Guyana Times Epaper - Sunday, October 9, 2022

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Govt remains committed to fairness, upholding rights of all Guyanese – Pres Ali in Youman Nabi message

The Muslim commu nity in Guyana is observing Youman Nabi today, and President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali is urging all Guyanese to ex amine the life and princi ples of the Holy Prophet Muhammed, in order to learn more, and to become better humans.

This was the Head of State’s message in his Youman Nabi 2022 greet ings.

Youman Nabi is a com memoration of the birth, life and teachings of the Holy Prophet Mohammed (Peace and Blessings be upon Him). On this sacred Islamic occasion, Muslims in Guyana and around the world attend Masjids, or gather elsewhere to re flect on the life and work of the Prophet, who is known as the final messenger of Islam.

According to President Ali, the Prophet was a blessing to the world. “The Prophet did not crave adu lation, but we observe his birth because he was the designated Messenger of God. If we cannot honour and respect the One who was sent by Allah, how can we adore Allah?” he ques tioned.

Contending that the Holy Prophet’s birth was a blessing, President Ali re called that the Holy Quran states, at 21:107: “We have sent you forth as nothing but Mercy to the peoples of the world.”

The birth and life of the Holy Prophet affirmed him as Allah’s earthly Messenger, the Guyanese Leader has said.

President Ali noted

that the Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon Him) led an exemplary life, epitomising the val ues and virtues of kind ness, compassion, humili ty, gratitude, and respect for people. Islam, he went on to explain, is not incom patible with respect for the rule of law and the rights of the individual. Indeed, the Holy Prophet (Peace and Blessings be Upon Him) made it clear that whoever hurts another or infringes that person’s rights commits a grievous wrong. He also mandated that we treat others with justice.

Against this backdrop, President Ali has outlined that his Government re mains committed to the practice of fairness by up holding the rights and

freedoms of all Guyanese, and to doing so under a framework in which the rule of law is upheld.

“We all need positive examples. The deeds of good men and women mo tivate us to follow their ex ample. The Quran [18:46] reminds us, “Wealth and children are the adorn ment of this worldly life, but the everlasting good deeds are far better with your Lord in reward and in hope”,” the Head of State asserted.

In this regard, the Guyanese Leader added “…we can learn much and become better human be ings by examining the life of the Prophet. It is my fer vent hope, on this Youman Nabi, that reflecting on his admirable life will inspire all of us to strive to follow

in his footsteps, to obey his precepts and to submit to God.”

According to the President, the Prophet Mohammed (Peace and Blessings be upon Him) re mains a central figure in Islam, as he was the chosen Messenger. To this end, he noted that as Guyanese ob serve Youman Nabi, they should, in whatever ways they can, become instru ments of God.

“Without God in our lives, we are rudderless. Youman Nabi is an oc casion to reset our mor al compasses and become closer to God and all of His people… I extend joy ous and heartfelt Youman Nabi greetings to all Guyanese, but especially to the Islamic community,” President Ali has declared.

President Dr Irfaan Ali and First Lady Mrs Arya Ali

Views

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Trini local content controversy

Onceagain, a Trinidadian has echoed an early Massy diatribe against our Local Content Policy (LCP), after the PPPC Administration had passed the legislation just before the end of 2021. The Local Content Policy having been initiated by the then APNU/AFC Government in 2017, the PPP continued the national discussion and consultations for the country to benefit optimally from the nascent oil and gas (O&G) industry.

From a macroeconomic standpoint, Guyana was simply doing what every other country tries to accomplish – increasing its Gross National Product (GNP), which measures income accruing to the nation, rather than only the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which measures income emanating domestically but can be repatriated internationally. Development can be delivered only when there is local economic growth.

The issues that pertained to the intent, substance and implementation of our LCP, therefore, had been well ventilated by the time our Local Content Act (LCA) was passed, since oil had begun flowing for three years to the date in Dec 2019 when the President and Group CEO of Trinidadian conglomerate Massy issued a statement – purportedly on behalf of some hitherto unknown “Caricom Private Sector Organisation” (CPSO) – alleging that our LCA violated our obligations under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (RTC). Now, almost three years later, the Director of Trinidad and Tobago Coalition of Services Industries (TTCSI) repeats the calumny – this time because a Trinidadian company had violated a requirement of the LCP – and threatened that Trinidadian companies would move their interest to Suriname.

There were any number of ironies in this allegation, not the least being that both entities had been the beneficiaries of the T&T Local Content Policy that had been informally in place for decades, but had been explicitly articulated in 2004. The document is available online as “LOCAL CONTENT & LOCAL PARTICIPATION POLICY & FRAMEWORK FOR THE REPUBLIC OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO ENERGY SECTOR LOCAL CONTENT & LOCAL PARTICIPATION POLICY & FRAMEWORK FOR THE REPUBLIC OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO ENERGY SECTOR OCTOBER 7TH, 2004”.

While it was not then explicitly legislated, the policy declared, “It is the intention of the Government and people of Trinidad and Tobago that the country will maximize the level of participation of its national people, enterprises, technology, and capital through the development and increasing use of locally owned businesses, local financing and human capabilities in the conduct of all activities connected with the energy sector, along its entire value chain, at home and abroad. As the nation rapidly grows its businesses to help the international community meet their energy needs, we shall use this opportunity to leverage the capabilities of international companies in our midst to build our own businesses, people, technology, and capital markets.”

Under the heading, “LOCAL CONTENT AND PARTICIPATION POLICY STATEMENT”, the Government would be “giving preference, firstly, to locally owned, controlled and financed enterprises, then to those that demonstrate a clear culture, commitment and capacity for maximising local value-added, participation and capability development, consistent with the country’s aspirations and vision.”

Finally, the TT Government LEGISLATED its definition of “local content”, but buried it in its “Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act 1 of 2015”. Art. 4 explains that “local content” means the local value added to goods, works or services measured as the amount of money or percentage of each dollar of expenditure remaining in Trinidad and Tobago after the production of the good or the performance of the work or service.”

Art 7. addresses obligations under RTC: (2) To the extent that this Act conflicts with an obligation of the State under or arising out of the following: (a) a treaty or other form of agreement to which Trinidad and Tobago is a party with one or more States or entity within a State; the requirements of the treaty or agreement shall prevail, except that the procurement of goods, works or services shall be governed by this Act, and shall promote the socio-economic policies of Trinidad and Tobago, and shall adhere to the objects of this Act.”

Pres. Irfaan Ali and PM Keith Rowley have met to iron out the Trini-generated controversy, but it would appear that the Trinidadians have no confidence in their PM.

GECOM must hold LGE as scheduled

Dear Editor, Over the past few months, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) ad vanced several transparent and commendable election preparation and related ini tiatives. These were targeted at obtaining an updated and credible list of electors, to en sure the satisfactory conduct of overdue Local Government Elections (LGEs). Aside from the inclusive and fully at tended participation of scru tineers from key political par ties, the PNC-led APNU/AFC Coalition has reacted true to form, by continuing to cast shallow criticisms on the pre liminary List of Electors.

A highly successful con tinuous registration exer cise was conducted between March 7 and May 29, 2022, from all of GECOM’s per manent Registration Offices in all of the ten administra tive regions across the coun try. The very successful pro cess realised over 70,000 transactions, thereby produc ing a very good Register of Registrants.

GECOM reported that 28,149 were new registrants between the ages of 14 and 17, while 21,130 were new registrants above the age of 18. Also, 4,629 persons ap plied for transfers; 6,526 per sons changed or corrected their information; 7,667 ap plied for replacement identifi cation cards, and 1,940 regis trants retook their ID photos.

The continuous registra tion exercise was followed by a period of claims and

objections, which was fur ther extended at the behest of the PNC-led APNU/AFC. During this period, a mere 18 objections were record ed. Transactions were slowpaced, and this is strong ly linked to the thorough work that was done during the former cycle. It is factual that the PNC is historically known for throwing up a list with hundreds of false claims.

In this respect, however, the thoroughness demanded that they support their usual fictitious claims with the nec essary supporting documen tation. Further, their partici pating scrutineers were able to confirm that the old sys tem of just putting up unsub stantiated names is a waste of time.

GECOM is now fully pre pared and ready to hold Local Government Elections. Hence, all the talk of a ‘bloat ed’ list is only old talk.

It is public knowledge that PNCR and Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton led the cries about the list being bloat ed based on the inclusion of dead persons, and the claims and objections exercise pre sented the opportunity for the Opposition to ensure the ap propriate screening.

Many of their questions have been answered, and nay sayers have had the opportu nity to object to names on the List that should be removed. Based on the list put up by GECOM around the country, it is observed that the names of many persons who died are already removed, presumably

due to the coordination be tween the General Registrar’s Office and GECOM.

Aside from the forego ing, one naturally recalls the events and flagrant at tempts at thievery that took place following the National and Regional Elections of 2nd March 2020. The events which were facilitated by some contaminated GECOM staff during those 5 unforget table months must never be allowed to take place again. There is a dire need for con firming fuller transparency in staff selection approaches at these levels, and in defin ing responsibilities concern ing GECOM functions. The brutal lessons of procedural abuse have taught this na tion that all ambiguous and open-ended discretion of in terpretations regarding the procedure must be made clear, and we must ensure that we have free and fair elections in Guyana.

Because PNC continued their demonstration of im munity by employing a lessthan- transparent approach to rigging elections, their sup port base behaved as if it was a norm in the efforts to keep their knees on the necks of the Guyanese nation for five long months, in order to steal the Elections. The situation therefore justifies a genuine need for us to strengthen leg islation by ensuring clarity and supporting stronger pen alties to act as a deterrent to all “riggers” who are know ingly concerned in breaches.

Further, GECOM must

be fully prepared to conduct a robust regulation exercise during and after the cast ing of votes’ process in order to realise the activation of transparent and free and fair mechanisms that would pro duce the earliest announce ment of the results. The re cruitment and placement of Election Day staff must be transparent and careful ly done. The electoral pro cess must be very clear in the Representation of the People Act. Further, the regulations must be very clear and specif ic, to ensure that the process es are resistant to attempts at uncanny manipulation.

Opposition personnel were very active during the continuous registration exer cise, and they were more ac tive during the claims and ob jections process. They even called for an extension of the C&O exercise. It is good to know that they did not have any negative comments about the process.

Now that GECOM has completed successful contin uous registration and claims and objections exercises, it is clear that Local Government Elections are to be held very soon. Let us therefore respect and support the very positive approaches that GECOM has shown.

Local Government Elections must be held as scheduled by GECOM. It will strengthen our democracy at the grassroots level, and unite our people.

Sincerely, Neil Kumar

The Hugh Wooding Law School Guyanese Class of 2022 graduated on Sunday, receiving their Legal Education Certificate. The Best Graduating Guyanese Law Student was Shawn Shewram, who copped several other accolades. Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum also graduated. In the photo are Guyana Jurisdiction Committee’s President, Christopher Belfield, Vice President Casside Nurse, and the graduating class of 2022

Are we all becoming self- righteous or Sanctimonious Gangsters again?

Dear Editor,

Every day, on read ing the highlights in our Guyanese media, I become sick of the incessant call to renegotiate the oil contract with Exxon. These cries come from very qualified minds at home and abroad, and from some “talking” heads. I iterate that I am not affiliated with any po litical party, and I am an Afro-Guyanese who do not prescribe to the “Putin” doc trine, to make changes by brute force.

In contract law, the two most prevailing reasons for renegotiation are “fraud” and “misrepresentation of facts.” That is a tall lad der for Guyana to climb, and Exxon knows that. I read the contract, and most Guyanese should be aware that, yes, it is not the best (now), but it was the best (then), given we did not spend a (nominal) cent di rectly to produce a barrel of oil prior to first oil.

We are still struggling to consistently pump water to our residents in the in terior from 200ft, even in Georgetown. We, the peo ple, should renegotiate the contract between us and our Government: vote in 2025 for the best Government.

When an entity engages in a contract, it considers its risk and return, some of us

are still in a Socialist mind set as to Exxon owing us something, other than the contract terms. Name three (3) other companies that can drill as deeply or safe ly as Exxon (20,000+ feet), and can keep Venezuela at bay.

We had our Canadian exploration CGX drilling failures, remember? That is a premium we paid. The concept of renegotiating the contract is a dead one! Wake up, folks! We do not have to be Sanctimonious Gangsters again!

How many Guyanese would be happy if their landlord should raise the rent because he or she heard they had made more money? None! How many Guyanese would agree to have the bank raise the interest rate on their mortgage or auto loan if the bank heard they had made more money now? None! Many Guyanese have bought land, only to dis cover 5 years later that it’s worth more now. How many would be happy if the origi nal seller called to get more money from them 5 years later? None! Contracts have sanctity.

I applaud the cur rent Government (Vice President) on those Local Content Amendments and its push for more philan thropic investments from

Exxon and its foreign part ners. They (Exxon, etc.) have large global bud gets (Foundations) for this around the world. It must be a public/private partner ship, and should not be a demand, but a collaborative discussion on what is best for all. It should not be ad ditive to Guyana as oil-re lated expenses.

Some examples of the discussions we should be having with our partners are stated below:

1. Two new school build ings (or replacement) per year is a drop in the bucket. Do not wait for the next fire.

2. Finance the incremen tal delivery of textbooks/ laptops annually for our schools, as needed.

3. Finance a permanent staff to keep the city clean daily (no City Council –private). Yes, Georgetown stinks to most visitors, but to some of us it’s Paradise!

4. Finance a fleet of school buses to get children to and from school daily –without the endless taxis. I see daily the confluence of students on Lombard Street (#42 buses) wait ing for transportation after 5pm. What a disaster – to get home before 7pm.

5. Finance the cleaning of drains in Georgetown weekly with a private enti ty, to alleviate floods.

6. Help us with crime fighting tools, additional cameras throughout, and improve mobile laptop com puters for our Police offi cers.

7. Provide us with one helicopter “on standby” for emergency and trauma care. Too many of our cit izens lie on the roadways or in the interior dying be cause of lack of expediency. Ambulances or boats take too long. Provide us with additional, MRI, X-RAY, CTSCAN, Defibrillators throughout the country.

The list above is not in tended to be comprehen sive, just some ideas to stimulate discussion among ourselves, having wasted 3 years talking about renego tiating the contract. I am a fervent believer that we can build around the periphery of the existing contract, in stead of spending the next 20 years talking about how bad the contract was. Let us focus on the future and the needs of our nation. Was the contract between the Government of Guyana and Exxon Aleatory?

Some of the purveyors of bad information are tak ing us down a black hole. Do not get sucked in, move on!

Yours respectfully, Everton D Morris

Agriculture sector has triumphed

Editor, Undoubtedly, the Minister of Agriculture, the Honourable Mr Zulfikar Mustapha, has made an excellent analysis and prognosis when he said the sugar and rice industries are on the road to recovery, and will surpass the targets set.

prognosis can be ex tended to the entire agricul ture sector as well.

Crops are invariably al ways affected by adverse weather conditions, and the recent floods have devastat ed both industries, but they have been rescued and remain standing simply because of the timely intervention by the Minister of Agriculture and his Government.

The Minister of Agriculture, and all the other Ministers, in cluding the President and the Vice-President, visited all the affected areas and provided on-the-spot relief to those af fected. Never has this mas sive scale of Government in tervention ever taken place in Guyana. The Government spent billions of dollars in drainage and infrastructure; roads, cash grants and relief; subsidies and free distribution of seeds, plants, chemicals and fertilisers.

The rains persisted in 2021 and most of 2022, but this Government continued to re lentlessly pursue solutions not only to resuscitate the sector, but to bring about transforma tional changes which would greatly boost the productivity

and production of not only the traditional crops, but a long list of other non-traditional high-value crops as well.

During all of these chal lenges, the Government brought down the prices of fuel, fertilisers and chemicals to ensure that production costs are kept in check, and farm ers can improve on their prof it margins while keeping the prices affordable to the con sumers. In addition, VAT was removed from vital machinery and equipment.

Guyanese must reflect on the fact that while prices are skyrocketing all over the world, they are enjoying stable prices for many commodities.

I know that, currently, the prices for vegetables are at a very high level, but this would change soon, since the weather conditions are now favourable and farmers will soon be able to up their production. Even the small kitchen gardens will thrive once again. Our trials and fallout from the floods will soon be over, and we will once again be able to enjoy an abun dance of produce at affordable prices. The same can be said of the livestock and fishing in dustries as well.

I must thank the Government for ensuring that Guyanese people successfully ride and overcome the floods and the devastation which en sued.

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf

CANINE HEARTWORM

continued

Dog’s Heart infested with Heartworms

Before we begin with this installment of the Heartworm drama, allow me to sur prise you with some ex traneous facts. Imagine this, wonder of wonders, the “Pet Care” column has now reached well over 170 weekly articles on mat ters associated with the well-being of our pets. More than two and a half years have slid by with out so much as a bark or a meow! Tempus fugit.

Actually, I am pretty pleased about the longevi ty of a column such as this. And we have only touched the tip of the iceberg. We have not yet dealt in any great depth with pet nu trition, pet geriatrics, the issue of keeping jungle

animals as pets, etc.

And, of course, we are indebted to Sunday Times for carrying the articles and the appropriate pho tographs which accompa ny the texts.

The column has gen erated some interest, as is reflected in the letters, photos, telephone calls, and passing comments which we receive weekly. We promise that, once you continue to enthuse us

with your responses, we will continue to write the column.

Now, let’s address the therapy aspect of the Heartworm problem.

Q: What is the treatment?

A: Let US get one thing

straight – Heartworm in dogs (cats) should be treated only by your vet erinarian. Obviously, this must be so. Do you remember that, over the last three weeks, I have been emphasising the insidious nature of this mosquito-borne ail ment? It creeps up on the animal. Symptoms show themselves only when the heart and oth er organs cannot cope with the pressures in duced on them by this ailment.

All the time, during the pe riod between the acquisition of the infection and the exhi bition of the symptoms, the an

imal is compensating. The heart, the function of which is being compro mised by the worms there in, is pumping faster, be cause less blood volume (with every contraction) is being delivered to the or gans. As the disease pro gresses, the organs be come increasingly starved of blood (oxygenated), and then slowly begin to col lapse.

The first step in treat ment of the Heartworm ailment would therefore be an evaluation of the dog’s current physical condition. Only a veter inarian can competently do this. In all likelihood, this would mean stabilis ing the heart failure and the liver and kidney in sufficiencies. In other words, long before the ac tual specific treatment be gins, we have to get the dog’s health status to a level which would allow it to cope with the treat ment – and what a treat ment it is!

I should mention, in passing, that there was a time when the drug of choice was an arsenic com pound which the veteri narian would inject into the dog’s muscle or vein. So, we can see the poten tial danger in the admin istration of such a thera peutic intervention if the dog’s health status has been sufficiently propped up.

Worse, if this injection of the arsenic salt has to go the venous route, it has to be done four times in 36 hours (morning, eve ning, next morning, eve ning). If, for whatever rea son, during the process of the injections, the needle slips out of the vein, or if some of the arsenic leaks out from the vein into the surrounding tissue, then a most ungodly reaction emerges (swelling at site).

The drug manufac

turers have now come up with a newer and more easily administered meth od of treatment, which en tails giving the dog two or even three injections within one week, and then once a month thereafter.

Please note that this pro posed sequence of injec tions with the new drug may vary.

Let us take for granted that your competent vet erinarian has carried out the therapy efficiently.

The spaghetti-like worms in the heart are now all dead. The problems are over, you think. Not so!

If the dog suddenly ex erts itself too much, one of the dead worms could dis associate itself from the bundle in the heart and enter the blood stream, and end up as an embolus in the lungs. The animal might just keel over – in stantaneously dead.

This means that af ter the Heartworms have been killed, the animal must be kept quiet (no strenuous exercise, no sudden movements, no chasing of cats, no fight ing with other dogs, etc). The dead Heartworms would disintegrate in due course, and be absorbed slowly – over the period of about two months – by the body.

Having killed the adult Heartworms, the problem is still not over. Don’t for get that we still have the microfilariae (immature stages of the Heartworm) in the circulating blood to deal with. They have to be killed too, so that they won’t grow into adults, which can reproduce and start the whole cycle over again.

How to kill the Heartworm and the mi crofilariae, and how to prevent and control the Heartworm scourge, will be the subject of next week’s column.

As you can see, the dog with the heartworm infestation is in big trouble

Gov’t sets up BoI to probe Harbour Bridge accident

Following the accident that damaged four spans of the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB), a Board of Inquiry (BoI) has been set up, and the Guyanese pilot of the Panamanian flag-bear ing vessel that crashed into the bridge has been taken into the custody of the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD).

In a press conference host ed by Public Works Minister Juan Edghill, it was explained that the vessel has been seized and its pilot has been tested for use of drugs or alcohol. The test results have, however, been re turned as negative.

That press conference was attended by Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar, and Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn.

The vessel that crashed into the Demerara Harbour Bridge is the MV Trade Wind Passion, a Panamanian fuel ship that was transporting fuel to the Guyana Oil Company (GUYOIL). Heading south, it was the last of five vessels to cross the bridge when it collid ed with the structure.

During the press confer ence, Edghill explained that it is still not known why the pilot had steered the vessel the way he did, despite clear warnings from DHB Ship Supervisor Andy Duke, who was directing the vessel through the retrac tion, and had attempted to get it to stop after realising it was out of alignment.

When the accident oc curred, Duke sustained inju ry after he had to jump from his post to get out of the path of the vessel, which eventual ly crashed into the bridge. He

is currently hospitalised with a fractured leg.

Noting the importance of getting to the proverbial bot tom of the incident, Minister Edghill has said: “We, as a Government, our particu lar posture (is that) we need to know what happened. Is this just carelessness? Is this terrorism? Is this madness? What’s going on here? Because people are affected! And that is why we have moved so quickly to put in place such a compre hensive Board of Inquiry.”

According to Edghill, the vessel would not be allowed to leave Port Georgetown until the Board of Inquiry has complet ed its probe and repairs to the DHB have been completed. The company would be required to foot the bill for the repairs, and MARAD and the Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD) have commenced legal proceedings to settle this mat ter. In the meantime, the pilot

remains in custody.

“The pilot was handed over to the Police this morning from MARAD, to go and do the test ing. And then the Police hand ed them over to MARAD. So, they are basically being active ly monitored,” Edghill has said.

Meanwhile, MARAD General Manager Stephen Thomas has said the pilot has been suspended, and is likely to be permanently banned from operating on any ship. He said the pilot had been employed as a river pilot for decades.

The BoI comprises Captain Joseph Lewis – a marine of ficer and surveyor of ships; Thandi McAllister – Legal Director at MARAD; Yurlander Hughes – Member of DHB Board and staff at the T&HD; Inspector Ross – Marine Branch, Guyana Police Force; Lieutenant Colonel David Shamsudeen – Coast Guard, Guyana Defence Force; Patrick Thompson – Chief Transport

and Planning Officer, Ministry of Public Works; and Engineer Dimitri Alli – Board Member of National Shipping Corporation.

Bridge

While work continues on the DHB, it has been ex plained, water taxis have been operating since 04:30h on Saturday, and will be working for 24 hours to transport com muters between the Vreeden-Hoop and Stabroek ferry stellings. Edghill has, howev er, emphasised that no au thorisation has been given for the fare to be increased.

Apart from using the Stabroek Market Stelling for boarding, the MARAD Boat House would also be open to accommodate persons wish ing to access the water tax is. A third crossing would on Sunday be set up at the Demerara Harbour Bridge for the water taxis to operate to La Grange. A fourth tempo rary crossing, from Wales to the Grove/ Diamond area, is under consideration.

Water taxi operators have already been warned not to increase their fares, lest they face sanctions. Moreover, parking has been made avail able at the National Stadium for the vehicles of persons from the West Side who have been stranded on the East Bank or in Georgetown.

The Ministry is also look ing at the possibility of bring ing in barges to transport ve hicles with goods and supplies across the Demerara River.

Changes

A number of changes would also be made in regard to how

ships operate on the Demerara River. Minister Edghill has ex plained that, for instance, the pool of pilots who are skilled enough to navigate the riv er without crashing into the bridge would be expanded.

“We have a system in place where there are pilots from Guyana, and it’s a pool of about five river pilots that bring these vessels through the bridge. They have an agen cy that engages them, and these are grown, elderly gen tlemen who know the river and can navigate it. MARAD has said to us, as Ministers and as the board, the changes that will be made to ensure the pool is broadened, and we do things differently.”

Minister Indar, meanwhile, has explained that MARAD would be putting in place mea sures in addition to the pool of river pilots. A MARAD officer would now be on board a ves sel to help the pilot get him/ herself familiarised with nav igating the river. This, he ex

plained, is something that MARAD usually does for ves sels working offshore, or ves sels coming into the country. This will now be extended to vessels having to pass through the Harbour Bridge.

“To navigate the river is a skill only a few of them have. That is why we have five or six of them. So, what we’re try ing to do is…make sure the boundaries are adjusted. So, we’ll adjust the boundaries so that they will take it further down the Demerara River. But MARAD will now have a very active role in when we move vessels through the opening,” he said.

It was only in September that a tug and barges slammed into Span 9 of the DHB during the retraction period. The impact of that collision had pushed the bridge out of align ment, causing breakage of the connecting end post at Spans 8 and 7. This, in turn, had re sulted in a transom becoming warped with a slight opening.

of Panamanian vessel that crashed into bridge in MARAD custody river taxis to work for 24 hours; no fare increase allowed

Public Works Minister Juan Edghill at the site

The DHB following the accident

Guyanese girl places 3rd at international letter-writing competition

Eleven-year-old Bryaneliza Latchman of Queen’s College has copped third place at this year’s International Letter Writing Competition for Young People.

The local leg of the competi tion was organised by the Guyana Post Office Corporation in col laboration with the Education Ministry, and was open to all stu dents from nine to 15 years old.

The participants were tasked with writing a letter to an influ ential person on why and how to take action on climate change. Of the 23 local submissions, Latchman’s emerged as the win ning entry. Her letter was ad dressed to Dr. Mohamed Irfaan

Ali, President of Guyana, and de tailed some salient steps that can be acted upon to address climate change.

Latchman’s letter was sub

mitted to the Universal Postal Union’s office in Switzerland to compete with submissions from a possible 191 countries. Her let ter earned her the third place,

behind those of students from Turkey and Oman, who placed first and second respectively; and she has received the bronze med al.

At a simple ceremony held at the Providence Post Office on Friday, October 7, 2022 to cele brate World Post Day, Bryaneliza received her prize of a laptop for the local leg of the competi tion, compliments of NALICO/ NAFICO Insurance Company. Marlon Hendricks, the NALICO representative, presented her with the prize.

The third-place award will be conveyed at a date to be an nounced later. (Guyana Post Office)

For a credible…

…Opposition Leader

Some PPP partisans are gloating that the PNC appears to be going belly up. Seemingly agreeing with them, PNC partisans are weeping and wailing and gnashing their teeth at Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton. He was, after all, elected by the PNC after a long-drawn-out war of attrition against then leader David Granger. But was he??

Some say that the election was by a minority of delegates from PNC groups, but - like with Britain’s Liz Truss and “Dishy” Rishi Sunak - they’re at variance with the rank and file!!

But another loose end is that it wasn’t clear exactly why the Sanctimonious Gangster Granger was removed!! Was it because he wasn’t “gangster enough to stare down the US, EU, Britain, Caricom, the Commonwealth and the OAS?? Did PNC supporters hark back to their Founder Leader “talking back and giving lip” to the Yanks back in the day?? But hey!! Then, Burnham had Jagan as the US’ bogeyman to invoke whenever they tried to pressure him!! Ain’t no bogeyman around no mo to blackmail the US with!!

Was it because Granger was too “sanctimonious”?? While that pose got them elected as the “kinder, gentler PNC” in 2011 and 2015, did they now feel the PNC ought to get back to its old big-and-bad ways?? This, of course, had gotten them into office in the sixties, after they had pummelled the PPP and their supporters on behalf of the CIA – and then periodically henceforth for good measure!! But Granger had shown he was just as capable as Burnham and Hoyte to unleash violence against their old punching bags. Remember the West Berbice Riots?? Well, you can’t be blamed if you have, dear reader: the PPP Govt that promised an Inquiry seemed to have forgotten!!

Well, it could be that it was because they wanted a real “bad man” at their helm, one who just didn’t give a damn, in the tradition of Burnham - whose motto was “Back to back, belly to belly/Ah doan give a damn, ah done dead a’ready!!” - and they think they had found this in the personage of Aubrey Norton. But this is where your Eyewitness thinks such people don’t really have a handle on Norton. They may assume he’s a clone of Robert Corbin, but after the initial flareups, they should remember that Corbin toned down, and even went to law school to eventually enter the bar!!

He'd found out that the folks who fund politics don’t really want “Bad Johns”, as the Trinis call them; they want a leader who sees toughness as a means to an end – not just “brucking” up the place!!

Norton has long discovered this, and he ain’t about to be no bull in a China shop!!

…river crossing

If there was any reason to emphasise the need for a fixed-span bridge across the Demerara River, the latest collision of a river vessel with the old floating one (DHB) should do the job. Back in the day when the PPP took over in 1992, the DHB hadn’t even reached its expiration date – 25 years from 1978 – but portions would periodically float downstream with vehicles on them!! So, we gotta be thankful that the PPP’s spending billions in maintenance - beyond the tolls - and now the threat’s from errant sailors?

You’d think that with the owners having to pay for the repair costs, these accidents would’ve disappeared. But from the number of “accidents” that have occurred, it’s clear that the helmsmen – the fellas driving the vesselsaren’t the owners. Their mentality is similar to that of the mini- bus drivers, who don’t give a damn what happens to their vehicles!! We now have a mini-bus culture on the river!!

Ain’t nothing gonna change till we have that fixedspan at La Grange!!

…Carnival

Unlike many folks who’ve panned the local Cricket Carnival for its vulgarity, it’s more the Government’s involvement that got your Eyewitness’s goat. Isn’t Government-sponsored ‘culture’ a contradiction in terms, since culture’s the way of life of the people??

Bryaneliza Latchman receiving her prize from Marlon Hendricks, NALICO representative

Parika man busted with over 6kg of cocaine in curry at CJIA

to the arrest of Manzil Ali, also called John Ali, a 43-year-old resident of Section C, “D” Field Sophia, Greater Georgetown.

Back in April, a 25-yearold woman of Lamaha Gardens, Georgetown and

of Jamaica, Queens, New York was busted at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) with a quantity of cocaine stashed away in her hand luggage.

This suspect was also an outgoing passenger

on a Jet Blue flight, B62166. It was reported that a Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) officer at the CJIA had conducted a search on this suspect’s luggage and had discovered the cocaine concealed in

the walls of her laptop bag inside her hand luggage.

She was escorted to CANU Headquarters in Georgetown for further questioning, and remains in custody there.

Thirty-six-year-old

Loaknauth Persaud of Parika Backdam, East Bank Essequibo (EBE) was on Friday ar rested at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport while

white substance suspected to be cocaine was found in two bowls of curry during a search of his suitcase.

Persaud was arrested and, with the suspected il legal substance, escorted

attempting to smuggle to America more than six ki lograms of cocaine in curry.

The Customs AntiNarcotics Unit (CANU) in a release has said that Persaud was an outgoing passenger on a Jet Blue Airways flight destined for the JFK International Airport in the USA when a

to CANU Headquarters, where the substance was subsequently tested and confirmed to be cocaine. It was weighed in his pres ence and amounted to 6.28kgs, which has a street value of approximately US$31,000.00 (Gy$6.3M).

Further investigations into this matter have led

The curry containing the cocaine

Manzil Ali Loaknauth Persaud

New DHB will have enough space for vessels to pass through - Min Edghill

The Government of Guyana is assur ing that the new Demerara River Bridge will have more than enough space for vessels, even one as big as a Handymax ves sel, to pass through with out any accident.

During a press con ference on Saturday, in which he updated the me dia on efforts to return the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) to normalcy after an accident that took out four spans, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill not ed the importance of the Government’s push to con struct the new bridge.

“The bridge that we’re building, (contract of) which has already been awarded, is a high-span bridge that can facilitate a handymax vessel. The handymax vessel is a par ticular size of vessel, with a tower of a particular height. The span would be, I think, 210 metres wide (48 metres high), so noth ing has to open for any thing to pass through. It will be a big, wide span in the channel that you can just pass through,” Edghill explained.

Expounding on the di mensions of the new bridge, Minister within the Public Works Ministry, Deodat Indar, noted that the main

span of the bridge; that is, the space between two support structures for the bridge, is 210 metres.

“The channel that the ships gotta come in, pass ing each other, is about 200 metres. We now dredg ing and expanding it, and ships are passing and don’t

jam each other. Imagine if you have that level width of a span and you hit one of that,” he explained. “It has to be an outworldly event. It’s not impossible, but it has to be an outworldly event for you to have that amount of space and still drive into it…unless it’s an

Secondary school teacher granted bail on sexual assault accusation

Arrested for alleged ly sexually molest ing a 14-year-old male student, a senior teacher attached to a sec ond school along the East Coast Demerara corridor has been released on sta tion bail.

Police have not issued a report on the matter since the incident alleged ly occurred, and all efforts to contact the Regional Commander on the is sue have proved futile. However, sources have told this publication that the teacher had been de tained in relation to the allegation, but was later released from custody.

Guyana Times has been informed that the lad attends after-school class

es that are hosted by the teacher. It is alleged that, one afternoon after class es, the teacher offered to drop the child home, and that was when he alleged ly made his sexual ad vances on the teen.

This student is alleg ing that he and the teach er had had a scuffle in the car after the teacher had continued to touch him in appropriately, but he had eventually managed to get the teacher to cease his advances.

However, upon reach ing home, the teen had reportedly related every thing to his parents, who reported same to the prin cipal of the school.

They were reported ly told that the teacher

was sent on administra tive leave in order to fa cilitate an investigation. However, the lad’s par ents have grown frustrat ed at the slow pace of the investigation, and have been enraged to learn that there has allegedly been an attempt to trans fer the teacher and cover up the matter. The lad’s parents have thus gone public with the issue, and an official Police report was made, leading to the school teacher being ar rested.

It has been alleged that after the allegations went public, several other com plaints of this nature were lodged against this teach er, thus resulting in sev eral probes being started.

act of terrorism,” Indar ex plained.

Edghill, meanwhile, noted that work on the new bridge is progressing, and soon the work will be even more visible to observers, as the contractors mobil ise skills and the necessary equipment, which have to be shipped in.

“Everyone in the me dia can see that prepa

ratory works for the new Harbour Bridge are un derway. For example, if you announce that you’re building a house, you don’t see the columns up in the air the same day. There are processes: you gotta do measurements, layouts, surveys; you gotta do ev ery spot where those piles have to go into the river bed; have to do geotechni cal surveys…” he detailed.

“A lot of work is being done. The time (is com ing) when you’ll see heavy construction, machines, pile-driving and busyness, the contractor is also mo bilising their skills into the country: the necessary vi sas, shipping equipment. So you’re going to see all of that soon,” he promised.

As it stands now, he said, preparatory work be ing done now includes the dredging of the Demerara River, the removal of wrecks, and other safe ty measures being imple mented.

Back in May, a US$260 million contract for the new bridge across the Demerara River was signed. The contract was awarded to a joint venture led by China Railway and Construction Corporation (International) Limited, which outbid four other pre-qualified international companies that submitted proposals for the project.

Over the past few months, the Guyana

Government, through a team of specialists – legal and engineering – has al ready negotiated with the Chinese company to final ise the terms of the con tract.

The new bridge will be a fixed 2.65-kilometre, four-lane, high-span, ca ble-stayed structure across the Demerara River, with the width of the driving surface being about 23.6 metres. Featuring a bicycle lane, the bridge will bring an end to closures to vehic ular traffic with a 50-me tre, fixed high-span to cater for the free and uninter rupted flow of vessels. The river will be dredged along a 13.5-kilometre stretch to accommodate large vessels.

Back in November 2021, Cabinet grant ed its no-objection for the Chinese company to con struct the bridge using a design-build-finance (DBF) model. The bridge will land aback Nandy Park, East Bank Demerara (EBD) on the eastern side, and at La Grange, West Bank Demerara (WBD) on the western side.

Already, the Guyana Government has allocated some $21.1 billion in the 2022 Budget towards work on the bridge. It will have a lifespan of 100 years. This new bridge will replace the ageing floating Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB), which has outlived its lifes pan by several decades.

Body of unidentified man found in Berbice

This is the second body to have been found in Berbice within the past three weeks. The body of a man, later identi fied as Neville Narine of Blairmont Number Four Settlement, West Bank Berbice, was found float ing in the Berbice River in the vicinity of the Rosignol Market in September.

P olice are investigat ing the circumstanc es surrounding the death of a hitherto uniden tified man, whose body was discovered on Friday be hind the newly-built ANSA McAL building at Palmyra village, East Canje Berbice.

Reports are that this body, clad in green three-quarter pants and a light green jersey, was dis covered in a crouched posi tion in a clump of bushes. It

was barefooted.

Police have said that the man’s body was exam ined for marks of violence, and it was observed that the skin from the right side of his face, right ankle, and right hand had seemingly been peeled off.

This body has been tak en to a funeral home as it awaits identification and a Post Mortem Examination (PME). Investigations are ongoing.

Reports are that Narine had gone missing after leaving his home to go to the Police Station to make a report against his son. He later turned up dead.

Family members had said that the father of three had constantly endured physical abuse from his son, and had finally made the decision to make a re port to the Police.

Days later, the fami ly had received news that the body was found float ing in the Berbice River in the vicinity of the Rosignol Market.

Public Works Minister Juan Edghill is flanked by Minister within the Public Works Ministry, Deodat Indar (left), and Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn during the press conference

Understanding the “other”

During the last two weeks, the Hindu community engaged in nine nights - “Nau Raat” - of the worship of God as “female”. One of the major causes of our divisive, ethnicised politics is the stereotyping of the “other”, so it is critical that effort be made to understand each other’s practices. This is an attempt to explain Nau Raat.

While in primary school, I discovered that “God as Female” was a very strange notion to most of my Christian African-Guyanese friends. At Uitvlugt Church of Scotland School, attendance at Wednesday services in the church was compulsory. I was more interested in the gleaming brass pipes of the huge organ, which we boys had to supply with air from bellows withing its maws as Miss La Rose plunked away sedately and the rest of the school sang hymns lustily. But I gathered from the sermons that God was REALLY a male, who was somewhere “up there in heaven”.

However, when I attended Mandir on Thursday evenings (in the beginning, more for the “parsaad”, I confess), arrayed in front of me was a complete pantheon of Gods. There were males of various visages, females of as many visages, half-manhalf woman, half-man, half-beast, all “beast”, and seemingly everything in between. The “in between” alternated between various symbols (the sound of Om and formless Lingas) and even silence. Heavy stuff for a ‘forced ripe’ boy.

So, as a Hindu, worshipping God as “female” was as natural as breathing air. There was no one conception of God to which worship was offered in one way. To me, what was preached in the Church of Scotland was quite strange.

I was raised by my grand-parents, and my Nana was somewhat of a nonconformist. He didn’t attend Mandir, and preferred to expound at home on his favourite text, the Ramcharitmanas - the exploits of Sri Ram – from his tattered but treasured copy. Very early on, he challenged me to think about whether a God that pervaded the entire universe - “here there and everywhere” - could possibly have a particular form, much less a male and not a female form. His position was “you worshipped whatever form or manner you were comfortable with”. He often chanted the portion of the Ramcharitmanas where Sri Ram, the incarnation of God (as Vishnu), prayed to God as not just female - but a “warrior” female - Durga Devi. Once you could get your head around that concept, there’s no going back to God as a jealous, greybearded man in the sky.

The interesting thing about Hinduism is that it starts from the premise that if we are incapable of comprehending the nature of even the physical universe – even at Zeelugt High School a few years later, the notion that electrons could simultaneously be both waves and particles boggled the mind - what about God, in which that universe itself is immanent? Can we dare to limit God by gender or number? But all is not lost. If we cannot “comprehend” God, Hindus have discovered several paths – Yogas - through which one can directly “apprehend” God. And one of these is to love and worship Her in whichever way you can through whatever form you can respond to. Or no “form”, for that matter.

In Hindu semiotics – discussed early in Ramcharitmans in distinguishing “name and form” - females are the signifiers of power – Shakti - and males are merely the “inert” ground –Prakriti. So, in the bi-annual nine days of Nau Raatri, during the fall, we just worshipped nine forms of the Devi. Next Spring, we will worship Her first as “Durga”, who possesses all the weapons and strength of the Gods - the same Durga worshipped by Ram before he went into battle against Ravana. While mothers are usually thought of as peaceful, no one would defend her children as ferociously as she would. We all have battles to fight, and so, for three days, we pray to the Mother Durga to guide us.

During the next three days, we keep focusing on Her as Maha Lakshmi, the bestower of abundance, auspiciousness and wealth. In Hindu culture, it is the female who is the conserver of the wealth in the family, necessary for a life of dignity and integrity. And the last three days, worship is to Mother Saraswati, the bestower of knowledge, without which no battle can be won, or wealth acquired.

Ravi Dev

Berbice man brutally chopped over misunderstanding

Fifty-six-year-old

Lawrence Rodrigues, a labourer of Rose Hall Town, Corentyne, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), is now hospitalised at the New Amsterdam Public Hospital, after being attacked

and brutally chopped by an other male, who was armed with a machete (cutlass).

The incident occurred on Friday at Rose Hall Town, and Police say the suspect, a 26-year-old cane harvester of Rose Hall Town, had report

edly objected to Rodrigues re moving the suspect’s bicycle from in front of his (suspect’s) house.

This resulted in the cane harvester becoming upset and arming himself with a cutlass before confronting Rodrigues

on the road and dealing him several chops about his body.

While the brutal attack was captured on video, the victim was rushed to the Port Mourant Public Hospital, be fore later being transferred to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital, where his condition is listed as serious.

The matter was reported and the suspect has been ar rested, and is in custody assist ing with the investigation.

The scene of the chopping incident

FOOD DAY

The right to access healthy food options at an affordable cost is something we often take for granted, given that food choices in Guyana are vast and easily accessible for most. As far back as 1945, the United Nations recognised food as not a privilege, but a right. Since 1979, the global community has observed World Food Day on October 16, to draw attention to the plight of the hungry, and to highlight the need for a healthy diet for all.

The theme of World Food Day 2022 is "LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND." Although we have made progress towards building a better world, too many people have been left behind - people who are unable to benefit from human development, innovation, or economic growth. In fact, millions of people around the world cannot afford a healthy diet, putting them at high risk of food insecurity and malnutrition. Ending hunger isn’t only about supply.

Enough food is produced today to feed everyone on the planet. The problem is access to, and availability of, nutritious food, which is increasingly being impeded by multiple challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, conflict, climate change, inequality, rising prices, and international tensions. People around the world are suffering the domino effects of challenges that know no borders, so this theme encourages people and governments around the world to focus on solving these challenges.

World Food Day significance:

The importance of food is obvious and essential. Healthy food provides us with the nutrients and energy to develop and grow; be active and healthy; to move, play, work, think and learn. Foods are directly related to our physical, mental and social health, because each group of food or liquid contains particular nutrients, such as carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, minerals, fats, etc., which are essential for our physical and mental growth.

Today, most of the food energy requirement of the ever-increasing population of the world is supplied by the industrial food industry, which produces food through intensive agricultural practices and distributes it through complex food processing and distribution systems which have been very successful in our world in regard to making all types of food very affordable and accessible all over the world. Despite these advancements, it is still evident that a large number of people are still hungry, demonstrating inequalities in food production and availability.

Enough food is currently produced to feed every person on our planet. However, it is estimated that about 1.3 billion tons of food is lost or wasted annually in our world, which approximates to about 20% of the total food produced in a year, and if this food is saved, it can feed every hungry person in our world. So, this day also aims to raise awareness on the issue of food wastage.

Millions of people worldwide continue to suffer from the health consequences of malnourishment, which damages growing bodies and brains. That's why their immune systems are affected, and they are made prone to various diseases and become physically weak, reducing their productivity.

How can YOU celebrate World Food Day?

sustainable diet,

food wastage

your own kitchen garden

local farmers

GDF corporal to travel to India for ITEC training

Corporal (Cpl) Trevon Jeffers of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) is the latest GDF rank who would travel to India to par ticipate in a course that is part of the India Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Training pro gramme.

This programme is for friendly foreign countries in the defence sector by extension of India, and is one of the thirty-eight (38) slots for Guyana this year. Corporal Jeffers would be engaged in the N.C.Os Transport Supervisory Course (NTSC) at the ACS Centre & College for a peri od of two months.

Corporal Jeffers, who is stationed at the Defence Headquarters of the Guyana Defence Force at Base Camp Ayanganna, has completed numerous cours es with the GDF.

Corporal Jeffers had the opportunity to meet with India’s High Commissioner

to Guyana, H.E. Dr. KJ Srinivasa, during which the High Commissioner con gratulated him and advised

him to make the best of this opportunity, and help to promote India-Guyana de fence collaboration.

Jeffers, in return, ex pressed his eagerness to begin participating in the course, and thanked the

High Commissioner and the Government of India for giving him the opportunity.

The Government of India

continues to strengthen its bond with Guyana by of fering several scholarships in various areas, including military, medical, technical, and cultural training. This is the first time that Guyana has had access to these mil itary training programmes, and, to date, many GDF of ficers have completed their training and returned to Guyana.

Under the ITEC Programme, the Government of India covers all expenses related to this training.

In August of this year, Corporal Deron Jermin Harvey of the GDF was selected for the Young Bandsmen Course at Army Education Corps Training College and Centre in Pachmarhi, India. Harvey, who joined the GDF in 2014 and is now part of the Band Corps, has embarked on this course, which runs from August 10, 2022 to June 20, 2023.

Corporal Trevon Jeffers of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr KJ Srinivasa, and another official of the Indian High Commission

Teachers to receive permanent certificates by year-end

Trained teachers are set to receive their per manent certificates by the end of this year, accord ing to President Dr. Irfaan Ali, who made this disclosure while addressing teachers on World Teacher’s Day on Wednesday.

“We have implemented a programme, a policy, that would have seen one thou sand teachers receiving their permanent training certifi cates. There was a backlog since 2016. I have instruct ed that, by the end of this year, the entire backlog must

President Ali

be cleared,” President Ali in formed.

In a statement issued last December, the Ministry of Education noted that it had been “increasingly difficult to use the normal procedure to issue permanent certifi cates, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the rotation sys tem employed by schools, the bureaucracy involved in teachers applying, and then being issued with the certifi cates.” These hindrances, the Ministry stated, resulted in an “untold number of teach ers not being issued with their permanent certificates.”

Education Minister Priya Manickchand had also giv en directives to the Chief Education Officer to grant a waiver for the issuance of permanent certificates to all teachers who have completed five years of post- graduation training.

The Ministry has also ini tiated discussions to have the process to attain the trained teacher’s certificate simpli

fied. Teachers’ training op portunities are improving in Guyana now, with more than 2,500 teachers across the sys tem being granted the chance to pursue higher education at the bachelor’s degree, mas ter’s degree or PhD. levels.

The President has said that more than 5,000 teach ers have been in training over the last two years, and he explained that due to the large number of applications

received, the use of technol ogy had to be considered. To this end, education cours es which are offered by the University of Guyana were made available to teachers online.

Additionally, the educa tion sector’s budget has ear marked over $500 million for the Cyril Potter College of Education to go fully on line with its teachers’ train ing programme in 2022.

President Dr Irfaan Ali

Teachers gathered on World Teacher’s Day

Surviving breast cancer: Mabel Hackett is a fighter

By AlvA Solomon

At age 21, Mabel Hackett was attending bible school at Hauraruni on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway when she fell through a bunk bed, hitting her right breast in the process. She was painting a wall at the time.

It was a fall that would leave a significant impact on her daily life, since, some 14 years later, she observed swelling in her right breast and a searing pain started to become a regular occurrence.

Within a few months, the pain became unbearable and Hackett decided to seek medical attention since she observed several lumps within the breast. “I went to see a doctor at Eureka Lab and she advised me to do an ultrasound and after I take out my report she advised me it is very dangerous and I cannot waste no time with my life,” Hackett said.

It was August that year and following the doctor’s advice, she decided to undergo an X-ray in the form of a mammogram. Hackett was then referred to the St Joseph Mercy Hospital and medical staff there gave her some advice which came as a rude awakening. She said the doctors advised her that she would have to either remove the breast or undergo chemotherapy. They were options which she could not pursue at the time since the cost, which was in the vicinity of $1 million, was beyond her pockets.

Alternatively, the doctors decided to remove the lumps through a surgical procedure that September. Samples were taken from the breast

and sent to Trinidad and Tobago for further analysis. The samples indicated that cancerous cells were within the breast. Hackett was shocked but she knew she had to follow the doctor’s advice.

In December that year, another surgical procedure was undertaken to remove any other infectious cell from the breast.

Therapy

The following year, Hackett was treated at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) for the ailment and this saw her journeying from her home in the Moruca sub-region to the city for the check-ups. “Every time I go I would take an ultrasound and an X-ray and the doctor would look at it and he wasn’t seeing anything,” she said. This saw her breathing a sigh of relief as she not only feared losing the breast but her life, to cancer.

Hackett said after the surgery she noticed that her right hand was not the same as before.

“My right hand, from the time I take the surgery, do not have the strength to do work as before, it became very weak,” she said. However, she said she could hoist any load, and being the largerthan-life character that she is, she still plays cricket and volleyball with her friends at Moruca. “After I finish playing it would affect me,” she said.

Sports enthusiast

At her village, Hackett is known for her involvement in sports. She is also a youth leader at her church and many children as well as other villagers look up to her as a role model. On a lighter note, Hackett possess a unique trait; her voice is so powerful that whenever she speaks at one end of

the playfield, she can be heard at its boundaries.

Within her family she is also seen as a pivotal figure and although she is the 9th of 11 children, she is seen as the most senior of the siblings. According to Hackett, it is now 11 years after surgery was performed on her breast and occasionally, she would feel minor pains around the area where the surgical procedures were done. “Maybe because of the fatigue of the hand I would feel the pain,” she said.

She said she would advise women who might be experiencing pains in their breast as well as noticeable lumps, not to waste any time in seeking treatment. “Go and see your doctor before it is too late,” she said.

“If there is any women out there who is suffering and having any symptoms, whether you are not feeling too good with, may be experiencing what I went through, I would like to encourage you to keep the faith and pray to God Almighty and don’t give up,” Hackett said.

In addition, she said persons in such positions should eat healthy meals and “live a healthy life and believe in God”.

According to Hackett, “I am cured 100 per cent because I trust in Jesus, my faith is in him, I pray and I speak to him every day, I’m cured and I am healed”.

Breast cancer survivor Mabel Hackett

Mega complex at Good Hope, regional expansion among Silvie’s future plans

…as it celebrates 50 years of exceptional service

By Devina Samaroo

Fifty years ago, in surance salesman Rajendra Persaud and his wife Prampattie “Silvie” Persaud, embarked on a humble venture to take care of their family by selling au tomotive parts, having rec ognised a major gap on the local market.

Today, that operation has multiplied substan

tially, with the couple's youngest child, Bramanand Persaud, at the helm of the mega enterprise known as Silvie’s Industrial Solutions.

Officially registered in 1972, Silvie’s has its origin some five years prior when “Silvie” operated a small snackette on High Street, Georgetown.

There, she would also sell other items such as cos metics. Having been dealing

with large volumes of people on a daily basis and listen ing to their stories, Silvie re alised that not many options were available for those who needed automotive parts.

As such, she and her hus band engaged tradesmen to source those items overseas for resale on the local mar ket. Persaud would then go on to travel overseas himself to procure items to resell.

As the business grew, the

couple officially registered the company and eventually moved to their first official location at 44 High Street, Georgetown, under the name Silvie’s General Store, selling mostly automotive and motorcycle spare parts.

Several years later, they

acquired the property at 31 High and Hadfield Streets, Georgetown, where they ex panded their business into other markets including a pharmacy, sports store and stationery centre under the banner Silvie’s Variety Store.

Though successful, the latter three ventures were eventually closed down as Silvie’s decided to focus its investment in the area of gold mining, which was booming at the time.

Rajendra Persaud and his wife Prampattie “Silvie” Persaud, owners of Silvie’s Bramanand Persaud, CEO of Silvie’s

Mega complex at Good Hope...

In a significant rebrand, Silvie’s has since renamed its first location as Silvie’s Automotive Solutions, and its second location, Silvie’s Industrial Solutions.

Together, the two branches offer a wide ar ray of services across many markets such as construc tion, agriculture, vulcanis ing, mining, wash bays, food processing, and of course, it's flagship, auto motive sector.

"We offer hand tools, electrical power tools, we deal with brands like DeWalt, Bosch and Black and Decker. Under con struction, we do cement mixer, compactor, power trowel, concrete vibrator, industrial ovens, industri al stoves, mixers for cakes. We do things like sugar cane juicers, fruit juicers, equipment to grind mas ala and jeera and spices,” Bramanand, who holds the position of Chief Executive Officer, detailed during an interview with Guyana Times

“For wash bays, we do a lot of stuff like pressure washers and all the acces

sories to go with it; the vac uums…under agriculture, we do a lot of tillers, we do all the different type of pumps in gasoline and die sel. We’re big into genera tors. We do a lot of engines, all the types of hoses. Also, a big seller for us are these chicken pluckers,” he add ed.

“We’re like the biggest company when it comes to backup spares for anything that we sell,” Bramanand confidently said. “That is a

guarantee I can give you.”

Pride in customer & af tersales services

Silvie’s has distin guished itself in the market not only as an entity with a wide range of quality prod ucts but as an innovative leader in terms of customer service and convenience.

The company takes pride in the continuous training it provides to staff to better help customers, and its ex tensive aftersales services

that leaves all clients sat isfied.

“I think we have a group of folks who are quite more knowledgeable in selling what we deal with than most other places…the amount of training that we put into this team, they are way above par when it comes to being knowledge able about our products,” he explained.

According to the busi nessman, customers who are not familiar with the

items they wish to purchase will receive all the guidance they need from the sales staff in order to make in formed decisions.

“It’s all about reaching the customer,” he noted.

In addition to this, the Silvie’s boss believes the company is one of the few, if not the only one, that boasts an almost 100 per cent guar antee on parts availability.

The Silvie’s

Silvie’s

Mega complex at Good Hope...

Furthermore, it's rig id stock and record keeping systems provide prompt ness and accuracy in product availability. Moreover, the company prides itself in hav ing aligned with world-class suppliers to ensure proper standardisation in the prod ucts offered to its customers.

The company’s efficient repairs department is an other outstanding feature that sets Silvie’s aside from its competitors. “And, we’ve committed to returning peo ple’s items within three working days,” the CEO not ed.

Moreover, the company's online shopping division, which was launched during the COVID-19 pandemic, is managed by specially-des ignated staff to ensure effi ciency and effectiveness.

With a variety of pay ment options through wire transfers, MMG or cash on delivery, and access across WhatsApp, Facebook and through its website, online shopping now accounts for 15 per cent of Silvie’s cus tomer base and this is pro jected to grow exponential ly. Even more outstanding is its delivery services around

Sacrifices, challenges

Having existed for half a century, Silvie's has endured its fair share of challenges both within its internal and external environments.

During the years his par ents managed the business, Bramanand recalled hearing stories of how they contend ed with major water and electricity woes that plagued the country in those times.

He also recalled all the

personal sacrifices his par ents had to make to ensure the success of the company.

“I was always work ing in Silvie’s. We used to look after the warehouse, packing up the bond, etc,” Bramanand recalled how he and his siblings spent their childhood. “My sister, when she was small, my mom used to have her at the store from morning till night looking after her and running this business.”

“Whenever we had a chance to go on a vacation, it

was a single parent vacation [because the other parent stayed back to work on the business],” he added. “They went through a lot, they worked really hard.”

A major challenge which the company has had to overcome had to do with finding employees with a desire to do more than just a job. According to the busi nessman, when the company first started, there were a lot of family members on board. But today, while it’s no lon ger heavily family-centric, the firm aspires to treat all employees like family.

“They must be able to have a good family life and afford most of the basic ame nities. We want an abun dant life for this team and we wanna keep increasing their benefits and salaries and investing in them,” the CEO affirmed.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 also brought a slew of un precedented challenges which the company, like many others, are still bat tling such as disruptions in the global supply chain which ultimately affect costs.

ISO-certified

Nevertheless, the com pany has many notable achievements, the most re cent and perhaps biggest being its ISO certification. Silvie’s became ISO certified on June 11, 2021.

"The ultimate goal of ISO is customer satisfaction,” Bramanand said. “And how can we align all our process es and keep them consistent to reach that standard, to

maintain it.”

“We wanted to be able to hold ourselves accountable, if we lapsed.”

The future

With 50 fruitful years having gone by, the compa ny looks forward to a bright er future – one that aligns with the country’s rapid de velopment trajectory.

With his parents practi cally retired, Bramanand, his siblings and his wife, Shanti Persaud – who is the Operations Manager – are committed to continuing the legacy of Silvie’s.

The seasoned business man said he is cognisant of the positive transformation Guyana is undergoing, and is determined to ensure the company his parents built from the ground up does not get left behind.

Silvie’s has major ex pansion plans that include establishing new locations across the country and it also has a vision of eventual ly tapping into the regional market as well as in oil and gas.

The company is current

ly developing a branch at Henrietta, Essequibo Coast in Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam) which is slated to be opened by the end of the year.

Moreover, it plans to construct a mega structure at Good Hope, East Coast Demerara (ECD) to better house its industrial division and repairs shop.

The company also has hopes of tapping into the re gional market, having par ticipated in the Barbados Agro Fest and witnessed the potential that exists across the Caribbean.

And while there are no serious plans at the moment, the company is also open to the possibility of directly ser vicing the oil and gas sector.

“With a new facility, we'll be able to align ourselves better,” he indicated.

As it stands, a large num ber of companies that oper ate within the petroleum industry already does busi ness with Silvie’s – but on a more generic basis through the purchasing of universal products.

But even with all these grand plans, Silvie’s assures that its quality products, competitive prices and stel lar customer service will not falter.

“A small farmer can come here to buy a gasoline pump and then a gold min er can come to buy a six-cyl inder diesel engine. We ca ter and will continue to cater for everybody’s needs,” Bramanand assured.

“We will be continuing to provide high quality prod ucts with high service and provide solutions for people's problems. People must defi nitely have the confidence to say, there's something differ ent at Silvie’s, let's go there.”

Georgetown for purchases exceeding $30,000.

Silvie’s plans to open a new location at Henrietta, Essequibo Coast

Silvie’s Industrial Solutions at High and Hadfield Streets, Georgetown

“I started teaching after writing an essay”

Rowena Seymour talks about her love for teaching

When one listens to Rowena Seymour, the immediate impression she exudes is her deep passion for teach ing. Secondly, while lis tening to her experienc es in the profession, which spans 26 years to date, one immediately recognises her upbeat personality and deep reassuring confidence with which she speaks.

Seymour said it all started when she wrote an essay on why she would like to become a teach er. At the time, she was a 16-year-old student at the North West Secondary School at Mabaruma.

She noted that former education official Owen Allen was working with students at the time who were preparing to write the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) English ex aminations. Allen was im pressed with her essay.

“He called me up one day and asked me if I am will ing to teach,” she said.

Seymour said at that time there was a vacancy for a teacher in the area. She said it was Ann Forde, a revered educator who passed away recently, who convinced her to enter the noble profession.

Seymour said Forde, who was an education offi cer at the time, explained the process in which one can become a trained teach er and how one could up grade their qualifications through training and uni versity studies and even move on to become a Head Teacher. Seymour noted that she would never for get Forde’s convincing con versation.

She said at that time she was completing work study attachment, having completed the CXC exams. Soon after the attachment, Seymour was interviewed by the education officials for the teaching post.

The journey in a nutshell

She said she start ed out as a teaching aide at the Barabina Primary School at Mabaruma and after two years, she moved to the city to attend the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE). After completing the training programme, she went back to Mabaruma to teach for

three years and soon after she decided to move back to the city. That was in 1997.

Seymour said she taught at the Cummings Lodge Primary School and later moved on to teach at the Cummings Lodge Secondary. She then moved to the Christ Church Secondary School in the city where she as sumed the post of Head of Department for English. She was there from 2005 to 2008.

After five years at Christ Church Secondary, she was offered the post of Acting Head Teacher at the La Bonne Intention Secondary School on the East Coast of Demerara. “I spent two years at LBI Secondary School,” she said. Seymour subsequently assumed the post of Head Teacher of the Kingston Secondary School in 2016 and she spent three years in that post.

She then applied to the Ministry of Education for the post of Head Teacher at St Winifred’s Secondary School in the city and in

October of 2019 she as sumed the post. She cur rently serves in that post.

At CPCE

Moving to the city from the hinterland can be a challenge and in many in stances, the young teach ers would leave their fam ilies behind, including young children and adjust to the new environment.

For Seymour, it was an adjustment which she was looking forward to. “It was fun, I would say,” Seymour said of her time at the CPCE. She said that she did not experience many challenges and according to her, the regional ad ministration at Mabaruma paid her salary. She said it was a method in which the regional authorities would convince trained teachers to return to their respec tive regions to teach. “So I use to get my salary and also the CPCE stipend,” she said.

School teacher Rowena Seymour has said she has an undying love for the profession

“I started teaching after writing...

She said that the tran sition of moving to train at the CPCE was a “smooth” one. In addition, she not ed that the teachers from the region would work as a team, adding that they al ways looked out for each other while completing the training.

Teaching in the city

Of course, it is tough at the city schools as a Head Teacher, Seymour said. She noted that students are coming from diverse backgrounds and she noted too that there are multiple issues to deal with. “It can be tough to deal with but some days are nice also,” she said.

She said although she is the Head Teacher, she still tries to teach a class rath er than undertaking ad ministration duties contin uously on a daily basis. “I still miss being in the class room, I am not there so of ten as before when I was a normal teacher,” she add ed.

Seymour said that she grabs any opportunity which pops up for her to teach a classroom. “If while I am supervising the school a teacher is absent, I would take the class,” she added.

For this term, Seymour said the English teacher for the Fifth Formers was

on leave and as such she decided to fill the gap. “So when the teacher return I said I will continue to work with the year and she will also continue doing her part,” she added.

Memorable moments

When asked about memorable experiences along her teaching jour ney, Seymour said, “I think I would have a lot to recall but of course there are out

standing ones”. She said while at the Christ Church Secondary School there was a male student who was “always in some sort of problem”.

She said she called him one day and sat down with him. “I told him that I want you to be on the school de bate team,” she said, not ing that he willingly ac cepted the offer. She said to his and her surprise, he was adjudged “best speak

er” in various rounds of the debate competitions. “Even when we had impromptu speeches he was there, one time he went up to partake in a science quiz and Christ Church won the competi tion,” she added.

She said one day the student brought his moth er to the school to meet her and Seymour said it was an emotional moment. “He said to his mother, this is the teacher who made me win those prizes,” she re called him saying. “I was shocked when he did the introduction like that but then when I thought about it he could have strayed in another direction but I saw the good qualities in him and brought him to take part in the debates and to do speeches and I think that really had an impact on him,” Seymour said.

In addition, she recalled working with students who couldn’t read properly or who needed help with their English writing skills. She said she would dedicate her lunch hour to assist them. “So when they come out of my class they must know to read well,” she added.

Family support and COVID-19

Seymour is a mother of two daughters and she not ed that it can be a chal lenge to balance her fami

ly life and heading a school. However, she noted that she would adjust and try her utmost. She said she has a daughter who is mov ing into the Grade 8 level of schooling and she would dedicate her time to ensure her daughter does well at school. “It is a bit challeng ing to deal with work and deal with your own chil dren at home. When you get home from work still have to be with them and transi tion to being a normal par ent,” she said with a smile. In addition, she said her husband, who is also an educator, is very support ive in helping the children with their school work.

Seymour said that while COVID-19 disrupted the school system, the teach ing staff at St Winifred’s adjusted and as such they worked as a team in en suring the education of the children remained a priori ty during the pandemic.

Advice to new teachers

Seymour said love for the profession is the foun dation on which new teach ers should build their re spective careers. “New teachers coming into the system must have a love for children, for working with children because if you do not have a love for work ing with children you are

going to snap at them, you need to understand them,” she added. She reiterated that one must have a love for teaching. “One must have this interest in teach ing, you must want to ex plain and deliver so peo ple can understand and you must have patience in do ing that,” she added. “And believe me, at secondary school you have to come in with broad shoulders be cause if the students see you as being soft they tend to take advantage of that,” Seymour said.

Seymour said one of her strengths is being able to relate to the people she works with. She explained that if she did not possess that ability, then the team effort which is required from the staff, would not be realised. “So we work in an environment where you have people with different issues or personalities so it is important for a Head Teacher or for me, to un derstand each teacher at an individual level,” Seymour said.

Seymour said she will continue to display her end less love for teaching and according to her, teachers are special, in that they of ten work beyond their own expectations just for the love of the profession, and the students.

Teacher Rowena Seymour during a lighter moment

HEALTH TIPS

TIPS TO PREVENT CANCER

solid tumours, but cancers of the blood, such as leuke mias, generally do not.

O: Obvious change in a wart or mole

N: Nagging cough or hoarseness

Dr. Tariq Jagnarine Family meDicine/ enDocrinology

Cancer is a disease in which some of the body’s cells grow un controllably and spread to other parts of the body. Cancer can start almost anywhere in the human body, which is made up of trillions of cells. Normally, human cells grow and mul tiply (through a process called cell division) to form new cells as the body needs them.

When cells grow old, or become damaged, they die, and new cells take their place.

Sometimes this order ly process breaks down, and abnormal or damaged cells grow and multiply when they shouldn’t. These cells may form tumours, which are lumps of tissue. Tumours can be cancerous, or not cancerous (benign).

Cancerous tumours spread into, or invade, near by tissues, and can trav el to distant places in the body to form new tumours (a process called metastasis). Cancerous tumours may also be called malignant tu mours. Many cancers form

Benign tumours do not spread into, or invade, near by tissues. When removed, benign tumours usually don’t grow back, whereas cancerous tumours some times do. However, benign tumours can sometimes be quite large, and can cause serious symptoms or be life-threatening, such as be nign tumours in the brain.

CANCER PREVENTION

Approximately one of every three persons would develop some form of ma lignancy during his or her lifetime. Despite these grim statistics, doctors have made great progress in un derstanding the biology of cancer cells, and have al ready been able to improve the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

Nevertheless, instead of just waiting for new break throughs, here are some suggestions to protect our selves. Screening tests can help detect malignancies in their earliest stages, but per sons should always be alert for symptoms of the dis ease. The American Cancer Society developed this sim ple reminder years ago:

C: Change in bowel or bladder habits

A: A sore that does not heal

U: Unusual bleeding or discharge

T: Thickening or lump in the breast or elsewhere

I: Indigestion, or difficul ty in swallowing

It's a rough guide, at best. The vast majority of such symptoms are caused by nonmalignant disorders, and cancers can produce symptoms that don't show up on the list, such as un explained weight loss or fa tigue. But it is a useful re minder to listen to your body, and to report sounds of distress to a doctor. Health professionals estimate that up to 75% of cancer deaths can be prevented.

Region 6 proposes $2.9B budget for 2023

For its capital works programme, the administration of Region Six (East Berbice/ Corentyne) has present ed a whopping $2.9 bil lion budget proposal for 2023. The 2022 capital works programme was budgeted at $3 billion.

This 2023 budget pro poses to have 51 com munity streets reha bilitated and works completed in all three municipalities and 16 of the 18 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs). The Enfield/ New Doe Park and Plegt Anker/ Kortberaadt ar eas on the East Bank of Berbice are expected to benefit from upgrades to

sluices and heavy-duty bridges under the Region Six drainage and irriga tion programme to the tune of $200 million.

There are no com munity roads in Plegt Anker/Kortberaadt area, while the Enfield/New Doe Park NDC has a few at Edinburgh, and one each at Brothers, Sisters and Friends vil lages. However, vehicle operators have been voic ing concerns over some of the access streets in Edinburgh.

With exception of the Wyburg/ Caracas NDC in West Canje, the access roads in all the other NDCs in Region Six are in need of repair. The bud

get proposes to upgrade as many as five commu nity roads in some NDCs. Rehabilitation of two community roads in each of the three towns: New Amsterdam, Rose Hall Town and Corriverton, is also being proposed. The total cost of this roads’ rehabilitation project is $976 million.

It is to be not ed also that the Local Government, Public Works, and Agriculture Ministries usually have huge sums in their indi vidual budgets for major road upgrades and new roads.

Apart from roads, the Region is proposing to spend $116 million to

HEALTH TIPS

TIPS TO PREVENT CANCER

The 10 commandments of cancer prevention are:

1. Avoid tobacco in all its forms, including expo sure to secondhand smoke.

2. Eat properly. Reduce the consumption of satu rated fats and red meats, which may increase the risk of colon cancer and bring on a more aggressive form of prostate cancer. Increase consumption of fruits, vege tables, and whole grains.

3. Exercise regularly. Physical activity has been linked to a reduced risk of colon cancer. Exercise also appears to reduce a wom an's risk of breast and pos sibly reproductive cancers. Exercise will help protect people even if they don't lose weight.

4. Stay lean. Obesity increases the risk of many forms of cancer. Calories count; if there’s a need to slim down, take in few er calories, and burn more with exercise.

5. If drinking is an is sue, limit oneself to an average of one drink a day. Excess alcohol increas es the risk of cancers of the mouth, larynx (voice box), esophagus (food pipe), liver, and colon. It also increas es a woman's risk of breast cancer. Smoking further in creases the risk of many al cohol-induced malignan cies.

6. Avoid unneces sary exposure to radia tion. Get medical imaging studies only when needed. Check homes for residential

radon, which increases the risk of lung cancer. Protect yourselves from ultraviolet radiation in sunlight, which increases the risk of mela nomas and other skin can cers, but don't worry about electromagnetic radiation from high-voltage power lines or radiofrequency ra diation from microwaves and cell phones; they do not cause cancer.

7. Avoid exposure to industrial and envi ronmental toxins such as asbestos fibres, ben zene, aromatic amines, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

8. Avoid infections that contribute to can cer, including hepatitis vi ruses, HIV, and the hu man papillomavirus. Many are transmitted sexually or through contaminated nee dles.

9. Make quality sleep

FROM PAGE 37

construct two new bridg es and to rehabilitate an additional ten bridges.

It must be noted that the largest part of the proposed budget is re served for the educa tion sector. A new nurs ery school is being proposed for the Black Bush Polder community. Currently, the Mibicuri Primary and Nursery schools are housed in the same building, and enrolment at the pri mary school has been increasing over the years. This develop ment requires addition al space for both schools. Currently, there is no

space reserved for the nursery school.

Additionally, a new Home Economics and Industrial Technology building is being pro posed for Port Mourant Secondary, and the Region is also propos ing to extend sever al school buildings next year. These are: the Special Needs School in New Amsterdam, Leeds Primary, Kiltearn Nursery, Whim Nursery, Skeldon Linepath Primary, Berbice Educational Institute, Corentyne Comprehensive Secondary, All Saints

Primary, and Crabwood Creek Primary. A total sum of $675.3 million is being proposed for that.

As it relates to the health sector, the Region has proposed to spend $348.3 million to erect two new health centres and two new health out posts. New health cen tres are being proposed for Chesney Housing Scheme and Gangaram village in East Canje, while the new health posts are being proposed for Moleson Creek on the Corentyne and at Mara on the East Bank of Berbice.

a priority. Admittedly, the evidence linking sleep to cancer is not strong, but poor and insufficient sleep increases are associated with weight gain, which is a cancer-risk factor.

10. Get enough Vitamin D. Many experts now recommend 800 to 1,000 IU a day, a goal that's nearly impossible to attain without taking a supple ment. Although protection is far from proven, evidence suggests that Vitamin D may help reduce the risk of prostate cancer, colon can cer, and other malignan cies. However, do not count on other supplements.

There's no sure way to prevent cancer, but people can help reduce their risk by making healthy choic es, like eating right, staying active, and not smoking. It's also important to follow rec ommended screening guide lines, which can help detect certain cancers early.

Over 400 Lethem residents sign on to $600M housing programme

Building Society Limited (NBS) would finance the prospective home owners with the remaining $2 mil lion at an interest rate of 3.5 per cent per annum.

This collateral-free ges ture from the two financial institutions would see each of the 600 allottees repay ing just about $14,000 per month.

Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited is the most recent financial institution to come on board this project.

Some401 residents of the Region Nine town ship of Lethem have signed on to the Central Housing and Planning Authority’s (CH&PA’s) Lethem Housing Support Programme - a Governmentassistance initiative for the Lethem Housing Construction Project.

This was disclosed by Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal on Thursday.

The Lethem Housing

Project initiative was an nounced by President Dr Irfaan Ali during an out reach to that Region Nine township in August of 2022.

Valued at $600 million, it entails the Government con tributing $1 million to each of 600 low-income homeown ers to mitigate the cost of construction of their homes.

President Ali had also announced that the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) and the New

Speaking during an inter view with the Department of Public Information (DPI) re cently, Minister Croal dis closed that the materials and labour for home con struction would be procured locally. “The beneficiaries (of) those programmes come from three cluster areas. That is, from the Tabatinga area, Culvert City, as well as our new housing develop ment in Lethem. And those are persons that would have benefitted from an alloca tion recently,” he said.

He explained that the housing development pro gramme caters to persons who are not financially equipped to construct their homes upon receiving a house lot to begin building their new homes. “So, here

you have a programme that has never been implemented before in Guyana, and there is an opportunity for people to own their own homes and start. But the key criterion is that you must own your lot. So those are the persons

who are the beneficiaries,” the Minister has said.

This collaboration be tween the Government and commercial banks sees up to $1.8 billion being injected into the district to promote the housing drive.

Exxon catering for possibility of further gas beyond Liza Phases 1 & 2

tie-ins being designed

While the plan is to pump in gas from the Liza Phase 1 field for the Gas-to-Shore project, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) is cater ing for the possibility of fu ture gas coming from be yond the current sources.

ExxonMobil's Gas-toShore Manager Friedrich Krispin made this disclo sure when he delivered re marks during the Guyana Basin Summit (GBS) that concluded last week. He noted that the company is catering for another float ing, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) ves sel supplying gas for the project in the future.

Currently, the Liza Destiny FPSO is produc ing oil and gas in the Liza Phase 1, while the Liza Unity FPSO is producing in the Liza Phase 2. He ex plained that a tie-in, which is a connection between a

pipeline and an existing pipeline system or facility, would have to be done off shore.

“There are no tie-ins on shore. So, if there is a tie-in to be made, it has to be done at the well’s district. So, if there is any other potential opportunity for users of the gas, it will have to be at the well’s district. Or someone will have to take that gas

from there and run it some where else,” Krispin said.

“The reason I said tieins is we’re actually de signing one or two tie-ins offshore in deep water. The reason we’re doing that is that there might be a potential in the future where, beyond Destiny and Unity, there may be anoth er FPSO’s gas that needs to be tied in with that line. Or there may be another block in the area that wants to tie into that line. So, there are inlet tie-ins, but no offtake tie-ins at this point,” Krispin explained.

Procurement for the Gas-to-Shore project has already been started by the Government of Guyana. With a timetable to de liver rich gas by the end of 2024 and the Natural Gas Liquid (NGL) plant to be online by 2025, works are progressing on getting the project off the ground. During the first half of this year, Exxon was expect

ed to source the materials and pipelines, so that they are available for when con struction starts later this year.

The project, which will have a 25-year lifespan, is expected to employ up to 800 workers during the peak construction stage, some 40 full-time work ers during the operation al stage, and another 50 workers during the decom missioning stage.

The Gas-to-Shore proj ect would include a power plant and an NGL plant, all of which would be con structed within the Wales Development Zone (WDZ). When it comes to the con struction of a combined cy cle power plant, this will generate up to 300 mega watts (MW) of power, with a net 250MW delivered into the Guyana Power and Light Grid at a sub-station located on the East Bank of Demerara.

The Guyana Government has already invited interested parties to make investments in the WDZ, which would be heavily industrialised, and for which approximate ly 150 acres of land have been allocated. Those lands were previously used by the Wales Sugar Estate.

Head of the Gas-toShore Task Force, Winston Brassington, had previous ly stated that ExxonMobil Guyana, which is funding the pipeline aspect of the project out of cost oil, has found that there would be substantial savings from combining these two facil ities.

The scope of the ap proximately US$900 mil lion Gas-to-Shore project also consists of the con struction of 225 kilome tres of pipeline from the Liza field in the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana, where Exxon and its part

ners are currently produc ing oil. It features approx imately 220 kilometres of a subsea pipeline offshore that would run from Liza Destiny and Liza Unity floating, production, stor age and offloading (FPSO) vessels in the Stabroek Block to the shore. Upon landing on the West Coast Demerara shore, the pipe line would continue for ap proximately 25 kilometres to the NGL plant at Wales, West Bank Demerara.

The pipeline would be 12 inches wide, and is ex pected to transport per day some 50 million standard cubic feet (mscfpd) of dry gas to the NGL plant, but it has the capacity to push as much as 120 mscfpd.

The pipeline’s route onshore would follow the same path as the fibre optic cables, and will terminate at Hermitage, part of the WDZ which will house the Gas-to-Shore project.

Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal

President Dr Irfaan Ali addressing residents of Lethem during a recent outreach

ExxonMobil's Gas-to-Shore Manager, Friedrich Krispin

Youman Nabi message offers guidance to peace, love & brotherhood – PPP

On the occasion of Youman Nabi, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) takes this op portunity to extend best wishes to all Guyanese, par ticularly the Muslim com munities here in Guyana and across the Diaspora.

Youman Nabi is very dear to our Muslim broth ers and sisters as both the birth and death anniversa ries of Islam’s Holy Prophet Mohammad are observed. Its significance offers many pertinent lessons in humil ity, contentment, respect, and love among mankind.

In reflecting on the life and teachings of the Holy Prophet there are also uni versal lessons for forgive

ness and tolerance.

Our Party firmly be lieves that the messag es from these lessons offer much guidance and if heed ed by all can aid in the re alization of peace, love, and brotherhood across the world.

Our national festivals

and holidays continue to be that vital conduit of togeth erness, tolerance, and the forging of unity as we work collectively towards achiev ing the national motto of one people with a common destiny.

Once again, best wishes to all!

Use life of Prophet as inspiration for change to unite as a people – PNC

M ay the Peace and blessings of God Almighty Be with all of you

Today, we witnessed another Youman Nabi in our beautiful country Guyana. It is a time when we reflect on the birth of the last Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (Peace be upon Him). Islam teaches that the prophets who came before Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) like Adam, Abraham, Moses and Jesus, Prophet Muhammed, are believed to have been sent by God to spread the teachings of monotheism – which is the belief that there is only one God. The record of the world shows that Muhammed, since his birth in 570 CE, lived and promulgated ex cellence in character and the best treatment towards women among other traits.

Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) was seen as the personification of righteous ness, which became the way of life that mankind resort to in solving many of soci

ety’s present problems. In fact, the Prophet’s life is being used as a way of life for all Muslims and even non-Muslims. His teach ings are referred to as a guide to uniting the world in love and harmony. It is noteworthy that Prophet Muhammad died in the year 632, but he spent his entire adult life teaching and practicing brotherhood and unity, kindness and forgiveness. It is against that backdrop that today in Guyana it is most appro priate that we reflect on the life of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) in re solving our issues that are

decaying the moral fabric of our society such as, racism, discrimination, oppression and disrespect to our wom en, as we know he fought valiantly against injustices, and took care of the less for tunate.

In Guyana, as we strive to become One People, One Nation and One Destiny, we are blessed to enjoy a high level of religious freedom and tolerance. And so today, here again on this special day of Youman Nabi, anoth er perfect opportunity pres ents itself for us to remind ourselves as a country that there is hope and that we can make the effort to treat our people with respect and dignity. Let us use life of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) as an inspira tion for change so that we can be united as a people living in harmony.

We wish all of Guyanese at home and in the Diaspora, especially our Muslim brothers and sis ters, a Happy Youman Nabi 2022.

Prophet Muhammad should strengthen our will to follow his example – CIOG President

May the peace, mer cy, and blessings of Allah (SWT) be with you all.

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam and hu manity, on this auspicious occasion of observing the birth and life of our be loved Prophet Muhammad (SAS), I extend greet ings to you on behalf of the Central Islamic Organization of Guyana. I pray that Allah (SWT) will increase our love for the final Messenger to Humanity, Prophet Muhammad (SAS). May Allah (SWT) bless us and accept all our devotion and service. Ameen.

More than fourteen hundred years ago, Allah bestowed great mercy upon humanity by sending the final Prophet Muhammad with the final message of the Qur’an and to guide humanity with his exem plary conduct.

The Prophet worked for a living, got married, had a family, and endured hard ships. Through it all, the Prophet (SAS) set the ex ample of how to live in a manner that is pleasing to Allah (SWT). The Prophet (SAS) was humble, loyal, honest, patient, consider ate, compassionate, and merciful.

The Prophet’s (SAS) character was of such high moral excellence that even his enemies testified to it, and he was known among his people as Al-Ameen — The Trustworthy.

Allah (SWT) con firmed: And verily, you (Muhammad) are of the highest standard of char acter (Quran 68:4)

Stories abound about Prophet Muhammad’s (SAS) patience, loyal ty, and compassion to all around him. He (SAS) was consistently kind and con siderate to his family, his followers, his foes, and to every living creature, in cluding animals and trees. The Prophet (SAS) remind ed us:

“...verily, Allah is kind (gentle) and He loves kind

ness (gentleness) and con fers upon kindness which he does not confer upon se verity and does not confer upon anything else like it [kindness/gentleness]” –Sahih Muslim

The occasion of cele brating the birth and life of our Master and Guide our Beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAS) should be used to strengthen our will to follow his example. Are we emulating him by trying to be kind and mer ciful to our fellow man? If we aren’t, we should un derstand that our adher ence to his tradition is lacking. Let us reflect on his message:

“Wealth, social posi tion and racial superiority do not give special status to anyone; all of you are equal in the eyes of God. It is only the path of righ teousness, which makes you a distinguished hu man being.”

We should remem ber that our love for the Prophet (SAS) will be a means of our being with Him (SAS) In-Sha-Allah, (God Willing). Let us spend these days in in creased prayers upon the Prophet (SAS), as Allah (SWT) commanded us in the Holy Quran Chapter 33: Verse 56 “Allah and His angels send blessings on the Prophet: O you who believe! Send blessings on Him and salute Him (SAS) with a worthy salutation.”

This is a unique com mand from Allah (SWT), in which He commands us to perform an act that He and His Angels are perform ing. Whenever we send blessings on our Beloved Prophet (SAS), Allah (SWT), His Angels, and

His Messenger (SAS) send blessings on this person. Such a person’s sins are expiated, his good deeds are increased and puri fied, his status elevated, his wealth increases, pov erty is removed, and the supplicant attains prox imity and closeness to the Messenger of Allah (SAS) on the day of resurrection. The Messenger of Allah will testify on the Day of Judgment for such a per son and His intercession will be granted for him.

Our perpetual love for Prophet Muhammad (SAS) is the framework by which every Muslim lives his life; and what a beautiful life we will have if we pat tern ourselves by the most beautiful example depict ed to us by our Beloved and final Messenger Muhammad (SAS). I ask Allah (SWT) to bless all of you and let us collectively praise our Beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAS):

O Allah, bless our Master Muhammad, who opened what was closed and sealed what was before. He makes the truth victorious and he is the guide to Your Straight Path. And bless his Household as it befits his immense stature and splendor.

Oh Allah! Bestow Your Mercy and Blessings upon Muhammad whenever he is remembered, and bestow Your Mercy and Blessings upon Muhammad whenev er he is not remembered.

Wa-Alaikumus-Salaam WA Rahmatullaahi WA Barakaatuh.

May the Peace and Blessing of the Most Merciful be upon each and everyone.

Regional

Haiti asks world for military help to curb chaos Under Bolsonaro, Amazon deforestation hits new September record

has asked for foreign military sup port to curb its gang violence crisis which has paralysed the country.

Haiti

The Haitian Government authorised Prime Minister Ariel Henry to request armed help due to "the risk of a major humanitarian cri sis".

The US meanwhile urged its citizens in Haiti to leave due to the insecurity.

A group of powerful gangs have blocked the country's main fuel terminal since September, crippling its basic supplies like water and food.

It is not clear to whom the request for interven tion has been sent to, and in what form the help would be given.

The UN said it had not received an official request from Haiti's Government.

fuel distribution within Haiti, according to state department spokesperson Vedant Patel.

Varreux fuel terminal has been controlled and blockaded by a coalition of powerful gangs since last month, which has ground the whole country to a halt.

Some hospitals have shut, while businesses and trans

ed since Henry announced an end to Government fuel subsidies on 11 September, which sent petrol and diesel

Since then, protests and looting have intensified, with the capital, Port-auPrince, at the heart of it. Food aid warehouses have

been targeted, with an es timated US$5 million (£4.6 million) worth of food aid lost in repeated attacks, ac cording to Haiti's UN envoy.

It is unclear whether the Haitian government request for foreign military interven tion would mean the return of UN peacekeeping troops, after leaving five years ago. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Tropical Storm Julia strengthens as it heads for Nicaragua

Tropical Storm Julia is gaining strength heading westward in the southern Caribbean, and authorities are prepar ing for a possible hurricane on Colombian islands and in Nicaragua.

Julia's maximum sus tained winds had increased to 65 mph (100 kmh) late Saturday morning, the US National Hurricane Center said. The storm was centred about 115 miles (185 kilo metres) east of Providencia Island and moving west at 21 mph (33 kph).

Julia was forecast to pass near or over Colombia's San Andres and Providencia is lands Saturday night on its way to landfall in Nicaragua this morning.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said via Twitter that the Government was preparing shelters on the islands. Officials on San Andres announced a curfew for residents beginning at 6

am Saturday to limit people in the streets.

Yolanda González, di rector of Colombia's Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies Institute, said Julia could be a Category 1 hurricane when it passes the islands.

A greater threat than Julia's winds were rains of five to 10 inches (13 to 25 cen timetres) — up to 15 inch es (38 centimetres) in isolat ed areas — that the storm

was expected to dump across Central America.

"This rainfall may cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides through this weekend," the US National Hurricane Center said.

The storm's remnants were forecast to sweep across Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and southern Mexico, a region al ready saturated by weeks of heavy rains. (Jamaica Observer)

T&T Govt shocked by latest US travel advisory

The Trinidad and Tobago Government said it is taken aback by the latest travel advisory issued by the United States, which urges Americans to stay away from the capital due to violence and shootings.

In its advisory, Washington DC main tained a Level 2 advisory for Trinidad and Tobago, howev er, a Level 4 advisory for Port of Spain was issued that ad vises US citizens not to trav el there.

In addition, the advisory stated that US Government personnel are prohibited from travelling to several ar

eas including all beaches, claiming that violent crime, such as murder, robbery, as sault, sexual assault, home invasion, and kidnapping are common.

In addition, it said that gang activity, such as nar cotics trafficking, is common, with a significant portion of violent crime being gang-re lated.

“Terrorists may attack with little or no warning, targeting tourist locations, transportation hubs, mar kets/shopping malls, local government facilities, ho tels, clubs, restaurants, plac es of worship, parks, major

sporting and cultural events, educational institutions, airports, and other public ar eas,” the advisory said.

But national Security Minister, Fitzgerald Hinds, said Trinidad and Tobago has not had any major terrorist activity for many years, per haps not since 1990.

He added that the Government continues to work alongside with the United States and oth er friendly Governments in dealing with crime and that terrorism, which is not unique to Trinidad and Tobago. (Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has bro ken a record for the month of September, continuing a trend that has accelerat ed during the tenure of the country’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.

About 1455sq km (562sq miles) of rainforest were cleared in September, ac cording to satellite data from the Brazilian space research agency INPE. That is up 48 per cent from a year ago and beating the September 2019 record in a data series that began in 2015.

Average deforestation in the vital ecosystem has in creased by 75 per cent from

the previous decade since Bolsonaro took office in 2019.

The news of accelerating deforestation takes place as Brazil braces for a conten tious election on October 30, where Bolsonaro will face off against former left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has promised to crack down on deforesta tion.

“Anyone who cares about the future of the rainfor est, the lives of Indigenous peoples and the possibili ty of having a livable plan et should vote to remove Bolsonaro,” Marcio Astrini, the executive secretary of the Climate Observatory, a

coalition of environmental groups, said in a statement.

Lula won the first round last week but failed to clear the 50 per cent thresh old needed to avoid a runoff. Bolsonaro’s surprising ly strong showing in the first round, where many expected him to lose outright, has en vironmentalist groups feel ing uneasy.

Many believe that the fu ture of the Amazon, a vital resource in the fight against climate change, will hinge on the results of the upcom ing election. About 60 per cent of the Amazon is locat ed in Brazil. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

OAS Chief faces probe over relationship with staffer

Luis Almagro, the chief of the Organisation of American States (OAS), confirmed on Friday that he faces an internal investigation over a ro mantic relationship with a staff member, but denied it might have violated the or ganisation's ethics policies.

Almagro's remarks, at the end of the OAS's an nual summit this week in Lima, followed a report by the Associated Press that described a "long-running" consensual relationship with a Mexican-born wom an two decades his junior.

"My team and I are very calm, because we have al ways taken the appropriate measures, so that no situa tion would be in violation of (OAS) rules," Almagro told a news conference.

"I was never a super visor of any person with whom I had a relationship, I never promoted her and never raised her salary in any way."

The woman, who was not identified, has been on unpaid leave since June,

the AP said.

Almagro, who has led the Washington-based OAS since 2015, previously served as Foreign Minister in his native Uruguay. He is separated from his wife, the AP added.

On Friday night, Peru's ambassador to the OAS, Harold Forsyth, said he was aware of the relation ship but denied there had been any impropriety.

The allegations came just weeks after the Inter-

American Development Bank fired President Mauricio Claver-Carone following accusations, which he denies, that he had a relationship with a subordinate.

The OAS' ethics guide lines say staff must not have intimate relationships when they interfere with the performance of their duties or "disadvantage others in the workplace."

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Venezuela's Maduro won't rule out early elections

Venezuela's

President Nicolas Maduro is not ruling out bring ing forward the country's 2024 presidential election, his office said on Friday in a message published on Twitter.

The tweet came short ly after Maduro said during an event with his United Socialist Party (PSUV) that the party is always ready for an election.

"The truth is that we are prepared to achieve a

big victory when elections come," Maduro said.

The election is current ly scheduled to take place in two years, according to the official schedule, but the electoral authority has not set a definitive date.

Maduro has said in re cent months there could be a big general election next year, without offering de tails.

The PSUV, led by Maduro, has been busy re newing its ranks through

local elections, while oppo sition parties seek to pres ent a singular candidate to be determined in a primary election.

Venezuela's opposition accused Maduro of fraud af ter the 2018 presidential elections, but Maduro has rejected this.

International agencies and governments around the world ignored the 2018 re sults, as they considered the process to lack guarantees and transparency. (Reuters)

Secretary General of the Organisation of American States Luis Almagro speaking during the Leaders' Second Plenary Session during the Ninth Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, California, US, June 10, 2022

Protests and gang violence have rocked Haiti, plunging the country into a worsening political, economic and security crisis

NEWS

OPEC+ production cut adds to uncertainty in oil markets

Around the World

Blast hits Crimea bridge crucial to Russia’s war

Apowerful blast dam aged Russia’s roadand-rail bridge to Crimea on Saturday, hit ting a prestigious symbol of Moscow’s annexation of the peninsula and the key sup ply route to forces battling to hold territory captured in southern Ukraine.

Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and the 19-km (12mile) Crimean Bridge link ing it to Russia’s transport network was opened with great fanfare four years later by Putin.

This

week’s decision from OPEC+ to cut the alliance’s collective oil production target by 2 million barrels per day (bpd) isn’t helping the already uncertain outlook of oil supply and oil trade flows, refiners and traders tell Bloomberg.

Earlier this week, OPEC+ announced the biggest cut to its collective target since 2020, slashing the production target by 2 million bpd. In reality, the actual cut from the current oil production level would be half that figure, at around 1 million bpd-1.1 million bpd, and shouldered mainly by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf producers, most analysts have estimated.

Yet, the oil output cut is set to raise costs for refiners and potentially tighten supply to the key oil-importing region, Asia.

The OPEC+ group’s move is expected to raise the cost of crude oil imports amid a rising US dollar and expected higher fuel consumption during the winter, Kim Woo Kyung, a spokesperson for South Korean oil refiner SK Innovation, told Bloomberg.

However, the spokesperson noted that overall oil demand could be hit as economies slow.

India, the world’s third-largest crude oil importer, sees the OPEC+ production cut as a setback, government officials and sources at refineries told Bloomberg.

The OPEC+ production cut for November would come into force weeks before the EU embargo on imports of Russian crude oil by sea takes effect on December 5. These two factors create major supply uncertainty in the oil market in the near term.

India is already said to be looking to lock in term purchase contracts with crude producers, expecting a redirection of trade flows and a tighter market when the EU embargo on imports of Russian crude enters into force.

For oil prices, the OPEC+ cut is bullish, analysts said after the group’s meeting. Morgan Stanley said oil prices would rise again to US$100 per barrel faster than previously estimated, and lifted its price forecast for the first quarter of 2023 to US$100 from US$95 per barrel. Goldman Sachs raised its Brent Crude forecast for this quarter by US$10 to US$110 per barrel. (Oilprice.com)

US aims to hobble China’s chip industry with sweeping new rules

The Biden Administration on Friday published a sweeping set of export con trols, including a measure to cut China off from certain semiconductor chips made anywhere in the world with US tools, vastly expanding its reach in its bid to slow Beijing’s technological and military advances.

The series of measures could amount to the big gest shift in US policy to wards shipping technolo gy to China since the 1990s. If effective, they could set China’s chip manufacturing industry back years by forc ing American and foreign companies that use US tech nology to cut off support for some of China’s leading fac tories and chip designers.

China slammed such de cision, calling it a violation of international economic and trade rules that will “isolate and backfire” on the US.

“Out of the need to main tain its sci-tech hegemony, the US abuses export con trol measures to maliciously block and suppress Chinese companies,” said Foreign

Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning on Saturday.

“It will not only dam age the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies, but also affect American companies’ inter ests,” she said, adding that the US “weaponization and politicization” of science and technology as well as eco nomic and trade issues will not stop China’s progress.

Jim Lewis, a technolo gy and cybersecurity expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said the US mea sures will “set the Chinese back years,” noting that the policies harken back to the tough regulations of the height of the Cold War.

The rules, some of which go into effect immediately, build on restrictions sent in letters earlier this year to top toolmakers KLA Corp, Lam Research Corp and Applied Materials Inc, effec tively requiring them to halt shipments of equipment to wholly Chinese-owned fac tories producing advanced logic chips. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

The early morning ex plosion on the bridge over the Kerch Strait, for which Russia did not immediate ly assign blame, prompt ed gleeful messages from Ukrainian officials but no claim of responsibility.

President Vladimir Putin signed a decree in structing tighter security for the bridge as well as the infrastructure supplying electricity and natural gas to the peninsula.

He also ordered a com mission be set up to inves

tigate.

Russian officials said three people had been killed, probably the occu pants of a car travelling near a truck that blew up. Seven fuel tanker wagons on a train heading for the

peninsula on the bridge’s upper level also caught fire.

Limited road traffic re sumed about 10 hours lat er, and the Transport Ministry cleared rail traf fic to restart shortly after wards.

It is a major artery for Russian forces who control most of southern Ukraine’s Kherson region, and for the Russian naval port of Sevastopol, whose gover nor told locals: “Keep calm. Don’t panic.”

It was not yet clear if the blast was a deliber ate attack, but the damage to such high-profile infra structure came as Russia has suffered several battle field defeats and could fur ther cloud Kremlin mes sages of reassurance that the conflict is going to plan.

Ireland ‘numb’ as 10 die in gas station explosion Scotland ‘snow-free’ for fourth time in 6 years

Ten people, including two teenagers and a younger girl, were killed in an explosion at a petrol station in the Irish county of Donegal, Police said on Saturday, adding that the incident appeared to be “a tragic accident”.

The Police said no more casualties were expected from the explosion which happened shortly after 3 pm local time (1400 GMT) on Friday at the Applegreen petrol station on the out skirts of the village of Creeslough.

The dead, who were all from the local area, also in cluded four men and three women. Eight people are being treated in hospital, including one with critical injuries who was airlifted to Dublin.

“We have to keep an open mind as a Police ser vice in how we investigate this but our information at this point in time is point ing towards a tragic ac cident,” Superintendent

David Kelly told a news conference.

Photographs from the scene showed a two-storey apartment block above the petrol station’s store with walls blown out and a par tially collapsed roof, and debris scattered across the forecourt where several cars were parked.

Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said the in cident was an unspeakable tragedy for a small commu nity of just a few hundred people.

British Foreign Minister James Cleverly also extend ed his sympathies to the victims’ families.

Local Sinn Fein law maker Pearse Doherty said at the scene on Friday that the “massive explosion” was heard from miles around. As the only supermarket in the village, and home to a post office and hairdressers, he said the station would have been very busy just at the end of the school day. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Scotland is complete ly snow-free for the fourth time in the last six years.

The Sphinx, in the Cairngorms, which is his torically the longest-last ing patch of snow in the UK, has melted.

Snow expert Iain Cameron reported on Friday that the famous patch had disappeared in the last 24 hours.

It is the fourth time it has gone in the last six years, having only melted nine times in the past 300 years. Cameron said cli mate change was a likely factor.

The Sphinx, on re mote Braeriach, a 1296m (4252ft) Munro, has melt ed away more frequently in the last 18 years.

According to records,

it previously melted fully in 1933, 1959, 1996, 2003, 2006, 2017, 2018, 2021 and now 2022.

Before 1933, it is thought to have last melt ed completely in the 1700s.

Cameron tweeted: “So there we have it. It is con firmed that Scotland is snow-free yet again.

“The last patch, the Sphinx, disappeared some time in the last 24 hours. “

He added: “I’m not a cli matologist (nor even an ac ademic), but it’s a pretty obvious direction of travel.

Researchers also not ed a trend for increasingly warmer weather since the 1960s, and suggested that by the 2080s there would be some years with very little or no snow at all on Cairngorm.

from Reuters)

Smoke rises from fire on the Kerch bridge in the Kerch Strait, Crimea, October 8, 2022

Snow expert Iain Cameron and the last remnants of the snow patch before it melted back in 2017

Emergency services attending the scene of an explosion, resulting in multiple deaths, at a service station in the village of Creeslough, in County Donegal, Ireland, October 8, 2022

ARIES

(March 21April 19)

TAURUS

(April 20May 20)

Stop fretting and face un certainties directly. Don't hold back or let anyone back you into a corner or take you for granted. If you speak up and take action, you'll gain re spect.

Skip anything that sounds costly or infringes on your down time. Keep the peace, be patient and plan to sort through any doc uments that may need updating or renewing. Ask pointed ques tions.

GEMINI (MAY 28June 20)

CANCER

Pick up the pace to get things done. Reach out and help someone who has some thing to offer you in return. Keep an open mind, but do what's best for you when push comes to shove.

Don't share secrets. Pay at tention to emotional matters, and quickly put an end to mis understandings. You'll expe rience setbacks if you don't maintain your usual fitness level.

You'll develop ingenious ideas. Reach out to a friend, and you'll receive sound ad vice. Make changes for the right reasons. Be a ground breaker, not a follower.

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

Look for opportunities but use discretion to avoid being taken advantage of by a scammer. Know what you want, be specific in your discussions and spend only what's necessary.

Emotions will be the driv ing force today. Proceed with caution when faced with oppo sition. Arguing will not help you resolve matters, but ac tion will send a message that you are playing for keeps.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23Dec. 21)

Getting along with others will be necessary. Patience will be required when dealing with some people. Be reason able, but don't let anyone take advantage of you. Be innova tive and positive.

Fine-tune your surround ings. If you are comfortable and happy in your environ ment, you'll find it easier to excel. Don't waste time or energy on things that annoy you.

CAPRICORN

(Dec. 22Jan. 19)

(June 21July 22) (Jan. 20Feb. 19)

LEO (July 23Aug. 22) (Feb. 20Mar. 20)

Steer clear of anyone ask ing for too much. Take better care of your health and learn all you can to prevent emotional, physical or financial problems. Make positive changes that low er stress.

AQUARIUS

Avoid anyone trying to coerce you into doing things differently. Follow your heart and do what works best for you. Put your energy where it counts, and set your sights on your goals.

PISCES

Looking around and ob serving what others do will give you some clues as to how you can get involved in a cause that matters to you. Engaging in group activities will impact your life.

Peanuts

Calvin and Hobbes

Dilbert

Gobin Persaud Memorial T20 Tournament…

Belle Vue whip Lochan Stars, McGill Superstars gain walkover

…Round two begins today

By John Ramsingh

R

ecent favourable weather has per mitted the resump tion of the inaugural Gobin Persaud Memorial Twenty/20 Tournament for teams along the West Bank of Demerara. Last Sunday the action re sumed with two round one matches at two venues.

At Belle Vue Sports Club ground, the hosts beat Lochan Stars by 94 runs while McGill SuperStar Sports Club had an easy day at the office win ning by walkover after New Windsor Sports Club failed to show up at Canal Number Two Sports Club ground.

In the match of the day, Belle Vue won the toss and opted to bat. After their al location of 20 overs, they reached a whopping 231 for

7. The total was built around an entertaining knock of 63 not out (4x4’s; 6x6’s) from vice-captain Dyal Rajpat while Lucian Sam with a blistering 28 not out (2×4’s; 2×6’s); Ryan Seecharran with 26 (3×4’s; 1×6’s) and Colin Boucher with a quick fire 25 (3×4’s; 1×6’s) all chipped in. Lochan Stars bowl ers were untidy in leaking 35 extras but it was Avesh Chan and Navendra Persaud with two wickets each that showed the most fight. Luen David, Anthony Daniels and Johnathan Samaroo bagged one wicket each.

In their turn at the crease, the visitors folded for 137 in 16.3 overs with only Neil Joseph 34(4x4’s; 2x6’s) and Avesh Chan 26 (3x6’s) offer ing any resistance with the bat. With the ball, Captain

Campbell slapped with 4-year ban over refusal to submit blood sample

Randy Ramrup had impres sive figures of 4/13 in his 4 overs while Kelvin Singh, Vishan Gannie and Dyal Rajpat supported with 1 wick et apiece.

The inaugural tournament which began with 12 teams in May of this year was sus pended due to rain with only four matches possible. With all round one matches now completed, the remaining six teams will continue the battle for supremacy today.

At Canal Number Two ground from 09:00 Hrs, Independence Sports Club will take on All Youths Sports Club followed by Canal Number Two Sports Club and Sawpit Sports Club clash from 13:00 Hrs. Over at Bellevue ground @1pm will have Bellevue Sports Club vs McGill Superstar Sports

Club.

The tournament is orga nized in memory of Gobin Persaud who died on May 6, 2021 at the age of 85 years old. Persaud was one of the founder members of Cultural Cricket Club and was the captain and later the pres ident of the club located at Canal Number Two Polder, West Bank Demerara. Off the field, Persaud was a former Headmaster at Endeavour Primary School and Commons Primary School, former secre tary of Vidya Daan mandir and overall a very prominent member of Canal Number Two Polder.

The tournament is spon sored by Star Sports, ND&S Furniture Store, SP General Construction and Triple C Brokerage and Banks DIH Limited.

Haaland scores again as champions Man City go top

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says Erling Haaland is helping to bring the best out of Kevin de Bruyne after seeing the pair help his side sweep Southampton aside to move top of the Premier League.

Haaland scored his 20th goal for City against Saints, while De Bruyne’s pass to set up Phil Foden means his stats are just as stellar, with nine assists in his first nine league games.

John Campbell has been banned for four years after failing to submit a blood sample to anti-doping personnel in April this year

Jamaica and West Indies opener John Campbell has been banned for four years by the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCo) after failing to provide a blood sample to doping control officers in April 2022.

In an 18-page ruling, Campbell who was charged with evading, refusing or failing to submit to sample collection, a three-member independent panel, found that the player was intentional in his actions.

JADCO accused Campbell of refusing to provide a blood sample at his home in Kingston in April.

“The panel is persuaded to a comfortable degree of satisfaction that the athlete

committed an anti-doping rule violation, namely a breach of JADCO rule 2.3. The panel does not find, on the evidence presented, that the athlete’s anti-doping violation was not intentional.

“In the circumstances of this case, the athlete is ineligible for a period of four years.”

The ban takes effect retroactively in May 2022.

The 29-year-old left-hand batsman has played 20 Tests for the West Indies since he debuted in January 2019 against England.

In those Tests, he scored 888 runs at an average of 26.11 and included three half-centuries. His last Test was against Bangladesh in June 2022. (Sportsmax)

De Bruyne has already bettered the tally of eight league assists he made last season, and is well on his way towards breaking the record of 20 in a single campaign that he shares with Thierry Henry.

“Of course for a player like Kevin, and especially Kevin, having this threat, this guy [Haaland] who likes to run in behind with this pace, it helps him a lot,” Guardiola said.

“Kevin again created three or four chances [against Southampton], but he can play better. Today was not the best Kevin that we know, because he can put his mate in front of the keeper most of the timebut having players like Erling, Julian [Alvarez] or Phil, making movements in behind, it is so important to him.”

Twenty goals is usually the benchmark of a successful season for any striker, but

Haaland has taken only 13 games to reach that mark in all competitions, with struggling Saints the latest side to find out how hard it is to keep him or his team-mates quiet.

City attacked relentlessly from the start and Haaland was within inches of giving them an early lead whento the surprise of virtually the entire stadium - he hit the inside of the post after galloping clear.

Instead it was Joao Cancelo who put the home side ahead, running on to Phil Foden’s pass and cutting past James Ward-Prowse before finding the bottom corner of the net.

Foden, who like Haaland scored a hat-trick here against Manchester United last weekend, got on the scoresheet himself soon afterwards with a dinked finish after De Bruyne found

him in space in the box.

That put City in complete control at the break and they wrapped up the points at the start of the second half when Riyad Mahrez volleyed home a Rodri cross.

The only thing missing for the home fans was another Haaland goal and, after three successive home league hattricks, for once it appeared it might not be his day.

Haaland was unable to get on the end of De Bruyne’s cross under pressure from Mohammed Salisu, and then brilliantly denied by Gavin Bazunu who dived at his feet as he charged through on goal.

As the chances kept coming however, you just knew Haaland would take one - and so he did, meeting Cancelo’s cutback with a typically precise low finish to

make it 4-0 after 65 minutes.

Southampton, who managed only one touch in the City area and a total of two shots - both from distance, and both off target - drew home and away against Guardiola’s side last season. This time, they never looked like avoiding a fourth consecutive defeat.

City keep scoring, and keep on winning

City were last in top spot on 20 August and might not stay there for long - Arsenal will return to the summit if they beat Liverpool on Sunday.

Regardless of their current position in the table, though, it is clear the defending champions are in the sort of form which will worry all their title rivals.

City are the last unbeaten side in England’s top four divisions, but it is the way they are dispatching opponents that is ominous.

City’s stroll against Saints means they have now scored 33 goals in nine league games, 13 more than Arsenal who have the next best tally.

Having Haaland obviously helps - he now has 15 Premier League goals for the season, matching the tally of De Bruyne when he finished as top scorer in the competition in 2021-22 - but his teammates keep scoring too. (BBC Sport)

Manchester City celebrating

Important week ahead for West Indies as T20 World Cup qualifiers loom

week coming up for us. As a group we are trying to understand how we want to play the cricket here in Australia and get accustomed to the conditions here, and I think as a group we are doing well in terms of putting our ego aside and trying to work towards our team plan and we will be ready for the World Cup Qualifiers,” Pooran said after the defeat against Australia.

“An important

West Indies showed fight in the opening T20I against Australia when they lost by three wickets, but in the second match which saw the men in maroon drowned by 31 runs, saw a high percentage of dot balls. Pooran disclosed that the batting, especially in the middle overs, failed the West Indies. However, the skipper credited the bowling which was led by Alzarri Joseph’s 3-21 from four overs.

winners

Weeks of preparation and anticipation were finally put to action on Saturday as the Courts Under 11 Pee- Wee football tournament kicked off.

The venue was the Ministry of Education (MoE) Ground, Carifesta avenue, where teams suited up for the March Pass exercise, before the official commencement of the 2022 tournament.

Winfer Gardens primary, based in the heart of the city, were the first team to walk away with a victory in the competition. Before Winfer Gardens could adjust themselves however, Wesley McDonald of Colaaco Primary was the first to find the back of the net.

Minutes later, Shamar Bishop made it a 1-1 game, on Winfer Gardens’ behalf. Then as Isiyah Williams joined the party in the 11th, Bishop found the back of the net once again in the 12th, to push the score to 3-1, for a Winfer Gardens victory.

Enterprise Primary entertained in the following game, with a 5-0 drubbing of Craig Primary. Dontay Kowlessar (11th, 24th) and Jashan Haynes (12th, 14th)

led the way for Enterprise, each scoring a double. Isandro Vincent was the other scorer, finding the back of the net in the 34th, to push their tally to 5.

Soesdyke Primary grinded out a hard-fought win against F.E. Pollard Primary in the ensuing match. Within minutes of the opening whistle being sounded, Mickel Arthur struck for Soesdyke. The youngsters goal turned out to be the winning one, as F.E. Pollard missed out on their opportunities to level the scores.

Marian Academy were the next Primary institution to join the winners’ circle, on the back of a brace from Kaleigh Todd.

Todd was the first to strike gold in the 13th minute and returned two minutes later to push the scores to 2-0 against Timehri primary. Nyhl George added another to Marian’s tally in the 18th for the 3-0 win.

Also netting a brace on Saturday was Aaron Archer of West Ruimveldt Primary. It was during West’s 3-0 encounter with St. Stephen’s Primary that Archer evaded the goal’s custodian in the 13th and 15th minutes for his two. In the

40th, Malachi Alleyne added West’s third goal.

A nail- biting confrontation between Redeemer Primary and North Georgetown Primary, resulted in the former prevailing, 3-2. Shawn Douglas opened the scoring for North in the 8th, but Donald ChooSheet found the equalizer a minute later. David DeCosta, played brilliantly and was duly rewarded with his first goal in the 18th minute. North’s Douglas returned to level the scores again, but a stunning long-shot from DeCosta in the 26th, did the deed for Redeemer.

St. Margaret’s and Smith’s Memorial Primary played valiantly but eventually had to settle for s deadlock, as neither side could find the back of the net.

In other results, St. Pius primary and Ann’s Grove Primary enjoyed walkovers, when the were intended to face Den Amstel Primary and Graham’s Hall Primary respectively.

The Pee- Wee tournament, which is also supported by Sterling products Limited, will continue next Saturday, October 15th, 2022, at the same venue.

“Tough to lose. Well played to Australia. They played better cricket than us. (178), it was a gettable total, the bowlers did an extremely good job, especially pulling it back in the end and giving us that momentum going into our innings. But the batsmen failed us again today after getting a good start. In the middle over we faltered and we paid the price in the end,” Pooran posited.

West Indies: Nicholas Pooran (c), Rovman Powell, Yannic Cariah, Johnson Charles, Sheldon Cottrell, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Evin Lewis, Kyle Mayers, Obed Mccoy, Raymon Reifer, Odean Smith, Shamarh Brooks. (Brandon Corlette)

7 complete World Athletics coaching programme

Seven Guyanese Athletics Coaches have proverbially ‘leveled up’ after completing a lucrative World Athletics Coaching programme.

The Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) is said to have a three-part plan that would see the sport advancing greatly within the near future.

One aspect of the AAG’s plan is to have elite coaches that would appropriately guide Guyanese athletes to success. The recent completion of the World Athletics Coaches Education Certification System (CECS) Level 2 Sprints/ Hurdles in Suriname, by seven local coaches, will do well to further that plan.

Kenisha Phillips, Keisa Burnette, Nadine Trotz, Junior Cornette, Sham Johnny, Kareem Aaron and Andrew Jarvis are the seven coaches who have completed the programme.

In an invited comment with the Guyana Times Sport AAG President Aubrey Hutson, he explained how fitting the new certification is.

“This level of coaching is coming at the right time for the Athletics Association of Guyana. We are planning to focus on sprints and hurdles, in a major way, as a group of events to get us to the top and to the top we mean having representatives at the Olympics and World Championships,” Hutson revealed.

He further stated, “Therefore, this batch of coaches, with the new level of training will be able to give greater guidance and preparation to our athletes, especially our elite athletes.”

Revealing that it is only the second step in the AAG’s threestage plan, Hutson described how the newfound knowledge will assist athletes.

The AAG President reasoned, “It is my firm belief that we have the athletes with the natural talent to get us to the next level. We now have the second component, in having the coaches with the prerequisite training to get us there.”

Also part of the AAG’s developmental plan is the need for support, which Hutson also took the time to highlight.

“However, the third ingredient will depend heavily on Government and the Guyana Olympic association and all our other stakeholders, in providing the right framework and system needed to implement such a programme,” Hutson went on to state.

“We have the elite coaches, we have athletes who in my own opinion can be elite athletes but now what we need to do, is to have the elite programme in place to ensure that the coaches ensure they do what they have to do and the athletes are in a situation where they would do what they have to do.”

“The sky is limit, this is just one step and we from the administrative level have to look at putting in other steps to get us to the top,” the Athletics Boss concluded.

While the Coaches await their official certification, they were presented with the Olympic Solidarity certificates of attendance at the completion of the programme. (Jemima Holmes)

Alzarri Joseph continues to impress with the ball

Standing

left are: Sham Johnny, Junior Cornette, Andrew Jarvis and Kariem Aaron. Sitting from left are: Nadine Trotz, Keisa Burnette, Oscar Gadea(Instructor,) Raymond Gilson(Instructor), Aubrey Hutson (AAG President) and Kenisha Headley

President Irfaan Ali hailed for visionary leadership

…Promoted Cricket Carnival as a trailblazer for Caribbean

cant interest among our future cricketers and adds value to the objectives and aims of cricket organiza tions.

President of the Guyana Cricket Board Bissoondyal Singh was high in praise for His Excellency President Dr. Irfaan Ali and his Government for their sig nificant effort in rolling out the cricket carnival

GCB President Bissoondyal Singh

GCB

plan. Singh remarked, that the executives of the GCB and affiliate boards believe that this con cept has borne fruit and should remain a core com ponent of cricket devel opment and promotion in Guyana. Cricket is a ca reer option for both males and females, and with the lucrative opportunities of fered these days, we are of the view that the game

should be marketed to fa cilitate support for local spectators and visitors to our country during the pe riod of professional match es are being conducted.

The cricket carnival ini tiative is a significant way to promote sports tourism, and we highly commend His Excellency Dr. Irfaan Ali and Government for a job well done. We are all proud of you.”

The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) commends His Excellency Dr. Irfaan Ali and the Government of Guyana for the histor ic Cricket Carnival Event held in Guyana which co incided with the hosting of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), 2022. The historic feature was con ceptualized successful ly to merge cricket and sports tourism thereby stimulating much inter est among cricket enthu siasts from local, regional, and international levels.

Under the leadership of His Excellency President Dr. Irfaan Ali, the govern ment of Guyana through its Ministry of Tourism will be driving the promo tion of sports as a comple mentary tourist attraction to Guyana’s s wildlife, nat ural marvels, and other outstanding landscapes.

The Guyana leg of the CPL began with a dou bleheader on September 21, 2022, when Barbados Royals defeated St. Kitts Nevis Patriots in the morn ing match, and the Guyana Amazon Warriors up staged Jamaica Tallawahs in the evening encounter. This win signaled a turn in fortunes for the host team and evidentially con tributed to the heightened interest shown through out the Guyana leg of the Tournament.

The hype of Cricket Carnival activities blend ed effectively with a high number of ecstatic tour ists throughout the host

ing of the Guyana leg of the CPL. The massive crowds at all CPL match in Guyana, especially the second qualifier match be tween Jamaica Tallawahs and the host team Guyana, served to rekindle memo ries of past, high spectator support for cricket.

Additionally, the Government of Guyana through its Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and Ministry of Education must be commended for affording thousands of school children an oppor tunity to witness and be a part of the exciting CPL matches, most of which recorded sold- out crowds. Arguably, the children en joyed the exposure and will easily fit into the GCB’s planned country wide coaching program for schools.

Consequently, the level of spectator support is vi tal to the growth and sus tainability of the game, in that it represents the quality and value of the game to its followers and provides children with an opportunity to observe and analyze the competi tive approaches of teams and individual players. This stimulates signifi

President Dr Irfaan Ali

Guyanese well represented on day 1 of Suriname Open 2022

B y T imo T hy J aikarran in S uriname

The Suriname Open got off to a bang as many of Guyana’s best golfers stormed the course. Aside from the Guyanese con tingent, Suriname was well represented along with other coun tries as they bid for the title of the Suriname Open 2022.

The likes of Lusignan Golf Club President Patanjilee Persaud, Vice President Paton George, Mike Mangal, Club Captain Videsh Persaud, Club Secretary Chet Bowling, Guillermo Escarraga, Shanella London among other notable names, graced the course with their presence.

At the end of the games speaking with Guyana Times Sport, LGC Club Secretary Chet Bowling said, “It’s the first time I’ve played this course. So, this was a bit of jitters bit a lack of con fidence as I played the front nine, so I played terribly. But then as I went on, I started about on the front nine I realized that you know, I just have to play my golf game. So, I start swinging the club in a relaxed manner, connecting well and I began to play far better. I mean, I actually think that the back nine is one of my best nine holes I’ve played ever. And so, my score was more or less kind of balanced when I came back in and so I’m hopeful for today if I can play a relaxed game, and I am confident I can be in the running.”

Bowling also went on to note that for him, the best event for him was playing a difficult hole, playing in pitching wedge over water, a lot of trees, landing plumb on the green and then dropping a putt like a six seven-foot putt for birdie. He fur ther explained that over all he was happy with his result, he divulged that the Surinamese players are competing well.

Bowling went on to state that the contingent of 24-26 golfers from Guyana which is

more than quarter of the players in the tour nament, shows that Guyana is well repre sented. “If you look around the club house and you talk to the Surinamese, the recognize that the Guyanese are here in their numbers, and we are a forced to be reckoned with. There seems to be some mixed results so far from the people I’ve spoken to,” Bowling posited.

He lamented that while there is no rejoicing as it is only the first day of the tournament and there is a full day of action to commence today, the Guyanese side will be looking forward to better things today.

The results for the Guyanese contingent on day one are as follows:

Flight A- In 3rd place Aleem Hussain with 36 points, Avinda Kishore in 5th with 43 points, Avinash Persaud in 7th with 32 points, Lakeram Ramsundar in 8th with 32 points. Also, in the top 20 are Mike Mangal in 12th , Vishal Harry in 13th, David Harry 14th, Rakesh Harry 15th and Rabindranauth Persaud 17th.

Flight B – In 1st Videsh Persaud with 36, Pope Emmanuel London in 6th with 33 points, Rohan Albert in 10th with 32 points. Also in the top 30 are Hardeo Ghanpat 12th, Paton George 12th, Patanjilee Persaud 14th, Parmanand Persaud 15th, Guillermo Escarraga 17th , Brian Hackett 18th, Miguel Oviedo 22nd, Troy Cadogan 23rd.

Flight C – In 1st Carlos Adams with 39 points, Jordi Pinol in 2nd with 37 points, Angel Amaris 13th and Chet Bowling in 8th with 27 points.

Flight D – In 1st Shanella London with 37 points

Guillermo Escarraga celebrating

LGC Captain Videsh Persaud sinking one in

Veteran Golfer Rabindranauth Persaud sending one awayChet Bowling (In orange) was a force to be reckoned with in his flight

Mike Mangal standing and delivering

Guyana Open 2021 Champion Avinda Kishore on the go

Rohan Albert representing

Shanella London putting the ball