Guyana Times International 13-MAR-2020a

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Defiant Mingo flouts Court order WEEK ENDING MARCH 15, 2020

ISSUE NO. 490

Page 3

...bent on using ‘fake’ spreadsheet instead of SOPs to verify results

...CARICOM Chair says attempts to stall process against the spirit of CJ’s ruling

Returning Oficer for Ragion 4, Clairmont Mingo, and CEO of GECOM Mr Keith Lowenfield in discussion at the High Court in Georgetown on Tuesday

De facto regimes P9 do not receive same treatment as democratically elected governments – US

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WEEK ENDING MARCH 15, 2020 | GUYANATIMESINTERNATIONAL.COM

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WEEK ENDING MARCH 15, 2020 | GUYANATIMESINTERNATIONAL.COM

Defiant Mingo flouts Court order ...bent on using ‘fake’ spreadsheet instead of SOPs

…CARICOM Chair says attempts to stall process against the spirit of CJ’s ruling

M

ore drama unfolded on Thursday at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Command Centre in Georgetown, resulting in Chairperson Justice Claudette Singh, suspending the tabulation of the Statements of Poll (SOPs) for District Four (Demerara-Mahaica), not long after it had restarted, to seek clarity on Chief Justice Roxane George’s ruling.

In a clear act of defiance, Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, started the process after 11:00 hrs as ordered by Justice George; and after initially barring Political Parties and Observers from entering the RO’s Office, a de-

CARICOM Leaders briefing the media on Thursday: L-R: Dominica's Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, Keith Mitchell of Gre nada, CARICOM Chair Mia Mottley, Trinidad and Tobago PM Dr Keith Rowley and Ralph Gonsalves, PM of St. Vincent and the Grenadines

cision was then taken to allow one Observer from each Mission as well as one Political Party representative.

The People’s

Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has indicated its intention to file contempt of court proceedings against Mingo, for failing to adhere to the

orders handed down by Justice Roxane George.

A notice of ‘Intended Contempt of Court Proceedings’ was sent to the RO on behalf of

private citizen, Reeaz Holladar, who had secured injunctions last week to block the declaration of unverified results by Mingo and the

declaration of overall elections results from Monday’s polling day.

On Thursday, representatives of political CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

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WEEK ENDING MARCH 15, 2020 | GUYANATIMESINTERNATIONAL.COM

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EDITORIAL

Power hungry

O

n March 2, Guyanese thought they drew a proverbial line in the sand on the creeping subversion of the rule of law, which is a disturbing sign of a return to the dark days of the PNC’s dictatorial rule, especially between 1968 and 1985 under Forbes Burnham, that party’s “founder leader”.

During the last five years, there were too many examples abounding of governmental institutions — led by President David Granger — stretching and acting outside their constitutional remit and taking unilateral political decisions that plunged the country further down the Burnhamite abyss.

As usual, it began with testing actions that violated the spirit of agreements that were solemnly crafted to guide actions in the political realm. For President Granger to renege on the agreement with the AFC contained in the “Cummingsburg Accord” — to have his Prime Minister chair the Cabinet and be in charge of domestic governance — by claiming the Constitution precluded it was more than bad faith. It was a sign that, without compunction, Granger was willing to break the moral contract between parties that undergirds the rule of law writ large. The Constitution authorises the President to delegate any of his Executive powers to any of his Ministers, but unfortunately, the AFC was unwilling to challenge him on his claim. Their mouths were muzzled by the hand that feeds them.

Granger moved on to actually violate the Constitution when he disputed, in a long and contentious argument, the clear language that was inserted to approve the nomination and appointment of “any other fit and proper person” than a judge as the Chair of GECOM. He said it was simply the “perception” of the Chief Justice, to whom the matter was referred. He insisted that he was entitled to his “perception”, and took the matter all the way to the CCJ. Even when that apex court ruled against him, Granger insisted on another obtuse interpretation of the law to claim he was entitled to include his nominations on the list of six names the Opposition Leader was supposed to submit for him to choose from.

It is when these intrusions form a pattern of violations of the spirit of the rule of law that the vigilance of the citizenry becomes critical since dictatorships are usually constructed in broad daylight while the citizens are inattentive. Soon the rights of those citizens themselves are trampled upon as the “dictator in the making” enlarges the scope of his unilateral actions.

In fact, the Chief Justice had to rule that a unilateral action

by President Granger to annul the leases of several West Coast Berbice farmers was illegal. But clearly, from his subsequent actions, that judgement did not serve to disabuse the President of his misapprehension of the “separation of powers” doctrine and his encouragement of the traducing of the rule of law.

Not surprisingly, the President’s cavalier attitude infected other officials of his Government, and almost every day one could read of further transgressions. The secreting of the “signing bonus” received from Exxon in the Bank of Guyana (BOG) for over a year — done by two senior Ministers: Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman and Minister of Finance Winston Jordan — and not in the Consolidated Fund as mandated by the Constitution (Art 216) was only the tip of the proverbial iceberg of egregious transgressions. The overreach on the oil contract signed by Trotman is still an ongoing saga, which had to be approved by the imperious Granger.

Now that Guyanese have voted, events currently unfolding in Guyana have left citizens, in shock and lost for words, as they cannot believe that what is happening before their very eyes is actually real.

The fight for the return of free and fair elections and to be ruled by a democratic government was not an easy battle; it was long and hard. We are now in 2020, and we had thought that, by this time, the nation had matured politically and leaders would act responsibly to save their country from descending into chaos and confusion and going backwards.

Unfortunately, this is not the case; we have leaders who would hold on to power at all cost, even at the expense of seeing their country being destroyed.

PPP's Anil Nandlall in discussion with Commonwealth Observers on Thursday morning after they, along with several other observers and officials of the other political parties, were prevented from entering the office of the Region 4 Returning Officer to oversee the verification process

The accusations of ‘Russian hacking’ is laughable and ludicrous

T

he accusation by two senior members of the AFC that Russians hacked the March 2 elections in an effort to tamper with the results is laughable and ludicrous. The two officials in question are qualified professionals and held high offices in the coalition government. By that, one would assume they possess a profound sense of reasoning and rationality. In reality, assumptions are just what it is.

Surely, they must have known that the voting and tabulation process in Guyana’s elections is manual; voters’ choice is indicated through the use of a pencil and the count is by hand. How could that have been hacked? More so, how could they even contemplate such a ridiculous theory? The answer lies in their desperation to fathom any excuse to try and extend the APNU/AFC’s illegal hold on power.

What is even more bizarre is that one of the two officials is the assigned Minister of Public Security and from his actions, he seems more obsessed with holding high office at the expense of combating the ongoing and escalating crime situation.

Again, by assumption, the expectation is that if someone commits an unlawful act as serious as tampering with national elections and is caught, he/she would be made to face the full force of the law regardless whether a local or a foreigner. Why then were they reportedly escorted and made to leave the country?

With foreigners being placed before the courts for illegal entry, overstaying or drug trafficking, having caught the Russians, charging and them placed before the courts, should have been routine. In addition, their arrest would have been a fillip to law enforcement. However, their in-

explicable absence from the courts or any visual evidence of them being taken into custody and deported makes a compelling case that the accusation could be totally false.

With the Security Minister being a lawyer, he cannot be blind to that fact that evidence is vital. So far, no rational Guyanese, except for the two officials and probably their colleagues in the coalition, have bought that balderdash of Russians tampering with voters’ pencils and the manual counting of the ballots.

The other official is the assigned Communications Minister. Again, by rational thinking, someone in that position is expected to communicate accurate and verifiable information more especially during this very sensitive period. It is therefore extremely difficult not to conclude that the two deliberately set out to mislead the nation for a particular purpose.

Given the circumstances where the verification and tabulation process for Region Four Statements of Poll (SOP) was halted after less than 50 per cent were completed, and the promise by the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) to resume before a declaration was made, a link to the Russian accusation is difficult to discount.

SOPs from both the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and Opposition parties corresponded up to the point when the verification was abruptly ended. With APNU/ AFC in possession of their copies of the SOPs, they knew the results of the elections and with Region Four SOPs made public, it showed that, overall, they lost the elections.

Having proved their unwillingness to remain unmoved after repeatedly violating the Constitution since May 2015,

the APNU/AFC coalition remains steadfast in holding on to office even in the face of international condemnation. As it is, GECOM’s CEO, in the presence of international and local observers, broke his promise to the nation for the constitutional verification and tabulation process to resume and continue until all the SOPs for Region Four are verified. That can only be described as wantonly dishonest.

What remains mindboggling is that a simple process has been deliberately subverted by some operatives from the GECOM Secretariat who reportedly are in collusion with APNU/AFC. The action of the Returning Officer (RO) to make a declaration without completing the verification and tabulation caused additional delay in declaring results that reflect the true will of the Guyanese people.

With reportedly false accusations of interference by Russians, the CEO blatantly reneging on his commitment to the verification and tabulation process, the RO’s declaration without the process being completed and the office cleared leaving the SOPs out of the sight of Party Agents and observers, point to suspected deliberate collusion to deny Guyanese their choice of government.

President David Granger led the coalition campaign’s thrust. He must know why the alleged Russians were not charged but given a free passage home. He must know what the Constitution says about the verification and tabulation process. Of course, that’s rational thinking given the office he holds. Unfortunately, from what has unfolded, we are clearly not dealing with rational people within the APNU/ AFC.

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WEEK ENDING MARCH 15, 2020 | GUYANATIMESINTERNATIONAL.COM

Defiant Mingo flouts... parties were at odds with the Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo when he attempted to use a spreadsheet to do the count for Region Four.

In a recording heard by this publication, Mingo said: “The numbers I have on the spreadsheet are the numbers I extracted from the original Statements of Poll that were issued to me… those are my Statements of Poll. Mine!”

“To arrive at these spreadsheets, I took each Statements of Poll, inputted into our computer, tabulated it and come up with these sheets for each polling station,” Mingo added.

A party representative then asked, “How can we verify what you’ve inputted those SOPs is the correct figures?”

Mingo replied by saying that “If it does not follow, then there is a course of action which is specified in the law you may follow.” Observers and party representatives continued to protest the use of the spreadsheet.

Thereafter, the GECOM Chairperson

arrived and addressed the gathering where she subsequently suspended the process to seek clarity.

PPP-nominated Commissioner of GECOM Sase Gunraj in a Facebook post lashed out at the Mingo for refusing to present the SOPs to ascertain the total number of votes cast at the March 2 general and regional elections.

“The RO, Mingo, is refusing to use or present Statements of Poll to ascertain the total number of votes cast in favour of each contesting party.

He is instead attempting to use a spreadsheet, which is a clear breach of the tenets of Sec 84(1) of the Representation of the People Act, Cap 3:01,” Gunraj posted on Facebook from inside the building.

Chief Justice Roxane George on Thursday ruled that GECOM had breached the Representation of the People Act when Region 4 Returning Officer (RO) Clairmont Mingo purported to make a declaration of unverified results on March 5, three days after the recently

concluded General and Regional Elections.

Those results announced by Mingo essentially awarded the election win to the ruling A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) but this was met with protests from each of the other ten parties contesting the election.

The Chief Justice ruled that given the blatant breaches of the laws governing the elections and their processes, the results declared

by Mingo were unlawful, and as such, have since been vacated and ruled that they are to be deemed null and void and without effect. More specifically, the Court ruled that the RO did not compile the tabulation of the majority of the SOPs in a transparent manner to ensure accountability in front of the statutorily authorised stakeholders as defined by Sec 86(1).

In handing down the ruling, Justice George ordered the Commission via its RO and staff that they would have to comply with the rulings of the court start-

ing at 11:00h today (Thursday).

Having ruled that the declaration by Mingo was unlawful, Chief Justice George upheld that the injunctions previously granted be held in place, which means that the results will have to be determined in compliance with section 84 (1) of the Representation of the People Act. This provision demands, among other things, that identified personnel such as observers and party counting agents be present for the process.

She noted in her ruling that the discretion would be left up to the RO and Deputy RO to decide on whether they wanted to restart the entire tabulation process for the Region Four or to continue from where it left off, meaning the remaining 458 boxes would be verified using Statement of Polls (SoPs) as was done with 421 boxes when various delays interrupted the process.

She said too, it is for the two named officials to determine the best

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method to be used in the tabulation including spreadsheets.

The Chief Justice, in handing down her ruling yesterday, was especially critical in her summation, when she turned to evidence provided by the RO, his Deputy and Attorney-at-Law, James Bond, a coalition candidate among others.

According to the Chief Justice, the evidence submitted “confirms the confusion that ensued with regards to tabulation and declaration of the votes for Region Four”. She did not take cognisance that the “confusion” was the result of various stratagems to delay the count and then finally to seek to announce unverified figures.

Meanwhile, Chair of the Caribbean C o m m u n i t y (CARICOM), Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley, has urged GECOM to strictly adhere to Wednesday’s High Court ruling.

The CARICOM Chair led a delegation comprising of regional leaders on a two-day visit to Guyana. They arrived

on Wednesday and have since met with incumbent President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo as well small political parties and other election stakeholders.

At a press conference on Thursday, Prime Minister Mottley stressed that Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George was clear in her ruling that she expects the Returning Officer (RO) to either start anew or complete the process with respect to the adherence of Statements of Poll (SoPs).

“Any attempt to be able to stall the process, or any attempt to be able to obfuscate the process is one that runs against the spirit of the Chief Justice’s judgment,” the CARICOM Chair contended.

PM Mottley further pointed out that even though the statute puts power in the hands of the Returning Officer, that the Returning Officer will understand that he “holds in his hands, the future and stability of Guyana as we go forward.”

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GECOM has lost all credibility

Dear Editor, A constitutional body that taxpayers spend billions of dollars on every year has now lost all credibility and cannot remain the same due to what unfolded over the last few weeks and suspiciously since the No-Confidence Motion (NCM) in Dec 2018.

Looking at the body of evidence, it is now apparently clear, the deliberate attempts of stalling the calling of elections since the NCM was orchestrated and succeeded as the country had to endure countless delays before elections could be held.

Additionally, the blatant attempt at pushing the APNU/AFC party in front while doing everything in its power to derail the smaller parties

is now also very clear based on testimony and their actions reported on “nomination day”.

Now, we have also just witnessed before our very eyes and the world the shameful and clear attempt to bypass procedures and crookedly declare unverified results of the 2020 general election which makes me question all of GECOM’s actions over the last year and half and perhaps even that of the previous elections as testimony suggesting their involvement in pushing the results of the 2015 elections.

These are serious and damning allegations and one cannot help but be left in utter amazement at the extent of all of it and the seemingly clear betrayal to itself and

country.

The question must now be asked, was GECOM deliberately playing delay tactics when the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ratified the NCM and insisted that elections be held in the timeframe outlined in the Constitution?

It is now apparently clear in mind, based on the body of evidence seen and heard that the cogs on the wheel started since the NCM and along with the Granger Government, a plan was hatched to infiltrate GECOM for the purpose of having a “backup” to rig elections if and when poll numbers started to look unfavourable.

The actions of GECOM should now forever change the makeup

The WPA must ensure that the integrity of the electoral process is not compromised

Dear Editor, It is revealing the naked grab for power by the APNU/AFC based on the promise of black gold, gushing forth from the Atlantic. It is also revealing the weaknesses of the WPA in its role as an insignificant political entity in the Government.

The WPA is politically weak, since it has failed to garner significant electoral support since the return to “free and fair elections” in 1992. “Free and fair elections” in the Guyana context meant a return to racial voting blocks, a historical legacy and reality mirroring the social development of Guyana with the entry of black slaves and Indian indentured servants. There is no escaping that history, and despite being products of it, we should not remain prisoners of it.

The anomaly is that the Indigenous Indian population is discarded in the process, being relevant only at elections, to facilitate the rule of Indians or Blacks, against their self-interest, or for marginal gains, if any.

In order to survive in a polarised multi-racial environment that leaves very little room for survival, the WPA has had to align itself with the PPP or the PNC, arguing that its choice was dependent upon the best interest of the nation. In effect, it was claiming to be the conscience of the nation, a very troubled conscience, with el-

ements of paranoia and schizophrenia at critical junctures, especially at election times.

There is no doubt whatsoever that the oil dollars would play a significant role in the 2020 elections, with its promise of untold wealth flowing into the pockets of those who would hold governmental power, presiding over the stewardship of billions of dollars.

Similar to the promise of independence, that of the creation of a new class of rulers, the immense fortune of oil dollars makes real the actual creation of a new class or breed of persons in control of the fabled El Dorado made real. The genie that would come out of the Alladin lamp would serve its master extremely well, fully armed to enforce its master’s commands.

Guyana’s historical development would ensure that.

One bizarre reality of the oil dollars is that it would minimise the dependency to maintain a productive economy in terms of labour, giving the Government a free hand in terms of the need to provide employment for a large section of the labour force.

In the face of racial discrimination, there would be a tendency for migration for the disempowered sector, more so if discrimination is blatant. Like the Trump Administration in the

USA, it would become official policy with the solid support of one political/racial group against the other. In Guyana, it would not have the shroud of ideology and class, but would be outright racial.

Guyana has to face its historical legacy. There is oil dollars enough for all. Spilling blood over oil is not a good choice.

We will run out of blood, long before we run out of oil. We have spilt blood at critical times, and it has left a bitter legacy. It still runs in our blood.

As Eusi Kwayana has said, “This confounded nonsense must stop.”

The WPA must not allow itself to become a prisoner of history, but must continue to lead the way forward. It must ensure that the integrity of the electoral process is not compromised.

It must come out with a statement that ensures that the independence of the Elections Commission is not compromised. It must do so in the midst of swirling rumours that there are attempts to swear in a President without the certification of the Elections Commission that the votes have been counted and the results are representative of the will of the people.

Yours truly, Rohit Kanhai A member of the Overseas WPA group

and systems within the body as well as the public should now demand that we relook at how public servants serve in these very important bodies, even regulatory agencies.

Massive overhaul of the system has to be done due to what the world has seen unfold on social media and in the presence of international observers.

The pain and haemorrhage inflicted upon Guyana since the NCM has left an indelible mark on the country’s psyche and its people.

Race relations have become progressively worse and distrust is now at an all-time high.

GECOM’s complicitness in all of this, as well as the actions of the former Justice, will forever make all state institutions suspect from this day forward.

I recommend that now “mandatory” lie detector tests should be considered for important positions in these bodies, at least twice yearly.

The ethnic makeup of employees in these bodies should be looked at due to the serious problem of “racial voting” and bias that exists in

Guyana as we clearly see the ethnic makeup in almost every state body is terribly one-sided and in a land that boasts 6 different races.

The inability of public servants to be neutral and serve the nation regardless of creed, colour or political affiliation is a serious problem and we must find ways to remedy this.

Public servants need to have their feet held to fire because they cannot serve two masters (the Guyanese public and their political party of choice).

This particular problem exists on both sides as it is not uncommon to see “Agency Heads” on the campaign trail for their favourite political party (eg as seen recently the EPA Head campaigning for the APNU/AFC).

In closing, I would like to add that the Guyanese public cannot ignore this virus brewing in state bodies (much less constitutional ones)—they can change the course of our history if we do not address them.

Finally Editor, the most disturbing and why I question everything from GECOM since the NCM is we clearly see a

body prepared to trample on democracy, its integrity, and perhaps didn’t mind having the country as a whole burn for a dictatorship to prevail— this I believe should be considered traitorous and criminal charges should be sought for all involved.

Whatever little respect we had left as a country has totally eroded and now will make Guyana ever more like a lamb to slaughter in a time when so much prosperity is expected to come our way, it will make re-negotiation of the one-sided oil deal even more harder.

Indeed, Editor, I put forward that the public should now demand that it “cannot” be business as usual for GECOM and other state agencies in this country if we are to build and move forward with efficiency and integrity.

We must insulate these bodies from the influence of politicians as much as possible if we are serious of addressing the roots of corruption and bringing balance to the system.

With regards, A Persaud

Democracy must prevail Dear Editor, It is with a heavy heart that I am penning this letter. We have over our entire lifetime in Guyana co-existed with our brothers and sisters of all races. None of us, no one race has more rights to Guyana than the other. When we fight each other over decisions made by political leaders from any party, we are only creating more division in Guyana and some political leaders use that division as leverage to garner votes….votes – that is all they care about.

I understand the hurt felt, I know what it feels like, in the end, though we the people must still co-exist with each other and when your neighbour, your friend, your villager is struggling, help them.

Our leaders have security details, secured healthcare, better education opportunities for their kids and the list goes on and on.

So let’s remember that whenever we take action to show solidarity with our chosen leaders, let us do so with calm and respect, for Guyana belongs to all of us. To

the staff at GECOM, after all your training and preparation, this is the grand finale. I know your work must be stressful with the eyes of every Guyanese and indeed, many in the world at large on you. Do not be swayed by any persuasions, remember the people of Guyana depend on you to deliver free and fair elections by having every vote counted and verified and it is still not too late.

Verification worked for the nine other regions, it can and will work for Region Four as well and for sure it would greatly reduce the tension being projected in our country and in the end, whoever emerges as the winner, their victory will be a fair and credible victory. To the smaller political parties and the foreign and local observers and businesses who are making a stand, I applaud you because if we allow ourselves and our country to be branded by the international community as having an undemocratic process for choosing our leaders it will greatly harm us as a country, not to mention further division with our

own people in Guyana.

To the leaders of the two major political parties, let us put Guyana first, put democracy first and above all respect the staff and workers at GECOM and whenever a verified tally is released, we accept the results and respect the winner.

The only way or the best way forward is for us to work together with respect as leaders and over time that will transform to the populace and we will have a country that we can all be proud of.

Guyanese are wonderful people and they live together regardless of race or creed for the majority of times but at election time, racism and other divisions surface and some politicians will exploit that for votes… let us not allow that!

Just remember we can support different parties and still be friends, still do sports together, be good neighbours because we have been doing it for all the years between elections.

Sincerely, Concerned citizen

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WEEK ENDING MARCH 15, 2020| GUYANATIMESINTERNATIONAL.COM

Florida Senator says US must stand in support of democratic transition of power in Guyana U nited States Senator for Florida, Marco Rubio has weighed in on Guyana’s current political climate, saying that the completion of a peaceful, free, and fair electoral process in Guyana is in the best interest of the country.

In statement issues, Senator Rubio said that such a process will also augur well for all the freedom-loving nations in the hemisphere.

“Following a marred vote tabulation on March 2, the presence of international electoral observers and representatives of all political parties must be guaranteed. At a time when Guyana’s democratic future is at stake, the US must stand in support of the preservation of the rule of law and democratic transition of power as established by the nation’s Constitution,” the senator’s statement read.

He added that it is critical that “all actors call

United States Senator for Florida, Marco Rubio

for maintaining social order and defend Guyana’s

Constitutional order”.

Rubio is the

Chairman of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee

on Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women’s Issues.

Only on Wednesday, the United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called on President David Granger to preserve the sanctity of democratic elections Raab and the UN Secretary-General’s Office join a long line of foreign powers who have weighed in on the current electoral issues in Guyana.

On Monday, Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo announced that he discussed Guyana’s elections during a meeting with Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister, Chrystia Freeland.

In a tweet, Pompeo said he spoke about several issues including “support for democratic transition in Guyana”.

Guyana’s healthcare system in overdrive …1st suspected coronavirus victim had returned from Queens

T

he Guyanese health care system is now in overdrive after the country evidently recorded its first coronavirus (COVID-19) death on Wednesday. The case is said to be an imported one. However, medical experts have expressed doubts about the reliability of the test used since these normally take one to two days minimum to be confirmed and in this instance, the results were supposedly confirmed in nine hours. They advised that additional tests be conducted in an abundance of caution, because of the impact for the country.

Although the authorities have not released the information about the victim, this publication understands that the dead woman has been identified as a 52-year-old woman of Good Hope, East Coast Demerara (ECD). The woman recently travelled to Guyana from Queens, New York.

President David Granger, in an address to the nation, confirmed the country’s first suspected imported case and advised of precautionary measures.

He revealed that health professionals sought to conduct tests

for COVID-19 based on the patient’s travel history. A clinical sample was collected and sent at 10:00h on Wednesday to the National Reference Laboratory, where laboratory tests confirmed the diagnosis at approximately 17:00h. However, medical specialists have questioned the diagnostic approach, including the tests which were conducted to verify that this was indeed a death of COVID-19. PAHO has not commented on the death.

Lockdown

The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) Accident and Emergency Unit went into a semi-lockdown mode on Wednesday following the death of the woman.

At the time, it was suspected that the woman died as a result of complications arising from pneumonia.

The woman’s family indicated that they could not confirm if the woman had any contact with anyone with the virus.

Suriname border closure A week ago, Volda Lawrence on Wednesday called an emergency press conference to brief the media on the country’s preparations

to deal with the coronavirus— which has been declared a pandemic.

Lawrence, who is also the Chair of People’s National Congress

(PNC), had written to Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan to cease service between Guyana and Suriname from February 29 to March 7, as a result of the alleged threat of coronavirus. However, the border was reopened just after the conclusion of the General and Regional Elections.

There were no comments about the implications of the pro-

cedures supposedly instituted at Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) to quarantine passengers that displayed symptoms of the coronavirus infection.

If you or anyone you know are experiencing symptoms of coronavirus, please call the hotline on 227-4986 ext 215 or 624-3067 and a team would be sent to your home.

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WEEK ENDING MARCH 15, 2020 | GUYANATIMESINTERNATIONAL.COM

President Granger’s shielding of Jordan from facing jail time unlawful – High Court Judge H igh Court Judge, Justice Naresh H a r n a n a n on Tuesday ruled that President David Granger’s intervention to save Finance Minister Winston Jordan from serving jailtime over an unpaid court judgement was unlawful and arbitrary.

In June 2019, Justice Priya SewnarineBeharry had granted a judgement of US$2.2 million to Trinidadbased construction company Dipcon, but Jordan refused to pay the sum and as such was found in contempt. However, as jailtime hung over his head, he was pardoned by the President who intervened.

On Tuesday, Justice Harnanan stated that the President’s intervention enabled and perpetuated continued defiance by the State through its finance minister of court orders and of the provisions of the State Liability and Proceedings Act, by insulating the Minister against the lawful consequences of default and contempt. He noted that it also perpetuated the default of the State of

Forner Finance Minister Winston Jordan

its obligations under orders by the High Court, Court of Appeal and the Caribbean Court of Justice.

Additionally, Justice Harnanan pronounced that the presidential respite facilitated the continued deprivation of

the fruits of judgement while leaving the successful litigant without any remedy or means to collect its lawful debts.

Dipcon’s lawyer, Timothy Jonas, who sought to challenge the validity of the respite, told Guyana

Times International on Wednesday that Minister Jordan was by all means liable to be arrested if he failed to comply with the court’s order.

The Trinidad-based construction company had taken the Finance

Minister to court for failing to honour the payment of millions of dollars, which was awarded

by Justice Rishi Persaud in 2015.

After Dipcon took the Government to court back in 2009 to recover monies owed for road

works done, Justice Persaud had ordered Government to pay the company US$665,032.17 as payment for the works done along with US$1,563,368.50 for costs it incurred for those works, together with interest on both amounts, at a rate of six per cent annum from February 10, 2009, to October 21, 2015 and thereafter at the rate of four per cent per annum until fully paid.

Jordan was given eight days to pay up the millions, during which time he was given a presidential pardon. He had expressed the view that he should not be responsible in his personal financial capacity for the State being sued when the matter is an inherited one.

Asked whether he was prepared to pay the money, the Minister had adopted a “wait-and-see attitude”.

Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry, through its public relations department, on Wednesday evening said that the Ministry paid Dipcon in December 2019.

Global oil price plunges …falls below break-even price

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t has only been a few months since Guyana started producing oil, and already global events have sent the price for oil plummeting to unprecedented depths on the world stage, although a Norwegian research company expects Guyana to remain untouched by production restrictions.

As of Monday, oil was trading at US$34 per barrel – a steep drop as it was only a day ago being traded at US$48.

Brent crude was being traded at US$66 per barrel when Guyana first

started oil production in December 2019.

Rystad Energy, a Norway-based research company that has written extensively on Guyana’s oil sector, has projected that the situation will get worse.

According to the company in a recent missive, the spread of the coronavirus has dealt a blow to the global demand for oil.

It noted that in February of this year, the demand for crude dropped by 4.6 million barrels per day. China, where the coronavirus had originated, made up

2.9 million barrels of this cut to demand.

There has also been talk of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) reaching an agreement to cut production. A recent meeting resulted in no major consensus being reached on how to deal with the issue.

“Rystad Energy’s pre-coronavirus global oil growth estimate was 1.1 million bpd for 2020, which we later slashed by 25 per cent last month. Our data now point to a much CONTINUED ON PAGE 17

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Single mom appeals for assistance to fund son’s heart surgery

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single mother of three is desperately longing to see her four-year-old child lead a vibrant, illness-free life, like he once did before being diagnosed with rheumatic heart disease almost two years ago.

Rewinna David of Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara (ECD) is making all efforts to

raise G$10 million to facilitate her son, Junior Kentolall undergoing a much-needed surgery in Colombia.

David told Guyana Times International that “the doctors discovered it about two years now.

He recently came out of the hospital. Last week Thursday, he was discharged and I’m trying to see if I can raise ten

million dollars to do the surgery in Colombia or any other organisation that can assist in whatever way.”

The concerned mother added that since being discharged from the Georgetown Public Hospital, Kentolall’s condition is slowly becoming worse. She shared that besides enduring immense pain, the child

De facto regimes do not receive same treatment as democratically elected governments – US

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cting Assistant Secretary for U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs Michael G. Kozak in a Twitter post on Thursday stated that in light of the present political situation in Guyana, de facto regimes do not receive the same treatment from the US as democratically elected governments.

Following is the full statement: We join the Guyanese people and the international community in calling for Guyanese election authorities to follow accepted procedures and allow international election observers to verify the results.

It is essential that the High Court-mandated elections tabulation in Guyana be concluded in a free, fair, and transparent manner.

Under U.S. law and practice those who participate and benefit from electoral fraud, undermine democratic institutions and impede a peaceful transition of power can be subject to a variety of consequences.

De facto regimes do not receive the same treatment from us as democratically elected governments.

Four-year-old Junior Kentolall

has to be dosed with Lasix, a medication used to treat fluid build-up due to heart failure, liver scarring, or kidney disease.

“Presently, … he has to be on rapid Lasix and

Acting Assistant Secretary for U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs Michael G. Kozak

he cries out for a lot of pain which makes him unable to sleep at nights, and he also has a lot of shortness of breath,” David said.

An account has been set up at Citizens Bank

(#218963959), for persons who are interested in donating financially. David shared that so far one organisation has reached out to donate, but there was still a long way to go.

Since his diagnosis, little Kentolall has not been able to attend school or have a normal life, instead, he spends most of his time in and out of hospitals.

Rheumatic heart disease is a condition in which the heart valves have been permanently damaged by rheumatic fever. The heart valve is damaged by this disease that generally begins with a strep throat caused by bacteria which eventually develops into rheumatic fever.

David is asking persons to help save her son’s life by donating.

Interested persons can contact her on cell number (592)-692-8838.

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Chief Medical Officer urges immigration officers to be attentive when screening arriving passengers

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oting that some arriving passengers fail to fill out certain parts of the form used to screen for suspected cases of coronavirus, Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr Shamdeo Persaud is urging immigration officers to pay more attention to this.

Addressing a gathering of stakeholders during a coronavirus symposium held at the National

Cultural Centre on Wednesday, Dr Persaud explained that persons arriving in Guyana are required to complete a form which requires them to indicate the countries they would have visited within the last six weeks.

However, he noted, some persons fail to answer that question. “[They] just leave that part of the form blank,” Dr Persaud informed.

As such, he called on immigration officers to pay more attention to this when they are screening arriving passengers.

“We’ve been asking that immigration officers pay keen attention to that area,” Dr Persaud said, explaining that the list of countries to look out for expands beyond China – where the virus originated.

In its last statement to

the media, the Ministry of Public Health had revealed that 18 persons were under surveillance for signs of the virus.

The Ministry had revealed that since the commencement of active monitoring at ports in Guyana on the January 18, a total of 54 persons arrived in Guyana with history of travel from high-risk areas.

The Ministry said 51

Dr Shamdeo Persaud

persons arriving from mainland China or Hong Kong were screened.

Thirty-seven of these persons were Chinese Nationals, 12 Guyanese (10 Students, one tourist and a child) and one each from Finland and the United States of America.

Two Ukrainians and one Singaporean travelled from Singapore through Europe to Guyana and were also cautiously screened and cleared for entry to Guyana.

Fifty-three persons were contacted with daily telephone calls from the Ministry of Public Health.

One person (the female traveller from Finland) was not contacted and on further investi-

gation, was found to have left Guyana the day after arrival for Suriname.

Four persons, when contacted during the monitoring, indicated that they were not feeling well and were visited by a medical team from GPHC and Linden Hospital. All four were examined and temperature checks were done. All were diagnosed with other medical conditions and cleared as suspects for COVID-19.

Since the monitoring programme commenced, 32 persons were found to be free from signs and symptoms of the infection after 14 days since arrival and were declared free of COVID-19.

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PPP to file complaint with ERC over Nagamootoo’s ‘racist charges’ T

he People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has signalled an intention to file a formal complaint with the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) against former Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo over the provocative language used in a public statement issued on Tuesday by him.

As such, Executive Secretary for the PPP, Zulfikar Mustapha, has since intoned that the international community should view Nagamootoo’s statement as intended to “incite racial strife and animosity among our people”.

Mustapha has since posited that the complaint against Nagamootoo would be “for inciting racial division by spreading inflammatory rumours”.

He was adamant that “blame for any incident, following such a reckless statement, will be laid squarely at the door of Nagamootoo and his cronies in the APNU/AFC coalition”.

Mustapha in a subsequent missive to the

Former Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo

media yesterday said Nagamootoo’s talk about an “insurrectionary and bloody plan to shut down the country does nothing for our country or our people at this time, except to incite”.

According to Mustapha, “his (Nagamootoo) statement must be roundly condemned by all”.

It was noted that “Nagamootoo’s hypocrisy in claiming con-

cern for Guyana and the Guyanese people is exposed when he pontificates about plans to destabilise the country without any solid evidence, even as his own actions risk doing exactly that”.

Nagamootoo, in his statement to the media earlier in the day, alleged that a plan had been hatched by the PPP through a front group with plans aimed at isolating and starving the people of Georgetown— the Capital City— which comprises the single largest section of Guyana’s mainly AfroGuyanese population.

He charges that it is

clear that the seditious exercise is to destabilise the country and to promote an armed and racist insurrection in Guyana.

The PPP is contending, however, that anyone with information on any illegalities, or plans to commit an illegality, should take that information to law enforcement authorities.

Mustapha said it would seem that the AFC members have to ‘work for their keep’, given that the comments, ranging from ridiculous to dangerous, seem to be the domain of the junior partner in the coalition.

Linden man to spend 12 months behind bars for threatening behaviour, abusive language

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indener Michael Perriera was sentenced to 12 months behind bars after he was found guilty of threatening behaviour and making use of abusive language.

The sentence

was handed down

by Magistrate Dylon Bess at the Linden Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.

The court heard that on Thursday, August 1, 2019, Perriera, who hails from Lot 25 Chombley

Hill, Wismar, Linden, made use of threatening language towards Shonette Sansculotte, resulting in a breach of the peace.

He was sentenced to six months imprisonment for this offence and

an additional 6 months on the threatening behaviour charge. The sentences will run consecutively; however, the sentence commenced from the time of his incarceration on August 8, 2019.

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NY-based Guyanese call for transparent electoral process S

cores of New Yorkbased Guyanese gathered last Saturday evening at the corner of 134th Liberty Avenue, New York, where they condemn the APNU/ AFC’s attempt to rig the 2020 elections and called for the relevant authorities in Guyana to ensure that the electoral process is transparent and fair.

They urged all citizens to remain calm in this crucial time. (Photos from Priya Persaud-Jagdeo facebook)

Car plunges off Demerara Harbour Bridge

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he retractor span of the Demerara Harbor Bridge has been damaged after a car reportedly careened off the structure on Monday night.

According to reports, the car was proceeding along the structure after which it made a plunge off the retractor span, resulting in damages.

While the entire vehicle fell into the water, the driver was saved and taken into custody.

A crew from the DHB management was deployed to assess the situation as these damages would prevent vessels from passing.

When contacted for details surrounding the situation on Tuesday, Managing Director of the DHB, Rawlston Adams told this publication that he was “on the bridge working” and “can’t give an update”.

Last September, a barge and tug slammed into a section of the bridge, to which the owner was slapped with a bill of G$100 million.

This would have shifted the spans which connect the structure and caused a shutdown to vehicular traffic.

In the wee hours of that morning, notices were sent out that the structure would be closed for emergency works and the only alternative was to cross the Demerara River via the speedboat service, operating at Stabroek and Vreed-en-Hoop.

Emergency actions were deployed to remedy the situation but it was hindered by unfavourable tidal conditions for a few hours.

In a few hours, workers managed to install temporary decking and some of the connecting posts.

In total, nine connecting posts were to be changed along with nine anchor chains. All marine transits were to be suspended since the unaligned structure presented unpredictability to the operation of the retractor span.

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UK Foreign Secretary, UN join growing calls for Granger to preserve sanctity of democratic elections in Guyana

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he United Kingdom is the latest foreign government to come out swinging at the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition in relation to the credibility of the March 2 General and Regional Elections.

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called on President David Granger to preserve the sanctity of democratic elections.

“We call upon the President to preserve the principle of free, fair and credible elections.

Allegations of electoral fraud and premature declarations of victory prior to the completion of a credible process pose a grave threat to the democratic principles of Guyana. We call upon President Granger to ensure that proper procedures are followed before embarking upon a transition of government,” Raab said.

He added that the UK is deeply concerned about the events following the elections in Guyana and that his government stands ready to offer assistance to ensure a credible election result is produced.

UN expresses concern Meanwhile, Stéphane Dujarric – Spokesperson for United Nations— and Secretary-General António Guterres said that they are following the issue in Guyana and called for calm and restraint when addressing issues arising from the process.

“Turning to Guyana, I can tell you we are following with concern

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab

the latest developments there, particularly the allegations that the tabulation of votes from one of the regions, namely Region 4, was not done according to proper legal procedures. We take note of the statements issued by international observers and ambassadors accredited in Georgetown also raising concerns over the situation. We call on all Guyanese to remain calm, exercise restraint and address any disputes arising from the process through legal channels,” Dujarric said.

Raab and the UN Secretary-General’s Office join a long line of foreign powers who have weighed in on the current electoral issues in Guyana.

On Monday, Secretary of State, Mike

Pompeo announced that he discussed Guyana’s elections during a meeting with Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister, Chrystia Freeland.

In a tweet, Pompeo said he spoke about several issues including “support for democratic transition in Guyana”.

“Spoke today [Monday] with Canadian Deputy Prime Minister @CAFreeland [Chrystia Freeland] to discuss the crisis in #Venezuela, the COVID-19 outbreak, support for democratic transition in Guyana, and the importance of continued strong @OAS_ Official leadership on democracy and human rights,” Pompeo said on his Twitter account.

Pompeo’s statements come on the heels of increased pressure from the internation-

al community to have the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) completely verify the Region Four (DemeraraMahaica) results before any declaration is made.

Along with Pompeo, several other US officials have commented on the issue. Acting Assistant Secretary for the US Department of State’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Michael Kozak on Saturday last contended that Guyanese deserve a credible election.

Another US official, Tom Suozzi, who is a representative of New York’s 3rd Congressional District, which includes parts of Queens – where a large number of Guyanese are – also condemned the action by GECOM. The ABCE diplomatic representatives of the international community have made it clear in a joint statement issued by British High Commissioner Gregory Quinn, United States Ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch, Canadian High Commissioner Lilian Chatterjee and European Union Ambassador Fernando Ponz-Canto that GECOM must complete the process.

In their statement, the group noted that based on their observation of GECOM proceedings at the Region Four office and the fact that the full count was not completed, they questioned the credibility of the Region Four results.

Caricom, as well as individual regional leaders – including the Prime Minister of St Vincent and the

Spokesperson for United Nations Secretary General, Stéphane Dujarric

Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves and Prime Minister of Antigua, Gaston Browne— have weighed in on the situation, calling for the resumption of the verification process.

The western democracies’ sentiments were in sync with the local business community which insisted that the electoral process that undergirds democratic governance should not be subverted.

Caricom, Organisation of American States, Commonwealth, France and Norway were among numerous groupings which called for the complete verification of the Region Four results.

The Private Sector Commission (PSC) also made it clear that they are appalled at GECOM’s

attempts to trample on the statutory process.

The Commission also noted that GECOM’s actions are occurring under the watch of the Chairperson, Retired Justice Claudette Singh.

On the evening of March 5, Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield had committed to having the verification process run throughout the night until completion.

However, this was never done, which was a clear violation of the law.

An injunction was sought and granted to former Attorney General Anil Nandlall after the Returning Officer for Region Four, Clairmont Mingo, attempted to declare unverified results for District Four from the General and Regional Elections.

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Guyana’s Indigenous people roast APNU/AFC reps over ‘ungrateful’ claims

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u y a n a ’ s Indigenous representatives have lashed out at Government emissaries that recently castigated hinterland communities that voted in favour of the political Opposition – People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) – as ‘ungrateful’, saying, “provisions by the State should be seen as its fulfilment of an obligation to one section of its citizenry in the same way it provides for others under different circumstances.”

The Amerindian Peoples Association (APA)—in lashing out at the derogatory outbursts—over the weekend said, “historically, Indigenous peoples have

been among the most under-represented and under-served peoples with respect to fair participation in national decision-making processes and in receiving basic so-

cial services.

“The organisation particularly condemns such remarks made against Indigenous peoples through the use of numerous derogatory

Global oil price... more pessimistic outcome, with growth likely to fall to merely 500,000 bpd, and this is assuming that the COVID-19 epidemic will largely be contained by the end of June, which in turn implies a further downside risk,” the Rystad report also stated.

After discovering 1.8 billion barrels of oil equivalent last year, Guyana took first place for the most discoveries for 2019. While price shocks from oil on the world stage could have implications for Guyana, Rystad believes that Guyana’s supply will remain untouched.

“Rystad sees supply continuing to surge in countries that are not bound by any production quotas – namely in the US, Brazil, Norway, and Guyana,” Rystad had also explained in its missive on the issue.

Back in December, the Department of Energy had revealed that Guyana’s first three lifts of one million barrels of oil each would be sold to Shell. Shell was chosen ahead of companies like Exxon, CNOOC, Hess and BP, all of which bid for the oil. But since the oil would be sold on the spot market, there have been questions as to whether Guyana would earn less money for the oil.

This announcement was immediately criticised by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, who has also said that companies who participated in this process could be barred from doing business in Guyana should his party be elected. In addition, Auditor General Deodat Sharma had said in sections of the media that his department would look into

FROMN PAGE 8

the transaction.

In defending the decision, the Department had said that at the end of the process, Shell had the most competitive yet secure pricing.

Meanwhile, the Dow closed on Monday down more than 2000 points after a dramatic day of trading which saw the markets close briefly because stocks were free-falling chaotically.

At the closing bell, the Dow was down by 2025.32 or 7.83 per cent, which was worse than the figure that had forced trading to a halt earlier in the day. It signals the worst-ever point drop for the index. According to media reports, it was the worst day of trading on Wall Street since the global financial crisis in 2008, with the oil prices plummeting and the futures market also suffering astronomical losses.

names and by flaying us for not being grateful.”

The APA was adamant, saying, “…these services [that] have been provided for our people over the years, not only the recent years, must not be seen as favours that need to be repaid to any political party, for past, current or future works.”

The representative body was adamant that “these services are, in fact, a small fraction of what is needed.”

According to the Indigenous body, “no political party must feel that votes can be bought by handing out gifts in kind, bribes or other incentives, as have been evident during this period.”

The grouping in its

missive over the weekend, insisting “that our rights are not for sale,” said “we must understand that we have a right to organise and to belong to a political party of our choice but at no time must we compromise our rights.”

According to the APA, it notes with much condemnation, “the racist remarks and insults that have been circulating on social media and other places during this elections period…It appears that especially around this time, it surfaces even more strongly, to boil over as mistrust and enmity.”

Issuing a call for “Guyanese to refrain” the APA posited “we need to question ourselves about how we have allowed our society to sink further into this situation.”

This is not the first time that members of the APNU/AFC have been disrespectful to the Indigenous community. Former Government Minister, Keith Scott had previously referred to Guyana’s Indigenous people as “greedy”.

Scott, during a parliamentary sitting, had said that Amerindians are greedy because they requested security in the lands they have held since time immemorial.

Scott had also philos-

ophised that sovereignty now belongs to the State, governed by APNU/AFC. The then Minister was at the time debating the People’s Progressive Party’s (PPP) motion to halt the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the issues surrounding lands belonging to Amerindians and freed African slaves.

Several Amerindian leaders and organisations had rejected Government’s decision to establish the CoI into land rights, on the grounds of lack of consultation among others.

The National Toshao Council (NTC) had said it views this decision as a “blatant attempt” to dispossess the Indigenous people of their lands and has argued that the two issues are unique and need to be addressed separately.

The organisation said while it supports reparations and repatriation of African lands and addressing that issue with a great degree of urgency, the Indigenous lands issue cannot and should not be viewed in the same light, nor can it be addressed under the same framework.

Scott had initially refused to apologise.

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‘Would have been unlawful for APC to remove persons from GECOM’s office’ - Ramkarran

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egardless of which senior police officer instructed Assistant Police Commissioner (APC) Edgar Thomas to remove the local and international observers along with accredited individuals from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) command centre, it would have been unlawful for him to do so.

This is according to prominent Attorney-atLaw and former Speaker of the House, Ralph Ramkarran, who on Saturday told Guyana Times International that the only authorised person that could have given that order was GECOM’s Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo.

He explained that according to the Representation of the People Act, Section 84 (1), it is the Returning Officer who has the authority to have persons present during the period of tabulating and verifying of votes.

“Certain people are statutorily required to be present like the counting agents of the parties and so on but the Returning Officer has the discretion to allow anyone

Attorney-at-Law and former Speaker of the House, Ralph Ramkarran

else who in his opinion ought to be present. So, therefore, the only person who has the authority to instruct the police to remove people is the Returning Officer. Any instruction coming from a source that is not the Returning Officer has no authority to give and the Police Officer [Thomas] was correct in saying that whoever instructed him has no such authority because it is the Returning Officer who must instruct him.”

Only a few days

ago, APC Thomas, was removed from his Commanding Officer post for Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Sub-division A with immediate effect after he reportedly refused to execute an order from one of his superiors.

A source close to the Commander said that on Thursday night, an order was given by a Deputy Commissioner of Police to remove both international and local observers along with GECOM People’s Progressive

Party/Civic (PPP/C) appointed Commissioners from the Region Four Returning Officer’s (RO) office at Hadfield and High Streets, Georgetown.

According to a source in the top brass of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), after the instruction was handed down, the Commander related that such a move would be unlawful while pointing out that to execute such an order would also escalate the already high tension at the location.

“Thomas and at least one Deputy Police Commissioner discussed whether it was legal for him to do that and he stated to his superiors that in his opinion and in the level of professionalism, he didn’t have the authority to remove them. He did communicate it to his seniors but the order was given for him to be permanently removed as Commander immediately after he expressed his opinion,” the source said.

Further, this publication was told that after the APC assessed the situation on the ground on Thursday night, he opined that the persons

Assistant Police Commissioner, Edgar Thomas, who was relieved of his Commanding Officer position in Region Four A, after refusing to unlawfully execute an order

should not have been removed and made a “judgement call” not to carry out the order.

“The order was that they be removed immediately without observing and ensuring the integrity of the documents there. He made the right choice to ensure democracy and transparency and also he felt, in all his years of experience, that it would have been unlawful at that point,” the source added.

Following APC

Thomas’ refusal to carry out the orders, a rank junior to him was sent to clear the building, while he was relieved of his duties as Commander.

Just months ago, APC Thomas was placed in the Division after Assistant Commissioner of Police Marlon Chapman went into retirement. He was promoted to that position based on his exemplar and stellar performance in the GPF over the years.

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Tourism body commends observers, foreign missions' fight for democracy

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he Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) has commended all of the international observers and foreign missions in Guyana that observed the March 2 General and Regional Elections, for their relentless efforts to

protect the country’s democracy.

The 2020 elections and result tabulation went smoothly in nine of Guyana’s 10 administration regions. In Region Four (DemeraraMahaica), there was a breakdown of the tabulation process when

the Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo secretly declared unverified results for the district.

“The Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) would like to publicly commend the international observers and foreign missions in Guyana for their re-

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) – Important information for New Yorkers THAG President Mirta Ramkumar

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ovel Coronavirus Hotline: Call 1-888-364-3065 for Information about Coronavirus

Preparing for COVID-19

Recently, a new coronavirus - 2019 Novel (New) Coronavirus – that was first detected in China is now spreading worldwide. This virus causes a disease called COVID-19 and can lead to fever, cough and shortness of breath. There are thousands of confirmed cases in a growing number of countries internationally and the virus is now spreading in the United States. There are ongoing investigations to learn more about this virus.

Individuals who are experiencing symptoms and may have traveled to areas of concern, or have been in contact with somebody who has traveled to these areas, should call ahead to their health care provider before seeking treatment in person.

Data last updated 4:00pm March 11, 2020 Positive Cases Westchester County 121 Nassau County 28 Suffolk County 6 Rockland County 6 Saratoga County 2 Ulster County 1 New York State (Outside of NYC) 164 New York City 52

Total Positive Cases (Statewide)

216

Important Health Information For Those Who Have Recently Traveled Internationally If you recently traveled internationally to these areas of concern and feel sick with fever, cough or trouble breathing, you should: Seek medical care right away. Call ahead and tell them about your travel and symptoms.

Avoid contact with others. Stay home, except for seeking medical care.

Avoid further travel until the illness resolves.

Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when coughing or sneezing.

Wash hands often with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds. If unavailable, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

Symptoms

The 2019 novel coronavirus may cause mild to severe respiratory symptoms like: cough fever trouble breathing and pneumonia CDC believes at this time that symptoms may appear in as few as 2 days or as long as 14 days after exposure to the virus.

How Does Novel Coronavirus Spread?

Most of the early reported cases had contact with a seafood and live animal market, suggesting an animal source of the outbreak. However, most cases are now likely to be spread from person to person by droplets when coughing. Since this virus is very new, health authorities continue to carefully watch how this virus spreads.

Prevention While there is currently no vaccine to prevent this virus, these simple steps can help stop the spread of this and other respiratory viruses: Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.

Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

Stay home when you are sick.

Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.

Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.

(Taken from the New York Governor’s website)

lentless efforts to protect Guyana’s democracy. We sincerely hope that you remain vigilant until the outstanding electoral issues are fully resolved,” THAG said.

Further, the tourism organisation urged the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to return to the verification and tabulation process, which was done for all the other nine regions in Guyana.

“THAG also joins the outpour of appeals for GECOM to resume the transparent tabulation process for Region Four, thus removing any doubt or suspicion of the final results and any question of the future government’s legitimacy.”

To this end, THAG stated that it was “saddened” by the way pro-democracy protesters were manhandled when voicing their concerns – leaving a few persons injured which resulted in mass chaos.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of life, wounding of people involving children and destruction of property.

We, therefore, repeat our call on all Guyanese to demonstrate tolerance and keep the peace,” THAG underscored.

Moreover, the Association stated that owing to the current political climate, it has seen major setbacks in the tourism sector.

“Like all of Guyana, the Association and the members of the tourism industry have also been impacted through cancellations of bookings for tours, accommodations and visits to the country.

Many industry operators and other businesses have closed their doors as their staff are afraid to leave their homes and travel to work.”

THAG further stated that “the tourism and hospitality industry has made significant strides and has tremendous

promise to grow exponentially to the benefit of all Guyanese. However, this cannot and will not materialise in an undemocratic, unstable and insecure environment.”

There is much uncertainty in the country following an attempt to commit electoral fraud – a development which has been acknowledged by international governments, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and the European Union, along with observers from the Commonwealth; the Organisation of American States (OAS); the EU and Caricom, who have all said that if the verification of the Region Four Statements of Poll (SoPs) was not completed, the results of the elections would not be credible.

The US State Department also stated that the Government would be illegitimate if the President is sworn in with unverified votes from Region Four.

Region Four had 897 polling stations, but the Returning Officer only allowed the verification process for 421 SoPs before aborting the process. He then sent the unverified results to Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, who despite a court injunction, went ahead and prepared a final report of all 10 electoral districts for GECOM to declare a winner. Acting Chief Justice Roxane George has since issued a stern warning to GECOM and its agents not to pursue the declaration until the matter is heard and determined by the court.

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Guyanese woman killed in Brooklyn murder-suicide

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Guyanese woman was reportedly shot multiple times by her husband who later committed suicide in a parked SUV Sport utility vehicle on Monday at Louisiana Ave and Twin Pines Drive East in Starrett City, Brooklyn, New York.

The dead woman has been identified as 39-year-old Petula Myrtil while the suspect was Andre Myrtil, a Haitian national. Based on reports carried by NY Daily News, the shooting took place at about 09:15h.

The woman was shot about the body while her husband has a single gunshot wound to his head.

The couple reportedly lived at East Flatbush, about two miles from the crime scene with their two young children.

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Dead: Petula Myrti and husband Andre Myrtil

The report further stated that the couple was rushed to Brookdale University Hospital where they were pronounced dead.

“I‘ve never seen no altercations,” nextdoor neighbour Lillian Shennida said of the couple. “They had two sons — usually he [Andre]

would take them to school around the corner,” the report also quoted persons as saying, the Daily News reported.

GECOM’s ability to deliver credible elections compromised – Attorney Pieters

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he recent pro-democracy protests in Guyana have part of their genesis in a lack of transparency, lack of accountability and a plethora of unanswered questions about the credibility of the recent activities undertaken by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) officials in Region Four.

This is according to an accredited observer to the recently run off General and Regional Elections, Attorney-atLaw Selwyn Pieters, who has since broken his silence in graphic details, documenting his vantage point of the ensuing week.

Pieters, in a public posting on Sunday, said, “the failure to follow the dictates of Section 84 of the Representation of the People Act, Cap 1:03, Laws of Guyana and the process undertaken in the other nine regions where the Statements of Polls were verified in the presence of counting agents of the political parties and international and local observers has called into question the credible basis for the results in Region 4 and compromises the results of the entire elections in Guyana.”

This, he posited, led to an appearance of unfairness and compromised the independence

Action…

Attorney-at-Law Selwyn Pieters

of GECOM. According to the attorney, impartiality, independence and transparency are important for public confidence in the administrative and decision-making processes undertaken by GECOM under the Act and that “the actual independence and the appearance of independence of GECOM is crucial for the public to have confidence in this constitutionally independent body.”

The observer recalled that at the brief-

ing for local observers on February 26, 2020, the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, detailed the procedure that must be followed after close of poll and what is to happen at the Office of the Returning Officer.

Pieters said he called the process “verification”.

This commenced on Monday evening after 20:00h as Statements of Poll (SOPs) were received in the Returning Officers’ Offices in the various regions across Guyana.

The attorney in his missive noted that in circumstances where a process for the verification was agreed upon and GECOM changed that process without regard to the law and convention, “its independence is compromised and its ability to deliver credible election results in Guyana is compromised.”

The attorney has worked along with Government-aligned causes and cases in recent years including serving as co-Counsel with Nigel Hughes for the Alliance for Change and deceased families at the Linden Commission of Inquiry between October 2012 and February 2013.

Pieters in addition to serving as co-Counsel of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) at the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry, also subsequently became Counsel for the People’s National Congress (PNC) when Basil Williams was appointed Attorney General He has also represented the Guyana Prison Service, Guyana Police Force and Guyana Fire Service (Joint Services) in the Commission of Inquiry into the Camp Street Prison disturbances among other high-profile hearings domestically.

…and sussing-out reaction ow that the Court’s dealing with the injunction to prevent the RO from declaring his concocted Reg 4 results as “official”, your Eyewitness has noticed a curious feature in a wide swathe of columnists and commentators, who insist they’re not “partisan”. They’re the ones who regularly “virtue signal” their even-handedness by dancing between the raindrops – even as they tango with the PNC!! Like Fred Astaire!!

Not a single one of them has commented on the sordid drama that played out at the RO’s office, in front of the entire world, via the Observers’ Groups and the media. Nothing about the RO’s mysterious “illness” which prevented the tabulation of the SOPs in front of the designated stakeholders. Nothing about his remarkable recovery to yell his concocted “results” from the ramparts in the building. Nothing about the GECOM Chair being held incommunicado in a room of the same building and having to call her driver to get medical intervention. And rescue??

Nope, that was all of no consequence!! What they waxed lyrically about was the “riotous” behaviour of the PPP supporters!! Lacking the background described above about the naked grab for power

by Granger, they make it seem as if those “PPP supporters” suddenly got a brain wave to riot!! And, of course, they now took the opportunity to virtue signal once again, as they pleaded unctuously for “peace and harmony”!! The stoning of the David G children’s school bus was rightfully excoriated – but silence descended on them when it came to the marauding mobs who ran through “PPP” villages creating havoc and terror. What they did do was complain that these worthies were being described as “thugs”!!

In politics, very few things are black and white – even in the US south!! But let’s call a spade a spade: what could be more clear-cut than the requirement in the law that the SOPs had to be counted in front of the parties’ agents, etc. Hell, wasn’t this what was done in the other nine Regions – even in the Pakaraimas of Region 7?!! So, this is where your Eyewitness is gonna draw a line – a “line of respect”. Anyone who claims that what unfolded in the Reg 4 counting is kosher will now be in his (black) book as a certified lowlife, locked in the primeval ooze of blind partisanship.

What is certain is that all the talk about “power sharing” from some quarters – including the ones above – are now off the books. We’ve jumped to a new plateau of polarisation that’ll guarantee the ethnic chasms widen.

Expect the PNC to expel their “moderates” – and certainly those from the AFC. They’re all now seen as closet Charrandases!! …in the Courts Granger claims to be following in his idol Burnham’s footprint. But even though Burnham rigged elections, turned loose thugs on his political opponents, killed a few of them, and such like, he was much more observant of the forms of the law – while he gutted the substance. Granger, on the other hand, is much more heavy-handed about legal forms.

Take the instant case on the Reg 4 RO’s abdication of his statutory responsibilities. His assertion is as clueless on the law as it was on the “33 not greater than 32” claim they took to the CCJ. Unlike Burnham back in the day, Granger ends up looking like he’s just “trying a thing”. Looks like he belongs to the WC Fields school of thought that believes if you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit!! And Granger, we know, is full of the latter!!

Like JOF Haynes did to Burnham when he overreached in the Timal case, Your Eyewitness believes Justice George’s gonna teach Granger a lesson.

Judicial judgements aren’t just “perceptions”!! …on women On “International Women’s Day”, your Eyewitness salute the women who played such a visible role in the just-completed elections campaign.

Looks like we’re gonna have more than 50 per cent female MPs on the PPP Government’s benches!!

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Business community feeling squeeze over Guyana's unstable political climate in Guyana

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Scotiabank Guyana barricaded with plyboards around the building

he political climate in Guyana has no doubt affected businesses across the country with major financial losses recorded.

On Saturday a few business owners in Georgetown expressed their dissatisfaction with the credibility of the 2020 Elections which has caused an unwarrant-

ed political atmosphere that affects their daily revenues.

One stall owner explained that she cannot wait for this season to pass over since she has her family to feed.

“To tell you the truth, I just want this thing to be over with. Let GECOM do the verification and if the people

win give it to them. The election was free and fair and we all saw it. This whole pull and thug affecting people’s bread. I have my children to send to school and this thing not putting money in our pockets, we are suffering loss.”

A statement released

by Imam Bacchus and Sons Ltd stated: “We be-

Republic Bank Guyana barricaded with plyboards around the building

lieve that the only valid and legal election results are those tabulated from verified statements of polls. Therefore, we view with gravest concern attempt by GECOM to declare results for district 4 without following procedures. Our freedom must never be compromised. We urge the leadership of GECOM to lis-

ten to the laws and the will of the people – and return to the process of determining the results in the fairest and most transparent way. The right way”.

Just a day before Guyanese headed to the polls, the capital city and most commercial zones

business.”

He further pointed out that “it is a very worrying thing because we have seen across the country and especially the urban areas that kind of action being taken and it going take a toll on the economy and it is going take a toll on

PSC Chairman, Captain Gerry Gouveia

across the country were on lockdown.

These businesses would have secured their properties using plyboards and iron bars, to gear up for any eventuality during the elections process.

In an interview with this newspaper, Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) Gerry Gouveia had stated that the Private Sector is waiting on the court ruling since it believes that the Region Four count has not been completed.

In fact, he further noted that it is “very worrying” given the fact that many businesses are closing their doors which will ultimately result in loss of revenues.

“It is actually concerning to the Private Sector Commission, the current state of what is happening and, in fact, that businesses leaders and business people and their employees are choosing to close their

the workers. So, it is very concerning to us.”

With the unrest unfolding throughout the country, Republic Bank Guyana along with Scotiabank Guyana and other businesses took precautionary measures by installing plyboards around their building to protect their establishment in case of any drama unfolding within the city.

Four days after the election, large groups gathered throughout the country to protest a decision taken by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to declare unverified results for the largest electoral district, Region Four (DemeraraMahaica).

The international community including members of the diplomatic corps and foreign observers have labelled the process as lacking transparency and credibility.

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PPP says Granger’s plan will not succeed T

he Peoples Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) last evening praised the work the political parties, local and international observers and members of the local diplomatic corps in helping to uncover blatant attempts to tamper with the Region 4 results of last Monday’s polls, stating that “no attempt by APNU/ AFC coalition’s David Granger to whitewash what occurred will succeed”.

See full People’s Progressive Party statement below: The statement made by the APNU/AFC coalition’s David Granger is unsurprisingly typical of what Guyanese have come to expect from him – claims about upholding the rule of law, when the Judiciary has found him in violation of the Constitution and laws more times than any other president in the history of Guyana; and attempts to cast blame on the People’s Progressive Party (PPP).

The PPP wishes to stress that this is one time Mr Granger will not be able to escape accountability. The events of last week occurred in full view of Guyanese; members of the diplomatic community; and international observers from the European Union, the Commonwealth, Organisation of American States, CARICOM and the Carter Center.

It was Mr Granger who embraced a fraudulent decla-

ration from the Region Four Returning Officer. It was Mr Granger who claimed victory even before the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) made a final declaration. It was Mr Granger who was in a haste to have himself sworn in as President.

Thankfully, social media, the vigilance of political parties and the presence of local and international observers, as well as members of the local diplomatic corps, made clear the facts of what took place at the GECOM Command Center, on High and Hadfield Streets. No attempt by Mr Granger to whitewash what occurred will succeed.

While Mr Granger tries to cast blame on the PPP for what he calls an “interruption” of GECOM’s work, the fact of the matter is that the verification process was running smoothly and hundreds of Statements of Poll were verified, before a spreadsheet, with substantial variations in favour of

the Coalition, was introduced into the process. What Mr Granger calls an interruption of the work of GECOM was, in fact, vociferous protests by all the political parties – all of which called for the use of the spreadsheet to be discontinued and for there to be a return to verification of results for Region 4 using the Statements of Poll, as is required by law.

It is public knowledge that the Chief Elections Officer, only after vocal protests, assured all the political parties – in the presence of the international observers and members of the diplomatic corps – that the verification process would recommence and be completed, in accordance with the law, using the Statements of Poll. The process recommenced and was going well, until the Chair of GECOM stopped it on the basis of ‘compassionate’ grounds for GECOM staffers. It is also public knowledge that within hours thereafter, without resuming the verification pro-

cess, a fraudulent declaration was made by the Region 4 Returning Officer.

The only party guilty of a falsification of reality is the one Mr Granger leads.

Instead of peddling rhetoric, Mr Granger should answer the Guyanese people on a few critical questions: 1. Why is the signature of Volda Lawrence, the Chairperson of his party, the PNCR, affixed to the declaration of the Region 4 Returning Officer, when the declarations of the other 9 Regions only have the stamp and signature of the Returning Officers of those areas?

2. Why was Amna Ally, the General Secretary of his party, the PNCR, visiting the GECOM Chairperson at her home, when the Chair is unavailable to her international advisors, members of the international election observer missions and the political parties?

3. Why was the GECOM lawyer, Neil Boston, being openly assisted by Roysdale Forde and Darren Wade, two APNU+AFC candidates?

4. Why was the Region 4 Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, after he made the fraudulent declaration, escorted from the GECOM Command Center by six ranks of the Guyana Police Force, and has not been seen or available to any stakeholders in the electoral process, since?

5. Why did his former

Foreign Affairs Minister, Karen Cummings, threaten to revoke the accreditation of members of the international Election Observer Missions?

6. Why are his other former Minister, Cathy Hughes and others, peddling falsehoods about Russians hacking into our electoral system, when that system is a manual system?

7. Why the fear about returning to verification of the election results Statement of Poll by Statement of Poll, and/ or a recount, if there is such confidence in an electoral victory?

Why should, we, the people of Guyana, believe Granger and his cronies when the world – the international election observers, individual countries, all the political parties, among other stakeholders – have said that the declaration of results for Region 4 is fraudulent?

Why are Mr Granger and his cronies the only ones standing on the other side? Who should be believed?

The People’s Progressive Party maintains that there must be a return to the process of verifying the results of the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections for Region 4, using the Statements of Polls, as required by law, and/ or a recount of the ballots cast.

This is the only process that will deliver free and fair elections and ensure that the will of the Guyanese people is not subverted.

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Government reopens Suriname border

…coronavirus threat over? – Lawrence, Ramjattan silent

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overnment has reopened the ‘backtrack’ service between Guyana and Suriname, after one week of closure during the elections period.

Former Public Health Minister, Volda Lawrence, who is also the Chair of People’s National Congress (PNC) had written to former Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan to cease service between Guyana and Suriname from February 29 to March 7, as a result of the alleged threat of coronavirus.

This publication understands that while Guyana would have opened the services on their end, Suriname had still closed theirs up until Sunday evening.

In a correspondence seen by this publication, permission was sought from Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan to completely close the service, which is plied from Number 78 Village in Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne).

This, the document noted, was owing to the fact that there might not be enough resources to monitor visitors entering the country amid the coronavirus outbreak,

Former Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence

referred to as COVID-19.

At this time, the document noted that travel activity can increase, posing a threat to citizens.

“Given the increase in the number of cases in Germany and France, I am requesting that the backtrack entry to travellers from Suriname be closed during the period February 29 through March 7,” the letter indicated.

The Moleson Creek operations, however, remained functional throughout these days.

Guyana Times International was unable

to contact both Lawrence and Ramjattan to determine whether the threat has now over. When contacted, a senior public health official said that he is unaware about the situation and it is only Lawrence who would be able to comment on the issue.

Apart from this closure, the Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD) had announced that a decision was taken to limit ferries travelling the Parika route to Supenaam, Leguan and Wakenaam on Elections Day – March 2. Additionally, no fer-

ry services were available between Parika and Bartica on the said day. This announcement was made at a time when many individuals planned on using the boat services to return home, or access their respective Polling Stations to vote. However, no rationale was given behind the sudden move.

On March 2, PPP/C Presidential Candidate Dr Irfaan Ali explained that many persons were affected by this decision.

He said his party had to put systems in place to help voters travel across the river to access their polling places.

Former Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan

Father jailed for 20 years for killing son after he tried to save mother from being abused

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Jailed for killing his son: Mohan “Wire” Sookdeo

father, who fatally stabbed his 21-year-old son after he tried to save his mother from being abused, was on Tuesday handed a 20year sentence for the unlawful killing of the young man.

Satesh Kevin Sookdeo, of Lot 217 Fifth Street, Foulis, East Coast Demerara (ECD), was stabbed to death during an argument with his father, 46-year-old Mohan “Wire” Sookdeo, in September of 2018.

It was reported that the now-convicted man and his wife were involved in an argument during which he grabbed her by the neck and began choking her.

Upon seeing this, the now-dead young man and another sibling intervened, but this angered the father more, who subsequently broke a louvre pane and stabbed the youngster to his chest.

Neighbours rushed to the family’s aid after hearing screams but by then, it was too late since the younger Sookdeo had already succumbed to the stab wounds.

A Post-Mortem Examination performed on his body proved that he died from perforation to the lung as a result of the stab wound to his chest.

The older Sookdeo appeared before Justice Sandil Kissoon at the Demerara High Court, where he pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter but

Dead: Satesh Kevin Sookdeo

was initially charged with the capital offence of murder.

The charge read that on September 8, 2018, at Foulis, ECD, he unlawfully killed his son, Satesh Kevin Sookdeo.

Attorney-at-Law Maxwell McKay represented the convict, while prosecutor Tuanna hardy represented the State.

Justice Kissoon, after handing down the sentence, ordered that the time Sookdeo spent on remand be deducted.

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The big fake…

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…exposed f there’s anyone who’d been taken in by caretaker Granger’s milquetoast routine – you know…always in the “right” but “wrongfully” misunderstood and taken advantage of – the chicanery betrayed in his last “address” on the elections should’ve certainly made the scales fall from their eyes!! Like most con men, Granger’s fatal flaw is he didn’t know when to stop with the BS. This time, he laid it on so thick, you could HEAR it falling off and plopping on the floor.

Your Eyewitness will hold up his latest excretions to the light and be warned, it ain’t gonna be pretty!!

Noting the delay with the elections, Granger claimed sanctimoniously, “I assure the nation that, at all times, I have acted in accordance with the Constitution and Laws of Guyana.” Well, isn’t this his long-repressed conscience (and now vestigial) conscience talking??

We all know he’s been breaking the Constitution worse than a bull in a china shop…but who accused him this time??

Nobody, that’s who! Because everyone and their demented uncle know it’s not the Constitution that’s being raped and violated but a statute – The Representation of the People’s Act!! Granger, as he always does, created a straw man to flagellate!! His next unctuous claim was: “GECOM is an independent constitutional agency over which I and the Executive have no control. I assure you, that as President, I cannot, did not and will not interfere in the work of GECOM”.

GECOM independent?? ROTFL!! So why Granger spent a year in the courts insisting that his unilateral appointment of James Patterson must stand?? And had to be bitch-slapped by the CCJ for violating the Constitution?? And how come his de facto second in command and Director of the Presidency revealed that he was called directly by individuals at the GECOM Command Centre after the Reg 4 SOP tabulation was abandoned?? That’s a smoking gun, baby!!

Then came the whopper of the year: “The Opposition created an atmosphere of intimidation and fear at the office of the Returning Officer of District Number 4. This led to the interruption of GECOM’s work.” Really?? Was there any “intimidation” Tuesday night when the RO claimed staff “tiredness” and called it a night? Didn’t RO Mingo claim “illness” on Wednesday – when the process was supposed to be restarted – and had to be hospitalised?? For a few hours??? Didn’t the CEO promise the Observers and stakeholders, the tabulation would continue the next morning but never did??

Whatever ruckus occurred was when the RO suddenly appeared like Banquo’s ghost on a balcony and shouted to the waiting stakeholders that he’d declared the results!! Without the counting process being restarted.

Granger’s faker than a $3 dollar bill!! …and bullyism In addition to his hypocrisy and unctuousness, Granger’s a bully beneath the simpering façade. Let’s call a spade, a spade, Dear Readers: the only reason he can be so complacent and confident about facing down domestic and foreign pressure is that he’s counting on the “kith and kin” effect from the Army, Police, Militia, Civil Service – and when he needs them— the “centipedes” of Georgetown.

But he’s dealing with a different Guyana. While the carefully crafted and disseminated vicious propaganda he and the PNC’s been spewing for years about the PPP “killing 400 black youths” – the numbers from the elections show that the PPP made inroads into the PNC’s traditional constituency!! Not to mention the Amerindian and the mixed voters, which are now fully 30% of the electorate!!

The PNC’s propaganda – which is now virtually all “hate speech” – has clearly been rejected by a wide swathe of voters who’ve seen through their crude and crass manipulation. Unfortunately, there are still enough who have been infected by Granger’s virus of hate.

Beware the cornered rat!! …on elections petition The PNC’s insisting the PPP abandon their present efforts in the courts to have the SOP count resume and file an election petition after accepting Mingo’s count!!

As if the PPP will forget their 2015 election petition still hasn’t been heard!!

Granger: From tragedy to farce

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nalysing the French coup of 1851, in which Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte assumed dictatorial power over the French state, Marx reflected on the role of the individual in history: “Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past.”

And as we watch with horror the raping of our hard-won democracy by the PNC once again, we should analyse those “already existing circumstances” to help us chart a course, out of the quagmire.

In his own person, David Granger represents the party of Forbes Burnham and the PNC that rigged elections in 1968, 1973, 1978 (Referendum), 1980 and 1985. Chosen as a youth just graduated from Queens in 1965, he was sent as a Cadet to be trained at Mons in England. By the time he returned Burnham had disbanded the core of the army the British was bequeathing to Guyana and established the GDF. His dismissal of Major Sattaur to head his new army was a portent of things to come.

Despite his youth, or maybe because of it?

– Granger played an integral part in the development of Burnham’s army, which the latter insisted should only be loyal to him and to whom all officers swore personal loyalty. As the head of the unit to promulgate Burnham’s ideas to the army, he was transformed into a living embodiment of those ideas: Machiavellian, doctrinaire and anti-democratic. Hoyte did not promote him as Chief of Staff because he was violently opposed to the dumping of “the Burnham Way”.

Granger lived through all those riggings – and remained loyal. In fact, when Rodney was infiltrating the GDF in the late 1970s, he catapulted Granger over several layers of more senior officers to lead the GDF. He would have to been briefed on the role of army sergeant Gregory Smith, who was assigned to assassinate Rodney.

Granger was “Burnham’s

boy” in the Disciplined Forces; one of the triumvirate of institutions – along with the PNC party and the Public Service – that were the foundation of his dictatorial rule.

And he has earlier announced that his mission is to complete the “legacy” of Burnham: he so worships that “legacy” that he gave over his own house to the “Burnham Foundation”.

And so we have a man who has self-consciously patterned himself to follow in the footsteps of Burnham who came to power through a process that involved a virtual civil war between the two major race groups of Guyana. And who brought Guyana to its knees economically, politically, socially and ev-

ery other “-ally” in the book.

And we come to the rigging of elections, in which he is presently engaged to hold on to power like his mentor.

But Marx had another insight in the same work referred to above where Louis Napoleon, the nephew of Napoleon staged that coup to become Napoleon III. “He observed that “history repeats itself – the first as tragedy and then farce”.

And Granger’s rigging is pure farce – not in its consequence, which has already led to the murder of one young man – but what it reveals of “the man with the plan”.

As one wag pointed out Granger is the first who tried to rig in front of the cameras by violating the law as laid out

in the Representation of the Peoples Act, Sec 84. There, it was clearly stated that “the Returning Officer (RO) shall, in the presence of such of the persons entitled under Sec 86 (1) to be present as attend, ascertain the total votes cast in favour of each the list in accordance with the Statements of Poll.”

Shall we repeat that?

Does that need a “gloss”, as the CCJ had archly enquired about the constitutional effects of a no-confidence vote?

And Granger expects to be made President in the farce of the GECOM staff being “too tired to count”; the RO falling ill and rushed to the hospital, but miraculously recovering to yell his concocted “count” from a spreadsheet rather than the SOPs; the GECOM Chair sequestered in a room and later also “falling ill” and having to be ambulanced. And most risibly, the disappearance of the CEO after promising the tabulation from the SOP’s would resume.

(PS: I condemn the stoning of the children’s school bus that resulted in the injury to some of the schoolchildren, as I do of the policemen who shot into crowds demonstrating against elections rigging.)

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Hypocrisy…

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…redux on PNC esterday, your Eyewitness wrote about the commentators who insist they write with Platonic disinterestedness about Guyanese politics, studiously avoiding the blatant rigging of the PNC, but jumping on their soapboxes to call for peace and love in the streets. Today, we see their same wilful blindness about what or who has brought our country to this sad state, but now calling for “negotiation” between the PPP and the PNC!!!

Yes…negotiation!! And what should they be “negotiating” about?? How to bring the PNC into government!! Isn’t this something else?? But not really: the PNC have always been given a free pass by that crowd, and accommodation must always be made for them after their “bad behaviour”. But let’s look a little closer at what’s going on. Back in 2015, wasn’t one of the reasons the PNC “coalition” won was because they insisted they’d be sharing power – even with members of the PPP? When instead of sharing, did anyone of these worthies stand on their soapbox and call the PNC out for talking from both sides of their mouth, when they ruled as if they’d gotten 100% of the votes?? And notice the PPP observed the rules of the game and left office.

But hell: the PNC didn’t even share with their coalition partner AFC!! Did they then call for “negotiation” with the PPP? Especially when they’d barely scraped in with a margin that couldn’t even be described as wafer thin!!

When Granger went into the elections and boasted the PNC would be getting 37-40 seats, did the Pharisees call for him to “negotiate” with the PPP?? But here it is, now that the PNC was clearly losing by three seats, and the PPP must start negotiating so there can be “peace” in Guyana!! Well, from where your Eyewitness sits, that would be the “peace of the dead”. Like we see in graveyards.

After all, didn’t we see all of this before after the 1997 elections? The PNC disputed the elections results that were certified as fair by international observers… and forced the PPP to “negotiate” away two years from their term of office; 12 development projects for their “constituency”; power sharing with the PNC in Parliament; constitutional change to reduce President’s powers. What exactly did that get us??

The PNC continued their demands for power…and now show that they will do whatever it takes to keep it in their hands. We cannot reward this type of bullyism!!

We have to first compel the PNC to accept the rules of the game they signed on to.

And let the SoPs fall where they will!! Then we can talk. Or it’ll be déjà vu all over again!! …and Ramjattan Fresh from the amazing success of his two “innovations” in policing – 2 am curfew at bars and dogs and horses in policing – in the last week Ramjattan continued with his stellar performance on the Public Security front. This time it was on to protect us from ‘external” threats.

First, he signed off on a request from Volda Lawrence – presumably acting in her capacity as health minister and not as PNC Chairman who only give PNC people “wuk” – to block Guyanese from coming over from Suriname between Feb 2- March 7. They had “intelligence” that corona-infected folks would be streaming over the Corentyne River then. The threat’s now over and the border’s been reopened. Whew!!

Close call!! It had nothing to do with PPP supporters from Suriname coming over to vote!!

The second one was, acting on “intelligence”, to have three Russians coming in with “cyber equipment” expelled before they could hack our paper-andpencil elections. When asked what his “intelligence” was, Minister Ramjattan replied, “Intelligence means intelligence.”

Which he clearly lacks!! …and crowd control Knowing they’d be rigging the elections, the PNC showed they were prepared for the reaction when they unveiled their special armoured vehicle for crowd control.

Part of Granger’s “Total National Defence” plans obviously incorporated a component to deal with prodemocracy protests.

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Police ranks injured in standoff with pro-democracy protesters recovering

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everal ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) who were injured during pro-democracy protest on Friday last are recuperating speedily.

On Monday, Executives of the Guyana Police Association headed by its Chairman, Inspector Rose Ann Forde, visited the ranks and offered moral support while urging them to be strong.

She noted that the Force will give the necessary assistance and guidance required, especially at this time.

The ranks were previously visited by several Senior Officers including Deputy Commissioner -Operations Maxine Graham, DSM, Commanders of Regional Police Divisions Five and Six, Superintendent Yonette Stephens and Senior Superintendent Calvin Brutus, and also the Force’s

Injured: Sergeant Punit Nuth Ibaran

Welfare Officer, Deputy Superintendent Jewel Hayles-Sullivan.

However, Sergeant Punit Nuth Ibaran, who is the only hospi-

Fmr Deeds Registrar found guilty of G$4.5M fraud

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agistrate Leron Daly on Wednesday morning found Former Deeds Registrar Azeena Baksh guilty of fraudulently procuring over G$4.5 million while being employed by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) between 2014 and 2017.

Baksh was on trial at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts for the past three years after being slapped with a fraud charge in 2017.

The charge stated that while being employed by the JSC between May 1, 2014, and January 31, 2017, in Georgetown, caused or procured valuable securities in the sum of G$4,534,486 million to be delivered to her Bank of Nova Scotia account for her own use pretending she was a contracted employee at the Deeds Registry.

After ruling that sufficient evidence was found to convict Baksh, Magistrate Daly ordered that the defendant repay the State in full the sum of money falsely procured, instead of serving jail time. The Magistrate in her ruling said that Baksh is not a threat to society and as such did not impose jail time.

Baksh was further

ordered to lodge G$1 million on Wednesday before leaving the court and has three months to pay the remaining balance.

In April of 2017, the Legal Affairs Ministry had disclosed that the Deeds and Commercial Registries Authority had requested an investigation to be launched into financial irregularities into Baksh’s payroll documentation.

Upon her appointment as the Deeds Registrar in 2012, Baksh received G$326,171 monthly, as well as duty, entertainment and house allowances among many other benefits.

This was approved by the JSC. The Legal Affairs Ministry asserted, however, that Baksh increased her payment to G$400,000 in 2014 when the Deeds Registry was merged with the Commercial Registry, without the approval of the JSC. It was further reported that Baksh – being the sole person with authority to sign off on such documents— approved gratuity to herself and several staff members from the period May 2014 to November 2016.

Baksh was represented by Attorney-atLaw Nigel Hughes.

talised rank, will undergo a Computerised Tomography (CT) scan today and he is expected to undergo a surgery for one his arms, which is severely wounded.

Those discharged are required to make regular medical check-ups and are said to be receiving counselling from members of the Cops and Faith Community Network.

Meanwhile, during the said protests, 18-yearold Seedat “Devon” Hansraj was shot and killed at Cotton Tree. He was accused of chopping Sergeant Ibaran and Constable Fraser but as he continued his attack, he was shot once by other ranks who arrived at the scene.

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Scenes from 2020 Holi celebrations in Guyana (DPI photos)

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nternational Women’s Day is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities.

The theme of International Women’s Day 2020 is, I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights.

The theme is aligned with UN Women’s new multigenerational campaign, Generation Equality, which marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing

Declaration and Platform for Action, the most progressive roadmap for the empowerment of women and girls, everywhere.

This year we will also be celebrating other major UN anniversaries, such as the 10th anniversary of the establishment of UN Women, among others.

The emerging global consensus is that despite some progress, real change has been agonizingly slow for the majority of women and girls in the world. Today, not a single country can claim to have achieved gender equality. Multiple obstacles remain unchanged in law and in culture.

Women and girls continue to be under va lued ; they work more and earn less and have fewer choices; and experience mul-

tiple forms of violence at home and in public spaces. Furthermore, there is a significant threat of rollback of hard-won feminist gains.

The year 2020 represents an unmissable opportunity to mobilize global action to achieve gender equality and human rights of all women and girls.

1909 The first National Woman's Day was observed in the United States on 28 F e b r u a r y.

T h e Socialist Party of America designated this day in honour of the 1908 garment work-

ers' strike in New York, where women protested against working conditions.

1910 The Socialist International, meeting in Copenhagen, established a Women's Day, international in character, to honour the movement for women's rights and to build support for achieving universal suffrage for women.

The proposal was greeted with unanimous approval by the conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, which included the first three women elected to the Finnish Parliament. No fixed date was selected for the observance.

1911 As a result of the Copenhagen ini-

tiative, International Women's Day was marked for the first time (19 March) in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, where more than one million women and men attended rallies. In addition to the right to vote and to hold public office, they demanded women's rights to work, to vocational training and to an end to discrimination on the job.

1 9 1 3 - 1 9 1 4 International Women's Day also became a mechanism for protesting World War I. As part of the peace movement, Russian women observed their first International Women's Day on the last Sunday

in February. Elsewhere in Europe, on or around 8 March of the following year, women held rallies either to protest the war or to express solidarity with other activists.

1 9 1 7 Against the backdrop of the war, women in Russia again chose to protest and strike for "Bread and Peace" on the last Sunday in February (which fell on 8 March on the Gregorian calendar). Four days later, the Czar abdicated and the provisional Government granted

women the right to vote.

1975 During I nt er nationa l Women's Year, the United Nations began celebrating International Women's Day on 8 March.

1995 T h e Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a historic roadmap signed by 189 governments, focused on 12 critical areas of concern, and envisioned a world where each woman and girl can exercise her choices, such as participating in politics, getting an education, having an income, and living in societies free from violence and discrimination.

2014 The 58th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW58) – the annual gathering of States to address critical issues related to gender equality and women’s rights — focused on “Challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls”. UN entities and accredited NGOs from around the world took stock of pr o g r e s s and remaining challenges t owa rd s meeting the eight M i l len n ium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs have played an important role in galvanizing attention on and resources for gender equality and women’s empowerment.

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nternational Women’s Day is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women, who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities.

The world has made unprecedented advances, but no country has achieved gender equality.

Fifty years ago, we landed on the moon; in the last decade, we discovered new human ancestors and photographed a black hole for the first time.

In the meantime, legal restrictions have kept 2.7 billion women from accessing the same choice of jobs as men.

Less than 25 per cent of parliamentarians were women, as of 2019. One in three women experience gender-based violence, still.

Let’s make 2020 count for women and girls everywhere.

Change isn’t just about big headline moments, legal victories and international agreements: the way we talk, think, and act every day can create a ripple effect that benefits everyone.

How you can make an impact:

I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights The theme of International Women’s Day 2020 is, I am

Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights. The theme is aligned with UN Women’s new multigenerational campaign, Generation Equality, which marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the most progressive roadmap for the empowerment of women and girls, everywhere.

This year we will also be celebrating other major UN anniversaries, such as the 10th anniversary of the establishment of UN Women, among others.

The emerging global consensus is that despite some progress, real change has been agonizingly slow for the majority of women and girls in the world. Today, not a single country can claim to have achieved gender equality.

Multiple obstacles remain unchanged in law and in culture.

Women and girls continue to be undervalued; they work more and earn less and have fewer choices; and experience multiple forms of violence at home and in public spaces.

Furthermore, there is a sig-

nificant threat of rollback of hard-won feminist gains.

The year 2020 represents an unmissable opportunity to mobilize global action to achieve gender equality and human rights of all women and girls.

world we all deserve. Visit UN Women’s website for more information and multimedia content, and spread the message of gender equality by sharing to your social media accounts.

I Am Generation Equality

Given the key role of language in shaping cultural and social attitudes, using gender-inclusive language is a powerful way to promote gender equality and eradicate gender bias. (unwomen.org)

The Generation Equality campaign is bringing together people of every gender, age, ethnicity, race, religion and country, to drive actions that will create the gender-equal

Equality through words

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giant portrait of Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg has been unveiled in West Yorkshire to mark International Women’s Day. The 60m (196ft) long artwork, on a playing field at Hebden Royd Primary School, West Yorkshire, has taken four days to create.

Pupils chose the 17-year-old as the woman who had most inspired them.

They also helped the creators, art collective Sand In Your Eye, put the finishing touches to the portrait.

Jamie Wardley, from the group, based in nearby Mytholmroyd, said: “Greta Thunberg has pioneered a global movement which is so relevant to the area.

“The Upper Calder Valley is prone to flood events, which some would argue have increased in frequency due to climate change.”

The work, A Girl Inspiring the World, is made of line marker paint, more commonly used on football pitches.

Commenting on the artwork, year six pupil Evie said: “We’ve chosen Greta because she stands up for what she believes.

“She is a big inspiration to me and she is not afraid to take action even if people do not agree with her.” (BBC)

The 60m (196ft) long artwork was unveiled earlier to mark International Women’s Day

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nternational Women’s Day was a rather foreign event on the calendar during my high school years of the early 2010s.

In fact, the only time I’d hear it mentioned was when my pubescent, male peers would make sexist jokes about us females belonging in the kitchen, or whine in the playground about the lack of an international men’s day.

I had a relatively progressive friend group at the time, but none of us ever seemed to think the annual event had much weight or meaning for us — the average teenage girls of Sydney’s suburbia — even despite our

Fast-forward to 2020, I’m now someone whose everyday life is focused on raising the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females through my podcast and social media initiative @ tiddas4tiddas.

I’ve completed my honours study in the misrepresentation of our Indigenous women on screen, and have dedicated myself to improving the experiences and visibility of our women.

It’s safe to say a huge amount of my time is focused on thinking about woman-ness and driving action toward equality.

But International Women’s Day remains something I don’t particularly look forward to.

This time, it’s different

Marlee Silva is a Gamilaroi/Dunghutti writer, podcast host and co-founder of Tiddas 4 Tiddas.

impassioned discussions about the gender wage gap at sleepovers.

That’s not to say there’s necessarily negative feelings that come

When non-white female voices are heard and the rest of the world understand the unique challenges faced by them, they can have energy and resources directed at them.

with the day for me. I just don’t know whether it’s really something for me to participate in as a Gamilaroi and Dunghutti girl, whose tiddas (sisters) are facing a ceiling made of concrete, not glass.

If you visit the International Women’s Day (IWD) official website, you’ll be greeted with plenty of photos of black and brown women on the home page posing with one arm over the other, making an equal sign, reflecting this year’s theme: #eachforequal.

Sure, it looks lovely and diverse and open armed for all, but I can’t escape the inherent feeling of whiteness that comes with this day.

When you consider its history as a concept that emerged in the early 1900s alongside the suffragettes and other women’s movements across Europe and America —

Marlee Silva (left) has dedicated herself to improving the experiences and visibility of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women

which were conducted by primarily white, wealthy women — that makes total sense, too.

Much like traditional feminist ideology, de-

communities and worlds sharing their stories and experiences when they’ve otherwise not had the chance, I found the potential for the pow-

we can learn from each other can be our greatest strengths.

I am also set to participate in a series of International Women’s Day events and speaking engagements this March, in majority-white spaces — and for this, I have an infiltration plan I encourage others to follow.

I’m so privileged to be asked to enter the rooms I do, quite often as one of very few women of colour, where I am able to speak my truth, celebrate and champion the stories of the women I share on my platform every day and call attention to the elephants in the room.

So this International Women’s Day, wherever I get the chance, I will be challenging every room

Marlee Silva kicked off her IWD campaign with We Are The Mainstream, an event exclusively held for and run by women of colour

veloped by white women seeking a reclaim of power for them to be equal to the white man, the story of this day does not include non-white contexts, perspectives or needs.

But despite my indifference to this annual day of female recognition and focus, 2020 has already shown me that this time it is different.

I got to kick off my IWD campaign with an event exclusively held for and run by women of colour held in Western Sydney.

It was called We Are The Mainstream, and there, surrounded by females and non-binary brown and black folk from so many different

er of this global day.

What does #eachforequity mean for us?

When non-white female voices are heard and the rest of the world understands the extra hurdles and unique challenges faced by them, they can have energy and resources directed at them to be addressed first.

In an ideal world, this will bring us closer to equality within our gender, making us stronger and more united before we tackle the larger barrier of the gap between us and our binary opposites, males.

There’s no singular female experience or one way “to be a woman”, but our differences and what

I address to consider not what #eachforequal means to them, but what #eachforequity means for us.

Intersectionality is non-negotiable in 2020.

It’s vital that all of us understand our individual privilege in our class and race and, in turn, what our responsibilities are in making room for others, leaving open the doors we break down and generally dismantling all the inequalities that exist between us females.

So, here’s to a near future when a truly “each for equal” may exist for all, in board rooms, parliaments and all power structures across the world.

42 BOLLYWOOD

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ctor Mrunal Thakur will share screen space with Sidharth Malhotra in the Hindi remake of Tamil film Thadam. Thakur will play a police officer in the remake, reported Bollywood Hungama.

In the film, Malhotra will be seen in a double role. To be directed by debutant Vardhan Ketkar, the movie is jointly produced by Bhushan Kumar and Murad Khetani. It will hit the-

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aters on November 20.

Apart from Thadam, Mrunal Thakur has interesting projects in her kitty. She will be seen in a family entertainer titled Aankh Micholi, also starring Abhimanyu Dassani and Paresh Rawal. Talking about Aankh Micholi, Thakur said, “It was a riot, acting alongside Paresh Rawal, Divya Dutta, and Abhishek Dassani.”

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ilmmaker Rohit Shetty’s sexist comment against Sooryavanshi actor Katrina Kaif recently earned the ire of Twitterati, and #ShameOnYouRohitShetty became a Twitter trend.

In an interview, when Shetty was asked which star he focuses on while looking at the monitor during filming, he replied, “All three, obviously. You have to watch the take thrice.

The scene with the blast has Katrina (Kaif) too. If you look closely, she is blinking (during the scene). After the fourth take, she came to me and asked, ‘Can we take one more?’

The actor is currently busy with the shooting of Farhan Akhtar’s Toofan and Jersey, starring Shahid Kapoor in the lead role.

“I am super excited to play the lead opposite Shahid in Jersey.

When I saw the original

And I said, ‘Katrina, I will tell you honestly; no one is going to look at you.’ She got so wild.

She said, ‘How could you tell me this?’ and I said, ‘Three guys are walking with blasts happening behind; nobody will notice you.’

And I kept that shot. In the promo, she blinks while walking. But kaun dekhega?

[But who’s watching?].”

The reply didn’t go down well with fans of Katrina Kaif. However, on Monday, Kaif came out in Rohit Shetty’s defence and clarified that the filmmaker’s comment has been “taken entirely taken out of context.”

(Indian Express)

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ctor Bhumi Pednekar on Monday said she credits her instincts for helping her take on the projects that went on to become good films.

The actor, who delivered three consecutive hits — Saand Ki Aankh, Bala and Pati, Patni Aur Woh– last year, said she is grateful to the audience and critics for their support.

“It is hugely humbling that industry stalwarts are trusting me to be a part of their projects. It also adds to the responsibility but I’m only grateful that they are making me a part of their vision.

“It is a major validation for my craft and also my beliefs as an artist because I have only chosen films that have appealed to my core.

The fact that those projects have all worked has helped me in getting my

film, I was bowled over by its passionate emotional journey. It felt like I had lived a full lifetime of experiences in those two-plus hours,” Mrunal Thakur said in a statement. (Indian Express)

dream projects,” Bhumi said in a statement.

The 30-year-old actor

said she hopes to keep doing good work and choosing best scripts.

“I have been instinctively correct about the roles that I have chosen to bring to life and I’m grateful to the audiences for all the love. As an actor, only your body of work combined with the success of the films can result in more and better work and I’m truly grateful that audience and critics have loved my performances,” she said.

Bhumi was last seen in Bhoot: The Haunted Ship, which also starred Vicky Kaushal.

Her next film is Durgavati and Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitaare.

Bhumi will start shooting for Karan Johar’s period drama Takht soon. (Indian Express)

ctor Irrfan, 53, has been kept away from theatres for about two years by what he refers to as “unwanted guests” in his body.

This Friday marks the return of one of India’s finest actors to the big screen with the release of Angrezi Medium, a heartwarming tale of a father-daughter relationship. On March 16, 2018, Irrfan shared the shocking news of being diagnosed with neuroendocrine tumour, a rare type of cancer. Almost a year later in the first half of 2019, the actor, who has given us classics such as Maqbool (2003), Life of Pi (2012) and The Lunchbox (2013), shot for Angrezi Medium in between his treatment.

In a recent recorded message, Irrfan regretted not being able to be part of the promotions of this movie which is made “with so much love”. Yet, the consummate professional that he is, Irrfan responded to our questions via email. Excerpts: Each of your messages in public, ever since your illness was detected, is infused with gentle humour and optimism. Angrezi Medium is about a father’s desperate attempt to fulfil his daughter’s wish.

How closely do you relate to this?

You know what’s worse than one’s fear of death? To live and be dead. I relate to everything which works against the odds. I have faith in miracles and I have faith in obtaining the unattainable with undying spirit. And the father in this film represents that undying spirit.

You have played the role of a father in many movies earlier such as Qissa, Paan Singh Tomar, Hindi Medium.

What makes this story special?

Husband, wife, daughter, son, uncle, aunt are names of relationships. But the relationship doesn’t determine all the men who are fathers or all the women who are wives. Each story is different as it plays out as the situations are different and in its own way, each is special or I wouldn’t do them.

You have been spending more time with your sons and family. Have you discovered new things about each other?

I am spending all my time with them whenever I am in India. They have bloomed and are

blooming. I have discovered also how my unconventional parenting has finally paid off. I have never been a strict father and just loved them unconditionally and that’s the mantra. I have consciously cultivated no-expectation policy from my children, and that makes us all happy.

When you look back, what does cinema and acting mean to you? Can a Friday release ever be treated merely as yet another movie release?

Once upon a time, a very young Irrfan wanted to have name, fame and money. But slowly it changed to stories (that needed) to be told, moments to be lived, memories to be with you, immaterial of material things. This Friday release is a burden we have been carrying on our shoulders for far too long. The success of a film is never a single factor. Yes, one can’t deny the repercussions. But at the end of the day, after a film is released, can you change a thing? No. Then, we all must learn to live with it and not die of anxiety.

The day before Angrezi Medium’s trailer launch, you mentioned in your message, “you are there and you are also not there with us (main aaj aapke saath hoon bhi aur nahin bhi)”. Has this unexpected challenge given you a different perspective about life, the world we live in and the dreams we pursue?

Of course, it has, it’s the micro mechanism of life you touch now. You have looked at life with a new relaxed eye without hurry and anxiety. At least, that’s what I try.

There is this realisation that perhaps you don’t control a thing. The time with a capital ‘T’ has become magnetic and wondrous.

You are someone who has always been aware of what’s happening around. Have you been taking time out to watch movies, read or keep up with news?

I stopped for a while and took a complete break from structure — be it movies or books. I just floated and watched myself, discovering, coming to terms with myself.

Now, I am slowly getting back — watching mostly, reading a little less.

(Indian Express)

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ollywood star Scarlett Johansson believes time is right for her standalone Black Widow film as she believes the movie wouldn’t have been as “substantial” if it released a decade ago.

After 10 years and seven films of playing the Russian superspy Avenger Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow, Johansson is set to star in a solo film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

The film, directed by Cate Shortland, is a prequel set before the events of 2019 tentpole, Avengers: Endgame.

Black Widow was the only fe-

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rom fears of parenthood to capturing the “untethered” feeling across the world, there is a lot to take away from A Quiet Place 2, says Hollywood star Emily Blunt.

The original horror film in 2018 revolved around the Abbott family, featuring Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe, trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world where alien monsters hunt humans by sound.

The sequel, Emily said, is about empathy and if one looked closely, also about how humans need to stick together to survive the odds.

“People are feeling that on a global scale, the idea of borders shutting down, of not extending your hand to your neighbour.

That fractured, untethered feeling is in the air. The film does explore that as a metaphor,” Emily said in a group interview with select international media here.

“I find the film very hopeful as ultimately the characters discover that as human beings we want togetherness, we want to feel that we are meant to be together. It’s an awakening for Cillian’s (Murphy) character who has been broken by this environment.”

In A Quiet Place 2, the Abbott family must venture out and face the terrors of the outside world in their fight for survival.

Emily, known for staring in films like The Devil Wears Prada, Mary Poppins Returns and The Girl on the Train, felt a bit of “pressure” going in with a sequel but all her fears vanished when her writer-director-actor husband narrated the opening sequence to her.

“There was never really any intention of doing another one initially, we were so reluctant to

male in the original Avengers.

Johansson made her debut as the character in 2010’s Iron Man 2.

“For anyone who said to me, ‘Oh, this should’ve happened five or 10 years ago,’ I’m like, it would not have been as substantial.

“We just would not have been able to do it. This film is happening now as a result of what’s going on in the zeitgeist, and I think it’s pretty cool,” Johansson told Entertainment Weekly.

After Captain Marvel, the film is the second female superhero-led project in the MCU. Johansson said the world was ready for Black Widow while she

do another one. When John came up with an opening, and I remember him pitching it to me, it was an undeniably great idea that I thought I’d be an idiot to not do it.

“Both of us tried to abandon the idea that it was a pressure situation and just see it as part two, as what happens to this family… It’s probably my most personal work. Some of the scenes I found more harrowing than the others if it had to do with loss of a child, a partner,” she added.

The sequel reunites Emily and Krasinski on screen briefly, with the latter featuring in a special appearance apart from writing and directing the film.

Emily said the couple “really aligned creatively” so working together became effortless.

“Once the domesticity is out of the window, you’re in a different mode when you’re at work. You’ve to find a rhythm where you’ve to allow the fact that your partner is a slightly different person when at work. That was the learning curve we went on and it was pretty easy to figure out.

“John is a force, he comes on set like a hurricane and I know him at home doing finger weaving with our children! It’s kind of arresting watching him like that,” she added.

A Quiet Place 2 places both the children, Millicent and Noah, as the leads, trying to come into their own.

For the 37-year-old actor, giving children the centerstage and fighting for their survival as a parent was the most organic narrative to follow.

“It’s that feeling, as soon as you have your children, you’re preparing them for eventually having to be without you. It’s a very deep theme which resonates with people, it certainly did with

was filming a fight scene alongside fellow female actors Brie Larson (Captain Marvel), Danai Gurira (Okoye) and Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlet Witch), among others in Endgame.

“I hope that this film continues pushing that boundary, so that we can actually have more female superheroes who are inherently female, and aren’t just Batman in heels or whatever,” she added.

Also starring Florence Pugh, Rachel Weisz and David Harbour, Black Widow hit the screens on April 30. (Indian Express)

me.

“The idea that how far will you go to protect your children. This character, Evelyn, possesses this maternal ferocity that will take her to the end of the earth for her children.”

Closer home, though, Emily said her daughters do not like watching her or Krasinski on screen as they find their parents job “really unnerving.”

“They saw ‘Mary Poppins’ once and that’s it. They don’t like seeing me as anything other than Mummy. They hate seeing me like this. I went home last night and my youngest one says, ‘wash your face.’ They don’t like makeup, heels, anything because they assume I’m going somewhere. My daughter saw the trailer and was so weirded out!”

Exclusively distributed in India by Viacom18 Studios, the Paramount Pictures movie is slated to hit the screens on March 20. (Indian Express)

ax von Sydow, the self-described “shy boy”turned-actor known to art house audiences through his work with Swedish director Ingmar Bergman and later to moviegoers everywhere when he played the priest in the horror classic The Exorcist, has died. He was 90.

His agent Jean Diamond said on Monday that the actor, who was born in Sweden but became a French citizen in 2002, died on Sunday From his 1949 screen debut in the Swedish film Only a Mother, von Sydow starred in close to 200 film and TV productions, remaining active well into his 80s. He received two Academy Award nominations— for best actor in 1988 for his gripping portrayal of an impoverished farmer in Pelle the Conqueror, and best supporting actor in 2012 for his role as a mute in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. More recently, he received an Emmy nomination for his work as the Three-Eyed Raven in HBO’s Game of Thrones.

He was a mainstay in nearly a dozen classic, angstridden films by Bergman, including Wild Strawberries, Shame and the 1957 release The Seventh Seal, in which he was featured in one of Bergman’s most memorable scenes as the medieval knight who plays a game of chess against the grim reaper.

He made his Hollywood debut as Jesus in the 1965 film The Greatest Story Ever Told, but gained widespread international fame as the devil-evicting priest in William Friedkin’s controversial 1973 film The Exorcist. Tall and lanky, with sullen blue eyes, a narrow face, pale complexion and a deep and accented speaking voice, von Sydow was often typecast in Hollywood as the sophisticated villain.

“What I as an actor look for is a variety of parts. It is very boring to be stuck in more or less one type of character,” he once said in an interview.

In 1980, von Sydow starred as the evil emperor Ming the Merciless in Flash Gordon. He turned down the role as the sinister Dr. No in the first James Bond film with the same name, but later appeared as the cat-stroking villain Ernst Blofeld in the 1983 Never Say Never Again, starring Sean Connery as Bond.

He also played a tormented painter in Woody Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters and portrayed the devil in Needful Things, a 1991 horror film based on a novel by Stephen King. In 2015, he appeared briefly in the blockbuster Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

While his characters were often sinister, tormented or evil, the soft-spoken von Sydow said he became an actor to overcome his own shyness.

“I was a very shy boy when I was a kid,” he said in an Associated Press interview. “When I started acting in an amateur group in high school, although I wasn’t aware of it at the time, I suddenly got a tool in my hand that was wonderful. I was allowed to express all kinds of strange things that I never dared to express before. Now I could do it with the character as a shield, as a defense, and as an excuse.

“I think that for many years I used my profession as some kind of a mental therapy.”

Von Sydow was born April 10, 1929, into a family of academics in the southern Swedish city of Lund. He was baptized Carl Adolf von Sydow, but later changed his first name to Max, saying his given name was “not a good name” after World War II. Although his family was not interested in theater, he said his father was a master of telling adventure stories that fueled his imagination as a child. He decided he wanted to be an actor and formed a theater society with his friends after seeing his first play, William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, at age 14.

He studied at the Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm and acted in small municipality theaters in Sweden for eight years — an experience he later described as crucial for his career.

“I’m very grateful to the schooling I had in Sweden because in order to learn acting you have to work, work, work,” he said. “I think I owe very much to those years.”

It was during this period he first met Bergman. In addition to The Seventh Seal, he would star in 10 other Bergman films, including The Magician, The Virgin Spring and Wild Strawberries, and develop a close relationship with Sweden’s most famous moviemaker.

Von Sydow married Swedish actress Christina Olin in 1951 and had two sons, Clas and Henrik. The couple later divorced and he remarried French filmmaker Catherine Brelet in 1997 with whom he had two more sons, Yvan and Cedric. (Indian Express)

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T

he United States are champions of the CONCACAF Under-20 Women’s Championship for a fifth time. They defeated Mexico 4-1 in the Final of the 2020 CUW20 on Sunday afternoon at the Estadio Olimpico Felix Sanchez in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Trinity Rodman and Mia Fishel both bagged braces to enable the U.S. victory; and although Mexico had a dream start by taking a 1-0 lead in the 6th minute of play

WEEK ENDING MARCH 15, 2020 | GUYANATIMESINTERNATIONAL.COM

through a Silvana Flores left-footed shot that was hammered in from outside the area, the U.S. response was immediate, as Rodman brought her side level in the 12th minute with a right-footed volley.

The U.S. had the momentum, and nearly took a lead in the 38th minute, when Katelyn Duong’s shot hit the post.

The goal that forged them ahead came in the second half, when Fishel pounced on a rebound to give the U.S. a 2-1 advantage in the 49th min-

Awards

Fair Play United States Golden Glove Wendy Toledo, Mexico

Golden Boot Melchie Dumornay,Haiti

Golden Ball Mia Fishel, United States

A glimpse of the action between USA and Mexico in the final match

ute.

Fishel struck again in the 57th minute, to extend the U.S. lead to 3-1, when she produced a header for her 13th goal of the tournament.

Rodman then completed her brace with a right-footed finish in the

88th minute that capped the score line at 4-1.

Individual Awards

Mexico’s Goal-Keeper Wendy Toledo, who reg-

istered two clean sheets during the tournament, has been declared winner of the Golden Glove Award.

Melchie Dumornay of Haiti took home the Golden Boot honours for the 14 goals she scored in the tournament. She scored goals in all six of Haiti’s matches. This 16-year-old registered two hat-tricks besides a four-goal performance in Haiti’s 12-0 Roundof-16 victory against Barbados.

Mia Fishel of the United States has been declared winner of the Golden Ball. Fishel finished the 2020 CUW20 as the second-leading scorer with 13 goals, including a brace in Sunday’s Final.

Guyana’s Under-20 Female Team, commonly referred to as the Lady Jags, had participated in the championships, but bowed out following a quarterfinal round defeat to Haiti.

Coronavirus threat: IPL...

You cannot hold a match without that.

“We are not saying anything to stop the match. We are just saying: even if they go ahead with the match, ensure that guidelines are followed. People’s health cannot be put into danger.”

Shortly after Rijiju’s comments, the sports ministry also issued an advisory on Thursday to various national sports federations, the Indian Olympics Association as well as to the BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah.

“To deal with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has issued advisories and advised the state governments to take appropriate action under the Epidemic Disease Act, 1897,” the sports ministry’s advisory said.

“You are advised to adhere to advisories issued by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and ensure that no public gathering takes place in any sporting event. In the event, the sporting event cannot be avoided, the same could be done without allowing gathering of the people, including spectators.”

The ministry also attached to the advisory the decisions taken by the Group of Ministers late Wednesday eve-

ning on the clampdown of several types of visas issued to travel to India.

“All existing visas, except diplomatic, official, UN/International Organizations, employment, project visas, stand suspended till April 15, 2020. This will come into effect from 1200 GMT on March 13, 2020, at the port of departure,” the government statement said.

ESPNcricinfo understands, however, that those connected with the IPL would come under employment or project visas, which is likely to leave the tournament unaffected as things stand.

The IPL Governing Council is scheduled to meet on March 14 to discuss the fate of the tournament, which was to feature several overseas players arriving from and through different parts of the globe that have been affected by the pandemic.

As per the figures released by the WHO, 118 countries have been affected by COVID-19, classified as a respiratory illness. More than 120,000 people have been infected with over 4,300 deaths worldwide.

In India so far, 73 people have been infected with no deaths as yet.

On Wednesday, the BCCI issued its first statement on how it was

FROM PAGE 45

dealing with the pandemic ahead of the IndiaSouth Africa ODI series.

Along with following the prescribed dos and don’ts on personal hygiene, the BCCI had asked the India players to be mindful during their interactions with fans, including not shaking hands or using third-party gadgets for selfies.

The COVID-19 pandemic has already forced the cancellation and postponement of sporting events across the globe with a few of them in India. The first major tournament to be postponed was the 3×3 basketball Olympic qualifiers, which was scheduled to be held in Bengaluru from March 18 to 22.

The Indian Open golf tournament, scheduled to be held in Gurugram from March 19 to 22, has been postponed, with the organisers promising to reschedule the event at “some point” later this year.

The Shooting World Cup, in Delhi from March 15 to 26, has also been postponed, as has India’s FIFA World Cup qualifier against Qatar in Bhubaneswar on March 26. The India Open badminton tournament is going ahead as of now – in Delhi from March 24 to 29 – but without spectators. (ESPNCricinfo)

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T&T’S SILVER BOWL JUNIORS TABLE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS…

Guyanese Billingy and Sukhai secure U-11 and U-9 titles T

he 2020 Silver Bowl Juniors Table Tennis Championships, organised by the Trinidad and Tobago Table Tennis Association and sponsored by The Insurance Company of the West Indies Ltd, were held over the weekend at the National Racquet Centre in Tacarigua, Republic of Trinidad & Tobago.

Emerging in win-

I

ners’ row after this tournament were Guyana’s Jasmine Billingy and Samara Sukhai, who topped the U11 and U9 categories respectively.

Before winning the U11 title, Billingy competed in the U13 category, where she easily defeated all her opponents, thereby earning herself a place in the finals against Chloe Fraser.

She, however, bowed

out 3-1 to Fraser, as she lost the first game 11-6 but went on to win the second one 11-8, to level the scores. Fraser then won the other two games 13-11 and 12-10 to claim the title.

Remaining focused going into her U11 finale against Ashlea Mohammed, Billingy flipped the script and won that encounter 3-1.

Having lost the first

game 11-8, Billingy won the other three games 115, 11-3, 11-7, to take the title.

In the U9 category, Samara Sukhai battled Jannah Mohammed, and won the encounter 3-0 by the dominant scores of 11-1, 11-2 and 11- 0.

Asked how he feels about the victory, head coach of the Titans Table Tennis Club, Dwain Dick, said: “Basically, this was

done to give them the exposure and competition lacking here. We have nothing to look forward to as, once again, the national association (GTTA) has failed to put out an itinerary.

“As a club, we will be forced to look further afield for competition.

As you would have noticed from our local competitions, neither our under-11 or under-9 cat-

egories (boys and girls) have 12 competitors, due to lack of junior programmes.

“We need to target nursery and primary, and host weekend camps to talent spot and encourage younger players; then have regular competitions and activities to keep them training and developing.”

Coronavirus threat: IPL 2020 likely to take place behind closed doors

t is now a strong possibility that IPL 2020 will take place behind closed doors, in light of the coronavirus threat, with the Indian government indicating it will not stop sporting events from taking place as long as they adhere strictly to health-ministry guidelines discouraging mass gatherings.

On Wednesday,

vised that mass gatherings may be avoided or possibly be postponed till the disease spread is contained.

“In case any such mass gatherings are organized, States may take necessary action guide the Organisers on precautions to be taken as per the risk communication material already sent so as to avoid any

the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) a pandemic.

The announcement was made on Thursday

by Kiren Rijiju, India’s Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports. It remains to be seen how this development will affect the remaining matches of the ODI series between India and South Africa, which began on Thursday in Dharamsala. The second ODI is scheduled to be played in Lucknow on March 15, and the third ODI in Kolkata on March 18.

On March 5, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare put out an advisory on mass gatherings, which said: “Experts across the World have advised to reduce mass gatherings to avoid the spread of COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus disease. In view of above, it is ad-

Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) cases and Influenz Illness (ILs) including Covid-19.”

Rijiju said the guidelines on mass gatherings had been overseen by a group of ministers formed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“All international events in India have been cancelled,” Rijiju told reporters outside Parliament. “But we are telling sports federations, we are telling all to comply with the guidelines issued by the Health Ministry and formulated by a group of ministers which is constituted by the Prime Minister. So any sports body in India should ensure [the guidelines are followed].”

Asked specifically about the IPL, which is scheduled to start on March 29, Rijiju indicated that fans are likely not to be allowed at the grounds. “We are not stopping the game,” he

said. “We are just telling to ensure that there is no mass gathering.

Precautionary step is very important for the health of the country.”

Considering that IPL matches are usually attended by several thousand fans across all venues, Rijiju said the organisers would need

to ensure that safety of the “people” is not put at risk. “That is the guideline,” Rijiju said. “Health of the nation is more important than anything.

If matches happen the organisers would need to put in place all infrastructure including screening machines.

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EARLY SEASON CLASSIC

“Best of the best” to compete this weekend F

or many reasons, the Leonora Track and Field Facility will be ignited this weekend (March 14 and 15), as the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) hosts the Early Season Classic over the weekend.

For starters, this weekend’s event is being used as

the final qualification opportunity for those youths who are hoping to make it to this year’s CARIFTA Games in Bermuda.

However, the AAG sought to add a bit more excitement to the two-day meet by allowing senior athletes to compete.

While the more experienced athletes will be focused on hit-

ting the mark, with their eyes on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics; International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Grand Prix and Continental circuit, they will also face the adversity of having to compete against the younger crowd.

The battle of youth versus experience will get bet-

ter, as the AAG made the decision to invite the best athletes from each age group, instead of having a free-for-all meet.

President Aubrey Hutson shared why.

“What we did was we basically invited the cream of the crop of Guyanese track and field to the competition this

weekend. The athletes who we think did not meet the level to be there we did not invite them,” Hutson revealed.

Aside from the biggest goal of making the CARIFTA Games, which are scheduled for the Easter weekend (April 10-13), the younger athletes will be looking to im-

press in order to book spots in the World Juniors, South American Youth and Juniors and Grenada’s Whitsuntide Games.

Sharing the rationale behind mixing the groups, the AAG President explained that it was a way to better prepare the youngsters for internation-

al competition.

“The reason why we do this is because when our youth and junior athletes go into CARIFTA Games, running with our seniors is the kind of competition that they have to be prepared for when they go out there, because people like Jamaica and Bahamas are on a different level, so if we can expose them to that level of competition, it is the same kind that they’ll be going into when they get to CRAIFTA,” he noted.

The AAG boss went on to reveal his expectations for the highly-anticipated Early Season Classic.

“The level of competition is going to be very, very high, because there are a lot of the junior athletes who feel that they can beat the seniors, and the seniors will really and truly want to make a statement that they’re not ready to give up their position as being the top athletes in the country,” he stated.

The AAG President went on to state, “All in all, I think everyone competing this weekend will put it out there to show us the Association as to their level of fitness and level of competitiveness, so we can look at them for selection for international competition.”

On a different note, Hutson declared that the Association is looking to have an early

AAG President Aubrey Hutson

start.

Thus far, 12 Guyana-based athletes have hit the qualifying mark for this year’s CARIFTA Games in Bermuda while one foreign-based athlete has qualified.

The junior athletes who have already made the qualification times locally for the CARIFTA Games are Adriel Austin, Annalisa Barclay, Seon Booker, Princess Browne, Anisha Gibbons, Trevon Hamer, Randy Hamilton, Attoya Harvey, Lionel Marks, Okenoko Pascal, Keliza Smith, and Wesley Tyndall.

Meanwhile, Kenisha Phillips is the foreign-based student athlete.

Guyana is looking to take a team of 15 or more athletes to the Bermuda games.

(Jemima Holmes)

WEEK ENDING MARCH 15, 2020| GUYANATIMESINTERNATIONAL.COM

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