie was dead, he wrapped a black plastic bag over Ghannie’s face and dumped his body in a nearby drain.

This suspect has allegedly told investigators that on Saturday last, his 57-yearold neighbour, who had also been a resident of Patentia, West Bank Demerara, had been at his residence when they had had a “misunderstanding”, as a result of which, the suspect claimed, he had dealt Ghannie several cuffs to his face, which resulted in the late Ghannie receiving injuries.

When contacted by this newspaper, Region Three (West DemeraraEast Bank Essequibo) Police Commander, Senior Superintendent Linden Lord, explained that after being punched by the suspect, Ghannie had become motionless, and the suspect thought he had fallen asleep.

On Sunday morning, the suspect noticed that Ghannie was in the same position, and thought he was still sleeping; as such, he had gone to work. However, upon his return home, the suspect observed that Ghannie was still in the same motionless position, and that was when he realised that something was amiss.

He lifted Ghannie’s head and noticed blood, so he then put Ghannie’s head in a plastic bag to prevent the blood from dripping, and he dumped the body in a nearby drain.

A post-mortem examination conducted on Ghannie’s body has given the cause of his death as brain haemorrhage due to blunt trauma to the head.

news

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friday, october 25, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Fire guts house at Coverden

A

fire of unknown origin has completely destroyed a two-storey house at Coverden, East

Bank Demerara (EBD).

Reports are that a couple who live at the house, along with seven other persons,

were involved in a heated argument prior to the incident.

Guyana Times was told

Silvie’s makes generous donation to Joshua House Children Centre

The Coverden, East Bank Demerara house on fire

that the couple were both drug addicts and would have constant arguments.

The home is owned by an

Joshua House Children Centre received a generous donation from the owners of Silvie’s Automotive Solution (SAS), Mr and Mrs Persaud. In photo, Mrs Persaud shakes the hand of caretaker of the institute, Gladys Accla. Also in photo is the company’s General Manager, Ganesh Rampersaud.

The Joshua House Children Centre, located at Lots 255-6 Thomas Street, South Cummingsburg, Georgetown, houses over 45 children.

UG business students urged to be practical leaders

S

GTT CEO Justin Nedd and some students of SEBI

tudents of the School of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation (SEBI), University of Guyana were urged to be practical leaders during a recent lecture on campus.

GTT Chief Executive Officer Justin Nedd made the charge in his capacity as a guest lecturer.

Lecturer of the Business Communication class, Professor Leyland Lucas explained that the guest lecture was necessary to give the students a realistic perspective of leadership styles which were part of the course.

Nedd grounded his presentation in the operating landscape of Latin America and the Caribbean while

highlighting challenges many regions face in the business world.

“Leadership is more than what is in front of you; it is the entire horizon,” Nedd said. He encouraged the students to not only study context within Guyana, but to measure and compare other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

“While leadership has become technologically oriented and can support leadership styles, it should not be the substitute for leadership in the workplace.

However, the information can be used to make a difference,” Nedd said.

The GTT CEO further encouraged the business communication students to focus on becoming prob-

lem-solving leaders. “It is great to achieve a 4.0 GPA, but if you cannot solve a problem using the knowledge from the theory you would have learnt, it will not make a difference.”

The session was informative and interactive with the majority of students in attendance seeking clarification and adding comments of their own on what was discussed.

After the presentation, the students were treated to GTT Pinktober t-shirts and encouraged to attend the walk/run on Saturday, October 26, 2019. The GTT Pinktober team will be on campus conducting sales and free SIM upgrades to GTT’s 4G LTE network for the remainder of the week.

overseas-based Guyanese.

Residents called the Guyana Fire Service, but by that time the house was already

engulfed by flames.

No one was injured, but the couple have since been taken into Police custody.

16

guyanatimesgy.com

friday, october 25, 2019

Regional

Bolivia’s Morales claims outright win in presidential vote

B

olivia’s Evo Morales has declared himself the outright winner of the country’s presidential election, which would give him a fourth straight term in office following a vote that has sparked days of protests by his opponents and supporters over accusations of fraud.

With more than 98 per cent of the votes counted from Sunday’s election, Bolivia’s first Indigenous President said on Thursday

he had the 10 percentage point lead over his nearest rival, former President Carlos Mesa, needed to win outright and avoid a second -round runoff between the two.

“We have won in the first round. There are 1.58 per cent (of the votes) left to count, but we won with the rural vote,” Morales, the region’s longest-ruling leader with 14 years in office, told a press conference.

Bolivia’s President Evo Morales raising his arm after declaring himself the winner of the country’s presidential election in a news conference in La Paz [Juan Karita/AP]

Mesa announced that he would form an alliance to “defend the vote” in the streets and alleged that the leftist President had perpetrated “a monumental fraud” to get re-elected. Morales, in turn, urged his supporters to defend his win and denied electoral fraud, demanding his detractors show proof.

The Andean nation had been on a knife-edge since the bitterly disputed vote.

If it had gone to a runoff be-

tween Morales and Mesa, analysts said a united opposition might have stood a chance of defeating the incumbent president.

As the morning broke, the official vote count gave Morales a 46.83 percent to 36.7 percent lead over Mesa.

International vote monitors have expressed concern at an earlier unexplained daylong gap in reporting results. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Chile protests: Social reform Brazil pensions: Victory for President pledges fail to quell unrest Bolsonaro as reform passes

T

housands of workers are taking part in a general strike in Chile as protests against inequality continue even after the Government pledged social reforms.

Health-care workers, teachers and students banged pots in the capital, Santiago, late on Wednesday with Police using water cannon and tear gas to disperse crowds.

Four days of unrest have left 16 dead, but these marches were mostly peaceful.

Officials said they were

investigating claims of violence by security forces.

Chile’s National Institute for Human Rights (INDH) said five of the deaths had been caused by the armed forces, and that it had received allegations of torture by security agents.

The protests were sparked in Santiago by a now-suspended increase in metro fares, but spread across the country, reflecting anger over living costs and inequality. There have been outbreaks of looting and arson.

On Tuesday, President Sebastián Piñera, a billionaire conservative who has been criticised for his response to the protests, promised to increase the basic pension by 20 per cent and the minimum wage from US$413 to US$482.

He also pledged tax rises on high-earners, a law that would see the state cover the costs of expensive medical treatment and the cancellation of a planned electricity rate hike. (Excerpt from BBC News)

B

razil’s Senate has passed the final amendments to a much-debated pension reform a day after the main text of the bill was approved.

The approval of the bill is a major victory for President Jair Bolsonaro after decades of failed attempts to reform Brazil’s social security system.

Had it not been passed, public debt would have skyrocketed, official data suggest.

Bolsonaro said the reform would allow the country “to take off”.

The President had staked much of his political reputation on passing the bill, keen

to show he possesses the negotiating skills to push it through Congress.

The main change is the creation of a retirement age –- 65 for men and 62 for women. Other changes include an increase to workers’ pension contributions and the mechanism to calculate benefits.

Teachers, federal Police, prison guards and rural workers are among those who will have special rules.

Pensioners dancing at a The changes are expect- beauty pageant for elderly ed to result in savings of 800 women in Sao Paulo last year billion reais (US$195 billion, over 12 to 14 years. Nothing £150 billion) over the next 10 changes for those who are alyears. ready retired. (Excerpt from They will be phased in BBC News)

Suspected gang members found dead amid surge of violence in Mexico

N

ine men allegedly linked to organised crime were shot dead in southern Mexico during a confrontation with other armed civilians, state authorities said, as the country grapples with a wave of violence.

The bodies were found Wednesday night in the remote village of Zitlala, according to the Prosecutor’s of-

fice in the state of Guerrero, one of the country’s poorest and hardest-hit by Mexico’s long-running drug war.

The office said late Wednesday that the deceased were believed to be associated with Zenen Nava, leader of the “Rojos”, one of the criminal gangs operating in the state. Casings from AK-47 and AR-15 rifles were found nearby.

In recent weeks, Mexico has been shaken especially hard by several outbursts of violence linked to organised crime.

Last week, the bungled arrest of one of the sons of jailed drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman sparked an hours-long siege of the city of Culiacan, the capital of northern Sinaloa state. (Excerpt from Reuters)

T&T: 3 ex-PNM Councillors in Lee Sing’s new PPM

T

o all those who don’t wish to vote red or yellow – People’s National Movement or United National Congress – the Port-of-Spain People’s Movement (PPM) says come to the centre.

That was the call from PPM Chairman Louis Lee Sing at the launch of the party’s candidates for Port-ofSpain for the December 2 Local Government Elections.

The candidates and the party were simultaneously introduced to a gathering of people at an outdoor venue at 47 Tragerete Road, Port-of-Spain.

The party presented nine candidates for the 12 Port-ofSpain City Corporation seats, including three former PoS councillors.

The candidates are Omawale Brathwaite (St Ann’s River Central); Ashtine Thomason (St Ann’s River South); Michelle Primus (East Dry River); Dada Aswad Gabriel (Southern PoS);

PPM Chairman Louis Lee Sing together with Harry Ragoonanan, former People’s National Movement member (left) and financier and Selby Wilson at the launch for candidates for the PPM Local Government Elections

Cleveland Garcia (Woodbrook); Jaleesa Toussaint (Belmont East); Yaseer Hosein (St James West); Sheldon Ali (St James East) and Aaron Dos Santos (Northern PoS).

Lee Sing said they continuing to screen for candidates for the three other seats.

On whether he felt the party would attract PNM votes,

Lee Sing said, “We feel we are competent fishermen and we’ll attract people who want change. People have told us they’re not voting red or yellow and tonight we have given them, all who don’t want to go left or right, come to the centre.” (Excerpt from Trinidad Guardian)

guyanatimesgy.com

friday, october 25, 2019

17

Around the World

Pence backs Hong Kong protests in British PM Johnson calls for December China speech, slams NBA and Nike 12 election to break Brexit deadlock

I

n a major policy speech on China that touched on an array of disputes ahead of talks with Beijing to ease a trade war, US Vice President Mike Pence said the United States does not seek confrontation or to “de-couple” from its main economic rival.

But he pulled no punches when addressing some of the political rifts between the two countries.

Criticising China’s construction of a “surveillance state” and “increasingly provocative” military action, Pence held up Taiwan’s democracy as a better path for Chinese people and took Beijing to task for its handling of pro-democracy protests that have rocked Hong Kong for more than four months.

“Hong Kong is a living ex-

US Vice President Mike Pence

ample of what can happen when China embraces liberty,” he said. “And yet, for the last few years, Beijing has increased its interventions in Hong Kong and engaged in actions that curtail the rights and liberties that Hong Kong’s people were guaranteed through a binding interna-

tional agreement.”

He said the United States stands with the protesters in Hong Kong, millions of whom have taken to the streets in sometimes violent clashes over what they see as China’s tightening grip.

“We stand with you, we are inspired by you. We urge you to stay on the path of non-violent protest,” Pence said in his address at a Washington think tank.

He also slammed China for its treatment of Muslim Uighurs in the Xinjiang region.

Pence directed some of his harshest words at sports apparel giant Nike and the NBA, which he accused of siding with China’s Communist Party over freedom of speech in Hong Kong. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Lebanese protesters reject President’s appeal for talks

P

rotesters in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, have rejected President Michel Aoun’s call for dialogue, demanding the Government’s resignation before any such talks take place.

In a televised address to the nation on Thursday, Aoun said he was willing to meet demonstrators who have been taking to the streets for eight straight days calling for Lebanon’s post-civil war leadership to be held accountable for years of corruption and economic mismanagement.

The President insisted the Government could not be

toppled from the streets, but mooted a Government reshuffle and pledged to back new legislation aimed at clamping down on corruption, saying the issue had “eaten us [Lebanon] to the bone”.

Aoun also threw his weight behind Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s recently-unveiled reform package – which had left protesters’ unimpressed – calling the measures “the first step to save Lebanon and remove the spectre of financial and economic collapse”.

But at Martyr’s Square in central Beirut, where various civil society groups

have set up tents, Aoun’s invitation for talks was swiftly rejected.

“It’s not acceptable because it doesn’t fulfil the needs of the people. His speech doesn’t meet the standards that people expect,” said Ali Hoteit, sitting inside a tent erected by a group of army veterans.

Alongside him, half a dozen men discussed politics as music blared in the distance. For them, the message was clear: There will not be any negotiations until the Government falls.

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Death penalty for 16 who set student on fire

A

Bangladesh court has sentenced 16 people to death for the murder of a student set on fire after accusing her teacher of sexual harassment.

Nusrat Jahan Rafi, 19, died in April in Feni, a small town some 160 kilometres (100 miles) outside the capital Dhaka.

Those convicted of murder included the headteacher Nusrat had accused of harassment and two female classmates.

Her murder shocked the country and led to a series of protests demanding justice for Nusrat.

The trial has been one of the quickest in a country where such cases usually take years to conclude.

Prosecutor Hafez Ahmed told reporters it proved “that nobody will get away with murder in Bangladesh”.

However, the quick conclusion of the case did little to

P

rime Minister Boris Johnson called on Thursday for a general election on December 12 to break Britain’s Brexit impasse, conceding for the first time he will not meet his “do or die” deadline to leave the European Union next week.

Johnson said in a letter to Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn he would give Parliament more time to approve his Brexit deal, but lawmakers must

back a December election, Johnson’s third attempt to try to force a snap vote.

Corbyn said he would wait to see what the European Union decides on a Brexit delay before deciding which way to vote on Monday, repeating that he could only back an election when the risk of Johnson taking Britain out of the EU without a deal to smooth the transition was off the table.

With other opposition parties rejecting the election

offer, it was increasingly unlikely that Johnson’s latest bid to replace a parliament that has repeatedly put hurdles in his way would be successful.

Just a week before Britain was due to exit the EU, the bloc looks set to grant Johnson a Brexit delay, something he has repeatedly said he does not want, but was forced by Parliament to request. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Uluru climbing ban: Tourists to scale sacred rock for final time

H

uge crowds are expected to scramble up Australia’s Uluru today before a ban on the climb takes effect.

The giant monolith – formerly known as Ayers Rock – will be permanently off limits to visitors from Saturday.

Uluru is sacred to its Indigenous custodians, the Anangu people, who have long implored tourists not to climb.

Only 16 per cent of visitors went up in 2017 – when the ban was announced – but the climb has been packed in recent weeks.

In recent months, photos circulating of people in lines snaking up Uluru have even drawn comparisons to recent

Uluru tourist: “It’s been our dream to do it”

scenes on Mount Everest.

One social media user posted a timelapse showing the massive queue at Uluru just one day before the closure.

In 2017, the board of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park voted unanimously to end the climb because of the spiritual significance of the

site.

One Anangu man told the BBC that Uluru was a “very sacred place, [it’s] like our church”.

“People right around the world... they just come and climb it. They’ve got no respect,” said Rameth Thomas.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

Police say 39 dead in truck near London believed to be Chinese

P

olice were given more time on Thursday to question a driver arrested on suspicion of murder after 39 people, believed to be Chinese nationals, were found dead in a refrigerated truck near London, with the investigation focusing on human trafficking.

Officers searched three properties in the County

Armagh area of Northern Ireland. The driver has not been formally identified, but a source familiar with the investigation said he was Mo Robinson from the Portadown area of the British province.

Paramedics and Police found the bodies of 31 men and eight women on Wednesday in a truck container on an

industrial estate at Grays in Essex, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) east of London.

For years, illegal immigrants have attempted to reach Britain stowed away in trucks, often from the European mainland. In 2000, 58 Chinese were found dead in a tomato truck at the port of Dover. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Maharashtra and Haryana: Ruling BJP headed for mixed results

I Nusrat Jahan Rafi was doused with kerosene and set on fire on a rooftop

ease her mother’s agony on Thursday.

“I can’t forget her for a moment,” Shirin Akhtar told news agency Reuters through tears upon hearing the verdict. “I still feel the pain that she went through.”

Lawyers for the defendants say they will appeal.

The investigation into Nusrat’s death revealed a conspiracy to silence her which included her own classmates and a number of

powerful men from within the community.

Three teachers, including the headmaster, Siraj Ud Doula, who Police say ordered the killing from prison after he was arrested under suspicion of harassment, were found guilty by the court on Thursday.

Another two of the defendants convicted, Ruhul Amin and Maksud Alam, are local leaders of the ruling Awami League party.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

ndia’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has lost its majority in a key state election.

It has won or is leading in 38 seats in the northern state of Haryana, which is eight short of the simple majority needed to retain power.

The party and its ally, Shiv Sena, have held onto power in the western state of Maharashtra, but trends suggest they may lose 26 of their seats.

The results are being seen as a temporary setback for PM Narendra Modi.

Modi led his party’s campaign from the front and the controversial decision to strip Indian-administered Kashmir of its autono-

PM Narendra Modi led the BJP’s campaign in Maharashtra and Haryana

my was the BJP’s key poll plank. The polls were seen as a referendum on the party’s Kashmir policy.

On Thursday, local elections were also held in Indianadministered Kashmir. But with most of the state’s po-

litical leaders in detention, and a crippling communications blockade that is now in its second month, Opposition Leaders called the elections a “sham” and a “joke on democracy”. (Excerpt from BBC News)

18

guyanatimesgy.com

friday, OCTOber 25, 2019

ARCHIE

ARIES

Stick to what makes the most sense. Work hard and finish what you start. Look at your options and pick up skills and qualifications to help you obtain your objective.

TAURUS

Don’t let the changes others make slow you down or get in your way. Be direct and make your objective known. A partnership looks inviting, and romance should be on your agenda.

(March 21April 19)

(April 20May 20)

dilbert

GEMINI (May 21June 20)

CANCER (June 21July 22)

Peanuts

Calvin and Hobbes

You’ll do best if you channel your time and energy into something that is geared toward personal growth, self-improvement and better health. Choose your words and gestures wisely.

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

A change to your environment or surroundings will be rejuvenating. Dust off old ideas and give them a new and exciting spin.

Someone you least expect will support your effort.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23Dec. 21)

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19)

LAST PUBLISHED WORD

Listen carefully and do your best to get along.

Refuse to let your emotions take you on a journey that will lead to regret. Offer positive suggestions and make romance a priority.

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

SUDOKU

A mixed message will confuse you. When in doubt, ask. Refuse to let anyone come between you and a loved one. A physical challenge will help relieve stress.

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

PISCES (Feb. 20March 20)

Have compassion for those around you who are struggling. A kind word will buy you the support you need to reach your goals. Don’t waste time getting angry or indulging in no-win situations.

Take part in something that offers introductions to people and pastimes that excite you. Networking, mixing and mingling will ignite your creativity. Personal improvements and romance should be emphasized.

Don’t give up. The less you do with others and the more you do on your own, the better. Someone will take advantage of you if you are too accommodating Make changes at home or at work that will add to your momentum. Feeling comfortable and relaxed in your surroundings is a good place to start. Romance is encouraged.

Staying on top of your responsibilities and getting your personal papers in order should be your intent. Don’t worry about the changes that others make; you can just go about your business.

Listen, interact, find out what you can do to help and nurture relationships.

Speak from the heart and offer unique suggestions.

Pursue a creative or romantic vision.

friday, october 25, 2019

19

Pepe double gives Arsenal late win S

ubstitute Nicolas Pepe rescued Arsenal with two sublime free-kicks in the last 10 minutes of their Europa League group game against Vitoria Guimaraes at Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal were losing 2-1 when Pepe came on in the 75th minute and he scored five minutes later with a curling effort from 25 yards.

He repeated the feat in stoppage time as Arsenal avoided their second straight defeat and retained their place at the top of Group F. Former Tottenham youngster Marcus Edwards had earlier cut inside and fired into the bottom corners to give Vitoria a shock lead, before Arsenal's Brazilian teenager Gabriel Martinelli nodded in his fifth goal in just his third start to make it 1-1.

Bruno Duarte restored the visitors' lead on 36 minutes, pouncing on a rebound to send Arsenal into the half-time break a goal behind.

The Gunners, who were poor for large patches of the game, burst into life in the final 10 minutes as Martinelli was denied from close range before Rob Holding's header was well held by the goalkeeper.

Arsenal manager Unai Emery made 10 changes from the side that lost to Sheffield United in the Premier League on Monday but was forced to bring on Matteo Guendouzi and Dani Ceballos at half-time, before Pepe made the difference.

Wolves claim victory Wolverhampton Wanderers' produced a stirring Europa League fightback to beat Slovan Bratislava in Slovakia and move into second spot in Group K. Trailing at half-time to Andraz Sporar's deflected shot, Wolves scored twice in the space of five second-half minutes through Romain Saiss and a penalty by Raul Jimenez.

Morocco midfielder Saiss equalised with a shot which keeper Dominik Greif should have

kept out before Jimenez was fouled by Vernon de Marco - the Mexico forward picking himself up to score from the spot.

Substitute Diogo Jota was sent off in the 87th minute for two yellow cards in the space of a minute but Wolves held on to secure a

20,000 children in Slovakia's capital.

Man Utd end winless away streak

Anthony Martial started his first game for Manchester United since their 2-1 Premier League defeat to Crystal Palace in August (Getty Images)

superb win.

The match was officially played 'behind closed doors' because of racist chanting and banners during a Europa League play-off match at the Tehelne Pole stadium.

However, Slovan were allowed to give tickets away to schools and football academies, which meant the hosts were cheered on by

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says his Manchester United side need to "try to build momentum" after Anthony Martial's penalty secured their first away win since March at Partizan Belgrade.

It ensured United moved top of their Europa League group and will qualify for the knockout stages if they beat Partizan in the reverse fixture at Old Trafford on 7 November.

"We need to win away from home in the league, but another clean sheet and that gives you a platform to win games from," said Solskjaer, whose team last won a Premier League away game in February at Crystal Palace.

Martial, making his first start since August, sent Vladimir Stojkovic the wrong way from 12 yards after United's 19-year-old defender Brandon Williams won the spot-kick.

Williams' burst forward to draw a foul from Nemanja Miletic was one of the the few bright spots in an otherwise uninspiring United display.

It helped Solskjaer's team to their first win away from home in 11 attempts with their only shot on target.

Williams and 18-year-old midfielder James Garner were among seven changes made by United's Norwegian boss from the side that started in the Premier League against Liverpool on Sunday.And initially at least, United controlled possession, with Scott McTominay wastefully heading Juan Mata's free-kick wide and Jesse Lingard's curling effort striking the right-hand post.

However, the hosts carved out chances of their own with on-loan Roma forward Umar Sadiq bending a 20-yard strike against the post.

United keeper Sergio Romero superbly preserved the visitors' lead by parrying Seydouba Soumah's drive after the midfielder cut past Harry Maguire, as Solskjaer's side hung on to record their first win on their travels since their Champions League victory over Paris St-Germain.

(BBC Sport)

20

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

friday, october 25, 2019

Golden Jags to face Aruba and Jamaica in November T

he Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) on Thursday confirmed the schedule and venues for the third and last round of group stage matches of the 2019-2020 CONCACAF Nations League.

The League A, B and C matches are set to take place during the November FIFA Match Window.

Created to maximise the match dates available within the FIFA international calendar, and as part of a wider strategy to provide more competitive football for all member associations, the CONCACAF Nations League kicked off in September, with the first six days of group stage matches delivering exciting competition and setting the course for the journey to the CONCACAF Nations League Finals and 2021 Gold Cup. The second round of matches for the new centralised men’s national team competition, which represents a new era of national team football for the Confederation, took place in October with plenty of action.

Honduras, with victories over Trinidad and Tobago and Martinique, is the first team to secure a spot in the Nations League Finals and the 2021 Gold Cup. Canada also earned a spot in the Gold Cup with a 2-0 win over the United States.

After group stage round-robin play, the four ‘League A’ group winners will advance to the CONCACAF Nations League Finals to crown the first-ever competition champion. The CONCACAF Nations League Finals will take place in June 2020 at a venue ‘to be announced’.

Additionally, the group winners from ‘League B’ and ‘League C’ will be promoted to Leagues ‘A and B’ respectively, while the teams at the bottom of ‘League A’ and ‘League B’ will be relegated to Leagues ‘B and C’ respectively for the next edition of the CONCACAF Nations League.

The Confederation confirmed in September 2019 that the 2019-2020 CONCACAF Nations League group stage will serve as the qualifying pathway for the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup for all 41 mem-

ber associations.

Guyana’s next two Nations League games will respectively be against Aruba and Jamaica, at the Leonora Track and Field Facility in Guyana and at the Montego Bay Sports Complex in Jamaica respectively.

The Golden Jaguars have so far recorded two wins and two losses, and have six points -- behind Jamaica, who have four wins and eight points.

2019-2020 CONCACAF Nations League November Group Stage Schedule Thursday, November 14, 2019

(C) 3:00pm: Turks and Caicos Islands vs Sint Maarten at the TCIFA National Academy in Turks and Caicos Islands (B) 2:00pm: St. Kitts and Nevis vs Grenada at the Warner Park in St. Kitts and Nevis (B) 6:00pm: Belize vs French Guiana at the Isidoro Beaton Stadium in Belize (A) 8:00pm: Martinique vs Honduras at the Stade Pierre Aliker in Martinique (C) 7:00pm: Bahamas vs British Virgin Islands at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium in the Bahamas (A) 6:30pm: Curacao vs Costa Rica at the Stadion Ergilio Hato in Curacao.

Friday, November 15, 2019

(B) 2:00pm: St. Vincent and the Grenadines vs Nicaragua at the Arnos Vale Stadium in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (B) 7:00pm: Antigua and Barbuda vs Jamaica at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua and Barbuda (A) 7:00pm: USA vs Canada at the Exploria Stadium in USA (B) 7:30pm: Suriname vs Dominica at the Andre Kamperveen Stadion in Suriname (B) 8:00pm: Guyana vs Aruba at the Leonora National Track & Field Centre in Guyana (A) 9:00pm: Panama vs Mexico at the Rommel Fernandez Stadium in Panama.

Saturday, November 16, 2019

(C) 3:00pm: Saint Martin vs Barbados

New Mexico quarterback Jones arrested, suspended

N

ew Mexico suspended senior quarterback Sheriron Jones indefinitely and coach Bob Davie declined to say why, but a media report could provide the reason.

KOB-TV in

Albuquerque reported Wednesday that Jones was arrested Oct. 18 after he allegedly exposed himself to a woman in a campus parking garage.

The TV station said the alleged victim saw Jones drive past her several times and she asked him if he was OK. His reply was, “No, can you give me 10 seconds?”

As she approached his car, she saw him masturbating and reported the incident to university police, according to the report.

She said she recognized him from social media, and the surveillance video from the time of the alleged i n c i d e n t showed a vehicle license plate that matched that of Jones.

When Davie announced the suspension

Tuesday, he said it had “absolutely nothing to do with his conduct as far as football or game-related.”

Jones was a fourstar recruit in the Class of 2015 at Tennessee but left the program after two seasons, one as a redshirt.

He spent a year at Mt. San Jacinto College in his native California before joining New Mexico in 2018.

Last season, he appeared in 11 games (seven starts) and accounted for 1,703 yards of total offense. He threw 13 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions.

In 2019, he has shared time with redshirt sophomore Tevaka Tuioti. On the season, Jones has completed 44.7 percent of his passes with two touchdowns and seven picks. He also is third on the Lobos in rushing with 204 yards and has rushed for three touchdowns.

(Reuters)

at the Raymond Gordon Ernest Guishard Technical Center in Anguilla (B) 6:00pm: St. Lucia vs Dominican Republic at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground in St. Lucia (C) 7:30pm: Cayman Islands vs US Virgin Islands at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex in the Cayman Islands (C) 8:00pm: Guatemala vs Puerto Rico at the Doroteo Guamuch Flores ground in Guatemala (B) 10:00pm: El Salvador vs Montserrat at the Estadio Cuscatlan in El Salvador.

Sunday, November 17, 2019

(C) 3:00pm: Bonaire vs Bahamas at the Stadion Ergilio Hato in Curacao (C) 6:00pm: Guadeloupe vs Turks and Caicos Islands at the Rene Serge Nabajoth in Guadeloupe (B) 7:00pm: Grenada vs Belize at the Kirani James Athletic Stadium in Grenada (A) 6:00pm: Costa Rica vs Haiti at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa in Costa Rica (B) 5:00pm: French Guiana vs St. Kitts and Nevis at the Stade du Dr. Edmard Lama in French Guiana (A) 8:00pm: Honduras vs Trinidad & Tobago at the Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano in Honduras.

Monday, November 18, 2019

(B) 3:00pm: Dominica vs St. Vincent and the Grenadines at Windsor Park Sports Stadium in Dominica (B) 6:00pm: Aruba vs Antigua and Barbuda at the Stadion Ergilio Hato in Curacao (B) 8:00pm: Jamaica vs Guyana at the Montego Bay Sports Complex in Jamaica (B) 10:00pm: Nicaragua vs Suriname at the Estadio Nacional in Nicaragua.

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

(C) 5:00pm: Puerto Rico vs Anguilla at the Juan Ramon Loubriel in Puerto Rico (C) 7:00pm: US Virgin Islands vs Saint Martin at Bethlehem Soccer Complex in US Virgin Islands (B) 5:30pm: El Salvador vs Dominican Republic at Estadio Cuscatlan in El Salvador (C) 7:00pm: Barbados vs Cayman Islands at Astro Turf Wildey Stadium in Barbados (B) 5:30pm: St. Lucia vs Montserrat at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground in St. Lucia (A) 7:30pm: Cuba vs USA at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex in the Cayman Islands (A) 9:30pm: Mexico vs Bermuda at the Estadio Nemesio Diez in Mexico.

McGregor announces UFC return on Jan 18 in Las Vegas

I

rish mixed martial arts star Conor McGregor plans to return to the UFC octagon in Las Vegas on Jan. 18, he told a media conference in Moscow on Thursday, against an opponent he declined to name.

McGregor said he wants three fights in 2020, including rematches with Nate Diaz and Khabib Nurmagomedov, who defeated the Irishman in a lightweight title bout last year, the Irishman’s most recent MMA fight.

“The return of the ‘notorious’ Conor McGregor w i l l take

place on Jan. 18th in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada ... I am in prime physical condition, I have agreed the date with the company,” McGregor told reporters.

“If I was to give you people the name (of the opponent), which I would love to do, the UFC would flip it because they are a crafty company, so for me, here’s this one - ask the UFC who the opponent is,” he added.

Following that bout, McGregor said he wants a trilogy fight against Nate Diaz, who beat him in March 2016 before McGregor had his revenge with a win in August that year, and then a rematch in Moscow against lightweight champ Nurmagomedov.

(Reuters)

Mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Conor McGregor poses during a news conference in Moscow, Russia

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friday, october 25, 2019

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21

Ivan Madray T20 1st Division tournament bowls off tomorrow A s the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) seeks to complete all planned tournaments for 2019, the BCB-organised Ivan Madray T20 first division tournament will be bowled off tomorrow, Saturday, October 26.

Eleven first division teams: West Berbice, Police, Blairmont, Tucber Park, Rose Hall Canje, Young Warriors, Albion, Port Mourant, RHT Namilco Thunderbolt Flour, Upper Corentyne and Skeldon, would participate in this T20 tournament, which would be played on a knockout basis.

Defending champions Young Warriors have drawn the bye for the first round.

This tournament is being played in memory of the late Ivan Madray, who on May 2, 1958 became the third Berbician to play Test cricket, after John Trim and Rohan Kanhai. Madray’s nephew Chandradat Chintamani is sponsoring the tournament in memory of the Berbician legend who, sadly, passed away on April 23, 2009.

Teams are reminded that walkovers would be awarded half an hour after the scheduled start of play at 1:00pm (13:00hrs), and that captains who are not present to spin the toss at 12.45pm would forfeit the toss.

Moreover, the BCB expects all teams to be properly attired in coloured uniform.

Fixtures for Saturday

1.Albion vs Police at Albion 2.West Berbice vs RH Canje at West Berbice 3.Blairmont vs Port Mourant at Port Mourant 4.Tucber Park vs Skeldon at # 69 ground 5.RHT Thunderbolt vs Upper Corentyne at Area ‘H’ ground 6.YWCC has drawn the bye.

Fixtures for Monday 28th October

1.Winner of #1 vs winner of # 4 at the #1 venue 2.#6 named vs winner of #2 at #6 venue 3.Winner of #3 vs winner of # 5 at #5 venue.

Flashback: Defending champions Young Warriors CC (Brandon Corlette photo)

WIFBSC C/ships: Individuals…

T&T’s Rambarran creates history T rinidad and Tobago’s Dr Varma Rambarran has dethroned Guyanese Ransford Goodluck to become the new West Indies Fullbore Shooting Council/West Indies Fullbore Shooting Championships’ Individual Champion, following three days of intense marksmanship at the Tucker Valley Rifle Range in Chaguaramas, Republic of Trinidad & Tobago.

Dr. Varma Rambarran outshot all competitors who challenged for the top spot and bragging rights. They came from Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Bermuda, Canada and England, apart from his homeland and from Guyana. Over the three days of this competition, Dr. Rambarran dropped a single point, thereby creating a new WIFBSC record.

Some 69 participants shot at the 300, 500 and 600 yards’ ranges on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and when the last shot was fired and the scored were tallied (electronic targets being used for the first time at these c/ships) Dr. Rambarran had recorded a 100% performance in tallying 404 out of a possible 405 points in the X Class.

Some distance behind in second place was Canada’s Bruce MacDonald on 393 points, followed by Antigua and Barbuda’s Anderson Perry on 392. Guyanese shooters Lennox Braithwaite (392) and Ransford Goodluck (392) ended in respective sixth and seventh places overall, but were in third and fourth positions for the Caribbean, behind Rambarran and Perry. The Vs counts for the shooters were not readily available.

Meanwhile, given that the Tucker Valley Rifle Range in Chaguaramas does not have a Long Range (900 and 1000 yards) facility, there will be two Short Range matches, one today and the official WIFBSC match tomorrow.

Guyana would remain the Long Range champions, but would be going all out to reclaim the Short Range championship -- which is currently held by Barbados, and which is the most coveted trophy among the Caribbean marksmen and women.

Vice-Captain of the Guyana team, Dylan Fields, and Sherwin Felicien were expected to join Captain Mahendra Persaud and the rest of the Guyanese shooters yesterday in the twin-island republic. They did not participate in the Individual championships.

New "King of the Caribbean Range", T&T's Dr Varma Rambarran

22

friday, october 25, 2019

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ECCCC/Banks Beer 100-ball bash…

Wins for Dynamos, Ogle Blasters, Cane Grove Renegades, Strathavon

…semi-finals set for October 28

T

he Enmore CCCC/Banks Beer 100balls Cricket Tournament commenced on Sunday last with four matches being played on the East Coast of Demerara.

The preliminary games are being played in a round-robin format across four groups, with ECCCC Dynamos, Ogle Blasters, Cane Grove Renegades and Strathavon Super Stars all securing wins.

The summarised scores are as follows: At Ogle, ECCCC Dynamos defeated Young Rivals by 65 runs. ECCCC Dynamos registered 175 for 5, with Imran Hassan scoring 53, C. Surat 38 and B. Ramkelawan 29.

Young Rivals registered 110 for 9, with I. Hassan and S. Jainarine each taking two wickets, for 14 and 23 respectively.

In game two, Ogle Blasters defeated LBI SC by 45 runs. Ogle Blasters scored 148 for 8, with Dion Thomas contributing 48 and Orlando Persaud 40. C. Seepaul took 3 for 13 for LBI SC, which was then restricted to 103 for 6, with N. Khan scoring 46, and Dion Thomas returning with the ball to take 4 for 16 from 3 overs.

At Strathavon ground, Cane Grove Renegades defeated Mahaica Cavaliers by 5 wickets. Mahaica Cavaliers made 89 all out, of which Charles Pitt scored 31. N. Mohamed grabbed the tournament’s first hat trick by taking 3 for 18, while Y. Umroa took 3 for 10.

Renegades reached their target in 12.2 overs, with E. Todd scoring 42.

In game two, Strathavon Super Stars defeated Mahaica SC by 9 wickets. Mahaica SC were bowled out for 68 in 15 overs, after taking first strike. M. Willis and S. Mohan respectively took 3 and 2 wickets. Strathavon Super Stars knocked off the winning target in 4.4 overs, with M. Ronald scoring an unbeaten 61.

The 100-Balls Banks Beer competition will continue on Monday October 28 at Strathavon and Lusignan grounds. At Lusignan: Game 1: LBI SC vs ECCCC Upsetters from 10:00am Game 2: Lusignan SC (A) vs Golden Achievers SC from 2pm At Strathavon: Game 1: Mahaica SC vs Lusignan SC (B) from 10am

Game 2: Strathavon Super Stars vs Industry Stars from 2pm.

In other matches: The Neville Ramotar T20 semi-finals are also set for Monday at Enmore Community Centre Ground. At 9:30 am, Ogle CC will challenge Enterprise SC, while hosts Enmore CCCC will take on Lusignan East in the second semi-finals from 1:30pm.

In another cricket-related event, Chairman of the East Coast Cricket Committee, Ashmul Ali, was recently inducted into the USA Cricket Hall of Fame. Mr. Ali, who presently resides at Ogle in Guyana, had migrated to USA in 1978, when he first began playing for the Everest Cricket Club in the Long Island Cricket League (LICC). He subsequently became the LICC batting champion in the New York Cricket League, and scored 19 centuries in three seasons thereafter, before switching to the Queens County Cricket League.

After four years in the Commonwealth Cricket League, Ashmul Ali withdrew from the limelight of the LICC in 1983, and took Rangers/Cosmos under his wings. In 1999, he transformed Taff High School into a formidable cricket team, and they won the championship title in the Metropolitan Cricket League. Among his long list of cricket achievements in USA, Mr. Ali was the captain and Public Relations Officer of Cosmos for more than two decades. The team spanned the US, Canada, England, India and the Caribbean. In his three decades of service to the game in the USA, Ashmul has earned his stripes; he scored 865 runs, one of the highest in a MCL season.

He is often referred to as the best captain of the MCL team in its heyday. He served as coach of the MCL U25 team. For Cosmos, he

Dion Thomas

has accumulated 14,310 runs with an average of 40.70, which included 18 centuries and 73 fifties, and took 390 wickets with an average of 17.20. He represented the United States against the

visiting World XI at Shea Stadium in 1979; a selected New York XI against the 1983 India World Cup team at Mt. Vernon in 1983; the New York All Star team against a visiting Pakistan team at Flushing in 1987, and the touring MCC team.

He was also a member of the US team to Antigua, and against Canada in Freeport, Bahamas. He served as coach of the New York Region U25 team tour to California in 2000, and in 2008 as coach of the NYR U15 team to California. He has an eye for talent, and in retirement he continues to impart his knowledge of the game to the younger generation of Under-13 to Under-19 as coach and President of his beloved Ogle Cricket Club in Guyana – a place where he had spent his formative years, and in retirement he has chosen to impart much of the value, discipline, and enjoyment which the game had given to him.

Mr. Ashmul Ali is the Chairman of the East Coast Cricket Committee, whose primary objective is promoting cricket on the East Coast of Demerara.

Mr. Ali now joins Enmore resident Rudy Persaud who last year was inducted into the USA Cricket Hall of Fame. The executives of ECCC hereby congratulate Mr. Ali on his induction to the USA Hall of fame.

Lucozade adds power to Guyoil/ Tradewind Tankers U-18 Tournament

ANSA McAL’s Fareez Mohamed hands over the sponsorship cheque to Petra’s Jackie Boodie in the presence of Troy Mendonca and Mark Alleyne

T

here are just a few days remaining before this tournament kicks off, and distribution giants ANSA McAL, under their Lucozade brand, have again come on board the Guyoil/Tradewind Tankers U18 Football League.

This Sunday marks the beginning of the second annual Guyoil/Tradewind Tankers Under18 Schools’ Football Tournament, and the format being utilized for the league is not very common in schools’ football.

ANSA McAL had been part of the tournament last year with their Lasco/iCool portfolio.

Highlighting the distributor’s continued support of not only football, but sport in general, Petra Co-Director Troy Mendonca explained that the company’s investment is a valuable on, since it boosts the sport and human development.

“It allows the players to develop physically, to interact with their peers, and meet new friends.

So, in all, I think this investment is about human development also. So, on behalf of the football fraternity, we would like to say a special ‘thank you’, and we hope that you continue to do well as a company and continue to give your support,” Mendonca stated.

On the other side of the sponsorship was ANSA McAL’s non-alcoholic beverage coordinator Fareez Mohamed, who detailed the company’s commitment to sport and Guyanese citizens. He also used the opportunity to explain how the

Lucozade beverage is perfect for the sport.

“This is the future of Guyana,” he opined.

“Football has been growing over the years in Guyana. We’re very pleased to be on board under the brand Lucozade energy drink, which is one of the best on the market. It’s good for consumption, it’s healthy, (it’s) a brain food as well; and just as we heard about it, we confirmed. ANSA McAL is dedicated to the citizens of Guyana,” Mohamed explained.

The Guyoil/Tradewind Tankers League is expected to feature 10 schools; namely, defending champions Annandale Secondary, Bishops’ High School, St. Stanislaus College, St. John’s College, President’s College, Cummings Lodge Secondary, Marian Academy, Lodge Secondary, Queen’s College and Charlestown Secondary.

Action will begin on Sunday with two games, and continue on Monday, October 28. The winning school will be awarded $200,000 for a project of their choice, while the second, third and fourth place projects will be to the tune of $100,000, $50,000 and $25,000 respectively.

Sunday’s Fixtures: At 16:30 hrs, St. John’s play St Stanislaus College At 18:00 hrs, Charlestown come up against Queen’s College

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friday, october 25, 2019

23

SBF Petroleum CGI One-Day 50 Overs Franchise League…

Lower Corentyne are champions! ꟷ Rutherford’s 154 denies Essequibo Story and Photos by Brandon Corlette

A

dominant innings of 154 by West Indies T20 player Sherfane Rutherford denied Essequibo a second successive title in the SBF Petroleum CGI 50 overs Franchise League. After East Bank inflicted a 35-run defeat on the defending champions Essequibo at Everest, that meant Lower Corentyne winning with a bonus point at Young Warriors against Upper Corentyne, landed them the

was put down on 79 but it proved costly, as he reacted with a six the very next ball.

The dangerous left-hander, Rutherford raced away to his century in 78 balls which came up in his trademark fashion, a brutal four. It took him less than 18 balls to reach his 150; his monumental innings which included sixes outside the ground, closed after he was bowled by Quinten Sampson.

Rutherford featured in a dominant 148-run partnership with Ali-Mohamed who scored 42. In all the carnage at

336 runs was the most runs in the league, while Ricardo Adams’ 20 wickets was the most.

Savory was the most valuable player with 18 dismissals and 336 runs while Lower Corentyne’s Jason Sinclair had 20 dismissals, the most by a wicketkeeper.

Lower Corentyne take the title Led by an al-round Junior Sinclair, Lower Corentyne defeated their Corentyne counter-parts by a huge 231 runs at Young Warriors. Batting first, Lower Corentyne scored

Sherfane Rutherford and Renaldo Ali-Mohamed made 148 runs together

2019 title, finishing with 25 points, tied with Essequibo but won the title due to head-tohead.

Under scintillating sunshine watched in-front of a hand-full of spectators, East Bank won the toss and elected to bat first racking up a mammoth 318 all out in 49 of their allotted 50 overs. In addition to Sherfane Rutherford’s brilliant innings of 154, Renaldo Ali-Mohamed hit 42 and Vishual Singh scored 36.

Rutherford’s 154 sinks Essequibo East Bank had earlier lost Trevon Griffith (19) and Matthew Dindyal (01). A 34run partnership between Matthew Nandu (20) and Singh took the score to 66-3 in 103.5 overs. It was then destruction time as the fearless Rutherford entered the crease with determination in his eyes. The 21-year old Enmore lad, Rutherford, slammed 13 sixes and 11 fours in his swashbuckling 154 that came off only 96 balls in 137 minutes.

Rutherford who began his mission to a daddy century, tear the arguably the best bowling line-up in the tournament apart. He smashed Joshua Jones for four consecutive fours and took the spinners to a stroll, smashing sixes at will. His first milestone, his half-century came in 39 balls, with back-to-back sixes off Ricardo Adams. Rutherford

Everest, Sampson bagged 3-41 in six overs, Akinie Adams had 2-47 and Anthony Adams was economical with 1-25 in the Ronsford Beaton-less bowling attack.

Essequibo fell short after brilliant effort In reply, Essequibo had a horror start losing Kevon Boodie via the leg-before route with the second ball bowled by left-arm spinner, Trevon France. Kevin Christian (02) fell for 27-2 but Nokta Moses (24) partnered the tournament’s leading run-scorer with 336 runs, Kemol Savory. Savory batting at three showed his class in his 45 from 81 balls which was constructed with three fours. His innings ended when the off-spinner, Griffith shattered his stumps.

Ricardo Adams fell for 22 but Sampson and skipper Adams combined forces and added 93 runs together for the sixth wicket partnership. Essequibo kept on hunting down the target but Rutherford, returning with the ball, silenced the scattered crowd. Sampson topscored with 67 from 39 balls, inclusive of five sixes and dour boundaries while Anthony made 64 from 55 balls. David Williams, batting down the order chipped in with 45 from 20 balls. Trevon France ended with 3-35 in 10 magnificent overs while Rutherford ended with 3-65 in 7.2 overs. Savory’s

366 with Adrain Sukwa batting at an unusual position at number six smashed 98.

He was wellsupported by the Sinclair brothers, Jason hit 56 while the young Junior scored 57. Tucber Park’s duo, Nial Smith and Garfield Benjamin scored 39 and 33 respectively.

In reply, Upper Corentyne playing with limited players were ended on 1357 with only Quinten Sampson topscored with a blazing 67

Player of the match at Young Warriors, Junior Sinclair

Alex Algoo (56) scoring his third half-century. Junior Sinclair ended with 4-39 in his player of the match effort as Lower Corentyne took the title. The

Regional Super50 Team will be announced later today for the upcoming tournament slated for November 6 in Trinidad and St Kitts.

friday, october 25, 2019

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

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SBF Petroleum CGI One-Day 50 Overs Franchise League…

Page 23

Lower Corentyne are champions! ꟷ Rutherford’s 154 denies Essequibo

Ivan Madray T20 1st Division tournament bowls off tomorrow

Page 21

Page 20

Golden Jags to face Aruba and Jamaica in November

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