Guyana Times, Wednesday , December 11, 2019.

Govt urged to introduce CAPE at other secondary schools Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

Issue No. 4134

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THE BEACON OF TRUTH wednesday, december 11, 2019

PRICE

General and Regional Elections

US wants “free, fair, peaceful” 2020 elections – Embassy

$80 vat included

WHAT'S INSIDE:

Essequibo Coast taxi driver nabbed with 2.5kg P8 cocaine

Page 3

…as US analyst says Guyana’s security sector hampered by lack of resources

Opposition calls out Minister for lying about house lots allocation …as multimilliondollar house goes up on large plot of land

Leonora fatal accident

“Why they ain’t slowing down?” – victim’s brother speaks out P10

Bandits rob overseasP9 based Guyanese …escape with US$7000

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Man who robbed cop jailed for 14 P11 months Junior Communities Minister Annette Ferguson's multimillion-dollar mansion sprawls on several house lots at Eccles, East Bank Demerara (EBD)

Govt must be easily accessible – Ali

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GECOM renews CEO’s …PPP Commissioners contract abstain from vote Page 9

National P12 land policy, database being developed – GL&SC – says lack of policy creating numerous challenges

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WEDNESday, DECEMBER 11, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

news

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WEDNESday, DECEMBER 11, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

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

Wednesday, December 11 – 04:30h – 06:00h and 14:30h – 16:00h and Thursday, December 12 – 05:00h – 06:30h and 14:30h – 16:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Wednesday, December 11 – 15:30h – 17:00h and Thursday, December 12 – 16:10h – 17:40h.

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

WEATHER TODAY Cloudy skies with intervals of showers will prevail during the day. There will be light rain showers and cloudy skies at night.

Temperatures should range between 22 degrees Celsius and 28 degrees Celsius.

Winds: North-Easterly to South-Easterly between 1.78 metres and 4.47 metres.

High Tide: 03:44h and 15:56h reaching a maximum height of 2.57 metres and 2.70 metres.

Low Tide: 09:31h and 21:57h reaching minimum heights of 0.66 metre and 0.48 metre.

saturday, DECember 7, 2019

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

General and Regional Elections

US wants “free, fair, peaceful” 2020 elections — Embassy

…as analyst says Guyana’s security sector hampered by lack of resources In the wake of a report written by a United States scholar, who is an employee of the State Department, positing that the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) is likely return to power, the United States, through its local embassy in Georgetown, has reiterated that its sole interest is in free, fair and peaceful elections.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the embassy noted that the outcome of the elections scheduled for March 2, 2020, is entirely in the hands of the people of Guyana.

“The outcome of the election is for the people of Guyana to decide. In this regard, the only interest of the United States is in free, fair and peaceful elections on March 2,” the embassy noted.

However, Ellis himself, a research professor and author at the Institute of Strategic Studies of the US Army War College, expressed his belief that the PPP would win the next elections, Dr Ellis made a number of other observations including the fact that Guyana is beset by territorial threats on two of its borders, as well as a troubled hinterland. He also highlighted the fact that lack of resources continues to be a major hindrance.

Ellis made these observations in his publication Journals of America, 3rd edition. Ellis specialises in China and its engagements with non-Western nations.

Security

According to Ellis, Guyana’s borders with Suriname and Venezuela present different challenges. While Suriname claims the New River Triangle — a remote and sparsely populated piece of land in the interior— Venezuela has laid claims to two-thirds of

US-based scholar and State Department employee, Dr Evan Ellis

Guyana’s territory.

In his journal, Ellis then went on to speak about the narco-trafficking and the presence of criminal gangs from neighbouring countries within Guyana’s borders. In particular, he cited the Corentyne River delta and the fallout these issues have had on innocent fishermen, including over a dozen fishermen who were murdered last year off the coast of Suriname.

“Under the administration of David Granger, the Government has made tangible, albeit limited steps to respond to the security challenges facing the nation. In general, the Government response has been hampered by a combination of a lack of resources available to the security sector and a deeply entrenched culture of societal corruption,” Dr Ellis noted.

“Guyana’s security challenges are compounded by

a domestic political crisis which has not only impeded the Government’s ability to respond but also has the potential to generate significant internal unrest and invite opportunistic challenges to Guyana’s sovereignty by neighbouring Venezuela and Suriname”.

Dr Ellis also noted that a number of unlicensed gold mining occurs in the interior of Guyana, particularly in the Cuyuni and Mazaruni River basins west of Bartica. He observed that these mining operations cause severe environmental damage owing to the toxic chemicals used during the process.

“Such informal mining also attracts a range of illicit activities such as prostitution. Moreover, in the relatively lawless context of remote mining communities, the combination of gold, cash, alcohol and other factors also contributes to high levels of violence and crime among those participating in the mining economy of the area”.

“The desperation and lawlessness in neighbouring Venezuela have led armed criminal groups, loosely referred to as sindicatos, to rob or extort those engaged in such mining, including extracting tolls along the rivers delimiting the Guyana- Venezuela border, and extorting and robbing those in Guyana itself”.

Ellis noted that while the Guyana Constitution specifies the role of the Guyana

US Ambassador Lynch

Sarah-Ann

Defence Force (GDF) and other security institutions and there is a nominal document for National Defence Strategy, there is no overall national security policy document. As an example, he pointed to Guyana’s Coast Guard.

“Although Guyana is known as the “land of many rivers” for the number of waterways covering the interior, the Coast Guard has almost no riverine craft to patrol them, save the aforementioned Metal Sharks.

In recent years, it has acquired two “mobile bases”, essentially barges with living spaces, command and control, and fuel and supplies for operating smaller boats”.

“One of these has been given to the Coast Guard and deployed on the Waini River near the Venezuelan border, while another has been given to the Police.

Neither, however, can maintain a sufficient number of boats available to be effective”.

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wednesday, DECEMBER 11, 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

Young people and challenges

I

t’s a fact that youth today make up the larger part of the population of almost every country in the world. This presents certain challenges for policymakers to develop, implement and maintain programmes and activities which must be economically and socially oriented to satisfy their (youth’s) desires.

It is also well known that the absence of well-thoughtout programmes with respect to youth development impacts negatively on our young people, and sometimes even lead to them resigning themselves to lawlessness and other antisocial behaviours that are damaging to society.

Caricom Secretary-General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque earlier this year said that the majority of victims, as well as perpetrators of crimes reported by the Police, are young males 18 to 35 years old. He pointed to the fact that there are a number of socio-economic determinants of crime, the least of which is the high youth unemployment in the Region — 25 per cent. That is three times the average and is the highest.

This is surely a reason to be concerned, as right away, one would begin to worry about the kind of future these persons would have, and the contribution they would make to their societies if any at all. Certainly, this is enough reason to cause governments and policymakers to take a closer look at what is happening in their individual countries, and take steps to remedy the situation.

Certainly, there is a great need for intervention in order to combat the current challenges facing young people. In order to prepare young people for workplace success, job training programmes need to go beyond technical instruction and teach “life skills,” such as communication, reliability, and teamwork. This push for teaching youth life skills has been validated by employers who have consistently reported that, above all, they want to hire employees who possess workplace-ready skills such as communication, teamwork, motivation and responsibility. Technical skills, they say, can be learned on the job.

In addition to teaching youth the life skills employers look for, there is a need to introduce complementary life planning activities in this component. These activities help youth in assessing who they are, their aspirations for the future, and define realistic steps toward achieving these goals.

Guyana has a number of programmes geared towards equipping young people with various skills for the world of work etc. This is commendable but more focus needs to be placed on combining teaching life skills with the various academic or technical subjects. Meaning, these programmes should include assessment and identification of ways to build competency and skills supportive of healthy behaviours, to help young people as they mature into adulthood.

Additionally, institutions such as the family and religious bodies need to take up their roles more seriously, as happened before. Historically, the older generation had managed to transmit their beliefs, values, traditions, customs and institutions to the younger members of their societies.

This was achieved largely because of the impact of agencies of socialisation, such as the family, religion and the schools.

Today, the impact of these institutions has been challenged and undermined by new forces, particularly television and the internet, and the pop culture as a whole.

Further, the role of the private sector should never be underestimated. There is a need for funding for many crucial programmes aimed at creating better opportunities for young persons here. Such programmes, once effectively implemented, would see our young people become well equipped with the necessary skills to develop themselves and in turn contribute to the overall development of the country.

The private sector is one of the main beneficiaries of an educated and skilled workforce, and it should seek to invest in, and help to build, the pool of talent it wishes to draw from.

It is well accepted that progressive countries in the world have strong systems for engaging youth in policy formation and in creating or altering programmes designed to support youth. We believe that if our young people are to make more mature and responsible judgements and engage in activities that are the hallmark of socially-productive adulthood, certain support systems for development must be present in the environment. Teaching life skills is a good way to start.

People gather round a new mural by the street artist, Banksy, in Birmingham, Britain (Reuters photo)

A brand new highway to hell Dear Editor, I am a resident of the East Coast of Demerara (ECD). I am happy that we have a new smooth wide and clear road that will ease the traffic on the East Coast corridor in rush hour or traffic build-ups. But I am also sad. Sad that the level of engineering put into this project was even worse than the planning of a circus.

There were absolutely no public consultations on the design, a design meant for use by the public. Public consultations are very lucrative in the design process as it aids in ensuring the end product will be absolutely useful for its intended purpose without impacting the daily lives and businesses that reside immediately along the corridor. In developed countries, these designs are available online for public constructive scrutiny and criticisms, however, this was not the case for this project.

The engineers at the Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MPI) treated these designs as if it were their personal heirloom and put it safely into pandora’s box where no one but the contractor and consultant had access to it. By guarding these designs, they perfectly preserved the flaws that eventually budded into the new ECD highway of hell.

And by hell, I mean literally – all hell started from the inception of construction.

If one were to gather data on the accidents caused by improper road safety in the construction period, one would be alarmed at the frequency and amount of damages caused to vehicles by construction pits that were literally left open or unlighted construction zones.

Driving home in the nights was a challenge also because the entire construction corridor was unlit most times.

To top it off, common sense was not a part of the planning process in the traffic diversions during the construction period especially during rush hour because this was not taken into consideration during the design process. The MPI is fully aware of these standard operating procedures of which are presented and reviewed in the design process utilising traffic data and studies collected and analysed.

To make matters worse, the IDB Country Rep to Guyana resorted to Facebook to highlight the nonsense that was happening after being stuck for hours in the construction zone traffic jam. If this was an IDB-funded project, the contractor may have either been immediately terminated or heavily sanctioned for the nonsense that was allowed to take place.

Most embarrassing is the fact that Geoffrey Vaughn, the coordinator for the Work Services Group (WSG), an engineering arm of MPI who are the ones responsible from the client end to oversee the project, traverses this corridor on his way to work and back every day and allowed the circus to entertain the play of citizens’ lives for the entire duration of this project, which, in my opinion, is criminal.

The MPI was responsible for sanctioning the consultant who was responsible for the management of the project and seems to have failed miserably. I do hope media houses would do a little more research to add to my letter with all the incidents and accidents during

the construction phase and the loss of life associated.

The main reason for me writing this letter is, however, the lack of proper engineering which was supposed to be adopted to form the guidelines along which the whole project was designed.

From previous knowledge and information received from a few longstanding engineers at MPI, the code usually adopted for road design is the AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials).

An engineering review, should it be done, would show that this code, or no code, was adequately adopted or even properly consulted for the project design and construction procedures.

The contractor was literally allowed to do as they pleased and the Consultant (E & A Inc) seemed like toothless poodles for the entire project.

There are sections of the roadway that are definitely licensed to kill, take for example the southern dual carriageway from Good Hope to Mon Repos Market, which literally cuts down in width to approximately half the roadway without a transition or even safety signs placed there. If one were to consult the Guyanese critic page, there was an instance whereby after a lengthy blackout, there were two serious accidents where vehicles catapulted into the stalls that were left at the end of the broad section of the roadway.

There is also a mistake in the transition coming out of the Good Hope cremation site and Fullworks Auto Spares junction, whereby the transition lane is placed on the wrong side of the me-

dian but all these are overlooked. One of my greatest questions is, where are the comments from the Guyana Association of Professional Engineers (GAPE) or any of the senior reputable engineers of this country on this?

They are supposed to be watchdogs for engineering projects but they are toothless poodles, like the consultants. The signature of this highway to hell is the lack of engineered lighting design which would have adequately lit the roadway in the night and reduced blind spots.

A proper road engineer would tell you to either put good lights or no lights on a road as this becomes a hazard. The MPI cannot defend my points highlighted because they have not done such designs and simply plucked an existing duck and placed it in the pot.

But little do they know that each type and manufacturer of lights have their own unique properties which would define the placement and height of lamp poles.

This malpractice is adopted across Guyana with confident ignorance and only political gains to accomplish.

Finally, on this “hellway”, I would like to let the MPI know that the lack of consultant oversight will lead to long-term disaster on some of the drainage structures which were not done to even the locally adopted construction standards as I have witnessed uncompacted backfill being done to a few culverts and all engineers know the importance of compacting backfill and for those who know, I suggest that they inform the consultant on this road project. continued on page 5

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wednesday, DECEMBER 11, 2019

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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

Dealing with fighting and bullying in schools Dear Editor, I know the issue has been discussed at length in various fora, but I ask you for some space in your newspaper to offer my views on the matter of the recent spate of fights and cases of bullying in schools.

For decades the public education system has had to deal with fights and bullying in the school system.

As a Guyanese in the diaspora, I should say that these issues are not isolated to Guyana. These are matters that the education systems across the globe are forced to deal with on a daily basis.

However, this must not

be interpreted as me arguing that the Guyanese education system should be relaxed in its efforts to address these issues. The Ministry is working and I am sure we can agree that more needs to be done.

At the end of the day Editor, these are behavioural issues which are linked to the upbringing and socialisation of children within our society. We have children that are teasing and bullying their peers and we have students that don’t know how to deal with situations where they are provoked.

The first place where the socialisation process begins

is the home Editor. However, we must be realistic and understand that children still learn some behavioural traits away from home.

This is why it is imperative that parents and guardians pay greater attention to their children. Parents might be teaching their children one thing and when around their friends or other relatives they are taught something different and may end up embracing the wrong values and principles which are displayed through their deeds.

Editor, I say all these things to make the point that the display of violence in schools can only be

stopped or significantly reduced if we change the quality of our upbringing of children thereby improving the quality of citizens that are produced.

This would significantly reduce the strain placed on social services in this country and the Judiciary because if children embrace violent behaviours, some of them become menaces to society when they become adults.

Children need to be taught that they must not bully others and why. They must be taught how to deal with instances when they are provoked to anger. They must know that the best

Human Rights Day 2019: Youth standing up for human rights Dear Editor, The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948, envisioning a world where “all members of the human family” enjoy “freedom, justice, and peace in the world.” These efforts are the responsibility of the state, but no Government can do it on their own. This is a call for youth involvement in the pursuit of human rights. Young people represent the majority of most developing countries’ population, where we are of-

ten directly exposed to the effects of climate change, conflict, exclusion or economic instability. Moreover, in many parts of the world, it is still difficult for youth to garner a place in the decision-making processes. In Guyana, young people under the age of 35 make up at least 65 per cent of the population.

Despite these challenges, every day, young people stand up for rights and against racism, xenophobia, hate speech, bullying, discrimination and other forms of human rights violations.

Dear Editor, This current APNU/AFC caretaker Administration continued road projects which the PPP started but they have blundered quite dangerously in the construction of several critical bridge infrastructures.

Multi-lane roadways are being funnelled onto narrow/ reduced lane bridges creating bottlenecks and all manner of dangers to road-users. On the lower East Coast alone, there are two stretches of roads, three lanes westbound near Starlight Drive-In and approaching Better Hope which channel into narrow two-lane bridges. In both cases, the inside land ends abruptly either in the trench or into the bridge shoulder. Just last week a car drove into the trench at Better Hope. This is the second accident in a month at that same spot. Needless to say, there are no warning signs.

A similar situation is developing at Sheriff Street where four lanes will be constructed. However, these four lanes will converge into that narrow bridge currently being built on Dennis Street. It is not as if they are trying to incorporate the old infrastructure, these bridges are now being built or were recently constructed.

And it is not as if the end-

ing inside lane can be used as pavement or for cyclists, the width of the bridge will not permit it.

In other areas I have observed the roads being made narrow, deliberately it would seem, to accommodate an extra-wide median when the situation should be the other way round. At the same time, access to entire villages has been blocked off when that challenge could have been resolved by adjusting the width of the median, as it is done in North America, to allow for turning traffic.

Then there is that stretch heading west again approaching Mon Repos market. That road is nice and three lanes wide but two lanes end abruptly at the market. The drive into the city from the East Coast is quickly becoming an obstacle course. I fear for the accidents that will happen and, of course, the prohibitive cost and inconvenience of the remedial works. The respective contractors, the subject Minister and the entire Government for that matter need to have their heads examined. If this Government is unable to see what are obvious flaws, can they be inspired to fix them?

Road traps

Sincerely, Ravi Ram

We also take a lead role in many areas – including advocating for climate action.

On Human Rights Day, we recognise the leadership and courageous efforts of “Youth Standing Up for Human Rights” in light of this year’s theme. The aim is to celebrate the potential of youth as productive agents of change, magnify their voices, and involve a comprehensive range of global audiences in the protection and promotion of human rights. The contribution of our youth is invaluable.

Youth participation is essential to achieve sustainable development for all.

Involvement in public life is an essential principle of human rights. Young people are pursuing involvement in decisions that have a direct and indirect impact on their lives and wellbeing. We need to be heard to inform current decision-making and realise sustainable development for all people.

Youth can play a crucial role in positive change.

Young people are the key drivers of political, economic and social revolution. We are at the forefront of grassroots mobilisation for positive change and bring modern ideas and solutions for a

better world.

Empowering youth to better know and claim their rights will generate benefits globally. Regularly, young persons are marginalised because of our age.

Safeguarding our human rights and empowering us to better know and claim them will generate benefits at country, regional and global levels.

On this Human Rights Day, let us commit as individuals and organisations to doing all that we can to guarantee that young people have safe and inclusive spaces and can contribute in all decisions that have an influence on our wellbeing and our communities’ development.

Yours faithfully, Sarah Bovell, Human Rights Coordinator, Guyana’s Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD Guyana) Kobe Smith President, Youth Advocacy Movement (YAM), Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA)

thing to do is to walk away from violent situations and report same to the relevant persons – parents or teachers.

Additionally, a point I wish to note is the quality of content and information that we expose our children to. For example, at a young age, some children are allowed to watch content on television that is violent and not rated for their age.

While among their friends at school they tend to want to perform the actions and stunts that they saw which can cause injury to themselves and peers.

Children must be allowed to be children and as they grow, they are introduced to things which they can understand for their age. This might seem as insignificant to some readers but it is a very important

point.

There are parents today that are mothering and fathering children and leaving the teaching of proper core principles, values, soft skills and behavioural practices to teachers and the society at large.

Sometimes I sympathise with the work that teachers and education officials have to deal with, but, Editor, I must say I am encouraged by recent developments. For example, the continuous development of the welfare system with the acquisition of psychosocial units.

It will be a gargantuan task but it can be much easier if all stakeholders, particularly parents and guardians, step up in the performance of their duties.

Yours sincerely, Leon Persaud

A brand...

I forgot to mention the gross neglect of temporary diversion signs during construction which should have been in place until the final road markings and signs were erected but this was not done and is yet another instance of malpractice which led to many disastrous accidents which went uncompensated by the contractor and blindsided by the consultants.

Who has to bear the nightmare both physically and financially of this hellway? Yes, it is us the regular taxpayers. We have to pay for the sloppy work and feel it even more when there

from page 4

are accidents.

The MPI acted like a lost dog for the entire project and still have no clue that they have been delivered yet another Chinese failure akin to the 69KV GPL lines and interconnecting substations which were subject to endless politicised football blame games and the Skeldon Horror House.

But all politicians can do in the time of disaster is point their rotten fingers on the other guy and absorb the insanity. Wake up Guyana!

Sincerely, Name provided

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wednesday, DECEMBER 11, 2019

Page What is HPV and why is it a problem?

H

uman papilloma virus (HPV) is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). HPV is the virus that causes genital warts.

Besides genital warts, an HPV infection can cause

these other problems for both girls and guys: In females, it can cause problems with the cervix that may lead to cervical cancer. HPV infection also can lead to cancer in the vagina, vulva, anus, mouth, and throat.

In males, HPV infection may lead to cancer in the penis, anus, mouth, and throat.

New research suggests that HPV may be linked to heart disease in women.

Both girls and guys can get HPV from sexual contact, including vaginal and oral sex. Most people infected with HPV don’t know they have it because they don’t notice any signs or problems. People do not always develop genital warts, but the virus is still in their system and it could be causing damage. This means that people with HPV can pass the

Foundation infection to others without knowing it.

Because HPV can cause problems like genital warts and some kinds of cancer, a vaccine is an important step in preventing infection and protecting against the spread of HPV. That’s why doctors recommend that all girls and

guys get the vaccine at these ages: Girls: from age 11 or 12 through age 26 Guys: from age 11 or 12 through age 21 If needed, kids can get the vaccine starting at age 9.

How does the HPV vaccine work?

The HPV vaccine is approved for people 9 to 26 years old: For kids and teens ages 9–14, the vaccine is given in two shots over a 6to 12-month period.

For teens and young adults (ages 15– 26 in girls and 15–

21 in guys), it’s given in three shots over a 6-month period. Young adults who are at higher risk of getting infected can get it up to age 26.

It works best when people receive all their shots on schedule. If you’re under age 26, and you’ve missed a shot, you can still catch up.

Just ask your doctor about the best way to do that.

The vaccine does not protect people against strains of HPV that might have infected them before getting the vaccine. The most effective way to prevent HPV infection is to get vaccinated before having sex for the first time. But even if you have had sex, don’t give up on getting the vaccine. It’s still the best way to protect against strains of the virus that you may not have come in contact with.

The vaccine doesn’t protect against all types of HPV. Anyone having sex should get routine checkups at a doctor’s office or health clinic. Girls should get Pap smears when a doctor recom-

mends it – usually around age 21 unless there are signs of a problem before that.

The HPV vaccine is not a replacement for using condoms to protect against other strains of HPV – and other STDs – when having sex.

ing sex, condoms offer some protection against HPV. Condoms can’t completely prevent infections because hard-to-see warts can be outside the area covered by a con- dom, and the virus can infect people even when a partner doesn’t have warts. Also, condoms can break.

The only way to be completely sure about preventing HPV infections and other STDs is not to have sex (abstinence).

Spermicidal foams, creams, and jellies have not been proven to protect against HPV or genital warts.

If you have questions about the vaccine or are concerned about STDs, talk to your doctor. (kidshealth.org)

What are the side effects of the HPV vaccine?

Most of the side effects that people get from the HPV vaccine are minor.

They may include swelling or pain at the site of the shot, or feeling faint after getting the vaccine. As with other vaccines, there is a small chance of an allergic reaction.

A few people have reported health problems after getting the shot. The FDA is monitoring the vaccine closely to make sure these are not caused by the vaccine itself.

Most people have no trouble with the vaccine. You can lessen your risk of fainting by sitting down for 15 minutes after each shot.

I got my first HPV shot. Am I protected or do I need to get all of them to prevent the STD?

Protecting yourself against HPV

The HPV vaccine works best when people receive all their shots on schedule:

– Marina

For people who are hav-

For kids and teens ages 9–14, the HPV vaccine is given in two shots over a 6- to 12-month period.

For teens and young adults (ages 15–26 in girls and 15–21 in guys), it’s given in three shots over a 6-month period. Young adults who are at higher risk of getting infected can get it up to age 26.

Your best bet is to keep a calendar or set a phone reminder so you remember when shots are due. After your first shot, ask the doctor or nurse when you’ll need to get the next shots. Schedule appointments right then, if you can — or write down the dates so you remember to set up something later.

But what if you’ve missed a shot? If you’re under age 26, you can still catch up. Just ask your doctor about the best way to do that.

Names have been changed to protect user privacy. (kidshealth.org)

7 Govt must be easily accessible – Ali P NEWS

WEDNESday, DECEMBER 11, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

residential Candidate of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Irfaan Ali said his Government will not hide from the people and will be open to constructive criticisms.

During a community outreach at Moraikobai Village in Region Five (MahaicaBerbice), Ali spoke about the need for a Government to stay connected with the people.

“The Government must not hide from you. The Government must be to be open and transparent and come to you and be able to answer your questions and be able to talk to you and use the same river and creek

you use…the Government must not be in a sophisticated model only to land with choppers and only come in big fanfare,” he expressed, accusing the current coalition Administration of becoming “fancy”.

“I remember long ago, the boys in my village were afraid to go into the bank for a loan. You know why?

They say when they turned up to the bank, they saw all these fancy people with ties and they get afraid. The Government has become like that,” Ali posited.

In fact, President David Granger had previously received strong criticisms from local and international organisations for avoiding

the press.

According to Ali, his Government will be more open to the people and will even accept constructive criticisms.

“We welcome constructive criticism because it is there to make us better…

It helps us to become stronger,” he posited.

Ali further explained that his Government will be results-driven and that citizens will have the opportunity to monitor his Administration’s progress.

“At the end of every year, Ministers will have to come out publicly and say to the population whether they’ve achieved their targets or not, so you can see who’s

performing and not performing, and we’ll see which Ministers need some fire behind them,” Ali contended.

The PPP Presidential Candidate has already posited that he will strongly discipline his Ministers, and even have them fired, if they are found guilty of disrespecting the people.

At the same community outreach, Ali reflected on the incident where Minister with responsibility for Labour, Keith Scott, insinuated that the Indigenous peoples are greedy.

To this end, he promised that “as your President, if one of my Ministers make a statement like that they will have to hand in their resignation because no Minister, no Government has the right to disrespect people, disrespect their communities and

disrespect their wishes”.

Moreover, he called on the people to hold his Government accountable and ensure they deliver on the promises they are currently making.

“You can hold my feet and your next Government feet to the fire. And, if we do not deliver, based on this contract we are establishing with you, then you will get to make a choice five years from March 2020 and you will let us know how you feel,” he explained, noting that “you are trusting us by voting for us to deliver on those promises and if we don’t deliver on those promises we will be breaching that trust you give to us.”

truly portray Linden to the rest of the world...so that we can be able to bring the much-needed investment to the residents,” she stated.

She noted that the Council has, over the years, been trying to increase its revenue collection and as such, is currently working along with the Central Housing and Planning Authority to hand over several new housing schemes, which do not yet fall under the purview of the municipality.

This, she added, should be possible within the new year. She further outlined

plans to rethink and readjust operations at the Kara Kara toll booth as well as to take a look at rates and taxes owed to the Council and to find workable solutions for residents.

Arrindell said that the Council will also seek to have residents more informed of what is happening within the municipality.

Meanwhile, Bethune, speaking after being re-elected, said his sole purpose continues to be to serve the people regardless of the capacity he is in.

He said the aim is now to continue to execute already

established plans more efficiently. The Deputy Mayor further made calls for a more disciplined workforce as well as for Councillors to be more actively involved both within the Council and community.

Bethune also pointed to the need for the Council to keep the general public more informed of its activities as he noted that most of the complaints received are that the “Council is not doing anything”. In this regard, he said that while the Council has been doing a lot, its public relations is very poor.

PPP/C Presidential Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali

Linden Mayor, Deputy re-elected

M

ayor Waneka Arrindell and her Deputy, Wainewright Bethune, were both re-elected on Tuesday to serve the Linden Mayor and Town Council.

The two, who were re-elected unopposed, will now serve a third term in office.

Additionally, the Council’s Finance Committee will also remain the same. In an invited comment following the election, Arrindell said that it was truly an honour and privilege to be re-elected, as she indicated that she now has the opportunity to do more for the community.

“My desire is that as a Council we’ll work together for the betterment of the township, for the betterment of our citizens and to

Re-elected: Mayor Waneka Arrindell and her Deputy, Wainewright Bethune

8 NEWS

WEDNESday, DECEMBER 11, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Essequibo Coast taxi driver nabbed with 2.5kg cocaine

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taxi driver was taken into Police custody following the discovery of 2.5 kilograms of cocaine in a bag that he attempted to dispose of.

Reports are 40-year-old Dwayne Gildharie, of Lima, Essequibo Coast, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), was driving his motorcar along the Charity Public Road, Essequibo Coast when he was intercepted by a team of Police ranks who were acting on information.

Moments after the car was stopped, the driver sped away from the scene but the Police gave chase. During the chase, the Police report-

The cocaine found in the bag

edly observed the driver disposed of a bag through the front passenger’s side win-

dow.

The bag was retrieved and the Police continued to

pursue the motorcar. The car was eventually intercepted and the driver was arrested. In the presence of Gildharie, the bag was examined and two parcels of cocaine weighing 2.5 kilograms were unearthed.

He was told of the offence, cautioned and subsequently charged for possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking. He made an appearance at the Anna Regina Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday where he denied the offence.

The suspected drug mule was remanded to prison and the case will continue on January 7, 2020.

Exposing…

E

…PNC’s panic ven without the benefit of all the fancy-schmancy psychological verbiage that’s thrown around so glibly nowadays, even five hundred years ago, they’d figured out that when you jump up and down carrying on about something you insist ain’t true, you’re just confessing that, in fact, it IS so!! “Methinks thou protest too much,” said the Bard!! So when the PNC issues an official but hysterical press release about a report in an online news portal that headlined: “PPP ‘likely’ to win next elections” is flawed, you know that they’re shellshocked that an influential outsider has revealed that they’re electorally naked!! They protested too much!!

It’s not that they don’t KNOW their days are numbered – counting down from March 2!; their own internal polls showed they’re in trouble. Why else do you think they’ve been making fools of themselves with the hare-brained contention that 33 isn’t the majority of 65?? So how do they respond to the reported assessment of their imminent ouster? Another giveaway!! They started out by defaming the messenger – insisting that he’s an “ASSET” of the lobbying firm the PPP has hired in Washington!! Now if you’ve seen any one of those spy movies, you’d know that declaring the fella to be an “ASSET” of the lobbying firm, is to say they’ve bought him and he’s their agent!!

Now here it is, the writer lectures at the UN National War College – which declares that its “mission is to educate future leaders of the Armed Forces, Department of State, and other civilian agencies for high-level policy, command and staff responsibilities by conducting a senior-level course of study in national security strategy.

“The curriculum emphasises the joint and interagency perspective. Reflecting this emphasis, 59 per cent of the student body is composed of equal representation from the land, air, and sea (including Marine and Coast Guard) services. The remaining 41 per cent are drawn from the Department of State and other federal departments and agencies, and international fellows from a number of foreign countries”. And the PNC’s insisting that this fella – with access to the movers and shakers in Washington – has been BOUGHT!!

Your Eyewitness knows that the PNC knows when someone at this level puts out the kinda analysis he did – especially with its damning conclusion – it would’ve been vetted by folks way up the food chain. And this is what got the PNC so rattled. They’ve been going around telling their supporters that the US administration prefers them to be in charge of the oil economy – which, not so incidentally, was the assessment of the same analyst back in February!!

But the PNC has just dug a deeper hole to bury the dead meat they’ve become like the AFC!!

…the PNC’s bluff But the PNC shouldn’t be worried about the analyst’s opinion on who’s gonna win the next elections. They should be worried that a top-level strategic military analyst has ripped apart their pretentions on being better qualified to take on Guyana’s security – one that encompasses Exxon’s massive investment in oil. Not to mention being next door to Venezuela – which is really the BIG enchilada!!

What are these security challenges?? There’s Venezuela on the west and Suriname on the east claiming huge chunks of our territory. Granger boasts of getting the army back to “battle strength” – including the revived Peoples Militia. “Guns not butter” he implicitly tells sugar worker folks. But for what?? The War College expert says even Suriname could take us on!! He bemoaned the PNC inability to take on the syndications, money laundering, narcotics production and trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, (esp Cubans and Haitians); Chinese penetration etc.

Imagine if the fella knew the PNC would then completely degut our Foreign Service!! How can the US trust them?? …the end result The analyst warns, “While Guyana has already been prejudiced…by a lack of capability to respond to its existing internal and external security challenges, without the ability to protect its oil…development will ultimately be unsustainable”.

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

NEWS

9

WEDNESday, DECEMBER 11, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

GECOM renews CEO’s contract

…PPP Commissioners abstain from vote

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o v e r n m e n t n o m i n a t e d Commissioners with support from Chair of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), retired Justice Claudette Singh on Tuesday renewed the contract of the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield. The contract has been renewed despite the fact that it expires until the end of March 2020.

Speaking with the media following the Commission’s statutory meeting, People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Commissioner, Sase Gunraj indicated that the Opposition-nominated Commissioners requested that the vote for the CEO’s contract renewal be taken after elections is held in March 2020. He added that nonetheless, the

Commission went ahead and renewed Lowenfield’s contract.

“I asked that the matter be deferred until after elections has been concluded because I believe that the true test of the performance of the CEO would be these elections.

The Chair disagreed and they took a decision to renew the contract,” Gunraj stated.

He further indicated that PPP’s Commissioners abstained from the vote as they believe it to be too soon for such a critical decision to be made without a clear assessment of Lowenfield’s performance, which can only be ascertained after the conclusion of General and Regional Elections in March 2020.

“We believe that this vote should have been taken or this decision

PPP Commissioner Gunraj

Sase

GECOM Chair Retired Justice Claudette Singh

Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield

should have been taken afterwards…after the elections have been concluded because the contract would still have some life at that time,” Gunraj stated.

According to the Commissioner, Lowenfield had given notice that his contract would expire in three months and as per the terms spelt out in his contract, expressed interest in having it renewed.

Gunraj stated that the CEO’s contract has been renewed for another three years.

M e a n w h i l e , Government-nominated Commissioner, Vincent Alexander told the media that the decision to renew Lowenfield’s contract was taken after he submitted a notice, as per contract terms, expressing the desire to renew. He stated that there is no plausible reason why the CEO’s contract renewal should be stymied given the upcoming elections period.

In February, on the heels of GECOM being ordered to start preparations for the holding of General and Regional Elections this year, Lowenfield was hospitalised.

According to reports, he was admitted at the Caribbean Heart Institute located in the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation’s (GPHC) compound.

The CEO’s hospitalisation came at a time when GECOM had been instructed to start preparations for polls which was constitutionally due in March following the passage of a No-Confidence Motion in Parliament.

Prior to his hospitalisation, Lowenfield has been leading the Elections Secretariat at GECOM to ascertain the body’s preparedness to host elections within the constitutional 90day deadline, which was effected following the December 21, 2018, passage of the Noconfidence Motion.

The CEO plays the key leadership role in the secretariat of GECOM, with responsibility for implementing all aspects of its operations, particularly

Bandits rob overseas-based Guyanese …escape with US$7000

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n overseas-based couple and their taxi driver were on Tuesday morning robbed at gunpoint shortly after the couple arrived in Guyana.

Reports are the couple arrived at their Fourth Street Johns, Corentyne, Berbice, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) home at about 01:00h and were about to enter the yard when three masked men carrying cutlasses and guns attacked them.

The bandits relieved the couple of US$7000 along with a number of security cameras, which they had in their possession. The bandits also grabbed the couple’s passports.

Meanwhile, the taxi

The couple’s Corentyne, Berbice home where they were robbed

driver, who drove the couple from Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), was also robbed.

No attempt was made by the bandits to enter the

couple’s home.

Police have launched an investigation and have since questioned several persons.

the conduct of elections, and ensuring that results achieved are consistent with the laws of Guyana and the policies determined by the Commission.

The CEO is the Commission’s primary point of contact for the staff of the secretariat, whose activities include the registration of registrants, the distribution of identification cards; the provision of information and guidance on electoral operational matters to community organisations and other stakeholders.

The CEO also represents the Commission’s policies and activities in interactions with stakeholders and other interest groups, including political parties, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), donor and international agencies, in matters relating directly to the operations of GECOM.

H2H data Meanwhile, today, the Commissioners are expected to reconvene their meeting to discuss matters regarding GECOM’s plans to proceed with the Houseto-House Registration cross-matching data received from Gemalto as well as to make a determination on how persons who have failed to uplift their identification cards will be treated.

It was reported that GECOM is still awaiting updates from Gemalto on the Claims and Objections cross-matching results which is critical to finalising the Revised List of Electors.

10 NEWS Govt urged to introduce CAPE at other secondary schools T WEDNESday, DECEMBER 11, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

he Education Ministry was on Tuesday challenged by Region Four Regional Chairperson, Genevieve Allen, to introduce Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) at other secondary schools that have been performing well.

In particular, the regional chairperson said CAPE should be introduced at the Annandale and Diamond Secondary Schools – East Coast and East Bank Demerara respectively – as a result of their outstanding performances over the past years.

She made the call at the region’s Education Department Regional

Award Ceremony held at the National Cultural Centre (NCC) on Tuesday.

“I want to challenge the Department of Education, Region Four and the Ministry of Education, that we only have the President’s College that offers CAPE examination within our region. I am quite sure that because Diamond Secondary has been excelling over the years, along with Annandale Secondary, that want in our projection that either both of those schools or one of those schools, that it should be proposed that they begin to enter our students in the CAPE examination,” she said.

Allen posited that there

Region Four Regional Chairperson, Genevieve Allen

have been major improvements in the education sector over the years as she

congratulated the officials for their hard work.

Parents were also reminded of the integral role they play in the lives of their children, and that they should continue to work with them to see further improvements.

“I want to encourage all of us to work with our schools at the National Grade Six level. All of our parents will wish, hope and pray that your child is awarded a place at the Queen’s College, or one of the senior secondary schools. I want to remind us that all of us have varying levels of skills and abilities, and I want to urge us to work with our children so that they too can strive

Education Minister Nicolette Henry

….” she emphasised.

In addition, Tiffany Favourite-Harvey, acting

Regional Officer (REO), applauded the efforts of the awardees for their performances, noting that this is made possible due to the hardworking staff of the education department.

Among the awardees were St Andrews Primary, for Outstanding Performance at the 2019 NGTA; Covent Garden Primary School, for Most Improved School for NGTA 2019; New Diamond/ Grove Primary School for Outstanding Performance for NGFA; NGSA 2019, Swami Purnananda Primary School; and for Most Improved School for NGSA 2019, Cane Grove Secondary.

Brazilian teen jailed Leonora fatal accident for narco-trafficking “Why they ain’t slowing down?” – victim’s brother speaks out A

Brazilian teen who admitted to trafficking cannabis was sentenced to three months in jail on Monday when he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

Nathan De Almeiba appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan and admitted to the charge which stated that on November 30, at Karasabai Village, South Pakaraimas, Rupununi, Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), he had in his possession 66.2 grams of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.

Police Prosecutor Gordon Mansfield told the court that on November 30, at about 08:05h, the 19-year-old was arrested by the Karasabai Toshao on an allegation of murder in Brazil.

The court heard that the Toshao contacted the Police and handed him over.

W

Nathan De Almeiba

However, the Police conducted a search on his person and found a number of narcotics in his underwear.

The Chief Magistrate jailed him and also fined him $99,000.

It was also ordered that upon completion of serving his time, he will be escorted to the nearest port of exit and deported to Brazil.

ith the high road carnage in Guyana, the families of victims are convinced and have been voicing that the penalty for delinquent drivers is too lenient.

Yet another accident victim’s family is calling on the authorities to impose stiffer penalties on those who drive recklessly.

Kempton Carter, the brother of 39-year-old Romel Carter who died after being hit by an alleged speeding truck along the Leonora Public Road, West Coast Demerara (WCD), is pleading drivers to stop speeding while demanding justice for his deceased sibling.

In an interview with Guyana Times on Tuesday, a grieving Carter strongly maintained that many reckless drivers are traversing roadways because of slack

punishment.

“They ain’t getting no sort of sentence, they just knocking down people, go and spend two to three days in jail or couple months and they out back in the road again. These drivers need to get some more time in jail let them pay and learn from the mistake, so next time and even other drivers would know to take their time cause they know the penalty is serious,” he said. He added that his family is now one of the many families who are left to face the frustration of getting justice and dealing with the loss of a loved one.

The driver responsible for his brother’s death was released on station bail following the accident on December 1.

“I met with the officer in charge at the Leonora Police Station…he told me that

Brother of deceased: Kempton Carter

Dead: Romel Carter

they had to release him on $100,000 bail after 72 hours because nobody identified the body…It’s really hard on us now, this is the first death because it’s ten of us and we ain’t getting no satisfaction from the Police.

I’m calling on the authority, the Commissioner of Police to look into this and gave us some answers and let us know what’s really going on with the matter,” Carter explained.

The younger Carter is preparing to lay his brother to rest on Thursday and is urging his fellow drivers to be cautious and alert on the roadways since they’re mistake can cause someone’s family grief.

“I don’t know why they keep driving like this, I’m a driver myself and I see what happening every day…why they ain’t slowing down?

Why they keep speeding?

And all these accidents happening on this roadway. It’s a very small country, it’s not supposed to be happening…

It hard when somebody loses a family, friend like that, get hit down just like that by a

speeding driver,” he said.

The older Carter was described as a happy person.

He leaves to mourn his parents, siblings and other relatives.

“Everybody knows he likes to make joke and is a fun person. He don’t get into no problem, if you go into the neighbourhood, people would tell you he is a happy person but guess is all the good and jolly people that just dies”.

The accident, which took the now-dead man’s life, occurred at about 13:30h, in close proximity of the Leonora Police Station, WCD. After the accident, the driver of the truck which hit him picked up the injured man and took him to the hospital for treatment but after realising that the pedestrian was dead, he allegedly attempted to flee but was arrested by the Police.

It was further reported that at the time of the accident, there were two other occupants of the truck who made contact with Police to notify them of the accident.

news

11

WEDNESday, DECEMBER 11, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Man who robbed cop jailed for 14 months

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20-year-old mechanic who was recently charged for robbing a Policeman at gunpoint was sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment on Tuesday when he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

Levar Moore, of Lot 59, Leopold Street, Georgetown, had previously pleaded not guilty to the charge which stated on November 9, 2019, at Princess Street, Georgetown, while being armed with a gun and in the company of others, he robbed Sherwin Thornhill of a motorcycle valued $270,000.

When the matter was called before Magistrate

Levar Moore

Annette Singh, who was conducting the trial on

Tuesday, Moore requested that his plea be changed.

According to the prosecution’s case, the Policeman was seated on his parked motorcycle in front of the special constabulary headquarters talking to a female friend when Moore and others pounced on him.

The court heard that Moore then placed a firearm to the Policeman’s head and demanded him to hand over the motorcycle. The Virtual Complainant complied and the men made good their escape with the motorcycle.

He then reported the matter and the men were intercepted with the bike at a Police roadblock.

Teacher commits suicide

A

school teacher on Monday took her own life after a misunderstanding with boyfriend.

Dead is 17-year-old Cynthia Seth of Vryheid Village, West Canje Berbice, Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne).

She was a teacher at the St Theresa Primary School. The death of the young teacher has sent shockwaves throughout the close-knitted community and more so the teaching fraternity.

Based on reports received, the teenager and her boyfriend were involved in a heated argument.

Her lifeless body was discovered in the family’s home by her younger brother on Monday evening. The young man raised an alarm and the teen was picked up and taken to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

The young teacher was described as a very reserved person. Hours before her

Dead: Cynthia Seth

demise, she took to her social media page to congratulate her parents on their wedding anniversary.

The young teacher leaves to mourn her parents and two siblings.

In September, it was reported that a total of 141 persons would have taken

their own lives by various means.

According to statistics, young people between the ages of 20 and 29-yearsold accounted for the most suicide deaths during 2017 and 2018, with the majority of them were a result of pesticide use, followed by persons hanging themselves.

According to the National Suicide Plan 20152020, Guyana ranked at the top worldwide with an estimated suicide rate of 44.2 per 100,000.

If you or someone you know are having thoughts of committing suicide, you can seek help from the InterAgency Suicide Prevention Helpline through the following means: Telephone: 223-0818, 223-0009 and 223-0001; Mobile: 600-7896 or 6234444; Email: guyagency@yahoo.com; Facebook: Guyana Inter-agency Suicide Prevention Helpline Whatsapp: 600-7896 or 6234444 Twitter: @guyanaagency

Farmer accused of trafficking 2lbs cannabis granted bail

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59-year-old farmer, who is accused of trafficking two pounds of cannabis, was on Tuesday released on $200,000 bail when he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Tuesday.

Michael Melville, of Moblissa, Soesdyke-Linden Highway, appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan. He denied that on December 7, 2019, at Moblissa, Soesdyke-Linden Highway, he had in his possession 1113 grams (2lbs) of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.

The Police prosecutor informed the court that at about 11:30h, Police, acting on information, went to the location where they met with Melville and another individual, who quickly made his good escape.

According to the Prosecutor,

the ranks then conducted a search and a quantity of cannabis was found at the back of the home on zinc. A further search was carried out and more marijuana was found in a haversack and in a bulky plastic bag. As such, Melville was then arrested and charged.

The Prosecutor objected to bail on the grounds of

the prevalence of the offence and the penalty the charge attracts.

Melville was, however, released on $200,000 bail.

As a condition for bail, he was ordered to report at the Amelia’s Ward Police Station every Friday until the conclusion of the trial. The case will continue on January 16, 2020.

12 NEWS

WEDNESday, DECEMBER 11, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

National land policy, database being developed – GL&SC …says lack of policy creating numerous challenges

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ork is ongoing at the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC) for the agency to develop a database of available land as well as a National Land Policy, all of which will make information on land more accessible to the public.

This was announced by GL&SC Chief Executive Officer Trevor Benn during the agency’s end-of-year press conference. According to Benn, the database is being developed for Regions 2, 3, 4 and part of Region 7.

“This work involves geo-referencing of the cadastral plans in order to show which areas have been surveyed and consequently which areas have not been and are vacant. A public vetting of the data for the Kuru Kururu residential area was conducted recently in order to verify the data in the Land Management System at the Commission”.

“A well-functioning land information system would enable the Government to generate land-related statistics, make data-driven

development decisions, and generally increase the efficiency in land management,” Benn also noted.

When it comes to a National Land Policy and the legislative framework to support it, Benn noted that work is ongoing in this regard. According to him, the Commission’s Land Information and Mapping Division has held several rounds of consultations.

Benn explained that from these consultations, the Commission received input from experts concerning the finalisation of the draft national policy. Once in place, he said, the policy will allow users to access the national database to research.

“Currently, consultations with key stakeholders are taking place. Regional and national consultations will also be undertaken before the process wraps up.

The policy will emerge out of an inclusive and highly-consultative process”.

Benn explained that the lack of a national land policy has created challenges in tenure security and efficiency for many Guyanese.

He noted that this situation has caused confusion about the responsibilities in land administration and management, and overlapping mandates.

“The land policy will describe the national vision for the land sector, define Government and citizens’ rights and responsibilities and set priorities, as well as set out the legal basis for agencies of the land sector”.

Previously, the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) had called for the implementation of a land use policy, in the wake of the controversial allocation of land in Wales to two companies.

Earlier this year, GL&SC was involved in a scandal after Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo called on President David Granger to answer to a massive distribution of prime State lands to certain employees of the Ministry of the Presidency, as well as to cronies in the PNC-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) fraction of the coalition government and officials of the State Assets Recovery

Agency (SARA), which were supposed to recover State assets.

Only recently, Extra Virgin Coconut Products (EVCP) and Amazonia Expert Services Incorporated (AESI) were the two companies who recently received 680 acres of land in Wales. The land, part of the now-closed Wales Sugar Estate, was leased to the partners for them to enter the coconut industry. According to Principal at AESI, Dr Arlington Chesney, the company wants the land to process coconut water, as well as dried and grated coconut for the Dominican market. However, one of the companies was only recently formed.

Back in 2017, Government had announced plans to close the Enmore and Rose Hall Sugar Estates, sell the Skeldon Sugar Factory, reduce the annual production of sugar, and take on the responsibility of managing the drainage and irrigation services offered by GuySuCo. Subsequently, in November of that year,

The Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission

GuySuCo announced plans to retrench 2500 workers by the end of that year. Amid much criticism, over 7000 were retrenched, with some having to fight for the severance they were legally entitled to.

Government then established the Special Purpose Unit (SPU) under the National Industrial and Commercial Investment Limited (NICIL) to take over the divestment of GuySuCo’s assets that were earmarked for sale.

The SPU then recruited PricewaterhouseCoopers to conduct a valuation of the assets to be privatised

and divested. It is understood, however, that with the Government in a caretaker status after losing a No-Confidence Motion last year, that process has been suspended.

With Wales’ estate also being closed, and some workers being given the option of transferring to Uitvlugt, there has been much interest in the land left behind, particularly for farmers. In fact, earlier this year, land from the Wales Sugar Estate was snapped up by local and overseas farmers and over a thousand acres of that land was put under rice cultivation.

NEWS

13

WEDNESday, DECEMBER 11, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Opposition calls out Minister for lying about house lots allocation …as multimillion-dollar house goes up on large plot of land

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ours after Junior Communities Minister Annette Ferguson denied that she was not the holder of three house lots, the Opposition – People’s Progressive Party (PPP) – has called her out for lying on the issue. In photos and videos shared on social media, the minister’s sprawling mansion sits a huge plot of land. This also led to questions about her meteoric rise in wealth in just a couple years as minister.

Ferguson called a press conference on Tuesday morning, inviting only a selected group of media houses, where she claimed that Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo was untruthful when he said that in just a few years in Government, she owns several house lots.

However, in providing the evidence, the PPP on its social media page on Tuesday, showed that the Junior Minister owning a substantial piece of land and constructing a palatial property on the land just two years after she became Minister.

The posts came complete with video of Ferguson’s old residence and video of her

Junior Communities Minister Annette Ferguson

new, two-storey edifice in Eccles, East Bank Demerara (EBD) – a housing scheme that was developed under the PPP Government - that dwarfs the surrounding homes in the area. The party demanded that the Minister account for her sudden change in fortune.

“We urge you to look at the video yourselves which depict the size of Ferguson's property and land and compare it to the surrounding lots. Ferguson also owns the adjoining lot, which represents the entire semi-circular section,” the Party said in its statement.

Earlier in the day, Ferguson was critical of

statements made by Jagdeo at a recent press conference, in which the former President had expressed concern over her unexplained wealth.

According to Ferguson, “Jagdeo claimed that the cronies raked in a big part of (land). The question is who are these cronies. Annette Ferguson has one house lot allocation, which, as a citizen of Guyana, I have a right to.”

“This is my title for that one house lot…I have just pointed you to my title, which is 0.25 of an acre or equivalent to 10,000 square feet, which also is equivalent to a normal house lot,

Minister Annette Ferguson’s new residence

which is 10,000 square feet, except for areas such as re-migrants schemes, where the square feet is more”.

Ferguson insisted in July she only received a “regular lot” of 1/4 acre or equivalent to 10,000 square feet however the photos of the minister’s residence suggested

otherwise, with vast yard space on the massive plot.

When Ferguson was appointed Junior Minister, her biography was released.

According to that, she previously worked as a Field Support Officer, USAID (Admin). She also collaborated and facilitated coordina-

tion with NGOs, FBOs and community-based organisations with a bias for social issues, inclusive of children, education, health and family. According to her bio, she was also a Properties Manager of the Guyana Post Office Corporation (GPOC) – 2004 to 2008.

14 NEWS

WEDNESday, DECEMBER 11, 2019| guyanatimesgy.com

Mahdia youths benefit from STEM, ICT training

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irst Lady Sandra Granger said that the introduction of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and Robotics training programmes to the hinterland was not accidental but rather, part of efforts to ensure equal access to these life-changing educational opportunities.

The First Lady made these remarks during her address at the closing ceremony of the second ICT training programme, which was held yesterday at the

Lynette Stevens Research Centre, Mahdia, PotaroSiparuni (Region Eight).

Twenty-eight youths graduated from the ICT workshop, which was held in collaboration with the Social Protection Ministry’s Board of Industrial Training (BIT) under its youth development initiative, the Public Information and Press Services Unit of the Ministry of the Presidency stated.

Granger is quoted by the Public Information and Press Services Unit of the Ministry of the Presidency, encouraging the graduates to continue along the path

Some of the graduands of the second Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Robotics training programmes held in Mahdia, Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni)

of

personal

development

through education, to stand

steadfast and to keep mov-

ing forward. She also urged them to work together to bring innovations through technological developments to address the needs of their township.

Additionally, the First Lady held a STEM workshop for Grades Five and Six students of the Mahdia Primary School.

Meanwhile, Regional Executive Officer, Mitzy Campbell encouraged the graduands to continue to venture into ICT educational opportunities which will make them marketable in an evolving world, where the use for technology is increasing.

Thousands of UK political ads went missing from Facebook

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housands of UK political ads went missing from Facebook Inc’s searchable advertising data-

base on Tuesday, hampering researchers’ ability to track ads two days before Britain’s general election.

Facebook’s ad library, which it launched in the UK in 2018, is a public tool for users to view political advertis-

ing on the platform.

The problem, first reported by Sky News, affected ads from the ruling Conservative Party, the Brexit Party and the Liberal Democrats. It was not immediately clear if any Labour Party ads were affected.

“We have fixed the bug and all of the impacted ads in the UK are now back in the ads library,” Facebook said in a statement.

A spokesman also confirmed that some ads in the United States were affected, but declined to answer questions on the scale of the issue there. Facebook’s ad library has been a cornerstone of the social media giant’s efforts to be more transparent about its

role in elections, but researchers say it is poorly maintained and fails to provide detailed targeting data - for example, how political advertisers target UK voters geographically.

Tristan Hotham, a research consultant with WhoTargetsMe, an advocacy group that tracks digital political advertising, called the ads’ effective disappearance “a catastrophic failure.”

“If you’re a researcher you expect to be able to go back and check the data. You don’t expect the library to suddenly lose half of its books,” Hotham told Reuters in a phone interview.

During the problem, certain ads appeared to be searchable by the ID number

of the original ad, but not by the usual methods of searching for names or keywords, Reuters found.

In one example, an ad run from Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Facebook page on Dec. 4 asking voters to “end the chaos, respect the referendum and get it done” could only be located earlier on Tuesday by searching a 15-digit ID number in the database.

Social media companies have been sharing more information about political advertising after US intelligence agencies found that Russia targeted American voters with social media content, including ads, to try to influence the 2016 election. Russia has denied the allegations. (Reuters)

news

15

wednesday, DECEMBER 11, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Ramsammy’s Ruminations T&T lotto agents threaten shutdown One of the most important issues T for the coming elections: sugar or not

T

he future of the sugar industry (SUGAR) and GuySuCo is a crucial, monumental issue in the upcoming general elections.

The results of the elections will determine whether SUGAR is part of the future of Guyana or whether we end SUGAR. Irfaan Ali and the PPP have Dr Leslie Ramsammy vigorously pledged they will reopen closed estates, diversify sugar products, including processed and packaged sugar, cogeneration of electricity, and biofuel production. SUGAR is still a big part of the Guyanese economy and a major employer of Guyanese workers— a major foreign currency earner. The PPP and Bharrat Jagdeo insist SUGAR makes absolute socioeconomic sense and it is a non-negotiable proposition. Badal’s party has totally rejected the PPP’s position. The other new parties have been shamelessly silent. APNU/AFC remains adamant that closing sugar estates and firing more than 7000 sugar workers were the right things to do. For elections March 2020, the lines are firmly drawn, the PPP on one side, the side of SUGAR and the sugar workers, and all the others anti-SUGAR. It was clear since 2014, however, that APNU/AFC was determined to close sugar. When APNU/PNC held a press conference chaired

by Joe Harmon and proposed ending SUGAR, replaced by tilapia, they clearly had made up their minds. When they promised just before the May 2015 general elections they would not close any sugar estate, and that “sugar was too big to fail”, they clearly were disguising their intention, knowingly making a fake promise for the purpose of the elections. Indeed, since May 2015, the Grangerled APNU/AFC has done everything to end SUGAR in Guyana, the bogus excuse being SUGAR is a “drain on the national treasury”, not financially feasible. This time around they cannot fool anyone.

This year’s sugar production is likely to be the worst since the 1950s. Last year’s production was just 104,000 tonnes. This is less than half what the production was in 2015 when it was more than 231,000 tonnes. From export earnings of more than US$250M in 2015, export earnings were just US$27M last year. This year’s production will fall under 100,000 tonnes for the first time in many decades. Export earnings will fall below US$25M. As depressing as this is, there is the outstanding issue of the $30B loan GuySuCo has been saddled with. No one can explain where the money is.

Supposedly, more than $17B has been dispersed. But to whom?

GuySuCo has not confirmed receipt of this amount and, last time we heard from GuySuCo, they claimed they had received just about $2B. NICIL/SPU, which arranged the loan, claimed they dispersed more than $17B but neither they nor GuySuCo or the Ministries of Finance and Agriculture can explain how they expended that sum. What we do know is they have already paid almost $140M in interest and, by the end of this year, the interest payment would have exceeded $200M. In the meanwhile, the existing factories have not been maintained, with downtime at the three operating factories more than 700 hours for the second-crop. Workers have been subjected to deferred and late payments, further demoralising them. Not a single senior official from APNU/AFC has attempted to meet with workers, even though the workers have taken to peacefully public protest in front of the Office of the President. Worse, attempts have been made to prevent the workers from protesting. These workers have not had a wage increase since 2014. It is commendable that when TROY Gold Resources sent home about 200 workers a few weeks ago, Raphael Trotman quickly went to meet with them, albeit only after the PPP pressured a response. But no one has met with the 7000 fired workers and their families and no one has met with the existing workers who have been working as the only workers in Caricom who have not received a wage increase for five years.

While APNU/AFC recklessly uses financial feasibility as the excuse to close SUGAR, Jagdeo and the PPP argue there are compelling socio-economic reasons for keeping SUGAR. SUGAR is the largest single employer in Guyana, after the public service.

SUGAR provides the bulk of the drainage and irrigation in Regions 3, 4, 5 and 6. SUGAR plays a critical role in the viability of the NIS and contributes considerably to the Government’s income tax receipt, is a significant foreign currency earner. SUGAR also creates a whole village economy that falls like dominoes when SUGAR is not working. See what has taken place in Wales, Patentia, West Bank Demerara, Canje, Enmore and LBI. The vendors in the community markets in these areas, taxi drivers, grocery shop owners, tailors and seamstresses, jewellers and barbers and hairdressers have seen their livelihoods gone up in smokes. The economic cost of this reckless Government action is disgraceful. APNU/AFC imposed poverty on more than 40,000 innocent citizens. But the impact is being felt throughout Guyana.

As the March 2020 general elections approach, SUGAR’s demise is closer. APNU/AFC has a vicious plan to close Uitvlugt and Blairmont, leaving Albion for now. A return of APNU/AFC will mean the end of SUGAR. This must not happen.

he Trinidad and Tobago Lotto Agents Association (TTLAA) is calling on the Minister of Finance Colm Imbert to intervene in the running of the National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB) or their members would desist from selling lottery tickets and return the machines to the control board.

In a press conference today, the TTLAA president, Allen Campbell, described the lotteries governing agency as a” runaway horse”. He said the NLCB continues to give agents conflicting infor-

mation and unilaterally suppressing their machines.

The organisation accused the NLCB of “strong arming” the agents.

Campbell said they have constantly been meeting with the NLCB chairman Eustace Nancis, however, while he has heard and understands their plight, nothing is being done to resolve them.

This is why TTLAA director, Dean Persad called on the Minister of Finance to conduct a forensic audit on the company.

If their concerns are not

alleviated, he said, they would discontinue the operation of the NLCB machines

as their grievances far outweigh any financial benefit.

(T&T Guardian)

US grounds Saudi aviation students after navy base shooting

T

he US has grounded hundreds of Saudi military aviation students at bases across the country in the wake of Friday’s deadly shooting in Florida.

All flying will be paused, though classroom studies will continue.

It comes after Defence Secretary Mark Esper ordered a review following the shooting of three sailors at a navy base by a Saudi Air Force lieutenant.

The FBI said it was trying to determine the motive of the attacker, who was shot dead by police.

Investigators say they

are working on the assumption that it was an act of terrorism.

The shooting at Pensacola has placed the long-standing US-Saudi relationship under scrutiny.

Ties have already been strained by the Saudi military offensive in Yemen and the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi last year.

“A safety stand-down and operational pause commenced Monday for Saudi Arabian aviation students,” Navy Lt Commander Megan Isaac told the BBC. She said the no-fly rule affects 303 Saudi students

at three Florida Naval Air Stations: Pensacola, Whiting Field and Mayport.

Pentagon civilian spokesman Chuck Prichard told the BBC that the no-fly rule covered Saudi aviation students US-wide.

He said the operational pause affects 852 Saudi students enrolled in all military programmes at “various locations” across the US, though classroom training continues for all.

A senior Pentagon official told the BBC’s US partner, CBS News, that the training pause will last at least five to 10 days.

The officials said the de-

fence department is conducting a review of vetting for all 5,000 foreign military students training in the US. Esper told Fox News on Sunday he had instructed top defence officials to look into security measures at bases.

President Donald Trump has also pledged to review foreign military programmes.

The victims of last Friday’s attack at the Pensacola base have been named as Joshua Kaleb Watson, 23, Mohammed Sameh Haitham, 19, and Cameron Scott Walters, 21.

(BBC)

Huawei’s CFO wins Canada court fight to see more documents related to her arrest Supreme Court of British Columbia agreed with Huawei Technologies Co Ltd’s legal team that there is an “air of reality” to their assertion.

But she cautioned that her ruling is limited and does not address the merit of Huawei’s allegations that Canadian authorities im-

Huawei Technologies Financial Officer Wanzhou

L

Chief Meng

awyers for Huawei’s chief financial officer have won a court battle after a judge asked Canada’s attorney general to hand over more evidence and documents relating to the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, according to a court ruling released on Tuesday.

Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes in the

properly handled identifying information about Meng’s electronic devices.

Meng, 47, was arrested at the Vancouver International Airport on Dec. 1, 2018, at the request of the United States, where she is charged with bank fraud and accused of misleading the bank HSBC (HSBA.L) about

Huawei Technologies’ business in Iran. She has said she is innocent and is fighting extradition.

She was questioned by Canadian immigration authorities prior to her arrest, and her lawyers have asked the government to hand over more documents about her arrest. (Reuters)

16

guyanatimesgy.com

wednesday, december 11, 2019

Regional

Chile plane goes missing near Brazil's Bolsonaro calls Antarctica with 38 onboard activist Thunberg a “brat”

B

A

Chilean military plane with 38 people on board "lost radio communication", after taking off from the south of the country for a base in Antarctica, Chile's air force said on Tuesday.

In a statement, the air force said it was yet to find the plane, but concluded it must have crashed, given the number of hours it had been missing. Defence Minister Alberto Espina added that the chance of finding survivors was looking "difficult".

"The chances are difficult but I think it would be profoundly wrong to lose heart at this moment when we are doing everything humanly possible and with all our energy and determination," Espina told reporters. "The air force has provided a thorough investigation to clarify the facts with complete transparency."

The C-130 Hercules took off at 4:55 pm local time (19:55 GMT) from the city of Punta Arenas on Monday to the President

Picture taken in January 2019 at Chile's Antarctic base in Antarctica, showing the Chilean Air Force C-130 Hercules cargo plane that has now disappeared in the sea between the southern tip of South America and Antarctica [Photo by: Javier Torres/AFP]

Eduardo Frei Antarctic Base, it lost contact at 6:13 pm (21:13 GMT), the air force said in a statement.

The plane carried 17 crew members and 21 passengers, including three civilians. The personnel were to check on a floating fuel supply line and other equipment at the Chilean base.

President Sebastian Pinera said in a tweet that he would fly to Punta Arenas along with Interior Minister Gonzalo Blumel.

Once there, they would

meet Espina to monitor the search and rescue mission.

"My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the 38 crew members and passengers of the FACh [air force] C-130 plane," Pinera wrote on Twitter, where he said his Brazilian counterpart, Jair Bolsonaro, had offered support. Argentina's Government also said it had offered air and naval assistance for the search and rescue, Pinera said.

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

razil’s right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro called Swedish climate change campaigner Greta Thunberg a “brat” on Tuesday after she criticised mounting violence against Indigenous people in which two Amazon tribesmen were shot dead three days ago.

“Greta said the Indians died because they were defending the Amazon (forest). How can the media give space to a brat like that,” Bolsonaro told reporters, using the Portuguese word “pirralha”.

The teen activist retorted by changing the biographical description on her Twitter account to “Pirralha”.

Thunberg turned a spotlight on the struggles of the world’s Indigenous peoples

Climate change activist Greta Thunberg attends the Unite Behind the Science event during COP25 climate summit in Madrid, Spain

to protect the environment on Monday at the United Nations climate change summit in Madrid.

Two Indigenous men of the Guajajara tribe in eastern Amazon were shot dead

UNICEF report: 6-fold increase in number of children displaced by storms in C’bean

in the Caribbean between 2014 and 2018 – the hottest five-year period on record.

This is an increase of nearly 600,000, compared to the 175,000 children displaced in the preceding five-year period from 2009 to 2013.

The estimates are based on data from UNICEF and the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.

“This report is a stark reminder that the climate crisis is a child rights crisis,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.

“Children in storm and flood-prone nations around the world are among the most vulnerable to having their lives and rights upended. They are already feeling the impacts of climate change, so governments and the international community should act now to mitigate its most devastating consequences.”

The report notes that the primary cause of the dramatic increase in forced displacement was a series of catastrophic tropical cyclones or hurricanes that hit the region between 2016 and 2018 – including four Category 5 and two Category 4 storms. More than 400,000 children in the Caribbean islands were displaced by hurricanes during 2017 alone.

The report warns that without urgent action to mitigate the effects of climate change, the increasing proportion of severe storms would likely result in similarly high levels of forced displacement in the coming decades. (Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

Technique Ltd from disposing of the money which was paid to the Chinese contractor to construct the St Joseph Secondary School.

It also seeks to compel the two foreigners to disclose information about the First Citizen’s cheque and whether it had been deposited within 24 hours.

The matter has also been referred to the Fraud Squad after a report had been made claiming that a senior employee of the foreign firm, with the assistance of other people, was able to change the company’s records at the

Registrar General’s office and form a new company bearing a similar name to collect the payment from the National Maintenance, Training and Security Ltd. In May 2008, the Chinese firm was hired by the Education Facilities Company Ltd to construct the St Joseph Secondary School and now owes several local subcontractors varying sums for work done on the project.

The company claims that without access to the payment there was a real risk that it can become bankrupt. (T&T Guardian)

Dissidents say Cuba put them under house arrest on Human Rights Day

O

pposition activists and independent journalists in Communist-run Cuba said state security and Police stopped them from leaving their homes on Tuesday to prevent them from marking or reporting on international Human Rights Day. Some activists had planned to observe the day by calling publicly for the liberation of one of the top opposition leaders in the one-party country, Jose Daniel Ferrer, whom Cuba calls a US-financed counterrevolutionary.

Cuban authorities ar-

rested Ferrer, 49, more than two months ago.

While dissidents complain they are frequently subjected to short-term detentions to intimidate them, his is the first longterm arrest of a high profile government critic in years.

Human rights activists say it reflects a broader increase in repression as the country deals with an awakening of civil awareness thanks to expanded access to the internet and a hike in US sanctions.

International rights organisations like Amnesty International, the Trump

administration and the European Parliament have called for Ferrer’s release. “‘Go back up to your flat because today you cannot go out’ said a state security official guarding the entrance of my building,” wrote Luz Escobar, a reporter for the alternative news website 14ymedio, on Twitter.

The Cuban Government, which says its critics on human rights overlook Cuba’s guaranteed healthcare and education, did not reply to request for comment.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

on Saturday in a drive-by shooting not far from where a prominent tribesman who defended the Amazon rainforest was also killed last month.

“The Indigenous peoples are literally being murdered for trying to protect the forest from illegal deforestation. Over and over again. It is shameful that the world remains silent about this,” Thunberg wrote in a tweet on Monday that angered Bolsonaro.

Thunberg has taken on world leaders in the past.

A video of the 16-year-old Swede giving US President Donald Trump a “death stare” at a UN climate summit in New York in September went viral on social media. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Scores of people, including young children, wait in Marsh Harbour Port to be evacuated to Nassau, Bahamas, on Friday, September 6, after Hurricane Dorian splintered whole neighbourhoods

T

he estimated number of children displaced by storms and flooding in the Caribbean has increased six-fold in the past five years, according to a new UNICEF report out yesterday.

Part of UNICEF's Child Alert series, Children Uprooted in the Caribbean: How stronger hurricanes linked to a changing climate are driving child displacement' found that an estimated 761,000 children were internally displaced by storms

Argentina's Peronist left returns as Fernandez sworn into power Trinidad Court freezes bank accounts of Chinese nationals

A

rgentina’s Peronist leader, Alberto Fernandez, was sworn in as president on Tuesday, marking a shift to the left for Latin America’s No 3 economy as the country fights rampant inflation, credit default fears and rising poverty.

The 60-year-old centre-left politician took his presidential oath in front of cheering lawmakers in Congress along with political leaders from the region and representatives from major trade partners including Brazil and the United States.

In an hour-long speech,

he criticized rising rates of hunger and poverty and said the country needed to revive growth to escape from “virtual default” after a period of painful austerity under outgoing conservative Mauricio Macri.

“We have to heal so many open wounds in our homeland,” he said in the speech in Congress after he had symbolically taken the presidential baton and sash from Macri, whose administration was hit by recession and a spiralling debt crisis.

Fernandez pledged to bridge social divisions and to roll out a “massive” credit system with low

rates to bolster domestic demand, something he made a pillar of his campaign.

“Without bread, there is no present or future, without bread life only suffers,” he said.

The rise of Fernandez marks a return of Argentina’s powerful left-leaning Peronists, including Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, a rock-star populist politician who clashed with investors and farmers during her twin terms between 2007 and 2015. (Excerpt from Reuters)

A

High Court Judge has granted an order prohibiting two Chinese nationals from disposing of close to $10 million which had been paid by a State company for the construction of a government school.

Justice Ricky Rahim granted the order to China Building Technique Group Trinidad and Tobago Ltd and two of its principals during a hearing at the Port-of-Spain High Court on Monday.

The freezing order restricts Yonggoa Pan, Lijun Wang and China Building

guyanatimesgy.com

wednesday, december 11, 2019

17

Around the World

Trump impeachment: Democrats Somalia: Al-Shabab gunmen attack Mogadishu hotel unveil formal charges

T

he Democraticcontrolled US House Judiciary Committee has unveiled charges against President Donald Trump, a key move in impeaching him.

The first article revealed

by Committee Chief Jerry Nadler accuses Trump of abuse of power and the second accuses him of obstructing Congress.

The Republican President is said to have withheld aid to Ukraine for domestic political reasons.

A defiant Trump has urged the Senate to try him “sooner than later”.

“The President wants a trial,” White House spokesman Hogan Gidley told BBC News.

Trump insists he has done “nothing wrong” and has dismissed the impeachment process as “madness”.

If the House of Representatives Judiciary

Committee votes to approve the articles later this week, they will then be submitted to the lower chamber for a full vote.

If, in turn, the articles are approved by the House - which is controlled by the Democrats - an impeachment trial in the Republicanheld Senate will take place, possibly early in January.

The impeachment process was launched after an anonymous whistleblower complained to Congress in September about a July phone call by Trump to the President of Ukraine.

In the July phone call to Ukraine’s leader, Trump appeared to tie US military assistance for Ukraine to its launching of investigations that could help him politically.

Impeachment is the first part - the charges - of a twostage political process by which Congress can remove

Democrat Jerry Nadler announces the articles of impeachment

a President from office.

If the House of Representatives votes to pass articles of impeachment, the Senate is forced to hold a trial.

A Senate vote requires a two-thirds majority to convict and remove the President - unlikely in this case, given that Trump’s party controls the Chamber.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

An ambulance carrying an injured person from the attack on SYL Hotel arrives at the Shaafi hospital in Mogadishu [Feisal Omar/ Reuters]

A

l-Shabab gunmen have attacked a hotel near the presidential palace in Somalia’s capital, according to Police and the armed group.

Fighting was still continuing following Tuesday’s attack on SYL hotel in Mogadishu.

“We thought they were Police but they started hurl-

ing grenades and firing us when they neared and so we exchanged fire at the gate of the hotel,” a police officer who gave his name as Ahmed told Reuters news agency.

Zakia Hussen, Somalia’s Deputy Police Commissioner, said security forces killed two of the attackers outside the hotel

and were fighting two others on the premises.

“So far, security forces have rescued 82 people, both civilians and officials,” Zakia said on her Twitter account.

Abdi-Aziz Abu Mus’ab, al-Shabab’s military spokesman, confirmed the group was behind the attack and said its fighters were inside the hotel compound, which is popular with Government officials and politicians.

Al-Shabab was ejected from Mogadishu in 2011 and has since been driven from most of its other strongholds.

However, it still carries out frequent attacks across Somalia, as well as in neighbouring Kenya, whose soldiers form part of African Union-mandated peacekeeping forces that help defend the Somali Government.

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Pompeo says hopeful North Korea will keep Jersey City shooting: Multiple commitments as Pyongyang deadline looms people dead, officials say

U

S Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday the Trump Administration was “hopeful” North Korea will continue to work toward denuclearisation and refrain from long-range missile tests, as Pyongyang’s deadline for Washington to reconsider its approach to talks looms.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Pompeo also said Washington was looking for ways to talk to Pyongyang but offered no signs that the two sides were any closer to returning to the negotiating table.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has set a yearend deadline for the United States to be more flexible in denuclearisation negotiations or risk Pyongyang taking a “new path.”

Pyongyang has ratcheted up the tensions with recently with a series of weapons tests, and has resumed its personal insults against Trump.

Kim made only vague commitments on denuclearisation at his first summit with Trump in Singapore and diplomacy has since stalled. North Korea wants the United States to stop insisting that Pyongyang abandon its nuclear weapons programme unilaterally and wants relief from punishing sanctions.

North Korean ruling party Vice Chairman Kim Yong Chol on Monday called Trump a “heedless and erratic old man.”

The comments by Kim, who was instrumental in arranging a failed second summit in February, came a day after Pyongyang an-

Police Officers arrive to the scene where an active shooting was taking place in Jersey City, New Jersey US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addresses a joint news conference with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (not pictured) at the State Department in Washington, US, December 10, 2019

nounced a “very important” test of an unspecified device.

Satellite imagery indicated on Monday it may have been a rocket engine. (Excerpt from Reuters)

M

ultiple people were killed on Tuesday after a shooting in the US state of New Jersey led to a firefight with dozens of law enforcement officers, officials said.

One officer was pronounced dead at a hospital and multiple other people were found dead at the scene, Mayor Steven Fulop said without indicating how many were killed during the shooting in Jersey City.

Hudson Country Prosecutor Esther Surarez

said in a tweet that at least three people were wounded. They remained in stable condition, Surarez said.

Earlier on Tuesday, law enforcement officials said they were responding to an “active shooter” situation after sporadic, heavy gunfire rang out over the course of at least an hour in a Jersey City neighbourhood.

SWAT teams, state police and federal agents responded to the scene and Police blocked off the area which has a Catholic school,

some stores, a kosher supermarket and a hairstylist.

US media reported that two people had opened fire near a convenience store in the area.

White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said President Donald Trump had been briefed on the shooting and was monitoring it.

Loud volleys of gunfire could be heard at regular intervals but subsided around 2 pm (19:00 GMT) in the city, which is just across the Hudson River from Manhattan, New York.

In a tweet, Governor Phil Murphy said that residents, among them children from the Sacred Heart elementary school were placed on lockdown.

Video images showed a line of police officers armed with weapons pointed in several directions walking down the sidewalk. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Assisted dying: Western Australia passes legislation UK’s Johnson on track to win modest majority – YouGov W estern Australia has legalised voluntary assisted dying, becoming the second state in the country to do so.

There were cheers and emotional scenes in the public gallery as MPs passed the historic legislation in the state’s Lower House of Parliament in Perth.

MPs in Perth took five hours to pass 55 amendments to the legislation which had been approved by the Upper House - the Legislative Council - in a marathon session last week.

The controversial law

has produced weeks of often impassioned debate.

Health Minister Roger Cook fought back tears as he welcomed the final passing of the bill, but said it was “not a time for jubilation”.

“Everyone knows what this legislation is about.

It’s about reflection. And to reflect that we’ve chosen compassion and the right to choose.”

The new law - which some opponents had described as dangerous and reckless - includes more than 100 safeguards.

A person seeking to be eligible would have to be terminally ill and in severe

pain, Australian broadcaster ABC reported. Their condition would need to be likely to result in death within six months, or a year for a neurodegenerative condition.

Two verbal requests and one written request are needed and those requests would need to be signed off by two doctors independent of one another.

The scheme is expected to come into effect in about 18 months to give health providers time to prepare.

The Australian state of Queensland is also considering voluntary assisted dying legislation. (Excerpt from BBC News)

B

ritish Prime Minister Boris Johnson is on course to win a majority of 28 in Parliament at Thursday’s election, according to a closely watched model from pollsters YouGov, down sharply from a forecast of 68 last month.

Johnson’s Conservative Party could win 339 seats out of 650, up from 317 in the 2017 general election but fewer than the 359 predicted the last time YouGov ran the model ran on Nov 27, according to results published

by The Times on Tuesday.

The opposition Labour

Party looks on track to secure 231 seats, down from 262 in 2017, but a better showing than the 211 they had been on course for, The Times said.

YouGov said the uncertainty around the model was such that it was possible no party would win an overall majority.

“Based on the model we cannot rule out a hung Parliament,” Anthony Wells, YouGov’s Director of Political Research, said.

Sterling fell by around a third of a cent against the US dollar after the news.

Financial markets fear that a hung Parliament would extend the uncertainty over if or when Britain will leave the European Union, which it is currently due to do on Jan 31, depressing business investment and consumer sentiment.

Earlier on Tuesday, a similar forecasting model from a smaller market research company, Focalpoint, showed Johnson on track for a 24-seat majority, down from a majority of 82 seats predicted last month.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

18

guyanatimesgy.com

Wednesday, december 11, 2019

ARCHIE

ARIES (March 21April 19)

TAURUS

dilbert

(April 20May 20)

Peanuts

SUDOKU

Consider what you can do professionally that will raise your earning potential and stimulate your mind. A proposition looks promising, but if you vacillate, someone else will swoop in and take charge.

GEMINI (May 21June 20)

An open discussion will pique your interest in someone who voices an opinion.

Sort through what you have to finish before the year ends. Do something special for a loved one.

CANCER (June 21July 22)

Make adjustments to your surroundings. Check out the real estate market in your area. Personal improvements will lift your spirits, and romance will enhance your life.

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

Take an interest in what others are doing, but don’t criticize. If you want to make a suggestion, do so in a positive and uplifting manner.

Expand your mind.

VIRGO

Think twice before you discuss sensitive issues.

Don’t start something you cannot finish or make a promise you don’t want to honor. Emotional matters are best avoided for the time being.

(Aug. 23Sept. 22)

Calvin and Hobbes

Size up whatever situation you face and take action. Pay close attention to detail, as someone in a higher position will be observing your every move. Talks and travel are favored.

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

Get involved in a creative pursuit or learn something new. Plan something special for yourself and a friend or loved one. Walk away from adversity and manipulative people.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

Tie up matters that need to be dealt with before the year’s end. Don’t rely on others to handle things for you.

Make a commitment to a loved one.

Take action. Get involved SAGITTARIUS in activities that will lead (Nov. 23to love, friendship or even a Dec. 21) new business partnership.

Your openness will attract all sorts of candidates. Use honesty as your barometer.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19)

SOLUTION FOr LAST PUBLISHED puzzle

If you find a unique way to use your skills, it will bring in extra cash to spend on festivities or a special gift for someone you love.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 19)

Make a change for the right reason. If you let your emotions dictate what you do or say, you will end up making promises you cannot keep.

PISCES

Stick to the facts, or you’ll end up being blamed for false advertising. Rigidity will result in a stalemate.

Don’t do something that you will regret later. Be fair, not stubborn.

(Feb. 20March 20)

wednesday, DECember 11, 2019

19

round-up:

Kings’ Bjelica beats buzzer to stun Rockets

N

emanja Bjelica drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer, and the Sacramento Kings claimed a 119-118 victory over the host Houston Rockets on Monday.

Bjelica drilled a 33-footer off an inbound pass from Cory Joseph to answer a driving layup from Rockets guard Russell Westbrook on the preceding possession. Bjelica scored over PJ Tucker to cap his 17-point performance as the Kings finished 20 of 45 from behind the arc.

Westbrook scored a season-high 34 points, primarily on driving layups as the Kings offered scant rim protection. His basket countered a game-tying 3-pointer from Kings guard Buddy Hield (team-high 26 points), whose trey matched a 3-pointer from Ben McLemore with 22.7 seconds left.

The Rockets had won 18 of 20 meetings against the Kings, who received 19 points and eight rebounds from Harrison Barnes. James Harden paired 27 points with 10 assists for the Rockets while Tucker grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds

Detroit Pistons 105-New Orleans Pelicans 103 Derrick Rose scored a team-high 21 points, capped by a last-second, game-winning jumper as Detroit won at New Orleans.

The Pistons inbounded the ball with 14.7 seconds left and cleared out for Rose, who dribbled down the clock, penetrated and hit a jumper from just inside the foul line. The Pelicans called timeout with 0.3 seconds left, but their subsequent pass was deflected, and they lost their ninth straight game.

Langston Galloway added 16 points, Luke Kennard scored 14 and Andre Drummond had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Detroit. Brandon Ingram scored 31 and Jrue Holiday scored 20 to lead New Orleans.

Milwaukee Bucks 110-Orlando Magic 101 Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 32 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as Milwaukee extended its NBA-best winning streak to 15 games with a victory over visiting Orlando.

Khris Middleton scored 20 points and Donte DiVincenzo added 12 as the Bucks improved to 11-1 at home and matched the Los Angeles Lakers for best record in the NBA at 21-3.

Evan Fournier scored 26 points and Terrence Ross added 23 as the Magic saw their season-

Wednesday showdown looming against his former team in Toronto, marking his first return to the city since he led the Raptors to the NBA title in June.

Boston Celtics guard Kemba Walker (8) drives to the basket past Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland (USA Today Sports)

Oklahoma City Thunder 104-Utah Jazz 90 Dennis Schroder scored 27 off the bench to lead Oklahoma City to a win over Utah in Salt Lake City.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 20 points and Chris Paul had 16 points and seven assists for the Thunder, who overcame 26 points from Utah’s Donovan Mitchell.

The Thunder played without a pair of starters. Terrance Ferguson missed his third straight game due to right hip soreness while Danilo Gallinari missed a game for the first time this season after sustaining a left ankle sprain.

best four-game winning streak come to an end, but not before putting together a late run.

Toronto Raptors 93-Chicago Bulls 92 Pascal Siakam scored 22 points, and visiting Toronto overcame an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat Chicago and end a three-game losing streak.

Kyle Lowry added 11 points and made the go-ahead layup with 50.9 seconds remaining for the Raptors, who have won 11 in a row against the Bulls. Norman Powell had 17 points, Serge Ibaka had 11 points and 14 rebounds, and OG Anunoby scored 10 for Toronto.

Zach Lavine scored 20 points — all in the first half — and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Bulls, who have lost three straight.

Boston Celtics 110-Cleveland Cavaliers 88 Kemba Walker scored 22 points, Gordon Hayward had 14 in his return from a hand injury, and Boston beat visiting Cleveland.

Jaylen Brown added 20 points, Jayson Tatum 19 and Daniel Theis 10 as all five Celtics starters

scored in double figures. Boston improved to 10-0 at home and won for the sixth time in its past seven games.

Jordan Clarkson had 19 points and Tristan Thompson 17 for the Cavaliers, who lost their seventh straight and fell for the 13th time in their past 14 games.

Los Angeles Clippers 110-Indiana Pacers 99 Paul George made seven 3-pointers to highlight a 36-point performance against his former team as Los Angeles held on to beat Indiana in Indianapolis.

George was booed by the crowd in his third game back at Bankers Life Fieldhouse after requesting a trade from Indiana, with which he spent his first seven NBA seasons. George was sent to Oklahoma City in exchange for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis in July 2017 before the Thunder traded him to the Clippers in the latest offseason.

Montrezl Harrell had 26 points and eight rebounds for the Clippers, who played without Kawhi Leonard (left knee soreness). Leonard sat out the latter half of a back-to-back set with a

Phoenix Suns 125-Minnesota Timberwolves 109 Devin Booker had 26 points and three 3-pointers, and Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 24 points on his 24th birthday as host Phoenix pulled away from Minnesota.

Dario Saric had 20 points and was a rebound short of his fifth double-double in the last eight games, and Ricky Rubio added 16 points and 14 assists for the Suns, who beat Timberwolves for the second time in 17 days to get within one game of .500.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 33 points and 15 rebounds, Andrew Wiggins put up 23 points, and Jeff Teague had 16 points and four assists off the bench for the Timberwolves, whose season-high losing streak reached five games.

Memphis Grizzlies 110-Golden State Warriors 102 Memphis used six 3-pointers to bolt to a 2411 lead in the first 7:19 of the game, then never trailed thereafter in a victory over Golden State in San Francisco.

Rookie star Ja Morant returned from a fourgame layoff caused by back spasms to lead the way with a game-high 26 points and seven assists. He helped the Grizzlies win for just the second time in their last 10 games.

D’Angelo Russell and Alec Burks shared team-high scoring honors for the Warriors with 18 points. (Reuters)

Andreescu named Canada’s athlete of the year after breakout season B

ianca Andreescu was awarded the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada’s athlete of the year on Monday, capping a remarkable year in which the teenager became the country’s first tennis Grand Slam singles champion with her US Open triumph.

Andreescu, an unknown quantity to most in Canada a year ago, was a unanimous pick after a breakout season in which she upset Serena Williams in the US Open final and reached a career-high fourth in the world rankings.

“Wow, I’m so thankful for this award. I was not expecting it and to be the first tennis player to win is even more surreal,” the 19-year-old Andreescu said in a statement issued

by Tennis Canada.

“None of my success this year would have been possible without the support from all of Canada.”

Andreescu, who at the end of 2018 was ranked 178th but who finished this season at number five, began to gain attention in January when she beat former world number ones Caroline Wozniacki and Venus Williams on her way to the Auckland final.

In March, as a wildcard, she won the Indian Wells title but a shoulder injury forced

Serena Williams retired in the US Open final against Bianca Andreescu

her to retire from a last-16 match at the following event in Miami and caused her to miss most of the clay and grasscourt seasons.

Andreescu, the daughter of Romanian immigrants to Canada, then won her hometown tournament in Toronto before going on to make history in New York where she denied Williams from earning a record-

tying 24th Grand Slam singles title.

The Canadian lost just four completed matches during the season, which she finished with a 48-7 record including injury retirements.

The other finalists for the award, which is named after a former Toronto Star sports editor, were sprinter Andre De Grasse, golfer Brooke Henderson, NHL goalie Jordan Binnington and MLB pitcher Mike Soroka.

“Canadian sports crushed it this year so there are definitely many other athletes who deserve a piece of this award as well — we all motivate each other to be better,” said Andreescu.

“I can’t wait for what 2020 will bring and am always proud to represent Canada at the highest level.” (Reuters)

20

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

wednesday, DECember 11, 2019

Pollard not concerned about Windies ranking – that’s in the past

W

e s t

Indies white-ball cricket captain, Kieron Pollard is not paying attention to the difference in ranking between his side and India who are currently locked at a win apiece in their threematch T20i series.

On Sunday, Lendl Simmons’ 67 not out and Evin Lewis, 40, got the visitors off to a great start after Hayden Walsh Jr Kieron Pollard and Kesrick Williams, did some damage in the first half of the encounter.

Shimron Hetmyer, and Nicholas Pooran, kept the momentum going for the West Indies until they got over the line.

Those performances are

er bet e a m remain each pertheir role

what is important to the new West Indies captain, who said if his side cleans up a few things like rem a i n ing disciplined with the ball, they c o u l d beat any team in w o r l d cricket.

“Things like low rankings happen.

Different circumstances, that’s in the past. What we can control is what’s in front of us,” said Pollard after Sunday’s win.

T h e all-roundlieves the just has to a unit, with son playing and win-

ning will come as a consequence.

“Seniors showed their way and youngsters followed. I am continuing to enjoy my cricket. Most I can do is pass on the knowledge to the youngsters. We will have good results if we stay as a unit,” said Pollard.

Despite the comprehensive nature of the win, with India skipper Virat Kohli saying the West Indies played some good cricket and deserved to win, Pollard sees room for improvement.

“There were areas we need to improve upon, a couple of wides, couple of no-balls,” he said.

The statement came just after Pollard spoke about his personal will to win and how becoming captain has accentuated that.

“God has given me the talent to play cricket. So when I come out, I come out with a will to win. And now as captain, the will is stronger.”

is evidence of that fact.

According to Pooran though, his talent isn’t enough to help him do well for the West Indies or even keep his place, and that he has to work hard.

“I work very hard and happy it’s finally paid off. I believe in my processes and glad it’s coming off,” said Pooran, who came to the crease with the West Indies on 112-2 in chase of India’s 170 in the 14th over.

Pooran happy his hard work is paying off

West Indies batsman Nicholas Pooran, by all accounts, is a very talented player, who could do great things on the international scene, and his recent innings against India

Sparta Boss

Nicholas Pooran

Six overs later it was all over, as Pooran took over from Lendl Simmons, slamming four bound-

aries and two sixes in 18 balls to take the West Indies to victory.

That type of innings, Pooran said, was not difficult, because the hard work has already been done.

“Cricket’s all about having fun. I’ve put in a lot of hard work, so now is time for having fun,” he said.

Pooran explained after the game that places in the middle order of the West Indies s i d e comes at a premium with the type of talent that lies in it but that was good for the team.

“There’s a bit of competition in the middle order, but we all want to do good, that’s all,” he said.

“To be honest, we had no pressure.

Tried not to panic, tried to build partnerships.” (Sportsmax)

BCB/Banks Beer 2-Day 1st Division Tournament…

Young Warriors register focused on path ahead 10-wicket win over West B’ce

S

parta Boss Captain Sheldon Shepherd said that his side was focused and prepared for the semi-final encounter with fierce rival Gold is Money in the inaugural Rio Indoor Championship, which is slated to be held at the National Gymnasium on December 14.

This was disclosed after an official release from the tournament coordinator, Three Peat Promotions. According to Shepherd, “This is good game: last time we played, we won 4-3, so they will be coming hard at us. We are not taking them lightly; we take every game and every team very serious which is normal for us.”

Sparta sealed their place in the semi-finals after defeating BV 4-2 in extra time in their quarter-final encounter.

On the other hand, Gold is Money battled past Leopold Street 3-2 to seal their place in the final four.

Shepherd stated that the tournament crown was highly coveted, adding, “This is the first time that street-ball is playing for $1 million, so everyone wants to win.

There are four good teams left, and everyone will come out for the win; everyone wants that title.”

He further added the team were unafraid of opposition, once successful in the semi-final round, adding, “We know Bent Street; we are not pointing a finger at anyone. We will handle anyone who we will have to play once we make the final.”

According to the release, “The semi-final matches are expected to be humdingers, given the quality of the sides that will be competing for a place in the grand finale. The matches will simply build on the quality that was exhibited at the quarter-final stage so the spectators will

– Rose Hall Town win in one day

M

Sheldon Shepherd

certainly be thrilled with the exciting play that will be on show.

“The four teams that remain are easily the best sides at the moment, with many of them having traditional rivalries which add to the drama of the tournament. Sparta Boss, Gold is Money and Bent Street are national heavyweights in this arena while debutants Rio All-Stars have displayed their championship credentials and will be a force to be reckoned with in the immediate future.”

The second semi-final match will pit Bent Street against Rio All-Stars. The final and third-place playoff will be staged on the same day. The winners will pocket $1,000,000 and the championship trophy, while the second, third and fourthplace finishers will collect $400,000, $200,000 and $100,000 respectively and the corresponding trophies.

ost sport organisations in Guyana have already closed off their calendar of events for the year, but the cricket season in Berbice continues to be action-packed as the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) pushes ahead with its crowded 2019 season.

The BCB on Saturday hosted the second leg of the historic Banks Beer two-day FirstDivision Tournament as teams battled for a place in the semi-finals.

At the Area H Ground in Rose Hall Town, the home team defeated Port Mourant Cricket Club by an innings and 135 runs.

Batting first, Port Mourant were bundled out for 62, with Michael Fraser top-scoring with 24 not out. Former Guyana Under-19 fast bowler Sylus Tyndall took 5 for 8 while skipper Eon Hooper took 3 for 10. Rose Hall Town Namilco Thunderbolt Flour then rattled up 252 for 6 declared, with West Indies Emerging Players’ Kevin Sinclair (70); Delbert Hicks (67) and Jason Sinclair (41) being the principal scorers. Medium pacer Joshua Ramsammy took 4 for 74. With a deficit of 190 runs, the visitors were dismissed for 55 in their second innings as Berbice’s top First-Division team wrapped up the game. Ramsammy returned with the bat to score 31 as spinners Kevin Sinclair (4 for 26); Keith Simpson (2 for 4) and Junior Sinclair (2 for 6) bowled well.

RHT Namilco Thunderbolt Flour, Albion Community Centre Cricket Club (ACCCC) and Young Warriors CC registered outright victories while Tucber Park picked up first innings points. RHT Namilco Thunderbolt and ACCCC are expected to advance from Zone B while Young Warriors CC and Tucber Park are ahead in Zone A. Young Warriors CC registered their first victory in the competition by defeating West Berbice by 10 wickets at the Cumberland Ground in East Canje.

West Berbice batted first and were bowled out for

Trevon Stanislaus bowls during his 8-103 while Suresh Dhanai, who had 7-59, looks on

124 with Akeem Blackman and Kareem Mentore being the top scorers. Left-arm spinner Trevon Stanislaus continued to impress with 5 for 42 while medium pacer Suresh Dhanai took 3 for 22.

The home team, in response, reached 241 all out with Linden Austin (53); Carl Gilgeous (38); Dhanai (30) and Vishal Mohabir (30) batting well.

Leon Andrews took 6 for 35 while Jayden Samuels bagged 3 for 41 for the visitors. West Berbice batting a second time, facing a deficit of 117 runs, were dismissed for 187 despite a brilliant 119 from former Berbice player Andrews, who tore into the home team’s bowlers. Dhanai completed a good all-round match with 4 for 42. Young Warriors CC required 71 runs in the last hour in fading light, but blasted their way to 75 without loss in 10.3 overs with openers Alex Algoo hitting 30 and Ricardo Ramdehol, 32.

guyanatimesgy.com

wednesday, DECember 11, 2019

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For further info, Call: 694-6606.

21

BCB/Ivan Madray Memorial T20 Tournament…

Albion and Rose Hall Town Namilco Thunderbolt Flour to battle on Sunday in final I

n what promises to be one of the most exciting cricket finals in over a decade in the Ancient County of Berbice, arch-rivals Albion Community Centre Cricket Club (ACCCC) and Rose Hall Town Namilco Thunderbolt Flour will clash in the final of the 2019 Berbice Cricket Board/ Ivan Madray Memorial T20 tournament.

The thrilling match will be played at the No 69 Vikings Cricket Ground in the Upper Corentyne area and will be used as a fundraiser for Guyana’s most dynamic and vibrant cricket board. The tournament is being sponsored by Upper Corentyneborn business executive Chandradat Chintamani in memory of his uncle, former West Indies leg-spinner Ivan Madray.

Madray was the third Berbician to play Test cricket for the West Indies after the legendary John Trim and Berbice’s greatest-ever cricketer, Rohan Babulall Kanhai. Madray, a product of the historic Port Mourant Cricket Club, played two Test matches in 1958 before migrating to the United Kingdom.

He died on April 23, 2009 at the age of 74.

Over the past decade, arch-rivals Albion and Rose Hall Town have dominated cricket at all levels and have played each other in numerous finals. On Saturday, they will face off in the final of the BCB/ Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (RHTY&SC) Busta Champion of Champion 40-overs tournament at the Area H Ground before clashing again on Sunday.

The match will involve most of Berbice’s finest players despite RHT Namilco Thunderbolt Flour missing the services of an injured Clinton Pestano

and Kevlon Anderson, who is with the West Indies Under-19 team. RHT Namilco Thunderbolt Flour will be led by national all-rounder Eon Hooper and he will be supported in the batting by Junior Sinclair, Kevin Sinclair, Jason Sinclair, Delbert Hicks, Jonathan Rampersaud, and Keith Simpson.

Pacers Keon Sinclair and Sylus Tyndall will share the new ball with off-spinners Junior Sinclair, Kevin Sinclair, Rampersaud and Hooper offering spin support. Leg-spinner Shawn Pereira and lefthander Keith Simpson also offer variety on a track expected to be dual-paced.

Albion will be at full strength and will be seeking to stop the dominance of their arch-rivals.

Their batting on paper is very strong with Kandasammy Surujnarine, Adrian Sukhwa, Sharaz Ramcharran, Rajiv Ivan, Anthony Bramble, David Latchaya and Jonathan Foo. The national trio of Veerasammy Permaul, Devendra Bishoo and Gudakesh Motie add more depth to the powerful batting while spearheading the bowling unit.

Ivan, Foo, Ramcharran, Latchaya and Kevin Umroa will offer back-up support.

BCB President Hilbert Foster and the tournament sponsor will distribute the prizes after the match.

Foster is urging all cricket fans in the Upper Corentyne area to turn up to witness the final.

Kevin Sinclair will represent his Rose Hall Town team

Devendra Bishoo will turn out for Albion

France Coach’s Quarter-final fixtures released contract extended F to 2022 World Cup 592 Beer Inter-Village Football Festival…

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W

orld Cup-winning coach Didier Deschamps has extended his France contract until the end of the 2022 tournament in Qatar.

Deschamps took over in 2012 and led France to the Euro 2016 final before their victory at the 2018 World Cup. The extension means the 51-year-old will become France’s longest-serving coach, surpassing Michel Hidalgo’s eight years and six months in charge.

French football president Noel Le Graet called it “logical decision”.

Le Graet previously said Deschamps’ contract would be extended if France qualified for the 2020 European Championships.

Les Bleus achieved that goal in November and have been drawn in a group with 2014 world champions Germany, reigning European champions Portugal and an as yet unknown team who will qualify through the play-offs.

Deschamps, who was captain when France became world champions in 1998, previously had a contract that was due to expire after Euro 2020.

(BBC Sport)

Didier Deschamps coached France to World Cup victory in 2018 (Getty Images)

ollowing the conclusion of a highly-competitive group round, fixtures for quarter-final action in the inaugural 592 Beer Inter-Village Football Festival, programmed to commence on December 15, were officially released on Tuesday.

This was revealed in an official press release from the tournament coordinators. The opening round, which commences at the Buxton Community Ground, will pit Mahaica against Friendship from 20:00h. In the second match, Paradise will tackle Buxton at 22:00h. The action will resume on December 22 at the Golden Grove Ground with another d o u -

ble-header.

The first fixture will pit Brush Dam against Golden Grove at 20:00h. In the second match, Beterverwagting (BV) will oppose Ann’s Grove at 22:00h. The respective winners will progress to the semi-final round.

According to the release, “The tournament, which has attracted large crowds, now enters the business section. It promises to be an exciting affair as the teams aim to secure the coveted title. The group stage has produced thrilling action

and many unlikely results which bode well for the fans that are expected to continue their unwavering support. Presently, all systems and protocols are in place for the staging of the matches; the only thing that remains is for the teams to prepare and execute in their effort to secure a berth for the January 1 finale.”

Initially, the 12-team event featured four groups of four. Group A comprised Buxton, Plaisance and Mahaica, while Group B consisted of Friendship, Paradise and Victoria and Group C featured Brush Dam, Melanie and Ann’s Grove.

Group D was made up of Annandale, Golden Grove and BV. The winner of each group alongside the second-place finisher advanced to the quarter-final round.

The grand finale is pegged for January 1.

The eventual champion of the event will pocket $300,000 along with the championship trophy. The second-, thirdand fourth-place finisher will receive $150,000, $100,000 and $75,000 respectively and the corresponding trophy.

Similarly, individual prizes will also be awarded for the Most Valuable Player (MVP) and the Best Goalkeeper. Some of the major sponsors of the tournament include Bakewell Guyana Incorporated, ExxonMobil, and the Colin Talbot Construction Services.

22

wednesday, DECember 11, 2019

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

Pompey elected President of the Panam Sports Athlete Commission F

our-time Olympian and Pan American Games bronze medalist Aliann Pompey of Guyana is the new President of the Panam Sports Athlete Commission.

The 400m specialist will represent the athlete voice in the Olympic Movement of the Americas for the next four years.

Aliann Pompey was elected at the first meeting with the new Panam Sports Athlete Commission members who were chosen by the more than 6600 athletes who competed at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games. The new Athlete Commission members met and held the election on December 6 at the Panam Sports headquarters in Mexico City.

Only the three standing members of the Athlete Commission who were elected at Toronto 2015 — Carlos Santiago (PUR – Judo), Adriana Escobar (ESA – Rowing) and Aliann Pompey (GUY – Athletics) — were eligible to be elected as President of the Commission. Both Pompey and Santiago stood for the election, with the six members who were present par-

– Sailing), Melissa HumanaParedes (CAN – Beach Volleyball), Paola Longoria (MEX – Racquetball), Tony Azevedo (USA – Water Polo) and Amber Joseph (BAR – Cycling). The new Members will stand on the Athlete Commission until the 2027 Pan American Games, while Pompey will serve as President through the Santiago 2023 Pan Am Games.

“We are all thrilled to be on the Panam Sports Athlete Commission because it’s a way for us to have meaningful impact in our sport and region outside of actual competition. I have and continue to learn so much, it’s truly an enriching experience. In

The new representatives of the thousands of athletes within the Panam Sports family have elected Aliann Pompey of Guyana to serve as the next President of the Panam Sports Athlete Commission

ticipating in the election.

“Honestly I was a little bit surprised,” Pompey told Panam Sports following her elections as the new President of the Panam Sports Athlete Commission.

“I wanted to give it a shot because I think it’s a tre-

mendous honor to lead the Commission and it was obviously something I would love to do. So I’m very, very happy with the outcome. It is a lot of work and I quickly realized that once we went through the timeline and what’s expected in the up-

coming years, but I think we are a very collaborative group and with everyone working together we will do great things.”

Pompey, Escobar and Santiago are joined on the Athlete Commission by new Members Isabel Swan (BRA

a few short years we’ve experienced the commitment of the Panam Sports Executive staff to the Commission in making sure the athletes’ voice has infiltrated pretty much all of their operations,” Pompey added.

Panam Sports congratulates Aliann Pompey on her election as the President and look forward to working with her more closely over the next four years to ensure the athlete voice is always considered in all decisions by Panam Sports.

Aliann Pompey will sit in on her first Executive Board meeting on December 15 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

(Panam Sports)

Bounty Farm boost Timehri Panthers ahead of GFF Super 16 opener

Sri Lanka stun West Indies U-19s in 1-wicket thriller L ed by a fighting knock from Sonal Dinusha, Sri Lanka defeated West Indies Under-19s by one wicket and 59 balls to spare in the third youth OneDay International (ODI) in the Tri-nation series in Antigua.

Chasing 138 for victory, Sri Lanka were reduced to 101-9, but the final pair held their nerve to complete a nail-biting win.

Dinusha made an unbeaten 46 to ensure Sri Lanka steal victory at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

Ahan Wickramasinghe made 13 while Amshi de Silva made an unbeaten 10. For West Indies Under19s, Ramon Simmons took 3-31 in eight overs while Nyeem Young and

Team West Indies Under-19s

West Indies laboured their way to 137-9 in their allotted 50 overs, with Guyana’s Kevlon Anderson top-scoring with 43 from 69 balls, batting at number five. The West Indies boys lost some quick wickets with a bit of rain intervening.

Kevlon Anderson After Anderson’s top-score, Jayden Seals scored 23 and Guyana’s Ashmead Nedd hit an unbeaten 21. Kavindu Nadeeshan took 4-20 for the visitors while Amshi de Silva bagged 3-18.

Jayden West Indies will Searles took two wickets play England on Thursday, December 12 from 09:00h loeach.

E a r l i e r , cal time.

SCOREBOARD West Indies U-19s Innings Kimani Melius c Mishara b A de Silva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Micah Joseph c b A de Silva . . 7 Leonardo Julien b Daniel . . . 9 KSA McKenzie b Nadeeshan . 15 Kevlon Anderson b Dinusha . 43 Matthew Patrick b Nadeeshan 7 Nyeem Young c b Nadeeshan . 3 Matthew Forde b Nadeeshan . 0 Ashmead Nedd not out . . . . 21 Jayden Seales (LHB) c Dinusha b A de Silva . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Ramon Simmonds not out . . 0 Total (9 wickets, 50.0) (7 extras) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Bowling: Amshi de Silva 6.0-118-3, Chamindu Wickramasinghe 3.0-1-3-0, Ashian Daniel 10.02-24-1, Nipun Dhananjaya 6.00-21-0, Kavindu Nadeeshan 10.0-1-20-4, Sudeera Thilakaratne 11.0-0-29-0

Sri Lanka U-19s Innings Nipun Dhananjaya c Julien b Simmons . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Kamil Mishara c Young b Forde 8 Navod Paranavithana run out . 3 Chamindu Wickramasinghe c Nedd b . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Ravindu Rasantha c Patrick b Simmons . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 Ahan Wickramasinghe lbw b Young . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Sonal Dinusha not out . . . . . 46 Sudeera Thilakaratne c b Simmons . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Ashian Daniel c Forde b Young 0 Kavindu Nadeeshan c Nedd b . 0 Amshi de Silva not out . . . . 10 Total (9 wickets, 40.1) (17 extras) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 Bowling: Matthew Forde 9.02-24-1, Jayden Seales 10.0-123-2, Nyeem Young 8.0-0-37-2, Ramon Simmonds 8.0-0-313, Ashmead Nedd 4.0-0-20-0, Matthew Patrick 1.1-0-2-0

Timehri Panthers VP and PRO Clayton AD Lambert Sr receives one of the balls from Bounty Farm Ltd employee Amelia Kelman in the presence of defender John Steele (left) and Senior Captain Shannon Samnauth, who are both wearing the donated kit

A

head of what is anticipated to be a tough battle against home team Guyana Police Force in the feature match of the opening double-header of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Super 16 year-end tournament on Sunday afternoon, the East Bank Football Association's top team, Timehri Panthers received a timely boost of gear from Bounty Farm Ltd. Receiving the donation from Bounty Farm employee Amelia Kelman was Timehri Panthers Sports Club Vice President (VP) and Public Relations Officer (PRO) Clayton AD Lambert Sr. Also present at the simple ceremony were Club President Adrian Gonsalves, Captain and national Under-17 player Shannon Samnauth, along

with defender and Bounty Farm employee John Steele.

The club received two full kits, 10 balls and five ball bags; the 10 balls bring the number of balls donated to the club by Bounty Farm Ltd to 25.

Commenting on the donation, Bounty Farm Assistant Managing Director David Fernandes said that the company was proud to be able to make a contribution to the development of youth and football in the community.

Club President Gonsalves thanked the company for its timely donation and said he was looking forward to many more in the future. He also stated that the equipment would be put to good use and would go a far way in fulfilling the Panthers motto, “Impacting Lives Through Sports “.

23

West Indies and India battle in decider today I guyanatimesgy.com

wednesday, DECember 11, 2019

ndia slipped to defeat in the second T20 match as the West Indies levelled the series after the hosts posted 170/7 when batting first but the tourists chased that total down in style with nine balls and eight wickets in hand.

The batting was somewhat below par in that game as key man Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma failed to kick on after making starts and it was only Shivam Dube and Rishabh Pant that made significant innings. That will have to improve, with greater contributions needed if they are to win here.

The lack of wickets is also a major concern as their bowlers have taken just seven Windies’ wickets in the first two matches so they will need more from their attack which could well see changes, with Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav candidates to come in and freshen the side up.

West Indies bounced back in style last time out after losing the opening T20 match, and it was their batting once again that impressed as they chased down India’s 170/7 with relative ease thanks to Lendl Simmons’ unbeat-

en 67 from 45 which anchored the innings perfectly.

Evin Lewis combined with Simmons for an opening stand of 73 while Hetmyer and Pooran produced their own significant contributions to

will name an unchanged team for this game after that excellent performance and even Khary Pierre should keep his place and potentially open the bowling yet

a ake much of ss did not m CCI) to (B in es co ch e Th the two mat of y an in difference

help the Windies kick on and take this series into a deciding match in Mumbai.

There is every chance that they

again despite Fabian Allen close to returning to fitness.

They are playing with plenty of confidence right now and renewed focus with the bat especially which

is making them competitive even though they are missing some key players like Narine, Russell and Bravo. India are not looking quite as dangerous with the ball right now and the absence of Bumrah for them is notable.

The pitches have not overly favoured their spinners either, so the tourists have enjoyed playing on two high-scoring tracks so far. Virat Kohli’s men still have to be favoured, especially in Mumbai, but this could be yet another close match that the Windies batsmen could well shock them in if they do not improve their bowling.

India: Virat Kohli (C), Shreyas Iyer, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Shami, Shivam Dube and Manish Pandey.

West Indies: Kieron Pollard (C),

Brandon King, Lendl Simmons, Evin Lewis, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran, Denesh Ramdin, Jason Holder, Keemo Paul, Kesrick Williams, Fabian Allen, Sherfane Rutherford, Sheldon Cottrell, Khary Pierre and Hayden Walsh (Statzone)

Evin Lewis has shown good aggression against India in the first two matches (BCCI)

Torginol on board for Kennard’s Trophy Stall-Flying Ace Boxing Day horse-race meet cycling set for Sunday

F

or 35 years Torginol has stood beside the Kennard Memorial Boxing Day horse race meet.

In a p r e sent a tion ceremon y held

at

Justice Cecil Kennard

the Torginol Paints office in Industrial Estate, Ruimveldt, Georgetown, the local paint giant extended its sponsorship for the annual Boxing Day meet on Thursday, December 26 at the Kennard’s Memorial Turf Club, Bush Lot Farm, Corentyne, Berbice.

Speaking at the ceremony, Office Manager Ravi Brijnadan, who wished Justice (retired) Cecil Kennard and team success in the Boxing Day meet, stated that the relationship with the Kennard Turf Club was a longstanding one and would continue to grow in the coming years. Justice Kennard thanked Torginol for its efforts since the inception.

“Over the years, the sponsorship has been increasing and we are indeed grateful.

As we all know, without sponsorship, no sporting activity can be successfully promoted and this is very refreshing to have a big company as Torginol, who is a part of Continental Group of Companies, which has been generous to us,” Justice Kennard disclosed.

With the Ancient

County known for showing huge support to horse racing, Justice Kennard stated that he was expecting a large turnout for the upcoming Boxing Day meet.

“A lot of Guyanese who are returning for the Christmas holidays are expected to witness the event. Recently, we have spent over $7 million on the racing facility and presently, we are adding some finishing touches.”

Justice Kennard stated that for every event, they would be aiming to invest in the number one turf club in Guyana. “We are the only club with a double decker in the country,” Kennard noted.

He assured that the track was an all-weather one which would ensure horse racing enthusiasts get their money’s worth. He added that the washroom facilities would be upgraded to some 11 flush toilets.

Torginol is the main sponsor for the H Class & Lower race along with the winning trophy.

The Boxing Day meet will have seven events on the programme, and the penultimate event of the day which is the Metro Million Mile open to all horses will be the main event. This feature event will see horses run one mile and the top horse will be rewarded with $1 million along with a trophy. (Brandon Corlette)

Cycling Coach and organiser Randolph Roberts receiving the trophy from Trophy Stall representative, Ms Ameena

T

he Flying Ace Cycling Club of Berbice is set to host the Trophy Stall 40-mile road race on Sunday, December 15 from 09:00h.

Organised by Cycling Coach Randolph Roberts, the race is set to commence from Port Mourant at the gas station before heading to Number 51 Village, Corentyne and returning to the point of origin for the finish.

This race is open to Berbice cyclists only and three categories will be on show. The first five cyclists will be awarded prizes while the first three juveniles will be receiving awards. The other category of riders that will be on

show is the 12-14 BMX Boys who will ride for 20 miles from Number 51 to Port Mourant, following the seniors.

Eight sprint prizes will be up for grabs and the top wheelsmen will be gunning for supremacy. The likes of Flying Ace cyclist Balram Narine; Andrew Hicks; Andre “Padlock” Green; Trojans and national rider Curtis Dey; his teammate Ajay Goopilall, who is the 2019 National Junior champion; Ralph Seenarine and Mario Washington will all be on show this Sunday. This race is set to be the final one of 2019 in Berbice.

(Brandon Corlette)

wednesday, DECember 11, 2019

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

guyanatimesgy.com

West Indies and India battle in decider today Page 23

Page 22

Pompey Torginol onboard for elected Kennard’s Boxing Day horse-race meet President of the Panam Sports Athlete Commission Page 23

Torginol representatives along with Justice Kennard, who collected the championship trophy

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