Guyana Times Daily August 30 2017

US$49M road widening project commences P9 Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Issue No. 3317

PRICE

Botched East Coast robbery

$80 vat included

WHAT'S INSIDE:

Bandit shot dead, another injured

Lethem cattle thieves charged for raiding P8 ranch

Page 3

– dead bandit identified as ex-prison officer

Model Village houses handed over to owners Page 14

Recent “blackout” woes not due to sabotage – P11 PPDI

10% wage increase for Linden Council workers

P7

The duplex that Deborrah Wilson and Winston Persaud share. Inset, Minister Valarie Patterson handing over the key to Persaud

Plane crash over Mahdia

Body of pilot flown to City

Page 5

… family members hold private memorial service

Ex-Cop stands trial for allegedly harbouring prison escapees

Govt criticised for approving contract for blacklisted company P12 – TIGI says Cabinet, Public Health Ministry lapses ‘unacceptable’

Page 16

Bandits creating havoc in Berbice … break into Mosque, Mandir, Church at Gay Park

Page 5

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wednesDAY, august 30, 2017 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Wednesday, August 30 – 11:00h-12:30h and Thursday, August 21 – 12:30h-14:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Wednesday, August 30 – 10:15h-11:45h and Thursday, August 21 – 11:50h-13:20h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

WEATHER TODAY Weather: Thundery to heavy rain showers with sunny intervals can be expected throughout the day, while clear skies are expected in the evening. Temperatures are expected to range between 24 degrees Celsius and 30 degrees Celsius.

Winds: East North-easterly to South South-easterly and Easterly between 1.34 metres and 3.12 metres.

Botched East Coast robbery

Bandit shot dead, another injured – dead bandit identified as ex-prison officer

O

ne bandit is now dead while his alleged accomplice remains injured following a brazen daylight robbery attempt on a businesswoman on Tuesday morning at the Railway Embankment, Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara, in the vicinity of

High Tide: 10:33h and 23:00h reaching maximum heights of 2.11 metres and 2.13 metres respectively.

Low Tide: 03:59h and 16:27h reaching minimum heights of 1.02 metres and 1.14 metres respectively.

The dead bandit has been identified as Troydon Munroe

Ex-prison officer, Troydon Munroe

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the Giftland Mall junction.

Dead is 24-year-old Troydon Munroe, an ex-prison officer of East Canje, Berbice.

According to Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum, Munroe had been dismissed from the Prison Service after several breaches of the rules and regulations of the entity.

Guyana Times understands that at around 09:45h on the morning in question, a 42-year-old Interior Flight Services Supervisor and her security escort travelled to the Eugene F Correia International Airport to uplift a package containing valuables.

Reports indicate that as the woman, who was driving motor car PSS 664, approached the vicinity of the

Giftland Mall junction, a dark coloured vehicle drove into her path, blocking her.

Immediately after coming to a halt, two men, brandishing weapons exited the vehicle and pounced on the businesswoman.

However, Police say it appeared as though the perpetrators were unaware that the woman had a bodyguard accompanying her.

As such, it came as a shock when the armed security escort whipped out his weapon and fired several shots in the bandits’ direction.

Munroe reportedly sustained three fatal wounds as a result of the bodyguard’s retaliation. This publication was told that the 24-year-old collapsed in the middle of the road, unconscious.

His accomplice, who reportedly sustained one gunshot wound to his left abdomen, managed to flee the scene on foot, after the motorcar with which the duo arrived in, sped away almost immediately after the exchange of gunfire.

Police were able to apprehend the man believed to be Munroe’s accomplice, after officials from the Georgetown Public

Hospital reported that a 23-year-old resident of One Mile, Linden, had checked into the medical facility to be treated for a gunshot wound.

As such, the man was given medical attention under Police guard.

Munroe’s lifeless body was found by detectives near a .32 pistol along with three live matching rounds.

Investigations are ongoing.

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wednesDAY, august 30, 2017

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, sales@guyanatimesgy.com

Brother Bears

Confronting the enemies of society

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usiness persons were twice recently arrested and charged for shooting armed robbers who had attacked them. In Linden, a while ago, some residents beat a notorious bandit to death, and were charged for this act because it is alleged that they had used undue force in subduing the felon.

Several reports in the media have told stories of owners of licensed firearms shooting escaping robbers, and the bleeding hearts of the society have cried out for the blood of the firearm owners.

But where does one draw the line? In the seconds it takes to decide whether to attempt to foil a robbery or save a victim, or to allow perpetrators to escape with their booty after committing robberies and other crimes, there is scant scope for analysing the consequences of one’s actions, especially if the felons are armed.

Oftentimes, when someone has taken the meritorious action to save a victim from a criminal act, that person becomes the target of public outcry.

A few years ago, a thief chopped a schoolboy and stole his money and possessions. The police intercepted him, and he was shot in the process. He subsequently died, but not before being identified as one of the perpetrators of another robbery.

Thereafter, his mother and others began demanding justice for this individual.

So what about justice for the schoolboy and the other victims whom her son had robbed? Most likely she has enjoyed the spoils from the robberies he had committed. Did she ever stop to think of the victims?

Some of those who demand justice for bandits cornered and killed by the Police during armed confrontations are themselves victims of armed robbery. A number of innocent Guyanese have lost their lives at the hands of members of notorious criminal gangs. These criminals are like chickens coming home to roost, because thieves have no loyalty to “kith and kin”. They steal from anyone they consider easy prey.

Law-abiding Guyanese have to display courage to fight these criminals by whatever means possible, even if it is by providing information to law-enforcement officers so that criminal elements could be eradicated from society. However, the fear of police complicity in criminal activities is real, hence there has been spawned a distrust that prevents many from coming forward with information about criminal activities.

Instances are rife in downtown areas, especially in the vicinity of Bourda and Stabroek markets, where petty thieves who are well known to vendors and market constables lurk, and pounce on unsuspecting victims, snatching a cellphone, a chain, or other small properties of victims.

They escape and change the location of their activities. A day’s haul may net them a sizeable income, more than many lawabiding employees may earn in a month of earnest and honest labour.

These predators get away with their activities with impunity, because making a police report is often perceived as a timewasting and unfruitful exercise by most victims. Many petty thieves, encouraged by their successful forays, have over time graduate to armed robbery, and then to becoming gangmembers. It is not long before they begin to kidnap and murder, or invade homes and murder; and this cycle is a continuing trend currently escalating beyond manageable proportions in our society.

Several years ago, late Police Commissioner Henry Greene presented one Victor Wilson with a commendation and award for brave conduct in the face of danger during an armed robbery.

Wilson’s courage was instrumental in the capture of a bandit who had already robbed the business entity to which he was affiliated; and yes, we need such citizens with his daring and, even more, determination to confront the enemies of society. If communities band together to support their neighbours who are attacked, even under fire, the scourge of crime would eventually be eradicated.

This, however, has to go hand-in-hand with a responsible judicial system. Many decent police ranks are disheartened when they lay their lives on the line to capture a criminal, only to see that criminal walk away from court with a slap on the wrist or on minimal bail. But bandits have no loyalty, and until the requisite punishment is meted out, there will be many more attacks on just about anyone, such as that committed on a Magistrate and his wife.

Those witnessing crimes can provide information, even if they cannot physically restrain the perpetrators or publicly accuse or confront criminals. Whatever the constraint, whether it is fear or any other factor, we are all ultimately responsible for the type of society in which we live, and each of us can make a difference to the crime ratio.

Two bear cubs play in a forest of the Carpathian Mountains in Ukraine. National Geographic ‘Your Shot’ photographer Volodymyr Burdiak says he wasn’t expecting to see them emerge from the bushes, and he had only a few seconds to get this photograph before they ran back into the woods with their mother

Perceived bias in the award of Chevening scholarships Dear Editor, I was most disturbed when I read the recently published report on this year’s Chevening awardees and noted the racial imbalance in the chosen awardees.

Of 14 recipients, only 3 were Indian Guyanese. Those awarded scholarships this year are Kayla DeFreitas, Sanasha Perreira, Jason Fraser, Tiffany Daniels, Darcy Waldron, Michael Fraser, Lidon Charles, Joel Joseph, Jacqueline Major, Dillon Clarke, Jonathan Melville, Rovin Sukhraj, Gopnauth Gossai and Tricia Teekah.

The percentage has dropped from 2015, when there were 4 Indian Guyanese Chevening scholars from a batch of 12. In 2016, there was only one known Indian Guyanese awardee, in the person of Charles Ramson (jnr). In 2015 the awardees were Tiffany Castello, Mark Greene, Alicia Primo, Quincy Jones, Vivianna Critchlow, Abbygale Jeffrey-Alvin, Denise Jourdain, Cleveland Sullivan, Amir Dillawar, Omattie Madray, Dinesh Persaud and Vishal Persaud.

The trend shows a downward trajectory for Indian Guyanese recipients, there could be even a lesser number of Indian Guyanese represented in the next batch, or there could be none at all; and the merit-based approach seems to have disappeared since 2015. There is no shortage of Indian Guyanese applicants who would have graduated from every faculty at the University of Guyana and whose grade point averages (GPA) and post-degree work experience would have made them just as qualified as any other ethnic group for these awards.

Since the selected awardees are skewed to favour the representation of one ethnic group over another, this raises legitimate concerns about unfairness, inequality, and racial bias in the selection of the awardees.

According to the Chevening rules, every applicant has a right to equal treatment with respect to his/ her application, without discrimination because of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, family status or disability.

Scholarships are significant for reasons other than monetary value alone. Recipients of scholarships or awards have benefits in employment and access to post-graduate training. If any qualified Guyanese, no matter race, is unable even to fairly compete for the assistance that leads to these benefits, he or she is placed at a significant disadvantage.

The Chevening rules underline the very principles of fairness and just treatment which the British taxpayers expect of their Government.

Any situation that exposes what seems to be discrimination and prejudice would not be tolerated as acceptable, and would be questioned and thoroughly investigated in the UK. While the British Overseas Office peruses the applications and provides a shortlist of awardees, it is the responsibility of the local British High Commission to select the winners.

Scholarships or awards that favour a specific ethnic group with a few token others added for what may seem to be political correctness infringe on basic human rights, un-

less that specific ethnic group qualifies as a “special program” that is designed to achieve equality of opportunity, which is clearly not the case in Guyana.

I hope that, by highlighting what appears to be a clear prejudicial treatment that goes against the rules and the very spirit of the Chevening scholarships, the current trend will be corrected, and that Guyanese of every race, creed and gender will be provided just and equal treatment in the future, as per the Chevening rules.

Sincerely, R Majeed Background info as extracted from another secton of the media * 2017 Chevening scholarship Awardees.

Fourteen (14) Guyanese were awarded UK Chevening scholarships for Master’s degrees in various areas.

They are: 1) Kayla DeFreitas – MSc in Anthropology, Environment and Development; 2) Sanasha Perreira – MSc in Renewable Energy Development; 3 Jason Fraser – MSc in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship; 4) Tiffany Daniels – MSc in Systematic Reviews for Public Policy and Practice; 5) Darcy Waldron – MSc in Environmental Engineering and Project Management; 6) Michael Fraser – MSc in Communications and Signal Processing; 7) Lidon Charles – LLM in International Law; 8) Joel Joseph – MSc in Development Finance; 9) Jacqueline Major – MSc in Transport Planning and Engineering.

10) Dillon Clarke – MSc in Energy Studies with specialisation

in Energy Economics; 11) Jonathan Melville – MSc in Agriculture and Environmental Science.

1) Rovin Sukhraj – MSc in Global Health, Law and Governance; 2) Gopnauth Gossai – MSc in Petroleum, Energy Economics and Finance; 3) Tricia Teekah – MA in Public Policy 2015 Chevening scholarship Awardees. * In 2015 ,Twelve Guyanese have been awarded Chevening scholarships to pursue studies in the United Kingdom.

These were : 1) Tiffany Castello- LLM in International Human Rights Law at Brunel University; 2) Mark Greene- MSc in Civil Engineering at the University of Birmingham; 3) Alicia Primo- LLM in Law and Economics at University of Reading; 4) Dr. Quincy Jones- MSc in Health Policy, Planning and Financing at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine 5) Vivianna Critchlow – MSc in Hydrogeology and Water Management at Newcastle University; 6) Mrs. Abbygale JeffreyAlvin- MSc in Cardiology at Canterbury Christ Church University; 7) Ms. Denise Jourdain- MA in Childhood and Youth Studies; 8) Mr. Cleveland Sullivan- MSc in Computing at the University of Dundee 1) Amir Dillawar- MSc in Electrical Engineering and Renewable Energy Systems at University of Leeds; 2) Omattie Madray- MSc. in Conflict, Displacement and Human Security at the University of East London; 3) Dinesh Persaud- MSc in Web Technology from the University of Southampton; 4) Vishal Persaud- MSc in Energy and the Environment at the University of Leeds.

5 Bandits creating havoc in Berbice news

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… break into Mosque, Mandir, Church at Gay Park

BY ANDREW CARMICHAEL

B

andits over the past few weeks have forcefully made their way into three religious buildings at Gay Park, East Bank

Berbice, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) and took away valuable pieces of electronic devices, among other items.

The most recent incident occurred between Sunday night and Monday evening, at a Mosque at Gay Park.

During that burglary, entry

was made through an unsecured door. The perpetrator(s) climbed into the main part of the building which housed most of the valuable items belonging to the Mosque.

Imam of the Mosque, Boyie Mohammed, told Guyana Times that members would normally visit the building during the evening period, and on Monday afternoon when they did, they noticed something amiss.

“Things were not in place

as we would have left them the previous night and when we looked for the amplifier that we would use to call the Azam with, it was gone. We started to look around and then we realised that there

were other things missing.

The prayer mats, speaker boxes which we bought recently at very exorbitant prices for the benefit of the Masjid; even that was gone.”

The amplifier was secured in a grill cage and bolted onto the wall. The bolts were unscrewed and

Imam of the Providence/ Gay Park Mosque, Boyie Mohammed

the amplifier taken.

According to the Imam of the Providence/Gay Park Mosque, it is not the first time thieves broke into the building and stole items.

Back in 2002, a generator valued at close to $1 million was stolen along with

cooking utensils which were used for religious functions along with kitchen wear.

A man who resides a few houses away was arrested and placed before the courts for the crime but the case was subsequently dismissed for want of evidence.

“One time we would have bought material to do work on the Mosque and when we went back the next day all of the material gone. The surprising thing is that nobody knows anything; nobody sees anything. Nobody is willing to cooperate and this also happened at the Mandir that is close by and also with the Christian Church that is there… when you can go into a house of worship and steal, it means you have no fear of this world or fear of what will happen to you,” Muhammad added.

President of the Gay Park Mosque Feroz Jaffarally

Meanwhile, President of the Gay Park Mosque Feroz Jaffarally is appealing to the person/s who stole from the Mosque to return the items.

He related to this publication that all of the items stolen are used by worshipers on a daily basis.

M&CC needs to be audited

Dear Editor, I am bewildered as to why the Government of Guyana allows the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown to continually pile on more and more taxes, fees, and punitive fiscal measures against the citizens and

businesses whilst their accounting records and financial transactions have not been audited in more than two decades.

Every citizen knows that apart from the legal requirement of being audited each year, for which the Council is

in violation for decades, an audit is the only means through which an evaluation of the effectiveness of Council’s internal controls can be made.

Maintaining an effective system of internal controls is vital for achieving the city’s business objectives, obtaining

City Hall has disintegrated Dear Editor, Will this Administration and those in authority in Guyana wait until everything in Georgetown collapses totally before intervening and bringing a halt to the anarchy and madness that is prevailing at City Hall?

It is clear for all to see that the Council has disintegrated to a point where the basic functions and responsibilities of a municipal government are no longer being carried out.

The ‘Fantastic Four’ and their cohorts are so inept and ineffective that they are unable to collect outstanding property rates and other sources of revenue from delinquents, and instead continue to penalise law-abiding citizens who honour their commitments to the city with more and increased taxes.

This is just leading to widespread corruption and criminality.

The City has a Town Clerk who, in my opinion, is not fit and proper for the job, as he lacks the legal qualifications which are mandatory for the job. Further, he has reportedly refused to proceed on his leave, which he has accumulated over the years. This ought to be questioned by the Minister, since there is no Local Government Commission in place to do so.

In fact someone should say why this gentleman is not going on his leave.

The Council’s payroll -which is paid late to workers each month, including this month, when their poor workers are expected to kit out their children for school

-- is sagging under the weight of a bloated, top-heavy staff strength, which must have broken a world record for nepotism and cronyism.

At City Hall, the popular idiom obtains, “Too many chiefs, not enough Indians”.

There is urgent need for a cut in the workforce by at least 50%, done on a last infirst out policy which would address the friends and family employment malpractice that has been going on at the Council for the last two years.

City Hall is swimming in a sea of debt, with approximately one billion dollars owed to the Guyana Power and Light, over three hundred million dollars owed to

the garbage contractors, hundreds of millions owed to the Guyana Revenue Authority, National Insurance Scheme and the Guyana Water Inc. Is this not considered total failure, bankruptcy, a fiasco and an implosion?

Should the senior administrators at City Hall not be immediately removed and replaced with persons with greater competence and ability? Or are they waiting for a complete financial meltdown before doing so? One can only hope that the plan is not to use taxpayers’ money to give them another bailout

Sincerely, Nadine Jerrick

reliable financial reporting on its operations, preventing fraud and misappropriation of its assets, and minimising its cost of capital.

But apart from more revenue streams, allowing for increased likelihood of graft, corruption and mismanagement at the Council, it is creating untold hardship and considerable strain on the citizens and businesses at a time when there is a massive slowdown in economic activity in the city.

The latest act of unrestrained greed is the imple-

mentation of a special tax on the collection and disposal of refuse from businesses. This is in addition to other punitive initiatives such as the container tax, the across-theboard increase in property rates this year by a whopping 10%, hefty increase in market fees, new and increased fees for beauty salons and barber shops, and the infamous parking meter project etc.

Could the Mayor and City Council say exactly, in a detailed way, what property rates are collected for? The demand notice I collect each

year specifies the collection and disposal of solid waste as a line item under expenditure. But, then again, it is also supposed to be used for building roads and bridges, putting new street lights etc which are never attended to.

I predict that the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown shall be single-handedly responsible for the downfall of the business sector in the capital, which will be a tragedy.

Sincerely, Debra Gibson

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Foundation

– 3 important elements to healthy parenting

BY SARAH CHUA

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arenting has got to be the toughest gig on earth.

Sleep deprivation and fatigue in the early years of parenthood take a toll on us. It lingers as more babies come and grow, and after rearing babies, we battle

toddlerhood where they respond with tantrums, test our patience and push boundaries.

With older children, there’s the stress of getting them into the right school, their schoolwork and whether they are excelling. The list of parental stresses and challenges just never seem to end!

Recently, a video of a girl publicly caned by her parents was circulated online.

While I empathise with these stressed-out parents – who felt caning was the best way to convey their message to their daughter – it’s my belief that discipline should come from a place of love, instead of anger.

On the occasions when my husband and I responded to our children’s misbehaviour in anger by shouting at them and saying unkind things, we regretted it instantly. We’ve since learnt to step away from our children to calm down when they’ve pushed too many buttons and almost drove us insane!

Recently, our elder son bit his brother on the cheek because they were fighting

guyanatimesgy.com

over a toy. I was furious! Thankfully, my husband was around and he helped me to calm down by taking my elder son for a time out while I comforted my younger one.

Eventually, we calmed down as a family and talked through the incident.

We reminded our children of the family

rules –do not hurt yourself, others and things. Our elder son apologised to us and his brother and promised not to do it again.

Healthy parenting requires teamwork between husband and wife and we often remind each other that children do not misbehave for no reason. When our children misbehave, we take time to identify the cause and try to solve the root issue. Patiently doing so requires us to stay sane in this parenting journey, so these three elements have been helpful for us.

Healthy community = happy children We lived in Australia for over a decade before returning to Singapore in 2016. We relocated shortly after our second child arrived; the parenting challenges affected our emotional and mental wellness. Our families were thousands of kilometres away, unable to give us the support we sorely needed.

Since our return, our families’ help has

been such a reprieve. Be it a late-night medical emergency or last-minute need for childcare help, we know we can rely on our extended family for support. Our children are also happy to have regular playdates with their cousins.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it.

A side-note to family and friends who are thinking of birthday presents for the children – make it a gift of time by bringing them to the park or zoo. Your gift will be truly appreciated by the parents, who get a break, and the children, who get to spend quality time with you. Win-winwin!

Healthy parents = happy children You can’t take care of your children without taking care of yourself. It’s not selfish to prioritise self-care, especially those struggling with guilt when they want to take a “break” from their children.

I struggle with that too.

In the early days of first-time motherhood, I just made sure my baby was fed rather than feed myself. While the baby slept, instead of taking that much-needed rest, I would busy myself by cleaning the house!

I’m still learning to make time for myself regularly so that I can recharge and face the challenges of parenting with a renewed body, mind and spirit!

Fathers also need time for themselves, in the midst of providing for the family’s myriad needs. It may be some time out with friends or a long run after a day’s work; whatever the preferred manner of unwinding, spouses have to support each other in our time of need.

Healthy marriage = happy children The best gift you can give your children is a strong marriage. Our children thrive when they see their parents in a loving relationship. Many couples tend to neglect their marriage when the children arrive.

My husband and I were on survival mode when our first child arrived and our marriage took a hit. We were tired and

cranky a lot, and all we were concerned about was whose turn it was to feed the baby, change his nappy or do the chores.

We have since learnt to carve out time to talk about us and our marriage, not the children nor the house. Since returning to Singapore, we have gone on lunch dates and children-free holidays

because the children are with their grandparents!

Parenting is tough, but it can become more manageable and enjoyable when we surround ourselves with a supportive community, and take time to recharge and prioritise our marriage so that both of us stay strong as a team. (family.org.sg)

Cricket – a true unifier!

C

ricket in the Caribbean has a rich and complex history.

In Guyana, whenever cricket comes to Providence Stadium, it is as though life has been breathed into the country. Needless to say, cricket is far more than just a game.

Cricket can be regarded as a unifier in that it brings the Caribbean islands and Guyana together under the umbrella of the West Indies Cricket Team. Despite disputes amongst the islands, once the West Indies is playing a match, every country supports the team.

Cricket has, of course, evolved with the introduction of 20/20 matches and CPL, and in so doing has become an even stronger facilitator of Caribbean unity.

The Caribbean Premiere League encourages healthy competition among member countries, and even enables the exchange of cultures Ashley Anthony through sport tourism.

On a country scale, whenever there’s cricket, there’s a sort of peace. Guyanese of various socioeconomic backgrounds show up to rally for their home team, even if they’ve been on a losing streak. Whether it’s in the grass stand or presidential booth, you can be sure to see yellow shirts side by side, raising one voice of support for the Warriors. It’s a time when personal differences are set aside, and the only thing that matters is the experience of the game.

Cricket can also act as a unifier within the home.

Spending quality time together strengthens the relationships within a family. As it stands, there are few activities that can interest the whole family as a game of cricket. And as such, it is a wonderful way to get in that necessary family time in a way that pleases everyone. Cricket can also help to reunite estranged friends, and to reform bonds of camaraderie.

So often, when you go to a cricket game, you bump into someone you haven’t seen in a while, or someone whose number you’ve lost, or someone whom you haven’t been able to find on Facebook. You can catch up; and if things go well, even exchange contact information to meet up in the future.

Really and truly, cricket is more than just a game. It has made its home in the hearts of each and every Guyanese (in some small way), and it will continue in the future to be the bridge of connection between young and old, rich and poor, and Guyanese everywhere.

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wednesDAY, august 30, 2017 | guyanatimesgy.com

Plane crash over Mahdia

10% wage increase for pilot Linden Council workers

Body of flown to City … family members hold private memorial service

D

espite rough weather and harsh terrain, the body of Captain Imran Khan was recovered and flown to the city at around 08:00hrs on Tuesday. His family indicated that they would be having a private memorial service on Tuesday afternoon, and that details of his burial are yet to be sorted out.

The body departed Mahdia by an Air Services Limited Caravan for Ogle, and arrived at around 08:00hrs.

The GDF explained that, after feverish attempts, the rescue pilots were unable to have a visual of the extraction point, and the mission was put on hold late Monday afternoon.

An autopsy is expected to be performed to determine whether Captain Khan died on impact.

41-year-old Captain Imran Khan, a resident of the Essequibo Coast, Region 2, had been attached to Air Services Limited (ASL), and had been flying from Chi-Chi to Mahdia when the Cessna 206 (8R-GFM) aircraft went down on Sunday.

Flying solo, Captain Khan had reportedly been expected to arrive at

Dead: Captain Imran Khan

Mahdia at 08:47hrs, but had been a ‘no show’. An emergency locator transmitter (ELT) signal being emitted from the crashed aircraft and picked up at 09:08hrs was identified as coming from an area west of Mahdia.

A rescue operation involving the Guyana Defence Force’s 31 Special Forces Squadron was immediately mounted, but because of the mountainous terrain, search-and-rescue (SAR) operators had to trek to the crash site, where they found the lifeless body of Captain Imran Khan.

Preliminary reports suggest that the aircraft

may have crashed into a mountain before diving into the heavy jungle.

The aircraft is badly mangled, and it is believed that Captain Khan may have been pitched from the plane following the impact.

Due to the conditions of the terrain, the rescue team had to trek for approximately 3 hours, cutting through thick vegetation to reach the crash site from the landing zone.

The investigation by the Accident and Incident Investigation Group (AIG) will examine all possible circumstances that could have contributed to the occurrence of this latest accident, including weather conditions, pilot’s flight and duty hours, and the type of operations the pilot was conducting.

The Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Lt. Col. (ret’d) Egbert Field, has said that surveillance and inspection of air operators, aircraft and other aspects of aviation operations will continue with more frequency. He added that they would be meeting with domestic operators today to discuss safety among other issues.

(Lakhram Bhagirat)

M

ore than 100 workers of the Linden Mayor and Town Council (LM&TC) would each receive a 10 per cent wage increase, effective from September 1, 2017.

Linden Mayor Carwyn Holland is quoted by the Department of Public Information (DPI) as saying: “After many years, workers will now benefit from a 10 per cent increase in wages.”

The employees were unable to receive an increase earlier because of financial constraints on the municipality and because other

projects were being executed.

The salary increase for the workers will be paid across the board from September 01, 2017, and this would allow some categories of employees to receive the minimum wage.

Many of the municipal employees have been earning a mere $35,000 per month.

“Hopefully we can further make life comfortable for our 100-plus employees, with the increase being a start,” Holland has stated.

The Mayor says the wage increase is a move in the Mayor of Linden, Carwyn Holland right direction.

8 news

wednesDAY, august 30, 2017 | guyanatimesgy.com

IN THE COURTS

Lethem cattle thieves charged for raiding ranch

By Paula Gomes

T

wenty-year-old Qweson Frank, implicated in a raid on a ranch in the Rupununi from which cattle had been stolen, allegedly confessed to the crime and took the ranch owner to the area where the stolen cattle were being held.

Frank also allegedly named his accomplices while admitting that they had slaughtered one of the four appropriated heifers.

Frank was on Tuesday arraigned before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan alongside alleged accomplices Curtis Charles and Ivor Rodrigues, all jointly charged with simple larceny.

The charge they face allege that between August 21 and August 22, 2017, at Lethem in Central Rupununi, Region 9, they stole four head of heifers, cumulatively valued at $480,000, property of virtual complainant (VC) Walter Martin.

Charles and Rodrigues, represented by Attorney-at-

Law Tiffany Jeffrey, both entered not guilty pleas; and Frank, unrepresented in court, also pleaded not guilty, even though the Police have said he had earlier confessed to his involvement in the crime.

In a submission for her clients to be placed on bail in a reasonable sum, Jeffery told the court that Charles is eighteen years old and Rodrigues is a twentyeight-year-old father of two, both of whom are residents

of Tabatinga in Lethem.

According to Jeffery, Charles had previously been arraigned for a matter of a similar nature, but was never convicted; but Rodrigues was convicted for a similar offence, and was jailed for twenty months.

According to Police reports, three of the four alleged missing head of cattle were recovered.

The prosecutor objected to the defendants being placed on bail, contending

that they pose real flight risks. He disclosed that on August 21, 2017, at approximately 14:00hrs, the VC secured his ranch with thirteen (13) head of cattle, but upon checking the following day, he discovered four head missing. Shortly after, he received information from a source, leading him to make contact with Frank, who subsequently cracked under questioning and admitted to his participation in the incident, while incriminating the others in the process.

Following that exchange, the matter was reported to the Lethem Police, thus the men were arrested and charged with the present offence.

The Chief Magistrate placed each defendant on $60,000 bail, and transferred the case before the Lethem Magistrate for September 5, 2017.

Conditions of the bail stipulate that the men are to report to the Lethem Police Station once a week pending the outcome of trial.

Babita Sarjou murder PI wraps up – as Brazilian forensic expert testifies as final witness

By Paula Gomes

F

amily members of the late Babita Sarjou, and those of murder accused Sharnandand Narine, called “Anand,” and accomplice Darel Ponton, called “Yankee”, flocked the courtroom in anticipation on Tuesday, as Brazilian foren-

sic specialist Renato Teodoro Ferreira Paranaibo testified via a Skype video call before the court of Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Courts.

Paranaibo is a Brazilian Forensic Genetics Expert who has worked at the National Institute of

Sharnandand Narine

Darel Ponton

Criminalistics, Brazilian Federal Police, since 2003.

His testimony is based on the results of the DNA analysis from Sarjou’s remains which had been sent to Brazil to be tested.

However, the Internet connection was not very good, and proceedings were prolonged as Attorneys Ronald Trotman and Hubert Rodney sought to discredit the integrity of the evidence presented by the witness.

The attorneys had recently made submissions calculated to prevent the doctor from testifying. They had contended that the evidence was not being presented in court per se, but via Skype.

Narine and Ponton are presently on remand for the alleged murder of Babita Sarjou, then Narine’s estranged wife, some seven years ago.

On November 4, 2010, a day that would forever be remembered by Sarjou’s family, the now deceased woman had left her Timehri, East

Bank Demerara home to meet her husband and son at the Kitty Seawall, to view the annual Diwali Motorcade.

When she did not return home, her worried family had filed a missing person’s report, but after months of fruitless investigations, the case had been closed.

It was, however, reopened last May as a homicide by Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum after investigators had made a major breakthrough when ‘Yankee’ cracked under intensive interrogation and led police officials to the shallow grave in Narine’s backyard wherein Sarjou’s remains had been buried for six years.

“Yankee” reportedly confessed to committing the act for some $50,000 and a promised trip to Trinidad offered

by Narine, estranged husband of the deceased.

This matter continues on September 12, 2017 before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

Bringing it together…

W

…for togetherness

hile the move might’ve been forced by circumstances, the end result of combining the Ministry of Social Cohesion with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport is rather serendipitous.

Or maybe somebody up there is reading your humble Eyewitness. After all, just last week, he looked at the total togetherness of the Guyanese people - especially the youths - at the Warriors’ matches at Providence and suggested that the Ministry of Social Cohesion might learn a thing or two about its mission from Cricket Culture!!

And now - as they say, lo and behold!! - Social Cohesion’s been merged with Youth, Sport and Culture!!

And the fella at the helm’s the perfect man for the job… low-keyed; focused; and, not insignificantly, neither of Indian or African descent! One of the intractable impediments in Guyana’s progress - in any area of national life - is incumbent Ministers are supposed to have a more sympathetic ear to their “own” constituency. And in Guyana that’s always a zero-sum proposition, since each of the two major constituencies wants to always have it “their way”!

With Norton at the helm of Culture, and Amerindian Heritage Month nigh upon us, maybe at long last there will be some real focus on the Culture of the Indigenous peoples of this land. And maybe we’ll be able to cheer not just the Warriors at Providence Stadium, but the Original Warriors of Guyana, and forget our interminable squabble on the coast between African and Indian Guyanese.

Right off the bat, with global warming getting just the boost it needs for tipping us over into an era of raised sea levels by Donald Trump, it’s past high time (not to mention high tide) for us moving our capital from its rather precarious present perch six feet below the sea. Rupununi anyone? Hey, why not? The effort to construct a new capital should really make us “cohere” as a nation to service burgeoning Brazil. With the Georgetown-Lethem Highway, getting to our new capital should be no problem from the “Deep Water Harbour” that Georgetown will become!

Then there are the cultural aspects. Slavery and indentureship ruined our Afro and Indo citizens by forcing them to become mere automatons in the Western capitalist drive to extract profits from our land.

They live by the clock after all those lashes by drivers and overseers, and are made to feel guilty when they aren’t “producing”. Under the more laid-back culture of our original peoples, it’ll be “Hakuna Matata” all day!!

No worries; no fear!! Live in communion with Mother Nature; use just what we need to live, and just be happy!!

Your Eyewitness just hopes Minister Norton seizes the opportunity presented!!

...on natural catastrophes

Your Eyewitness has become transfixed with the unfolding tragedy in Houston, Texas, pounded by Hurricane Harvey. Such floods! Such destruction! Such drama!! Point of the matter is: Texas isn’t the only place inundated by record breaking floods. Earlier in the month, there were even more massive deluges in Nepal and Northern India, with hundreds dying and entire villages being washed away. Did we see them in such granular detail like we’re seeing the Texans, so we can empathise at a human level?

Not in this life!! Hundreds die in India and Nepalese floods and that’s a statistic…eight die in Texas, and that’s a tragedy inscribed on the conscience of the world. Now don’t get your Eyewitness wrong…even one death is to be mourned from a possible climate-related disaster.

But we have to wake up to our own responses, which are manipulated by those who control the media of the world.

Can we hope that President Trump might now wake up to the reality of global warming and its effects?

Not in this life!!

…for our Warriors

By the time you read this, dear reader, you’ll know the outcome of what was now “last night’s” game between our Warriors and the Tridents.

Victorious Warriors over Bent Tridents!!

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

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wednesDAY, august 30, 2017 | guyanatimesgy.com

US$49M road widening project commences – from Better Hope to Belfield

T

he China Railway First Group Company Limited on Tuesday commenced the Road Widening and Improvement Project aimed at widening and improving the stretch of road from Better Hope to Belfield, East Coast Demerara.

Works are being undertaken to the tune of US$46,995,941.34 with funding having been sourced through the Export-

improvement of the drainage system.

The project would also include installation of traffic signals and signs, road markings, sidewalks, and street lighting. Upon the project’s completion, road users will benefit from an upgraded roadway that allows for improved capacity and reduced travel time, better drivability, and safety improvements for motorised and non-motorised

sultation fees, according to the Public Infrastructure Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Geoffrey Vaughn.

He noted that, because of the delay, United Statesbased Sheladia Associates Consultancy firm increased its fee from US$1.9 million to US$2.3 million.

Last November, Government and the People’s Republic of China inked a US$45.5million

People’s Republic of China, Zhang Limin, inked the agreement. Works, including sand filling and removal of utilities, have already been done, ensuring that the project would not be delayed like the West Coast Expansion Project and the East Bank Demerara Road Improvement project.

The project is also expected to enhance local and inter-regional trade, since a significant part of Guyana’s economic activities rely on this thoroughfare.

Section of the Better Hope Public Road

State taking care of children rescued from abusive home

– father remains in Police custody

T

Flashback: Finance Minister Winston Jordan and outgoing Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China, Zhang Limin, signed the Framework Agreement for the East Coast Road Expansion Project in November 2016

Import Bank of China and the Government of Guyana.

This project, slated to last for two years, will see upgrade of the road include its being widened to four lanes from Better Hope to Annandale, and two lanes thereafter. There will also be extension and reconstruction of bridges, and

traffic.

The contract for the East Coast Demerara Road Widening Project was signed in 2013/2014 by the former administration, but it was not clearly laid out, which led to various issues in having the loan agreement inked. This caused a significant increase in con-

concessional loan for the completion of widening and other improvement of the road between Better Hope and Belfield on the East Coast of Demerara. Guyana has contributed $2.7 billion towards the project.

Finance Minister Winston Jordan and former Ambassador of the

he Department of Public Information has said that the three children who were rescued from their allegedly abusive home in Region Nine on Monday have been brought to Georgetown.

Medically examined, results have proven that the two girls have been sexually molested, but their male sibling was not sexually abused. Additionally, a 14-year-old female sibling who had relocated earlier in the year was also examined and found to have been sexually abused.

The children’s father has also been brought to Georgetown to further assist with investigations. The four children will remain in the state’s custody, but their 49-year-old father is in police custody.

The Child Care & Protection Agency

(CCPA) rescued the three children -- two girls respectively aged 12 and eight, and one boy aged eight -- from a home in which they had allegedly been sexually abused by their father.

Acting on reports made by village leaders, including school teachers in Quarrie, a satellite of St Ignatius Village in Region Nine, CCPA officials on Monday took the children from the home in which they resided with their 49-year-old father and carried them to the Lethem Police Station in an effort to have that entity assist with investigations.

The children allegedly told the Police that they had been abused physically. However, they did not say anything about being abused sexually. The father continues to be questioned by Police, and investigations are ongoing.

10 news

wednesDAY, august 30, 2017 | guyanatimesgy.com

Works for Bartica beach boulevard commence – Bartica Mayor B artica Mayor Gifford Marshall has said works have begun to transform the Golden Beach into a boulevard.

In a recent interview with the

Wedding cacophony

S

Golden Beach, Bartica

Mayor of Bartica, Gifford Marshall

Department of Public Information (DPI), the Region Seven Mayor said works are ongoing to renovate the beach area between Third and Fourth Avenues.

“That area is primarily where the regatta is kept, so persons coming to Bartica next year will think they are in some other place,” Marshall boasted.

The project, estimated at $40 mil-

lion, will see the beach front transformed with the installation of palm trees being planted and benches and solar powered lights being installed.

Six mini marts would be erected with the anticipation that different franchises will occupy the spaces, giving patrons a variety to choose from when they visit.

The beach boulevard is part of a wider waterfront development project being undertaken by the Bartica municipality. It is a collaborative effort between the municipality and stakeholders, and is expected to be complet-

ed by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, the Mayor has said that the community’s Green Park is slated for an official launch soon. Though the park is currently in use, there are still “corrective measures” to be carried out on the park’s fountain. “As soon as that is done we’re going to open the park,” the Mayor said.

Bartica, the flagship “green town,” is part of the Government’s push for a greener state. Guyana has embarked on a long-term initiative to green its economy, as strongly advocated by the President.

atiricus was exhausted. He shuffled into the Back Street Bar as if in a daze, as his buddies watched him anxiously. As he plunked down into his seat, they waved frantically to the waitress to bring a cold beer in the hope it could revive the clearly “out of it” Satiricus.

“Ah wha’ wrang, Budday?” asked Bungi solicitously.

“Yuh look like yuh bin a wuk a backdam fuh wan week!”

“Worse!” groaned Satiricus, as he downed the beer in one swig and signalled the waitress to bring another.

“So what is it?” queried Hari. “Your editor had you covering the Bangladesh and Australia match that ended at 2 in the morning?”

“Worse!” mumbled Satiricus between gulps of his second beer. “My neighbour’s daughter got married, and they’ve been blasting music for THREE NIGHTS IN A ROW TO 2 IN THE MORNING!” “Me hear am too,” said Bungi. “But me t’ink yuh bin like music?”

“I like music all right,” said Satiricus. “But not when it shakes my whole house! I haven’t slept in three nights!”

“But what about all the noise the police have been making about NOT making noise?” grinned Hari.

“Didn’t you call them to complain?”

“Police?!” snorted Satiricus so loudly his beer almost came through his nose. “The police were sporting more than my neighbours!”

“But wha’ yuh a complain about, Sato?” asked Bungi, not so sympathetically anymore. “Na ayuh custom fuh play music ‘fuh dig dutty’ day, weddin’ day and then ‘meat day’?”

“I know our weddings stretch over several days,” confessed Satiricus a bit defensively. “But I don’t think the custom was to blast the music to deafen people!”

“Customs change,” said Hari rather smugly. “You can’t stop progress!”

“OK fellas. But remember what the “mumma” pig said to her piglet when he asked why her snout was so long?” asked Satiricus.

“What?” said Bungi and Hari.

“You’ll grow it out!” smiled Satiricus. “Wait till YOUR neighbours have a wedding!”

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wednesDAY, august 30, 2017 | guyanatimesgy.com

Recent “blackout” woes not due to sabotage – PPDI

By Jarryl Bryan

U

tility companies are an essential part of everyone's dayto-day lives. These companies, after all, are responsible for the electricity we use, or communication or even the water we drink and use.

Which is why when they fail to deliver, there are serious repercussions in thousands of households.

Over the past months, however, there has been an inordinate amount of power outages or “blackouts” as we are accustomed to say, which the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) has had to explain to customers. These

over management of the Wärtsilä engines, Chairman Mark Bender said that this was not so.

According to Bender, PPDI as a company uses various methods to stave off such occurrences. He cited several examples, including a regime of checks and balances designed to weed out rogue employees.

“We have constant monitoring,” Bender explained to this publication. “We have training, constant assessment of workers. I mean it's a possibility, but I don't think it's something we consider a major weakness.”

With sabotage being ruled out, engine failures

There haven’t been any incidents with engine failure,” he had said, adding that questions regarding failures in GPL’s distribution network would be the responsibility of GPL. The officials acknowledged that both companies have a shared overall responsibility for ensuring a stable supply of electricity. In recognition of this, Bender had noted that technical experts from both sides have been meeting to iron out solutions.

“We don’t want to get into GPL’s domain. The two companies are joined at the hip. It’s one operation, but separate. We, just like GPL, have the same objective; to ensure a stable and reliable supply of electricity to the consumers,” he had said.

“GPL has certain responsibilities, we have certain responsibilities. But there is constant interaction between the two companies; there is a monthly joint operation meeting. There are constant discussions between the technicians.”

GPL

GTT’s fibre-optic cable

incidents appear to have intensified since the almost complete exit of Finnish company Wärtsilä from the market providing energy for GPL to distribute.

Power Producers and Distribution Incorporated (PPDI) is the company that took over where Wärtsilä left off. Asked whether there have been any incidents of sabotage since PPDI took

were also not being factored in. When this publication recently visited PPDI’s plants at Kingston and Vreeden-Hoop, Chief Executive Officer Aaron Fraser, related that there have been no engine failures that would have affected power generation and by extension, GPL. “The engines are actually more available this year than they were last year.

GPL Public Relations Officer, Shevion Sears, was recently asked about this possibility. However, she declined to comment, citing on-going investigations.

What GPL has commented on, however, is that several engines are down for maintenance, hence causing a power generation shortfall.

This was one day after GPL lost some 2.3 Mega Watts of power, due to a fire at the Onverwagt power station last week. According to information released by the

have struck GPL. Earlier in August, there was another fire at GPL’s Vreed-enHoop sub-station, resulting in power outages and a damaged transformer.

Only last month, after much outcry from citizens due to power outages, the company had stated that “a botched tree trimming exercise and a burnt jumper” were among the reasons for another spate of electricity woes.

GPL’s sub-station at Vreed-en-Hoop

company, the fire occurred at approximately 21:42hrs on Thursday last.

It is understood that a failed connecting rod on the Number 5 Unit punctured a block and resulted in the fire at the West Coast of Berbice sub station.

“The quick response of

the Guyana Fire Service averted major damage to equipment housed at the station,” a release from the company stated. “GPL is currently assessing the damages and an investigation will be conducted.”

It isn’t the first time that a fire and accident would

GTT

Nor are GPL customers the only ones at the mercy of saboteurs. Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GTT) has actually lived through these experiences.

Charges have in fact been instituted against those responsible.

TURN TO PAGE 13

12 news Govt criticised for approving contract for blacklisted company wednesDAY, august 30, 2017 | guyanatimesgy.com

– TIGI says Cabinet, Public Health Ministry lapses ‘unacceptable’

I

t was only last year that Trinidad company Western Scientific Company Limited was blacklisted by the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) for what the bank referred to as fraudulent practices.

That blacklist was to last from March 2016 to October 2020, but somehow, on August 18, the coalition Government announced its no objection to a $30 million contract for this very company to supply Sysmex reagents for the Ministry of Public Health.

In an interview with this publication, President of Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc. (TIGI), Dr. Troy Thomas, pointed out that the company being blacklisted by the IDB was reported on by local media.

Thomas stated that the public expects better when the high level at which cabinet operates is considered.

He stressed that the violations the company had been sanctioned for are the exact thing the Government should be opposing. According to

TIGI head, Dr Troy Thomas

Thomas, officials in the health sector ought to know the contractors in the field, if they indeed intend to look out for Guyana’s interest.

“They’re looking after the country, and if they don’t take that seriously then they are not fit for the job. So I don’t accept the excuse that they did not know. It should be known especially by people in the field,” he declared.

“It could be that they knew and decided to ignore (the blacklist). And it might be that they felt

that they were blacklisted by the IDB but not by Guyana, and maybe they see that as different.”

Regardless of these possibilities, however, the anti-corruption advocate stressed that the situation raises questions of how seriously the Government is taking the business of running such a critical sector as public health.

No objections?

Cabinet has been granting its ‘no objections’ to contracts awarded by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) on the presumption that it would act as a high level check and balance.

It is a practise that the constitution says should have stopped when life was breathed into the Public Procurement Commission (PPC). The PPC was established last year October. Its functions, as set out by the Procurement Act, include to “monitor and review the functioning of all procurement systems, to ensure that they are in accordance with law and such policy guidelines as may be de-

Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence

termined by the National Assembly,” Thomas said.

It is also tasked with promoting “awareness of the rules, procedures and special requirements of the procurement process among suppliers, contractors and public bodies;

referred to in subsection(1) which are pending.”

The members of the commission currently are Emily Dodson, Carol Corbin, Ivor English, Nandkishore Gopaul and Sukrishnalall Pasha.

When the commission was installed last year, President David Granger had said that it would take the brunt of work off the shoulders of Government Ministers. The Alliance For Change (AFC) has been vocal against Cabinet continuing this arrangement.

But even though the Commission had settled itself in, Government continued to grant its no objection to contracts. Asked about the situation earlier this year, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, had said the group has indicated that it is not in the position to begin its work.

Minister of State Joseph Harmon announced Government’s approval for the firm’s contract at a press briefing two weeks ago

role of the PPC is limited to approving the format of the streamlined report to be sent to Cabinet, and if all of section 54 (1) is to prevail, reviewing the

The members of the new Public Procurement Commission

and safeguard the national interest in public procurement matters, having due regard to any international obligations,” Thomas explained.

The Act also stipulates that “it will as well monitor the performance of procurement bodies with respect to adherence to regulations and efficiency in procuring goods and services; and execution of works, approve of procedures for public procurement, disseminate rules and procedures for public procurement, and recommend modifications thereto to the public procurement entities.”

Specifically, section 54(6) of the Procurement Act, Chapter 73:05 states, “Cabinet’s involvement under this section shall cease upon the constitution of the Public Procurement Commission [PPC], except in relation to those matters

“The Public Procurement Commission indicated that sometime in January they will be ready to execute their mandate.

Right now they are not ready because there are still some critical appointments to be made in the Commission, and therefore the role of granting no objections of contracts remains with Cabinet,” he told the media.

In an about-turn soon after, however, the PPC had indicated that a literal interpretation of the constitution does not allow it to take over the cabinet’s function in giving no objection to contractors. It had zeroed in on section 54 of the Act. “A literal interpretation of this section directs the immediate cessation of Cabinet’s role once the PPC is constituted. (It does not), however, provide for the PPC to take over that function from Cabinet. The

threshold of the value of contracts to be reviewed by the Cabinet,” it had said in a statement.

“Based on the foregoing, the Commission is not empowered by the Constitution or the Act to grant no-objection or to award contracts. The awarding of contracts is the responsibility of the Procuring Entities and the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board. These agencies are responsible for the public advertisements of contracts, evaluation of bids and ultimate approval and award of contracts.”

It would not be the first time the Ministry of Public Health has been in the limelight for its questionable procurement practices. A sole-sourced drug contract worth over $600 million for another Trinidad firm has had to be investigated.

news

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wednesDAY, august 30, 2017 | guyanatimesgy.com

Linden Town Week 2018 to be sub-franchised

– Mayor & Town Council

T

he Linden Mayor and Town Council has announced its intention to take the lead role in franchising the major activities for Linden Town Week 2018.

The Council emphasised that Linden Town Week is “far bigger than any stakeholder, promoter or investor, since it has grown to be the hallmark event of the town over the last 21 years.”

The Council has decided it is promoting full community involvement for 2018.

Devin Sears, Communications Committee Chairperson, told media operatives at a press briefing on Tuesday that the Council will not disenfranchise any stakeholder, but will only

be sub-franchising major events.

Sears explained that in July 2017, several promoters expressed their interest to franchise the event, including Vybz Entertainment, Linden Youth Leaders, Kashif and Shanghai Organisation, LGS Entertainment, Extra Beer and Energy, Concept Entertainment and Unique Entertainment.

However, he noted that the Council decided against granting sole franchise rights of the 2018 event. To allow for wider participation of interested parties, signature events will be sub-franchised through a bid process.

Recent “blackout” woes...

FROM PAGE 11

It was only recently that a man was caught and charged for the theft of GTT’s fibre-optic cable. Ricky Singh, 22, of Lot F Grove, East Bank Demerara (EBD) appeared before Magistrate Annette Singh and denied being the vandal.

The charge against him alleged that between July 22 and 24, 2017, at Soesdyke, Linden, he vandalised and stole a fibre-optic cable belonging to GTT. Singh pleaded not guilty to the charge and was granted bail in the sum of $350,000.

During the month of July, criminally minded persons had launched an attack on the company, with over 10 cases of sabotage on its cables being recorded within the month. As a result of the vandalism, Linden, Ituni, Kwakwani, Mabura, Mahadia, Troy Mining and Bartica communities were affected. On July 24, GTT workers discovered that the company’s Blaze fibre-optic cable at one location was sabotaged just one day before it was launched

and in February, similar acts of vandalism were carried out when the company had just launched its high speed LTE broadband in Essequibo. The company’s estimated losses amounted to some $50 million.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GTT, Justin Nedd had dubbed the attacks a destruction of GTT’s communication infrastructure by persons who had clear motives. He even called on the Guyanese populace to lend their assistance in aiding the capture of the person/s involved, offering a $10 million reward for same.

“This is being done by people who know what they are doing. This is an attack on the people of Guyana and I want to say that this is an attack of 22,000 households that we will bring 50 megabits per second internet speed to in 2017” said Nedd.

Telecommunication’s Minister, Cathy Hughes had also called the situation sad and disclosed that the perpetrators when found will face the full brunt of the law.

Members of the Linden Mayor and Town Council at a press briefing on Tuesday

“What we had done, we explored various models in terms of, if we are going to franchise it out, or if the Town Council is going to run it through the Linden Town Week Secretariat,” Sears explained. He also told reporters he believes “with more involvement from all the promoters in the community, Linden Town Week will reach its full potential.”

Keran Williams, Chairman of the Social

Development Community, explained that previous Linden Town Week events were executed under three main models, these included the Linden Municipality, Linden Town Council and promoters and private stakeholders.

However, for 2018, the Council has a new focus for the Town Week event, “Over the years all those models have had their success… but one of the major pillars

of this year’s decision for Linden Town Week 2018 will be the pillar of ‘inclusion’. Inclusion continues to be the focus of this municipality,” Williams was quoted as saying by the Department of Public Information.

According to the Chairman, all Lindeners, partners and stakeholders will be afforded an equal opportunity to actively participate in the process.”

“As we examine the vi-

sion; we think most persons share a vision that Linden Town Week has the potential to be the greatest socio-cultural activity in Guyana,” he opined.

Linden Town Week 2018 will be a combination of cultural expositions, fetes and trade. It is slated to last for 10 days from April 22 to May 1, 2018.

The event will be officially launched in November of this year.

14 news

wednesDAY, august 30, 2017 | guyanatimesgy.com

Model Village houses handed over to owners … additional homes being constructed, infrastructural works ongoing

By Lakhram Bhagirat

T

he Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) on Tuesday handed over the keys to the owners of the homes in its Model Village at Perseverance Housing Scheme, Providence, East Bank Demerara. The model houses were constructed for the CH&PA’s Housing Solutions Housing Expo in May.

Winston Persaud, expressed their satisfaction with the units and noted that they are in the process of making minor modifications and installation of electricity before they move in.

The residents of the Model Village cannot make any exterior changes to the homes until after five years. The residents were also called upon to work with the Community Development Department at

The duplex that Debra Wilson and Persaud share

Wilson and Persaud paid $6.8 million for their homes.

Keys were also given to Gary Rowe and his family, who will occupy the $7 million single elevated home.

Minister Patterson said they are currently doing road works within the scheme and added that they are also in the process of constructing 20 three-bedroom houses in the area.

“We are going to build 40

$300,000 being cost of land,” Minister Patterson said.

She urges interested person to visit the CH&PA Brickdam Office next Tuesday and Wednesday, where they would be able to prequalify for the 40 duplexes so they could be able to source financing. She added that they are also in talks with the financial institutions to be more lenient with persons applying for loans to build or purchase homes.

is currently in China where they are testing conductors for the electrification programme at Farm, Eccles, Peters Hall and Barnwell on the East Bank of Demerara.

The CH&PA said they are aggressively pursuing the programme and have already begun the infrastructure and preparatory works.

“Already the poles are on the ground and the CEO and other technical staff are in China and they are doing

flat concrete duplexes right here at Perseverance. It is going to be like three feet off the ground, land clearing is already in progress and that total construction cost will be like $540 million. This project of the 40 duplexes we are very hopeful that it would conclude by the end of December this year. Each apartment would be a total of $7.1 million - $6.8 million for the apartment and

Minister Valarie Patterson handing over the key to Deborrah Wilson

Minister Valarie Patterson handing over the key to Winston Persaud

Minister within the Communities Ministry, Valerie Patterson, handed over the keys on site to the new owners and urged them to preserve it, while noting that their homes would be the center of attraction for a long time.

The homeowners, Deborrah Wilson and

Some 758 units of 530 duplexes and 228 town houses will be built under this Government, to maximise land use and increase affordability, while building cohesive communities in 10 locations across six regions.

Additionally, the Chief Executive Officer of the CH&PA along with a team

the CH&PA to form a home owners association within the Perseverance Housing Scheme.

Forty-six-year-old Wilson said she had been waiting 24 years to own her own land and home, and was elated to be afforded the opportunity to be a resident in the Model Village. Both

Road works currently ongoing in Perseverance Housing Scheme

the testing of the conductors and immediately after that is approved they will be shipped to Guyana. We already have the transformers and cable on their way to Guyana (from Colombia).

We don’t want to have defective equipment coming here,” the Minister, informed.

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wednesDAY, august 30, 2017 | guyanatimesgy.com

Increases in ‘bad loans’ troubling for economy – analyst – says asset quality of banking sector vital to economy

By Samuel Sukhnandan

G

iven the reported deterioration in non-performing loans in the local banking sector, when compared to last year, a Guyanese financial analyst says it tells a bad picture that things are not going right in the local economy and the banking sector is performing poorly.

In citing the recent Bank of Guyana 2017 Half Year Report, Sasenarine Singh said the Central Bank recorded 12.6 per cent or $3.4 billion deterioration in non-performing loans com-

pared to a year ago. This is 11.6 per cent of total loans.

In addition to that, non-performing loans was 10 basis points higher as a result of the 1.1 per cent decrease, along with a 1.5 per cent contraction in total loans.

The financial analyst told Guyana Times on Tuesday that the coalition Government’s performance has been very poor and he hopes they will pull their act together and work towards putting the economy back on a path of sustainable five per cent growth and build one that can protect the financial sector.

“Everyone suffers when the banking sector is underperforming. The banking sector is underperforming as we speak. 12.6 per cent increase is significant over one year. On average most societies in normal times see two to three per cent deterioration in bad debts,” he explained.

Singh said everyone must also acknowledge that the bad loans at the end of June, 2017 was almost $30 billion and the possibility of these loans being repaid is extremely slim. But another issue is in addition to businesses not being able to re-

pay their loans, the banks saw the bad debts by ordinary householders expanding by 24 per cent.

“In addition to businesses being unable to pay some of their loans, the ‘ordinary John’ who borrows on a car, mortgage or medical emergency, these guys are falling behind on their payments.

So the expansion of the bad loans is nothing to celebrate,” the analyst added.

The former Alliance For Change (AFC) member stressed also that the “asset quality of a banking sector is everything in an economy,” and that it gives a

Financial analyst, Sasenarine Singh

clear indication as to the financial viability of the economy in the present as well as what is going to happen next year.

According to him, around the world, the ratio of non-performing loans to the total loans is tracked closely by every single country, reiterating that this performance is a major issue.

Bad loans are defined as those loans which the borrowers cannot make interest payments or principle payments over 90 days. And according to Singh, this is not someone making a part payment; these are business people and individuals not repaying a single cent on their debts for 90 days.

The financial analyst who is currently based in the United States told Guyana Times also that five

years ago, the percentage point when it comes to deterioration of non-performing loans has always been within the bracket of five to six per cent, but this figure has now doubled under the current Government.

Asked whether this should be a cause for worry among those in the local banking sector, Singh said while that might not be the case, bankers may worry about what is taking place in the economy that is causing businesses and individuals not to repay their loans.

“At the end of the day, the bankers are instructed by the Central Bank to provide for it. So, they have to put aside money. The only thing about it is that the banker’s profitability will go down significantly. We have also seen this with one bank. So, when bankers are making less profit it is not good for Guyana.”

On that note, Singh pointed out that banks are one of the largest contributors of taxes to the Treasury.

“The greater their loss, the less their profits and that means less taxes are paid to the Government. So the people of Guyana will have less benefits coming from Central Government,” he said. He continued, “What is extremely important is these bad loans do impact on everyone.”

2 teenagers remanded over NA gas station robbery

By Andrew Carmichael

T

wo teenagers were on Tuesday remanded to prison by Senior Magistrate Alex Moore after they admitted that along with others, they used a firearm and cutlass to rob a gas station in New Amsterdam, Berbice.

The teenagers, along with three others, including a fifteen-year-old, appeared before Magistrate Moore in a New Amsterdam Court on an armed robbery charge.

A 16-year-old (name withheld) of Ogleton Dam, Angoys Avenue; and Ivan Sinclair, 18, of New Amsterdam pleaded guilty to the charge which stated that on Saturday August 19, at Main and King Streets, while being armed with a dangerous weapon, which is to say a firearm and an offensive weapon, they robbed Prakash Seenarine of $140,000, property of Feroz Ally.

The two, along with three others – a 15-year-old old (name withheld) of Savanna Park, New Amsterdam; Raymond Samaroo, 22, of Ogleton Dam, Angoys Avenue and Delon Johnson of King Street – are jointly charged with the offence and pleaded not guilty.

The 15-year-old,

Samaroo and Johnson were granted bail in the sum of $75,000 each, while Sinclair and the 16-year-old who pleaded guilty have been remanded.

They will all have to return to court on October 2 when the Police are expected to make a disclosure.

Police Prosecutor, Inspector Godfrey Playter told the court that on the day in question, at about 20:15h, three men approached Seenarine who was one of two attendants at M Ally Gas Station situated at Main and King Streets.

One of the men held a gun to Seenarine while another took away the money which he had in his hand and made good their escape. However, surveillance footage of the robbery was provided to the Police and the suspects were arrested.

Meanwhile, Police had issued a release stating that gas station employees Prakash Seenarine, 32, and Darren Reddy, 21, were attacked and robbed while on duty at their place of employment at Main and King Streets. Based on reports received, the two employees were pounced on by two armed men while another accomplice was seen “keeping watch” on King Street, the Police had stated.

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News

Ex-Cop stands trial for allegedly Former T&T Attorney harbouring prison escapees General arrested

C

harges were laid against a former Police Officer on Tuesday, as he stood trial for harbouring the masterminds responsible for the Camp Street Prison unrest, while the two high-profile criminals are still on the run.

Ex-Cop, 31-year-old Teon Allen, appeared before the Linden Magistrate’s Court and pleaded not guilty to the charge of harbouring fugitive criminals Mark Royden Williams and Uree Varswyck – the duo who almost entirely destroyed the Camp Street Prison on July 9, in their plot to escape.

Ex-cop, Teon Allen

mation that he was seen in the presence of the wanted criminals.

In fact, sources have confirmed that the ex-Cop is a known confederate of escapee Varswyck, dating back to their shared time as ranks of the Guyana Police Force.

Moreover, it was highlighted that earlier this year, Allen and two other men were charged with the illegal possession of an AK47 and matching ammunition. Previous reports revealed that on January 22, he was found with an AK-47 assault weapon, 80 rounds of live ammunition and a 9mm pistol at John Street,

Meanwhile, still on the run are three inmates who escaped the Camp Street inferno and an addition one who subsequently dug his way out from the Lusignan holding compound.

The wanted men are Mark Royden Williams, also known as “Smallie”; ex-Policeman Uree Varswyke; Cobena Stephens; and Paul Goriah respectively, all of whom were locked away for murder.

Durant is currently on death row for both the Lusignan and Bartica massacres, while Varswyck was fingered in the robbery/murder at Sterling Products Limited.

Uree Varswyke

Mark Royden Williams

Cobena Stephens

Paul Goriah

According to information reaching Guyana Times, Allen of Lobora Creek, Essequibo River, reportedly confessed to detectives of the Major Crimes Unit, stating that he pro-

vided meals and transportation to Guyana’s most wanted men, following their prison break from the Camp Street penitentiary.

Allen was taken into custody just one week ago after Police received infor-

Campbellville, Georgetown.

With that, the accused has been remanded to prison and is scheduled to re-appear in court on September 28, when the trial will continue.

As such, the Guyana Police Force has issued a $10 million bounty reward for information that will lead to the re-capture of the four, who are now Guyana’s Most Wanted men.

I

n an unexpected turn of events former Trinidad and Tobago Attorney General Anand Ramlogan was arrested and taken to Police headquarters for interrogation on Tuesday morning.

According to the Trinidad Guardian newspaper, around 06:00h, Police Officers led by Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Harold Phillip went to Ramlogan’s home where they informed him he was under arrest for two offences – misbehaviour in public office and perverting the course of justice. Hours after his arrest, several of Ramlogan’s colleagues in the legal fraternity ventured to the station to support their colleague.

But they were not allowed access.

The Trinidad Guardian reported that a group of four lawyers arrived at the station and spent around 45 minutes before exiting and speaking to the media.

While being interviewed by reporters, the attorneys were called by Police.

They went into the building and when they excited, they quickly left the scene.

The investigations reportedly relate to witness tampering allegations levelled against Ramlogan by Police Complaint Authority (PCA) director David West two years ago.

Former Trinidad and Tobago Attorney General, Anand Ramlogan

West had alleged that Ramlogan called him days before his appointment to the PCA and asked him to withdraw as a witness in a matter involving then Opposition Leader, Dr Keith Rowley. Ramlogan has vehemently denied the allegation.

However, Acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams launched investigations into the matter in January 2015.

Several former Government officials under the People’s Partnership administration led by Kamla Persad Bissessar have already been questioned by Police in the high profile case.

(Excerpt from Caribbean360)

Sri Lanka’s Ambassador $72M project to relocate Broad and Lombard Streets squatters commences to South America wanted for war crimes

M

inister with responsibility for housing, Valarie Patterson, said a $30 million contract has been awarded for the infrastructural works at Barnwell North on the East Bank of Demerara so that the Lombard and Broad Street Squatters relocation project can get underway.

“We are investing $30 million in the infrastructure, we have to do the roads and put water and electricity in… a contractor, Ivor Alleyne, has been hired and works are ongoing,” the Minister said.

The Department of Housing in collaboration with Food For The Poor (FFTP) would be constructing 72 homes for squatters in the Lombard and Broad Street area.

Minister Patterson said the Government would be matching the $42 million contribution by FFTP but noted that President David Granger is not pleased with the current model of the houses. She said taking that into consideration, the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) would be making slight alterations to create

more space by adding a back patio and a shaded verandah to the houses.

“President Granger is not satisfied with the model of the Food For The Poor houses so CH&PA will be

squatters from Sophia, East and West Ruimveldt as well as other central locations.

Each home is expected to cost $1.2 million and Minister Patterson said they are working out a plan

The squatting area at Broad and Lombard Streets, Georgetown

putting additional money in, slightly adjusting Food For The Poor model. We are putting a patio at the back and verandah with cover at front,” she said.

This relocation is part of the Ministry’s efforts to combat squatting across the country. According to Patterson, the Ministry’s focus at this time is Georgetown, where efforts are being made to relocate

with the prospective owners for them to stand the cost of water meters among other things.

The squatting area came to public attention after former Social Protection Minister Volda Lawrence, led a team from the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to the area as part of their first country visit to Guyana.

“During its visit to the

neighbourhood of Lombard Street, the IACHR delegation was shocked by the extreme poverty and precarious living conditions of its inhabitants. The community comprises approximately 40 adults and 80 children with clear housing, sanitation, and health problems, as well as limited work opportunities and scant social services provided by the State,” the IACHR said in a statement following the visit.

Earlier this month, Minister Lawrence visited the area to sort out some issues and expressed the desire to have 56 turnkey homes built for the residents. However, Minister Patterson said if Government gave the residents land, then they would just move their shacks to the plot of land thus creating another shantytown.

Some 68 adults and 100 children are living in the area under severe poverty.

It was highlighted that most of the residents there live under severe poverty and are unemployed. The land belongs to a private individual, who has been granted a judgment against the squatters in the High Court.

H

uman rights groups have filed lawsuits in Brazil and Colombia against Sri Lanka's ambassador in Latin America, accusing him of war crimes. Former general Jagath Jayasuriya was a commander in the final stages of the civil war with separatist Tamil rebels in 2009.

Tens of thousands of Tamils - and the rebel leadership - were killed at the end of the conflict, in which both sides were accused of atrocities. Human rights groups have long called for prosecutions but there have been none so far.

What is Jagath Jayasuriya accused of?

Sri Lanka's ambassador to Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Argentina and Suriname was in charge of troops in the North-East of the island who are alleged to have attacked hospitals and abducted, killed and tortured thousands of civilians.

As a diplomat he enjoys immunity but the International Truth and Justice Project, which

brought the case, wants him expelled and his conduct investigated.

"In the pivotal period between 2007-2009 he was really in charge of what was happening in the Vanni area," lawyer Yasmin Sooka of the International Truth and Justice Project told the BBC's Newshour programme.

"The UN inquiry found that the army certainly didn't maintain the distinction between civilians and combatants, and they also violated the law on the question of proportionality. In the last months of the war hundreds of thousands of Tamils ended up trapped on a tiny strip of land.

"What was really awful was the perfidious conduct in putting people into no-fire zones and then shelling and bombarding them, which is why you have such a huge loss of life," Sooka said.

Lawsuits are also due to be filed in Peru, Chile and Argentina, according to the group. (Excerpt from BBC News)

wednesDAY, august 30, 2017

guyanatimesgy.com

17

Around the World

4 children swept to their deaths with great- China: Korean grandparents while fleeing Harvey flooding tensions at

O

ne Houston family lost six of its members when Harvey's historic flooding swept away four children along with their great-grandparents.

The unthinkable happened Sunday when family members say Sammy Saldivar attempted to drive his kids and grandparents to safety as floodwaters raged around their Harris County home.

After borrowing a van from a family member, Sammy was driving them over a bridge when the water overtook them. "The water picked the van up, and it was just floating after that," family member Ric Saldivar told KTRK. "It went head first in, and water came in real fast."

Panicked, Ric said Sammy was able to unbuckle his seatbelt before pulling himself out a window. He saved himself by grabbing a tree branch. Sadly, not everyone was as lucky.

Devy Saldivar, 16;

'tipping point'

C

Devy Saldivar, 16; Dominic Saldivar, 14; Xavier Saldivar, 8; and Daisy Saldivar, 6, likely perished along with their great-grandparents

Dominic Saldivar, 14; Xavier Saldivar, 8; and Daisy Saldivar, 6, likely perished along with their great-grandparents.

Ric said Sammy watched, horrified, as the van sank and was swept away before his family was able to climb

British princes mark anniversary of Diana's death with low-key tribute

out.

"That keeps playing in his head," Ric said. The dentist who employs the children's family member, Esmeralda, who is a dental assistant, started a GoFundMe page to help benefit the grieving family.

Dr Terri Alani has worked with Esmeralda for about five years and says the whole office is devastated.

"We are all in a group text," Dr Alani told InsideEdition. com. "I said 'Who's gone?'

She writes: They died." (Excerpt

from Yahoo! News)

hina has warned that tensions on the Korean peninsula have reached a "tipping point" after North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan, a move Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe described as "unprecedented" and a "grave threat" to his country's security.

Hua Chunying, spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry, urged all sides on Tuesday to avoid provocations, repeating Beijing's call for Pyongyang to suspend missile tests, while proposing that the United States and South Korea China halt ongoing joint military exercises.

The situation is "now at a tipping point approaching a crisis. At the same time there is an op-

portunity to reopen peace talks", Hua told reporters in Beijing. "We hope relevant parties can consider how we can de-escalate the situation on the peninsula and realise peace and stability on the peninsula," she added.

Hua said "time has proven that pressure and sanctions cannot solve the root of the problem", and that the only way to solve the standoff is by addressing legitimate security concerns through dialogue.

In the early hours of Tuesday, North Korea fired a mid-range ballistic missile designed to carry a nuclear payload that flew over US ally Japan, and splashed into the northern Pacific Ocean. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Barcelona attackers' suspected supplier arrested in Morocco

M

oroccan authorities have arrested a man suspected of supplying gas canisters to a jihadist cell that carried out a double attack in Catalonia earlier this month that killed 16 people, a source from the Spanish investigation said.

The cell accumulated around 120 canisters of butane gas at a house in a town south of Barcelona with which, police say, it planned

to carry out a larger bomb attack.

Police believe the cell accidentally ignited the explosives on Aug. 16, the eve of the Barcelona attack, triggering a blast that destroyed the house in the town of Alcanar.

The remaining attackers then decided to use hired vans to mow down crowds along Barcelona’s most famous avenue and later

mount an assault in the resort town of Cambrils.

Moroccan police arrested the man in the city of Casablanca, the source said, without giving further details. Spain’s interior minister, Juan Ignacio Zoido, said on Tuesday that Moroccan authorities had arrested two people linked to the attacks but declined to give details about them.

Spanish news agency

EFE said the second man was arrested in the city of Oujda and was a relative of one of the members of the Barcelona cell. The source did not confirm that.

Zoido, speaking after a meeting with the Moroccan interior minister in Morocco’s capital Rabat, said Spanish and Moroccan authorities were working closely together in the investigation. (Excerpt from Reuters)

African, European leaders agree action plan on migration crisis Flowers and tributes in memory of the late Princess Diana are placed on the gates of her former residence Kensington Palace in London, Britain, August 29, 2017

P

rinces William and Harry will pay tribute to their mother Princess Diana on Wednesday, a day before the 20th anniversary of her death.

They will meet representatives of the charities Diana supported at Kensington Palace, their current home and where their mother lived until she was killed in a car crash on Aug 31, 1997.

Two decades later, Diana is once again front page news. Fresh revelations about her life and a raft of TV documentaries have sprung up around the anniversary.

William and Harry contributed to some of the documentaries to honor her memory but are otherwise marking the occasion more discreetly than in previous years. On Thursday, they will reflect on their moth-

er’s life in private.

The day before, they will take a tour of one of Kensington Palace’s public gardens, transformed temporarily in memory of Diana. White English roses and forget-me-nots were planted in the area, renamed the White Garden, in tribute to the princess.

The palace’s head gardener and a gardener who knew Diana from her frequent visits to the spot, usually known as the Sunken Garden, will explain the design and point out some of the princess’s favourite plants.

Outside the palace, Britons left flowers of their own on Tuesday.

Photographs and messages had been attached to its front gates as the public paid their respects, although in far fewer numbers than immediately after her death. (Excerpt from Reuters)

S

even African and European leaders have met in Paris to try to build a new relationship aimed at cutting migration into Europe from northern Africa in return for aid.

On Monday, the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Spain agreed to help Chad and Niger with border control to stem the flow of migrants through Libya and across the Mediterranean.

The EU has struggled to agree a coherent solution to the influx of people fleeing war, poverty and political upheaval in the Middle East and Africa, and the crisis is testing cooperation between member states.

Emmanuel Macron welcomes the president of Chad, Idriss Déby Itno, at the Élysée Palace

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, who hosted the meeting, said afterwards that the issue was a “problem that concerns us all and that cannot be

solved without us all”.

Sitting alongside the leaders of the six other countries, Macron added that the migration crisis was a “challenge for the

European Union and the African Union” that needed to be approached with “solidarity, humanity and efficiency”.

He added the seven leaders had agreed a “short-term plan of action” that would address as a matter of urgency the people-smugglers who he said had turned the Mediterranean into a “cemetery”.

The mini-summit in Paris provided a chance for the major European powers to coordinate their Libyan policy after individual countries, especially France and Italy, started to mount separate initiatives to create political unity in Libya. (Excerpt

from The Guardian)

India Islamic schools to teach "correct" way to divorce

A

major Islamic body in India will teach Muslim boys the "correct" way to divorce according to Islamic law.

The Dargah-E-Ala Hazrat, which controls 15,000 madrassas or Islamic seminaries, announced the

decision following a court order banning instant divorce.

Islamic scholars have argued that instant divorce is not in accordance with Islamic law.

A senior cleric from the body said they would introduce a chapter dedicated

to divorce. The seminaries' curriculum, which revolves around the Koran and Islamic law, already touched upon divorce, but not in great detail.

"We conducted a meeting of clerics associated with madrassas after the Supreme Court's order and have urged

them to inform the community through students and in their Friday prayers about the correct ways of undergoing talaq," Maulana Shahbudin Razvi, a senior cleric from the centre, told BBC Hindi's Samiratmaj Mishra. (Excerpt from BBC News)

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ARCHIE

ARIES

Make travel plans or sign

(March 21- up for an event that explores April 19) the latest updates regarding

one of your interests. Trade shows, conferences or personal improvements are all highlighted.

A chance to get ahead fiTAURUS nancially will be within (April 20- reach. An unexpected source May 20) will help you gain access to helpful information. A gift will take you by surprise.

dilbert

Don’t let anger take conGEMINI (May 21- trol. Keep busy with projects June 20) that will bring you the most satisfaction and new opportunities. Trust in your talent and ability, not in someone else’s.

CANCER (June 21July 22)

Peanuts

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

Calvin and Hobbes

A job prospect will be misrepresented. Before you make a commitment, find out exactly what the job entails and how much you’ll be paid.

Don’t work for nothing.

Work hard, play hard and share your feelings and ideas with the people you respect and care about most. Change is heading your way, but it’s up to you to navigate what transpires.

Try to resolve any unVIRGO finished business. Positive (Aug. 23change can be made if you Sept. 22) are willing to do things a little differently. Don’t let stubbornness stand between you and success.

Pitch in and do your fair LIBRA (Sept. 23- share. Your contribution will Oct. 23) give you a sense of belonging and satisfaction. Taking short trips and reconnecting with old friends are highlighted.

WORD GAME

SUDOKU

Concentrate on getting SCORPIO ahead. Taking on a new job (Oct. 24or project or putting in exNov. 22) tra hours will pay off. Make things happen. Your contributions will be recognized.

Concentrate on inner SAGITTARIUS strength and outer beauty.

(Nov. 23- Meditating and reflecting on Dec. 21) the past can help you build a better future. Health and fitness are encouraged.

solution for Last Published Puzzle

Look for good investCAPRICORN ments, but don’t fall for a (Dec. 22- fast-talking sales pitch inJan. 19) tended to take your cash and give little in return. Choose to go it alone over a joint venture.

If you pitch in and do your

AQUARIUS best, the rewards will be worth (Jan. 20- your while. Sharing your ideas Feb. 19) and participating in events that can make a difference will lead to new friendships and opportunities.

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

Copyright 2015, Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS

Make everything you do PISCES (Feb. 20- count. Whether self-employed March 20) or working for someone else, your performance will make a difference to the way you advance. There is money to be made.

wednesdAY, august 30, 2017

Report reveals high level of drug use in athletics O ver 30 percent of athletes who competed at the 2011 world championships admitted to having used banned substances in the past, according to a World Anti-Doping Agency-commissioned study released on Tuesday.

letes competed at those two events.

The 2011 world athletics championships were held in Daegu, South Korea while Qatar hosted the Pan-Arab Games that year.

A process of indirect questioning was used for

The study, conducted by researchers from Germany’s University of Tuebingen and Harvard Medical School in 2011, found that more than 30 percent of world championship participants and over 45 percent of athletes at the 2011 PanArab Games said they had taken banned drugs.

The researchers asked a total of 2,167 athletes whether they had used banned substances. A combined total of 5,187 ath-

the study titled “Doping in Two Elite Athletics Competitions Assessed

by Randomized-Response Surveys” in order to guard the athletes’ anonymity.

More than 90 percent of athletes asked to take part agreed to do so.

Only 0.5 percent of drugs tests in Daegu were positive, while the figure was 3.6 percent at the Pan-Arab Games.

“The study shows that biological tests of blood and

urine reveal only a fraction of doping cases,” said Harrison Pope, Harvard Medical School professor.

“As described in the publication this is likely due to the fact that athletes have found numerous ways so as not to be caught during tests.”

The study’s release had been delayed for years as the researchers wrangled with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the international association of athletics federations (IAAF) over how it was to be published, researchers said.

It has now been published in Sports Medicine magazine. WADA could not be immediately reached for comment.

Athletics is desperate to improve its tarnished image after a doping scandal led to the banning of Russia's track and field team from the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

More than 100 athletes have been found to have used drugs at the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympics during retests conducted last year by the International Olympic Committee.

BERLIN (Reuters)

Sharapova sparkles on return to grand slam stage

M

aria Sharapova proved she will be someone to contend with for the U.S. Open crown after the Russian wild card outlasted second seed Simona Halep 6-4 4-6 6-3 on Monday to get the year’s final grand slam off to an electrifying start.

Still shaking off the rust from a 15-month doping ban and a string of nagging injuries, the 30-yearold Sharapova needed all her skill, determination and two hours and 44 minutes to snatch victory in front of a packed Arthur Ashe stadium.

The victory becomes the highlight of what has been a torturous comeback for the former world number one, who returned to tennis in April after being banned for testing positive for metabol-

ic modulator meldonium at last year’s Australian Open.

Her progress has been slowed by a thigh injury that forced her out of the Italian Open in May and more recently left arm issues that took her out of the second round at Stanford earlier this month.

However, there was no hint of distress against an inform Halep as she improved her record to 7-0 against the feisty Romanian in an opening round clash that was played with the intensity more befitting of a final.

“You sometimes wonder why you put in all the work and this is exactly why,” said Sharapova after playing in her first grand slam match in nearly two years.

NEW YORK (Reuters)

19

Mayweather-McGregor pirated by upward of 100 million viewers

L

AS VEGAS — Up to 100 million people illegally viewed Floyd Mayweather’s 10th round knockout of UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor on Saturday, potentially making ‘The Money Fight’ the most pirated event in history.

Pay-per-view numbers will come in later this week or early next week.

UFC president Dana White said he is optimistic it will break the record sales number of 4.6 million set in 2015 by the MayweatherManny Pacquiao bout.

Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe was likewise enthusiastic.

“We’re extremely excited by the preliminary information that we’ve received thus far and it’s tracking really well,” Ellerbe said.

“We’re feeling good about everything and we believe we did a fantastic number.”

But regardless of how big the number may be, it’s going to be dwarfed by the number of pirated views of the event. Wayne Lonstein, the CEO of VFT Solutions, said early numbers indicate there were up to 100 million viewers of illegal streams.

VFT provides content protection, IP litigation and cybersecurity and technology services to clients. Lonstein said what he calls “nano-piracy” is costing companies and artists, athletes and others who sell content significant amounts of money.

“Nano-piracy is using or taking either live or recorded proprietary content and capturing it using a connected device, like a phone, a tablet or a computer, and then using a live stream app such as Facebook Live, YouTube Live, Periscope and a number of other ones, to stream either peer-topeer, one-to-one, or peer to millions,” Lonstein said.

The bout, which had a suggested retail price of $89.95 and then an additional $10 for high definition, was freely available all over Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

Irdeto, a digital platform security company, discovered 239 streams that reached 2,930,598 viewers.

It provided Yahoo Sports with two screen shots of the fight being streamed on

Facebook Live. One showed 472,000 viewers watching a pirated stream, while the other had 234,000 viewers.

Just the viewership from those two streams alone could cost the event more than $70.6 million.

“We have identified streams and viewers in every corner of the globe,”

were handling purchases, and it delayed the start of the fight by about 20 minutes to allow the problem to be solved.

UFC.tv, which also offered the fight, crashed as well. It is run by NeuLion, which failed to return messages about the issues it had on Saturday.

Floyd Mayweather Jr lands a punch against Conor McGregor during their boxing match at the T-Mobile Arena (Mark J Rebilas-USA TODAY

Sports)

Lonstein told Yahoo Sports.

“What happened is, you take one click and you can stream it to your TV, but it immediately goes out and it’s tethered to social media so all of your followers immediately get a notice that you’re streaming. They don’t even have to look for it. That’s why it becomes viral and that’s why it’s so effective because it’s at what you could call a cellular or nuclear level.

“That’s how it spreads.

This is the new reality.

People are consuming [pirated content] at a level that is unstoppable at this point.”

Lucas Catranis, Irdeto’s director of piracy and cybercrime management, compared the MayweatherMcGregor bout to the pirated streams from the April 29 heavyweight title bout in London between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko.

That bout had 19 pirated streams that totaled nearly 208,000 views.

Further complicating the problem was the fact that there were difficulties for people who were trying to order the fight. Showtime said servers went down in California and Florida that

In a Friday story on Forbes.com, Chris Wagner, a NeuLion executive vice president said, “It’s very different than streaming movies, that’s for sure. The big [factor] is that everybody shows up at the same time.”

Wagner told Forbes that it scaled up to triple redundancy and added support assistance. Still, it crashed and left many viewers unable to see the fight.

“I’d be interested to see what the impact of the outages were from the UFC streaming side in terms of the piracy,” Catranis told Yahoo Sports.

It’s a problem at a massive level. Since Lonstein began tracking it, the amount of views of pirated streams of sports events, concerts and movies is almost hard to imagine.

“The total amount since we built our software in 2016 to quantify nano-piracy of only stuff that we were sampling, proprietary content, is as of this moment 3.427 billion viewers on 200,000 streams,” he said.

So when the pay-perview numbers come out later in the week, think for a moment about how much bigger it could have been without the theft. (YahooSports)

20

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

wednesdAY, AUGUST 30, 2017

MS Dhoni gears up for 300th ODI ...dreams to finish on a high in cricket

R

ohit Sharma played the prank, encouraging a local fan of MS Dhoni to walk into the batting nets at the Premadasa Stadium on Tuesday morning and click a selfie with the former India skipper.

There was a bit of hesitation, Dhoni in disbelief as the man was allowed to enter the net, and the man – well-dressed and said to be a stadium employee – for a second realising what he had done.

It was more a throwback to the amateur era, than present day sports teams that are surrounded by so many minders.

In the end, Dhoni granted the man his wish. Even before the team’s security official and those detailed to guard the visiting team realised what was happening, the Indian cricket team’s media manager rushed in and the man was escorted out of the ground.

MS Dhoni has had the knack of deflecting focus on him down the years, but even he would have felt the heat in Sri Lanka. But he would particularly be satisfied as he gears up to play his 300th One-day International on Thursday.

MS Dhoni can have a quiet laugh, having played a major role in the previous two victories in India vs Sri Lanka ODI series.(REUTERS)

Not one for the occasion, it would still be apt if it was a big game rather than the inconsequential fourth ODI, after India wrapped up the series by winning the first three against a reeling Sri Lankan team.

But MS Dhoni can have a quiet laugh, having played a major role in the previous two victories that have left India free to experiment with the squad.

Rohit Sharma, who played the prank, had found the man who got him to open and transformed his ODI cricket fortunes, stay on at the other end in Sunday’s win at Pallekele. In the earlier game, Dhoni was at hand

to nurture Bhuvneshwar Kumar, letting him even take more of the strike, after another Indian batting collapse.

Dhoni has not missed a single training session on this tour. Carrying his kit bag with two bats jutting out from either side, he has been a fixture at every training session.

The chief selector, MSK Prasad, had suggested going into the ODI series that Dhoni, who will be 38 when the 2019 World Cup comes around, is no guarantee for the tournament in England; unless, he stays fit and keeps performing.

His unbeaten knocks of

45 and 67 didn’t have the old Dhoni stamp of hammering the bowlers, but a gentle reminder that he was ready to reinvent himself as a finisher.

Sri Lanka are nowhere near their best, but Dhoni drew upon his experience to ensure there was no panic despite the quick loss of wickets in the second and third ODIs in Pallekele.

MSK Prasad’s comments on Dhoni not being an automatic choice drew lot of criticism in the social media. But the chief selector has now praised Dhoni for how he fought serious back trouble to play against traditional rivals Pakistan in last year’s Twenty20 Asia Cup and contribute to the five-wicket win.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni will become the fourth Indian to hit the ODI 300. Sachin Tendulkar (463), Rahul Dravid (344), Mohammad Azharuddin (334), Sourav Ganguly (311) and Yuvraj Singh (304) have done that.

But he is focused on the long road to achieve a treble, another World Cup win to go with the 2007 T20 and 2011 50-over titles as skipper.(HindustanTimes)

Kipchoge, Kipsang and Bekele set for Berlin Marathon showdown

E

liud Kipchoge, Wilson Kipsang and Kenenisa Bekele have all been confirmed as entrants in a stellar field for the Berlin Marathon.

The official marathon world record appears likely to come under threat next month after Eliud Kipchoge, W i l s o n Kipsang and Kenenisa Bekele were all confirmed in the field of the Berlin Marathon.

Olympic champion Kipchoge is considered the leading contender to beat the time of two hours, two minutes and 57 seconds recorded in Berlin by fellow Kenyan Dennis Kimetto three years ago.

Kenenisa Bekele

Kipchoge set an unofficial world record for the 26.2-mile distance in May, clocking two hours and 25 seconds in Nike's 'Breaking2' challenge at Monza. His time did not count for official purposes because of pacing and hydration rules.

While the 32-year-old will arguably be the favourite on September 24, compatriot Kipsang and Ethiopian distance-running great Bekele can be expected to offer a stiff challenge.

The personal bests of the trio are all within 16 seconds of Kimetto's world record and all three have previously won in Berlin.

Kipsang triumphed in 2013, registering what was then a world record time of 2:03.23, while Kipchoge and Bekele won in 2015 and 2016 respectively.

"It's a dream matchup," said race director Mark Milde. "It's not often that the three strongest marathon men in the world race each other. As organisers we are crossing our fingers for good weather and thrilling competition."

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21

Corona Beer Invitational Football Tournament

Santos hits 8, GFC, Western Tigers triumph

By Michelangelo Jacobus

W

ith the Corona Beer Invitational Tournament coming down to the business end, Santos who needed a win to ensure progression to the quarter-finals had Kacy John to thank for a walloping 8-0 victory over Eastville.

John who hit four goals in the second, half was supported by prolific striker William Europe who opened the scoring for Santos in the 24th minute, just two minutes later Sherwin Skeete joined in on the act to make it 2-0 in favour of Santos.

Eastville fought back but were let down by errant passing. The score remained the same as the two sides went into the halftime break.

However, upon resumption John began his onslaught curling in an eye catching ef-

fort in the 51st minute before adding a second in the 62nd.

Europe had his second immediately after and Santos were cruising at 4-0. John continued his impressive finishing with two more goals in the 78th and 88th minute before Lionel Holder capped off a fine performance with Santos’ eighth goal in the 90th minute.

In the second match of the night GFC (Georgetown Football Club) comfortably trumped Beacon FC 4-1 despite defensive hiccups.

The fleet footed Benjamin Opara scored possibly the fastest goal to date in the tournament when he scored in the first minute of the game after some smart passing from the GFC midfield.

The goal scorers for Santos, four goal hero Kacy John is 2nd from left

Midfielder Alberto Da Santana give GFC a 2-0 lead in the 22nd minute but a reckless challenge coupled with defensive frailties gave GFC supporters some jitters as Beacon’s Quasan McCaulay converted a penalty to make the game interesting at 2-1.

However, Dwayne Rebeiro in the 53rd minute and Opara with his second goal in the 66th minute ensured that GFC walked away with the win.

In the feature match of

the night the Western Tigers lived up to the hype as they beat the Police FC 2-1.

It was a riveting encounter and which left fans satisfied as the two sides played entertaining football. A bit of eye catching skill by Dwayne McLennon in the 20th minute left the Police side stunned as Western seized the lead.

However an Anthio Wallace strike in the 42nd minute leveled proceedings for the Police.

Phillip Rowley was next to score in the 71st minute,

as the Western Tigers deservedly took the led which they never let go of to win their final group match.

With the group stage of the tournament at the end, the first of the quarter finals matches will be played on Friday, September 1 at the GFC ground.

The first quarter final will begin at 19:00 hrs. when Camptown clash with Northern Rangers.

Immediately after, Western Tigers will once again face Police.

Double champions return home

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Double champions Guyana Under-19 team with Government and GCB officials after landing at the Eugene F Correia International Airport

esterday the National Under-19 team which recently won the Regional double crown returned home to a resounding welcome at the Eugene F. Correia International Airport.

The champions landed at approximately 14:40h and were greeted by government and Guyana Cricket Board officials. Those on hand to welcome home the champions were: Minister of Social Cohesion, who is also the minister with responsibility for Culture Youth and Sport, Dr. George Norton, Director of Youth and Sport, Christopher Jones, GCB’s Hon. Secretary, Anand

Sanasie, the Chairman of the Senior Selection Panel at GCB, Rayon Griffith and GCB staffs:, Territorial Development Officer, Colin Stuart and Assistant Administrator, Avee Fedee-Grimmond.

According to a release coming out of the GCB late yesterday evening, Minister Norton expressed his content and congratulated the team on their double title championship.

The Minister expressed elation in taking up his designation on such a historic winning note.

It is the second time Guyana has successfully claimed double honours dating back to 2014.

Thus GCB Secretary, Sanasie, noted that winning this tournament four times is not a coincidence but dedication from all involved.

“The Guyana Under-19 has since recorded their fourth title of being the Regional Under-19 Champions.

The team picked up the Regional three day championship earlier this month after defeating Jamaica in the final round of competitions where Jamaica finished its first innings on 187 all out in 100 overs., Guyana compiled 250-8 declared off 73 overs and In the 2nd Innings, Jamaica scored 139 all out after 55.3 overs and Guyana 80 for 1 off of 18.3

overs which led them to victory”, the release stated.

It further added that, Guyana recorded its sixth consecutive win during the one day tournament after defeating the Windward Islands in the CWI One-Day 50 over tournament where they won by 6 runs after putting up an unbeatable total of 217 off of 49.6 overs which Windward Islands failed to attain.

“The Executives and staff of the GCB extend best wishes to the youngsters and hope that they will unceasingly work towards continuous victory in the sport of cricket.”

Kurukubaru, Chuing Mouth, Chenapou, Bamboo Creek, Kato, Itabac and Maikwak.

Minister Garrido-Lowe during her address pledged the Ministry’s commitment to provide support for the tournament since she is pleased with the commitment shown by villages to preserve this competition over the years. Region eight according to Minister Garrido-Lowe, possesses a rich and unique indigenous talent that must be showcased around the country.

Meanwhile, GFF President Wayne Forde has committed to working with the Ministry to develop football in the hinterland, while also commending Minister Garrido-Lowe for her commitment and passion for football and football development.

“I think that today represents a

momentous occasion for the people and for football in Paramakatoi. The hard working, committed Minister Valerie Garrido-Lowe is responsible for me being here, she is persistent and passionate about football and the development of the indigenous peoples and we as a federation see this as a glorious opportunity to working in partnership with her”.

Forde added that we have done tremendous work in the development and expansion of football in the hinterland communities since “for the first time we have a female under 17 team that has a total of seven players from the indigenous communities and five indigenous under 15 players.”

“We at the federation understand that we would never develop football in Guyana unless we can tap into the exceptional talent that exists with-

in these communities; so you have a partner with you”.

The GFF boss noted that the stakes are high since teams emerging winners of the male and female competitions will be given the opportunity to compete in a tournament in Georgetown. The Ministry donated trophies for the winning teams, while the GFF donated a quantity of football gear to participating teams.

Following the opening ceremony Kato’s Female team booked a place in the finals after defeating Chenapou 1-nil in the tournament’s opener.

Other teams to record victory were Kanapang Female Team, Chenapou, and Kurukubaru who upset home team Paramakatoi in its opening bid.

Matches continue on Wednesday with the third place play off and the finals of both competitions.

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M

inister within the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Valerie Garrido-Lowe on Sunday declared opened the North Pakaraima’s Football tournament being hosted by Paramakatoi Village, Region 8.

A release from the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs claimed that it is the first time officials from the Government and the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) were witnessing action in the twenty-team male and female football competition which has been ongoing for close to fifteen years.

Six female and fourteen male teams are participating in this year’s competition.

Teams were drawn from Paramakatoi, Kopinang, Tuseneng, Monkey Mountain, Kanapang,

22

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

wednesdAY, AUGUST 30, 2017

BCB calls up 20 players

‒ ahead of CGI Local Franchise 3-day tourney

T

he President of the Berbice Cricket Board, Mr. D Somwaru in conjunction with Mr. Leslie Solomon, Chairman of Selectors has called up 20 players ahead of Training sessions in preparation for the upcoming CGI Local Franchise three-day tournament scheduled for September 2.

The session for the Upper Corentyne Zone will be conducted at the Port Mourant Community Center on Thursday August 31 at 13:00 hrs.

The following players were called up: David Latchaya, Joshua Ramsammy, Andy Mohan, Parmeshwar Chatterpaul, Demetri Cameron, Junior Blair, Nickolas Seenarine, Omesh Mathura, Viendra Gooniah, Balchand Baldeo, Samuel Kishnasammy, Yudendra Harinarine, Eon

Hooper, Loydell Lewis, Joel Seitaram, Kandasammy Surujnarine, Christopher Jaundoo, Rajiv Ivan, Keon Sinclair and Veramootoo Senwasane.

Alternatively, the following players were told to report to the Young Warriors Ground in Cumberland for 15:00 hrs on Thursday for sessions for the Lower Corentyne/ New Amsterdam Canje zone: Jonathon Foo, Suresh Dhanai, Kasim Khan, Sharaz Ramcharran, Seon Hetmyer, Linden Austin, Jason Sinclair, Troy Matheson, Wahid Edwards, Royston Crandon, Nial Smith, Devon Clements, Hakeem Hinds, Gajanand Singh, Eugene Lafleur, Omar Weatherspooin, Steve Deonarine, Kelvin Omrao, Ritesh Omrao and Anthony D'Anrade The competition kicks off

on September 2, 2017 with Upper Corentyne taking on West Berbice at Bushlot while Lower Corentyne will host Essequibo at the Young Warriors Ground in Cumberland.

In a release to the media, the Berbice Cricket Board expressed gratitude to sponsors. “The Berbice Cricket Board would like to take this opportunity to express its deepest appreciation and gratitude to the Guyana Cricket Board and Cricket Guyana Inc, for the sponsorship of this competition, which will see to positive and tremendous development of cricket in Guyana. The BCB will fully support any initiative taken by the GCB and encourages the general public to support the games at the various venues around the country,” the release said.

Mackenzie Sports Club Open Basketball League

Who will remain unbeaten?

A

crowd-pulling match-up is anticipated when the two clubs with unblemished records after three separate encounters meet.

The second ranked Half Mile Bulls will collide with third seed Victory Valley Royals in this year's Mackenzie Sports Club Open League Basketball championship at the MSC hard court.

The Bulls who are thus far unscathed will need all the help into this game after the first two wins were achieved without the services of forward Travin Dryden and guard Michael Turner. The two players have been responsible for their impressive showing over the past year. Dryden and Turner showed up in their last game and were able to contribute with impressive performances.

Hope's heroics inspire ...

The younger of the Hope brothers' performance was one to be celebrated, however, neatly picking the gaps in fields that Root seemed reticent to experiment with, even as the batsmen grew more and more comfortable.

England's malaise was encapsulated by James Anderson (0-73) seeing a ball pass through his legs in the field and then Broad kicking at the pitch after Brathwaite brought up the hundred partnership, before

Hope steered Ben Stokes (025) through third man to move West Indies beyond halfway in their chase.

The verge of tea brought a breakthrough as Brathwaite edged Moeen to slip just short of his hundred, and Roston Chase's fitful knock was ended by a superb catch by substitute fielder Mason Crane off Chris Woakes (1-44).

However, Jermaine Blackwood's arrival at the crease added an ex-

plosive element and the right-hander's response to England taking the new ball was to blast a sluggish Anderson over his head for six.

Hope's crowning moment was not far behind as a scampered single made history and there was time for Blackwood (41) to lash another incredible maximum over third man off Broad, see a skied effort dropped by Stokes and be stumped trying to belt the

Chris Williams

Harold Adams

The Royals have a powerful scoring crew which is led by national shooting guard Chris Williams along with forward Harold Adams. The duo average 28 points per game. They will be supported by Orlando Glasgow who has scored 26 points per game. The awe-

some trio has been responsible for the Royals' onslaught thus far.

Adams had a tournament high score of 46 against Pistons while grabbing 24 and 14 in other matches. Williams recorded 33, 27 and 22 points while Glasgow has 33, 23 and 22.

However, the Bulls did not gain the second seed rating by luck. They will look to former junior national Travin Dryden and Michael Turner to give the kind of support to shooting guard Terron Welch who can be a scoring machine.

In order to make it a resounding success Jason Blair and Joebie Easton must come to the party.

The first game at 18.30hrs will bring the fourth ranked Amelia's Ward Jets against fellow ward team Bankers Trust Falcons.

In the latest results on Sunday number one seed Retrieve Raiders clawed back into contention with their as they scored a solid 65-47 victory over Block 22 Flames while Bankers Trust Falcons gained their first win in four outings when the championship continued at the tournament venue the MSC hard court.

from page 23

winning runs off Moeen.

Despite Blackwood's thrashing, Hope had remained serene throughout and his winning shot sparked wild and well deserved celebrations on the visitors' balcony. (SportsMax)

SCOREBOARD England 1st Innings 258 West Indies 1st Innings 427 England 2nd Innings 490/8d West Indies 2nd Innings KC Brathwaite c Stokes b Ali 95 KOA Powell c Stokes b Broad 23 KA Hope run out (Broad) 0 SD Hope not out 118 RL Chase c sub (MS Crane) b Woakes 30

J Blackwood st †Bairstow b Ali 41 SO Dowrich †not out 0 Extras: (b 4, lb 9, nb 1, w 1) 15 TOTAL: 322/5 (91.2 Overs) Did not bat: D Bishoo, JO Holder (c), KAJ Roach, ST Gabriel BOWLING: JM Anderson 2473-0, SCJ Broad 25-91-1, MM Ali 25-76-2, CR Woakes 12.244-1, BA Stokes 5-25-0

23

guyanatimesgy.com

wednesDAY, august 30, 2017

Astonishing Tanvir leads Warriors to huge win

O

ne of the all-time great spells of T20 bowling from Sohail Tanvir propelled the Guyana Amazon Warriors to a huge 99 run victory over Barbados Tridents in Match 25 of the 2017 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

Defending 159 Tanvir removed Kane Williamson, Dwayne Smith, Eoin Morgan and Kieron Pollard in a scintillating spell of swing bowling which left the Tridents 13-5. They were bowled out for 59 in just 13.4 overs, the second lowest Hero CPL total of all time.

Tanvir finished with 5 for 3 the second-best figures in the history of domestic T20 in the Caribbean.

Bowling from over the wicket, Tanvir immediately found swing across the bat and beat Williamson four times in a row before a thick edge flew

get their innings moving with one over of 15 off Pollard a lone bright spot. Otherwise the spin of Khan and Hosein tied them down. Together they took 3 for 38 from their eight overs. Assad Fudadin fell in the 15th over for battling 27 off 28.

The Amazon Warriors finally got moving in the eighteenth over when Ravi Rampaul

SCOREBOARD

The Guyana Amazon Warriors celebrate the wicket of Kieron Pollard (Getty)

to third man. In his next over Smith’s outside edge was found with a delivery similar to those that beat Williamson’s. The Amazon Warriors promoted Akeal Hosein and Imran Khan to three and four. In the fourth over Khan was caught looking to

Captains knocked!

T

he last evening would go down as a miserable one for captains playing on the Barbados Trident CPL team against the Guyana Amazon Warriors. Just in case it went unnoticed, New Zealand T20 captain Kane Williamson was out for a duck after facing five balls.

England’s One Day cap-

was taken for 15 by Jason Mohammad who edged two boundaries behind the wicket and nailed a straight six before being caught attempting to hit a second. Two big sixes from Primus off Wahab Riaz in the 19th and a last ball four off Wayne Parnell lifted the Amazon Warriors to 158 for 8.(CPLT20)

tain Eoin Morgan was also out first ball (LBW) while Tridents’ captain Kieron Pollard joined the scoreless crew when he was out caught behind off the first ball.

All three Tridents batsmen fell to left-arm medium fast bowler Sohail Tanvir of the Amazon Warriors.

attack Roshon Primus who was bowling from the other end, leaving the score 13-3.

It was in Tanvir’s third over that his spell was transformed from good to great. First he trapped the left-handed Morgan leg before wicket for a first ball duck with a ball that jagged sharply in off the pitch and then the very next ball he induced an edge from Pollard outside off stump. Tanvir couldn’t take a hat-trick but his spell of 3-1-24 had gutted the Tridents toporder.

When the players returned following a brief rain delay, the Tridents’ last hope, Nicolas Pooran, picked out long off against Rashid Khan, leaving the Tridents 31 for 6. The Tridents lower order mounted little Rashid finished resistance. with 3 for 15 from 3.4 overs and Tanvir had time to return and

Hope's A heroics inspire West Indies to mighty win slice of Hea d ingley history came with Shai Hope's match-winning hundred as he inspired West Indies to victory over England.

Hope's record-breaking hundred and another mammoth partner-

s h i p w i t h Kraigg

Braithwaite inspired West Indies to a rare away Test win as they levelled the three-match series

collect his five-wicket haul with his final delivery, finishing with astonishing figures of 4-1-3-5.

Earlier in the evening after being put into bat by the Tridents, the Amazon Warriors started aggressively but found themselves in trouble at 30 for 2 after 3.4 overs with both Tanvir and Chadwick Walton caught in the deep. Luke Ronchi was unperturbed by the early wickets though and blitzed a quick-fire 24 from just 13 balls to take them to 68 for 2 at the end of the Powerplay.

The introduction of spin slowed the Amazon Warriors, who lost Ronchi to the second ball of the seventh over, bowled by a Khan googly and in the eighth over Gajanand Singh also departed as a top-edge sweep off Hosein was caught at point.

After a brief rain delay the Amazon Warriors struggled to

with England at Headingley.

Hope scored a marvellous unbeaten 118 to become the first player to score centuries in both innings of a first-class game at Headingley, a feat Brathwaite had previously fell five runs short of - benefitting from being dropped on four to punish an England performance that was badly lacking in imagination.

Brathwaite and Hope had added 246 runs for the fourth wicket in the tourists' first innings and their 144run union on Tuesday helped secure the Windies' first Test win on the road since 2012 and just a second in England since the turn of the millennium.

Joe Root's battery of seamers lucklessly toiled away, with Moeen Ali (2-76) also finding the pitch not greatly helpful to his off-spin, despite a full Test's worth of wear and tear.

It allowed West Indies to calmly chip away at their victory target of 322 and banish memories of the innings defeat at Edgbaston in the series opener, Hope fittingly hitting the

Guyana Amazon Warriors - 158/8(20.0 overs) C Walton c Parnell b Rampaul20 S Tanvir c Morgan b Parnell 7 24 L Ronchi † b Khan J Mohammed c Springer 42 b Rampaul G Singh c Rampaul b Hosein 1 A Fudadin c Pollard b Hosein 27 R Primus run out (Pooran / 21 Parnell) K Paul run out (Rampaul / 0 Pooran) R Emrit * Not out 6 Not out 1 V Permaul Extras (5 wd,2 lb,2 nb) 9 Total (8 wickets, 20 overs) 158 Did not bat : R Khan Fall of wickets : 1-29 (S Tanvir,2.5), 2-30 (C Walton,3.3), 3-59 (L Ronchi,6.2), 4-65 (G Singh,7.6), 5-107 (A Fudadin,14.3), 6-131 (J Mohammed,17.5), 7-150 (R Primus,19.2), 8-153 (K Paul,19.4) Bowling: W Parnell (3.0, 0, (4.0, 0, 44, 23, 1), W Riaz 0) R Rampaul (3.0, 0, 33, 2) A Hosein (4.0, 0, 19, 2) I Khan (4.0, 0, 19, 1) K Pollard

(2.0, 0, 18, 0)

Tridents - 59/10(13.4 overs) 2 D Smith c Ronchi b Tanvir K Williamson c Primus b Tanvir 0 A Hosein c Walton b Paul 17 I Khan c Paul b Primus 1 E Morgan lbw Tanvir 0 K Pollard *c Ronchi b Tanvir 0 N Pooran † c Walton b Khan 11 14 S Springer b Khan W Parnell lbw Khan 2 0 W Riaz b Tanvir R Rampaul Not out Extras (2 wd,6 lb,4 B,) 12 Total (10 wickets, 13.4 overs) 59 Fall of wickets : 1-1 (K Williamson,0.6), 2-6 (D Smith,2.2), 3-13 (I Khan,3.4), 4-13 (E Morgan,4.1), 5-13 (K Pollard,4.2), 6-31 (N Pooran,7.3), 7-48 (A Hosein,10.4), 8-52 (W Parnell,11.5), 9-53 (W Riaz,12.6), 1059 (S Springer,13.4) Bowling : S Tanvir (4.0, 1, 3, 5) R Primus (2.0, 0, 9, 1) R Khan (3.4, 0, 15, 3) R Emrit (2.0, 0, 11, 0) V Permaul (1.0, 0, 5, 0) K Paul(1.0, 0, 6, 1)

Kraigg Brathwaite edged to slip shortly before tea © Getty Images

winning runs to spark a celebration that may well extend carnival weekend in Leeds a little longer.

Brathwaite and Kieran Powell had set the tone with a positive start, though that ploy ought to have cost Brathwaite early when he edged Stuart Broad (1-91) to first slip, where Alastair Cook could not hold on at shoulder height.

Powell (23) was undone by a rare

moment of England quality as Broad's angled delivery shaped away and took the edge on its way to Ben Stokes in the cordon.

The hosts' luck was in as Broad attempted to catch Brathwaite off his own bowling and inadvertently deflected the ball onto the non-striker's stumps, where a rueful Kyle Hope departed for a duck. continues on page 22

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2017

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

guyanatimesgy.com

Pg 23

Astonishing Tanvir leads Warriors to huge win Sohail Tanvir removed Kane Williamson, Dwayne Smith, Eoin Morgan and Kieron Pollard in a scintillating spell of swing bowling

Pg 23

Hope's heroics inspire West Indies to mighty win Jason Holder embraces his teammates after the win, England v West Indies, 2nd Investec Test, Headingley, 5th day, August 29, 2017

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