Guyana Times_Friday, July 10, 2020

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Issue No. 4342

THE BEACON OF TRUTH FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2020

GECOM Chair instructs Lowenfield to submit report by 2pm today using recount figures …Thursday’s meeting postponed as Govt Commissioners requested time to "study" CCJ ruling …PPP/C Commissioner expects declaration soon after report is submitted

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WHAT'S INSIDE:

Region 1 has P14 69% of country’s active COVID-19 cases – DCMO …active cases now 145, 2 new cases recorded

Fire at ND&S Furniture P15 Store was purposely set – Fire Chief

See story on page 3

Caricom calls for declaration of elections results “without further delay” – urges for CCJ ruling, rule of law to be respected Excuse to “study” Preserve CCJ ruling democratic, “another economic shameless progress made in tactic” to delay Guyana – former results declaration – Nandlall Liberian President ...says this surpasses the limit of “ludicrosity” Phillips urges security forces not to follow “unlawful orders”

Lethem man slapped with 26-year jail sentence for raping P8 woman

See story on page 7

Page 11

See story on page 14

Page 10

– says PPP/C “must be allowed to govern in peace”

Teen feared dead after falling from fuel-laden P8 vessel

Banks DIH fatal mishap

Construction worker remains P8 critical

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FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Friday, July 10 – 09:00h-10:30h and Saturday, July 11 – 09:00h-10:30h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Friday, July 10 – 07:40h-09:10h and Saturday, July 11 – 08:15h-09:45h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

WEATHER TODAY

GECOM Chair instructs Lowenfield to submit report by 2pm today using recount figures

…Thursday’s meeting postponed after Govt Commissioners requested time to “study” CCJ ruling …PPP/C Commissioner expects declaration soon after report is submitted

Light rain showers are expected throughout the day and into the evening with instances of thunder in the morning and early evening hours, followed by partly cloudy skies. Temperatures should range between 22 degrees Celsius and 30 degrees Celsius.

Winds: South South-Easterly to North-Easterly between 0.89 metre and 3.12 metres.

High Tide: 07:47h and 20:15h reaching maximum heights of 2.44 metres and 2.33 metres.

Low Tide: 13:48h reaching a minimum height of 0.80 metre.

PPP-nominated Commissioner Sase Gunraj

O

utlining that the Chief Elections Officer is subjected to the “direction and control” of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Chairwoman Justice Claudette Singh has instructed Keith Lowenfield to prepare a final elections report using the certified figures from the National Recount exercise.

In a letter dated July 9, Justice Singh told Lowenfield that: “Section 18 of the Election Laws Act No 15 of 2000 stipulates that you are subject to the direction and control of the Commission.”

She further stated that: “In accordance with this section, and pursuant to article 177 (2) (b) of the Constitution and section 96 of the Representation of the People Act Cap 1:03, you are hereby requested to prepare and submit your report on the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections by 2pm on 10th July, 2020, using the valid votes counted in the National Recount as per Certificates of Recount generated therefrom.”

Meeting postponed

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The instructions were given on the same day the seven-member Commission was scheduled to meet to discuss the way forward following the ruling handed down by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on Wednesday. That meeting was, however, postponed after the three Governmentaligned Commissioners requested more time to “study” the judgments of the regional court – in a move that has been described as a delaying tactic employed by the defeated APNU/AFC Coalition.

Opposition-nominated Commissioner Sase Gunraj told Guyana Times that the request for more time is “another dilatory tactic coming from that side of the table of the Commission”.

Gunraj pointed out that “at every step, at every crit-

ical juncture of this electoral process and the preparatory period leading up to it, it has always been delayed, delayed, delayed. This is just another example in that process.”

And according to the GECOM Commissioner, this further delay is a matter of grave concern. “Of course, I will be concerned about any further delay because everyone is anxious…and everyone is perhaps very frustrated at all of these attempts to prolong a process that should have been concluded within a matter of days of elections being held on March 2.”

Declaration soon after

Asked by this publication how soon the nation can expect a declaration of the elections results from GECOM, Gunraj indicated that it should happen soon after receiving the final elections report from the CEO. In fact, he pointed out that the compilation of the report can be done within minutes.

“This should be done in a matter of minutes, hours maximum, because the generation of that report won’t require any high science or complex mathematics. It is the application of a formula for numbers already in the public domain. It should take a matter of minutes,” Gunraj stated.

GECOM Chairwoman, Retired Justice Claudette Singh

Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield

Regarding a declaration, he highlighted that, in 2015, a declaration was done soon after the CEO had submitted an elections report to the Commission.

“I don’t see what is different in 2020,” Gunraj expressed.

consequences could be.

As it stands, private criminal charges have already been filed against Lowenfield over his attempts to commit electoral fraud. A summons has been issued for him to appear in court on July 24.

Meanwhile, Lowenfield’s elections report to be submitted tomorrow must include the certified recount results which show that the Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) won the elections with 233,336 votes.

In fact, the CCJ ruling made it clear that this is what the GECOM CEO must now do, after it had invalidated the last report he submitted, wherein he arbitrarily invalidated over 115,000 voters to give the incumbent APNU/AFC a false victory.

Failure to submit report

The GECOM Commissioner further reminded that the CEO, by his own admission, said he is a creature of the Commission, and is therefore subjected to the direction of the Commission.

As such, Gunraj said Lowenfield’s “failure to comply with lawful instructions of the Commission must be met with consequences.”

Gunraj opted not to say, at this moment, what those

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guyanatimesgy.com

FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2020

Views Editor: Tusika Martin News Hotline: 231-8063 Editorial: 231-0544, 223-7230, 223-7231, 225-7761 Marketing: 231-8064 Accounts: 225-6707 Mailing address: Queens Atlantic Investment Estate Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown Email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, marketing@guyanatimesgy.com

Stopping APNU/AFC tactics

T

he Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) gave a profound and pellucid ruling on Wednesday in the Irfaan Ali et al v Eslyn David et al case. The meticulousness of the clarity was most welcome, as there was no room for ambiguity that may cause those seeking to derail Guyana’s democracy to manipulate the situation into a scenario that best suits them.

But despite such precision, as expected, the scheduled meeting by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to finally move forward in a step closer to declaring the winner of the 2020 General and Regional Elections has again been stymied. The explanation offered by the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) commissioners in asking for an adjournment of the meeting is simply unacceptable.

What is there to study in the judgement that was delivered? President of the CCJ, Justice Adrian Saunders, was clear when he said: “It is for GECOM to ensure that the CEO submits a report in accordance with his directives of 16th of June, in order to proceed along the path directed by the laws of Guyana.”

That directive Justice Saunders was referring to is the one that the Commission, led by its Chair, Justice retired Claudette Singh, gave the Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, that he must prepare a report under Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act, Chapter 1:03 and in keeping with Order No. 60 of 2020 and its addendum dated 29th May, 2020.

Over four months later, as Guyanese wait with bated breath for an official elections result, again the APNU/AFC agents within GECOM are delaying the process. It is no secret who the winners of the elections are, but yet Guyana and the will of Guyanese are being held hostage at the hands of a few who have discarded the will of the people for their own selfish need to retain power illegally.

Former Attorney General Anil Nandlall was justified on Thursday when he lambasted the APNU/AFC- appointed commissioners for what he referred to as “another shameless tactic” to delay the declaration. These preposterous tactics have been used since in March, when the APNU/AFC realised that they have lost the elections. It is unacceptable that Lowenfield was allowed to embark and descend into fraud when he unilaterally invalidated over 115,000 votes to achieve the aim of giving an illegal win to the APNU/AFC. More so, it is unacceptable that he was aided in this vendetta.

Justice Saunders pointed to this act on Wednesday when he said: “The Court of Appeal impliedly invited the CEO to engage unilaterally in a further and unlawful validation exercise that trespassed on the exclusive jurisdiction of the High Court established by Article 163. It was inconsistent with the constitutional framework for the CEO or GECOM to disenfranchise tens of thousands of electors in a seemingly non-transparent and arbitrary manner, without the due processes established in Article 163 and Validation Act.” The CEO has clearly gone rogue, and should be held accountable for his actions when this process in finally over.

This newspaper supports Justice Singh’s letter to the CEO, which tells him that he is subject to the direction and control of the commission as stipulated by Section 18 of the Elections Laws Act No 15 of 2000. GECOM can no longer allow its rogue chief elections officer, with the aid of elements within the APNU/AFC, to derail the declaration.

There are a lot of wounds that need to be healed after this declaration has been made, and it is time that this country is allowed to breathe again. We can no longer be suffocated by the riggers within the APNU/AFC. Justice Singh must stand firm to have the declaration done in accordance with the Recount results, knowing that she has the law, the international community and all right-thinking Guyanese on her side.

Lowenfield must follow election law

Dear Editor, The election process needs to come to a quick end, so the nation can breathe.

People and business have been suffering. There is no gain from prolonging a declaration of a winner more than four months delayed. The world is watching Guyana and appealing to Lowenfield to follow the law. The outcome is inevitable based on the recount and as earlier pronounced

by GECOM. Lowenfield must follow the law that requires him to prepare a final report for a declaration.

Failing that, the consequences would be severe – as there would be sanctions against Lowenfield and other riggers.

The final acts to bring closure to the March 2 election depend on Chief Election Officer Lowenfield and the Chair, Claudette Singh. The latter already accepts the Caricommonitored recount as the basis for the declaration.

She has triggered the finality clause of the process, instructing the CEO to prepare the ten matrixes for each region as per the recount, a brief summary of the recount process, and conversion of votes into seats for each region as well as the National Assembly.

These would then form the basis for a declaration by

the Chair and the swearing in of the President by the Chancellor of the judiciary.

Lowenfield must act professionally, independent of any influence from a party.

The problem is since March 3, he has failed to carry out his responsibilities according to the Constitution and electoral law. Lowenfield has no choice in preparing the matrices with the CCJ pronouncement on March 8. As the CCJ ruled, he must follow the law relating to the declaration of the outcome of the elections.

The critical question that Guyanese in the diaspora and at home are asking is whether he would follow the law. Since March 3, Lowenfield has been viewed as contaminating the process and as a participant in electoral fraud. He has sided with a party. He now has a chance to rehabilitate his image and retrieve the situation to support free and fair elections. Will he grab the lifeline to be a champion of free and fair elections, or will he go down in history as the person who was an architect of electoral fraud?

The CCJ, Guyana’s highest court, explicitly and sternly pronounced on what Lowenfield must do with clear and specific instructions: prepare the declaration report based on the recount, and not to nullify

any vote. And he must do it expeditiously. The Chair sent him a new updated instruction on Thursday.

Lowenfield must do the honourable thing and carry out the instruction. He has no escape path. He is in serious legal limbo. He is facing three sets of criminal charges for fraud. If he defies GECOM, he would be charged for insubordination and be dismissed.

Worse, he would be brought up on contempt charges for defying the ruling of the CCJ. In addition, he would face sanctions (visa cancellations) from the ABCE countries. It is in his interest to do the right thing to bring the process to closure.

Were he to prepare the right report for GECOM, he would be cleared of fraud; criminal charges would be dropped. When he issued the incorrect report, one can excuse him for following the interpretation of the CoA judgment. He would be excused of insubordination for that report. But once he prepares the right report as instructed by the Chair and as ruled by CCJ, insubordination and all criminal charges would be dropped.

To reiterate the points, to end criminal charges against him, protect his job, avoid jail for contempt of court, and improve the global image of the coun-

try, Lowenfield must do the honourable thing and prepare the election report based on the recount vote.

It is also the moral and democratic thing to do.

People around the region and the world are laughing at Guyana for an inconclusive election that for four months old was stymied by what they call the Lowenfield fraud.

Lowenfield has no justifiable reasons to prolong the electoral process.

Guyanese say Lowenfield must be mature enough to tell riggers he can’t help them anymore. Once he comes straight from now on, his job process would be completed, and he would be rendered safe from fraud charges and insubordination. Also, his tarnished reputation would be rehabilitated.

Guyanese are embarrassed by the behaviour of Lowenfield, and they and people around the globe are appealing to Lowenfield to act decently -- follow the law and execute the CCJ ruling by preparing the correct report for GECOM to use for the declaration.

This act will bring closure to the election and allow the country to move on.

Yours truly, Dr Vishnu Bisram

Please don’t overexert yourself, GECOM Dear Editor, Noting the national importance of the Guyana March 2 election issue that was presented to it, the CCJ’s President, Adrian Saunders, observed that everyone would want this matter to be over as soon as is practicably possible. “We are on a tight time-frame.”

The court received oral and written submissions and delivered its judgement in one week. Two days have gone by so far, and GECOM has failed to meet and follow through on its mandate. Something about this is very wrong.

The very first paragraph of the court’s judgement states: It is a matter of considerable concern to the people of Guyana that, although General and Regional Elections (‘the Elections”) were held as long ago as 2 March 2020, to date,

the results of the Elections have not been declared and the President and members of the National Assembly have not been appointed.

The Constitution, which expressly declares that it is the supreme law, professes the Co-operative Republic of Guyana to be a democratic sovereign State.

Elections that are free and fair are the lifeblood of any true democracy. All arms of state, whether legislative, judicial, or executive, are subject to the normative, enabling, and limiting jurisdictions, powers, and responsibilities that are constitutionally legitimate.

And the final paragraph wraps up with: “As Guyana’s final court, we cannot, however, pretend to be oblivious of events that have transpired since December 2018. Indeed, we have had to pronounce on some of those events. It

has been four months since the Elections were held and the country has been without a Parliament for well over a year. No one in Guyana would regard this to be a satisfactory state of affairs. We express the fervent hope that there would quickly be a peaceable restoration of normalcy”.

The court ordered that the CEO’s report be set aside. The ruling could not be more clear, firm and eloquent.

Yet APNU/AFC commissioners needed time to “study it.” In addition, David Granger and other party members continue to put out misleading information and circulate distorted material to their supporters.

The fraudulent Lowenfield report set aside by the CCJ sought to disenfranchise 116,000 or 25% of voters in the March 2, 2020 Guyana election.

The original SOPs and the recount are virtually identical. They show the following vote totals by party: PPP/C 233,336, APNU/ AFC 217,920, Joinders 5,214, and Other Parties 3,882. These are the valid results. At this point, most Guyanese know that the electoral process is designed in such a manner that by definition only valid votes are tabulated as such.

In endorsement of the CCJ ruling, the ABCE ambassadors, the Mandela Elders, CARICOM, the US Assistant Secretary of State, and others have all called for the declaration of the long overdue election results and the swearing in of the President.

It would be unconscionable to delay this any further.

Sincerely, Ron Cheong

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FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2020

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

Step down, Granger; step aside Dear Editor, About one year ago, shortly after APNU-AFC lost the no-confidence motion, I discovered that I had in my possession several personal ID cards that had the name Granger on them.

These came into my possession as a result of a visit with my father (also known as Rudy Luck) to Granger’s abode when he spent a year (1995-1996) as a Hubert H. Humphrey/ Fulbright Fellow at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park, near Washington DC, USA. My father believed back then that Granger could become the leader of Guyana, and that he was a fair and reasonable individual with a distinguished military background. I must say I am now disappointed in the behaviour of President Granger. The elections were held back on March 2, 2020, and APNU-AFC and their

cronies; namely, Mingo, David, and Lowenfield, have implemented utterly idiotic procedures to delay, create confusion, cheat, and attempt to steal the election in broad daylight.

One also wonders at the composition of this Guyanese Court of Appeal, where the honourable judges would seek to define “votes” as “valid votes”, albeit in a majority decision.

I am also alarmed at the protestations of Dr. David Hinds, who when asked about the decision by the Caribbean Court of Justice, could only think about how to delay the election results further and speak about shared governance.

As I have been living outside of Guyana since 1976, has there ever been a time when the PNC or APNUAFC was in power that they extended to the main opposition any kind of meaningful shared governance? Also lost

to Hinds was the meaning of an election.

I would assume that the people who voted in Guyana did so because they were choosing a party and president of their choice, not for shared governance.

Missing from Hinds’s analysis was any kind of statement regarding the idiocy of “valid votes”, the absurdity of Mingo’s declaration, the video of Lowenfield stating that it was impossible for rigged voting to take place, the fact that Lowenfield had two different results with drastically different numbers and a complete omission as to the indignity of the 115,000 or so votes that he (Lowenfield) unilaterally threw away.

Given the racial make-up of Guyana, one would expect a contest as depicted over the years 1992-2020. The PPP in power from 1992-2015 when, due to presumably the people getting tired of the PPP,

they were voted out of office.

APNU-AFC took over, and now they have lost the elections. Given the fact that all the compilations look reasonable, one can conclude that if any cheating took place, it did not rise to 15,000 votes.

In fact, 464,563 people voted, or 59% of the total population of 786,615. Indians constitute 40% of this population, or 314,646. Assuming that 35% of the population is below 18 years of age and cannot vote, this results in around 204,520 Indian origin people who can vote.

Note that an additional 20% of Guyana is multiracial, 10% Amerindian, and 30% African origin. Doing a similar analysis would result in 153,390 potential voters of African origin. This offers a perspective of voting in Guyana that I have not seen in any of the online publications.

For the PPP to get 233,336 votes, they would require an

additional 28,816 votes from people of mixed, African, or Amerindian heritage. For APNU-AFC to get 217,920, they would require 64,530 votes from people of mixed, Indian, or Amerindian heritage.

These numbers are from Wikipedia. They show that with the recount numbers, APNU-AFC had to obtain more than double the number of votes outside of their traditional ethnic identity, but this is the nature of Guyana. They also show that, over the years, in particular from 1972-1992, how egregious and unfair the electoral process was to IndoGuyanese to the expressed preference of Afro-Guyanese.

APNU-AFC supporters stand to lose jobs, money, and influence when they leave office. Given the nature of Guyana, these people may have difficulty finding gainful employment, and thus cheating, delaying, and

stealing becomes justified to them. Unfortunately, due to the internet and the widespread availability of information, this blatant attempt to steal is now widely known and acknowledged, and even has the stamp of massive disapproval from a unanimous decision by the Caribbean Court of Justice.

I cannot understand how retired Justice Singh can tolerate the arbitrary and capricious actions of CEO Lowenfield. Further, the GECOM ruling states that he merely “advises” the Chairman as to the results of the elections. Not clear to me that the Chairman of GEOCOM has to follow that advice, as that is not explicitly stated. She should simply look to Wikipedia and declare the results using the numbers listed there.

Rudy Luck Hancock, Michigan USA

Granger-led APNU/AFC coalition playing a dangerous game Dear Editor, I watched, with absolute dismay, David Granger come out of State House on Wednesday to address a crowd of APNU+AFC supporters who, under the COVID-19 regulations, should have been immediately dispersed by the police.

Granger wore no face covering in coming close to address them, setting an appallingly bad example.

The APNU+AFC supporters were, not surprisingly, calling for Granger to be immediately sworn in as President. For weeks now, Granger and Joe Harmon have used the Lowenfield Report, based on invented irregularities arbitrarily and in violation of his authority, submitted to the Chairman of GECOM on 23rd June to claim an APNU+AFC victory at the polls.

Watching Granger’s pitiful but, unfortunately, dangerous attempt to cast aside the legal significance of the ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), begs the question, has David Granger lost touch with reality? Is he,

in fact delusional?

The CCJ had just ruled invalidating the Lowenfield 23rd June Report and ruled that the so-called “irregularities” claimed by Harmon and Granger could only be addressed in an Election Petition and that GECOM had no authority to address these claims in the final tabulation of the Recount.

Granger, however, refused to acknowledge the ruling of the Court, yet, in the same breath, told his supporters that “our Coalition is committed to the rule of law”.

He told his supporters that the CCJ “made no coercive orders… they have not given any instructions to what GECOM is empowered under the laws of Guyana to do”, deliberately leading them to believe that the CCJ ruling was of no consequence.

Granger then went on to repeat the entirely false claim that there has been “massive” fraud and irregularities during the elections and that his party will continue to fight for only “valid votes to be counted”.

Again, Granger chose to

ignore the very specific rejection by the CCJ of the Court of Appeal’s unnecessary insertion of the word “valid” which, the Court pointed out, “invited the CEO to engage unilaterally in an unlawful validation exercise”.

David Granger had known from the very day after the 2nd March, that a majority of just under 16,000 Guyanese voted to elect the PPP/C in an open, freely contested, internationally monitored and closely observed election.

Granger knew this from the published Statements of Poll in his party’s possession, but he has consistently and dishonestly refused to accept the result.

Granger, instead, first from behind the scenes, but now openly, has led his party to believe that they could

cheat the counting process, cheat the Recount result, and, when that failed, depend upon a biased judiciary to keep him in power.

He did not, however, calculate for the fact that this bias did not extend to Guyana’s Apex Court, the Caribbean Court of Justice. I repeat.

Guyana’s Apex Court now being vilified by APNU+AFC’s leading spokespersons, James Bond, Aubrey Norton and Sherod Duncan, in a disgraceful display of lying about the CCJ judgement on the APNU+AFC Facebook page.

Nor did Granger and his highly financially compromised hierarchy in APNU+AFC count upon the inherent commitment to democracy of his fellow political leaders across the Caribbean.

Granger must know now that the GECOM Chairman is left with no alternative but to recognize the result of the Recount and proceed under the Constitution, as guided by the CCJ, to declare a decision in favour of swearing in Dr. Ali. He has consistently said that he will respect GECOM’s decision, but nothing that he has said or done since suggests that he will keep his word.

David Granger has continued to insist that, regardless of the elections result, regardless of the Recount, regardless of the CARICOM Report, regardless of the universal position of every International and Local Observer, regardless of the ruling of the CCJ and regardless of the ultimate consequences to his country, his

people, himself and those around him, he and his party will remain in office.

There is nothing that has made me change my mind since my Commentary on 30th June that “these are men and women who are conniving, ruthless, ignorant and criminal in their intent” and that they “feel secure that they can do this supported by our military and our police”.

It is fast becoming essential that the newly appointed Chief-of-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force, Godfrey Bess, and the Commissioner of Police, Leslie James, decide and state publicly whether or not they will uphold their oath of office, to which they are sworn, to the Constitution.

Yours sincerely, Kit Nascimento

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FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2020

Page

Foundation

Guyana Times is pleased to publish CXC English and Mathematics questions with specimen answers.

CXC QUESTIONS

MATHS

ENGLISH

B

My Parents

By Stephen Spender

My parents kept me from children who were rough Who threw words like stones and wore torn clothes Their thighs showed through rags they ran in the street And climbed cliffs and stripped by the country streams.

I feared more than tigers their muscles like iron Their jerking hands and their knees tight on my arms I feared the salt coarse pointing of those boys Who copied my lisp behind me on the road.

They were lithe they sprang out behind hedges Like dogs to bark at my world. They threw mud While I looked the other way, pretending to smile.

I longed to forgive them but they never smiled.

Questions

Summarise the poem What is the subject of the poem?

Who is the persona?

List and discuss the literary devices used in the poem Describe the mood of the poem and discuss how it is created List and discuss the themes of the poem Describe the form of the poem and discuss its effectiveness How do you feel about this poem? Discuss your reaction Suggest an alternative name for the poem, citing evidence found within the text

Sample answer

Suggest an alternative name for the poem, citing evidence found within the text “Bullies” is an alternative name for the poem “My Parents” by Stephen Spender, as it details the treatment meted out by these “rough boys” to the persona with “their jerking hands and their knees tight” on his arms. They tormented him, copying his lisp and springing out behind “hedges like dogs to bark” at his world and throw mud. The persona’s parents are mentioned but once. whereas these boys dominate the poem.

NEWS

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FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Caricom calls for declaration of elections results “without further delay” ꟷ urges for CCJ ruling, rule of law to be respected

for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to move ahead with the process of making a final dec-

ed electoral process in Guyana.

“Accordingly, the Court’s ruling should lead to a declaration by the Guyana Elections Commission of the results of the General and Regional Elections held on 2 March 2020, without further delay,” Dr Gonsalves stated.

The seven-member GECOM was scheduled to meet on Thursday.

However, the meeting was postponed to today after the three Governmentnominated Commissioners requested time to study the CCJ decision – a move

laration of the elections that were held over four months ago.

In a statement on Thursday, the Caricom Chairman welcomed this progress towards the finalisation of the protract-

that has been described by many stakeholders as a delaying tactic.

Nevertheless, Dr Gonsalves in his missive urged stakeholders in Guyana to ensure that both the CCJ ruling and the rule

Caricom Chairman, St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves

C

a r i b b e a n C o m m u n i t y ( C a r i c o m ) Chairman, St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves on Thursday called for the final declaration of the results from the March 2 General and Regional Elections.

This comes on the heels of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on Wednesday invalidating Guyana’s Court of Appeal’s decision that “more votes cast” in the context of the Recount Order means “more valid votes cast”, saying the local court does not have jurisdiction to pronounce on the matter.

The regional court also invalidated the fraudulent report submitted by embattled Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield last month in which he disenfranchised more than 115,000 voters.

This has paved the way

of law were respected.

“The Community calls on all stakeholders to respect the ruling of the CCJ, Guyana’s final court of appeal …. Caricom commends the continuing patience and calm of the people of Guyana and calls on all stakeholders to respect the rule of law,” the Caricom Chairman posited.

He further referenced the CCJ’s summary judgement, which aptly stated: “It has been four months since the elections were held and the country has been without a Parliament for well over a year. No one in Guyana would regard this to be a satisfactory state of affairs. We express the fervent hope that there would quickly be a peaceable restoration of normalcy.”

The Trinidad-based Court in its ruling, which was delivered by its President, Justice Adrian Saunders, further stated: “It is for GECOM to ensure that the CEO submits a report in accordance with his directives of 16th of June in order to proceed along the path directed by the laws of Guyana.”

This refers to the in-

Justice Adrian Saunders

structions by GECOM Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh, who directed Lowenfield in a letter last month to submit his final elections report using the figures from the national recount.

The 33-day exercise confirmed that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) won the March 2 elections with 233,336 votes while the caretaker A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition obtained 217,920 votes – a difference of 15,416 votes.

The CEO was then directed in a letter dated June 16 by the GECOM Chair to submit his report using the recount figures.

However, before he could have presented his report, the Elsyn David matter was filed in the Appeal Court. But one day after that court’s ruling, which was stayed for three days, Lowenfield went ahead to submit his report in which he invalidated over 115,000 votes to give the APNU/AFC a win with 171,825 votes while the PPP/C was given 166,343 votes.

Now that the CCJ has invalidated that report, the CEO has once again been instructed by GECOM to present a new elections report using the results from the national recount. He is expected to submit this report by 14:00h today.

8 NEWS

FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Lethem man slapped with 26-year jail sentence for raping woman

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convicted rapist, Nick Skeete, 31, also called Jason Blair and “Shatta”, who was found guilty of raping a 20-year-old woman was on Thursday slapped with a 26-year jail sentence.

The sentence was handed down by Justice Jo-Ann Barlow on Thursday at the High Court via Zoom.

On March 19, a 12-member jury found Skeete guilty of the crime, but his sentencing was deferred to Thursday.

His two co-accused – Harold Anderson and John Lee Edmond – were found not guilty and as such, they were acquitted of the charges.

A probation report, which was read in court during the virtual hearing, stated that between July 8 and July 9, 2016, in Lethem, Region Nine (Upper Essequibo-Upper Takutu), Skeete raped the woman.

The court heard that at the time of the incident, the woman had just left a disco in Lethem and was waiting on a taxi to head home since she was not familiar with the area.

When the taxi arrived, Skeete, who

Convicted rapist Nick Skeete

was 27 years old at the time, along with his two co-accused Anderson and Edmond reportedly hit the driver to the head and dragged the woman some distance away to a swampy area where they had sex with her against her will simultaneously.

The victim positively identified Skeete as her rapist, but could not

identify Anderson nor Edmond. As such, they were freed. The Probation Officer stated that the victim suffered a horrendous, bestial attack that resulted in severe mental trauma.

When asked if he had anything to say, Skeete said that he was “sorry” for what happened to the 20-year-old woman and asked the Judge for leniency, since he has two minor children aged six and eight to take care of.

Justice Barlow, in arriving at an appropriate sentence for Skeete, noted that he must be responsible for the act that he committed.

She then sentenced him to 27 years in prison with three additional years for aggravating factors.

The 30-year sentence was reduced after the Judge took into consideration the three years, 10 months, and 14 days which Skeete had already spent in pre-trial custody. As a result, he will spend 26 years in prison.

The State was represented by State Counsel Teriq Mohamed while Skeete was represented by Attorney Ravindra Mohabir.

Teen feared dead after falling Banks DIH fatal mishap Construction worker from fuel-laden vessel remains critical

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search is underway for 19-year-old Bryan Gonzalez, a Venezuelan national who is feared dead after he fell into the Cuyuni River, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) on Monday.

According to information received, around 10:30h on the day in question, Gonzalez asked a 27-yearold Boat Captain of Lake Mainstay, Essequibo Coast, to transport him to a place called Devil’s Area in the Cuyuni River.

The Boat Captain agreed and as such, the teen joined the boat with five other passengers.

Guyana Times understands that the metal boat measures about 50 feet in length and 5 feet in width and was powered by two 75-horsepower Yamaha outboard engines.

At the time of the incident, the boat was carrying 45 drums of gasoline. The teen, however, was reportedly sitting on a bucket on one of the drums. The bucket reportedly slipped off the

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Feared dead: Bryan Gonzalez

drum, thus throwing the teen overboard.

The boat came to a halt and the other persons on board jumped into the water in a bid to rescue the teen, but their attempts proved futile.

The matter was reported to the Guyana Police Force (GPF). Up to press time on Thursday, the body of the teenager had not been recovered.

he construction worker who was injured after a building collapsed on Wednesday at Industrial Estate, Ruimveldt, Georgetown, remains in critical condition at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

Anthony Lowe, 25, of Mocha Arcadia, East Bank Demerara (EBD), suffered trauma to the head as well as internal injuries which have affected his lungs.

Relatives of his co-worker, 61-year-old Jagmohan Bissessar, who was injured in the same incident and succumbed on Wednesday afternoon are currently making funeral arrangements. He resided at Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara (WBD).

Guyana Times had reported that the warehouse building owned and operated

by Banks DIH Limited collapsed during a demolition exercise.

Based on reports received, the incident occurred around 13:00h on the day in

Injured: Anthony Lowe

question. After the building collapsed, the men were reportedly trapped under the debris for some time before they were rescued.

After they were pulled out, the workers were taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital to seek medical attention.

Bissessar was pronounced dead on arrival.

The men were employed with Home Design, a construction company that was contracted to facilitate the demolition.

The morning after…

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…the foot fell he last time there was an expected momentous court decision in this elections outrage that’s been fuelled by the judicial antics of the PNC, a fog descended upon Georgetown and parts of East Coast, where they have their redoubts. It was quite an apt sign, since the PNC already had created such a dense fog in the minds of their supporters, some of them couldn’t even “see” that Mingo had rigged the vote over at Ashmin’s. Even after the recount!!

Well, as the country waited for the CCJ to deliver its even more critical judgement, a storm passed over our dear midland coast that knocked down houses, uprooted trees, knocked out the GPL system to plunge the entire country into blackout. Was this a sign of what’s to come now that the CCJ delivered a blow to the solar plexus of the PNC?? After all, they’d drawn a line in the sand that they were going to accept no other decision from the CCJ than they (the CCJ) had absolutely no jurisdiction to hear the PPP’s appeal from the Court of Appeal.

Why?? Well to cut through the fog of the PNC’s legal arguments, it was basically that “the framers of the constitution” never intended all those “furriner” Judges to decide who’s gonna be the President after the votes are counted. Never mind there were never any “framers” of the constitution -just the PNC’s founder-leader Forbes Burnham, who merely instructed Shahabuddeen what he wanted to become a constitutional dictator! But for the record, he was one of the most committed founder-members of CariCom who dreamed of the day we’d have our Regional Apex Court and be rid of the Privy Council!!

In any case, your Eyewitness wondered what all those other islanders thought when they’d been judged by Guyanese members of the CCJ bench - like the outstanding Justice Desiree Bernard and the not so outstanding - rather pedestrian, to be truthful - Justice Duke Pollard. Anyhow, back to the portent of the storm that presaged the CCJ’s decision, which not only assumed jurisdiction but quashed the plainly PNCconcocted Court of Appeal’s decision that violated the constitution with its own jurisdictional overreach!!

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!!

The portent is that there is certainly a political storm brewing, since Granger literally and figuratively pulled off his mask to tell his supporters “WE WUZ ROBBED!!”

For now, as your Eyewitness predicted, the PNC will turn to Major (red) Lowenfield to repeat the li(n)es synchronized with the Govt GECOM Commissioners, who took a day to practice.

Then the storm’s gonna hit!!

…will the Iron Lady sing?

After an initial period of high anxiety, we’ve all been waiting for our Iron Lady to finally sing the PNC’s swan song - and bring the curtain down on this sordid episode in our nation’s history. Well, she was handed the lyrics and score of the song she’s supposed to sing - composed by the most eminent jurists in our region.

And as a former member of the fraternity of the Bench, she should have no difficulty in belting out the song, “Just gimme the recount numbers, Lowenfield”.

The PNC has already telegraphed what’s coming up today at the delayed Commission meeting. Even though the CCJ was as clear as the turquoise Caribbean Sea, Lowenfield will be arriving with his third version of the numbers. That, of course, will be BEFORE he keeps his date at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court on those three criminal charges for fudging the numbers in his previous reports.

Sometimes jail time focuses the mind of fellows in the dock. Your Eyewitness doesn’t think this will faze Lowenfield, however.

It’ll be one for the side!! …Test cricket returns Who would’ve thought?? In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we had cricket, glorious cricket in England!! And what made it even more was WI bowling out England for 204 and Holder taking 6/42!!

How sweet it is!!

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

NEWS

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FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

More Aurora Gold Mines employees sent packing L

ocal subsidiary of the Guyana Goldfields Limited, Aurora Gold Mines (AGM), has announced the third phase of its workforce reduction, which will see more persons being terminated in the coming days.

The AGM Director of People and Culture, Emma Geist, issued a circular dated June 9 to all employees, indicating that the third phase of termination comes as the company transitions from open-pit mining to underground mining at the Aurora mine site.

“Following our announcements about transitioning from open pit mining to underground mining at our Aurora mine site and the interruption this will cause in our operations for an undetermined period, we will now proceed with the third phase of our workforce reduction plan,” Geist informed.

This third phase is said to conclude the workforce reduction process. It will be split into two phases – one commencing from July 10, and the other slated for the end of July.

The outline of the process is identical to that of the previous phases: employees who would be part of this workforce reduction would

Operations at the Aurora mine site

be contacted by HR to report to the office in Georgetown to get their final papers.

“Employees who will be part of this workforce reduction initiative while being at site will be informed by their supervisors to report to the HR office on Friday morning, before they fly back from Aurora to Ogle Airport, to get their final papers. Extra flights have been scheduled to depart Aurora on Friday, July 10, 2020 and flight manifests will be released,” the circular indicated.

A final payout will be

deposited into the bank accounts of the affected employees no later than July 20, 2020.

It caps a tumultuous year for the company, which had made moves to sell its operations off to fellow Canadian mining company Silvercorp Metals last month. However, a Chinese company managed to acquire the largescale gold mining company for some Cdn$323 million in what turned out to be the better offer.

Zijin Mining Group Co, a leading global mining company specialising in gold,

copper, zinc, and other mineral resource exploration and development, bettered the purchasing price and conditions stipulated by the Canadian company.

When the operations resume, the new company will take over and employees will be transferred under new management.

“We would also like to inform you that once the ownership transfers to Zijin and the COVID-19 pandemic allows their leadership to visit the mine site, they plan to restart the open-pit mining as soon as possible.

“Unfortunately, we cannot predict when that will happen, nor can we predict when the Government will open the airports to allow travel at this time.”

Zijin Chairman Chen Jinghe last month expressed optimism at the prospects that the acquisition of the Aurora mining operations present.

“Guyana Goldfields’ management team has dedicated tremendous effort and made significant contributions in progressing the Aurora Gold Mine, and we look forward to advancing and developing the next phase of the mine.

We believe that the Aurora mine is a high-quality gold asset with significant upside potential, which we believe will be highly comple-

mentary to Zijin’s existing mining asset portfolio,” he said.

The Chinese company has committed to “continuing to operate in a safe, sustainable, and responsible manner”, and says that it looks forward to “working closely with the Government of Guyana, the local communities, and all other stakeholders to deliver a firstclass operation that will significantly benefit the regional economy”.

It was noted that the agreement will be subject to the approval of 66.66 per cent of votes cast by shareholders of Guyana Goldfields at an annual and special meeting of Guyana Goldfields shareholders expected to be held

by July 31, 2020.

10 NEWS

FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Phillips urges security forces not to follow “unlawful orders” – says PPP/C “must be allowed to govern in peace”

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eople’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Prime Ministerial Candidate, Retired Brigadier Mark Phillips has urged the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and the Guyana Police Force (GPF) not to follow any “unlawful orders” while noting that the PPP/C won the March 2 General and Regional Elections and “must be allowed to govern in peace”.

Brigadier Phillips, a former Chief-of-Staff of the GDF, was at the time commenting on the ruling by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on Wednesday, which paved the way for a swearing-in of PPP/C Presidential Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali as the next President of Guyana, after the Party won the majority of votes in the March 2 polls.

“I want to speak to the security forces, the Guyana Defence Force and the Guyana Police Force, they have an important role to play in upholding the rule of law during this critical time in Guyana.

“These Forces must not follow any unlawful order.

We have a president and that president will soon be replaced by another president in keeping with the declaration of GECOM. Brigadier Phillips noted that he joined the PPP/C in January this year and the Party launched a powerful campaign in which it took its messages to the masses and the electorate showed over-

whelming support in return.

“The people voted for the PPP/C, and the PPP/C must be allowed to assume office in this country peacefully in keeping with the laws of Guyana, so that Guyana can once again be respected by the wider Caribbean, by the wider Western Hemisphere and by the world,” he posited.

According to Phillips, it is important that peace and order are maintained in the country. He noted that Guyana was a democracy and regardless of how fragile it was, it must be allowed to prevail.

He further noted that Guyanese suffered quite a lot during the period of rigged elections in the Linden Forbes Burnham era, which affected the development of the country in many ways.

“We must not go back to the days of rigged elections.

That is something of the past; the system was reengineered for the 1992 elections. And that is the system we used from 1992 to now, and it’s difficult to rig post 1992.”

“Mr Lowenfield is on record as saying … that it is difficult to impersonate somebody. And to come now and have statutory officers who are supposed to be highly professional, impartial… two of these officers were caught in the act involved in the rigging or attempts to rig these elections,” the PM Candidate said.

According to Phillips, the CCJ ruling is important for all Guyanese. “Our elections at all times must represent the will of the people,” he said.

He urged the APNU/ AFC to respect the decisions handed down by the CCJ, concede defeat, and allow the country to move forward.

The CCJ, on Wednesday, ruled that Guyana’s Court of Appeal had no jurisdiction to hear the matter filed

by APNU/AFC supporter Eslyn David, much less interpret “more votes cast” in the Recount Order to mean “more valid votes cast”.

Not only did the CCJ overturn this ruling, but it also invalidated the fraudulent report submitted by embattled Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) in which he disenfranchised over 115,000

PPP/C Prime Ministerial Candidate, Retired Brigadier Mark Phillips

votes based on the Appeal Court’s ruling.

This decision by the regional court has paved the way for GECOM to move ahead with the anticipated declaration of the March 2 elections results.

The 33-day national recount has shown the PPP/C with a landslide victory having obtained some 15,416 more votes than its main political rival, the caretaker APNU/AFC coalition.

38 COVID-19 cases originated in Region 7

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egion Seven (CuyuniMazaruni) has seen an upsurge in COVID-19 cases within the past weeks, and data shows that 38 positive cases have been detected thus far.

The Regional Health Officer (RHO), Dr Edward Sagala in a press statement indicated that two health teams have been dispatched to key areas throughout the region – which currently has the third highest number of infections locally.

On Wednesday, one of the teams left for Puruni Landing, where they would be conducting sensitisation and screening exercises along with COVID-19 testing. Another team from the Health Emergency Operation Centre (HEOC) was dispatched to Aranka, Region Seven last Sunday where similar initiatives were being undertaken.

Presently, nine individu-

CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)

INFORMATION AND GUIDELINES HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF?

Region Seven RHO, Dr Edward Sagala

als are being trained to conduct screening in several areas in Region Seven, including: Sherima Crossing, Vulture Boat Landing and the Fifth Avenue Beach.

Along with 38 cases, there has been one reported death in the region. Seven persons have recovered and six persons are currently in isolation. Dr Sagala further informed that 22 per-

sons were tested and their results were yet to be released.

On June 2, 34-year-old Abdool Khan succumbed while being treated at the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

The businessman, who hailed from Bartica, was admitted for over a week after testing positive for the virus. He was the father of a three-year-old child who tested positive along with several family members one week prior.

Last Friday, special measures were announced for the mining and hinterland regions, owing to existing threats and the spike in cases in some areas.

This comes on the heels of mounting calls from organisations and village councils for mining to be suspended, as the movement of people was linked to an upsurge in cases.

While they were not completely stopped, mining operations are to cease in some areas, specifically Aranka and Arangoy’s Landing in Region Seven and Moruca in Region One (Barima-Waini). These regions are leading the list for the most positive cases in recent times. No person is allowed to travel into or out of the zones listed without authorisation from the Public Health Ministry. Persons residing in the areas are required to wear a “mask fitted to cover the nose and mouth” when in public.

Gatherings should not exceed five persons and the physical distance of six feet between persons shall apply to those gatherings. Meanwhile, all homes and public places including shops, landings, means of transport and conveyances are to be sanitised regularly.

SYMPTOMS

People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness.

Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. People with these symptoms or combinations of symptoms may have COVID-19:

Cough

Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

Or at least two of these symptoms:

Fever People who think they may be affected by coronavirus need to call the Public Health Ministry hotline 227-4986/624-3067 for further advice. They should not go to their GP, A&E, pharmacy or hospital.

If you have come into contact with somebody who may be infected, you may be told to self-isolate. People needing to do so should take "common-sense" steps to avoid close contact with other people.

(Adapted from BBC News)

Headache

Chills

Sore throat

Repeated shaking with chills

New loss of taste or smell

Muscle pain Children have similar symptoms to adults and generally have mild illness.

NEWS

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FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Preserve democratic, economic progress made in Guyana – former Liberian President

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he former President of Liberia, Nobel Peace Prize winner Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, is calling on Guyanese to ensure that they protect the progress the country has made both economically as well as democratically over the past decades.

During a virtual interview with Zulficar Ally, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Guyana (AMCHAM Guyana), Johnson Sirleaf lauded the progress Guyana has made over the years and underscored the need for this to be preserved amidst the political impasse the country is facing.

“My appeal to the authorities who manage the affairs of Guyana, my appeal to the people of Guyana (is) please see your country and the progress it has made in these last few years and protect it,” she pleaded.

While there have been mounting warnings of serious consequences and threats of sanctions from the international community, the former Liberian Head of State brought attention to the devastation that could overcome Guyana if the will of the people expressed at the March 2 elections is not respected.

Former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Recalling her own experience of being a victim of a situation where elections were held and, despite the will of the people being very clear, those results were not announced, she noted that this will not augur well for Guyana.

“Please do not see this situation digress into violence, into destruction, because once you get on that path, it is difficult to control it, and you never know what the final consequence will be. You will cause your own people to suffer, [and] you will cause lasting effects to people’s morale, to people’s will to be able to serve their country, to your supporters outside who have done everything to get you to this place of progress

that will finally see you as being self-destructive, being able to destroy your own progress,” the former Liberian President posited.

Johnson Sirleaf, who is also a member of Nelson Mandela’s The Elders Group, further stated that when people are given the opportunity to exercise their right to choose a government and that does not happen, then what follows is unimaginable.

“Because those who conclude that their votes have not been respected will show resistance, and sometimes we have to ensure that that resistance is peaceful; but no one has control over what happens once protest begins… If that protest is not properly managed by the state and authorities, there is counter action to repress or contain the protest. It would lead to serious conflict with serious consequences,” she contended.

The former Liberian Head of State reminisced that her country had faced a similar situation. She noted that the aftermath of protest and repression resulted in the destruction of Liberia, which was embroiled in continued conflict for many years.

TURN TO PAGE 12

12 NEWS

FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

LJP, TCI call for swift conclusion to electoral process

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wo of the new political parties that contested the March 2 elections – Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), and The Citizen Initiative (TCI) – are calling for the swift conclusion of the protracted electoral process.

This is in light of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) postponing its scheduled meeting on Thursday after the three Government- nominated commissioners asked for time to “study” the decision of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), which on Wednesday invalidated the Appeal Court’s ruling and the fraudulent report submitted last month by Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, who disenfranchised over 115,000 voters.

In a statement on Thursday, TCI expressed grave concern over this further delay of the timely and lawful conclusion to Guyana’s election process.

The Rondha Lam-led party pointed to the CCJ’s judgement, which concluded with expectation that all parties would move with haste.

“It has been four months since the Elections were held

LJP Leader Lenox Shuman

and the country has been without a Parliament for well over a year. No one in Guyana would regard this as a satisfactory state of affairs. We express the fervent hope that there would quickly be a peaceable restoration of normalcy. Now the Law must run its course,” CCJ President, Justice Adrian Saunders had stated on Wednesday.

To this end, the TCI emphasised the need for a quick end to the four-month long election process.

“Guyana needs it. The people of Guyana need it.

Now that the apex court

of Guyana has definitively ruled on the way forward, it is quite clear what needs to be done. GECOM and the people of Guyana have bent over backwards enough.

GECOM needs to now act decisively to bring our election process to a swift conclusion.

“We, as Guyanese, need to work together to take this nation forward. This can only be achieved if we remain a nation that respects the laws that govern the land. We respectfully request Madame Chair, Justice Claudette Singh, does everything in her power to bring the election to its swift conclusion.

TCI calls on Madam Chair to allow Guyana to breathe,” the party pleaded.

Meanwhile, LJP Leader Lennox Shuman, in a virtual message, voiced his suspicious about the actions of the Government-aligned GECOM Commissioners in requesting time to study the explicit CCJ ruling. “…Information coming to me is that they don’t need time for a ruling, but to make a case for a non-declaration.

That seems very plausible, and that is information com-

ing to me from persons within the PNC (the largest party in the APNU faction of the caretaker Coalition) Camp.

It’s a bit concerning that we are at this juncture. The CCJ has been very explicit in (its) ruling. (The Judges) have said what they said, and now here we are,” the LJP Leader posited.

He went on to say that, at this point, Guyanese have to exercise all the confidence in the GECOM Chair, having been a jurist herself, to understand the law and the ruling and to act accordingly.

However, Shuman posited that everything the PNC-led Coalition does calls for suspicion. He pointed to the recent increase of Police deployment to enforce the COVID-19 measures, as well as the reshuffling of the hierarchy of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF).

TCI Presidential Candidate Rhonda Lam

“Everything needs to be looked at with a suspicious eye at this point… What I can say is the nation – all of you; a whole lot of people – are tired. It is weighing on the country, it is weighing on the people, and I’m hopeful after tomorrow we will have a clear and definitive

path… The country can only go through this torment for so long,” he stressed.

To this end, Shuman called on the international community to take keen note of these delaying tactics and to start exploring imposing sanctions on those who are complicit in the deliberate delaying of Guyana’s electoral process.

“Let’s bring it to bear…

I hope there is very strong sanctions, since the words seem not to be registering with these people. It needs to be followed up by actions right now, and I would urge our international partners to take a close look at this and see if it is warranted.

“Another delaying tactic tomorrow and then they’ll push it to Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and they’ll continue to kick this can further down the road,” the LJP leader asserted.

Preserve democratic, economic...

Against this backdrop, the 81-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner called on local stakeholders to ensure the gains made thus far are preserved.

“You’ve given so much to your country in the last decade to bring it where it is. This is the time to consolidate the progress, to see democracy that you have earned on a firmer footing; and that means reconciliation, that means cooperation, that means getting together and looking at this situation and seeing Guyana as bigger than any particu-

lar party or any particular group or any particular person. That is our call to you – a call for the preservation of your future by yourselves.

No one can do it for you.

Everyone can promote whatever you’ve done to achieve this level of democracy, but only Guyanese people can protect it and maintain it,” Johnson Sirleaf asserted.

She went on to note that Guyana’s March 2 elections have been followed by so many groups, including hers, The Elders, with many of them being satisfied that the will of the people is that

FROM PAGE 11

which should prevail. She added that the National Recount, which has been endorsed by many regional leaders in the Caribbean as well as from the United States, among others, has brought hope that the protracted electoral process, which is now ongoing for months, would finally be resolved.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf served as President of Liberia from 2006 to 2018, and was the first elected female Head of State in the continent of Africa.

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14 NEWS

FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Excuse to “study” CCJ ruling “another shameless tactic” to delay results declaration – Nandlall ...says this surpasses the limit of “ludicrosity”

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eople’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Executive member Anil Nandlall believes the excuse of the three Governmentnominated Commissioners at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), that they need time to study the recent ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), is another tactic by the caretaker APNU/AFC Coalition to further delay the declaration of the final results of the March 2 General and Regional Elections.

“The truth is that this is another shameless tactic to delay the declaration of the final results, and possibly to facilitate some subterfuge in the making,” Nandlall posited in a social media post on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the Trinidad-based regional court ruled that Guyana’s Court of Appeal had no jurisdiction to hear the matter filed by APNU/AFC supporter Eslyn David. As such, the CCJ invalidated the Appeal Court’s decision that “more votes cast” in the Recount Order means “more validate votes cast”. They also invalidated the fraudulent report submitted by embattled Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield.

This now paves the way for GECOM to make an official declaration of the results of the elections, held more than four months ago, based on the recount results which show the PPP/C in a landslide victory by some 15,416 votes more than its main political rival, the APNU/AFC. The seven-member

PPP/C Executive Anil Nandlall

Commission was scheduled to meet on Thursday at 13:30h. However, that meeting was cancelled hours before it began after the three government-aligned Commissioners – Vincent Alexander, Charles Corbin and Desmond Trotman – requested time to study the CCJ ruling.

But according to Nandlall, the regional court’s decision was very clear.

He noted that the ruling, which was live-streamed on Wednesday, was tuned in to by almost every Guyanese.

He added that the entire written judgement and the summary were released by the CCJ, and it was widely reported on.

“Anyone familiar with judgments will confirm that the judgment handed down by the Caribbean Court of Justice is - having regard to the importance of the issues raised - perhaps one of the shortest judgments ever de-

livered, and expressed in the clearest possible language.

In my considered view, the authors of that document deliberately ensured that they were concise, precise, and as crystal clear as possible.

Every person with whom I have spoken and who have some familiarity with the judgment proclaimed to have understood it largely because of the simplicity and clarity with which it was expressed,” he stated.

Nandlall, a former Attorney General, went on to point out that after all Guyana and its people have endued over these past months, to be now met with the bizarre news that GECOM’s meeting was postponed because the three Government Commissioners requested time to “study the judgment” not only “surpasses the limit of ludicrousness” but constitutes a grave test of the collective patience of the majority of Guyanese.

“Every sensible person in Guyana knows that Messrs.

Alexander, Corbin and Trotman take their directions from Congress Place, and have access to that huge team of lawyers assembled by the Rigging Cabal.

Yet these three (3) need to “study the judgment”. What is there to study? My driver, gardener and maid, with whom I have spoken, have a clear understanding of the nature and purport of the judgment, and they simply read it from the press.

I am sure they can ably assist these three esteemed Commissioners,” Nandlall stated.

He further sought to as-

APNU/AFC-nominated Commissioners

certain whether Alexander, Corbin and Trotman are trying to make the nation believe that, as Commissioners of GECOM, a party in the proceedings, they are so disinterested that they did not listen to the reading of the judgment neither did they get a copy of it, which was available to every member of the public from the website of the Court.

“This is not only an abdication of their duties as Commissioners, but a demonstration of the contempt which they hold for the Guyanese public. It is the type of conduct which disgraces all public officers and constitutional officeholders… Each of these actions are being noted by a patient Guyanese public for future references. Reckoning day shall soon come. Let us see for how long they will be able to sustain these nefarious artifices. Time and history are on our side - the side of democracy and the Rule of Law. People’s Power shall triumph in the end,” Nandlall further assert-

ed.

The former Attorney General reiterated that the Caribbean Court of Justice’s pronouncements are, by law, the final and conclusive determination of the issues.

He noted that the CCJ even went so far as to outline the path forward for GECOM, so that this process can be brought to a lawful end.

The CCJ, in its ruling, which was delivered by President Justice Adrian Saunders, said, “It is for GECOM to ensure that the CEO submits a report in accordance with his directives of 16th of June, in order to proceed along the path directed by the laws of Guyana.”

This refers to the instructions by GECOM Chair, Justice Claudette Singh, who directed Lowenfield in a letter last month to submit his final elections report using the figures from the National Recount.

The CCJ President had also lamented the current protracted political situation in Guyana.

“As Guyana’s final court, the Court stated that it could not, however in all the circumstances, pretend to be oblivious to events that have transpired in that country since December 2018. Indeed, the court had to pronounce on some of those events. It has been four months since the elections had been held, and the country has been without a Parliament for well over one year. No one in Guyana would consider this to be a satisfactory state of affairs.

We express the fervent hope that there would quickly be a peaceable restoration of normalcy. Now the law must run its course,” he asserted.

Back in December 2018, the APNU/AFC Coalition was toppled via a majority vote of a No-Confidence Motion in the National Assembly – which the CCJ had ruled was validly passed. However, the caretaker Coalition failed to call elections within the stipulated three-month period as stated in the Constitution.

Region 1 has 69% of country’s active COVID-19 cases – DCMO …active cases now 145, 2 new cases recorded

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eputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Karen Gordon-Boyle on Thursday confirmed that Region One (Barima-Waini) is currently battling with 69 per cent of the active COVID-19 cases recorded in the country.

While providing an update, she indicated that Guyana has recorded 286 cases – an increase of two from Wednesday. From this number, 46 per cent has recovered and six percent has died while receiving treatment. This leaves Region One with 69 per cent of the 145 active cases, while the remaining ratio is dispersed in other administrative regions.

Statistics show that 125 persons have recovered, and the number of deaths from COVID-19 remains at 16. However, there are still 19 persons in institutional quarantine and six persons in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

A current survey conducted by the Public Health Ministry in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) sought to assess the behavioural pattern of the population. It showed that respondents from all 10 adminis-

trative regions have indicated that the level of fear of becoming infected with COVID-19 has decreased from 81.6 per cent to 53.5 per cent over a period of four weeks.

Meanwhile, 30 per cent of respondents reported that they were unwilling to give up their daily practice and adhere to guidelines provided, and over 70 per cent indicated that they wear a mask when out in public.

Holistically, 58 per cent of persons indicated that they observe the six feet social distancing recommendation as per the guidelines, and 76 per cent of the respondents indicated that they wash or sanitise their hands frequently.

According to the DCMO, this information establishes the fact that most persons are aware of what is needed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. However, she questioned what is preventing them from doing so.

“Fear moved from 82 per cent to 54 per cent, indicating that there may be fatigue when it comes to the public’s response to the messages concerning COVID-19. It is important that you understand

that, despite the six per cent death rate, there is no prediction as to who will have a fatal case or a mild one, and therefore it is in your best interest to prevent infection in the first place,” she said to the public.

Dr Gordon-Boyle clarified that employing preventative measures is better than having to be recov-

ering from the deadly virus, for which no cure has yet been developed.

“The majority of you are indeed observing the protocols, and so it is just for the few stragglers to join the band wagon… ‘Prevention is better than cure’ is still applicable, and more so in the case of

COVID-19, (for which) there is no cure, and we are up against a new coronavirus that is constantly mutating, so let us put our COVID-19 knowledge to good use.”

In instances where persons are wearing the masks, there are some examples where persons might be using it incorrectly. The health official explained that the masks must work in conjunction with other measures to protect oneself.

“We continue to witness the misuse of the facemask, and wish to advise that wearing your mask only because it is a requirement to enter some public spaces is not the principal reason for its inclusion in our guidelines. The mask is needed for your protection as well as the protection of those around you.

It helps to prevent those tiny droplets from infecting you and those around. Further, it does not work in isolation; it must be supported with practising physical distancing and handwashing,” the DCMO asserted.

According to the World Health Organization, the total number of cases is 11,669,259 with 539,906 deaths. In the Region of the Americas, the number of cases is 6,004,685 with 268,828 deaths.

NEWS

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FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

DDL donates 34,000 cases Fire at ND&S Furniture Store was purposely set – Fire Chief of juice to CDC, MoPH T he Guyana Fire Service (GFS) has confirmed that the fire which destroyed the ND&S furniture store located at Lot 40 B and C Gap Road, La Jalousie, West Coast Demerara (WCD) on June 26 was purposely set.

Fire Chief Marlon Gentle during a telephone interview with Guyana Times on Thursday stated that based on investigations, the fire is now being treated as arson.

He added that during the probe, there were “things” that were found in the factory

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everage giant Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) on Thursday donated 4000 cases of juices to the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) as it continued its efforts to assist communities by providing support to persons affected by COVID-19.

DDL is also in communication with the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), to finalise a donation to health workers countrywide, and the National Commission on Disability.

A total of 30,000 cases of Topco Juice valued at $45,000,000 will be donated.

Additionally, donations were made to several orphanages across the country and in collaboration with the Amerindian Peoples Association for COVID-19-affected areas.

DDL Chairman Komal Samaroo said: “This donation is another way that DDL continues to support the people of Guyana during the current public health crisis. We remain

The ND&S Furniture Store and factory, located at Lot 40 B and C Gap Road, La Jalousie, West Coast Demerara

DDL Brand Manager Larry Wills handing over the donation to CDC Logistics Coordinator, Major Loring Benons

committed to supporting agencies since we are all in this for the long run.

Over the past few months, we have seen the devastating effect of COVID-19 and challenges Guyanese are facing and as a company, we remain committed to supporting those affected.”

These donations follow a donation of 17,500 litres of Environ alcohol-based sanitising cleaner in March and June to senior citizens’ homes, orphanages, night shelters, prisons, and other facilities similar to these and the Ministry of Education respectively.

The ruins of the building

that left investigators to conclude that the fire was arson in nature.

It was reported that the fire erupted at about 11:00h

on the day in question, and quickly razed the three-storey building which housed the furniture store, the factory, and a living quarter for the owner.

The GFS was immediate-

ly called to the scene and deployed its resources to tackle the blaze. Firefighters managed to save only part of the lower flat of the building since the raging fire quickly demolished the factory and upper apartment of the three-storey building.

Meanwhile, adjacent buildings in close proximity were spared; they suffered significant water, heat, and smoke damages.

This is not the first time the building was gutted by fire. Last year February, the same building was reduced to debris after a fire of unknown origin had ripped through the two-storey concrete and wooden structure. The proprietor is estimating his loses to be in the millions.

Rainbow City residents plead for help due to flooding ꟷ says blocked Hymara Creek poses imminent threat

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ith flood warnings being issued for various areas across the country, residents of Rainbow City in Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) are presently inundated as a result of blockage of the Hymara Creek.

According to residents, the issue arises owing to the failure of the relevant

Ron Allicock explained that there were blockages in the area that were affecting the smooth flow of the water.

“We, the residents of Rainbow City, are being plagued by constant flooding due to the Hymara Creek not being maintained. The creek needs digging, so the water can run off. This is what plaguing we and causing the flood-

Defence Commission), the relevant authorities to just step in and help us here in Rainbow City,” the resident appealed.

This has been the cry of residents for years, as the

come out properly from in this street and it’s backing up that way,” he disclosed.

“This is the part heading towards the river. The water barely got a little passage there. So that is what we really need help with,” the resident lamented.

One of the yards under water

The blocked creeks in the area

authorities to have the creek dug and regularly maintained.

With the inclement weather, the situation is seriously affecting residents in the community located in Mackenzie. Shedding light on the issue, resident

ing. You see the water can’t pass as it should. So, with all this that build up here, it causing a back-up of water,” Allicock explained while pointing to blockages in the area.

“So, we need Bosai or Town Council or CDC (Civil

area has been affected by severe flooding which has led to tremendous losses.

As Allicock pointed out, residents are now in dire need of assistance.

“This is what causing all the blockage and the flooding here. The water can’t

Several other residents in the community also registered their concerns over the issue.

“I have been experiencing this year now ... about two weeks ago most of my stuff got damaged ... it’s a sad situation ... Years ago,

I know the creek was dug twice a year to accommodate the flooding ... hope better can be done for the residents of Rainbow City.

This situation is overbearing over the years ... Please note a ‘million’ reports were given to all the authorities,” the resident stressed.

According to residents, there needs to be regular maintenance of the creek area in order to avoid flooding.

“Twice a year Hymara has to be dug, but I don’t know what happen to those

in authority. It seems no one care any more about that,” yet another resident stressed.

The Rainbow City and neighbouring Kara Kara areas have been affected by major flooding in times past. After a severe flood in the areas in 2016, it was revealed by officials that this was as a result of blockage of the Hymara Creek.

This was reportedly caused by heavy garbage build-up and thick vegetation. The authorities subsequently desilted the creek.

16 NEWS

FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Hyacinth Massay hangs up gloves after 142 Guyanese return on 1st repatriation flight from Canada over 50 years in the Public Service

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Lisa Thompson

total of 142 Guyanese returned home on Thursday via WestJet Airlines – the first repatriation flight for citizens who were stranded in Canada amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The group arrived at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).

Shania Thompson, 19, explained that she had contacted Guyana’s consulate in Toronto three months ago

Shawn D’Aguiar

because I felt as though I was struggling for the four months I couldn’t come home,” Thompson said during an interview with the Department of Public Information (DPI).

Noting that she will be occupied with online classes during her time in Guyana, Thompson pledged to continue to observe the safety guidelines that kept her safe in Canada, along with the stringent measures set out

A passenger being sanitised upon entry at CJIA

hoping to be reunited with her loved ones in Guyana.

According to the young lady, “being there alone, during the pandemic, without my family really took a toll on me”.

“It is a relief [to be back]. Honestly, I can’t believe I am here right now

by the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF).

For Shawn D’Aguiar, who was studying in Canada for the past 18 months, living through the pandemic was terrifying. He recalled having to stay indoors for nearly four months as the North American country

grappled with approximately 106,000 COVID-19 cases.

In his advice to Guyanese who fail to heed the national emergency measures, D’Aguiar cautioned, “Safety is a big thing and you should keep safe […] Where we were, it is very dangerous, because simple things. people come into contact with and [get infected].”

Another citizen, Lisa Thompson stated she was grateful to be home since she was slated to return nearly three-and-a-half-months ago. With optimism towards the coming weeks, she added, “For the next while, it is going to be a very quiet kind of existence at home.”

“I have the seven-day mandatory quarantine that I am going to adhere to and I think even beyond that, I am lucky that I have the support [and] don’t really need to go out a lot.”

The NCTF has approved the controlled re-entry of nearly 1500 Guyanese since June 6 as the country’s two main airports remain closed to international travel. Two additional flights from the USA are scheduled to arrive on July 14 and July 15.

Students in Trinidad and Tobago and Cuba are expected to return home as well.

he Public Health Ministry’s Disability and Rehabilitation Services earlier this week bid farewell to the long-serving Hyacinth Massay, former Rehabilitation Officer of the Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre (PRRC).

Massay joined the Health Ministry’s team during the early ‘70s and began working at the PRRC, then known as the Polio Centre.

She provided rehabilitative services to children who suffered residual paralysis following the 1960-1964 polio epidemic in Guyana.

During her time at the PRRC, she was responsible for the administration of the facility, which had shifted its focus to providing rehab services for children with physical and developmental disabilities. She was tasked with the further expansion of rehabilitation, beyond physiotherapy, to include the disciplines of occupational therapy, speech therapy and audiology, and drug rehabilitation.

Director of Disability and Rehabilitation Services,

Hyacinth Massay

Dr Ariane Mangar said during Massay’s 50-year tenure, she served Guyana in an exemplary manner, reflecting great credit upon herself and the Ministry.

“After an illustrious career in the Public Service, we are all proud of Massay’s distinguished service and many accomplishments; and we wish her success in her future endeavours” Dr Mangar declared.

Massay was born and grew up in South C u m m i n g s b u r g ,

Georgetown. She attended Bedford Methodist and Wedgewood Junior Primary Schools. Having been awarded a government county scholarship, she attended The Bishops’ High School in 1956. While there, she developed a passion for athletics and sports in general. It was this, together with her interest in helping people, which guided her choice of career of physiotherapy.

After leaving Bishops’ in 1963, Massay spent one year teaching English Language and Literature at Central High School. Her desire to join the physiotherapy profession was achieved when her application for the position of physiotherapist trainee at the Georgetown Public Hospital was successful.

In 1965, Massay was granted a Government of Guyana Scholarship, and went to Birmingham, England, where she qualified as a physiotherapist in 1968. On her return to Guyana, she continued work at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

Republic Bank donates ventilators to fight COVID-19

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he Public Health Ministry on Thursday received eight portable ventilators donated by Republic Bank to aid in the country’s fight against the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.

Receiving the donation was former Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence, who noted that the equipment would benefit many families and help to buttress the ongoing fight against the novel coronavirus as well as several other diseases.

Lawrence relayed the anguish felt by healthcare workers whenever they came up short providing critical service for their patients especially those needing medical care for COVID-19.

“Health-care workers

Republic Bank’s representative, Denise Hobbs hands over the donation to former Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence

bear a lot of emotional and mental stress due if they are unable to provide the necessary services for patients.

Many persons do not under-

stand the impact it has on health-care workers when they have someone’s life in their hands and do not have the necessary equipment, which will help in saving those lives,” Lawrence explained.

Republic Bank’s representative, Denise Hobbs said the financial institution was committed to helping customers overcome their economic challenges during this period of uncertainty.

She noted that the bank was cognisant of the social challenges facing the nation and its corps of dedicated health-care workers who continue to wrestle the effects of the deadly viral disease.

“We feel strongly about our corporate social responsibility as often demonstrated through our Power to ‘Make a Difference Programme’, to assist the people and communities we serve,” Hobbs related.

guyanatimesgy.com

FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2020

Regional

Brazil bows to investor pressure, bans setting fires in Amazon

Billows of smoke rise over a deforested plot of the Amazon jungle in Rondonia State, Brazil, where the number of fires in the Amazon rainforest increased 30 per cent last year, according to Brazil’s space research agency INPE [File: Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters]

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razil’s Government announced on Thursday it planned to ban setting fires in the Amazon for 120 days, in a meeting with global investors to address their rising concerns over destruction of the rainforest.

Vice President Hamilton Mourao told reporters that he invited investors in the video conference to help finance conservation of the forest, but he said they did not commit any funds and

want to see results first.

Investors have warned they will put investments in Brazil on hold, or even pull existing ones out, if the Government of right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro does not act to protect the world’s largest tropical rainforest that is seen as vital to curb global warming.

Mourao said Brazil was being unfairly criticised over Amazon deforesta-

tion, which has surged since Bolsonaro took office last year. The Vice President said the Government had inherited understaffed environmental agencies.

Mourao said the Government does not have enough personnel to stop outsiders from entering one million square kilometres (about 386,000 square miles) of protected Indigenous lands that are being increasingly invaded by illegal loggers and gold miners.

Public health experts and anthropologists fear the invaders are spreading the coronavirus – which could decimate Amazon tribes.

The Brazilian Government has started new talks with donors Norway and Germany on the Amazon Fund and the Vice President expected they would overcome differences over policy that last year stalled funding of sustainability projects.

Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina says foreign investors were worried a bill granting title to land in the Amazon that is currently under consideration in Congress would increase deforestation. She said that was a distortion.

Mourao said the decree banning fires for 120 days would be issued next week. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Brazil’s Bolsonaro in good health after positive coronavirus test, press office says

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Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro

razilian President Jair Bolsonaro is in good health after testing positive for the novel coronavirus earlier this week, his press office said on Thursday.

“President Jair Bolsonaro, diagnosed with

COVID-19 on (July) 7, is getting on well, without complications,” the statement said. “He is in good health and continues to be monitored routinely by the medical team of the Presidency of the Republic.” (Reuters)

Peru’s President calls Opposition Leader: PNM supporters being let into country General Election for April 2021 T

rinidad and Tobago Opposition Leader Kamla PersadBissessar has accused the Government of allowing their supporters to enter the country through “the back door” to vote.

Persad-Bissessar made the claim while briefly addressing supporters at the opening of the United National Congress (UNC) Moruga/Tableland Constituency office at St Mary’s Village, Moruga on Wednesday.

The UNC has selected Michelle Benjamin, a Councillor at the Princes Town Regional Corporation, to fight the seat which is presently held by the

UNC political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar greets supporters outside the newly-opened Moruga/Tableland constituency office in St Mary’s

People’s National Movement (PNM).

Persad-Bissessar who had called for nationals stranded abroad to be al-

lowed to return home to vote in the General Election said that decision lay in the hands of the Government.

“Whilst I do not call to

open the borders, I leave that for the medical people to tell us what is the best thing to do, in the best interest of the health of the country. At the same time, they cannot be bringing people through the back door, bringing their supporters to vote.”

She promised to pay special attention to this issue.

Persad-Bissessar also said that by today she will have the documents pertaining to the controversial visit of Vice President Delcy Rodriguez-led Venezuelan contingent after the borders were closed in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Excerpt from Trinidad Guardian)

Jamaica: Violence-ravaged Fugitive Mexican exGovernor arrested in Miami August Town exhales

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ésar Duarte, a former Mexican state governor who became a fugitive, has been arrested in Miami after more than three years on the run.

Duarte, governor of Chihuahua until 2016, fled after he was accused of embezzling public funds.

He now faces extradition to Mexico, where he faces corruption charges.

The arrest came as Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador paid an official visit to the US for talks with President Trump.

López Obrador came to power pledging to tackle political corruption.

Duarte was governor of Chihuahua from October 2010 to October 2016.

He was known for his lavish lifestyle and is accused of having used an official helicopter to fly friends and family to his ranch on weekends.

He is also alleged to have stolen hundreds of cows imported by the state to help small-scale Mexican ranchers replace their herds after a devastating drought.

The animals and many of his properties have been seized since Duarte fled the country.

Since fleeing Mexico, Duarte had been spotted in a number of US locations. There had been reported sightings of him in Texas, New Mexico and Florida in recent years. (BBC News)

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fter more than a month of almost daily gunfire, residents of August Town breathed a sigh of relief Wednesday as scores of Police and soldiers moved into the space where gunmen have been operating with seeming impunity.

The eastern St Andrew community was declared a zone of special operations (ZOSO) by Prime Minister Andrew Holness Wednesday and residents, those not too scared to speak, almost uniformly told the Jamaica Observer that while they were disappointed that it took so long for the State to act, they were happy that it finally happened.

“Mi nah go lie to you, when me wake up this morning and see the Police and soldiers me feel very good. To wake up out of mi bed and see the ZOSO that we a bawl for so long to help lower the crime in August Town, mi feel good,” said a woman who gave her name only as

“Sam”.

A fellow Hermitage resident, whose 18-year-old son was murdered in the community in January, was more than happy to welcome the members of the security forces.

In announcing the August Town ZOSO, Holness noted that the community had been assessed as a significant contributor to the level of crime in the St Andrew Central Police Division and had long been designated a hot spot in the area.

“Based on the assessment there is an urgent need for intervention.

The presence of major gangs in the community, as well as a number of other less-organised gangs, has over the years contributed to the level of crime. Additionally, the criminal activities of these gangs are not only restricted to the geographical boundaries of the community but have negatively affected other areas,” said Holness.

(Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

President Martin Vizcarra came to power in March 2018 after Pedro Pablo Kuczynski was forced to resign as President over a corruption scandal [File: The Associated Press]

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eruvian President Martin Vizcarra has called for a general election to be held in April next year when he will step down as the country’s leader.

His announcement on Wednesday came after the Congress had discussed the possibility of postponing the elections due to the coronavirus outbreak.

“Fulfilling my commitment, here is the decree calling a general election for April 11, 2021,” Vizcarra said in a televised address, formally marking the beginning of the process to hold presidential and legislative elections.

He stressed the presidential term could not be extended by “political crises, or the pandemic, or any other factor”.

If no presidential candidate gains an absolute majority in the first round of voting, the top two contend-

ers will face off in a runoff.

“We are within the terms of the law. From now, in a little more than nine months we will have a change of authorities,” he added.

According to Peru’s Constitution, Presidents can only serve one five-year term.

Previously, the Vice President, Vizcarra came to power in March 2018 after President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski was forced to resign over a corruption scandal related to millions of dollars in bribes paid by Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.

Peru is battling a severe outbreak of the coronavirus as it bids to slowly reopen its battered economy. The country of some 33 million people has registered more than 300,000 COVID-19 infections, the fifth-highest number in the world. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

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guyanatimesgy.com

FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2020

Around the World

US Supreme Court rulings open path to President Trump's finances T wo United States Supreme Court decisions delivered on Thursday a legal path for the eventual release of President Donald Trump's financial records.

Whether the information, which could be damaging for the President, will come out before November's presidential election is unclear, lawyers and politicians said.

"These two opinions are very dark clouds for the President," said Gene Rossi, a former federal prosecutor now in private practice in Washington, DC. "The opinions reject the argument that he has this global immunity from prosecution or service of process," Rossi told Al Jazeera.

In a pair of 7-2 decisions,

the Supreme Court ruled that a New York state grand jury could get Trump's financial records and sent back to a lower court enforcement of a subpoena by Congress.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr and a House of Representatives committee had subpoenaed Trump's accounting firm Mazars USA LLP for

10 years of his financial records. Trump claimed his position as President gave him broad protection of "absolute immunity" from investigation by Congress and the New York prosecutors.

The court rejected that claim and ruled Trump is subject to the subpoenas, but left open an avenue for the President to argue the legal requests for documents should be limited, because they were issued in bad faith or for political motives.

"No citizen, not even the president, is categorically above the common duty to produce evidence when called upon in a criminal proceeding," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the court's opinion. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Prime Minister Helen Clark and former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf have agreed to head the panel, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

“The magnitude of this pandemic, which has touched virtually everyone in the world, clearly deserves a commensurate evaluation, an honest evaluation,” Tedros told a virtual meeting with diplomats.

The panel will provide an interim report to an annual

meeting of Health Ministers in November and present a “substantive report” next May, he said.

Trump has accused the WHO of being too close to China and not doing enough to question Beijing’s actions at the start of the crisis. Tedros has dismissed the suggestions and said his agency kept the world informed.

In May, Trump said the United States, the agency’s biggest donor, would pull out of the organisation un-

less there were real reforms, a threat he followed up on this week by giving a oneyear notice of withdrawal.

“The President has been clear that the WHO needs to get its act together. That starts with demonstrating significant progress and the ability to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease outbreaks with transparency and accountability,” a senior US official in Washington told Reuters on Thursday. (Excerpt from Reuters)

US President Donald Trump speaks about Thursday's Supreme Court rulings, calling them “part of a political witch-hunt and a hoax”, during a roundtable discussion with members of the Hispanic community in the Cabinet Room at the White House in Washington, DC, US, July 9, 2020 [Kevin Lamarque/Reuters]

WHO promises “honest evaluation” of how world handled COVID-19

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he World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday it was setting up an independent panel to review its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the response by Governments.

The announcement follows strong criticism by US President Donald Trump’s Administration of the global agency’s role in the crisis –- though the WHO said the review was not linked to the United States.

Former New Zealand

OILNEWS Record high US crude inventories threaten oil rally

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nyone connected or exposed to the dynamics of the oil price must be wondering if the recovery in the oil price is sustainable and, indeed, whether it has further to go.

Some point to the collapse of industry pioneer Chesapeake Energy into Chapter 11 as a bullish development, arguing the loss of major producers just as demand is recovering in the US can only lift prices as supply becomes less plentiful.

But others point to record high inventories, commercial oil inventories reached an all-time high of 541 million barrels in midJune, excluding the SPR OilPrice.com reported, as a sign the surplus remains.

Supporting bears’ position, the latest consumption figures – expected to show rapidly recovering consumption as lockdowns all but ended in many states – have taken a sharp reversal. Major consumers, like Texas, released data showing consumption falling again as spiking coronavirus numbers put the brakes on the recovery.

Consumption fell 20 per cent week on week in Texas, the Financial Times reported. Indeed, the initial pace of the price recovery appears to have been its own undoing, as prices climbed to US$40/barrel (they have since eased back). Shale oil production actually recovered somewhat, rising by 300,000 barrels per day from its low point in May. Rising production and falling consumption are surely going to put a cap on the oil price recovery.

Even oil majors appear to be re-evaluating the value of their assets long term, with BP, Shell, Chevron and others taking impairments on the value of their assets as they look at their assumptions for longterm oil prices. Most had been set around US$75-90 per barrel, but clearly if they are willing to take that kind of hit to their numbers then they do not see the price recovering to those levels for years.

In a US$40 per barrel world, many reserves may never be exploited.

For now, though, much will depend on the severity of the recent rise in infection rates and the degree to which these hasten further lockdowns or prolong those already in place.

There remains no shortage of oil in storage across the US, and with demand faltering, the prospects for further oil price rises look limited in the short to medium term. (Oil Price.com)

Seoul Mayor found dead after going missing TikTok deleted 49 million

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olice in the South Korea's capital Seoul have found the body of the city's Mayor after he went missing on Thursday.

Park Won-soon's daughter reportedly told Police he had left a message before leaving the house, leading her to raise the alarm.

His body was found at Mount Bugak in northern Seoul, near where his phone signal was last detected.

No cause of death has yet been released.

It has emerged that a female employee had filed a sexual harassment claim

against Park in the hours before he went missing, but there has been no confirmation that this was a factor.

He did not show up for work on Thursday, cancelling a meeting with a presidential official at his Seoul City Hall office, Kim Jihyeong, an official from the Seoul Metropolitan Government, told the Associated Press.

Police Officer Lee Byeong-seok told reporters that Park was seen by a security camera at 10:53h near the entrance to the wooded area where the phone signal

Park Won-soon speaks during an event at Seoul City Hall on Wednesday

was last detected.

About 600 Police and fire officers using drones and dogs searched the area for

hours on Thursday.

Crowds gathered outside the Seoul National University hospital late on Thursday amid unconfirmed reports that Park had been found and taken there.

Park was elected mayor of Seoul in 2011 and elected to his third and final term in June of last year.

As a member of President Moon Jae-in's liberal Democratic Party, Park was reportedly under consideration as a potential presidential hopeful in the 2022 elections. (Excerpt from BBC News)

US sanctions Chinese officials over Xinjiang “abuse”

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he United States has announced sanctions against Chinese politicians who it claims are responsible for human rights violations against Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.

China is accused of mass detentions, religious persecution and forced sterilisation of Uighurs and others.

The sanctions target US-based financial interests belonging to regional Communist Party boss Chen

Quanguo and three other officials.

China denies any mistreatment of Muslims in far-western Xinjiang.

Authorities there are thought to have detained about a million people in re-education camps in recent years. They say "vocational training" is needed to counter radicalism and separatism.

Chen, who sits on the Chinese Communist Party's

powerful Politburo is the highest-ranking Chinese official ever to be hit by US sanctions, the Trump Administration says. He is seen as the architect of Beijing's policies against minorities.

The other officials targeted are Wang Mingshan, director of the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau; Zhu Hailun, a senior party member in Xinjiang, and former security official Huo Liujun.

However, Huo will not be subjected to visa restrictions that bar the others and their families from entering the US. Sanctions have also been placed on the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau as a whole.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US was acting against "horrific and systematic abuses" in the region. (Excerpt from BBC News)

“rule-breaking” videos

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ikTok says it deleted more than 49 million videos which broke its rules, between July and December 2019.

About a quarter of those videos were deleted for containing adult nudity or sexual activity, the business said, in its latest transparency report.

The video-sharing app also revealed it had received about 500 requests for data from Governments and Police, and had complied with about 480 of them.

The US has suggested it is "looking at" whether to ban the Chinese-owned app.

On Monday, US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo suggested that downloading TikTok would put citizens' "private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party".

He added that the US Government was considering whether to ban Chineseowned apps: "We are taking this very seriously. We are certainly looking at it," he said, in a Fox News interview.

The Government in India

has already banned the app, citing cyber-security concerns.

TikTok is owned by Chinese firm ByteDance. The app is not available in China, but ByteDance operates a similar app, called Douyin, which is available.

TikTok said it had not received any Government or Police data requests from China, or any requests from the Chinese Government to delete content.

On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal published a report suggesting the business was thinking about setting up a new headquarters, outside of China.

TikTok told the BBC in a statement: "As we consider the best path forward, ByteDance is evaluating changes to the corporate structure of its TikTok business. We remain fully committed to protecting our users' privacy and security as we build a platform that inspires creativity and brings joy for hundreds of millions of people around the world."

(Excerpt from BBC News)

guyanatimesgy.com

FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2020

19

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

Will Justice Dawn Gregory The coalition has boxed itself into a corner with its lies tender her resignation?

Dear Editor, Kindly permit me a space in your newspaper to express my repugnance at the dishonour being adulterated to the Guyana Court of Appeal (CoA).

Editor, the ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has once again voided and discarded the CoA decision, which was not surprising to many, but rather baffled and confused citizens by some of the most enigmatic and incomprehensible rulings.

It begs the question: Are some of these Justices on the CoA bench biased or compromised?

One can only hope that’s not the case, as the judiciary is the firmest guarantee of the Rule of Law in any civilization, and to move away from such a fundamental pillar of democracy with be a travesty.

However, Mr. Editor, the citizens of Guyana cannot continuously be put to shame by some of those questionable judgments emanating from the chambers of the CoA. That is why I believe that some of these Justices should be called

out, as it is our taxpayers’ dollars giving them their salaries.

The incomprehensible interpretation of Article 177(2)B of the Constitution by Justice Brassington Reynolds and Justice Dawn Gregory was tossed aside when Justice Saunders said, “The article has always said what it meant, and meant what it said”. This alone says how erroneous their interpretations were.

It is also inexcusable for the third consecutive time that Justice Dawn Gregory has come under severe criticism, both locally, regionally, and to an extent internationally.

The questions must be asked: Is Justice Gregory fit and proper to sit on the CoA bench? Is the Judicial Service Commission not concerned about the quality of jurisprudence of the CoA? Justice Gregory had erred in her decision regarding the appointment of Justice Patterson as chair of GECOM. See Kaieteur News article https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2018/10/19/ appeal-court-up-

holds-presidents-appointment-of-gecom-chairman/ for reference. Her second instance, and perhaps the worst is her ruling, is the No Confidence Motion case, where she said 33 is the majority of 65.

See Inews article https:// www.inewsguyana.com/chancellor-to-break-tie-on-validityof-ncm/ for reference.

And finally, the case related to the March 2, 2020 elections, where Justice Gregory inserted the word ‘valid’ into the consideration of votes for the election of a president, which was thrown out by the CCJ. Please refer to this Stabroek New article for reference https://www.stabroeknews. com/2020/07/08/news/guyana/court-of-appeal-decisionthrown-out-by-ccj/ In closing, as citizens, we are disgusted at being the laughingstock of the Caribbean and the entire world. Will Justice Gregory tender her resignation? I do believe it’s the fitting thing to do.

Yours truly, ChanSew

Dear Editor, Just before the leader of the APNU+AFC Coalition, David Granger, made his impromptu speech to his supporters who had gathered outside of State House on the afternoon of July 8, 2020, an instruction to him was shouted out by one of those gathered. The instruction was: “Say what we want hear, not what you want to say”.

That instruction encapsulates perfectly the dilemma the coalition parties have found themselves in. They have peddled so many lies

and inconsistencies to their supporters that their whole narrative has become confusing. It has now reached the point where the supporters are instructing the leaders what to say, as nothing less will suffice.

The coalition parties have alienated themselves from the entire world. They have fooled their supporters, and now will find it hard to walk back the many untruths they have peddled, effectively boxing themselves into a corner, where they are forced to do whatever they can to cling on

you are married, but what you are really married to now is Guyana.

I hope your family understands.

Sir, Guyana really needs a break, and you are the man of destiny, on whose shoulders that heavy responsibility has fallen. Your image and reputation are that of a human dynamo who delivers; a man brimming with ideas and raring to go.

Turning our beloved homeland around will require all of your considerable energy and talents. You have the capacity for hard work, and you may have to pull some

Yours truly, Sherwyn Greaves

Stop using our judicial system to cling to power Dear Editor, It has been more than a year since our beloved country has been in a political turmoil, all because of one political party’s greed and lust for power.

It is now clear that the “caretaker “government APNU+AFC has been using our Judicial system to cling to power; first, by challenging the validity of the No Confidence Motion (NCM) using our Judicial system, which took months to be done with.

My wishes for President Irfaan Ali Dear Editor, Salaams and congratulations to the ninth Executive President of Guyana, Dr. Irfaan Ali, who was elected on March 2nd and is still waiting to be sworn in. It has been a long, hard fight, a titanic struggle; but, in the end, democracy and what is right will prevail.

Dr. Ali would be the first to agree that it was a group and joint effort; so, thanks to all those within and outside the PPP who contributed in ways big and small towards getting us to this point so far.

Excellency, I understand that

to their few supporters.

For the APNU+AFC coalition, to tell the truth would almost certainly mean their demise. This fact is something the majority of Guyana has seemingly accepted.

I do not envy their position, but they only have themselves to blame. Being honest with their supporters since the evening of March 2, 2020 would have preserved some of their credibility. Alas, it is now too late.

all-nighters.

My wishes for you are that you become the best President Guyana ever had. Not the third or second best, but the best; the most humble and transparent; the hardest working; the one who conducts himself like a trustee; the most unprejudiced, broad- minded, inclusive, and service-oriented; the big hearted.

The fair-minded. The one who is the most sensitive and responsive to the needs and voices of the citizens. The unifier. The one who puts country first. The one who is

the least attached to, and the most unaffected by, the trappings of power.

My fellow Guyanese, give our new President a chance, and before the end of his first term, you won’t recognize Guyana; it will be so positively transformed! So, he will also be our most loved President.

Dr. Ali, in the years ahead, you will not be alone, your ancestors will be watching you; may they also watch over you.

Yours faithfully, Sieyf Shahabuddeen

And in the end, it all benefited and brought more time for the current “caretaker” government to cling to power.

Secondly, the Ulita Moore injunction that blocked the recount process was another tactic the current “caretaker” government APNU+AFC supporter used to delay the election process from coming to an end. Again, in the end, all of this “drama” has benefited the “caretaker” government APNU/AFC in helping them to cling to power.

And when we thought it was coming to an end, the Eslyn David “drama” came up. This litigation brought by the APNU+AFC supporter has again helped in the prolonging of the elections results from being declared.

And again, this has helped in keeping the “caretaker” APNU+AFC government in power.

It is now evident that the “caretaker” government APNU+AFC has been using our Judicial system, and will do anything to cling to power for as long as it takes. As a citizen by birth in this country that I so love, I call on the current interim president to concede and step down, for the entire world is seeing this for what it is: a blatant attempt to “thief an election”.

Yours truly, Randy Da Silva

It is better to part company as foes in order to remain as allies Dear Editor, Hear this one: the meeting

by GECOM was postponed from yesterday to today. But isn’t this stale news? And stale news is no news. Ask Uncle Glen and Uncle Ravi, they will tell you it’s true that true story is not a lie. We all knew that since the day before yesterday!

It goes without saying, just like not saying the word “valid”.

Hear this one again: “The government–aligned Commissioners requested time to “study” the ruling handed down by the CCJ. What? You’re kidding, right? The ruling is written and spelt out in plain and simple words for even the smallest child to understand, so that he or she wouldn’t need the help of the dictionary. It is as clear as crystal (and sweet as black water, ask the cane cutter in the field). But, oh, dear me, dear me, so forgetful like Mr. “G,” the darn thing is written in English Language.

That’s a language those guys do not, cannot, and will not understand, read or write!

Next time, please CCJ, please verbalise, orate, dictate, complete, compile, compose, scribe, scrawl, scribble, correspond and communicate in a less highfalutin language, such as Latin. Most of them are QC boys and…counsels…the language of the distinguished legal luminaries…!

For sure, they will grasp faster and get the message quicker. There will be no ambiguity, but instead transparency. Damn if you do, damn if you don’t! Maybe there is always

the outside chance (like horse racing), that there is a serious problem in understanding the meaning of a decision.

Reading and comprehension was also not a favourite subject for a couple of the judges from the COA. Just ask the CCJ. Since APNU/AFC always suffered from this limitation also (33 is greater than 32), then the gross uncertainty of tripping on words will remain a nightmare and a reality.

Reading between the lines is foreign, and anything foreign is negative (except the law boys).

Perhaps what was meant was “interpret,” so that they can interrupt and invalidate as insipid intruders on an invasion.

But when all is said and done, it is a fishing expedition, hook, line and sinker. It is past bedtime, and fishing is a pastime for old men, in the backdam where it is safer than at sea, it’s too dangerous.

But they just wouldn’t give up, would they? They are good cooks…cooking up the books… watch what they will cook up today……not dhal and rice and fry fish for sure! Ole people say, “What dew can’t full rain can’t full.” Guyana’s election was never a priority. It is not, and will never be, for the APNU/ AFC Party. The CCJ dismissed this abomination in less than an hour, and it was aired and its decision was available to the public shortly afterwards. All stakeholders would have been anxious and eager to ensure that they get hold of a copy of the written report ASAP! Time is of the greatest essence to

the nation; but, of course, not to the APNU/AFC. It is a time to “lime” and waste time. They are experts at wasting time, and 130 days that have elapsed and counting make that almost 2 squatting years.

The CCJ has massacred the COA umpteen times; so, PNC, don’t ever attempt to seek redress again there. Forget Basy, Troty, Harmy, Blondy, Aubry, Shery and me buys dem! Your safest bet for interpretation is the legal Sirs Guyana has, but unfortunately, they are also residing in “foreign” lands, so they may be viewed as “interference instead of reference.”

Of, how forgetful, you cussed them out too, under your breath!

How much time do you want to buy? For how long? From whom? At what cost? Why do you want it? And when will you give it up?

But, “so the story goes,” so said Uncle Dave, we, the peace-loving people of our dearly beloved country Guyana, have managed to jump one more hurdle blocked by the APNU/AFC Party, and can now cross the Essequibo/ Berbice/Demerara Bridge leading to GECOM in Georgetown.

This city is the capital, where all the collusion is centred to corrupt the citizens by a cabal of callous criminals for almost a century. (Time for an atmosphere of some fresh air to clear the stigma of this nauseous odour and relocate to a new, healthier environment with the foundation of decency and honesty and peace and

love as its ambience. There will be no blocking of streets and traffic jam, think about it).

But the CCJ has cleared all the debris, purchased the toll ticket, given the green light, and raised the bar so that we can travel safely to the other end of the bridge, where freedom is awaiting our arrival but is still held in the tight fists of GECOM. The CCJ has audited the accounts and found that they were legally appointed by Guyana, but the COA has no jurisdiction and is not fit and proppa to decide on this type of matter and that they cannot put words in the mouth of GECOM. The constitution said what it meant and meant what it said.

They also found that the CEO fiddled with the accounts by concealing 115,000 valid votes, and he needs to resubmit his report according to the inventory statement examined and approved by CARICOM, one that was always in conjunction with the Madam Chair. The CEO applied ancient math for the old generation, but he now has to resort to modern math for the new generation and retrieve from the automatic save mode what he so mischievously deleted from the spreadsheet (chador?). This is the era of computer; information does not disappear like the SOPs and other documents.

The CCJ has said what it said, and who vex vex. Ole people say, “Don’t cut yu nose fo spoil yu face!” “That nonsense they tried ain’t gun happen again, for is we, the CCJ, ain’t

going nowhere. We’re here to stay, like it, shove it or lump it.

Anyway, your company is not worth having.

So, brother man, I staying; you can go. But remember, the road is long, narrow, dark, bumpy and lonesome, so yu can try deh.” Uncle Ralphie is on board, things can change for the better. There is the famous saying that comes to the mind, “Show me your company and I’ll tell you who you are!” It is better to part company as foes in order to remain company as allies, than to part as friends and remain as enemies.

The game is not over until the last ball has been bowled.

We are far from this point; we have just begun the 2nd innings, and APNU/AFC is batting with GECOM as the umpire. Mr. “G” unmasked himself, much to the detriment of the unfortunate bystanders on Wednesday afternoon. No wonder the death toll keeps rising for COVID-19. People just wouldn’t listen and learn.

But then, when you have the de facto setting the perfect bad example, what do you expect the mass to do?

Luckily, only a handful wants to play the game of “follow the leader” much longer.

He made it pellucidly clear, they do not intend to give up, and now the matter has been referred back to GECOM. But that is exactly where it has been all the time. What goes around comes around. You hit the tennis ball; hop, skip and jump from one court to another court, the ball is smacked back

to you.

You play it over and over the net, until one of the players misses or hits it over the line and the point is either won or lost!

What part of this game don’t you understand Mr. “G”? You cannot make up the rules to suit yourself as the game goes along. There comes a point when the spectators will become fed up with you and even the umpire’s back will be against the wall, left with no other choices except only one choice i.e. to call you out! How will GECOM’s meeting go today is anyone’s guess. More hot air and shooting from the lip instead of the hip? A different hansy-pansy game?

The law boys have been burning the midnight oil, but the Madam Chair is very relaxed, well rested from a good night’s sleep, and simply waiting for the bouncer, yorker or googly. You’re bowling to a stalwart with years of perfect experience, there is nothing that you can deliver that she hasn’t seen, heard or played to before.

She is as sharp and alert as ever. You cannot surprise, deceive or conceal the “element of surprise” on her.

Otis Redding sang a beautiful song, “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay.” Good luck to all of us as Guyana sits by the seawall, watching the ship coming home slowly but surely, sailing with the tide churned by APNU/AFC! Respectfully, Jai Lall

20

FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2020

guyanatimesgy.com

ARCHIE

ARIES

(March 21April 19)

TAURUS (April 20May 20)

DILBERT

GEMINI (May 21June 20)

CANCER (June 21July 22)

PEANUTS

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

CALVIN AND HOBBES

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

SUDOKU

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

Maintain poise, integrity and your reputation. Keep a steady pace, look at every angle and find an outlet that will help you channel frustration into something constructive. Romance is encouraged.

Revisit something you used to enjoy doing and consider how you can incorporate it into your current lifestyle. Someone from your past will spark your interest or offer a noteworthy opinion.

Emotional manipulation is prevalent. Before you do or say anything, consider your motives or the motives of whomever you are dealing with today. It's better to be safe than sorry.

Look at situations from every angle. Anger won't help you find a solution, but using your intelligence and experience will lead to a worthwhile change. When obstacles prevail, find an alternative.

Don't make a fuss or get involved in someone else's melodrama. Put more emphasis on improving your appearance, doing things for others and nurturing meaningful relationships.

A wakeup call will motivate you. You'll have a change of heart that will rearrange the way you live, how you do things and with whom you associate.

Live and learn.

Recognize disappointment as a lesson that will help you avoid getting into the same predicament twice.

It's time to focus on your physical and emotional well-being.

Handle interference with intelligence. Know your objective and stick to your plan.

Your happiness depends on doing what's best for you, regardless of what someone else wants or says.

Stick to the people who SAGITTARIUS bring out the best in you.

(Nov. 23Walk away from temptaDec. 21) tion and emotional situations that are bound to cause trouble. Focus on home and family.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19)

An opportunity that comes your way will change how you live and do things. Don't be afraid to take a unique path.

The diversion will encourage mental stimulation and new beginnings.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 19)

Physical activities are encouraged. Consider what you enjoyed doing in past years and find a way to incorporate a similar fitness routine into your life. Romance is on the rise.

SOLUTION FOR LAST PUBLISHED PUZZLE

PISCES (Feb. 20March 20)

Channel your energy into a good cause instead of letting anger and frustration take control. Help a cause you believe in to lift your spirits.

FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2020

21

England v Ireland 3-match ODI series…

England name 9 uncapped players in 24-man training team

E

ngland have named nine uncapped players in a 24-man training group for their three-match ODI series against Ireland in Southampton. The group will play warm-up games on 21 July and 24 July before a final squad is announced.

England will play two intra-group warmup matches before announcing their final squad for the series, which begins on 30 July.

With head coach Chris Silverwood focusing on Test cricket, Paul Collingwood will be in charge for this series. Collingwood will be supported by Marcus Trescothick as batting coach, while England Young Lions coach Jon Lewis will be the pace bowling coach alongside Durham's Neil Killeen. Former South Africa left-arm spinner Claude Henderson has been appointed spin bowling coach, and ex-Essex wicketkeeper James Foster will take responsibility for the wicketkeepers.

Only eight of England's 15-man World Cup-winning squad are in the group.

England's three-Test series against Pakistan starts on 5 August, the day after the final ODI, meaning players like Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler were not considered for inclusion in this series.

England training group: Eoin Morgan (Middlesex) captain, Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Tom Banton (Somerset), Sam Billings (Kent), Henry Brookes (Warwickshire), Brydon

Carse (Durham), Tom Curran (Surrey), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Laurie Evans (Sussex), Richard Gleeson (Lancashire), Lewis Gregory (Somerset), Sam Hain (Warwickshire),

Tom Helm (Middlesex), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Matthew Parkinson (Lancashire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Phil Salt (Sussex), Reece Topley (Surrey), James Vince (Hampshire), David Willey (Yorkshire).

Seven of the uncapped players have not played in any format for England. They are Warwickshire bowler Henry Brookes and batter Sam Hain, Sussex batters Laurie Evans and Phil Salt, Durham bowler Brydon Carse, Lancashire quick Richard Gleeson and Middlesex bowler Tom Helm.

Somerset all-rounder Lewis Gregory and Lancashire batter Liam Livingstone have featured only in Twenty20 cricket.

There is also a return for left-arm seamer David Willey, who has not featured for England since he was left out of the World Cup squad last summer. Worcestershire's Pat Brown, Sussex's Chris Jordan and Yorkshire's Dawid Malan were not considered for selection, due to injury.

"Even with several multi-format players unavailable for the Ireland ODIs due to their Test commitments, there is real depth to England's white-ball playing talent," said national selector Ed Smith. (Adapted from BBC Sport)

Ruthless Man City inflict Premier League champions 5-0 thrashing on Newcastle Liverpool see off Brighton

M

anchester City returned to their winning ways in style: by thrashing hapless Newcastle 5-0 at Etihad Stadium.

Pep Guardiola's side were surprisingly beaten at Southampton in their previous Premier League game, but two goals in the

campaigns combined, but they were a class apart against Newcastle. The swift movement and quick passing in the final third tore apart the Magpies’ backline with ease time and time again, and though their aggregate score from their last five home games now reads 19-0, it could have been much more.

ꟷ Salah scores twice

Mohamed Salah has scored three goals in four Liverpool appearances since the Premier League restart in June

Riyad Mahrez scored his 12th goal of the season for Man City

opening 20 minutes against the Magpies effectively settled this contest. Gabriel Jesus ended his nine-game goal drought by converting from David Silva's cutback, while Riyad Mahrez swept home the second from Kevin de Bruyne's pass.

It got worse for Newcastle in the second period when Federico Fernandez inadvertently deflected Matt Ritchie's attempted clearance into his own net, and David Silva added the fourth by curling in a sublime free-kick. Raheem Sterling came off the bench to add the fifth for City in injury time, rolling in from Silva's pass.

With four games remaining, City have strengthened their claim to second place, moving nine points clear of Chelsea, while Newcastle have dropped to 13th.

Manchester City's unsatisfactory title defence has seen them drop 33 points this season, three more than in their previous two

Phil Foden's growing influence in the starting line-up is clear to see, buzzing around in the final third, but the young Englishman will be disappointed by missing a hat-trick of chances, all dragged wide from promising positions.

David Silva, the man Foden is tipped to replace next season, showed why he will depart as one of the finest players the Premier League has seen when he completed 106 of his 112 passes and contributed two assists, as well as scoring a glorious free-kick. The first two goals were similar, both coming from the left of the box, with Belgium international De Bruyne taking his assist tally to 18 for the campaign, just two short of Arsenal legend Thierry Henry's record. (BBC Sport)

L

iverpool continued their relentless pursuit of a Premier League points record with victory over Brighton at the Amex Stadium.

The newly-crowned champions looked on course to secure three more points with ease when they went two up inside eight minutes; as Brighton, with sights set on Premier League safety, made a nightmare start.

N a b y Keita robbed Davy Propper in a dangerous position to set up Mohamed S a l a h , b e f o r e Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson swiftly swept home a superb second from 20 yards.

Brighton, however, fought back

with real spirit, and fully deserved to pull a goal back when Leandro Trossard fired a crisp finish past Liverpool keeper Alisson from the impressive Tariq Lamptey’s cross.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp stopped Brighton's progress with some astute substitutions, and a corner from one such, Andrew Robertson, was headed in by Salah for his 19th league goal of the season.

Brighton manager Graham Potter, whose side are edging towards preserving their top-flight status, were left to rue those opening minutes; while Liverpool, with 92 points, close in on Manchester City's 100-point Premier League landmark.

Liverpool have now won 30 of their 34 Premier League games this season (drawn two, lost two). This is the fastest any side has ever reached 30 wins in a season in the history of the English Football League. (BBC Sport)

22

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Cricket has been eroded in Guyana’s school system, says WI lead selector Roger Harper

By Brandon Corlette

W

est Indies lead selector, the former West Indies player Roger Harper, is of the view that cricket has, to some extent,

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been destroyed in Guyana’s school system.

As a guest on the most recent Mason and Guest radio show, Harper discussed what has been hindering the West Indies from rising to the top.

He began by sharing his sentiments on the grass roots level in his home territory

mental skills such as concentration. When I look at Guyana, what has been eroded is the school system of cricket; no cricket is really played in the schools," Harper posited.

The 57-year-old Harper noted that school cricket instills the requisite discipline in players. "You

learn about the right approach to the game.

You get the passion to play (it) in the right manner: to be competitive, to have respect; and you learn about hard work and rewards at an early age.

From there, the clubs were able to identify the talent that had good groundings," Harper explained.

He added that, in this modern era, players without any grounding in themselves, and having a deficiency in their mental faculties, are

going to clubs. "That is where we are found wanting," the lead selector disclosed.

Despite the upcoming players having that natural hand-eye coordination, Harper believes they do not understand some of the technical aspects of the game, thus he said there is at present a desire to put corrective systems in place.

"I certainly think we have the physical ability, but the other countries have put structures in place,

and have worked from the bottom up; and we have to get back to doing that as well," Harper posited.

Harper is of the view that the COVID-19 pandemic could help the revival of Test cricket.

"It is easier to organise a Test series with two teams in a bio-secure environment than a world championship or a Premier League competition.

You might find more Test series being played, and with a lot more people avail-

able to watch television, there would be a greater appreciation. There is no rush to have something over in three hours," Harper explained.

Harper says he has no reservations about the team selected to represent the West Indies in the ongoing Test series against England. He expressed the view that the men in maroon had been solidly prepared before heading into that historic bio-secure threematch Test series.

Michael Holding makes impassioned statement against racism W

223-7230-1 (Ext 55)

NOW!

223-7230-1 (Ext 55)

est Indies fast bowler-turned-respected-commentator, Michael Holding, has, over the years, developed a reputation for being outspoken; he just tells it like it is.

On Wednesday, prior to the start of the #RaiseYourBat Series between the West Indies and England, he was at his best in delivering a powerful message against racism. Speaking on Sky Sports, the fast-bowling great was asked his views on the #BlackLivesMatter campaign, and he delivered a poignant lesson on how education and religion helped brainwash the world against people of colour.

“Education is important; unless we just want to continue living the life that we are living, and continue having demonstrations every now and then, and a few people saying a few things,” Holding said. “When I say education, I say going back in history. What people need to understand is that these things stem from a long time ago, hundreds of years ago. The dehumanisation of the black race is where it started.

People will tell you that, ‘Oh, it’s a long time ago, get over it’. No, you don’t get over things like that.”

He mentioned another recent incident that took place in the United States and brought into stark focus just how ingrained racism has become.

“That lady in Central Park in

Michael Holding

New York (Amy Cooper). If she did not have in her DNA the thought process that she is white and this man is black, and, ‘If I call a Police officer, nine times out of 10 he is going to be white and I will be considered right immediately. The black guy will have to prove that he is not guilty, and by the time he has to prove that, he might be dead,” Holding remarked.

“She had that in her mind from day one, and that is why she said and did what she did. How do you

get rid of that in society? By educating both black and white.”

Highlighting that he was not much of a religious person, Holding said religion has brainwashed much of the world against people of colour. “As a young man I didn’t understand what brainwashing is; now I do. We have been brainwashed.

Even white people have been brainwashed,” Holding said.

“I go back many years (to) think about religion. You and I both are Christians. Look at Jesus Christ!

The image that they give of Jesus Christ: pale skin, blonde hair, blue eyes. Where Jesus came from? Who in that part of the world looks that way? Again, that is brainwashing.

This is to show, ‘Look, this is what perfection is, this is what the image of perfection is.’

“If you look at the plays of those days. Judas, who betrayed Jesus, is a black man. Again, brainwashing people to think, ‘Oh, he is a black man, he is the bad man’.”

Holding also spoke about how those persons recording history have deliberately ignored achievements made by people of African heritage.

“We all know who invented the light bulb, Thomas Edison invented it. Edison invented the light bulb with a paper filament; it burnt out in no time at all. Can you tell me who invented the filament that makes these lights shine throughout? Nobody knows, because he was a black man, and it was not taught in schools. Lewis Howard Latimer invented the carbon filament, because of which lights continuously shine. Who knows that?” he asked.

“Everything should be taught.

When I go back, I remember my school days, I was never taught anything good about black people; and you cannot have a society that is brought up like that, both whites and blacks…only taught what is convenient to the teacher.” (Sportsmax)

FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2020

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

23

West Indies in control of 1st Test against England

ꟷ Holder's career-best 6 for 42 rocks opponents on Day 2

W

est Indies captain Jason Holder took a career-best haul of 6 for 42 to roll England for 204 at the Ageas Bowl, before their top order saw them through to the close one wicket down.

Holder came into this series with an injury cloud over his head, having bowled only five overs across West Indies' two intra-squad warmup games while nursing an ankle complaint. He admitted that he felt "a little sore, a little stiff" after play on the second day, but that pain will be lessened thanks to the knowledge that he has put his team into the driving seat in this

series.

Holder had no hesitation in answering "discipline" when asked at the toss what he was looking for from his bowlers, and followed that message himself after Kemar R o a c h had set the tone.

Shannon Gabriel w a s g i v e n license to attack, snaring another three

wickets to add to that of Dom Sibley on the first day, and while Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Dom Bess offered some resistance with the bat, England's total of 204 looked a little light after a dogged start from West Indies.

While it would prove to be Holder's day, it was Gabriel who made the early breakthroughs after Rory Burns and Joe Denly had come through the first half hour.

Denly was the first to go, his stumps splattered as a vicious nip-backer burst through a hefty gap between bat and pad and crashed into the top of off.

Then, after hanging the ball outside Burns' off stump from round the wicket, Gabriel fired one in full at his pads, striking him in front of leg stump.

Richard Kettleborough concluded it was

missing leg stump, but Holder disagreed and was vindicated by a successful review.

In his second spell of the day, Holder started by teasing Zak Crawley with a series of outswingers, nibbling away and probing on a length in the channel outside his off stump. After Crawley's streaky boundary through the slips ruined a maiden from his eighth over, Holder decided the time was right to bring one in at the start of his ninth, finding a hint of seam movement from wide on the crease which Crawley played around.

Again,

Jason Holder celebrates a wicket

James Anderson took the wicket of Campbell

Kettleborough said no; again, Holder was convinced, and was proved right. Ollie Pope started with a pair of boundaries off him, but was soon back in the hutch after fencing at an away-nibbler, which Shane Dowrich gobbled up behind the stumps.

Buttler and Stokes led a counter-attack, putting on the only stand of 50 or more in the innings, but Stokes rode his luck. Before lunch he had miscued a hook shot to long leg, where Roach shelled a difficult chance after making his ground, and after looking to impose himself in the afternoon, Stokes chipped a low catch to Shamarh Brooks, who put down a sitter at short cover. Buttler looked a million dollars from the moment he arrived at the crease, with a back-foot punch through the covers the pick of his shots, but both fell in the space of two Holder overs.

First, having sensed Stokes using his feet, Holder pushed the ball fuller, first beating the bat and then drawing a faint edge through to Dowrich.

The pair's battle had been built up before this Test, with Holder suggesting he might not have been given the credit he deserved; there can be little doubt that he will be today. Buttler feathered his own edge behind which Dowrich took sharply, before Jofra Archer was trapped on the pad for a third overturned lbw. Mark Wood provided Holder with his sixth, driving loosely and edging to

gully, before James Anderson's stumps were rattled by Gabriel

even hit 95mph/153kph but drew few false shots, as Kraigg

SCOREBOARD England 1st Innings RJ Burns lbw b Gabriel 30 DP Sibley b Gabriel 0 JL Denly b Gabriel 18 Z Crawley lbw b JO Holder 10 BA Stokes (c) c †Dowrichb JO Holder 43 OJ Pope c †Dowrich b JOHolder 12 JC Buttler † c †Dowrich b JO Holder 35 DM Bess not out 31 JC Archer lbw b JO Holder 0 MA Wood c Hope b JO Holder 5 JM Anderson b Gabriel 10 Extras (lb 6, nb 2, w 2) 10 TOTAL (67.3 Ov, RR: 3.02) 204 Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Dom Sibley, 1.4 ov), 2-48 (Joe Denly, 23.2 ov), 3-51 (Rory Burns, 25.4 ov), 4-71 (Zak Crawley, 33.1 ov), 5-87 (Ollie Pope, 37.4 ov), 6-154 (Ben Stokes, 53.3 ov), 7-157 (Jos Buttler, 55.4 ov), 8-157

after some late resistance from Bess for the 10th wicket.

In reply, England bowled with good pace but failed to make as many breakthroughs as they would have hoped.

Anderson was the most threatening bowler. Three times he wrapped John Campbell on the pad and had him given lbw; on the first two occasions, Richard Illingworth's decision was overturned as the ball had pitched outside the leg stump, but on the third, the on-field call was upheld.

Wood and Archer, playing alongside one another for the first time in Test cricket, both bowled with real pace.

Wood regularly broke the 90mph/145kph barrier and

(Jofra Archer, 57.4 ov), 9-174 (Mark Wood, 61.1 ov), 10-204 (James Anderson, 67.3 ov) BOWLING O M R W KAJ Roach 19 6 41 0 ST Gabriel 15.3 3 62 4 AS Joseph 13 4 53 0 JO Holder 20 6 42 6 WEST INDIES 1ST INNINGS KC Brathwaite not out20 65 JD Campbell lbw b Anderson 28 SD Hope not out 3 Extras (lb 6) 6 TOTAL (19.3 Ov, RR: 2.92) 57/1 Yet to bat: JO Holder (c), J Blackwood, AS Joseph, SSJ Brooks, RL Chase, KAJ Roach, SO Dowrich †, ST Gabriel Fall of wickets: 1-43 (John Campbell, 12.6 ov) BOWLING O M R W JM Anderson 8 4 17 1 JC Archer 6 0 20 0 MA Wood 3.3 1 8 0 BA Stokes 2 1 6 0

Brathwaite and Shai Hope batting at No. 3, having come in below Shamarh Brooks in the warm-up fixtures - managed to dig in until the close.

It was easy to wonder whether Stuart Broad, tweeting his thoughts on the game from his hotel room balcony, might have made an impact in conditions that seemed perfectly suited to him.

There was widespread frustration at another couple of stoppages for bad light, as the clouds rolled in and brought play to an early close for the second night in a row, but thankfully the forecast is set fair for the rest of the Test.

(ESPNcricinfo)

Flying Ace Cycling Club receives hampers from Payless Supermarket

T

he popular New Amsterdambased Payless Supermarket has donated food hampers to the Flying Ace Cycling Club (FACC).

During the past week, this Randolph Roberts-led cycling club has benefited from donations made by Payless and other organisations as the battle against COVID-19 continues.

Roberts has expressed gratitude to the Payless Supermarket family for this great gesture. The FACCC members have benefited from grocery items such as sugar, flour and rice, among other items.

In addition to Payless, Flying Ace Cycling Club also benefited from a similar gesture made by the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA).

The cyclists of this Berbice club have welcomed the assistance as they continue to train and prepare for the grand return of cycling.

Roberts has declared that all his

cyclists are in preparation mode as they seek a resumption of cycling in August.

Ryan Alexander, Senior VicePresident of the Berbice Chamber of Commerce and Development Association (BCCDA), had in June presented the FACC with 30 face masks.

Coronavirus cases are mostly found in regions other than Six (East Bce/Corentyne), but the cyclists under Roberts’s charge are taking all precautions while training in small numbers.

Roberts is calling on cyclists to protect themselves from COVID-19 while staying fit, and to equip themselves with a never-saynever attitude. As more businesses continue to back the FACCC, Roberts is calling on more business entities to come on board the effort to assist Flying Ace cyclists during this challenging period of Payless Supermarket representative Nicola Leitch presenting food hampers to FACC’s Randolph Roberts the pandemic.

FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2020

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

guyanatimesgy.

T&T to host CPL 2020 tournament in full T

he Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2020 tournament is slated to be held solely in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The tournament will be held in accordance with strict COVID-19 measures, authorities in the twin-island republic have announced on Thursday.

A Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs media release stated, “At today’s meeting, the Cabinet agreed to the hosting of the Caribbean Premier League T20 tournament in Trinidad over the period August 18, 2020 to September 12, 2020, with strict adherence to the COVID-19 guidelines.”

In early June, CPL said in its proposal to the T&T authorities that it wanted to host the entire tournament, comprising 34 matches, at Trinidad’s two main grounds, the Queen’s

Park Oval and the Brian Lara Academy.

The six franchises have already drafted their quota of players for the tournament.

Barbados Tridents are the defending champions.

On Thursday afternoon, T&T Minister of Sport Shamfa Cudjoe updated the media on plans for the event.

“Before players and officials who are involved in the tournament fly in, they will have to do a COVID-19 test in their country of origin. When they arrive here in Trinidad, they will have to do another COVID-19 test,” he declared.

“We will continue to monitor the situation concerning COVID-19, and to be on top of it, as it is a rolling situation and requires different rules and regulations as time goes on.”

“They (the players) will

then go into self-isolation at the Hilton Hotel for seven days.

After the seven days, they will be tested again, and once they continue to show negative, they will be able to go into small groups to train. After another seven days, which makes it 14, they will then get another test, and once negative, they can

join their team for training and playing,” he explained.

“We have put the dates from August 18 to September 12, and this will allow for the players to come in and have ample time to go into quarantine. The players and officials will be here (Hilton Hotel) for a total of 41 days, and

we must enjoy the economic activity that this brings.

“This is a good opportunity to get sports going again in the region. The benefits that will come to us from this investment will be getting an opportunity to market the destination. So those involved in the tourism sector must get

ready to sell, sell, sell. We must sell T&T as a sports tourism destination as well as a tourism destination as a whole, and this provides that opportunity.

“Once we bring off this tournament successfully -- and I am sure we will -- then it will be a lesson for us in hosting other games,” he said.

West Indies in control of 1st Test against England

Pg 23

ꟷ Holder's career-best 6 for 42 rocks opponents on Day 2

Team West Indies celebrate a wicket

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