Guyana Times Friday January 24, 2020

Joint Services preparing for elections P10 Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

Issue No. 4175

THE BEACON OF TRUTH FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

PRICE

RLE contretemps

GECOM admits only errors through “inadvertence” can be changed

See story on page 3

...yet insists on 91,000 deliberate changes from H2H exercise – PPP

Scott, Felix illegally occupied seats in Parliament – Court rules Linden schoolgirl No fuel: RUSAL critical after being fires over 140 stabbed during brawl workers Page 7

$80 VAT INCLUDED

WHAT'S INSIDE:

EU deploys Election P9 Observation Mission to Guyana

EITI concerned about lack of petroleum legislation in Guyana P13

Page 2

See story on page 14

Son of dead pensioner, businessmen arraigned for murder

GPF mulls change to P12 applicant’s age for driver’s licence

See story on page 8

Deadly coronavirus

Guyanese must be protected – Opposition …CARPHA says Caribbean’s risk “low” Page 15

Police to P12 issue wanted bulletin for rape suspect

Hibiscus P14 Training Restaurant re-opens at Carnegie

2 NEWS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Linden schoolgirl critical after being stabbed during brawl

A

15-year-old female student attached to the Linden Foundation Secondary in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) is battling for her life after she was stabbed during a brawl after leaving school on Thursday.

The fight was caught on camera and shared on social media.

Based on reports received, the injured student of Amelia’s Ward, Mackenzie was involved in a physical altercation with another female student of the said school when she

The knife that was removed from the teen’s back

was stabbed in the lower back with a “Rambo” type knife.

In the video, the knife can be seen lodged in her body as she bled profusely and pleaded with persons to be taken to the hospital.

Guyana Times understands that the student was rushed to the Linden Hospital Complex (LHC) and was immediately taken into the operating theatre to undergo emergency surgery.

This publication understands that teachers of the school had confiscated a similar knife as the one

The brawl on Thursday at Linden Foundation

used to stab the student from a male student.

When contacted, Region 10 Police Commander Hugh Winter confirmed that the student was stabbed during a fight with another student and was rushed to the hospital.

He noted that up to press time the alleged perpetrator was not arrested since she was not at home when the Police visited.

The Commander noted that an investigation has been launched into the incident.

NEWS

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS

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

Friday, January 24 – 05:00h – 06:00h and Saturday, January 25 – 05:30h – 07:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Friday, January 24 – 16:15h – 17:45h and Saturday, January 25 – 16:40h -18:10h.

RLE contretemps

GECOM admits only errors through “inadvertence” can be changed

...yet insists on 91,000 deliberate changes from H2H exercise – PPP

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

WEATHER TODAY Sunshine is expected throughout the day.

There will be clear skies at night. Temperatures should range between 19 degrees Celsius and 30 degrees Celsius.

Winds: North-Easterly to Easterly between 1.34 metres and 4.02 metres.

High Tide: 04:10h and 16:21h reaching maximum heights of 2.42 metres and 2.57 metres.

Low Tide: 09:55h and 22:23h reaching minimum heights of 0.79 metre and 0.64 metre.

GECOM Chair Retired Justice Claudette Singh

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pposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has warned that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is insisting on making 91,000 changes to the Revised List of Electors (RLE) by ignoring the specific mandate of

dance with the law and did not fall outside of the statutory period.

“GECOM has a duty to ensure that the information of all electors is accurately reflected on the Official List of Electors to avoid confusion. If that process is not done, electors would be required to travel to their old addresses to vote. As such, those persons would be displaced and disenfranchised which could result in low voter turnout and questionable election results,” the elections body noted in the missive.

But, according to the PPP in a Press Release issued late Thursday, the cited regulation clearly limits the Commissioner of National Registration to correct errors on the list as a result of “inadvertence.”

GECOM Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield

It further outlined that the regulation speaks to the elector being properly notified of changes to their particulars. As such, the PPP asked that the Chief Elections Officer inform the relevant stakeholders and the public as to wheth-

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the regulation it cited as authority for its move.

GECOM in a statement on Thursday contended that the 91,000 changes being made are legal and within the statutory timeline catered for in the laws.

The Commission claimed that Regulation 37 of the National Registration (Residents) Regulations Act, Chapter 19:08 provides for the Commissioner of National Registration to make corrections to the RLE. Regulation 37 states: “If within the period of 21 days after he had certified lists, the Commissioner is satisfied that any entry or omission in any list as revised pursuant to Regulation 35 is incorrect through inadvertence in the course of such revision, he shall make or cause to be made the requisite correction to that list and such copy thereof as is open for inspection at any registration office and the Commissioner shall give to the person to whom such correction relates notice thereof, which may be sent by registered post to his last known address.”

Using this provision, GECOM insisted that it was vital to ensure that persons who would have had changes done to their addresses during the H2H exercise, were in accor-

“It was never intended to give powers to the Commissioner to make sweeping changes as is being done now (over 91,000),” the Party insisted.

er he informed the 91,000 persons that he intended to change their particulars.

If he has not done so as yet, the Party enquired as to when he intended to do so in compli-

ance with Regulation 37 of the National Registration (Residents) Regulations Act, Chapter 19:08, especially since the country is just days away from the publication of the Official List of Electors (OLE).

Speaking at his weekly press conference on Thursday, Jagdeo contended that even any minor error made during this exercise that is undertaken by the Elections Commission to update the RLE using data obtained during the scrapped House-to-House (H2H) Registration could see persons being displaced on Election Day. “There is an obligation on the part of the CEO (Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield) and the Chair (Justice Claudette Singh) of GECOM to ensure – if these changes are not reversible – that each of these changes are verified. And that’s GECOM’s responsibility and the Chair’s responsibility because if it leads to displacement, people will be disenfranchised,” he stated.

Jagdeo said he had raised these concerns with the foreign advisors here to assist GECOM during the electoral process and according to him, many of them are shocked at the changes being made now.

“They assured us that they will be trying to verify from GECOM why these changes are taking place and what systems they have internally to ensure that all these changes are accurate that are being made,” he noted.

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guyanatimesgy.com

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 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

Criminal actions of children

S

chool, an institution of learning, has now become a dangerous place in Guyana. Over the past few months there have been numerous reports of fights, assaults and even drug trade in our learning facilities.

The situation has now spiral that even the smallest of misunderstandings – even among teachers and parents - are turning into violent fights. On Thursday, this uncontrollable violence among our children manifested again when a Linden Foundation Secondary School student stabbed another to her back with a Rambo knife.

The shocking video of the incident shows that even after being stabbed no one immediately assisted the injured student. Whatever the grouse in the end, the pertinent question is what was a 15-year-old doing with a Rambo knife. This fight occurred right outside the school’s compound. This therefore means that the teen had the knife among her belongings at school. This in itself speaks volume. In the United States some schools have metal detectors and sometimes the presence of a Police patrol on the outskirts. Some may be tempted to ask why in a country that is rich and is the bastion of freedom and democracy. Others may counter that, exactly because of what the country represents, it can afford to have such mechanisms in place. The answer basically lies in trying to curb violence in schools. The truth curbing violence among children in and out of school, is not the responsibility of Guyana’s Education Ministry alone as it could be viewed as a reflection of what the society has become. Hence, it would take a great deal of effort by all stakeholders, including, parents, teachers, social workers/ councilors, churches and community leaders to come up with tangible solutions. All of these stakeholders must become aware of their roles and take action. In instances of children, firstly parents and the church plays an important public service role within the community and immediate environs in which each individual edifice is located. In Guyana, there is no doubt that the church – whether Christian, Hindu (temple) or Muslim (masjid) – plays a significant role, both socially and otherwise.

However, there seems to be a need for a more dominant role of these institutions in tackling violence among youths. These religious institutions make a difference in people’s everyday lives and many of our churches are deeply rooted in communities. It is through this medium that these religious institutions can impact violence among children.

The United States Center for Disease Control (CDC) has pointed to research which shows that prevention efforts – by teachers, administrators, parents, community members, and even students – can reduce violence.

As such a second approach is the implementation of school-based violence prevention programs, which have been proven in other counties to reduce rates of aggression and violent behaviour among students.

These programs should be delivered to all students in a school or a particular grade and focus on many areas, including emotional self-awareness, emotional control, self-esteem, positive social skills, social problem-solving, conflict resolution, and teamwork. Further, positive relationships between students and their peers, teachers, and families can be critical assets in promoting youth’s well-being and preventing school violence. Several strategies to enhance these relationships have been found to be effective in reducing violence. Therefore strengthening young people’s abilities to effectively solve difficulties that arise and their opportunities to participate in prosocial activities can significantly reduce the risk for violence. Also, as stated earlier, there is also an important role for parents to play in preventing violence in our schools. Prevention approaches that involve the family and so parents should be aware of their children’s activities. Parents cannot leave that responsibility to educators and Police. It is important for children to understand that there are amicable ways resolve differences without involving in violence.

It is also important that parents understand that if a child commits a criminal act, they may be held legally accountable. A child’s criminal actions can be transferred to his/her parents.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin pose with world leaders for a group photo during the Fifth World Holocaust Forum, marking 75 years since the liberation of the Nazi extermination camp Auschwitz, at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum in Jerusalem, January 23, 2020 (Abir Sultan/Pool via Reuters)

Has the NIS outlived its usefulness?

Dear Editor, The NIS website has published its annual report from 1970 to 2016. The scheme was passed into law in 1969.

Each year, the employee and employer contribute a total of 14% of an employee’s salary to a cap. In 2016, contributions totalled G$16.6B. 2016 is the last year that the NIS posted its annual report. In 2019, it is likely that the total contributions moved up closer to G$20B. The NIS has not done well. Its assets total only

and assets. Net returns on investment are negative.

Net returns on assets are negative. The cost of administering the scheme is greater than the returns from investing its assets.

Pension and medical-related benefits are the two primary benefits delivered by the NIS. It may be more efficient for the Government to grandfather the pension benefits into its own scheme and develop an efficient direct deposit scheme for the 50,000 NIS pension-

Certainly, the NIS performance suggests a radical makeover, if not elimination. A 14% payment by the employee/employer is like a tax. Would it not be great if this is eliminated? A strong argument can be made that it may be more efficient for the social safety net from the Government to be expanded to fill this space.

Putting G$16B+ back into the economy as disposable income would make a huge difference. Employers, employees and the country

oil economy, would it not be more efficient to transition the benefits directly over to Government?

It is time we have a serious discussion and look across the region to our Caricom neighbours and their performance. Since the NIS scheme started in 1969, some 50 years ago, it is a serious indictment that the assets total only two times its annual contributions.

Barbados NIS Fund assets in 2017 totalled US$2.3B compared to US$160M in

about 2 times its annual contributions. The NIS scheme is destroying capital with a negative return after deducting administrative expenses.

This is not how an investment scheme should work.

See the below table on investment income, administrative costs, contributions,

ers. Might it not be more efficient to combine this with the 30,000+ Old Age Pensions administered by Government?

With the healthcare system funded by the State, with small changes, the national healthcare systems can take up the slack provided by the NIS for medical-related benefits.

could benefit from the elimination of all the administrative paperwork associated with administering this scheme.

As the political season unfolds, having a public debate on the role of our NIS may be very relevant. What are the benefits of the NIS? What are the costs? With an

2016 for Guyana, almost 15 times greater. The Barbados fund started in 1967.

Guyana NIS law was passed in 1969 but its first year of operations was 1970. Last October, the Guyana NIS celebrated 50 years.

A Grant

Tribute to Fr Joachim D’Mello SJ Dear Editor, Allow me to express my sincere sympathies to the Catholic Diocese of Georgetown on the passing of Father Joachim D’Mello SJ. It is fitting to acknowledge in appreciation of his relentless service in Guyana for about 18 years. He hails from India.

He has been serving in the lengths and breaths of this country. People will remember him as a ‘priest for all’ or ‘a jolly-good priest’. He served

as a priest in Rupununi for several years where he started honey-culture and carpentry.

He encouraged the people in Lethem to do the same.

This was his unforgettable contribution besides being an inspirational pastor. As a director of Guyana Human Development Centre in Port Mourant, Berbice, Fr Joachim encouraged the students to take up vocational skills training such as cook-

ing, cake baking, pedicure, computer skills and so on.

He also persuaded the local boys to be trained in basketball and personally trained a team at the centre.

This centre trains school drop-out students in various skills and hence, they to take up jobs or start small businesses. In these small ways, he touched many hearts.

Fr Joachim has also served in St Pius X Parish Church and Jesuit head-quarters in

Queenstown. Most persons will relate to him as ‘a priest for all’ because of his service to all.

He also had a pleasant and soothing personality that won many friends. He preached with conviction. I have lost a good friend and I pay a tribute of gratitude for all the service he rendered to the people of Guyana.

Sincerely, Jerri Dias

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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

The plight of sugar workers Dear Editor, In SN’s editorial yesterday, the author concluded by advising sugar and rice farmers, in particular, to be discerning and not to vote for those who tell them what they want to hear at the upcoming March 2 polls. This is good advice for those who are sitting pretty but I thought it was a bit insensitive to the dismissed sugar workers who are struggling to make ends meet.

Regarding agriculture in general, a couple of

things have to be in place before we can diversify the sector. The most important is having cheap electricity. This will transform the whole of Guyana, not only agriculture. Cheap energy, which APNU/AFC blocked when they derailed Amaila, creates opportunities to package and preserve to market overseas. Secondly, we need a Government that genuinely wants to work and help the sector.

We cannot pretend that APNU/AFC closed the sugar estates to save money. If

it was to save money then why have they been spending more than G$30B and counting. And if they wanted to preserve jobs, they would have opted to sell the estates as a going concern.

The closures were meant to create hardship and undermine PPP/C perceived support base.

PPP/C will reopen the estates because it is the practical thing to do to solve the dire unemployment problem. The closures are also negatively impacting foreign exchange earnings

and disrupting demand and supply economics nationwide. Has SN’s editor noticed the glut of vegetables on the market? There is an oversupply because more people are out of jobs and are planting cash crops while at the same time demand is down because citizens have lost jobs and spending power. So if GuySuCo has to be subsidised, this will not be the first time and Guyana will not be the first country to do it – North America and the EU do it all the time. It

is quite possible to recoup a subsidy from exponentially higher tax earnings in a stimulated and vibrant economy. Regardless, at least PPP/C strategy allows more time to assess the future of the industry.

In my opinion, our oil and hydro resources should be deployed to create alternative industries to absorb the unemployed if and when that time comes.

The Leader of the Opposition lamented that he never thought he would see the return of hunger in

Guyana. This is an emotional issue for many. I would like for the editor of SN to contemplate the plight of dismissed sugar workers and to recognise that having food on the table is more important than politics at this time. Take it from someone who worked in the backdam, lived through the worse years of the PNC and came close to going hungry on more than one occasion.

Sincerely, Ravi Ram

I will not apologise for telling the truth – I will not be intimidated Dear Editor, The Ministry of the Presidency has demanded an apology from me for telling the truth. I will not be intimidated.

In a letter in the media, I listed a number of things under the David Grangerled APNU/AFC Government that debunk the “decency, honesty and integrity” cloak that the APNU/AFC coalition is trying to cover itself with during the 2020 elections campaign.

They demanded a retraction of my letter from Kaieteur News and Citizens Report. This is another example of the APNU/AFC coalition intimidating the media and citizens in the hope they get a free pass and are not exposed. It is up to the editors and publishers of The Citizens Report and Kaieteur News to do what they want to do.

I will not retract and I will not apologise.

It is unfortunate that KN has chosen the retraction path but the things I wrote about have been reported in different words, of course, in the KN itself and other media houses. While I listed far more than a dozen things, the Ministry of the Presidency objected to just five of them, thus, essentially, my commentary remains intact.

Let me address the issues one by one.

1. UNIVERSITY FEES: A promise that university education would be free in 2015 is being made again. We can play with words, it will not change the fact that, far from being free, university is not free and fees were increased under a Granger-led APNU/ AFC coalition. There is a level of indecency and dishonesty in that after May 2015, after the Granger-led APNU/ AFC promised free university education, there was an increase in tuition fees and other fees at UG. This is fact, not fiction, and it is a broken promise. Higher university fees happened under the Presidency of David Granger with an APNU/AFC Government. The decision by the university council to raise fees was not objected to

by Mr Granger and APNU/ AFC. Granger and APNU/ AFC made the promise of free university education, not the university council. What did the Granger-led Government do to stop the hike of university fees? Nothing! Mr Granger and APNU/AFC cannot hide under the false, but convenient, premise that the Cabinet will not interfere with the functioning of the university council. The Government cannot be missing in action (MIA) if the university council raises fees in a Government-owned university. This is a national policy matter for which the Government bears absolute responsibility. When Mr Granger and APNU/ AFC made the commitment for free university education in 2015 and when they make it a major promise in their 2020 campaign, are they telling the Guyanese people the promise is bogus because the decision is not one the Government can make, but one only the council can make? If the council is the only body with a say on this important issue, are Mr Granger and APNU/AFC not making a false promise to the people? What is decent and honest about making a promise you cannot deliver because, in your own words, you concede you have no say? I stand by my statement— it is indecent, dishonest and lacks integrity promising free university education and now saying only the council has the right to decide this. It is, furthermore, even more indecent and dishonest for again making the promise while simultaneously arguing it is a decision only the council can make. The reference to a Cabinet decision in 2014 to approve the hike in fees, trying to cast blame on the PPP, is ingenious and add to the indecency and dishonesty. As far as I am aware, as a Cabinet member, no such approval was given. I am aware that the UG Council did propose a fee increase, one that Cabinet refused.

2.

SUBMISSIONS TO THE INTEGRITY COMMISSION: The Chairman of the

Integrity Commission stated categorically, as reported widely in the media, that a significant number of Government officials have failed to submit completed financial and asset declarations to the commission in 2018 and 2019. Mr Granger himself admitted he has not completed his submissions.

KN, Stabroek News, Guyana Times and other media houses have carried such reports.

When it was reported, Mr Granger had indicated that he was unable to complete the paperwork for submissions to the commission. The law is the law and we cannot exculpate ourselves for violating the law by simply indicating we did not finish preparing the declarations. There is a time limit.

I interpret Mr Granger’s indication that he was unable to complete the declarations to submit them on time because he was “busy”. I am a citizen and my conclusion that Mr Granger could not complete his declarations in time for submission to the Commission was that he was busy with other things and I want to be generous by assuming he was busy with much work for the State.

Since we are on this subject, maybe the Ministry of the Presidency and Mr Granger himself can tell the nation if, since then, he has had the time to complete these declarations in accordance with the laws of Guyana.

3.

DECADE OF

DEVELOPMENT: Mr Granger has talked about the decade for development but largely, this has been another empty slogan. The vast majority of Guyanese have not been able to decipher what this decade of development is. They are on the campaign. The media is reporting the contents of their speech. Nowhere, not once, has anyone of the APNU/ AFC leaders talked about the decade of development. If I and most Guyanese are unaware of what is in that plan, then it is these leaders who need to apologise to Granger, not me. There is nothing for me to retract nor to apologise for.

4. AUDIT OF THE D’URBAN PARK PROJECT: It was widely reported in the media that the Auditor General has expressed frustration that he is unable to obtain all relevant documents to properly audit this project. While certain documents might have been submitted, the Auditor General has been very clear that the audit cannot be effectively conducted because complete documentation has been unavailable to him. As a citizen, those responsible for not providing the full documentation either do not themselves have it or someone is hiding it. I never accused Mr Granger of personally hiding or personally making it difficult for the Auditor General to access the documents. But

this is happening under the Granger-led APNU/AFC Government. How can a government parade itself as honest, decent and full of integrity when it has not facilitated a full audit of projects that raise major concerns among the citizens?

5.

2019 SALARY INCREASES: On another matter of fact, there was a publication of Order 92 of 2019. This Order was made public in the second week of January 2020 but had a publication date of December 2, 2019.

It detailed an order for salary increases for all the constitutional office holders listed in the schedule in the Constitutional Offices (Remuneration of Holders) Act. At the top of that list is the President. I am not in any position to decipher the truth but initially, there was an initial report that Mr Granger will not take the increase. Subsequently,

Winston Jordan stated the order excluded Mr Granger.

But I read and re-read the order and there is no such exclusion; the order simply stated salary increases of between 3% and 9% were granted to constitutional office bearers. As far as I am aware, there has been no change in who constitutes constitutional office bearers.

Mr Jordan did not explain to us where and how Mr Granger became excluded other than Jordan’s words, and I have no confidence in those words. Was it not the same man who denied the EXXON $US18M bonus, deeming it a figment of our imagination? I can only go in accordance with the order and the laws of Guyana.

Here again, there is nothing to apologise for.

These are facts and no amount of spin can detract from this.

Dr Leslie Ramsammy

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

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Foundation

What your teenager needs Y

oung people going through the process of adolescence need what they have always needed from their parents. They want your love, your support, your encouragement, your nurture, acceptance and attention. The difference for teenagers is that while children need their parents to be in the lead, pulling them along, directing their steps and making the important decisions, teenagers need to be side by side. Teenagers need ‘helpful attention’ rather than protective attention.

There are particular skills that support children in learning how to manage for themselves, to trust their own judgment and develop their own skills.

When it comes to dealing with teenagers, we may use much the same skills as we did when they were younger, but at a greater remove.

These include being encouraging and enabling, allowing children to learn from their mistakes rather than ‘showing them how to do it’, accepting they might do it differently from you, acknowledging and respecting their choices, following the child’s lead rather than jumping in with ideas, being in the present and spending time focused on your teenager.

All of us need to feel safe and protected, to have our physical requirements for food, clothing, warmth, healthcare met. One of the flash points with teenagers may be a conflict between parents wish to fulfil these needs and a teenager’s apparent desire to frustrate or be unrealistic about them.

Teenagers may defy your attempts to keep them safe, by staying out late,

running around with ‘bad company’, taking what you may consider risks with internet use. They may go head to head with you on the physical requirements you try to offer - refusing healthy food and demanding chips and fizzy drinks with everything. Perfectly good clothing may be rejected on the grounds that their friends would laugh - they have to have the latest styles. And boring things like dental and health checks may be something they suddenly turn their noses up about.

The fact that they become contrary, however, doesn’t mean they don’t want you to continue caring and continue to act on their behalf. What would help would be for you to enter into a dialogue

about these issues and look to agree with them.

When you are clear about what is your concern and what you’d like to happen but are prepared to hear their point of view, you can get somewhere.

What teenagers want as much as when they were little is your love, your care, your respect and your attention.

They want to be noticed by you. Too often, because teenagers are being moody and withdraw into themselves, we respond by ignoring them. Ignoring bad behaviour and not rising to it is one thing; ignoring the person who is annoying us is another. And it can become

a pattern, where they mope so we ignore them so they mope even more, convinced we don’t care.

Family time and meals

Teenagers still want to spend time together with their parents. Yes, of course they’d like to be on their mobiles or computers, playing games and communicating with their mates, all hours of the day and night. And given the chance, they want to be with them too, either at each other’s homes or out together. But they also still value family time - round a table eating together, watching television as a family, even going out with you.

Which is why one core aspect of family life that seems to have slipped away may be something you need to defend or bring back; the family meal. Many families have found shared meals, as a family, have become a luxury they have lost.

Some of the reason may be the pace of life - you and your children may have so many competing demands that it’s really hard to find an hour each evening when you can all be together.

If you feel pressured and short of time and opt for meals that can be put together easily, you may also be offering dishes that can be done individually, so there doesn’t seem to be any reason why you should all be at the table at one time. And of course, if preferences and food fads has meant that people are eating different foods anyway, it can seem just as sensible for people to get their own as and when they wish.

One of the side effects of sharing family meals is that it allows everyone round the table to feel valued and appreciated - another core need for teenagers. (familylives.org) TO BE CONTINUED

H

omework is your teachers’ way of evaluating how much you understand of what’s going on in class. But it can seem overwhelming at times. Luckily, you can do a few things to make homework less work.

Create a homework plan

Understand the assignment. Write it down in your notebook or planner, and don’t be afraid to ask questions about what’s expected. It’s much easier to take a minute to ask the teacher during or after class than to struggle to remember later that night.

If you have a lot of homework or activities, ask how long the particular homework assignment should take. That way you can budget your time.

Start right away. Just because it’s called “homework” doesn’t mean you have to do it at home. Use study periods or other extra time in your school day. The more you get done in school, the less you have to do at night.

Budget your time. If you don’t finish your homework at school, think about how much you have left and what else is going on that day. Most high-school students have between 1 and 3 hours of homework a night.

If it’s a heavy homework day, you’ll need to devote more time to homework. It’s a good idea to come up with a homework schedule, especially if you’re involved in sports or activities or have an after-school job.

Watch where you work When you settle down to do homework or to study, where do you do it? Parked in front of the TV? In the kitchen, with the sound of dishes being cleared and your brothers and sisters fighting?

Find a quiet place to focus. The kitchen table was OK when you were younger and homework didn’t require as much concentration. But now you’ll do best if you can find a place to get away from noise and distractions, like a bedroom or study.

Avoid studying on your bed. Sit at a desk or table that you can set your computer on and is comfortable to work at. Park your devices while you study. Just having your phone where you can see it can be a distraction. That makes homework take longer.

Get to work

Tackle the hardest assignments first. It’s tempting to start with the easy stuff to get it out of the way.

But you have the most energy and focus when you begin. Use this mental power on the subjects that are most challenging. Later, when you’re more tired, you can fo-

cus on the simpler things.

Keep moving ahead.

If you get stuck, try to figure out the problem as best you can — but don’t spend too much time on it because this can mess up your homework schedule for the rest of the night. If you need to, ask an adult or older sibling for help. Or reach out to a classmate. Just don’t pick someone you’ll be up all night chatting with or you’ll never get it done!

Take breaks. Most people have short attention spans. Sitting for too long without stretching or relaxing will make you less productive than if you stop every so often. Taking a 15-minute break every hour is a good idea for most people. (If you’re really concentrating, wait until it’s a good time to stop.)

Get it ready to go

When your homework is done, put it in your backpack. There’s nothing worse than having a completed assignment that you can’t find the next morning. Now you’re free to hang out — without the guilt of unfinished work hanging over you.

Get help when you need it

Even when you pay attention in class, study for tests, and do your homework, some subjects seem too hard. You may hope that things will get easier, but most of the time that doesn’t happen.

What does happen for many people is that they work harder and harder as they fall further and further behind. There’s nothing embarrassing about asking for help. No one understands everything.

Start with your teacher or guidance counsellor. Some teachers will work with students before or after school to explain things more clearly. But what if you don’t feel comfortable with your teacher? If your school is big, there may be other teachers who know the same subject. Sometimes it just helps to have someone new explain something in a different way.

Ask a classmate. If you know someone who is good at a subject, ask if you can study together. This may help, but keep in mind that people who understand a subject aren’t always good at explaining it.

Find a tutor. You’ll need to talk to an adult about this because it usually costs money to hire a tutor.

Tutors come to your home or meet you someplace like the library or a tutoring center.

They work with students to review and explain things taught in the classroom.

This gives you the chance to ask questions and work at your own pace. Your teacher or guidance counselor can help you find a tutor if you’re interested. (kidshealth.org)

NEWS

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Scott, Felix illegally occupied seats in Parliament ꟷ Court rules

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he Court of Appeal on Thursday ruled that Minister within the Social Protection Ministry, Keith Scott, and Citizenship Minister Winston Felix illegally occupied seats in Parliament as they were elected as part of the APNU/ AFC coalition's list of national candidates.

This ruling reaffirmed the late Chief Justice Ian Chang’s ruling in February 2016, which the APNU/+AFC administration had appealed contending that Chang’s was bad in law and a breach of the principles of natural justice.

The coalition government also argued through its lawyers that at the time of delivering the ruling, Chang, who was the outgoing Chief Justice, was functus officio.

This term is used especially to define an officer who is no longer in office or of an instrument that has fulfilled its purpose.

However, the Appeal

Citizenship Minister Winston Felix

Court, after hearing and reviewing lengthy arguments on the case in December 2019, delivered the ruling on Thursday afternoon to Solicitor General Nigel Hawke and his deputy, Deborah Kumar, who represented the Government.

Meanwhile, Attorney-atLaw Rajendra Jaigobin ap-

peared on behalf of former Attorney General (AG) Anil Nandlall, who had initially represented the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) when the hearings began.

The appeal was heard at the bench of Justices of Appeal Rishi Persaud and Dawn Gregory and High Court Judge Franklyn Holder.

All three Justices ruled that Ministers Felix and Scott cannot become Technocrat Ministers under Articles 103(3) and 105 of the Constitution and as such, not allowed to vote since they were not elected by the people.

They agreed with the argument put forward by the former AG last month that the Ministers were elected as members of the National Assembly pursuant to paragraph Two of Article 60 or Article 160 (2) of the Constitution, as defined by Article 232 of the

Minister within the Social Protection Ministry, Keith Scott

Constitution.

Once elected by the people, the Constitution does not permit such a person to sit in the National Assembly without being able to vote; it is only those persons who are not on a list, and, therefore, did not face the electorate, who can sit in the National Assembly without the right to vote.

In submissions in December, Nandlall had requested that the Government’s appeal be dismissed with costs, noting that he was not challenging the qualification of any person to be elected as a member of the National Assembly but the fact that Ministers Scott and Felix were not extracted from the list upon which they were elected.

He submitted, “The challenge is solely directed to the President’s exercise of his powers to appoint Ministers, and having regard to the relevant provisions of the Constitution, the challenge is that Messrs Felix and Scott are not qualified to be appointed Ministers under those provisions on the ground that they are elected members of the National Assembly and only non-elected members of the National Assembly can be appointed to those positions [as Technocrat Ministers]”.

Additionally, he had urged

the court to deliver its ruling within a reasonable time, as this case raises constitutional issues of some importance.

He said, “More likely than not, this issue will arise again when Ministers are to be appointed after the March 2020 Elections. It will, therefore, be of great assistance if a ruling can be given earliest by this Court, so that, if an appeal is to be filed to the Caribbean Court of Justice, every effort can be made to have the hearing and determination of the same, expedited and concluded before March 2020.”

However, the Government had continuously insisted that the ruling by the late Chief Justice Chang in 2016 was something it could not have accepted, as it was of the view that the Ministers were properly appointed. Therefore, it took to the Court in the form of this appeal with the hopes that the ruling of the late Chief Justice Chang would have been quashed.

Hundreds attend PPP/C meeting in Ramjattan’s home village

Some of the villagers who came out to listen to the PPP/C's message

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lliance For Change (AFC) Leader Khemraj Ramjattan was unable to pull a crowd in his hometown a few days ago but on Thursday, hundreds turned up to listen to messages of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) carried by former Attorney General Anil Nandlall.

Last week Friday, Ramjattan was scheduled to speak at a meeting organised by the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) but did not turn up.

However, there were only fifteen persons who missed his presence as those were the persons who attended the meeting which was held

in Ramjattan’s home Village – Number 47, Corentyne, Berbice.

Nevertheless, on Thursday, Nandlall used the opportunity to address crime, agriculture and matters pertaining to the oil and gas sector.

The coalition government, he said, has not passed a single piece of legislation of

worth to prepare the country’s legal infrastructure for the oil and gas sector.

“I am not speaking about ancillary legislation but the very basic framework, which is not in place as there is no authority in place, comprising suitably qualified and technically sound persons to manage, or administer the affairs of the sector.”

He promised that should the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) returns to office, they will ensure that the legal framework is implemented to safeguard Guyana and

Guyanese.

“When this major sector and its spinoffs start to function at optimal capacities, definitely, the legal system will have to be augmented and expanded to meet the demands.”

Addressing the issue of the closed sugar factories in Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne), Nandlall related that the workers who were affected will once again have jobs under a new PPP administration.

In fact, the former PPP Minister said that the Party

is committed to creating jobs when it returns to office.

Further, Nandlall spoke about plans to assist rice farmers not only in Region Six but throughout Guyana.

He noted that funds will be made available to cushion the negative impacts of paddy bug infestation, drought and floods, which from time to time, affect rice farmers.

With respect to crime, the former Attorney General explained that the Party will ensure that systems are in place to deal with new types of crime.

8 NEWS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Son of dead pensioner, businessmen arraigned for murder

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Ramsai Deochand

our men, including a son of 72-year-old Ramsai Deochand, who was brutally beaten to death on Sunday last at his Strathspey, East Coast Demerara (ECD) home, were arraigned for the heinous crime on Thursday.

Permaul Sankar, 35; Kublall Persaud, 35;

Mahendranauth Persaud, 32 and Mahendra Deochand, 22, were not required to plead to the indictable charge when they appeared before Magistrate Fabayo Azore at the Vigilance Magistrate’s Court.

The charge stated that on January 20, 2020, they murdered Ramsai Deochand.

The men were represented by Attorneys-at-Law James Bond and Haymant Ramdhani.

It was reported that one of the dead man’s sons, while being employed at a business in Strathspey stole an undisclosed sum of money and a gold chain belonging to the owner.

He was, however, confronted by the boss and others, and was severely beaten. Ever since, he has gone

Mashing…

T Kublall Persaud and Mahendranauth Persaud

into hiding, leaving his father at the mercy of the men.

He was last seen on January 15, 2020.

At the time of the beating, the now-dead man and

his wife were at home along with two sons, a daughterin-law and a grandchild.

The Police reported that about 02:45h on the day in question, the dead man’s daughter-in-law, Taijwattie Bhawanie, was awakened by the sounds of breaking glass.

Upon investigation, she saw four identifiable men hurling objects at the house and immediately raised an alarm.

Farida Deochand, the wife of the dead man, told Guyana Times that “They pelt the window, break it up, then they come in here, they break up here… the door only have one bolt and I put on an iron bar on the door.

They come and they start to kick up the door shouting ‘Open the door! Open the door!’ Well, me ain’t open no door, he come through the window and he open the door and they start beat up he father. I beg them and say ‘you all, don’t beat he because he ain’t well,” she explained.

Gavin Ramsahoye, another son of the dead man, and his wife along with their one-year-old baby were also at home at the time of the incident. They reside in the bottom flat of the house.

Farida also related that when she begged the men to have mercy on her sickly husband, they placed a gun to her head and instructed her to “shut up”.

“They tell me if me nah talk weh me son deh, they gon shoot meh and kill meh.

I beg them; they slap me four slaps, they push me in meh bedroom and meh bend down and beg them not to beat me or beat meh husband anymore. They left and go away and meh call me son from downstairs. He left and get away; he left and go away and hide,” she said.

The now-dead man suffered a stroke to the right side of his body seven years ago and could not move without the support of his family.

He was beaten with a mop stick about his body and was hit to his head with an amplifier.

Meanwhile, the widow has confirmed that she has not seen or heard from her son, who is accused of stealing the items since he left home. He remains on the run.

The four men were remanded to prison until March 16, 2020.

...Republic Day

he caretaker PNC government announced a $229 million budget for this year’s Mash activities– the Jubilee 50th Anniversary of our Republican status.

Now that’s just the ANNOUNCED figure – we know that even without the big corporate sponsors chipping in, the splurging from the Lotto slush fund and others will easily take the Mash binge beyond a BILLION dollars!! You see why Granger choose March 2 for elections? The PNC will be getting a billion-dollar mobilisation shot in the arm during all of February leading up to polling day!!

Ironically, the Govt chose as the theme for the extravaganza: “Guyana Together; Reflect, Celebrate and Transform”. Your Eyewitness says “ironically”, because it’s clear they didn’t see the disjunction between Guyana’s reality and their exhortation. “Guyana together”??

Has Guyana ever been as divided as it is now, during this election run-up? The policies and programmes of the PNC have been so partisan that the ethnic/racial cleavage that marks our politics have been widened into a veritable chasm!! We’re certainly even more divided than we were coming out of the 1960s virtual civil war that handed power to the PNC! Even Burnham didn’t have a government with over two-thirds of the Cabinet and 16 of 17 Permanent Secretaries Afro-Guyanese! Even Burnham didn’t throw 7000 sugar workers into the streets – even though they’d just sustained the longest strike in the history of the country against his government!! No Guyana is certainly “together”!!

“Reflect”?? Yes, let’s do that!! Reflect where we were in 1970 when Burnham and the PNC completely disjuncture us from the British crown. That’s the year he declared us a “Cooperative Republic” and plunged us into an economic disaster from which we still haven’t recovered!! He started nationalising the “commanding heights of the economy” with Bauxite as his first gambit.

It was the move that would transform the bauxite workers from being the highest-paid workers in Guyana into virtual beggars!! The tear-gassing of bauxite workers over their pension funds that year was an ironic precursor to the PNC gaslighting them into becoming their most loyal supporters. They even named their town after Burnham – and gave the country Mash!!

“Celebrate and Transform”?? That just expresses the backwardness of the PNC! Shouldn’t we have transformed our country BEFORE celebrating?? What is there really to celebrate? Our 36% poverty? Our 47% youth unemployment? Our stratospheric crime and traffic fatality statistics? Our domestic violence? Our suicide rates? Our public service being the most corrupt in Caricom? Our corrupt Police Force?

So let’s call a spade a spade: Republic Day 2020 will be just another extended PNC campaign Rally for the faithful. Like moving the event in Essequibo from Anna Regina to Queenstown, their stronghold!

…racial unity

PNC Chair Volda Lawrence is something else, isn’t she?? Is she prone to foot-in-mouth disease, or she just doesn’t give a damn about people’s sensitivities? On the economic front, after handing a $632 million pharmacontract to the Trini company Ansa McAL over local (cheaper) bidders, she enunciated her policy for the ordinary citizens: “The only friends I got is PNC so the only people I gon give wuk to is PNC”!!

On the religious front, we learnt from her Ministry’s website that our health sector was “under the Lordship of Jesus Christ”!! Then she followed up on the political front with her dog whistle for PNC “strong young men” supporters to come out on elections night to “protect” the ballots. And now without missing a beat, she ventures into the socio-linguistic arena of street argot to describe the once-sorry state of our NGSA scores.

Said she, the Maths passes were “even lower than a quarter, it sound more like a ‘buck man’”.

Even if it’s “slang”, it’s still racist!!

…US corns

The contrast was shocking to your Eyewitness.

Reminiscent of Forbes Burnham castigating Ronald Reagan over Grenada, David Granger had a meeting with Raul Castro even as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was meeting Jamaican PM Holness.

And other “friendly” Caribbean leaders.

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

NEWS

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

EU deploys Election Observation Accused in the rape of 11-year-old Mission to Guyana

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E u r o p e a n Union Election O b s e r v a t i o n Mission is scheduled to arrive in Guyana today to begin observing the preparations in the lead-up to the General and Regional Elections slated for March 2, 2020.

This was announced in a press statement on Thursday by the Delegation of the European Union to Guyana.

Member of the European Parliament, Urmas Paet has been appointed as Chief Observer of the Mission.

He was appointed

by Josep Borrell, High

girl to face retrial

Union values its partnership with Guyana. The deployment of this Election Observation Mission confirms our commitment to support Guyana’s democratic processes. I am confident that the mission will contribute to ensure that the election is inclusive, credible and transparent.

All citizens of the country have their say in Guyana’s future.”

Moreover, the Chief Observer underscored the importance of the EU observing these elections in Guyana.

“I believe it is crucial for the European Union to accompany these elections

A

Chief Observer Urmas Paet

European Commission Vice President Josep Borrell

Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission.

In the press statement, Borrell is quoted as saying “The European

in Guyana.

“I am confident that our observation mission will provide an important contribution as we wish to support transparent and inclusive elections and strengthen the insti-

tutions in Guyana. I would also like to encourage the people of Guyana to exercise their democratic right to vote,” he noted.

The Election Observation Mission core team of eight EU election analysts will arrive in Georgetown today and will stay in the country until the completion of the electoral process.

In February, the core team will be joined by 14 long-term observers who will be deployed across the country, and later on for the election week by an additional 20 short-term observers.

Shortly after the Election Day on March 2, the mission will issue a preliminary statement and hold a press conference in Georgetown.

A final report, including recommendations for future electoral processes, will be presented at a later stage, after the finali-

sation of the electoral process.

Already, the Carter Center election observer mission is in Guyana and the team will be joined by high-level leadership closer to Election Day. The Carter Center said it would also follow the post-election process, including the tabulation of results and resolution of any legal disputes.

Other international organisations as well as local entities are expected to deploy missions to observe this year’s elections.

59-year-old Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) man is expected to face a retrial after a jury failed to reach a verdict in his trial for allegedly engaging in sexual activity with an 11-year-old girl.

The charges against Carlyle Williams state that between October 14, 2017, and October 15, 2017, the young girl went to visit Williams’ home at Linden and was violated. While in bed reading the child a story on October 14, 2017, it is alleged that Williams raped her. The following day, Williams is accused of going into the child’s room and taking advantage of her again. The child com-

plained to her mother, and a report was made to the Police. The accused was subsequently arrested and charged.

Williams was represented by Attorney-at-Law Ravindra Mohabir while the State was represented by Prosecutors Teriq Mohammed and Mandel Moore.

After several hours of deliberation, the jury was unable to arrive at a verdict, resulting in the trial Judge Jo-Ann Barlow ordering a retrial for Williams which should be at the next practicable sitting of the Demerara Criminal Assizes.

Williams remains on bail until his next trial.

10 NEWS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Joint Services preparing for elections M

embers of the Joint Services on Wednesday participated in one of several training exercises in preparation for the upcoming General and Regional Elections set for March 2, 2020.

The Guyana Defence Force (GDF), in statement posted on its Facebook Page, explained that “a study day and internal security training exercise” were held at the Police Officers Mess Annex and allowed for in-

teraction among ranks of the various services.

On Thursday, a Private Sector delegation met with GDF’s Chief-of-Staff, Brigadier Patrick West to discuss the organisation’s preparedness to deal with any situations that may arise during the election period.

The team comprised representatives of the Private Sector Commission, Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry

(GCCI) as well as the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham).

“The central focus of the meeting was on matters relating to national security, pre- and post- elections period – in view of having and preserving a peaceful election period in Guyana,” a statement from the PSC said.

To this end, one of the key items discussed was the role and responsibility of the GDF as enshrined under

Man sentenced to time served

J

ustice Sandil Kissoon sentenced 24-year-old Himchand Kenswim, called “Popcorn”, to time served after he pleaded guilty to a charge of causing grievous bodily harm.

Kenswim was initially indicted for the attempted murder committed on Trevor Spencer. The charge stated that on April 14, 2017, at D’Urban Backlands, with intent to murder, he unlawfully and maliciously wounded Spencer.

The offence attracts a

penalty of 19 months’ imprisonment; however, after pleading guilty to the charge, instituted in 2018, and having spent 18 months on remand, the defendant’s sentence was deducted.

Justice Kissoon, having considered this, sentenced the man to time served. It was previously reported that Kenswim and the victim were involved in a heated argument after the victim asked him to remove from a stairway.

However, Kenswim re-

fused and as a result, the victim journeyed to the police station to file a complaint. While making his way back, Spencer was confronted by Kenswim, who dealt him several lashes to his head. Following the incident, Kenswim fled the jurisdiction and was only captured in June 2018.

During a Preliminary Inquiry, Kenswim had claimed self-defence. He indicated that the man slapped him and he retaliated.

Members of the Joint Services during a recent training exercise

the Constitution of Guyana.

According to the Commission, the Chief-ofStaff assured the Private Sector leaders that GDF’s intervention will be guided by its mandate as set out under the law especially concerning its role through the Joint Services by providing support to the Guyana Police Force (GPF) in the event of an unrest.

Further, the Chief-ofStaff took the opportunity to express his interest for deeper collaboration with

the Private Sector in national development as an important stakeholder.

In return, the PSC committed to strengthening its relationship with the Force in this regard and has committed to the sharing of information and greater collaboration as it relates to national security and national development.

Already, some 26 Police Officers were trained to deal with situations that may arise during this period.

Topics such as Use

of Force, Use of Force Continuum and Election Offences following the Public Order Act Chapter 16:03 were discussed at the training.

According to the GPF, the training session was hosted at Brickdam Police Station and was conducted by Superintendent Karl Wilson, Officer-In-Charge of the Number Two SubDivision which encompasses Princes Street, Georgetown-Agricola, Greater Georgetown.

11 Jagdeo says congregating at polling places illegal NEWS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

— as FITUG joins in condemning utterances

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oncerns continue to mount over recent utterances by several senior Government ministers urging supporters to mobilise and stand watch at polling stations across the country on election night.

On Thursday, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo condemned the utterances by the coalition officials, noting that it is an elections offence to congregate outside of or next to polling stations.

“So the normal thing is that you vote and then you go home… It’s illegal to congregate around polling places on elections day. It’s illegal; it’s an electoral offence. But we’ve seen from APNU an encouragement of this sort of behaviour,” he contended.

According to the Opposition Leader, on polling day, the Guyana Police Force is responsible for general security and maintaining law and order; the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is responsible, with all of its staff and the Presiding Officers, for the integrity of the polling day activities, and the political parties will have their polling agents to look out for their interests.

To this end, he noted that there is no need for party supporters to gather outside polling stations. Jagdeo explained that all the counting will be done in the polling stations

where parties will have their polling agents who will witness the counting of the ballots and have to sign a certificate verifying the counts before the ballots leave the polling place.

“So it is not the mobs that protect polling places or protect the ballots. It is your polling agents within the polling station, GECOM and the Police,” he contended.

Nevertheless, he went on to add that these utterances by the PNC-led coalition are reflective of its past behaviour. “... in the past, they would mob polling stations particularly around the evening and try to pressure people to act in a particular manner. So these mobs either do that or often, they try to intimidate voters who are going to vote at polling places based on their perception of who they would vote for. This has to be avoided at all costs, it would be illegal,” Jagdeo posited.

The Opposition Leader pointed to a community meeting in South Georgetown, where Finance Minister Winston Jordan told supporters, “and when you done vote, you make certain at six o’clock, you hanging around. If you move, is trouble. Comrades, we got to keep we eye, we got to mobilise. As soon as we done vote, we have to keep our eyes on this thing because we cannot afford for stuffed boxes

especially, in certain areas”.

At another meeting, Jagdeo mentioned featured Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams saying to supporters, “unless you go out in a determined manner, take care of our elections, protect your votes. Be vigilant, protect your vote, stand up outside the ballot station, follow them, especially after the polls close”.

Finally, he referred to statements made at a community meeting in Kitty by Public Health Minister and Chair of the PNC, Volda Lawrence, who said “and after six o’clock hit comrades, you should already have a bath and put on your night shift clothing. You understand what I’m saying, comrades… This is not time to be caught sleeping… At six o’clock, you return to work at the place of polling and you remain out there, and let our staff inside know you’re out there. Let them know everything is covered”.

Jagdeo rubbished explanations that Lawrence was speaking to polling day staff.

He noted that based on past behaviour, her utterance is pregnant with meaning.

“It’s coded language for mobbing polling places,” he contended.

Despite these instances, however, the Opposition Leader noted that President David Granger is out there promising and giving assur-

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

ances to the international community that “there would be no disorder or lawlessness” at the upcoming polls.

The Head of State made this commitment on Wednesday during a high-level meeting with a United States Congressional Delegation here in Guyana, which has underscored the need for a credible and transparent election process consistent with Guyana’s laws and international obligations.

But Jagdeo noted that senior government ministers are urging people to break the law and commit acts of lawlessness.

“So Granger assures one thing – nobody should break the law, no lawlessness… But we’ve heard from three of his senior leaders a display of lawlessness and urging people to break the law,” the Opposition Leader stressed.

Nevertheless, Jagdeo

said he is pleased that civil society bodies are speaking out against these utterances. He added that the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) and the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) should also do the same.

“The Chair of GECOM [Justice Claudette Singh] who is responsible for the conduct of the poll should say that this is illegal, this is inflammatory language. It’s a language designed to break the law and that anyone who does this sort of thing, that condign action will be taken against them,” he posited.

The Opposition Leader went on to say that even with the presence of the international community here, the party will continue to be vigilant leading up to and during the March 2 polling day activities.

Meanwhile, the Federation of Independent Trade Unions

of Guyana (FITUG) on Thursday joined in condemning the calls by coalition members for supporters to protect their ballots.

According to FITUG, the remarks made by the leadership of the incumbent administration are cause for great concern and is not helpful to Guyana’s democracy or its social cohesiveness.

The umbrella union body said in a statement that, “We are indeed concerned that such a call and congregation could lead to combustible situations which are not in the interest of anyone, most of all, the current and future generations of Guyanese. It also does not portend well for our fledgeling democracy which has been openly threatened as naked attempts were afoot to undermine it.”

Already, former Attorney General Anil Nandlall reminded of the country’s history regarding violence around elections time. He argued that crowds mobilising around polling stations can get out of control.

In addition, Private Sector Commission (PSC) Chairman Gerry Gouveia also expressed concern earlier this week over these developments.

On his social media page, he questioned why the Police and GECOM are not being allowed to do their work in peace.

12 NEWS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Police to issue wanted bulletin for rape suspect T he man who reportedly sexually molested a nine-yearold relative almost four months ago in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) remains on the run, but the Police are soon to issue a wanted bulletin for his arrest.

This is according to Region 10 Police Commander, Superintendent Hugh Winter, who told Guyana Times on Wednesday that his ranks have been unsuccessful in locating the suspect despite repeated

Region 10 Police Commander, Superintendent Hugh Winter

checks at his residence.

Police launched a manhunt for the suspect in December after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) recommended charges be instituted for the crime.

Commander Winter stated that the advice from the Office of the DPP was to haul the suspect, who is in his 60s, before the courts to face the charge of rape of a child under the age of 16 earlier this month.

However, according to residents in the area, since the man had been placed

on station bail in October 2019, they had not seen him.

As such, Acting Crime Chief, Senior Superintendent Michael Kingston was apprised of the situation.

The suspect reportedly sexually molested the child twice during a weekend visit to her paternal relatives in the month of September.

Reports are that the child left her mother’s residence on September 27, 2019 to spend the weekend with some relatives in the

mining town and returned home on September 29, 2019 in a withdrawn state.

The little girl when questioned told her maternal aunt and other relatives about what had happened.

The child’s grandmother had stated that the man took her granddaughter along with his two grandchildren to “Blue Water Lake” and a creek in “Buck Town” under the pretence of teaching them to swim.

However, he allegedly did much more to the nine-

year-old, touching her private parts inappropriately despite the child begging him to stop. The man then allegedly processed to insert his finger into the young girl’s vagina while rubbing his penis against her butt.

According to the child’s maternal grandmother, a report was made to the Police and a physical examination was conducted on the nine-year-old.

The results revealed that she had been sexually violated.

GPF mulls change to applicant’s age for driver’s licence ꟷ Traffic Dept reviewing strategies to improve policies countrywide

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review to strengthen the capacity of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) Traffic Department is currently ongoing, with focus being placed on changing the legal age at which persons may apply for a driver’s licence.

Traffic Chief,

Superintendent Linden Isles told Guyana Times that although a decision has not been made to alter the current age an individual should be before he/ she can apply for a driver’s licence, it is being considered.

He stated that this did not necessarily mean that

such a change would be implemented.

However, the Traffic Chief explained that if this idea were to bear fruit, then it would have to be carefully planned and executed, since there are different age requirements for various categories of licences.

Before one can obtain a new driver’s licence, a provisional driver’s licence has to be issued. This type of licence is only valid for a three-month period.

Presently, an individual must be 16 years of age or older before he/she can apply for a provisional motorcycle licence and 17

The Guyana Police Force’s Traffic Chief, Superintendent Linden Isles

years or older for a provisional motorcycle and car licence.

An applicant needs to be 18 years of age or older for a car, van and motorcycle licence.

According to Isles, if a change were implemented in raising the age requirement, it would not be “across the board”.

In 2019, Guyana recorded more than 100 fatal accidents countrywide which claimed the lives of more than 120 persons.

Most of the accidents re-

portedly occurred as a result of speeding, drinking, and driving, or a combination of both.

Meanwhile, a number of the accident victims who lost their lives were passengers travelling inside private vehicles, minibuses, and pedal cyclists.

In light of the large number of deaths, the GPF set out to develop and implement changes in its Traffic Department which are expected to curb and prevent such large-scale carnage from recurring this year.

NEWS

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

EITI concerned about lack of petroleum legislation in Guyana

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ven as Guyana has begun producing oil, there is an absence of modern legislation to govern the oil and gas sector.

This is an area of concern for the Guyana Chapter of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), an international body that ensures extractive sectors worldwide are managed in an open manner.

EITI Guyana National Coordinator, Dr Rudy Jadoopat, during an exclusive interview with Guyana Times underscored the urgent need for oil and gas legislation, especially when it comes to ensuring transparency and accountability in the sector.

“Legislation reform which is an important one.

As you know, Guyana is now an oil-producing country; however, the legislations in Guyana, the laws of Guyana need to be reformed, need to be amended, in order to allow for better governance of the oil and gas sector. There is a lot of work to be done and I understand that some things are in place while some are not and some are in drafting stage. But we need these legislations to be fine-tuned and be enacted as soon as possible,” Dr Jadoopat emphasised.

For his part, Dr Jadoopat says he will be meeting with the Department of Energy soon to discuss ways in which the country can accelerate efforts to develop the requisite legislation.

“EITI requirement is for us to publish the data on oil sells and the Department

National Coordinator of Guyana’s EITI, Dr Rudy Jadoopat

of Energy reached out to us and we are interacting with them to establish a mechanism whereby information that is required by the EITI reporting process on the first trails of oil will be showing back and forth and we have to establish that communications line with them, so, hopefully, next week we look forward to meeting the Department of Energy,” he explained.

The review

Meanwhile, Department of Energy Head, Dr Mark Bynoe had revealed, at a press conference in May last year, that they have completed a gap analysis of existing laws – an exercise that highlighted shortcomings in Guyana’s oil and gas-related laws, compared to industry standards.

“One of the things we have in our possession at this point in time is that draft gap analysis and diagnostic review,” Dr

Bynoe said. “That has to go through us speaking to other partners as well, because it doesn’t only impact the Department, it impacts a number of other departments and stakeholders.

“It is because of that review you would now see us advertising for legal advisory services, because that review will point the way in terms of what needs to be repealed, what needs to be replaced and what needs to be amended and made more contextually relevant to the realities we face today.”

He gave an example of primary legislation like the 1986 Exploration and Production Act. According to Dr Bynoe, the Act is silent on issues like downstream activities in the oil and gas sector.

“It also requires enhancement in decommissioning and local content.

So, these are all areas we’ll be looking at. Once these things are put in place, we then move towards issues of [the] Petroleum Commission Bill, that we have put in abeyance until the primary legislation is put in place,” Dr Bynoe explained.

Recently, People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Executive Member Gail Teixeira has labelled the recent first oil reception as offensive, saying that the event demonstrated clearly how revenues generated from the sector would be wantonly spent by the incumbent A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition.

Teixeira lamented the fact that despite promises by the Government and Energy Director, Dr Bynoe that the Local Content Policy would be in place before first oil, up to now, it has not been finalised.

About EITI

The EITI is an international body that requires implementing countries to publish comprehensive reports which include the full disclosure of Government revenues from the extractive sector, as well as the disclosure of all material payments made to the Government by

companies operating in the oil, gas, and mining sectors.

Guyana’s first report was submitted to the International Secretariat on April 25, 2019. Membership in the EITI means that Guyana will have to adhere to the 12 principles of the EITI standards voluntarily.

14 NEWS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020| GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Hibiscus Training Restaurant No fuel: RUSAL fires over 140 workers re-opens at Carnegie

T

he Carnegie School of Home Economics (CSHE) on Thursday reopened the doors of its Hibiscus Training Restaurant with a new batch of students who are ready to practice the skills gained under the various programmes at the institution.

Principal Myrna Lee related that the Board of Governors and Staff of the CSHE are seeking the pub-

that the CSHE would assist students to meet the mission of the school which states, “Carnegie is in the business of creating, developing, and providing international quality and excellence in the area of Home Economics and hospitality services through education, training, information sharing, networking, and collaboration.”

The Principal further noted that the school pre-

The Carnegie School of Home Economics Hibiscus Training Restaurant

lic’s support to have the students practice skills demanded by the programme.

Lee noted that catering and hospitality are forerunner programmes. She added that the school understood the intersection between tourism, hospitality, and travel.

According to Principal Lee, the school is aware that tourists travel from one destination to another and have needs. She said

pared students to deal with customers since each one of them must feel valued and must be treated with warm hospitality so that there would be repeat visits or recommendations of their service.

She said that students are trained to give this type of service by learning: to understand the needs of customers, to be loyal to customers, to find out what customers care about, and

– workers block Berbice River to protest company’s decision

M

Carnegie School of Home Economics Principal Myrna Lee

to lead in the hospitality industry by gaining insights into the best affordable customer service.

Principal Lee said that the Hibiscus Training Restaurant was one of the three main units where professionals from industry and facilitators collaborated to guide students in delivering their best to customers.

It was announced that the restaurant would be opened from 12:00h to 14:30h from Tuesday to Friday until April 2020.

Persons were urged to visit the school’s Facebook page since updates on menus, catering, and other services would be posted there.

Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) President Mitra Ramkumar told the gathering at the opening that with Guyana now being an oil-producing country, it must be recognised that tourism will play an important aspect.

ore than 140 workers attached to the Bauxite Company of Guyana Incorporated (BCGI), also known as “RUSAL”, were given marching orders effective Thursday, January 23, 2020, with the company explaining that such a decision was made because the Government did not grant it duty-free importation of fuel.

However, according to the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GB&GWU), such a claim by the bauxite company is false since the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) had issued that letter of approval for the BCGI. Therefore, it deemed the sacking of those workers as arbitrary.

In a press release on Thursday, the Union noted that at the request of the Department of Labour, they met on Thursday afternoon with Chief Labour Officer Charles Ogle and the management of the BCGI in light of the situation.

According to the statement, when the management of the bauxite company was confronted on “the deception”, it changed its position as to the reason for such a decision and stated that the laying off was owing to the company scaling back operation.

“Further, the BCGI management was advised by the Union that the manner in which the workers were laid off constitutes a depar-

The Bauxite Company of Guyana Incorporated (BCGI)

ture from established industrial relations practice and Termination of Employment and Severance Pay Act in that the Department of Labour and the Union were advised beforehand of the planned action”.

However, the missive stated that the management’s response was that it had been given “expert advice to operate in the manner it did”, including posting the list of workers to be laid off on the Notice Board.

The press release further explained that the Union advised both the Chief Labour Officer and the BCGI management that the laying off of the more than 140 workers was in violation of established industrial relations practice and must be rescinded.

It also noted that the two workers, Glendon Tinnaman and Mario Harris, who were both electrocuted last November in and during the course of their duties, should

be compensated.

“The Union will facilitate the opening of the Berbice River where our members are involved on the condition that the issue of wages and salary be settled now through arbitration or some similar condition. The River was blocked starting this morning.

The Chief Labour Officer informed the Union and BCGI management he will be sending a report to the responsible Minister.”

The GB&GWU noted that the recent conduct by BCGI is “clearly a planned attack on our democracy by the Russian management” aimed at creating political turbulence.

“Guyanese are not fooled by the timing nor action. Our sovereignty is facing further threat by foreign forces who want to direct or influence our show in Guyana, and it is not without support by some internal forces. It must not happen!”

Farfan & Mendes Ltd on Wednesday presented Tejkumar Mohan of the Chromagen Win Cash Promotion with his cheque.

With a purchase of a Chromgen Hot Water Unit, customers had a chance to win $200,000 cash. The promotion was held between November 18 and December 31, 2019.

In photo, Oswald Forthe, Customer Service Representative of Farfan & Mendes Ltd, hands over the cheque to the winner who hails from Cane Grove, East Coast Demerara

NEWS

15

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Deadly coronavirus…

Guyanese must be protected – Opposition …CARPHA says Caribbean’s risk “low” By: Devina Samaroo

W

hile regional officials have indicated that the deadly coronavirus may not reach the Caribbean, Guyana’s Opposition is urging authorities here to put systems in

are no reports of the coronavirus in the Caribbean and that the immediate risk from this virus to the general public remains “low”.

CARPHA says it will continue to monitor the situation; however, the Agency is urging Member States,

gion, CARPHA confirmed that it has already made arrangements with partner public health agencies for testing within the next three weeks.

Additionally, CARPHA says it is committed to supporting its Member States

About the Coronavirus [Source: Aljazeera]

place to ensure the population is protected.

“This virus has the potential of reaching epidemic proportions and we should be ready as a country to address this situation,” says the country’s Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo.

“We have to be ready for any possibility of an outbreak here in Guyana,” he reaffirmed.

With cases of the virus confirmed in the Americas and a suspected case in neighbouring Brazil, the Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence, has not yet addressed the nation on the matter.

The coronavirus originated in Wuhan, China last year, and at least 18 people have died and more than 600 have been sickened by the disease.

Chinese authorities have imposed lockdown measures on five cities in an unprecedented effort to contain the outbreak, which has already been reported in at least eight other countries including the United States.

Low risks

The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) has announced that there

including Guyana, to be proactive and vigilant.

“They must reinforce surveillance measures at points of entry, communication strategies which emphasise good hand hygiene, and measures targeted at reducing the importation of this new virus to our shores,” emphasised Dr Joy St John, the Executive Director of CARHPA. In the event that there is a suspected imported case of the coronavirus in the re-

in refining existing influenza preparedness plans, refreshing training of healthcare workers in universal precautions and the use of necessary personal protective equipment (PPE), and implementing measures to protect the most vulnerable in our populations from developing the disease.

Never too early

Despite the low risks, former Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy says it

is never too early to start preparing and he has questioned why those in authority are seemingly mum on the situation.

“I know, were I the Minister of Health, I would have asked for a special Cabinet briefing and would have had by my side already technical support from PAHO and CARPHA. Were I Minister of Health, I would have already convened a meeting of my staff to discuss and put together our response strategy,” Dr Ramsammy told Guyana Times in an invited comment.

He reflected on his time as the country’s Minister of Health and the criticisms he faced for “overreacting” to such situations.

“When I was Minister, my proactive strategy used to be called fear-mongering by some. And there is the possibility of overreacting.

But for me, it was always better to be caught over-reacting, than under-reacting or caught without a plan,” Dr Ramsammy explained.

He outlined that authorities should start preparing to conduct rigid surveillance at all ports of entries; put systems in place to check for respiratory symptoms, compile a treatment and care guideline and ensure that first responders and healthcare providers are duly advised; establish safe-zones in hospitals and quarantine areas; and garner a list of all medicines, medical supplies and other supplies

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

Former Health Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy

needed in the event of an outbreak here.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has not yet declared the coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern, as was done with Ebola and Zika.

But Dr Ramsammy noted that Guyana needs to be prepared in the event the infection becomes a global pandemic.

ry syndrome, kidney failure and even death.

The Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) has advised that there is still “uncertainty about the new pathogen and the spectrum of manifestations it may cause, the source of infection, the mode of transmission, the incubation period, the severity of the disease and the specific control measures.”

While little is known about it, human-to-human transmission has been confirmed.

Currently, there is no vaccine.

But some experts say it may not be as deadly as other types of coronavirus such as SARS, which killed nearly 800 people worldwide during a 2002-2003 outbreak that also originated from China, Aljazeera reports.

The PAHO/WHO Guyana Country Office plans to hold a press conference next week to update the public on all they need to know about the coronavirus.

About the coronavirus

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).

These viruses are transmitted between animals and people.

Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties.

In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respirato-

16

guyanatimesgy.com

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

Around the World

WHO says “bit too early” Rio violence: Police killings reach record high in 2019 to declare coronavirus a global emergency T

T

he World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday it was “a bit too early” to declare a new coronavirus a global health emergency as China put millions of people on lockdown amid an outbreak that has killed 18 people in the country and infected around 650 globally.

Health officials fear the transmission rate could accelerate as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel at home and abroad during week-long holidays for the Lunar New Year, which begins on Saturday.

“It is a bit too early to consider that this is a public health emergency of international concern,” WHO Emergency Committee panel chair Didier Houssin said after the body met in Geneva.

WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the committee of 16 independent experts had been divided in its conclusion.

“Make no mistake, though, this is an emergency in China. But it has not yet

Chinese paramilitary officers wearing masks stand guard at an entrance of the closed Hankou Railway Station after the city was locked down following the outbreak of a new coronavirus in Wuhan, Hubei province, China

become a global health emergency. It may yet become one,” said Tedros. Declaring the disease a global health emergency would have required countries to step up the international response.

Scrambling to contain the outbreak, the local government in Wuhan, a city of 11 million people at the centre of the outbreak, suspended most transport on Thursday and people were told not to leave. Hours later, neigh-

bouring Huanggang, a city of about 7 million people, announced similar measures.

“The lockdown of 11 million people is unprecedented in public health history,” said Gauden Galea, the WHO’s representative in Beijing.

The organisation said, however, that it was not yet recommending any broader restrictions on travel or trade. (Excerpt from Reuters)

he number of Police killings in Rio de Janeiro reached a record high last year, officials say, amid controversial hard-line measures to tackle violence.

Police killed 1810 people, an average of five per day, the highest number since official records began in 1998.

Critics blame the rise on policies that include the use of heavily armed agents and helicopter-borne snipers to fight criminals in densely populated areas.

But officials say the approach has worked, citing a drop in violent crime.

Rio de Janeiro is one of Brazil's most violent states and vast areas are under the control of criminals, many of them linked to powerful drug-trafficking gangs. But paramilitary groups formed by active and retired policemen, known as milícias, have also expanded their in-

The killing of an eight-year-old girl during a Police operation last year sparked outrage

fluence in recent years.

Police raids increased last year as Governor Wilson Witzel employed what critics describe as a policy of confrontation. A conservative former Judge and marine, Witzel took office in January 2019 after saying the authorities would "dig graves" to bury criminals

After ICJ ruling, Myanmar denies genocide against Rohingya

I Democrats use words of Trump allies against him in impeachment trial

D

emocrats on Thursday pressed their case at US President Donald Trump’s Senate trial for removing him from office by using the words of his own allies against him to make the point that his actions constituted impeachment offences, but his fellow Republicans showed no signs of turning against him.

The Democratic House of Representatives lawmakers serving as prosecutors in the trial presented the second of their three days of opening arguments as they appealed to senators to convict him on two charges –- abuse of power and obstruction of Congress – passed by the

House last month.

The US Constitution sets out the impeachment process for removing a President who commits “high crimes and misdemeanours.” Trump’s legal team has argued that the House charges were invalid because impeachable offences must represent a specific violation of criminal law.

The charges against Trump arise from his request last year that Ukraine investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden and the President’s actions to impede a House inquiry into the matter.

“Impeachment is not a punishment for crimes,” Democratic Representative Jerrold Nadler told the

assembled senators.

“Impeachment exists to address threats to the political system, applies only to political officials and responds not by imprisonment or fines but only by stripping political power.”

Nadler played a video clip of one of Trump’s most prominent defenders, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, arguing during the 1999 impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton that presidents could be impeached even if the conduct in question was not a statutory criminal violation. Graham was absent from the Senate chamber when the clip was played.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Hundreds of Central Americans enter Mexico under watch of security forces

H

undreds of Central Americans crossed the Guatemalan border into Mexico early on Thursday, testing the Mexican Government’s resolve to stem the movement of people north under pressure from the United States.

Television footage showed a caravan of migrants moving towards the southern Mexican city of Tapachula, after crossing the Suchiate River that divides Mexico and Guatemala.

In the small town of Frontera Hidalgo, nestled

on the banks of the Suchiate River, hundreds of migrants stopped for a mid-morning rest before continuing their journey.

Mexican security forces observed the migrants on their trek but did not intervene, according to a Reuters witness.

Some of the migrants had been given forms to seek asylum with Mexico’s tiny asylum agency, COMAR. Most members of the caravan want to reach the United States. However, US President Donald Trump has

pressured Mexico to adopt more restrictive measures to reduce the migrant flows.

Many of the Central Americans migrants heading north are fleeing economic hardship and violence at home.

The current group is the largest surge of people to test Mexico since its president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and some Central American governments, made various agreements with Trump to reduce pressure on the US southern border. (Excerpt from Reuters)

if necessary and vowing to "slaughter" any armed suspect.

The total of Police killings recorded last year represents an 18% increase on the previous year, according to Rio de Janeiro's state Government. (Excerpt from BBC News)

n response to an international court's decision ordering Myanmar to take emergency measures to prevent genocide of the Rohingya, the country's government responded by saying that there has been "no genocide in Rakhine" – the state where most of the Muslim minority hail from.

Rights groups and members of the Rohingya minority have celebrated Thursday's ruling from International Court of Justice (ICJ) judges.

But a statement released by Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was "important for Myanmar that Court (ICJ) reaches a factually correct decision on the merits of the case", and condemned human rights organisations which it accused of presenting a "distorted pic-

Aung San Suu Kyi leaves a hearing in the case filed by Gambia against Myanmar alleging genocide against the Rohingya at the ICJ in The Hague, Netherlands [Yves Herman/Reuters]

ture" of the situation in Rakhine.

Those groups, the statement said, had "affected Myanmmar bilateral re-

lations with several countries" and hampered efforts for "sustainable development" in the northwest province.

While acknowledging "war crimes had occurred", the statement said, "there has been no genocide in Rakhine."

While defending her country at the ICJ in December, Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in a 30-minute speech, failed to use the word "Rohingya" once.

Critics said her refusal to use the word was part of Myanmar's attempt to strip the minority of their identity and rights.

Again on Thursday, the word "Rohingya" was absent from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' statement.

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Brazil green-lights US deportation of more Brazilians by plane

T

he US Government will deport a planeload of Brazilians on Friday, the second such chartered flight since October to return an increasing number of migrants trying to enter the United States illegally from Mexico.

The flight from El Paso will arrive in Belo Horizonte in central Brazil early on Saturday morning, Brazil’s Foreign Ministry told Reuters. The October flight had 70 deportees aboard.

The two deportation flights in October and this week are the first authorised by Brazil since 2006 and mark a policy change

by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro who has sought closer ties with the Trump Administration, two Brazilian officials said on condition of anonymity.

Brazil has previously refused to receive mass deportations from the United States and is now allowing these transfers to help President Donald Trump’s policy of speeding up deportations of illegal migrants at the Mexican border, they said.

Brazil’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the Brazilian Government had been notified of the repatriation of Brazilian nationals who were not admitted to the United States.

“What else can we do?

They are being detained at the border and aren’t going to be able to enter the United States. We have to bring them home,” a third official told Reuters when asked about the deportations.

Trump has made restricting legal and illegal immigration a central focus of his presidency and his 2020 re-election campaign.

His administration has issued a series of sweeping policies seeking to limit access to US asylum at the Mexico border and has pledged to ramp up deportations of migrants living illegally in the United States.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

guyanatimesgy.com

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

Meet the delegates

Age: 20 Hometown: Lethem, Region Nine Hobbies: Reading, travelling and wildlife photography

Age: 20 Hometown: Berbice, Region Six Interests: Astrology, athletics, fashion

Age: 20 Hometown: United Kingdom Interests: Painting, drawing facial abstract art

Age: 20 Hometown: Wakenaam, Essequibo Islands-West Demerara Interests: Marketing, web design and philanthropy

Age: 22 Hometown: United Kingdom Interests: Singing, research

Age: 24 Hometown: Bartica Interests: Pageantry, teaching, counselling

Age: 22 Hometown: Tobago Interests: Writer, poet, dancer, psalmist, and professional model

Age: 18 Hometown: Mahdia Interests: Travelling, interacting, Photography and modelling

Age: 17 Hometown: Berbice, Region Six Interests: Advocacy for suicide awareness

Age: 18 Hometown: West Coast Demerara Interests: Volunteering, teaching, Karate

Age: 24 Hometown: USA Interests: Audit, accounting, teaching

Hometown: Florida Interests: Communications, advertising, psychology, philanthropy

Age: 23 Hometown: Diamond, East Bank Demerara Interests: Dancing, modelling, camping, and baking

Age: 21 Hometown: Trinidad Interests: Designing, information technology, empowering women

Age: 25 Hometown: Rose Hall Interests: Indoors and outdoors sports, charitable work

Age: 19 Hometown: Triumph, East Coast Demerara Interests: Business Management, dancing

Age 21 Hometown: Georgetown Interests: Fashion, communication, public speaking

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

19

NBA round-up: Williamson scores 22 but loses NBA debut

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ew Orleans’ Zion Williamson scored 22 points in his NBA debut, but LaMarcus Aldridge topped him with 32 points and 14 rebounds as the visiting San Antonio Spurs defeated the Pelicans 121-117 on Wednesday night.

Williamson, the first overall choice in last year’s draft, missed the first 44 games of the season while rehabbing from arthroscopic knee surgery. He struggled for three quarters before scoring 17 consecutive Pelicans points to briefly give them the lead in the fourth quarter before sitting out the final 5 1/2 minutes as Spurs regained control.

Brandon Ingram matched Williamson’s 22 points for New Orleans. Lonzo Ball had 14 points and 12 assists, Jrue Holiday scored 12, Derrick Favors had 11 points and 10 rebounds, and JJ Redick and Josh Hart scored 10 apiece.

Williamson also amassed seven rebounds, three assists and five turnovers while playing 18 minutes, 18 seconds.

Utah Jazz 129 - Golden State Warriors 96 Utah completed its first seasonseries sweep of Golden State in 10 years, using 23 points from Donovan Mitchell and 22 from Rudy Gobert as the foundation for a runaway victory in San Francisco.

Gobert, who had been a bit iffy for the game after rolling his ankle in a Monday home win over the Indiana Pacers, also had a gamehigh 15 rebounds for the Jazz, whose first three wins over the Warriors this season had come by a total of just 26 points. Mitchell shot 8-for-13 and Gobert 10-for-13, helping Utah connect on 53.8 percent in the game.

The Warriors were limited to 39.8 percent shooting. Golden State’s D’Angelo Russell led all scorers with 26 points.

Atlanta Hawks 102 - Los Angeles Clippers 95 John Collins scored 33 points and reserve Brandon Goodwin scored all 19 of his points in the second half to help the short-handed Hawks erase a 21-point deficit and defeat shorthanded Los Angeles at Atlanta.

Collins was 12 of 22 from the field and added 16 rebounds, matching his season high. It was his ninth doubledouble and third 30-point effort of the season. The Hawks also got 12 points and seven rebounds from Kevin Huerter plus 10 points and eight rebounds from Cam Reddish.

The Hawks were without leading scorer and floor leader Trae Young, a game-time scratch due to a right thigh contusion. The Clippers were playing without starters Kawhi Leonard (load management), Paul George (left hamstring strain) and Patrick Beverley (groin). Montrezl Harrell led Los Angeles with 30 points.

Los Angeles Lakers 100 New York Knicks 92 Anthony Davis scored a game-high

28 points for visiting Los Angeles, who held off New York.

Davis was 7 of 14 from the field and 13 of 13 from the free-throw line, matching his most conversions without a miss in a game this season.

LeBron James had 21 points and six rebounds, five assists and five steals for the Lakers, who won for the 11th time in 13 games.

Marcus Morris Sr. scored 20 points and Damyean Dotson came off the bench to add 17 for the Knicks, who have lost four of their past five and are 2-9 in their past 11. Julius Randle had 16 points for New York.

Chicago Bulls 117 - Minnesota Timberwolves 110 Zach LaVine scored 25 points — including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:26 to go — and Cristiano Felicio notched a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds to lift host Chicago past slumping Minnesota.

Karl-Anthony Towns scored a game-high 40 points and Andrew Wiggins followed with 25 for Minnesota, but it wasn’t enough as the Timberwolves took their seventh straight defeat.

Lauri Markkanen followed LaVine with 21 points and hit four treys to become the 13th player in league history with 100 made 3-pointers in his first three NBA seasons. Luke Kornet (15 points), Kris Dunn (14) and Coby White (12) also finished in double figures for Chicago.

Toronto Raptors 107 Philadelphia 76ers 95 Fred VanVleet scored 22 points and added eight assists as Toronto beat visiting Philadelphia.

Pascal Siakam added 18 points and 15 rebounds for the Raptors, who have won five in a row and have won 15 straight regular-season home games against the 76ers. Norman Powell contributed 18 points off the bench for Toronto.

Tobias Harris had 22 points and Ben Simmons had 17 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for the 76ers. Furkan Korkmaz added 17 points, Matisse Thybulle had 13 points, and Al Horford had seven points and 10 rebounds.

Boston Celtics 119 Memphis Grizzlies 95 Jayson Tatum scored 23 points before exiting with a groin injury in the third quarter as Boston crushed visiting Memphis.

Daniel Theis added 14 points, Enes Kanter chipped in 13 off the bench, and Marcus Smart and Gordon Hayward scored 12 apiece as Boston won its second straight since losing six of eight.

J o n a s Valanciunas

had a team-high 16 points and 13 rebounds, and Jaren Jackson Jr. and Solomon Hill each added 13 points for the Grizzlies, who lost their second straight since a seven-game win streak. Memphis dropped its eighth consecutive meeting with Boston.

Houston Rockets 121 Denver Nuggets 105 Russell Westbrook flirted with a triple-double while James Harden added 27 points as Houston snapped a four-game skid with win over visiting Denver.

Westbrook scored a game-high 28 points, grabbed a season-hightying 16 rebounds and added eight assists to pace the Rockets, who had dropped five of six during their longest slide of the season. Harden was 6 of 13 from the field and 13 of 15 from the free throw line to complement Westbrook, and Eric Gordon added 25 points on 8-for-11 shooting off the Houston bench.

The Nuggets were without guards Jamal Murray and Gary Harris plus forwards Paul Millsap and Michael Porter Jr. It required a yeoman effort for Denver to keep pace, with Nikola Jokic posting a triple-double of 19 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists to steer the patchwork lineup.

Oklahoma City Thunder 120 - Orlando Magic 114 Dennis Schroder tied a season high with 31 points to lead Oklahoma City to a win at Orlando.

The victory was Oklahoma City’s third straight overall and fourth straight on the road. Schroder scored 20 points in the second half to help seal the victory.

Orlando lost for the third time in

New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) drives past San Antonio Spurs centre Jakob Poeltl (USA Today Sports)

Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson is founded by Golden State Warriors guard Jordan Poole (USA Today Sports)

four games. Terrence Ross scored 19 of his season-high-tying 26 points in the second half, going 6 of 11 from the field.

Detroit Pistons 127 Sacramento Kings 106 Christian Wood scored 23 points, Reggie Jackson supplied 22 in his return to action, and host Detroit handed Sacramento its sixth consecutive loss.

Jackson had not played since the s e co n d game of the

season due to a back injury. Derrick Rose also scored 22 points and added 11 assists for the Pistons.

Langston Galloway contributed 14 points, while Markieff Morris and Svi Mykhailiuk added 13 apiece. Thon Maker chipped in 10 points and 10 rebounds.

De’Aaron Fox led the Kings with 22 points. Bogdan Bogdanovic fired in 19 points, Nemanja Bjelica and Buddy Hield had 14 points apiece, and Dewayne Dedmon added 13.

Miami Heat 134 - Washington Wizards 129 (OT) Rookie Tyler Herro scored a team-high 25 points, and Jimmy Butler scored nine of his 24 points in overtime to lead host Miami past Washington.

Herro set a team rookie record with seven 3-pointers, missing only twice for the Heat, who have the NBA’s best home record at 20-1. They went only 19-22 at AmericanAirlines Arena last season. Miami also has the best overtime record in the league at 8-0.

The Wizards, who got a gamehigh 38 points from Bradley Beal, fell to 0-18 on the road when trailing after three quarters. Beal added nine rebounds and five assists.

Indiana Pacers 112 - Phoenix Suns 87 T.J. Warren scored 25 points against his former team, and Domantas Sabonis added 24 points and 13 rebounds as Indiana seized an early lead and never trailed in a victory at Phoenix.

Doug McDermott had 12 points and Justin Holiday 11 as the Pacers won for the sixth time in their past seven games while recovering from a defeat at Utah on Monday.

Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 17 points and Devin Booker 16 as the Suns lost their second game in a row. Without Cameron Johnson (quad) and Aron Baynes (hip), the Suns were playing with a short bench. (Reuters)

20

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

A

Top 10 women seeds advance

A

ll of the top 10 women’s singles seeds have reached the Australian Open third round for the first time since 2007.

Fifth seed Elina Svitolina completed the set when she beat American Lauren Davis 6-2 7-6 (86) in a match that finished at 00:45 local time.

The Ukrainian, searching for her first Grand Slam title, will play Spanish two-time major champion Garbine Muguruza next.

Karolina Pliskova and Belinda Bencic were among the winners on day four.

Eighth seed Serena Williams won the title in 2007 when she was unseeded.

She will play Wang Qiang in the third round on Friday, while defending champion Naomi Osaka takes on Coco Gauff in a rematch Rafael Nadal of their emotional US Open checks on a ballgirl meeting in September. after she was hit by Play was delayed on the one of his outside courts on Thursday bereturns (Reuters) cause of the dust and mud that came down during a rainstorm in ies, knocked out Melbourne on Wednesday night.

Czech 20th seed On Margaret Court Arena, Karolina Muchova 6-4 6-4.

Swiss Belinda Bencic overcame Bellis, who was was told she Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko in a may have to quit tennis after fluctuating match to the reach the struggling with wrist and elbow third round. injuries, will next face Belgian The sixth seed, 22, lost four 16th seed Elise Mertens who beat games in a row in both sets but still Britain’s Heather Watson 6-3 6-0. managed to win 7-5 7-5 against Angelique Kerber, the 2016 the 2017 French Open champion. champion in Melbourne, saw off Muguruza progressed with a Australian wildcard Priscilla 6-3 3-6 6-3 victory over Australian Hon 6-3 6-2, while Carla Suarez Ajla Tomljanovic on Rod Laver Navarro, who will retire at the Arena. end of the season, lost 6-3 7-5 to Czech second seed Karolina Poland’s Iga Swiatek.

Pliskova had a straightforward Dutch ninth seed Kiki Bertens 6-3 6-3 win over Germany’s Laura overcame Australia’s Arina Siegemund and will play Russia’s Rodionova 6-3 7-5 and 2019 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova or semi-finalist Danielle Collins American Taylor Townsend in the was beaten 6-4 2-6 7-5 by Yulia last 32.

Putintseva of Kazakhstan.

American Catherine Bellis, Putintseva will face fourth seed ranked 600 in the world and play- Simona Halep after the Romanian ing at her first Grand Slam in two two-time Grand Slam champion years after four surg e r -

beat Britain’s Harriet Dart.

Nadal moves on

World number one Rafael Nadal reached the third round of the Australian Open with a straight-set win over Argentina’s Federico Delbonis.

Nadal, bidding for a record-equalling 20th Grand Slam title, swept aside 76th-ranked Delbonis 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 6-1.

The Spaniard will face compatriot and 27th seed Pablo Carreno Busta next.

There were battling five-set wins for seeds Dominic Thiem and Karen Khachanov on the fourth day in Melbourne, and an entertaining victory for Nick Kyrgios.

Nadal has not won the Australian Open since 2009 but he has entered this year’s first Grand Slam as the top seed.

While he was made to work

against Delbonis during the second set, the Spaniard had his chances to wrap up the match quicker, converting just three of 20 break points.

Nadal also kissed a ballgirl on the cheek and gave her a headband after he accidentally struck her during a rally.

Thiem & Khachanov battle through

Karen Khachanov fell to the floor in exhaustion after his fourhour match against Mikael Ymer Russian 16th seed Khachanov fought for four hours and 36 minutes to overcome Sweden’s Mikael Ymer.

Khachanov collapsed to the floor - and then struggled to stand with cramp - after sealing a 6-2 2-6 6-4 3-6 7-6 (10-8) victory over his 78th-ranked opponent.

He will face Kyrgios next after

the Australian’s victory over Gilles Simon.

Fifth seed Thiem came through a five-set thriller of his own against Australian wildcard Alex Bolt.

Two-time French Open finalist Thiem overcame world number 140 Bolt 6-2 5-7 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 6-2.

Thiem, one of the fittest players on tour, ultimately outlasted his opponent in three hours and 26 minutes to set up a meeting with American Taylor Fritz.

Fourth seed Daniil Medvedev reached the third round with a straight-set win over Spanish qualifier Pedro Martinez.

The 23-year-old, beaten in September’s US Open final, had a nosebleed in the second set but won 7-5 6-1 6-3 on Margaret Court Arena.

Germany’s seventh seed Alexander Zverev, who has yet to go beyond the fourth round in Australia, beat Belarusian Egor Gerasimov 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 7-5.

Qualifier Ernests Gulbis of Latvia reached the Melbourne third round for the first time in his career with a straight-set win over Aljaz Bedene.

Gulbis, a former world number 10 who has fallen to 256 in the rankings, won 7-5 6-3 6-2 and will face French 10th seed Gael Monfils next.

Monfils fought back to beat 40-year-old Croatian Ivo Karlovic 4-6 7-6 (10-8) 6-4 7-5.

American John Isner claimed an unusually swift win, taking just 85 minutes to beat Chilean qualifier Alejandro Tabilo 6-4 6-3 6-3.

Big-serving Isner, who has played in the two longest matches in professional tennis history, hit 32 aces.

Kevin Anderson, who played Isner in the record-breaking Wimbledon semi-final in 2018, was beaten 4-6 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 6-2 by Fritz. (BBC Sport)

Blairmont Blazers humiliate Achievers in Under-15 encounter T

Rashaad Gaffur scored 140 and bagged 3 for 7

he Blairmont Blazers Cricket Club (BBCC) under-15 team humiliated their counterparts of the Achievers Cricket Club in a thrilling encounter last Sunday at the Blairmont Estate Cricket Ground on the West Bank of Berbice, winning their 45-over affair by 229 runs.

Sent in to bat, the Blazers created all sorts of problems for their out-of-form opponents, with middle order batsman Rashaad Gaffur striking an unbeaten 140, which included 18 classy boundaries and 2 maximums, while his batting partner Romeo Deonarain stroked a well composed 56, which included 7 boundaries.

After Deonarain’s departure, Gaffur went on the rampage with the bat, and the Blairmont innings came to a close with the re-

Romeo Deonarain scored 56

Sajaad Ishmael took 3 wickets for 3 runs

spectable score of 289-3.

The Achievers lead bowler was Louis Hardcourt, with 2/28.

Needing 290 for victory off 270 balls, the Achievers immediately found themselves in trouble with wickets tumbling.

The BBCC bowlers maintained such a disciplined line and length that their deliveries were practically unreadable; and the Achievers, finding themselves unable to handle scoreboard pressure, capitulated for a paltry 60 runs.

The BBCC lead bowler was Sajaad Ishmael, who took 3 wickets for 3 runs. Rashaad Gaffur chipped in with 3 for 7, while Satesh Ramkission contributed 2 for 2; Rawl Dindyal 1 for 10, and Romeo Deonarain 1 for 14.

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GUYANATIMESGY.COM

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

Magnum "Mash Cup" Futsal Tournament begins tomorrow F

utsal teams from Georgetown and areas outlying the capital city have just one more day of waiting before competition in the third annual Magnum Tonic Wine Mashramani Cup begins.

Being the first futsal tournament to be staged for 2020, the normally arresting excitement of this tournament is expected to be augmented by the energetic vibes of this particularly significant Republic Season, making the ‘Magnum Mash Cup’ 2020 tournament an even more dynamic and exhilarating competition. Thus, for the next nine nights, the National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue is the place to be for matchless excitement and optimum satisfaction.

Twenty-four teams will begin their pursuit of this tournament’s grand prize -- a whopping $600,000 -from tomorrow evening; and after Saturday, the tournament will have seven more playing days before the final match is played on Saturday, February 22. Those other playing dates are as follows: Tuesday January 28; Thursday January 30; Saturday February 1; Tuesday February 4;

$100,000 respectively, together with the trophies for those placements.

Magnum Mash Cup Groups: Group A

Back Circle Sparta Boss ANSA McAL All Stars Bad-A-Yard

Group B

Rio All-Stars Leopold Street Spartacus Melanie

Group C

Future Stars Alexander Village Spot-7 Mocha

Group D

Riveting action is expected in the Magnum Mashramani Cup Futsal Tournament

Thursday February 6 (Round-of-16); Saturday February 8 (Quarterfinals), and Saturday February 15 (Semi-Finals).

Tomorrow night’s action commences with Bad-a-Yard and ANSA McAL All Stars going at each other from 19:00hrs.

Alexander Village will then collide head-to-head with Spot-7 at 19:30hrs, before

Showstoppers and North East La Penitence oppose each other in the game following, at 20:00hrs.

Melanie will thereafter battle Leopold Street from 20:30hrs, before Rio All Stars lock horns with Spartacus at 21:00hrs.

Some of futsal’s more exciting gladiators will do battle later in the night, as Bent Street take on

Avocado Ballers at 21:30hrs and Back Circle collide with Sparta Boss at 22:00hrs.

At conclusion of this tournament, the winner will be rewarded with $600,000 and a trophy, while the second-placed team will walk away with $300,000 and a trophy. Third and fourthplaced finishers will also walk away happy with purses of $200,000 and

Bent Street Showstoppers North East La Penitence Avocado Ballers

Group E

Sophia Broad Street Kingston Island All Stars

Group F

Gold is Money Albouystown Stabroek Ballers Belfield

2020 National Senior, Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships…

Competition commences today T 223-7230-1 (Ext 55)

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he Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA), in collaboration with the National Sports Commission (NSC) and some key sponsors, will today stage the 2020 National Senior, Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships.

Action begins from 16:00hrs this afternoon at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) on Homestretch Avenue in Georgetown, and will continue tomorrow and conclude on Sunday, January 26.

These championships will feature five categories of competition; namely: Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, B Class Open Singles, C Class Open Singles, and 21-Years- and-Under Male and a similar category for female players.

The Junior and Cadet Championships will engage male and female players in the age categories of 15 to 18 years, and will have a novices’ component; while the Senior Championships will engage senior males and females, and will have under-21 male and female components and ‘B and C’ Class components.

These National Championships are premier domestic tournaments.

They are used for the crowning of national champions, and serve to establish a ranking and selection system, among other benefits.

With the continental qualification event for Games of the XXXII Olympiad scheduled for April 15–19, 2020, and the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics scheduled for August 2020, many of the events scheduled on the regional and international calendars

These individuals are among those who will be going into action

of activities have been advanced.

This will see the Caribbean Junior and Cadet Championships being scheduled for March 2020, and the Caribbean Senior Championships being scheduled for April 2-8 in Havana, Cuba.

The latter championships are being used as the qualification event for the 2021 World Table Tennis Championships to be held in Houston, Texas, USA and the Continental Olympic qualification event to be held in early 2020. Thus these national championships have been provided with greater impetus.

Current National Junior Boys

Champion Jonathan Van Lange, together with Jamal Nicholas, Isaiah Layne, Colin Wong, Kaysan Ninvalle, Yeudistir Persaud, Terrence Rausch, Krystian Sahadeo, Dhanesh Persaud, Peter Persaud, Curtis McCrae, Ajay Persaud, Uriel Isadore, Kyle Chung, Ebo Mc Neil, Malaki Moore, Andell Austin, Narren Persaud, Salim Rahim Percival, Jaswan Seenarine, Rhys Belle, Adrian Melville, Tyler Orderson, Christopher Barrow and Joshua Lucas, among others, will be making their claim to the throne.

In the Girls’ category, current National Under-18 Champion Thuraia Thomas will be hard pressed

to defend her title against the likes of Neveah Clarkston, Crystal Ann Melville, Abigail Martin, Jasmine Billingy, Akira Watson, Samara Sukhai; and new talents Lisana Ramascindo, Sufah Burrowes, Samirah Burrowes, Alana Gouveia and Upha Hackett Isasha.

With the quantum of young, immensely talented athlete players who possess lots of potential currently emerging and playing the sport in the respective categories, the championships truly make for a competitive tournament that is filled with key rivalry and excitement.

22

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

ICC 2020 Under-19 World Cup…

West Indies demolish Nigeria, advance to quarter-final

I

mpressive performances with bat and ball helped West Indies sweep their group stage campaign with a 100 per cent record as they dominated Nigeria in Kimberley.

Half-centuries from Kimani Melius and Matthew Patrick propelled the 2016 champions to 303 for eight before Jayden Seales continued his hot streak with the ball, taking four for 19 to consign Nigeria to 57 all out.

After winning the toss and choosing to bat, Windies were soon vindicated as captain Melius and Leonardo Julien (18) put on 70 runs for the first wicket.

Melius went on to record his first half-century of the tournament, scoring 65 off 81 balls including nine fours and two sixes.

Although Nigeria pegged their opponents back during the middle overs with crucial wickets from Peter Aho (two for 53) and Sylvester Okpe (two for 66), a 90-run seventh-wicket stand between Joshua James (43) and Patrick carried the West Indies closer to their formidable total The latter top-scored in the innings with a 70-ball 68 (six fours, two sixes).

The defence of their score was straightforward as debutants Nigeria struggled to make headway with the bat, with Okpe (10) and Abdulrahman Jimoh (17) the only batters to register double-figures.

Fast bowler Seales grabbed four of the five top-order batsmen, with Ashmead Nedd (three for 11) and Patrick (two for 16) also contributing to dismiss the West African side with 28.2 overs to spare. (CWI)

Guinness "Greatest of the Streets" Tournament…

Greatness returns to the streets tonight!

Matthew Patrick

SCOREBOARD West Indies Under-19s Innings (50 overs maximum) KS Melius (c) c Okpe b Aho . 65 LJA Julien † b Jimoh . . . . . 18 KA Anderson lbw b Aho . . . 25 KSA McKenzie st †Ikaige b Runsewe . . . . . . . . . . . 15 ARD Morris b Okpe . . . . . 17 MJS Patrick c Aho b Abolarin 68 NRJ Young c Olaleye b Okpe 2 JM James c Abolarin b Jimoh 43 AR Nedd not out . . . . . . . 3 JNT Seales not out . . . . . . 1 Extras (b 10, lb 6, nb 4, w 26) 46 TOTAL (50 Overs, RR: 6.06) 303/8 Did not bat: RR Simmonds Fall of wickets: 1-70 (Leonardo Julien, 16.2 ov), 2-135 (Kimani Melius, 24.5 ov), 3-142 (Kevlon Anderson, 26.2 ov), 4-163 (Kirk McKenzie, 29.1 ov), 5-191 (Antonio Morris, 34.5 ov), 6-199 (Nyeem Young, 38.2 ov), 7-289 (Matthew Patrick, 48.5 ov), 8-300 (Joshua James, 49.4 ov) BOWLING: RA Abolarin (6-0-411), P Aho (10-0-53-2), AA Jimoh (9-0-56-2), AE Isesele (4-0-16-0), SA Okpe (10-0-66-2), SI Runsewe (10-0-42-1), I Danladi (1-0-13-0)

Nigeria Under-19s Innings (target: 304 runs from 50 overs) SI Runsewe b Seales . . . . . 0 OE Olaleye b Seales . . . . . 0 S Mba c Nedd b Seales . . . . 5 I Danladi lbw b Nedd . . . . . 7 O Boniface lbw b Seales . . . 0 SA Okpe (c) run out (Young) 10 MK Ikaige † c James b Patrick 2 AA Jimoh lbw b Nedd . . . . 17 P Aho b Patrick . . . . . . . . 0 AE Isesele lbw b Nedd . . . . 2 RA Abolarin not out . . . . . 0 Extras (b 4, lb 1, w 9) . . . . . 14 TOTAL (21.4 Overs, RR: 2.63) 57 all out Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Sulaimon Runsewe, 0.2 ov), 2-5 (Olayinka Olaleye, 2.5 ov), 3-23 (Samuel Mba, 8.2 ov), 4-23 (Oche Boniface, 8.4 ov), 5-29 (Isaac Danladi, 11.4 ov), 6-35 (Sylvester Okpe, 13.3 ov), 7-50 (Miracle Ikaige, 17.2 ov), 8-53 (Peter Aho, 18.3 ov), 9-56 (Abdulrahman Jimoh, 20.3 ov), 10-57 (Akhere Isesele, 21.4 ov) BOWLING: JNT Seales (60-19-4), RR Simmonds (51-6-0), AR Nedd (5.4-3-113), MJS Patrick (5-0-16-2)

T

Last year’s Guinness action in Linden was fantastic

he 2020 season of the Guinness "Greatest of the Streets" Championship commences this evening amidst much anticipation and keen expectation from members of the public who are already excited at the treat they know is in store for them.

The competition begins with the Linden Zone, which will be played at the Silver City Tarmac in that mining township.

Eight elimination matches will be staged, with the opening match pitting Retrieve Unknowns against Quiet Storm from 19:00hrs.

This will be followed by former champions Dave & Celina’s All-Stars battling Amazings from 19:30hrs, while Wisroc oppose Presidential from 20:00hrs, and Assassa Ballers engage defending champions High Rollers from 20:30hrs.

In the fifth clash, Coomacka lock horns with NK Ballers from 21:00hrs, while former winner Amelia’s Ward Russians take aim at Capital Storm from 21:30hrs.

In the final two matches, Swag Entertainment battle Barsenal from 22:00hrs and Silver Bullets match skills with Haynes Hitters from 22:30hrs.

According to an official release

from the tournament’s coordinators, competition in the Linden Zone will last for four nights, during which a knockout format will be utilised.

The correspondence further details, “All 16 teams will play on the first night.

The winning eight teams will advance to the quarterfinal (round), which will be held the following night. The losing eight teams will enter the Plate Exhibition Round on the quarterfinal night. The winning teams from the quarterfinals will then advance to the semi-finals, while the four losing quarterfinalists will also enter the Plate round.”

The release concluded, “The winning teams from the semi-final round will progress to the championship round, with the losers facing off in the playoff round.

The finals of the Plate Round will also occur on that evening.”

The Linden Zone’s other playing nights are: January 26th [quarterfinal round], February 7th [semi-final round] and February 8th [Final].

The tournament in the Berbice Zonal is slated to commence upon conclusion of the Linden Zone tournament.

“Respect will be shown, not given,” says Fruta Coach Wayne St Jules …GFC, Fruta U-20 share expectations for Turbo final

The Fruta Conquerors U-20 team in practice session

The GFC team, working on their passes during a practice session

By Jemima Holmes

T

wo of Georgetown’s most dominant football clubs, each having a brilliant track record and long history in the game, will clash for the Turbo Knockout Football competition title on Sunday, January 26.

And while to some it may look like ‘just another final’, a win will be priceless to either team.

Following a riveting semifinal round, Georgetown Football Club and Fruta Conquerors Under 20 bagged contrasting wins in order to set up what is expected to be one of the most anticipated football finals the game’s fraternity has seen in recent years.

When the lights go on at the Ministry of Education Ground on Sunday, these two teams, which each holds a strong youth component, will battle for a grand prize of $400,000.

More importantly, the right to say, “We are the best team in

Georgetown”, is at stake in this encounter; thus with just a few days to go before this massive clash, the finalists are hard at work perfecting their prior mistakes, and will not relent in their pursuit until they consider themselves truly invincible.

The Georgetown Football Club (GFC) have recently been boosted by stars like Deon Alfred, but according to Captain Ronnell McLean, who spoke exclusively with <<Guyana Times Sport>>, the strength of their team lies in its youths.

“For the longest while, we’ve been trying to accumulate a lot of players with strength, and we’ve had a lot of youths with our team. We have about three to four players who are senior, but besides that, it’s bare youths pushing the team,” McLean stated.

As captain and goalkeeper, McLean disclosed that the memory of the GFC’s last encounter with Fruta Conquerors is still fresh in the team members’ minds, and the

Bourda team will not be taking their opponents lightly.

“For me, it’s discipline. We just have to hold on to everything that we’ve been taught, and go through this tournament just how we started: powerful, strong, focused on everything we have to do; not underestimating Fruta Conquerors, and not forgetting what Fruta Conquerors did to us,” the GFC captain explained.

The energetic Fruta Conquerors’ Under 20 team seemingly have the edge in this encounter, having a Limacol 2019 title win under their belt. Based on this fact, Fruta Conquerors’ Under 20 Head Coach Wayne St. Jules declared himself confident about the team’s abilities going into this final.

“I’m very confident that we have the players who could carry us through and win this tournament, but we’re not saying that we’re just turning up there to play; we (are) go-

ing there to win!” St. Jules affirmed.

Referring to the last time the two teams met, St. Jules revealed that the players in this Tucville-based team are not going to underestimate their rivals.

In fact, St. Jules had an interesting comment to make about respect: “We’ve beaten GFC before, but, as I told the players, that was in the past; now, we’re not underrating GFC. (In) the semifinal that I saw them play, they looked really good in attack.

We’re going out there to play attacking football. We’ll show them respect, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to give them respect!”

In this encounter, one thing is for sure: spectators who show up to witness the Turbo final on Sunday will be treated to a veritable goal-fest, as both teams have expressed their intention to tidy up their shot-making.

“Well, we’ve had a lot of chances at the goal, and we’ve missed a lot. So, for me, it’s just finishing; fin-

ishing every opportunity that we have! With youth and experience, I don’t think anything can beat that,” McLean declared.

“We’re planned this week to do some finishing and some defensive work, because we’re not looking too good in this tournament defensively.

In the Limacol tournament, we were exceptional in defense and attack, but somehow, we fell off in this one, (although), because of some of the players we have, who are very good individually, we rallied through,” St. Jules disclosed.

While the final between GFC and Fruta Under 20 will be contested at 21:00hrs, football fanatics can catch the third-place playoff between Pouderoyen FC and Northern Rangers at 18:30hrs at the Ministry of Education Ground.

The Turbo Knockout Football tournament is sponsored by the Guyana Beverages Inc.

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

CWI PCL 4-Day Championship Tournament…

23

Jaguars end opening day on 263-6 – Chanderpaul, Bramble, Barnwell score half-centuries

A desperate appeal from Akeal Hosein Story and Photos By Brandon Corlette

I

n their third-round clash of the Cricket West Indies (CWI) Professional Cricket League (PCL) 4-Day Championship Tournament against the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force, Guyana Jaguars ended the opening day on 263-6 after exactly 90 overs of play at the Providence Stadium in Guyana.

Three Jaguars batsmen struck half-centuries: Tagenarine Chanderpaul, who laboured to 68; Anthony Bramble, who remained unbeaten on an aggressive 63; and Christopher Barnwell, who made an enterprising 58.

Winning the toss in glorious sunshine, Jaguars elected to bat first; and openers Chandrapaul Hemraj and Tagenarine Chanderpaul added 37 runs together before

Hemraj, at his fluent best, concluded his breezy innings with a 41-ball 36 when he played a close delivery that ended up on his stumps and he was bowled all ends up by off-spinner Bryan Charles. The flamboyant lefty had struck six fours and one six in his innings.

Captain Leon Johnson came to the crease, and was the next wicket to fall after he played one back and was trapped in front by left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein for 20, which came off 61 balls and spanned 68 minutes.

At the lunch interval, the Jaguars were 69-2, with the rock solid Chanderpaul unbeaten on 13 while Vishal Singh was the new batsman to the crease. Singh departed for four, falling to Charles with the score at 80-3, but young Chanderpaul found a reliable partner in Christopher Barnwell.

The duo took the score to 150-3 in 63 overs at the tea interval, with the Jaguars roaring.

Unsurprisingly, Barnwell’s score had surpassed Chanderpaul’s at that interval, Barnwell being unbeaten on 44 from 72 balls, while Chanderpaul had blocked his way to a 183-ball 43.

At the final session of play, Hosein got some turn and tangled Barnwell a bit.

The pugnacious right-hander broke the shackles with two sweet boundaries that carried his score past another halfcentury, but his innings ended when Red Force captain Darren Bravo introduced himself and bagged his wicket by trapping him in front.

Barnwell departed after contributing an attractive 58, made from 104 balls and decorated with ten fours.

When Barnwell departed, an 86-run partnership with

Chanderpaul came to an end, and the Jaguars were 166-4.

Bramble came, and looked busy at the crease, slamming boundaries with ease and grace. He eventually outscored Tage Chanderpaul, dominating their 85-run partnership.

With the day’s play quickly approaching a closure, Jaguars were 251-5 when the ‘wall’, Chanderpaul departed, caught at the wicket by Joshua Da Silva off the bowling of Bryan Charles.

Tage, who has been in decent form with his third halfcentury this season, managed 68 runs from 251 balls in an innings that spanned 338 minutes and included nine fours.

Promising all-rounder Kevin Sinclair fell for a third-ball duck, hitting a return catch to Charles. This off-spinner, who struck twice in his penultimate over of the day, had his ‘tail up’, but Devendra Bishoo humbled the offie with two fours, to sign off the Jaguars’ opening day on 263-6, made in 90 overs.

Bishoo ended the day on

Christopher Barnwell played an exquisite cover drive during his half-century

ten.

Bramble, whose bat said all he had to say, ended the day unbeaten on 63 from only 49 balls, having struck nine fours and two sixes.

He will resume batting on day two with his Albion teammate Bishoo.

Charles ended his proverbial good day at the office with 4-65 reaped in 25 overs, five of which were maidens.

Action in the second day’s play, today, will bowl off from 9:30h at the National Stadium at Providence.

SCOREBOARD Guyana Jaguars 1st Innings Tagenarine Chanderpaul C Da Silva b Charles 68 Chandrapaul Hemraj 36 b Charles Leon Johnson lbw Hosein 20 Vishaul Singh c Ottley b Charles 4 Christopher Barnwell lbw Bravo 58 Anthony Bramble not out 62 Kevin Sinclair c&b Charles 0

Devendra Bishoo not out 10 Total: 263-6 90 overs Fall of Wickets: 1-38, 2-69, 3-80, 4-166, 5-251, 6-251 Bowling: O Smith 6-0-40-0, Brian Charles 23-6-62-4, T Hinds 158-32-0, Akeal Hosein 25-1065-1, J Mohamed 1-0-2-0, K Ottley 9-3-27-0, Y Carriah 3-014-0, Darren Bravo 8-3-17-1

GHB shortlists 26 for Pan American Challenge

F

ollowing a weekend of open tryouts, wherein players were asked to complete a series of physical tests and game situations, the Guyana Hockey Board (GHB) has shortlisted 26 local men to begin preparing to participate in the Pan American Challenge, scheduled for June 27 to July 5 in Lima, Peru.

This American Challenge tournament is the qualifier for the final two spots in the Pan American Cup, scheduled for 2021 in Trinidad & Tobago.

The shortlisted squad includes 10 senior players and 16 members of the national under-21 squad, which is also preparing for the Junior Pan American Championships to be held in Santiago, Chile in November of this year.

Commenting on the selection process, national coach Robert Fernandes highlighted the transition phase

Flashback: The Guyana National Men’s Team take a photo opportunity during the CAC Games in Colombia back in 2018

that the sport is experiencing this year.

“Looking at the turnout at the tryouts, it seems like we will be going through a transitional phase this year. Our

last international tournament was the CAC Games in August 2018, so some of our most experienced national players have since transitioned to other priorities in their lives

and didn’t tryout last weekend.

That means that there is a large crop of new faces in this year’s squad,” Fernandes explained.

Fernandes further explained that while it would

be a challenge, the new faces in the team have displayed the requisite determination to compete.

“Although their lack of experience will be a challenge,

they have displayed an infectious enthusiasm which has brought a new energy to the entire process. They are very talented, intelligent, and all seem willing to work hard; and those are some of the main ingredients we need to produce a quality national team,” he explained.

The 26 local players shortlisted are: Dominic Alleyne, Jamarj Assanah, Rayon Branford, Sherwyn Caesar, Hilmar Chester, Hilton Chester, Edmond Chinian, Paul D’ Andrade, Shakeem Fausette, Robert France, Shomere Garnett, Tahrea Garnett, Tivesarid Garnett, Jael Gaskin, Michael Hing, Troy Hodge, Randy Hope, Kareem Mc Kenzie, Tariq Nelson, John Phang, Mark Sargeant, Meshach Sargeant, Medroy Scotland, Theodore Thierens, David Williams and Samuel Woodroffe.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

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

guyanatimesgy.com

CWI PCL 4-Day Championship Tournament…

Tagenarine Chanderpaul rocking back and cutting during his 68

Jaguars

end opening day on 263-6

Page 23

Anthony Bramble took the Red Force bowlers to the cleaners in his explosive knock of 63 from 49 balls

– Chanderpaul, Bramble, Barnwell score half-centuries ICC 2020 Under-19 World Cup…

West Indies demolish Nigeria, advance to quarter-final Page 22

2020 National Senior, Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships…

Competition commences today Page 21

For request and renewal of Guyana Times newspaper subscription, call 231-0544 | ext 26 or 55 GUYANA TIMES - www.guyanatimesgy.com, email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, NEWS HOTLINE: 231-8063 EDITORIAL: 223-7230, 223-7231, 231-0544, 225-7761 SPORT: sport@guyanatimesgy.com SALES AND MARKETING: 231-8064 - marketing@guyanatimesgy.com - PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY GUYANA TIMES INC. The winners’ row following the completion of the Under-12 chess championships