Guyana Times International 15 March 2019

Guyana could expect spike in nature travellers

INTERNATIONAL THE BEACON OF TRUTH

…due to int’l tourism award Page 12

All eyes on Guyana

for FRee distribution guyanatimesinternational.com

You can also read Guyana Times daily edition online at www.guyanatimesgy.com

ISSUE NO. 440

WEEK ENDING March 17, 2019

…as constitutional deadline for polls fast approaches See stories inside

Page 7

Guyana’s President David Granger, on Wednesday, accepted Letters of Credence from the newly- appointed U.S Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch at the Ministry of the Presidency in Georgetown. (US Embassy photo)

NY Governor announces new measures to assist immigrants

…says ‘fight continues to protect rights of new Americans’

Page 11

2

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

NEWS 3

All eyes on Guyana …as constitutional deadline for polls fast approaches

T

here is heightened focus on Guyana from several local and international stakeholders as the Constitutional deadline for the General and Regional Elections, triggered by a no-confidence vote on December 21 2018 which saw the toppling of the APNU/AFC Government, fast approaches.

The coalition Government has been facing mounting pressure to set a date for elections before the March 21 deadline. But President Granger has been insisting that he has to await guidance from GECOM before he executes his presidential responsibility.

President David Granger has since asked the Guyana Elections

File: President David Granger greets Leader of the Opposition, Dr. Bharrat Jadgeo before one of their previous meetings to discuss the current political crisis at the Ministry of the Presidency in Georgetown.

Commission (GECOM) to submit a work programme which would allow the electoral body to deliver the elections in the “shortest possible time”.

In a letter sent to Chairman of GECOM, Justice James Patterson, on Wednesday, the Head of State noted that last week’s consultation was intended to provide him with an understanding of the Commission’s work programme, which is expected to enable it to deliver credible elections within the shortest possible time.

The Head of State emphasised in the missive that the work programme is essential to inform him of GECOM’s readiness to deliver credible elections in Guyana. continued on page 5

4 views

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

INTERNATIONAL To contact: Guyana Times International

New York Office 106-15 Sutphin Blvd, Jamaica NY 11435 Email: guyanatimesnyint@gmail.com Tel no: 718-658-6804 Fax no: 718-849-2286 Preferred method of contact via EMAIL Guyana Office Ruimveldt, Georgetown, Guyana.

Tel no: (592) 223-7230/1, 225-7761.

Fax (592) 225-8696 Email: guyanatimesint@gmail.com

EDITORIAL

The US and Guyana A new US Ambassador to Guyana has arrived in Georgetown.

She is Ms Sara-Ann Lynch, who described herself to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations as “serv(ing) as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco…(then) in international affairs as a USAID Foreign Service Officer, serving for the past 25 years overseas in Bangladesh, Peru, Afghanistan and Iraq; and in Washington, most recently as the Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator in the Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean.”

There is no question that Ambassador Lynch brings a tremendous wealth of knowledge and, more importantly, experience to her new posting after that background, which should advance the mutual interests of our countries at this critical juncture. As she promised later in that hearing: “I will proudly promote US values and represent the United States in Guyana, a melting pot of ethnic and religious diversity. I pledge to work with Guyana in areas of mutual interest as we seek to: (1) support the Government of Guyana as the country emerges as a petroleum producer and leverages its newfound revenues to expand economic opportunities and social services for all its citizens; (2) increase fair and reciprocal bilateral trade and investment, including promoting opportunities for US businesses; and, (3) work with the Guyanese Government and people to build upon gains in democratic governance, the rule of law and citizen security. A secure, democratic and prosperous Guyana will be a key ally for the United States for years to come in the region that we share.”

Ambassador Lynch would have been briefed on the clear and present danger posed to our “gains in democratic governance, the rule of law and citizen security” by the refusal of President David Granger to adhere to the pellucid command of the Constitution to schedule elections three months after the successful passage of the no-confidence vote on Dec 21, 2018. The transparent manoeuvres of the PNC-led Government to cling to power outside the ambit of the Constitution betray their reversion to their historic contempt for the rule of law. This doctrine demands that no one is above the law, not even a king or a president.

Ambassador Lynch continued: “This is a particularly momentous time for Guyana, a country the World Bank currently identifies as middle-income. However, the discovery of significant reserves of oil in recent years could alter the equation for this small nation. It is estimated that Guyana holds over 4 billion barrels of offshore oil reserves, which could put it into the top twenty oil producing countries in the world. As such, it is critical the country not fall into the trap of the “resource curse.”

“Guyana must continue to look for opportunities to diversify its economy, improve its governance, and strengthen its civil society. If confirmed, I will look for ways to build upon the work that Guyana has already done to chart a productive course for its future.”

Her warning about avoiding the “resource curse” trap is especially apt in view of the Government’s strangulation of the agricultural sector in a world faced with growing food insecurity.

Their refusal to utilise the 40,000 acres of drained and irrigated land made available by the closure of four sugar estates, by leasing them to the fired workers and transitioning them from field workers into cash crop farmers, is a case in point.

Finally, she concluded, “We only have to look to Guyana’s west – to Venezuela – to see how poor governance and corruption have destroyed what should be one of South America’s most prosperous economies. Venezuelans are fleeing their country in droves, with thousands now entering neighbouring Guyana.”

This is a cautionary tale that this newspaper has consistently emphasised in this space, as the PNC-led Government has become overrun with corruption and has demonstrated a studied contempt for the need to diversify the economy by encouraging value-added agro-manufacturing, for instance. Yet they emphasise only “oil revenues”, as exemplified by Minister of Finance Winston Jordan’s recent boast of one million barrels per day by 2025.

Moraikobai is an Amerindian village located in Region 5 of Guyana. The village is about 96 miles away from the confluence of the Mahaicony River. The population in Moraikobai is just over 500 strong, who are predominantly indigenous peoples from the Arawak tribe. (Photo by Girendra Persaud)

Guyana’s ecotourism potential

G

uyana’s tourism product received a major boost a few days ago when the country was named the world’s best eco-tourism destination. With the political developments that are dominating the news headlines daily, this news was not given much publicity, but it certainly is something to celebrate, considering the strenuous efforts that are being made by the relevant stakeholders to push Guyana as a ‘must see’ on the world tourism market.

The award was presented to Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), Brian T. Mullis, at the ITB Global Travel Trade Fair in Berlin, Germany recently. The newly created “Best of Ecotourism” category was added in 2019, and puts Guyana up against very well-known and experienced ecotourism destinations, like Sierra Gorda in Mexico, Tmatboey in Cambodia, and the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador.

President of the Green Destinations Foundation was quoted in the media as saying that the Top 100 Awards Jury was impressed by the dossier prepared by the GTA for the Top-100 nomination, and by the success stories submitted of Surama and Rewa. Both of these eco-lodges have ambitious and admirable goals and successes, are community-owned and led, and aim at preserving Guyana’s ecosystems and indigenous traditions.

Over the years, Guyana has expended considerable amounts of resources to develop new and innovative eco-friendly tourism products.

Guyana has a unique tourism product that is offered by no other Caribbean country, and we believe this country has the potential to become one of the Caribbean’s leading tourist destinations, as there are endless possibilities for eco-tourism, yachting, and wildlife, along with a number of other tourism activities.

Certainly, there are some

Director General of the Guyana Tourism Authority Donald, Sinclair presents the award to Minister of Business, Dominic Gaskin.

impediments that pose a threat to the development of a thriving tourism sector, such as expensive air travel, lack of trained personnel in the tourism and other related sectors etc. These are issues that must remain on the front burner to be addressed as they have a direct impact on the quality and affordability of the tourism package we offer. With the oil sector about to take-off soon, more persons, both Guyanese in the diaspora and foreign citizens, will be venturing into Guyana either to work, visit, or for academic purposes. The focus should be on putting in place systems aimed at projecting a positive image of our country.

Further, we wish to underline the point that Guyana’s tourism product is still evolving, and in order for it to be successful, we all must get involved in the thrust towards making our country a destination of choice. If we are to underscore the importance of tourism to our country’s development, then more public awareness is needed, so that not only the Government and the private sector are on board, but we must ensure that ordinary citizens fully understand and support the industry.

Citizens must understand the

value of tourism to our country’s development, and the role they could play in ensuring that persons who visit leave with lasting positive impressions of the country.

To begin with, there is need for citizens to start cleaning up their surroundings, especially those living in the capital city, towns and major centres, where tourists traverse. The capital city is a main centre of attraction for visitors, and on any regular day, a walk around the city streets and surrounding areas would leave one ‘sick’ at the sight of the huge pileup of garbage and other refuse at certain points. For too long, we have accepted substandard services from city officials without raising our voices in protest at their incompetence and inefficiency in carrying out their mandate. Successive governments have had to inject millions to clean up the city, but not long after, the situation goes back to the way it was before.

That said, a thriving tourism sector would benefit all Guyanese, as more persons would be able to secure employment, our country’s revenue would be boosted, and many other related industries would prosper, among other benefits.

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

All eyes on...

“I urge you to present your plans, programmes and financial needs which will guide my proclamation of a suitable date for elections,” President Granger stated in the letter sent to the GECOM Chairman.

Last week, the GECOM Chairman and six Commissioners as well as Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield met with the President. The Opposition Commissioners had disclosed that during the meeting, the CEO had indicated that there was no work plan in place as yet when asked by the Head of State.

Commission not Secretariat

However, when contacted on Wednesday, Lowenfield explained that the “work programme” the President is seeking is one from the Commission and not the Secretariat.

He pointed out that the GECOM Secretariat, which he heads, had presented several work plans to the Commission back in January, outlining various options, including a claims and objections period coupled with continuous registration, on the way forward regarding the holding of elections. The Secretariat had indicated that it would need a minimum of 148 days to prepare for polls with the earliest possible date being in July.

But the Commission had overlooked those options put forward by the Secretariat and decided to go ahead with house-

to-house registration, which is expected to conclude sometime in November. This was voted for by the Governmentnominated Commissioners supported by the Chairman.

GECOM’s unpreparedness

Meanwhile, the Opposition Commissioners at GECOM have been unsuccessfully pushing for the elections body to get ready for elections within the constitutional deadline.

In fact, they presented a plan at last Friday’s meeting outlining how polls can be held before the current voters’ list expires on April 30, 2019.

But that proposal was rejected by Government and the Commissioners on Tuesday walked out of the statutory meeting at GECOM after the issue of house-to-house registration was on the agenda instead of General and Regional

Elections as mandated by the Constitution of Guyana.

According to Lowenfield, the Commission will now have to come up with a consensus in order to submit the “work programme” to the Head of State. He added whatever that work programme is, the Secretariat will have to deliver on that.

Since the passage of the No-confidence Motion on December 21, 2018, there has been much criticism about GECOM’s preparedness for the mandated General and Regional Elections, with many accusing the elections body of deliberately delaying the constitutionally mandated holding of polls.

On Tuesday, private criminal charges were filed against Justice Patterson and Government-nominated Commissioners Vincent Alexander, Charles Corbin and Desmond Trotman for conspiracy to breach the Constitution of Guyana.

The charges were brought

by Marcel Gaskin, the brother of Business Minister Dominic Gaskin.

Filed by Attorney Sanjeev Datadin, the charges allege that the defendants, during the period of December 22, 2018 and March 9, 2019 conspired to breach Article 106 of the Constitution of Guyana, which provided for the holding of General Elections in

NEWS 5 from page 3

Guyana within three months from December 21, 2018. The case comes up for hearing before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan on Friday.

According to Article 106, upon the passage of a no-confidence motion, the President and Cabinet have to resign and call elections within 90 days or at a later date approved by two-thirds of the National Assembly.

However, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has since indicated that he would agree to extend the deadline for elections only if the President sets a date before April 30.

Backpedalling

Immediately after the No-confidence Motion was passed, both President David Granger and Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo had initially committed to following the provisions outlined in the Constitution, facilitating early elections and engaging in dialogue with the Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo but have since changed their position.

In less than one week, the constitutional deadline for holding elections will expire, throwing the country into a constitutional crisis Guyana has never been in before. Some experienced political analysts, including distinguished lawyers, have predicted that the country will head into a constitutional crisis.

6

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

The Chairman Reversed positions of the President and PM on the NCM have of GECOM not brought them any glory has become the President’s lifeline Dear Editor, The APNU/AFC coalition regime has not reached the stage of doctrinal dictatorship yet, at least when compared to the post-independence period from 1968 to 1992, the genealogical heart of the PNC. There seems to be little indication that this will happen given the successful No-Confidence Motion (NCM) inflicted upon it on December 21, 2018.

However, the regime’s grid of supervision and surveillance over Guyana’s affairs has dwindled, conceding some power to the opposition, PPP. What has happened since the NCM is that the regime has operated on the “logic” of restraint not onto itself but to the private-oriented institutions and the opposition while applying a tight confluence between sister-affiliated institutions in and out of Guyana.

In every nodal point of challenge, the regime is relying desperately on the Office of the Attorney General and GECOM, its twin horns, to reconfigure the basic meaning of the Constitution, mathematics, among others, under the rubric of “situational necessity” or something like that, in the courts.

The minutiae of bunkums – 34 is the majority of 65, the Constitution is wrong, GECOM is not ready – has been transmogrified into full-blown national and regional comedies. Some in the APNU/AFC regime have lampooned themselves in Guyana’s new encyclopedia of who’s who in constitutional semantics while some rue. It is sad to watch the entanglements of the once boastful and buzzed APNU/ AFC coalition.

Despite threats of imminent doom, the regime has refused to acquiesce to any demands constitutionally placed on it, opting to maintain the spirit of grasping for power rather than upholding the letter of the law.

This stable and stubborn position has called in the entire edifice of the regime’s sincerity of good governance into question. What the hell do

you mean by good governance? What the hell are your intentions? What is needed now is bureaucratic discretion, not bureaucratic donkeyism.

Noticeably, too, is that GECOM, like the regime, has begun to operate on the “logic” of restraint within the Commission rather than on the “logic” of facilitation as mandated. If you have not noticed, the self-styled, no paladin Chairman for anyone has voted according to the expectation of the regime: a delay of the general election until GECOM is ready.

Expect more voting to occur along these lines since no way in the world is GECOM an independent institution, never was, never will be, unless there is some sort of reform. There are now four APNU/AFC and three PPP members respectively.

The latter is simply decorative, an empty shell. To declare that the Chairman of GCEOM is an independent thinker would be promoting ignorance and engaging a habit of exaggeration. The outcome of the recent meeting between teams Granger and Jagdeo tells it all.

Am I supposed to believe these declared sentiments by the President of Guyana: “Let me make one thing clear, GECOM is an autonomous, GECOM is an independent agency and there is no part of the Constitution which gives the President or the executive in general, authority to interfere, intervene or intrude in the work of the elections commission”.

The unilateral appointment of GECOM’s Chairman by the President against the wishes of the majority fills those vital lacunae and punctuates the morphology of thinking within this regime.

We will settle for nothing less but to stay in power. The Chairman of GECOM has become the President’s trump card and lifeline of the APNU/ AFC regime.

Sincerely, Lomarsh Roopnarine

Dear Editor, Late as it is, hopeless as it now seems, I will not let be dashed, my hope in our Guyanese people and the better future we could be creating.

The unchartered waters of a constitutional crisis are truly on us. Our Ministers are no longer claiming that they are meeting as a Cabinet.

First, themselves calling their meeting a caucus then soon after a plenary speaks loudly about the unchartered waters we are already in. We are already in confusion.

During a meeting with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) earlier this week, it was indicated that their support would stand suspended after March 21, 2019: those sanctions with which Guyana was threatened in 2014 must once again be avoided.

Our Leader of the Opposition is not the one steering Guyana’s ship, he cannot avoid the constitutional crisis; he can only rail against it.

It is our President and Prime Minister, their advisers and supporters who can still steer us away from it. We must call on our President and Prime Minister to be valiant and valorous. Return themselves to their initial positions within the first 24 hours of the passage of the NCM. Prevail on our Prime Minister to return to his words: “We want our supporters in particular … to understand that we are going back to the polls….

Guyanese must understand that the democratic process is sometimes unpredictable. You may have results that are not planned for…. But the outcome has to be accepted… It is like cricket in some sense, what happened here today, a game of glorious uncertainty.”

Prevail on our President to return to his statement issued the following morning: “We will do everything necessary to facilitate the smooth functioning of General and Regional Elections bearing in mind the need for normal governmental functions to continue uninterrupted.”

Our Leader of the Opposition approached the Honourable Minister of State, Joseph Harmon for an early meeting, the Government having fallen, to

work things out in some harmony. Those initial responses gave hope that the NCM needed not be a calamity, a disaster, but presented an opportunity for steps to a greater maturity in our politics; a perceived bad thing that might bring good results.

The reversed positions of our President and Prime Minister have not brought them any glory. The Speaker pushed, did not budge, and did reassert his ruling that the NCM stood; and our Chief Justice issued a judgment overwhelmingly judged sound. The Chief Justice’s NCM ruling seems to be slowly and grudgingly accepted by the Government.

According to the Guyana Chronicle of Tuesday, March 12, 2019, the Honourable Finance Minister, Winston Jordan had sought to assure the public that in keeping with the Chief Justice’s ruling, Cabinet has resigned but Government continues to function.

Perhaps it had to be this way, to provide examples that in this sixth or seventh decade of ethnopolitical insecurities, there be amongst us persons who would persevere in walking the straight path and we may trust ourselves to expectations of fair play.

And when we think and note that the conflagrations that I feared would have followed after the passage of the NCM have not unfolded, we must wonder whether our people are not changing and whether there are not possibilities for us politicians to develop new approaches.

In his book on “Innovation and Entrepreneurship” the management guru, Peter Drucker, points out that the occurrence of unexpected things, whether failures or successes, must cause us to question our old assumptions: their period of validity is ending.

Discern and come to terms with the change! Look for the new opportunities! Seize the opportunities!

Innovate!

Mr President, let us go forward, name the date, let the campaigns begin, everyone campaigning on the basis of the next realistic steps they can and will take were they privileged to win, to grow and develop Guyanese and Guyana, without fear or favour, affection or ill will.

Yours truly, Samuel A A Hinds Former President and former Prime Minister

Guyana is in crisis

Dear Editor, Our dear country is in crisis and unchartered territory! The threats of an unmanageable police state are obviously imminent, as the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) plays a zero-sum game on one side. The fallen David Granger-led APNU/AFC coalition Government plays ignorance to the constitutional obligations on the other. The call for a meeting turned out to be another publicity stunt, which the President and his cohorts would have used as an excuse had the Opposition Leader refused to meet.

It is widely known that President Granger stepped outside the tested and proven Carter constitutionally agreed formula and legitimate public expectancy in his widely condemned unilateral appointment of James Patterson as the Chairman of GECOM. He now pathetically uses the self-created contamination as a pretence-laden sham, in attempting to camouflage the dictatorial quest for power at all cost and lawless ineptitude to good governance.

The indecency of Patterson seems limitless, as he proves himself daily, a creature of infiltration and imbalance created by and operating under the whims of the David Granger’s PNC/R political party. His decisions as Chairman of GECOM flagrantly contradict the rules of establishment of the organisation, as he uses his role to advance party paramountcy over the Constitution as the supreme law of our land.

It is indeed most contemptible that the fallen coalition Government Commissioners at GECOM would shamelessly exercise such constitutional defiance of the timeline and actions necessary for the holding of elections since the passing of the No-Confidence Motion. Following the coalition’s failed efforts at achieving delays approved by the Legislature and the Judiciary, their Commissioners at GECOM have tak-

en on the mantra of creating a backdoor solution to the extension of power and fraud.

Led by Vincent Alexander, they are proffering all sorts of illogical excuses about the organisation not being ready, finance needed to conduct elections, and the need to conduct house-to-house registration.

Under the ill-fated and deliberate delaying guile of Patterson, it took this cabal more than 50 of the constitutionally prescribed 90 days to falsely inform the public that they needed up to July to be ready.

Alexander perhaps hopes to gain forgiveness for his fallout with Granger over his previous challenge for leadership of the PNC/R. It also took international engagements of foreign diplomats for CEO Lowenfield to pronounce that the List was clean and valid up to the end of April 2019 and that updates through the 10 Continuous Registration, Claims and Objection processes, had served this purpose. I wish to emphasise that the process of validation of the Voters’ List complied with a process according to law, and not under the fantasy of the PNC/R, Alexander and his cohorts.

It is a fact that without actions to savour an extension of the constitutional timeline for the mandatory election, the Government becomes illegal after March 21, 2019. This has damning consequences for the country at large and international partners are likely to invoke sanctions which put Guyana further into the doldrums of underdevelopment by the time corrective actions are accepted.

In context, the myopic view or pretence of the President puts in public view, the illegal business as usual approach of his Government, contrary to the intent of the amendment of the Constitution to include Sections 106 and 107. Accordingly, through

CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

news 7

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Medical Council New US envoy says will continue to push to probe death for free and fair elections in Guyana of children A at GPHC

Roshini Seegobin

Sharezer Mendonca

he Medical Council of Guyana – a regulatory body – will be launching an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of three juvenile cancer patients at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

GPHC recently concluded its own probe into the matter, which found that the medical personnel did not follow the established protocol in administering drugs to the three children, who died earlier this year.

“We have not received the report but we have asked for the report from GPHC and we are expecting that

soon…there has to be certain investigation I would believe because on our part we still have to look into the matter,” explained Dr Navin Rambarran, Chairman of the Council.

Parents and other activists have been calling for the suspension of medical licenses from those doctors responsible for the deaths of seven-year-old Curwayne Edwards on January 14 and three-year-old Roshini Seegobin on January 18 and sixyear-old Sharezer Mendonca on January 24.

Family members of little Mendonca have since indicated their intention to sue the GPHC.

T

Guyana ...

from page 6

the explanatory memorandum of Bill 14 of 2000, which is instructive to this effect, the drafters sought to ensure that the preservation of the President’s status quo for 90 days with the main purpose of ensuring the effective conduct of free and fair elections within the period.

The situation cannot be more obvious that a legal and clean Voters’ List as pronounced on by the CEO of GECOM’s Secretariat is inconvenient to the fallen APNU/ AFC coalition.

The Government Commissioners and its

secretariat staff are aware of the basis for its legal mechanism governing, as well as the process implemented towards its continuous update. The Government is aware that its cabal has conducted a number of egregious acts against the people and is now taking steps to try to buy citizens influence. The arguments for house-tohouse activities, therefore, merely serves to illegally grant the coalition time at the citizens’ detriment.

Sincerely, Neil Kumar

s the time counts down to the constitutionally mandated General and Regional Elections in Guyana, the United States (US) has re-reiterated the need for free and fair polls.

This call was made by the newly accredited US Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch.

In brief remarks after handing over her credentials to President David Granger on Wednesday morning at the Ministry of the Presidency, Ambassador Lynch lauded Guyana for the significant progress made particularly in the political sphere.

Without making mention of the current political impasse, the newly accredited US envoy did, however, point to the need for free and fair elections.

“We have seen the strengthening of democratic processes and political institutions along with broader political participation and citizens’ representation. Moving forward, we will continue to encourage genuinely free and fair elections, freedom of speech and assembly, multiparty representation and a constitutional judiciary process…,” the new US Ambassador said.

On the other hand, President Granger, in his remarks, reminded that among the areas Guyana and the US enjoy strong bi-lateral relations is non-interference in each other’s internal affairs.

“Our relations are founded on mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, mutual non-interference in each other’s internal affairs,

New US Ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch

cooperation for mutual benefit, respect for treaties and international law and the maintenance of regional peace and security,” the Head of State posited.

Since the December 21, 2018 passage of the motion of no-confidence against the A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change coalition, calls have been made by various stakeholders including foreign diplomats for the Government to abide and respect the Constitution and set a date for elections.

The foreign missions have been paying keen attention to the developments in Guyana since the Opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) filed the No-confidence Motion against the Government.

Only on Monday, British High Commissioner Greg Quinn in an exclusive interview with Guyana Times International said the clock is ticking on the constitutional three-

month deadline for holding elections. This deadline expires in eight days.

“The Constitution is the supreme law… There is the three-month clock, which is still ticking, it hasn’t been stayed yet…,” the United Kingdom envoy told this newspaper on Monday.

Moreover, representatives from the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU) have also echoed similar calls for the Guyana Government to adhere to the constitution.

In February, the EU’s local mission warned of the need for constitutional compliance, urging in a statement that democratic procedures and the rule of law be respected and upheld. The EU also called for free and fair elections to be held and for the Guyana Government to follow all requirements outlined in the Constitution of Guyana following the December 21, 2018 no-confidence vote.

Days before, however,

United Nations Resident Coordinator Mikiko Tanaka urged the State to demonstrate its integrity and respect Guyana’s Constitution.

“Recent political developments triggered by the no-confidence vote in the National Assembly are a test for Guyana’s strength and integrity with regard to the effectiveness of the rule of law and governance,” Tanaka said.

She further lauded acting Chief Justice Roxane George for demonstrating the independence and integrity of the Judiciary when it comes to protecting the Constitution of Guyana.

The acting Chief Justice had ruled on January 31, 2019, that the No-confidence Motion was validly passed 33-32 in the National Assembly and the Cabinet has to resign in keeping with constitutional provisions of Article 106 (6) and 106 (7) respectively.

Consequent to the declaration that the 33-majority meant that the motion was carried, Justice George observed that the President and the Ministers could not, therefore, remain in Government in accordance with Article 106 (6) and 106 (7) of the Constitution after three months.

However, the Grangerled Administration has insisted that there is no role for a “caretaker” Government and that they will continue to be in office until a new President is sworn in. In fact, the coalition has appealed the High Court’s rulings and those matters are currently being heard in the Court of Appeal.

8 news

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Court battle continues …lawyer calls for rejection of Coalition Govt’s A

s day two of the arguments on the validity of the Noconfidence Motion was heard before the Court of Appeal on Tuesday, Attorney Anil Nandlall submitted that the judges ignore applications made to extend the life of the coalition Government.

Nandlall, who is representing Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo in the matter, in his submissions to the court stated that if the honourable judges grant the extension being sought by the Government then they will be directly interfering in the work of the National Assembly, a separate branch of Government, and the political landscape of the country.

“If your honours are to accede to such a request, your honours would be falling into conflict with the separation of powers doctrine,” he said while outlining that the framers of the Guyana Constitution clearly resided that power of extension beyond that three months, by not putting it in the Judiciary.

“And that your honour is not coincidental… is not an omission but it placed it in the National Assembly. They put it in the Legislature because it is a political issue and the court must not be dragged into solving political matters that politicians can’t solve. And that’s part of the problem in this case,” he added.

Nandlall submitted that the Constitution makes provision for the eventuality that if the three months is passed based on a no-confidence vote that the Government and the Opposition should sit down and find a solution by a two-

application to extend term in office

thirds vote in the National Assembly to extend the life of Government.

But now with just a few days left before the March 21 deadline for the constitutionally date for election, the attorney said it is clear that that cannot be solved.

“There is a political impasse that the politicians cannot overcome. They are trying to drag the honourable Speaker (Dr Barton Scotland)…but with great tenacity he sidestepped.

And now the Judiciary is left to fetch this horrible burden.”

During his arguments, the former Attorney General told the court that Cabinet and Government are two distinct groups.

And in the case where a no-confidence motion is passed successfully, the President and the Ministers must remain in office until elections are held and a new President is sworn in. However, the Cabinet and the President must resign immediately after a no-confidence motion is passed.

As

GECOM

it relates to the Guyana Elections Commission’s (GECOM) role in this matter, Nandlall argued that based on the Constitution, the Commission must always be ready for an election. “It’s a universal position…It is presumed to be ready…GECOM must always be ready,” he stated.

The attorney also criticised the move made by the Government team to advocate for GECOM to be given time. “No way in the Constitution provides a consultation before an election,” he said, explaining that GECOM is an independent agency.

it contained rules catered for almost any eventuality. However, he said the Government is trying to make the issue more complex and complicated, to remain in office and using the courts in vein. “I think the issues are very clear and the matters will be resolved in favour of the Constitution,” he added.

Empowered

Acting Chancellor of the Judiciary Yonette Cummings-Edwards

He asserted that Attorney General (Basil Williams) nor Government have any neither place nor authority to direct or consult with GECOM on elections.

Further, Nandlall also accused Williams of trying to create panic when he entered in his arguments that finances totalling G$3 billion for the holding of elections can only be granted based on the approval of Cabinet and the National Assembly. Instead, he told the court that the Constitution allows for the finances to be drawn from the Contingency Fund which allows for access for urgent need for expenditure.

“If GECOM determines that it needs financial aid to access that…by the Contingency Fund and where the advance is made, as soon as practical a statement to that effect shall be laid in the Parliament so in the next life of Parliament that person (next Finance Minister) will lay it in the House which was accessed from the Fund for GECOM if that is the situation.

There is no need to go back to Parliament.”

The Opposition Leader’s attorney argued also that when the now Government which formed the Opposition back in 2014, they relied on the 33 seats that they had in the National Assembly to pass a motion of no-confidence.

However, they are now claiming that it does not add up to a majority vote.

In describing their arguments on the votes as “mathematical gymnastics,” Nandlall reminded the court that these same 33 votes helped the then Opposition to pass bills, defeat and cut budgetary allocations; and even passed yearly budgets. This is before Parliament was prorogued and an election was called in 2015.

Nandlall maintained that the Constitution is clear and nothing is ambiguous in it. He said that

Meanwhile, the attorney representing political commentator Christopher Ram in the no-confidence matter, Kamal Ramkarran, argued that Constitution is the country’s rule book and the court must act to uphold the provisions of the Constitution and ensure that the rule of law is not violated.

Ramkarran argued that the court is empowered to determine a timeframe for elections. “In order for that decision of the Court of Appeal to have meaning, the court is empowered to say that elections have to be held forthwith or within a period no later than 31 days from the date of the decision,” he said.

The attorney argued that the court is the protector of the Constitution and noted that if elections could not be held on March 21, 2019; there is no extension and no proposed date which would lead to violation of the Constitution and crisis starting March 22, 2019.

And unless there is an ex-

tension for the holding of election, then the country will have an unconstitutional Government.

Ramkarran argued that GECOM was required to take action and is obligated to set a date. “They have the right to do that in order to act impartially, fairly and in compliance with the Constitution. The court cannot stand idly by and allow the March 21 deadline to pass.”

He said the court should enquire from GECOM why it did not comply with the Constitution to conduct the elections within 90 days following the passage of the No-confidence Motion on December 21, 2018.

The lawyer said, “There was a mandatory duty of the President and GECOM to ensure the elections were held within three months or within such extended period as provided for in the supreme law.”

The court was also reminded that while these legal arguments are being made before the Appeal Court, the time for the 90day period in which the country should have an election is slowly approaching.

The defence will continue their submissions before Acting Chancellor of the Judiciary Yonette Cummings-Edwards, and Justices of Appeal Rishi Persaud and Dawn Gregory.

Commonwealth rower calls on Guyana’s First Lady

F

irst Lady, Mrs. Sandra Granger, on Tuesday, met with Mr. Richard Allen, a Commonwealth Rower, who paddled for 76 days from the Coast of Sierra Leone, West Africa to Georgetown, Guyana.

According to the Department of Public Information (DPI), after the meeting held at her State House Office, Mrs. Granger said that “anybody who can sail across the Atlantic alone has to be commended, it speaks to great determination and most importantly, the desire to succeed. Mr. Allen is a great role model and I am very happy to have had a discussion with him about issues of mutual interest.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Allen spoke of his plans to return to Guyana to assist in the work of the Guyana Foundation of

which Mrs. Granger is the patron. This organisation is a charitable trust that has been created to contribute meaningfully to the development of Guyana and has been working in the areas of mental health and community development.

“Hopefully I will be back to Guyana soon to work on some of the projects with the Foundation. They have projects such as the Sunrise Centre and also dealing with mental health issues and development of Amerindian communities, I am hoping that we can get more people interested from the UK [United Kingdom] …” Mr. Allen said.

Mr. Allen’s parents, Roger Allen and Sheila Allen and local businessman, Mr. Stanley Ming were also present at the meeting, DPI reported.

NEWS 9

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

‘Momentous time for Guyana’ …US Ambassador pledges support for emerging oil and gas sector

A

s Guyana prepares for first oil early next year, there is still much more to be done locally for the country to be fully prepared for the impending oil and gas industry – something which longtime ally, United States, has committed to lend support on.

This re-commitment was offered by newly appointed US Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch, during her accreditation ceremony on Wednesday morning at the Ministry of the Presidency.

During brief remarks moments after submitting her credentials to President David Granger, Ambassador Lynch outlined that Guyana is embarking on a time of significant transition and growth, adding that she is excited to be witness to this transformation.

“Your nation is poised to become a regional leader with unprecedented opportunities. While there are many challenges still to overcome, we remain committed to collaborate with the Government and the people of Guyana to rise above those challenges and prepare for a brighter future. Together we can build upon the new economic opportunities developing,” she asserted.

According to the newly appointed diplomat, the US is further committed to supporting Guyana as it uses its news found resource to: invest in infrastructure; increase bi-lateral trade; diversity the economy, and strengthen social services.

“At this moment of incredible potential, we must continue to rely on each other…,” she insisted.

Guyana is now home to the world’s biggest new deepwater oil discovery and with ExxonMobil keen on pushing the development of the oil reserves, the US oil giant is expected to commence production early next year with up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day at its Liza Phase 1 development.

Last week, the company disclosed that revised estimated gross recoverable resource from the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana has been pegged at approximately 5.5 billion oil-equivalent barrels.

This increase in recoverable oil includes the recent Tilapia-1 and Haimara-1 discoveries – Exxon’s 11th and 12th

Newly-appointed US Ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch (centre) with President David Granger; Dr Kevin Healy (left), Director General in the Foreign Affairs Ministry; Audrey Waddell (second from left); and Deputy Chief of Mission, Terry Steers-Gonzalez (right)

finds in the Stabroek Block last month. These discoveries in the Southwest section of the Stabroek Block reinforces the country’s potential to be able to produce more than 750,000 barrels of oil daily by 2025.

Melting pot

During her presentation to the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations back in December, Lynch referred to Guyana as a “melting pot of ethnic and religious diversity” as she pledged to further her government’s agenda in supporting Guyana.

“This is a particularly momentous time for Guyana, a country the World Bank currently identifies as middle-income. However, the discovery of significant reserves of oil in recent years could alter the equation for this small nation. It is estimated that Guyana holds over four billion barrels (which has since been revised to 5.5 billion barrels) of offshore oil reserves, which could put it into the top 20 oil producing countries in the world,” she said to the Senate Committee.

The newly appointed US envoy had further emphasised that it is critical that the country not fall into the trap of the “resource curse” and look for opportunities to diversify its economy, improve its governance, and strengthen its civil society. To this end, she had committed to look for ways to build upon the work that Guyana has already done to chart a productive course for

its future.

“We only have to look to Guyana’s West – to Venezuela – to see how poor governance and corruption have destroyed what should be one of South America’s most prosperous economies. Venezuelans are fleeing their country in droves, with thousands now entering neighbouring Guyana. While the Government and people of Guyana have been extremely generous in their assistance to the Venezuelan people, Guyanese systems could become overwhelmed. If confirmed, I pledge to work with the Government of Guyana to help them continue to look for ways to address this situation,” she has outlined to the Senate Committee.

Ambassador Lynch was confirmed by the US Senate on January 2, and was sworn in on January 11 before her accreditation in Guyana on Wednesday.

After accepting her Letter of Credence, President Granger noted that Guyana-US relations have cemented cooperation in the fields of commerce, defence, the economy, energy, public health, public security and youth empowerment.

“Guyana looks forward to the support of friendly states in its legitimate quest to protect itself against threats to its people, its economy and its territorial integrity and sovereignty. The preservation of regional peace and stability is vital to protecting our com-

mon interests. We welcome investment from foreign firms and will work towards ensuring a safe, stable and secure environment for investors,” the Head of State posited.

Ambassador Lynch served until recently

as the Acting Assistant Administrator for USAID’s Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). She has also served as the Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for LAC; USAID Mission Director in Iraq; and the Director

of the Office of Iraq and Arabian Peninsula Affairs in USAID’s Middle East Bureau.

A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Ambassador Lynch has been with USAID since 1993, and served overseas in Bangladesh, Peru, Afghanistan and Iraq.

In Washington, she has served in the regional bureaus of the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the Bureau of Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance, and the Office of Afghanistan and Pakistan Affairs (OAPA).

She has received numerous awards, including USAID’s Distinguished Honour Award, the Agency’s highest performance award, for her service in Afghanistan and OAPA. Before joining USAID, Ambassador Lynch worked in international relations and for a non-governmental organisation. She also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco where she taught English at the secondary level.

10 news

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

PPP says confident of “massive win” at upcoming polls T he current Administration, which was given a three-month lease of life following the successful passage of the no-confidence resolution in the National Assembly on December 21, has no vision.

This was reiterated

by People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo during his address to thousands of PPP supporters at Babu Jaan, Berbice on Sunday as the Party observed the 22nd death anniversary of its founder, Dr Cheddi Jagan.

The annual pilgrimage to the memorial site of the former President was attended by Party supporters who have been attending over the past two decades, as Jagdeo outlined how the Party continues to keep Dr Jagan’s policy alive.

On Sunday, he did not disappoint them.

“Dr Jagan waited for 28 years to return freedom to Guyana. We can return it faster, because people are more educated and their children are educated and also they have more means of combination. They can get involved in the fight using social media and now they are not fearful of this government, so we can all play a part in returning our country to what it was,” Jagdeo stated.

Guyana can only progress under the PPP, Jagdeo told the gathering. Even if the coalition Government were to win the soon-to-be-held Regional and General Elections, Jagdeo said Guyana would be thrown into a state of anarchy.

“Assuming a miracle happens and they win the elections, do you

PPP/C Presidential Candidate Irfaan Ali (Inset) addressing the gathering on Sunday at Babu Jaan as the Party observes the 22nd death anniversary of its founder, Dr Cheddi Jagan

think Granger would suddenly be invested with a vision for Guyana – a visionless man? Do you think he will leave State House to walk among people? No! Do you think some of them would be less corrupt?

In fact, more corrupt. Do you think another term could solve the incompetence in that geriatric cabal? They can’t offer us anything,” he told his supporters.

Guyana, he added, can only be managed with a programme and a vision and with younger people working with older people. “That is what the PPP is offering,” he said.

Government, he stated, is aware that the PPP will win massively at the next elections.

“They use to say at the last elections that they will throw us in jail, well many of them will be in jail in the future because of actual corruption – not rumours of corruption and that is a big fear of theirs.

They have two massive fears. One is when they go around the country, they are not getting support. Look at what happened at the last Local Government Elections: right across Guyana, we won more than 60 per cent of the votes. We got 47,000 more votes than APNU [A Partnership for National Unity] and AFC [Alliance For Change] combined. So they are very fearful, because now when they go to people on the ground, they are asking them, ‘“Where were you over the past four years?”’

The other fear plaguing Government at this time is that of losing the elections.

The Government has nothing to offer, the Party’s General Secretary stated.

According to the former Head of State, the PPP has always been on the side of the people.

He noted that the right to vote was fought for and won by the PPP in 1953.

“We stayed strong through those those dark days when democracy was snatched from us and when the Government behaved with impunity and when people were jailed for what they eat and what they said. There was no freedom of expression,” Jagdeo noted.

He related that many persons could not eat certain food products without being viewed as a criminal under the Administration that the PPP/Civic took over from in 1992. During that era, many Guyanese fled owing to discrimination and lack of opportunities.

“It was the PPP fighting to return democracy again in that period.

We led that long struggle and we were patient, but we knew just as we know that you cannot suppress the will of the people for very long. They will ultimately prevail. So, as we won in 1992, in a few months’ time, we will win again and continue to take this country

forward,” Jagdeo said while noting that all of the social and economic gains Guyana has realised over the past two decades were now being eroded in less than four years of APNU/AFC rule.

Meanwhile, the Party’s Presidential Candidate, Irfaan Ali told the crowd that over the past two months he has been on the ground to hear the plight of the people.

“People are losing hope. Whatever party they are from, the story is the same. People are losing hope. Hope is gone because of bad governance and because of poor economic development and programmes in our country,” Ali said.

He asked supporters to commit to ensure that the PPP is returned to government and have hope restored to Guyana.

Ali pointed out that across Guyana there were problems affecting the populace – from the farmers in Regions Five

DDL Group records G$2.3B increase in 2018

and Six being affected by paddy bugs to the residents in Region Nine not being able to access essential medical supplies.

The current Administration, he added, is placing its focus on the wrong things, he noted.

“They give priority in the budget on increased dietary, lavish lifestyles and overseas travel.

They should be focusing on restoring the 37,000 jobs lost over the past three years.”

On that note, Ali reiterated his promise to reopen the sugar estates when the PPP returned to office under his stewardship.

In an address, which was punctuated with relevant quotes from the late Dr Jagan, the Presidential Candidate said the PPP has a track record of being with the people during difficult circumstances.

“Democracy is the foundation. We must all commit to the safeguarding of this democracy,” he quoted Dr Jagan from one of his speeches. Ali also spoke of attempts by the coalition Government not to demit office or to call elections which are constitutionally due in a few days.

“It is not about politics: it is about safeguarding democracy ad safeguarding Dr Jagan’s legacy,” he said. “I will be with you on that struggle and we will overcome,” he promised.

Prior to the addresses, wreaths were laid at Dr Jagan’s monument.

Also addressing the rally were former Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and Women’s Progressive Organisation General Secretary Sheila Veerasammy.

Komal Samaroo

– strong growth seen at local, int’l markets

L

ocal beverage giant, Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) Group, recorded its highest ever revenue last year, pegged at G$21.862 bil-

lion.

In a statement on Sunday, the Group announced that this reflects an increase of G$2.378 billion or a 12 per cent increase on the total revenue of G$19.569 billion earned in the previous year.

The Group’s profit after tax was G$3.279 billion in 2018 compared to G$2.6 billion in 2017, an increase of G$679 million, or 26 per cent. While its profit before tax for the year was G$4.362 billion compared to G$3.551 billion in the previous year, an increase of G$810 million, or 23 per cent.

According to Chairman of the DDL Group, Komal Samaroo, the 2018 financial year was another very successful year with excellent performance from our Group. “Revenue, both local and international, continued to show encouraging growth while significant progress was made in key areas of diversification”.

The company further revealed that for 2018, shareholders’ funds increased by 16 per cent. Capital

expenditure totalling G$2.187 billion, incurred during the year, was all financed by self-generated funds.

Additionally, bank borrowing, in the form of loans and overdraft, was reduced by G$1.437 billion from funds generated by the Group in the year. The net debt to equity ratio at the end of the year improved from 0.13:1 in 2017 to 0.06:1 in 2018.

An interim dividend of $0.25 a share was paid in December 2018. The Directors have recommended a final dividend of $0.85 per share which, if approved by the shareholders at the upcoming annual general meeting, would result in a total dividend for the year of $1.10 per share. In the previous year, the dividend payment totalled $0.80 per share.

On the other hand, DDL, during 2018, focused on capital projects that support the core business as well as projects that are a part of the ongoing programme of diversification.

In fact, the company commissioned a barrel warehouse facility back on March 16, 2018. The construction and commissioning of this new barrel warehouse

serves to increase rum ageing capacity by another 30,000 barrels.

Meanwhile, in October, preparatory work for the construction of a new and modern blending plant was started. This plant will utilise the latest digital technology to improve operational efficiency, reduce costs and will also replace the existing blending operations. This new blending plant, which is estimated to cost some $465 million, is expected to be completed by the end of June 2019.

news 11

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

NY Governor announces new measures to assist immigrants

…says ‘fight continues to protect rights of new Americans’

N

ew York Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced two new measures aimed at assisting and protecting immigrants targeted by ICE and the federal government's “anti-immigrant policies” in their communities, According to the Governor’s office, Cuomo's first-in-the-nation Liberty Defense Project has selected regional providers and attorneys for a Rapid Response Program to better respond to unanticipated ICE enforcement actions, targeted raids and sweeps statewide.

Additionally, Governor Cuomo's Office for New Americans has selected 21 new Opportunity Centers across the state to deliver essential services, education and guidance to immigrants in their own neighborhoods - including the Southern Tier for the first time.

"While the federal government continues to threaten our immigrant communities, New York will not stop fighting to protect the rights of new Americans," Governor Cuomo said. "With this new program and ex-

panded opportunity centers, we are ensuring vulnerable immigrants who are unfairly targeted by ICE have the legal assistance and services they need to achieve their full potential in New York."

Rapid Response Program to Deliver Urgent Legal Services to Immigrants

According to the Governor’s Office, through a competitive bidding process, seven providers were selected to dedicate at least 15 LDP attorneys to assist immigrants in urgent, time-sensitive legal jeopardy in every region of the state. The Rapid Response Program, announced in December, builds on the network of services currently being provided by current LDP partners and establishes more urgent legal coverage for immigrants across the state, particularly in underserved communities. High-need/ high-impact areas will have two dedicated attorneys. The selections, made in response to a December 2018 Request for Applications and pending Office of State Comptroller approval, are:

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo

New York City: Research Foundation of the City University of New York, on behalf of CUNY Citizenship Now!, providing one dedicated attorney.

Long Island: Empire Justice Center, providing two dedicated attorneys due to increased ICE enforcement and arrests.

Hudson Valley: Neighbors Link, providing two dedicated attorneys due to increased ICE enforcement and arrests.

Capital Region: Prisoner's Legal Services

of New York, providing two dedicated attorneys to bolster the roster of immigration attorneys in the region and respond to an increasing number of detained asylum seekers relocated there.

North Country: Prisoner's Legal Services of New York, providing one dedicated attorney.

Mohawk Valley: While no applications for this region were received during this procurement, the LDP is working with partners to ensure the region is appropriately served.

Central New York: Frank H. Hiscock Legal Aid Society, providing two dedicated attorneys due to the increase in the number of raids on local farms.

Finger Lakes: The Legal Aid Society of Rochester, NY, providing two dedicated attorneys to respond to the large number of arrests and detentions of immigrants in the region.

Western New York: Journey's End Refugee Services, providing two dedicated attorneys to respond to the large number of arrests and detentions of immigrants in the region.

Southern Tier: Journey's End Refugee Services, providing one dedicated attorney.

In addition to providing urgent legal coverage for immigrants, these providers will also be responsible for: Providing legal support and direct representation for separated/unaccompanied children and their families.

Conducting Know Your Rights workshops/ trainings in particularly hard-to-reach commu-

nities such as farms, rural areas and in a variety of languages addressing: what to do when approached by ICE; how to create a family preparedness plan; how to create a financial plan; how to contact your consulate; and what to do if you or a family member is detained.

Providing additional non-legal support services to families of those who are in removal proceedings or who have been deported.

New ONA Opportunity Centers to Help Immigrant Communities Across New York

Last year, in response to feedback from impacted immigrant communities, advocates and service providers, Governor Cuomo's Office for New Americans sought new and additional neighborhood-based Opportunity Centers across New York State to provide services, including legal consultation, Naturalization assistance, community workshops, civics education and more. The Opportunity Center selections, pending Office continued on page 12

12 news

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

‘Nothing to fear’ – Guyana could expect Patterson says of concessions granted spike in nature travellers to American Airlines …due to int’l tourism award

I

n light of calls for the release of an agreement signed between Government and United States air carrier American Airlines to operate out of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson said there is nothing to fear.

Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) Juan Edghill has called for Government to disclose in its entirety, the agreement it signed with American Airlines to operate in Guyana, based on reports that Government may have waived a significant portion of the landing and air navigation fees for it.

does not create room for any unfair competition because at one point or the other airlines currently operating out of CJIA, including Caribbean Airlines, COPA Airlines and the rest have benefited from the same arrangement.

On the issue regarding the US-owned airline allegedly targeting high-end passengers who are coming to conduct oil business in Guyana, Patterson also denied this.

Edghill had said while the Opposition is not against concessions, they believe that concessions must be granted with the aim of bringing value to Guyana.

“It must be equitable,

American Airlines at the boarding bridge in Guyana (DPI photo)

But Patterson declared Monday that almost all new airlines that come to Guyana and even chartered ones are all given a concessional period in which a “startup incentive” is given to it. “Every single airline including Copa, Dynamic has received this,” he explained.

According to media reports, American Airlines gets a 90 per cent concession on the landing fees. But Edghill, who shadows the public infrastructure portfolio in the National Assembly, said Government needed to say how that agreement would benefit Guyana.

“Is this compatible with any concession that has been granted to any other airline that has operated in Guyana in the past or is operating currently?” he questioned.

According to the Minister, these concessions do not last forever. “So this happens for a period and not all the time.

Most of them last one year to help them with their establishment and after then they would have to pay their full share. There is nothing to worry about,” Patterson said.

Edghill had also demanded that Government explain how this move will impact the lowering of airfares to Guyana, stating that since the airline entered the market, airfares have not reduced.

But again, Patterson believes that this concession

non-discriminatory and it must not be putting another airline out of business, because they have to pay more.

It must be a competitive arrangement,” he explained.

The MP said without having all the information; the Opposition was very concerned about it and is asking for transparency and full disclosure on this matter.

Activist and commentator Christopher Ram has said that Guyana should not allow oil companies and any of their subcontractors to continue using American Airlines given the exorbitant travelling rates.

American Airlines started operations in Guyana in the latter part of 2018. It has an average of nearly 6700 flights per day to approximately 350 destinations in more than 50 countries.

The airline uses an Airbus 319 with capacity for 120 passengers to fly to Guyana from Miami four times per week, departing from Miami at 18:00h and arriving in Georgetown at 22:40h. The return flight usually departs at 01:15h and arrives at 04:55h.

However, the airline had the highest ticket prices for travel between Guyana and Miami. In some cases, the cost of a one-way ticket is as much as seven times higher than the cost of tickets to the same destination on other air carriers.

(From left to right) Amerindian Peoples’ Affairs Minister Sydney Allicock with GTA Director Brian Mullis; Director General of Tourism, Donald Sinclair; and Business Minister Dominic Gaskin

W

ith Guyana being placed on top of the list of tourism destinations at the recent ITB travel fair, where it was the country voted as “Best in Ecotourism”, the country will soon see many adventurers seeking to explore its pristine waterways and exotic rainforest.

This was the position shared by the DirectorGeneral of Tourism, Donald Sinclair, on Monday evening during a celebrative ceremony to highlight the country’s achievements at the recent travel fair in Berlin, Germany.

Having competed against countries such as Mexico, Cambodia and Ecuador, which are leading the way in the tourism sector, Guyana won the newly introduced category by featuring the Surama and Rewa eco-lodges and other local attractions.

Sinclair said that being in this position indicates that there must be careful actions in the future to ensure that there are no breaches in the best practices while ensuring that the expectations of tourists are fulfilled.

“Our award as number one ecotourism destination will generate a spike in nature travel to Guyana. Many committed eco-travellers, (upon) learning that the number one

eco-tourism destination is on the north-eastern shoulder of South America, will be moving to our websites, [and] some will be making bookings to travel. It is not in our interest to disappoint them,” Sinclair cautioned.

He added, “We must view this award not only as a prize and accolade, but also as a call to action. There must be sustained action to ensure that we do not find ourselves in breach of ecotourism principles and best practices.”

Meanwhile, Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), Brian Mullis, was inclined to the booming oil and gas industry, noting that the country should adapt to changes by modernising its economy.

“Guyana has a legacy of support for its rich biodiversity through environmental policy, sustainable forestry, and establishment of a national system for protected areas.

With the recent discovery of our vast oil and gas reserves, we are now at that critical point in our history. We have an opportunity to shift our development path, modernise our economy, and positively transform the lives of all Guyanese,” he declared.

He also said there is room for improvement, and mentioned a few challenges with

which the country is faced, primarily in the areas of energy efficiency, sustainable mining, and waste management.

The GTA Director mentioned, “We have to continue to market and advance our efforts to remain one of the best.

We have recognised that there is room for improvement in areas like renewable energy and energy efficiency in our lodging sector, waste management across the country, managing the wildlife trade, and adopting alternative mining practices.”

Business Minister Dominic Gaskin has insisted that Guyana needs to build on these achievements by promoting and protecting the natural resources.

Guyana has also recently become the first country to adopt the Adventure Travel Trade Association’s International Adventure Travel Guide Qualification and Performance Standards.

President of the Green Destinations Foundation, Albert Salman, said Guyana was placed as the best ecotourism destination because of its low-carbon resilient programme, economic opportunities, individual equality, justice, and political empowerment.

NY Governor announces new...

from page 11

of State Comptroller approval, are: New York City: Mercy Center, Inc. (Bronx); ChineseAmerican Planning Council (Brooklyn and Manhattan); Arab American Association of NY, Inc. (Brooklyn); Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights (Manhattan); Queens Community House (Queens); Make the Road New York (Queens); and MinKwon Center for Community Action, Inc. (Queens).

Long Island: Central American Refugee Center (CARECEN) (Nassau County) and Make the Road New York (Suffolk County) Hudson Valley: Catholic Charities Community Services, Archdiocese of NY (Dutchess County and Orange County); Neighbors Link (Westchester

County); and Make the Road New York (Westchester County) Capital Region: U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants - Albany Field Office (Albany County).

North Country: While no applications for this region were received during this procurement, ONA is working with partners to ensure the region is appropriately served.

Mohawk Valley: Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees (Oneida County).

Central New York: Catholic Charities of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse, NY (Onondaga County).

Finger Lakes: Catholic Charities Diocese of Rochester dba Catholic Family Center (Monroe County).

Western New York: Jericho Road Ministries (Erie County).

Southern Tier: Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Rochester (Tompkins & Tioga Counties) and American Civic Association (Broome County).

Specifically, these new centers will provide, free-of-charge: Legal Consultation: Each Opportunity Center will be provided with a qualified and experienced immigration attorney to assist with the naturalization process and provide free legal consultations to clients.

Each Center will hold at least 10 immigration law consultation days each year.

Naturalization Assistance: Opportunity Centers will assist new Americans with citizenship applications, including N400, N600 and DACA applications on a rolling basis. Each Center must provide clients incontinued on page 24

NEWS 13

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Fly Jamaica to begin reimbursing passengers next week T

he Competition and Consumer A f f a i r s Commission (CCAC) has been forced to intervene in the situation with Fly Jamaica and its passengers, as the airline has failed to begin payments to their inconvenienced customers, since the crash-landing of the Boeing 757 aircraft on November 9, last year.

The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of CCAC, Allison Parker on Tuesday told Guyana Times International on Wednesday that the airline was recently written to by the Commission, after it received several complaints from passengers. She said the airline has since assured the Commission that it will begin repayments in the new week.

She however noted that Fly Jamaica had also made a similar commitment to begin reimbursements since February.

Parker explained that the airline would be summoned to a meeting should it fail to meet this most recent promise. She added that if the commitment is not met then the next move would be for

the matter to be brought to the attention of CCAC’s Commissioners who will deliberate on the way forward.

It has been well over four months since a Fly Jamaica aircraft, destined for Toronto, Canada, crash-landed at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) in Timehri, East Bank Demerara, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded, and who are yet to be reimbursed.

Passengers, who not only were onboard the crashed aircraft, but others who booked their flights ahead of their ac-

tual travel date, are also still waiting in suspense for their monies to be refunded.

Several fuming passengers reached out to this publication as recent as Friday last and complained that although they were promised a refund by the end of last month, they are still waiting with no word from the company.

One person said she contacted the travel agent with whom she booked the flight but was informed that the agents are also awaiting word from Fly Jamaica on the matter.

Meanwhile, another passenger explained that he was promised that payments would have commenced since last month, however, there is no sign of the airline moving towards this.

Other affected passengers have turned to social media to complain of the customer service being provided

by Fly Jamaica, as telephone calls to the airline are seemingly going unanswered. Persistent persons have said they would have exhausted their efforts to contact the local office, only for their calls to be forward-

ed to voicemail and answering machines.

A representative from the airline recently

told sections of the media that it was considering resuming services by mid-March.

14

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

15

16

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

17

18

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Ramjattan defends “illegal” SARA Director Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan

P

u b l i c Security Minister K h e m r a j Ramjattan on Tuesday defended what is considered to be an illegal occupancy of the position of Director of the State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) by Professor Clive Thomas.

Ramjattan Clive Thomas told this newsHead being bestowed paper on the sidelines of an event at with a seemingly unlimthe Ramada Georgetown ited amount of power, Princess Hotel that “he practically second to the is there lawfully…he has President’s.

SARA recently filed been there for a couple of years now and all of a lawsuits against seversudden people feel that al persons including forhe’s illegal? Apparently, mer President Bharrat this illegal viral is all Jagdeo in relation to the sale of lands at over the place.”

Professor Thomas Sparendaam, popularly was Head of the State known as “Pradoville 2”.

But Jagdeo said he is Assets Recovery Unit – which was the name of unbothered by this acthe organisation when it tion since he believes it was operating without a is just politics at play.

The Opposition legislative framework.

However, in 2017, Leader recently said that the requisite legislation the Director and Deputy of SARA, was passed, prompting Director SARU to be renamed Aubrey Heath-Retemyer are holding their respecSARA. The SARA Act stipu- tive posts illegally. He lates that “Within a peri- argued that the SARA od of not more than four Act provides very clearly months from the date of that their appointments commencement of this shall be made through a Act, the Parliamentary parliamentary process.

The Opposition has Committee on appointments on the notification argued too that a tranby the Minister shall rec- sition provision in the ommend to the National Act allowed the Director, Assembly a person to be who operated in the appointed as Director of agency before the Act came into force, to conthe SARA”.

However, this was tinue to act in that office never done and Professor for a limited period. They Thomas has remained as noted, however, that the Head of SARA – which period has long expired.

Jagdeo recalled that goes against the law.

Notably, Professor SARA had stated publicThomas was politically ly that they are working appointed to that post on some high-profile casand this raises concern es, with recoveries above about the credibility and US$10 million and these integrity of the work of cases would be filed by that agency which is em- the third quarter of 2018, powered to seize citizens’ which they did not do.

Instead, they have gone assets.

In fact, according to the Pradoville issue.

Jagdeo had said to the law, the Head of SARA will be answer- that SARA is just another means for the able to no one.

One of the major Government to secure concerns of stakehold- employment for retired ers was that of SARA’s citizens.

NEWS 19

20 news

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

High drama as case discharged against man accused of pushing girlfriend out of car

Rick Sewcharran leaving court on Monday

C

haos arose at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Monday morning after the manslaughter charge against Rick Sewcharran was discharged by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan.

Rick Sewcharran was accused of pushing his now dead girlfriend, Sasia Adams, out of a moving vehicle in June 2018 along Lamaha Street, Georgetown.

In court on Monday, the Chief Magistrate informed the court that the prosecution has failed to make a prima facie case against Sewcharran.

As such, the matter was discharged on the grounds of lack of evidence.

Moments after the ruling, the mother of the dead teenager attacked the young man whom she blamed for her daughter’s death. The young man’s lawyers are likely to file assault charges against her.

Adams, originally of the Essequibo Coast, who resided at East Street, Georgetown, was hospi-

Dead: Sasia Adams

talised at about 20:00h on June 10 and died on June 12, 2018, after she reportedly jumped out of the moving vehicle that was being driven by Sewcharran.

The accused, who was arraigned with a manslaughter charge, held out that his now dead girlfriend jumped out of the vehicle he was driving along Lamaha Street, Georgetown, following an argument.

Adams, while being hospitalized, had told doctors that she fell down.

However, relatives and investigators had contended that the teen was pushed out of the moving car, resulting in her sustaining severe head injuries.

The post-mortem examination conducted by veteran State Pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh indicated that the teen died as a result of blunt trauma to the head.

The late Sasia Adams had been employed as a front desk clerk at the Ramada Georgetown Princess Hotel at Providence, EBD.

news 21

‘There is need for compromise’ WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

– British envoy says ‘clock is ticking’

By Devina Samaroo

W

ith nine days remaining before the constitutional deadline for holding elections expires, British High Commissioner to Guyana, Gregory Quinn, is reminding Guyana’s leaders that the clock is ticking, even as a civil society group is urging President David Granger to announce a date for the polls.

“The Constitution is the supreme law… There is the three-month clock, which is still ticking, it hasn’t been stayed yet…,” the United Kingdom envoy told Guyana Times International during an exclusive interview at his Bel Air Gardens residence in Georgetown on Monday.

After March 21, 2019, the APNU/AFC Coalition Government effectively becomes illegal. The only way this can change is if the Parliamentary Opposition – People’s Progressive Party – votes for an extension of the life of the Government; but Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo says he will do so only if the Head

Evening News Editor Devina Samaroo interviewing British High Commissioner to Guyana, Gregory Quinn, at his Bel Air Gardens, Georgetown residence on Monday

of State announces a date for elections before the expiry of the current voters’ list on April 30, 2019.

However, President Granger is not keen on doing so, as he is pushing for house-to-house registration, a process which can conclude in November 2019.

The British diplomat, who has been in Guyana since 2015, says the only way to solve the issue is through consensus among the political leaders.

“The only other way of getting through that is the political leadership, for both sides to come to an agreement…

Given that ticking clock, it is necessary for both sides to come together and come to a solution as to how to resolve that issue, so we don’t get to the question of what happens the day after,” he stated.

Guyana has never been in such a situation before, and some experienced political analysts, including distinguished

lawyers, have predicted that the country will head into a constitutional crisis.

Pressure has been mounting on the coalition administration to adhere to the Constitution of Guyana, and for the President to call a date for elections soon.

President Granger has been insisting that he has to await guidance from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) before he executes his presidential re-

sponsibility.

No confidence motion On December 21, 2018 the no-confidence motion brought by the parliamentary Opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP/C) against the Government succeeded when former AFC Member of Parliament Charrandas Persaud broke rank and made a conscience vote in favour of the motion.

With the Government’s defeat, the next steps are spelt out in the Constitution of Guyana.

Clause 7 of Article 106 goes on to state that, “Notwithstanding its defeat, the Government shall remain in office and shall hold an election within three months, or such longer period as the National Assembly shall by resolution supported by not less than twothirds of the votes of all the elected members of the National Assembly determine, and shall resign after the President takes the oath of office following the election.”

President David Granger and Prime Minister Moses

Nagamootoo had initially committed to following the provisions outlined in the Constitution, facilitating early elections and engaging in dialogue with the Leader of the Opposition, but have since changed their position.

Since the passage of the motion on December 21, 2018 however, persons aligned with the coalition party have sought to question the motion’s validity even as the vote has already been certified.

The original proponent of the 34-vote argument is Attorney Nigel Hughes, a former AFC Chairman and the husband of sitting Minister Cathy Hughes, who told State media that half of 65 is 32.5 but when rounded to the nearest whole number, this would be 33 as there is no half member.

Following a challenge of this in the High Court, Chief Justice Roxane George ruled that 33 is majority. The Government has since challenged that chief justice’s ruling in the Court of Appeal.

Guyana Govt seeks assistance of “expert” to lead Charrandas ‘probe’ T

he Guyana Police Force (GPF) is presently engaging an expert in the investigation of Former Member of Parliament, Charrandas Persaud to advise on the evidence gathered over the past weeks.

The probe surfaced after Persaud voted in favour of the opposition-sponsored no-confidence motion which toppled the Government on December 21, 2018.

While the Police have been tightlipped on the investigations, Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan disclosed, “The police have asked an expert on matters dealing with this issue to give some advice on all the statements so far taken, whether these can be tantamount to any violations of any sort”.

Hours after his “yes” vote, Persaud boarded a plane at the Eugene F Correia Airport, where he left the country for Canada. According to reports, a Canadian diplomat, along with Peter Ramsaroop had obtained protocol passes to see Charrandas off.

Ramsaroop’s support

Former APNU/AFC MP Charrandas Persaud

of Charrandas has resulted in a suspension of the protocol pass over an alleged security breach.

This order came from the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) although the airport insisted there was no breach of protocols.

Ramjattan stated that the investigation extends to Ramsaroop and any violations which could have occurred.

He maintained that the probe is not politically motivated and it is one of the reasons the expert was called in.

“It does not only in-

clude the Charrandas investigation but also includes an investigation as to how people like Peter Ramsaroop can find themselves on airside of the airport and if there are violations there…and what are the violations of conventions or laws and that is what we’re investigating,” Ramjattan noted.

He further stated, “There is nothing political about that. We do not want to see people who do not have the authority to be on airside, being on airside because it could be an unruly horse

if strangers are allowed to be there. That is all part and parcel of getting some expert advice on matters dealing with airports and all of that”.

This contradicts events which unfolded just a few days ago, in which Ramsaroop was detained for more than eight hours by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in relation to the Charrandas probe.

Based on the type of questions he was being asked by investigators, Ramsaroop concluded that the activity was all

“political”.

After the interrogation, he told this newspaper that it was clear that investigators were attempting to “bully” and “intimidate” him, insisting that he can only be released after he gives a statement.

The PPP affiliate said he visited Police headquarters at about 08:30h in the presence of his Attorneys Mark Conway, Sanjeev Datadin and Sase Gunraj. He was asked about 10 “odd” questions, all of which he refused to answer.

“They started out with questions such as which political party I am affiliated with, what is my role in the political parties of Guyana.

And then they went on to other questions in relation to the Canadians,” he outlined.

“From the beginning of the first question, which was ‘which political party I am affiliated with’, I realised that this is political harassment…to get me in there to intimidate me,” Ramsaroop added.

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has since dismissed allegations which surfaced after

Ramsaroop was seen in the company of Persaud, saying that the businessman is free to befriend whomever he wants to, even if it means someone from the opposite side of the house.

“Peter is free to be friends with Charrandas, and also a member of the PPP. Charrandas has lots of friends on our side and we have lots of friends on APNU’s side so there are lots of people who have friendships across the political spectrum… I’m not going to distance the party from people because they have friends among other races and among other parties. That’s what we’re trying to encourage, better relationships across politics,” the Opposition Leader stated.

Furthermore, Jagdeo asserted that categorically there were no inducements from the Opposition to sway the former Government MP’s vote. He also rubbished allegations by Attorney General Basil Williams that the PPP has conspired with five other parliamentarians on the coalition’s side.

22 NEWS

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

High degree of uncertainty in Guyana after March 21 – Ramkarran

W

ith less than two weeks before the coalition Government becomes illegal, former Speaker of the National Assembly and Attorney-at-Law Ralph Ramkarran has said that Guyana’s future seems to be uncertain owing to the fact that there is no clear indication when elections could be held.

Referring to the meeting between President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, which yielded no results, Ramkarran said it was clear that the issue has now gone beyond what the Constitution says and means, as it relates to the passage of a no-confidence motion.

In his weekly “Conversation Tree” blog, the prominent Attorney wrote that it was now clear more than ever that the President’s failure to fix a date for elections is because A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) intended to remain in office for as long as possible.

“This is aided by the majority on the Guyana Elections Commission

list, now being used as an excuse by the President for not calling elections, are politically manufactured for the purpose of delaying the elections,” he opined.

Sanctions

(GECOM) who have voted, and will no doubt continue to support, a new registration exercise. A nationwide, house-tohouse registration exercise will last into next year,” he added, something that Jagdeo has stated repeatedly.

Ramkarran, therefore, believes that if the APNU/AFC’s effort to hold political power succeeds, it will hold elections between May and August next year, when its term of office would have otherwise lawfully ended. With the no-confidence vote, it has now clearly become a matter

of political life and death.

“If the electoral list is the problem, the National Assembly can extend the life of the current list beyond April 30. The Elections Commission already has power to remove the names of persons who have died. The list of deceased persons is expected to be provided by the Registry of Births and Deaths.”

He claimed that since 1992, systems accepted by all have been in place at polling stations to prevent unauthorised persons from voting. There is, therefore, little or no

danger that impersonation at polling stations of persons who have left Guyana will take place.

Ramkarran, therefore, concluded that none of the fears expressed by political parties about elections since 1992 have a basis in reality or have materialised.

Only one party, according to him, has had a history of election rigging in Guyana and that party is the People’s National Congress (PNC).

“And it was able to do so, because it held political power and was protected by the West. The fears about a ‘credible’

Ramkarran said it was no secret that new elections were not going to be held willingly by the Government. But he said it must be reminded of the potential harm of taking Guyana down a path, which violates the rule of law and the Constitution of Guyana – which may incur international sanctions.

“It appears that the Government is prepared to accept these consequences, because the delay is vital to its survival. This Government, unlike the last PNC Government between 1985 and 1992, takes its inspiration from Forbes Burnham, the Founder Leader of the PNC. PNC Governments led by Forbes Burnham survived elections rigging and authoritarian rule,” he added.

He said the APNU/ AFC no doubt believed that, like the PNC in the past, it could not only weather any storm that its violation of the

Constitution incurred but that its very existence depended on it doing so.

He suggested also that the Government may also be relying on the perceived sympathy with which it was viewed by Western capitals. Oil and the interests of oil producers, he noted, would be looming large in the calculations of the West in their decisions about Guyana.

Despite this, however, concerns being expressed by countries about democracy in other countries are no longer considered to be matters of the internal affairs of the subject country. And that is the reason why sanctions are now imposed routinely against countries that violate constitutional order.

Ramkarran used Venezuela as an example where severe international sanctions have been imposed.

He said aside from the Government’s apparent grit to resist potential international sanctions, which it may be hoping that sympathy from the West may spare it, Guyana still faces a high degree of uncertainty.

NEWS 23

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

600+ Guyanese benefited from Flying Doctors of America 2019 Medical Mission T

he Flying Doctors of America Medical Mission made its 2019 trip to Guyana and saw exactly 670 patients in several Region 9 villages, the Department of Public Information (DPI) has reported.

Team leader, Dr. John Arledge, noted that his 13-member team of specialist doctors were eager to come and work in Guyana. He said between March 4-6, 2019, the team saw patients from Fairview, Surama and Annai.

“On Monday, we were in Fairview, and we saw 160 persons…

Tuesday at Surama, 100, and Wednesday and Thursday, we worked in Annai. There, we saw 200 and 210 persons on the respective days.”

Services taken to the residents of those areas include Dentistry, Ophthalmology, Gastroenterology, General Medicine to name some.

A Paediatrician and Emergency Room doctor was also on board.

Dr. Arledge highlighted that during the outreach, 51 persons received steroid injections

The team of doctors with the public health ministers and staff of the ministry’s international desk

noting that this was given to aid with arthritis pain. The steroid will last for one year, alleviating pain in a patient’s body.

According to DPI, a formal ceremony was hosted by the Ministry of Public Health on March 8, to show appreciation to the team for their exceptional work.

Public Health Ministers, Volda Lawrence and Dr.

Karen Cummings were in attendance.

Minister Lawrence, on behalf of the residents who benefited and the ministry, recognised the tremendous support lent through these forms of outreaches.

“I wish to emphasise that your work in those areas greatly supports the Ministry of Public Health’s mandate of providing quality health

service delivery to our people in the hinterland areas,” Minister Lawerence said.

Both the ministry and the ‘Flying Doctors’ team exchanged tokens of appreciation with anticipation of more work being done in Guyana’s hinterland in the future.

Dr. Arledge confidently stated that the team will return even bigger and with more

specialised services to provide targeted healthcare. The team in Guyana was coordinated and facilitated by the ministry’s International Desk which serves as a conduit for regional and international engagements in the health sector.

For almost 30 years, Flying Doctors of America has been bringing together teams of

physicians, dentists, nurses, and other health care professionals to care for vulnerable, poor populations. They operate under the “Mother Teresa Principle,” which mandates that focus must be given to persons living in areas that may not readily access healthcare based on their financial and social status.

24 news

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

PPP spent over G$2B from sugar levy to keep bauxite industry alive – Nandlall

B

oth the sugar and bauxite industries were given priority statuses in their times of crises by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) when it was in office amidst claims by the APNU/AFC Government and their supporters that this was not the case.

This is according to former Attorney General and PPP Member of Parliament, Anil Nandlall, who made his position clear on Saturday during a live broadcast of Globespan24x7.

Globespan24x7 hosted a discussion on bridging national unity in Guyana for which Nandlall and People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) executive, Aubrey Norton were the panellists.

“Every country has industries that ail over time. It is the responsibility of the Government depending on the magnitude of that industry, its impact on the economy, its impact on the citizenry to do that which is necessary to amelio-

Anil Nandlall

tive but its workers are facing difficulties with their foreign employers.

Nandlall noted that this Government should be able to do much more than it presently is doing and has done for the workers in the bauxite industry as the PPP, during its tenure, never gave up on the same industry despite the challenges it faced.

“Over G$2 billion was taken from sugar levy and pumped into bauxite industry to keep it alive

Aubrey Norton

rate the situation to aid the industry…the PPP has done that with sugar as we have done with bauxite,” Nandlall said in response to attacks

by Norton that it was the PPP who destroyed the sugar industry in Guyana.

According to the PPP MP, when former President Desmond Hoyte was giving one of his last speeches shortly before general elections in 1992, he declared that the bauxite industry would be closed but it was the PPP that kept this industry alive for many years. To date, the bauxite industry is ac-

until the divestment came… the PPP had a whole regime of poverty alleviation programmes designed, not on a racist or a racial basis, but targeting the various communities in Guyana because we did not craft policies or propagate initiatives based on ethnicity and race. We did it based on the economic environment and needs of these various communities.”

He further stated that the PPP gave over 1000 small logging concessions to Guyanese because they were affected with the bauxite industry being taken

over by Guyana Bauxite Company Inc – owned by RUSAL and the Chinese company, Bosai, in previous years.

However, though it is the responsibility of the Government of the day to keep such vital industries alive and protect its workers’ rights, bauxite workers are still encountering major problems with working conditions and measly salaries and wages.

Recently, 61 workers were dismissed by the Russian-owned bauxite company, RUSAL, after they led a strike action, objecting to a one per cent salary increase.

Subsequently, another 30 employees at that company were dismissed after the company had to temporarily close its operations in that department. The workers are all presently protesting against the company which they say has violated the laws of Guyana.

Their protests and picketing, along with those members of the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union as well as other unions in Guyana, are geared at having them reinstated with a higher salary increase.

These dismissed and displaced bauxite workers have blocked off the access road from the Berbice River leading to the company’s operations and they have no plans of removing the blockages until their voices are heard and the Government takes action against RUSAL. Since the issue arose, Government has been unable to resolve the issue and has even threatened to shut the company down if an amicable solution cannot be reached.

Guyana Govt promises work to ensure peace and harmony will be fully supported

M

inister of State, Joseph Harmon on Saturday evening stated that the ethnic differences of Guyanese must not be exploited for narrow or political purposes.

Harmon was at the time speaking at the launch of the Ethnic Relations Commission’s (ERC) “This is us” theatrical play held at the National Cultural Centre (NCC).

“While we cannot deny the instances of racial tension in our history, we can boast that we have not reached the levels of the ethnic conflicts that exist in many parts of the world. However, we live in a polity where there is the tendency to exploit our ethnic diversity for narrow self-interests, with little consideration for the negative effects on our efforts to forge national unity, national unity that is so crucial to the sustainable development of our country and to the establishment of strong bonds of nationhood,” he said.

The Minister called on all citizens to remain vigilant and shun any attempt to promote ethnic strife. He said that in May 2015, when the David Granger-led Administration took office, it was recognised that Guyanese longed for national unity. As such, the new Government established the Department of Social Cohesion, the first of its kind in this hemisphere.

“President David Granger and his Administration sought to ensure that the work to promote peace, harmony and national unity would be fully supported at the highest level of the State apparatus. As a consequence, this Department was placed within the Ministry of the Presidency. The work of the Department of Social Cohesion has, from its inception and continuing to this moment, reflected the Government’s resolute and unswerving commitment to ethnic harmony and national unity. Testimony of this commitment was further evident in February 2018 when the re-constituted Ethnic Relations Commission was sworn in by President Granger. These policy positions and concrete actions by the coalition Government were clear manifestations which demonstrated that the Government was not paying lip service to the cause of good and genuine ethnic relations,” Harmon added.

It is for these reasons, he said, Government values the existence of the ERC and recognises its importance.

“These functions include a broad range of actions and interventions such as education, monitoring and reviewing of the ethnic landscape, and above all, to ensure there is ethnic har-

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon

mony and social cohesion in the country, a task that is supreme and one of which the Government will continue to provide full and unwavering support,” he noted.

Member of Parliament Priya Manickchand, who represented Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, echoed similar sentiments. She called on Guyanese to live in unity.

“Our children should be taught that they can celebrate their differences even while they are living in unity.

I don’t wish for my children or grandchildren or our future generations to grow up in a society where they will still have to deal with this issue even after we are gone,” she said.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the ERC, Reverend Dr John Smith in his remarks said that the ERC celebrated its 17th anniversary on Friday but was reconstituted by President Granger thirteen months ago.

The ERC, he said, has recognised that much work has to be done and as part of its work programme, it has decided to use theatre to promote its messages. Theatre, he posited, provides the environment for serious messages and conversations to take place without offending anyone.

The event was also attended by Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr Barton Scotland, Agriculture Minister, Noel Holder and Minister within the Finance Ministry, Jaipaul Sharma.

NY Governor announces...

from page 12

formation on available financial resources for naturalization costs. Each Center will be expected to submit at least 100 complete applications to USCIS each year. Citizenship and DACA applications will be prepared by qualified, DOJaccredited representatives or immigration attorneys.

Community Workshops: Each Opportunity Center will offer eight community workshops each year, covering topics including parent engagement with schools, financial literacy, disaster preparedness, consumer protection and educational opportunities for immigrants and their children.

Citizenship Preparation Classes: Each Opportunity Center will offer at least one class geared toward green card holders who are preparing for the naturalization test. Topics must include U.S. civics, history, government and other

topics included on the exam.

Immigration Law/Federal Immigration Policy Workshops: Each Opportunity Center will host at least four seminars covering immigration law and information on federal immigration policies. Topics may include: developing a family emergency plan; designating power of attorney; knowing your rights and responsibilities if immigration officers come to your home or place of employment; what to do if you are arrested; how to find a family member in detention; and consular services for applicable communities Legal Technical Assistance to Support Immigrant Service Providers No applications for new opportunity centers were received for the North Country. Therefore, ONA is working with partners to ensure the region is appropriately served.

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

25

26

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

27

28

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

NEWS 29

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Commonwealth countries showcased at Umana Yana exhibit

I

n celebration of Commonwealth Day 2019, schools across Guyana were tasked with showcasing the diverse cultures of other countries with a colourful display at the Umana Yana on Monday afternoon.

The exhibit, hosted by the Parliament Office of Guyana, featured projects depicting the culture, cuisine and national symbols of other Commonwealth nations and the ways resources are used to produce unique creations.

Each school was tasked with presenting on one of the 53 Commonwealth countries which exist, and Guyana Times International visited some of these exhibits with Guyana notably represented as well.

Diagrams, models and elaborate outfits were part of the spectacle as the students were wellversed in providing information on their respective country.

The St Joseph High School did a presenta-

Traditional Malaysian culture shown by the Zeeburg Secondary School

mony. It is something like Guyana, but very different based on the fact that it is a fully-developed country with a huge tourism sector. It is also wealthy in the stock market.”

From Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni),

“They’re known for Mediterranean pizza and wine production.

They’re also a good destination for ecotourism and agro-tourism. I think it’s a good idea to showcase the different countries because it’s a good opportunity for the

The Anna Regina Secondary dressed in coconut-branch attire

tion on Singapore, with Teshanna Ramnarine who represented the school naming it as one of the most peaceful countries in the world despite the fact that it is not that large.

“They have this unique culture and diversity whereby everyone lives in perfect har-

the Bartica Secondary School focused on Cyprus, which is the third largest and third most populous island in the Mediterranean.

According to geography teacher Rosalie Pereira, the country is also famous for its pizza and wine.

Students at the primary level representing Mozambique

teachers to be acquainted with the culture and the way of living and compare it to ours,” Pereira added.

Meanwhile, the North West Secondary School featured Canada, which is populated with French and Englishspeaking citizens pri-

marily. On display were some distinct dishes that are associated with the First World country.

Akeisha George was decked out in a contemporary outfit as she explained, “We’re portraying some of the traditional foods like poutine, split peas soup while in a modern day, you will find items such as macaroni and cheese

and pancakes. There are aspects of their sports that we’re showcasing as well.”

Amlica Persaud of the Anna Regina Secondary School in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) related that her group was not expecting Kiribati, an island republic in the Central Pacific. However, learning about this nation

was strategic in gaining knowledge about countries in that region.

“Kiribati is not even pronounced as it is spelt which was the first thing we noticed. It is very indigenous and basically everything is based on coconuts. The clothing is made from coconut and they make their clothing with the plant as well.

Another thing is that they use a lot of seafood.

Now I know more about this country, a country that I had never heard of,” Persaud noted.

At the primary level, the Leonora Primary School presented on Sri Lanka while Amelia’s Ward Primary highlighted Solomon Island.

Malaysia, Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa, and India were presented on by other schools.

Empire Day was replaced with Commonwealth Day and is observed every year on the second Monday of March. The theme this year reads, “A Connected Commonwealth”, which denotes the good relations among these countries and places emphasis on the need for more cooperation.

30

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Stalling…

S

…with false precedence

ome PNC diehards, with their Government having a few days to go before they’re CONSTITUTIONALLY ILLEGAL, have moved from defending their refusal to follow the dictates of Art 106 (6) and pack their bags to claiming that the PPP “did the same thing” following the 1997 elections!!

And that, like the PNC are doing now, the PPP squatted in office till 2001, when new elections were held.

Now, if this isn’t a worse nonsense on stilts than claiming 33 isn’t greater than 32, what is??!!

Let’s go back to the 1997 elections, shall we?

We know the PNC immediately disputed the results of that election, which was certified by a host of international observers – including the Carter Center – who gave it their seal of approval. Sure, there were some hitches – like some PNC elections officers not signing their statements of poll – but nothing to change the elections’ result. The PPP won!!

But after PNC violent street protests, Caricom conducted a FORENSIC Audit of the votes AND AGREED THE ELECTIONS WERE KOSHER!! The PNC still wasn’t satisfied, and their luddites are focusing on the subsequent challenge in the courts brought by one of their proxies, Esther Perreira, that the requirement for voters to show their national ID card in order to vote was in contravention of Art 59 and Art 169, and was “ultra vires”.

Fact is, this requirement for having an ID to vote was contained in legislation (Act 22 of 1997) passed unanimously by the PPP and PNC!! But while the Judge (Claudette Singh) eventually ruled that the requirement was illegal, she explicitly said she was “unable to hold that illegal voting by persons who were not registered and were without voter ID cards would have per se affected the results of the elections.”

Later on, she reiterated the point: “I am unable to make a positive finding whether those unlawful acts or omissions per se might have affected the results.”

So it was on a technicality that ID cards weren’t necessary for voting that Justice Singh ruled “the 1997 elections were not conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Representation of the People Act Chapter 1:03 and Articles 59 and 159 of the Constitution of Guyana.”

And she ruled that elections be held in three months. Which it was, and which the PPP won once again!!

On the claim that the PPP “held on to power illegally”, the court only made its ruling on Jan 15, 2001, and elections were held on 19th March 2001 – which is about when the Herdmanston Accord had already mandated!!

Will the PNC please stop dilly-dallying and face the polls?? Back in 2001, the PPP didn’t even appeal! …nailed One of David Granger’s vaunted claimed virtues is he’s a “churchman” – one who not only attends church (Anglican), but lives by its precepts. In fact, a spokesperson went into a tizzy after the Opposition Leader suggested the President’s recent ducking of a second letter to GECOM’s Chair was “fraudulent”, and insisted that, as a “Christian”, his leader is incapable of such behaviour.

Well, the Anglican Church – along with the Catholic Church and other Civil Society bodies – has just taken a position at complete variance with the President’s on the latter’s sleight of hand to fob off onto GECOM the responsibility for setting a date for elections.

After skittling down the President’s excuses one after another, the group declared: “Deferring the exercise of Presidential responsibility to set the date for elections to such time as GECOM determines its own readiness is unacceptable. The Constitution mandates GECOM to be ready within ninety days, and there is no provision that allows the President to amend that provision as a pretext for not announcing a date for national elections.”

Checkmate!! …the inevitable A homily for President Granger. King Canute felt so powerful he commanded the ocean waves to roll back as he sat on his chair on the beach in full regalia!

The drenched king ruefully conceded he couldn’t disobey the “eternal laws”.

31

32

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

news 33

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

T&T Health Minister says free healthcare for all migrants

(Trinidad Guardian)

M

i­ grants will re­ ceive the same free health care as na­tion­als, par­tic­u­lar­ly in re­la­tion to sex­u­al­ly trans­mit­ted dis­eases, Min­is­ter of Health Ter­ rance Deyals­ingh said on Monday.

The Min­is­ter said treat­ment of mi­grants was im­por­tant, giv­en that they are like­ly to min­gle with the pop­u­la­tion.

He was speak­ ing dur­ ing the sev­enth meet­ing of Na­tion­al Aids Pro­gramme Man­ag­er and Key Part­ners at the Trinidad Hilton.

“On the is­sue of mi­grants, we have tak­en a de­ci­sion in Trinidad and To­ ba­ go, you know we have lan mi­ grants, to treat Venezue­ them as na­ tion­ als. Be­ cause mi­ grants don’t live in iso­ la­ tion in tries they mi­ grate to. the coun­ They mix with the rest of the pop­u­la­tion, they in­te­grate them­ selves with the en­vi­ron­ment,” said Deyals­ingh, “so we have tak­en a pol­i­cy de­ci­sion at the Min­istry of Health to treat all mi­ grants re­

gard­less of their coun­try of ori­gin as cit­i­zens of Trinidad and To­ba­ go when it comes to pub­lic health.”

Dur­ing the con­fer­ence, the Min­is­ter said an es­ti­mat­ed 1,000 per­sons in this coun­try have HIV/ Aids but don’t know it.

He ad­mit­ted that lo­cat­ing this group proved to be dif­fic­ ult de­spite the in­tro­duc­tion of rapid test­ing in com­mu­ni­ties.

Deyals­ingh not­ed that men, in par­tic­u­lar, were averse to get­ting test­ed for the dis­ease.

“It is nigh im­ pos­ si­ ble to get men to be re­spon­si­ble to get test­ ing. Our men need to be lead to the well and we are go­ing to have to re­fo­cus on get­ting men’s clin­ics be­cause women see no prob­lem in get­ting test­ed. Women are much more re­spon­si­ble,” said Deyals­ ingh.

“For Trinidad and To­ba­go’s re­ al­i­ty the com­mu­ni­ty rapid test­ ing pro­gramme has been seen to be a low yield pro­gramme to get the 1,134 per­sons that rep­re­sent our gap, that is where we have to fo­cus to get our first 90 (per cent

erad­i­ca­tion),” said Deyals­ingh as istry con­ tin­ ued the push his Min­ for the erad­i­ca­tion of the HIV epi­ dem­ic by the year 2030.

“That gap of a 1,000 peo­ ple will be found dur­ ing a pe­ ri­ od of scaled-up test­ing go­ing in­to com­ mu­ni­ties and re­al­ly fo­cus­ing on what we call the key pop­u­la­tions.

To test them and to find that gap of about 1,100 per­sons who we es­ ti­mate are liv­ing with the dis­ease but don’t know their sta­tus,” the Health Min­is­ter ex­plained the key pop­u­la­tion in­clud­ed sex work­ers and ho­mo­sex­u­al men.

An es­ti­mat­ed 11,000 peo­ple are liv­ing with HIV in the coun­try, the Min­is­ter said. It is a num­ber that has been on the de­cline since 2010.

How­ev­er, the di­rec­tor of Pan Caribbean Part­ner­ship Against CAP) Dereck HIV/Aids (PAN­ Springer said while this es­ti­mate had been pro­vid­ed via an on­go­ing pro­gramme called Spec­trum, they AIDS were set to meet with UN­ from to­ mor­ row to re­ vise their meth­ods of tab­u­lat­ing num­bers.

“Use ICT to broaden your horizons”

– First Lady

ECD road expansion to be completed

by September A

T

he East Coast Demerara road extension project, which has caused much discomfort to drivers and motorists over the past months, due to ongoing works at peak hours, is slated for completion by September.

This was the position shared

by Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson who told Guyana Times International that the works are ongoing, positively assuring that it will be completed within the stipulated time frame.

For now, he estimates that some 60 per cent of the work is completed and the other 40 per cent will take shape in the coming months.

“It is ongoing. We are monitoring the contractors and it is supposed to finish in September of this year. The last I heard in January was that it was around 55 per cent so by now, it should be around 60 [per cent],” said Patterson.

Works were scheduled to commence at Cummings Canal on Sheriff Street, including the relocation of water pipes and works along Dennis Street and Durey Lane between Middleton Street and Stone Avenue. There will also be a construction of a detour at Cummings Canal and the stage reconstruction of the bridge at Cummings Canal.

The US$50.2 million East Coast road expansion project has two components. One features a four-lane expansion of the road

Workers on site during the initial stage of the expansion project

from Better Hope to Annandale and the other caters for an upgrade to the existing two-lane road from Annandale to Belfield.

Guyana had received a US$45.3 million concessional loan from the China EXIM (ExportImport) Bank to finance the road project, and that agreement was signed in January last year.

The project entails a total length of 16.998 kilometres of roads and 33.996 kilometres of drains to be built. Furthermore, the construction of seven bridges, the extension of 12 culverts and a median along with streetlights in the centre of the four lanes are supplementary works. The project commenced under the previous administration.

With the China EXIM Bank putting up most of the finances for the road expansion, Guyana had awarded the contract to China Railway First Group for some

US$42.7 million. The Chinese construction company reportedly put in the lowest bid of US$46.994 million. The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration had stated that it is saving some G$2.8 billion by giving the contract to China Railway First Group.

Upon completion of the widening and improvement of the East Coast Demerara Highway, citizens travelling along the East Coast will benefit from reduced travel time and less traffic congestion. Apart from the road being expanded, the project includes improved drainage for the East Coast, which is usually susceptible to floods.

Meanwhile, India approved a new Line of Credit of US$50 million for the East Bank Demerara – East Coast Road Link Project under the previous PPP Government.

First Lady Sandra Granger (DPI photo)

s women were being celebrated at an International Women’s Day Concert and Expo, First Lady Sandra Granger issued a call for them to use Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to broaden their horizons.

“Let our cellphones and the Internet become our tools to build bridges, to share information, to support and mentor our sisters,” the First Lady is quoted by the Department of Public Information as saying.

Granger told about 3000 persons present that through Information Technology girls and women could be encouraged to expand their knowledge and push for gender parity in uppermanagement levels in the office, factory and field.

The First Lady called on women to seize the opportunities presented, noting that it was a fact that women and girls drive development. She further highlighted that “their equal access to training and participation in all facets of development translates into progress for all”.

In her remarks, Canadian High Commissioner Lilian Chatterjee stated that “Guyana has a tradition for being a leader in the Region when it comes to gender equality and women’s rights”. She highlighted that within the country “women consistently hold key decision-making portfolios”.

The International Women’s Day Concert and Expo was facilitated by the Canadian High Commission, in collaboration with the Social Protection Ministry, and was hosted at the Everest Cricket Ground on Sunday.

The event attracted women of all ages, who were provided with information on women and reproductive health, entrepreneurship, academic programmes, and other meaningful information.

At dusk, patrons were treated to a concert filled with cultural performances. They were also entertained by various artistes such as renowned Trinidadian Soca singer Nailah Blackman, Calvin Burnett and Guyana’s very own songbird, Poonam Singh.

34 FEATURE

By Lakhram Bhagirat

T

here is something unexplainable about the way she speaks, the way she delivers, the way she shares her experiences.

I question whether it is the power in her voice, or the ability of her words to soothe the searing pain of open wounds or the way the words just linger after speaking to our souls.

For the past two years, her face has been gracing social media sites with her words spreading like wildfire. The name Renata Burnette is synonymous with modern-day Spoken Word Poetry in Guyana.

The 22-year-old trailblazer is nothing short of inspiring as she speaks her truth which quite often is something a lot of

people run from.

Renata, a Communications major at the University of Guyana, never had in mind that her words would have made such an impact on society. Her journey has been, and continues to be, a learning experience for her as she aims for greater heights.

After completing her secondary education at the Brickdam High School, Renata decided that she wanted to do CAPE Law and gained admission at the St Joseph High School.

As usual, there were days when no teachers were available to teach and during that time students were urged to study or work on their own, but Renata and her classmates used that time for grounding ses-

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

sions.

They would trade advice and have heated discussions along with karaoke among other things. With the majority of students being female, it meant the discussions were almost always centred around relationships. It was during that time she experienced her first heartbreak and to add salt to the wounds the person she was dating almost instantaneously got into another serious relationship.

“I felt as though I really couldn’t say how I felt and I started writing

and then the words were coming consistently and then it started to make sense. It wasn’t necessarily a rhyme scheme, but it started to make sense because that was exactly how I felt. A day in class when we didn’t have any lessons or any teacher, I told my friends ‘yo I write this thing, Y'all want to listen to it and obviously why not’… they did.”

“The first piece I wrote was called "Thank you for hurting me", because it was like a healing process. It was like you hurt me, I was upset, I was angry, but now I see that you really weren’t meant for me, so thank you for showing me that, but you know, of course, in a way that caused me a lot of pain,” she explained.

After hearing what she was capable of, Renata’s friends fell immediately in love with her talent and in an effort to encourage her, they told her to aim high.

They encouraged her to shoot for the stars and said that they would be right there supporting her every step of the way. To date, whenever she performs or hosts an event, they are always there in her cheering section, pushing her to achieve every bit of success possible.

Renata grew up in a family home at Better Hope on the East Coast of Demerara with her mother and sister.

There were other relatives in the house as well. With her sister away at a school that required her to stay on campus and her mother a Sergeant in the Guyana Defence Force, Renata had a lot of free time since she was alone in the lower flat of their home most of the time.

That alone time was spent with her numerous male cousins having a grand time. While growing up, despite being very good at Literature and

English Language in school, Renata never felt an immediate connection to poetry. It may have been a work in progress, but she never connected the dots until she actually started to dip her feet in the poetry world.

Back in high school, while attending mandatory Mathematics lessons, her friend Crystal would be constantly writing several long lines which were not mathematical formulas. Upon inspection of Crystal’s work, Renata thought it was “very sad and painful and deep, but that is how she felt and that was her comfort and I didn’t take heed to it until I started and it was very nice to know that somebody was interested in something I never heard about.”

She also draws inspiration from several poets and artists whose work speak of their stories.

Renata’s work is heavily influenced by her personal experiences since she does not write

without feeling what she is writing.

“I always describe myself as a self-sacrifice when it comes to my poetry. I could never write anything that I don’t feel or experience myself, hence I don’t recite other people’s pieces, you know. I have never recited anybody’s pieces. I have never really written anything that I have never experienced myself and to me, that’s how my poetry is because everything for me is personal because that is how I feel.”

“Writing about the absence of my father, writing about how my mother saw men, writing about my family, writing about relationships, writing about societal issues and how they are affecting me and the people around me are all the things I felt personally. Things that made me angry, made me sad, made me feel scared and not in control and those were the easiest to write.

Putting them down, it was hard because I hardly ever speak of these things because that’s where poetry works for me whereby that was my escape to let all of that out and then recite it in the hope of somebody would benefit from it,” she said.

In Guyana, the common view is that a lot of emphasis is not being placed on the development of the creative sector.

Renata shares this sentiment since she is of the view that we have failed to create a space where people can come and bask in their own art. She said that the Ministry of Social Cohesion should be placing more emphasis on the holistic development of the creative sector and not just when it sees an opportunity for benefit. (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

feature 35

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

By Lakhram Bhagirat

K

halil Gibran, one of my absolute favourite poets, said: “The poet is a bird of strange moods. He descends from his lofty domain to tarry among us, singing; if we do not honour him, he will unfold his wings and fly back to his dwelling place.”

Poetry allows us to peer into the poet’s soul and go on their journey.

We laugh, we cry, experience immense happiness or gut-wrenching heartbreak. For poets, sometimes writing is all they envision or sometimes it is just something they happen to discover as they mature, and for 19-year-old Faheem Esau, it is something that he described as a fluke.

You see, Faheem

started writing poetry a little over a year ago, but writing is something that he has always been fond of. Interestingly enough he found poetry rather boring during his much younger days. Not everyone instantly develops affinity for intricate writings with hidden emotions, sometimes that takes time.

Faheem, in an effort to better express himself, decided that he needed to be more expressive, since he had grown up as a quite shy person.

He, like many others who have been lovestruck, decided that more needed to be done to better express his feelings and he took it upon

"Matrimony" Lustful and out control, That was what they deemed me to be, An unquenchable thirst, Innate desires, And an Insatiable hunger...

Without doubt I believed it all was true.

Tasteless and compulsive, Lots of coitus with little to no meaning, No spark nor butterflies flew within me, If anything I'd say I was living, But not alive.

However I was willing, Willing to give it a try, True love? I figured not, For I heard was, Love-lost hurts worse than a shot, The world is filled with adulterers anyways, Living tastelessly and with apathy, Safer, I thought I would be, Without any vulnerability.

So spiraling, I was, Completely Out of control, Like a crashing flight, I landed abruptly in your life, You were charming, Insanely Gorgeous, But most importantly, Every day, you became all I see.

Whether you were near or not, Your face was all I sought, Even though I knew you were in matrimony, Deeply I knew that someday you'll belong to me.

Ironically I crashed, with fear and despair, But sedated I was, with the fragrance of your hair.

Loving another's wife, A predicament! It seemed, But ignorance it was, For I knew not! That in that moment, I was redeemed.

My thirst finally satiated, Butterflies were instantly initiated, The phobia of not being reciprocated finally dissipated.

You tore down all walls that I built, Leaving me a great deal of guilt, Guilt that I didn't sought you earlier.

For you, you needed a savior.

Much like me, you never thought you'd be, Hopelessly in love with another, Outside your holy matrimony.

"Awake" Has he called you?

When last was he near?

He has no interest, In him, why do you invest?

He doesn't love you, Do you even feel special?

Your love, all my life, I've wanted, But All I got was your denial.

Not to be psychotic, But what is it that is so hypnotic?

What did he ever do to you?

Is he that good?

Is he even true to you?

Does he fight?

Buy flowers for you?

Or is it the money, That makes you feel whatever you feel?

Little do you know, all you are to him?

Is a spoke on his wheel?

Maybe I'm paranoid, Maybe I am cynical, Stay with him and I might just become a criminal, Awake! And See the picture, Is it perfect?

Does it worth it?

The loneliness, How unappreciative he is, Doesn't even notice the nails, The hair, Your aroma, Are you in a freaking coma?!

Awake! Please, and finally see, That with me, Is where you were meant to be, He lied, he cheated and he stole, Oh how He tainted your Beautiful heart of gold, Awake! And finally see what I see, Your... Beautiful... Soul. himself to do that in writing. So, last Valentine he got out the note pad and began penning his innermost feelings.

He captured not only what he was feeling, but also invoked the feeling of desire, the desire to be better and ever since he has been on an upward trajectory.

“I was never a fanatic of poetry whilst growing up, I actually deemed it to be boring which resulted in (me) never attempting to write (poetry). I was more interested in essays and short stories.

However, for last Valentine's I tried making the day a tad bit more special with a poem alongside the gifts.

The first poem I wrote, I did as a gesture and with it came great receptiveness. I composed another after that, which had the same result and so I continued composing.”

Faheem grew up in Corriverton in Berbice and is the youngest child of his parents. He has just

one sibling and being the younger has served as somewhat of an advantage for him, because he was allowed to explore more and as times changed, so did his interests. He grew up as the quiet kid and could have been considered as the nerdy one too.

When he sat the National Grade Six

Assessment (NGSA), he was awarded a place at St Rose’s High in Georgetown but because of the distance between that school and his home, his parents decided to send him to the Skeldon Line Path Secondary School where he received his literary groundings.

“Growing up, I was quite the shy and quiet type and as I got older, it remained that way up until I got comfortable around someone.

There isn't much to say, I wasn't really athletic, but I played a little cricket. I was more so calm and collective with an obsession to grow up quickly,” he said.

“With my newfound belief, I solely think poetry is an escape. It is a means by which one expresses and releases emotional energy. And with the composition of a poem, it requires thinking ability as well as vocabulary, which is further enhanced by exercising effort and time into a poem. My intention with writing is to cope with my emotions by a creative method

which benefits me, opposing the stereotypical approach which involves substance abuse. With the incorporation of the above, I might just be able to inspire someone someday. Perhaps even help break addictions,” Faheem added.

He says with his limited knowledge, he is hopeful that more emphasis is placed on the promotion of poetry and arts in Guyana. He is hopeful that the arts community gets the recognition and the opportunities required to gain the recognition their work so deserves.

“I believe well-felt emotions are being poured into my pieces and it’s all derived from my escapades as well as the scenarios my mind construct based on my personal emotions and that's what I think makes my work authentic. In future, I intend having an arsenal of poetry and prose as well as a novel or two; perhaps even a bestseller someday.”

(Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

36 FEATURE

B y L akhram B hagirat

Dear society Sometimes I see eyes.

Black, overpowering, commanding.

They stare these eyes.

Gauging my reaction, waiting.

Waiting ever so patiently for me to show signs of incoherency.

Dear society Sometimes I see eyes.

Familiar eyes, nestle in bushy black brows.

Always staring, looking down from their overhead position.

Reflecting an emotion so foreign, so inconceivable to the mind of a child.

Dear society Sometimes I see eyes.

Mostly in my quiet moments.

Surrounded by curly hair, they consume my childish thoughts.

They delude me, convince me- no force me to don a woman’s mind and comprehend their desire.

Society, I stare at the eyes and then at myself.

I disassociate.

Dear society.

Sometimes I see eyes.

Eyes that are accompanied by a touch.

A simple touch. A soft touch.

An intrusive touch.

Not meant for the body of a child.

With enough concentration sometimes, oh sometimes I can feel.

Dear society.

Dear eyes.

I saw you. I see you.

Your dark pupils, almost dilated, forever engraved in the recess of my mind.

Why eyes? Why? Why did you choose to see me?

T

he words are so endearing, invoking a sense of responsibility. The responsibility to make

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

the world a better place, a place where peace and harmony exist within the elements. That is exactly what Kelly Mohan envisions every time she puts pen to paper and does her part to bring awareness while offering a unique perspective of what needs to be addressed.

The 22-year-old nursery school teacher has been writing for as long as she could remember. Fitting the traditional description of a book-

of Poetry" by Hazel Simmons McDonald and Mark McWatt in an English B class did I begin to understand the true power of poetry and develop the content of my writing. Poetry became an emotional outlet for me. Trying to cope with the fast pace of high school, understanding my new role in

The children

society as a teenager and at the same time becoming aware of all the social injusThe fleet across time. tice especialHolding destinies but paying no heed. ly towards Echoing the adult reality with their childish intentions women in Guyanese soand sweet tales of mischief. ciety all influenced me There they go, great paramours of life. into penning Soiled clothing and sun-kissed face. my thoughts Bruised knees and sticky fingers. on a paper.

Spreading their delight through It became the obvious destruction, the only way through the unholy fields of modern mankind. for me to comprehend reality and worm, Kelly has had an affinity for share my opinions on matters that literature and intricate writings affected me,” she says.

“If I am to name a poet who has from a pretty young age and that was fuelled by her paternal grand- left a lasting impression on me, it mother who encouraged her creativ- would be Martin Carter. I recalled ity and motivated her to push her the first time I read "This is a dark time, my love" and being completeboundaries.

Much of her childhood was spent exploring the limits of her imagination through art, play and books which resulted in her love for poetry and a good novel.

“My initial writings started out as being very clichéd one verses, influenced by the music and novels I read during my early teenage years.

However, it wasn’t until I stumbled upon this fascinating book "A World

With wild eyes and tangled hair, their feet race across the earth.

Carrying soft breath against the wind, Whispering fond memories from a dreamlike world.

ly filled with the vivid imagery that stemmed from his words. This poem is what pivoted me in the direction of poetry that I am in today. One of the major goals of my poetry is to sensitise persons on social issues affecting our society. It is also my aim to have the same effect on readers as Martin Carter’s "This is a dark

time, my love" had on me.”

While there has been more emphasis on art and poetry by some entities and institutions in Guyana, Kelly believes enough is not being done to foster the growth of creative arts. For her, art and poetry are perceived by a large section of society as a hobby and not as a career due to lack of financial gain.

Persons deem art as scribbles with splashes of paint and poetry as few lines of rhyming words. However, creative arts allow us not only to express ourselves and emotions, but also aid the young brain in developing analytical and problem-solving skills. The creative arts also can be touted as bridging barriers between cultures, ethnicities and classes.

“I cannot say that my poems are entirely different as somewhere in the world someone has done it or will do something similar, but what I do know is that my poems tell a story and share different perspectives (not necessarily mine) about everything in life. My dream, in five years, as a poet is to establish my-

self in the field of local literature.

As a person who has been brought up recognising the importance of education, I also aim to elevate myself by furthering my education at the University of Guyana.”

(Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

FEATURE 37

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Cyril Dabydeen

Abdur Rahman Hopkinson

Cyril Ewart Lionel Grant

Beryl Gilroy

David Dabydeen

Ian McDonald

John Agard

Mahadai Das

Grace Nichols

Martin Carter Narmala Shewcharan

Stanley Greaves Wordsworth McAndrew

Rajkumari Singh

Sir Theodore Wilson Harris

38 FEATURE

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

By Lakhram Bhagirat

“W

e cling to music, to poems, to quotes, to writing, to art because we desperately do not want to be alone. We want to know we aren’t going crazy and someone else out there knows exactly about you’re feeling it. We want someone to explain the things we can’t,” someone anonymously said.

For Hanani Ben Lewi, there is nothing he enjoys more than combining poetry and music. From a very young age, he has been in love with the stage and the arts. He has done almost everything that is related to the creative field with much success. So when people say that he is multitalented and multifaceted, they know exactly what they are talking about.

Hanani is very expressive, not only with the words he uses but also with his facial expressions. He is not only a poet he is one of Guyana’s foremost steelpan players and watching him play invokes a whole new meaning of what it is to be in love with what you do.

The 21-year-old thinks that he still has

a long way to go and looking back on his journey, he explains that ever since attending the North Georgetown Primary School, he has been in love with music.

One argues that music is poetry, only with sounds and he has been telling his story ever since he discovered the steelpan.

“I started writing po-

etry in Fourth Form (at the Bishop’s High) and like any 16-year-old I was writing love poems for the girls I had admired. Then a friend of mine showed me a piece called "To this day" by Shane Koyzcan, a Canadian spoken word poet. This piece was school bullying and it made cry. I didn’t know poetry could be so

thought-provoking and inspirational. He taught me how to marry my love for advocacy and the stage.”

Ever since being introduced to spoken word poetry, Hanani has not looked back. He has catapulted himself forward among the best of the best locally and even further afield. Though still in his infancy stage,

Hanani shows i m m e n s e promise to make himself a household name.

His style is different from the others, because not only does he tell a story with his pieces, he also invokes familiar emotions and commands you to introspect.

Look deep within and embrace your every flaw because it is the imperfections that make us truly unique.

“I believe that my work is different because I don't tackle popular themes, I deal with the issues we often overlook. The goal of my poetry is get people to feel the emotions of others,

to understand their social responsibility and to open their eyes to the social ills that plague our society. I don't think there is enough being done to promote poetry in Guyana. There aren't enough avenues for expression and receive adequate compensation for such.”

Like many local creative minds, Hanani laments about the lack of creative spaces. In the near future, he sees himself creating a space for young creatives where their talents are appreciated and compensated accordingly.

He notes that this is a much-needed initiative, which would only serve to expand and reinvigorate the love for literature and the arts in general. (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

FEATURE 39

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com by

Petamber Persaud

G

ideon was a potent warrior for Christianity using the instruments/talents he was blessed with - the pulpit and the pen.

Gideon was a warrior on other fronts especially through his letters to the press denouncing immorality, injustice and the disregard for human rights. He was also a fertile commentator on literature. And with the mushrooming of social media, he would share his findings and knowledge about so many things literary including copyright issues, literary prizes, publication opportunities, literary workshops, and his accomplishments which he took in his strides, continuing to work without a timeout.

His accomplishments were many for he was never idle, always working and striving at becoming better in all of his endeavours. Each time he puts his shoulders to the wheels, there was no turning back, especially in his writing.

His books include: Songs of my soul, 2002 Issues of Life, 2003 The Revelation of Love, 2009, republished 2013 in the USA Dreams of a Caribbean Poet, November 2013 Home Memories 2018 In 2014, he edited Twenty-five poems by Guyanese Children, published by The Caribbean Press.

His publications were

Preserving our literary heritage

one part of his accomplishments. His awards includes: Offerings Poetry Award (Guyana) 1997; The Editor’s Choice Poetry Award from 1993-2012 from the International Library of Poetry in the USA; and the Inter-American Press Association finalist Award 1998 for his essay on Press Freedom.

In 2003, he gained an Associate Degree in Theology, in 2004, the Advanced Diploma in Theology, in 2005, a Bachelor of Theology and in 2007, a Master of Arts in Theology, all of which were issued from the Life

Christian University, Tampa, Florida.

While studying, he became an ordained minister of the gospel attached to the Word of Faith Ministries and pastor of Word of Faith Healing Ministries. Later he became the Administrator and a Director of the Word of Faith Ministries.

On February 9, 2019, Gideon Cecil was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the Canadian International Chaplaincy Association, (CICA) University and Seminary. That ceremony was held in Guyana.

School, Gideon made optimum use of its library. He recalled one of the first books to influence him was ‘From Shakespeare to Goldsmith: The Pageant of Literature’.

At school, he came under the influence of Basant Raj and after attending school, Gideon came under the influ-

ences led to writing, a worthwhile legacy, his legacy to Guyana.

Responses to this author telephone (592) 226-0065 or email: oraltradition2002@yahoo. com (Guyana Times S u n d a y

Gideon Sampson Cecil

ence of Mr. Nauth who had a personal library

However, his greatest achievement was his family which he started when he was married to Deborah Shanti Dyal in 2000. That marriage produced a daughter and a son.

Where did it all start? Gideon Sampson Cecil was born in 1968 in Rose Hall Town, Corentyne, Berbice, to Cecil and Chandai David. He credited many sources for his literary leanings. First and foremost, was his father who was an avid reader even as he was a dedicated worker on the estate. Additionally, his father used to ask Gideon to write stories which the father narrated - jumbie stories, and stories about the sea. His father also kept a journal.

While attending J. C. Chandisingh High

worth millions.

All that reading and all of the above influ-

Magazine)

40

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

NEWS 41

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

‘We are living in fear’

…Cops yet to apprehend man who brutally attacked wife that a relative of the man visited the injured young lady just recently.

The woman alleged that residents have been sharing information with the fugitive. Young Mahase is currently at her Good Hope, East Coast Demerara home recuperating from the injuries she sustained.

Guyana Times International was told that she underwent surgery

The injured woman, Vashti Mahase, shows the wounds she sustained. In this picture, the woman shows her left hand which was fractured, right hand that was partially chopped off, her eyes which the cutlass barely missed and her head that had to be shaved to allow doctors to stitch chop wounds

A

fter barely escaping the jaws of death, 22-year-old Vashti Mahase, who was brutally chopped on February 24 by her 35-year-old lover, Fazil Oosman, of Lima Dam, Mahaica, is still living in fear as police are yet to apprehend her attacker.

The woman, a mother of two, spends each day trying not to replay the incident in her head.

Police in C Division (East Coast Demerara) are making every effort to apprehend the farmer who lost his temper when the woman told him she wanted to end the relationship.

He reportedly carried out the brutal attack on the woman leaving her with broken bones and several chop indentations on her head and other parts of her body.

The Divisional Commander, Calvin Brutus, in a brief interview on Tuesday said that the police followed all the leads they were given but

were still unable to make an arrest.

“What we have done so far is since the discharge of the victim from the hospital we’ve been doing sporadic visits via our patrols to where they are living,” he assured.

The injured woman’s mother, Zorina Mahase, told this publication that her daughter was discharged from the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) on Thursday last.

Contrary to what the police had stated, Mahase told Guyana Times International that since her daughter was discharged, the police never visited her home but noted that the investigators have been calling to check up on her from time to time.

She complained that they feel threatened because ever since her child came home, the man has been trying to call her at ungodly hours.

Mahase explained

to repair the sliced bones in her hands.

Her mother also expressed fear that she might not be able to move her right thumb again.

So far, a NonGovernmental Organisation (NGO) has reached out to the family to offer assistance.

The abused woman’s mother recently said that she was scared for her own life and is contemplating fleeing the home she lived in

for several years as the man has been threatening to “finish her off” before turning himself in to the police.

Young Mahase was sent to the home of the suspect accompanied by a rural constable to issue a restraining order a few days after he had threatened to chop her head off.

This newspaper was told that in the process of serving the restraining order, an argument ensued

between the two and while Mahase’s back was turned, Oosman gruesomely attacked her with his cutlass, firing chops at her face, head, hands, back and other body parts.

The rural constable who was with her allegedly ran for cover, leaving the woman at the mercy of her attacker. The family is appealing for persons to make contact with the police if they see the farmer.

42

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

NEWS 43

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Parents urged to “speak up” against CDC delivers more aid to Venezuelan sexual and domestic violence migrants

T

Probation and Social Services

h e Officer for the East Bank Ministry Demerara District, Milton Smith of Social Protection’s Sexual and D o m e s t i c Violence Unit on Wednesday facilitated a sensitisation exercise on sexual and domestic violence in the Kuru Kururu, SoesdykeL i n d e n Highway community.

According to the Department of Public abusive situation and Information (DPI), become functional indiProbation and Social viduals in society. We foService Officer, respon- cus on everyone receivsible for the East Bank ing the same privilege Demerara District, to become whatever they Milton Smith said the fo- want to,” Smith said. cus for the outreach is to He emphasised that provide guidance to par- domestic violence affects ents and children since children the most, which communication is vital make them more vulnerwithin the home in order able to abuse. Smith furto put an end to the soci- ther stated that one of etal scourge. the agency’s mandates is “The Childcare and to ensure that children Protection Agency, un- understand their rights. der the laws of Guyana, He called on parents to has the authority to look take a more hands-on after the welfare and the approach when raising wellbeing of children to their children. ensure that they reach “Every child has a their full potential and right to an identity, they become free from any deserve care and atten-

tion. It is important that parents understand the vital role they play in the protection of their children’s mental, emotional and physical growth. It is important that every household takes a stand to end domestic violence because it becomes a cycle of normalcy if our children are exposed to domestic violence without counselling,” Smith said.

The interactive session, which involved school children and adults of the Kuru Kururu community, also provided the opportunity for one on one sessions with the Probation and

Social Services Officers.

Reports of sexual abuse were also made and reported to the relevant authorities, DPI reported.

The issue of Trafficking in Person was also discussed and Smith highlighted some of the troubling factors such as manual labour, sexual and physical abuse, deprivation of legal documents and even death victims experience.

Other issues raised at the workshop were teenage pregnancy, child labour and school dropouts, DPI said.

Migrant families receiving hampers from the Civil Defence Commission

T

he Civil Defence Commission (CDC) continues to render assistance to the Venezuelan migrants crossing Guyana’s borders in an effort to escape the social and economic crisis in their homelands.

On Saturday, March 9, twelve migrant families in Kamwatta, Barima-Waini (Region One) received muchneeded hampers from the CDC. Additional supplies are currently being mobilised to be delivered to

communities in the region in the coming week as well as in Region Seven.

The National Multi Sectorial Coordinating Committee, through the Civil Defence Commission (CDC), has been providing relief to migrants in the border regions. Over the last few months, Guyana has seen an increase in the number of Venezuelans crossing the border to escape the political and socio-economic crisis in their homeland.

Businesses found to be involved in TIP could have licenses revoked T he Public Security M i n i s t e r , K h e m r a j Ramjattan on Tuesday said he believes that business licences should be revoked from hotel owners who are found guilty of Trafficking In Persons (TIP).

He made the statement while addressing the opening ceremony of a three-day workshop to combat TIP. According to Ramjattan, countries with TIP suspects should share such information with other countries when those persons are travelling so as to ensure the receiving country is alert to detect any unlawful acts in this regard.

“Hitting the networks hard, getting the information as to who are some of the suspects, let’s say in Trinidad or Tobago that are the culprits, and forewarning us when they are coming to Guyana, red flagging, all of these are very important things that we would like to

see happen so that we can nab them a nip in the bud, long before they start their operations in any country,” he said.

He added that an important aspect of combating TIP would be revoking licences from hotel owners when found guilty of condoning the act.

“We too must not only do damage to the profit-making, even if it comes to that taking away their hotel licences, when you get the evidence or not granting hotel licences and business licences and so on,” he posited.

Ramjattan said that although persons may argue that those jobs and businesses create employment, the repugnance of that type of employment is important to the Government, which wants to be civil.

He noted that because TIP is such a large-scale business, a collaborative effort is needed to tackle the issue. “The profits are also utilised to corrupt

law enforcement and also because of the vulnerabilities of systems not in place, sometimes even further afield prosecutorial, judicial, magisterial, all those and we have to start,” the Minister noted.

The three-day Regional Thematic Meeting which kicked off on Tuesday at the Princess Hotel will focus on Trafficking in Human Beings (THB) and Smuggling of Migrants (SoM) in the African, Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP).

In 2010, the ACP group of States and the European Union (EU) launched the ACP-EU dialogue on migration and development.

The objective is to provide a dedicated platform for Caribbean stakeholders and beneficiaries to exchange information and experiences on policy implementation with regards to counter-trafficking and counter-smuggling of migrants and identify region-relevant practices among oth-

ers.

At the conclusion of the meeting, a report on Trafficking in Human Beings and Smuggling of Migrants will be produced with the aim of providing an overview of the achievements of the action in the specific region.

Earlier this month it was revealed that some 243 persons were trafficked locally.

“There were 243 victims and on one occasion they [officials] went to a club…39 were found in small rooms, obviously the presump-

tion [was] that they were being trafficked, and of course, alleged victims under 18, you have 11 out of that 243. The suspects involved, if I may breach some confidentiality of the police here, you have 57 of them,” the Minister divulged during a previous event.

He stated that total charges for last year amounted to 36 and all of the other cases are presently ongoing.

“Actual TIP charges as a result of those reports we have 23…the numbers of individuals

charged for trafficking offences, of course there are some other offences like illegal entry into the country and so on, but actual TIP charges we had 10.

For the year 2018 too we had two convictions for TIP; previous years we had zero and one.”

He explained that the regions where these cases were found are from Region Four, specifically Georgetown; Region Seven (CuyuniMazaruni) and Region Nine (Upper TakutuUpper Essequibo).

44 NEWS

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Housekeeper lands in Court for allegedly stealing from Minister

D

onetta Rajkumar, 33, was charged for stealing G$195,000 from Junior Natural Resources Minister Simona Broomes.

Rajkumar, of La Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara (WBD), appeared before Magistrate Faith McGusty and denied that between March 6 and March 7, 2019 at Lodge, Georgetown, she stole G$195,000 from Minister Broomes. Rajkumar was at the time employed as a housekeeper. The woman, who was represented by Attorney-at-

Donetta Rajkumar

Law Everton LammySingh, is contending that she did not remove the cash.

Police Prosecutor Seon Blackman objected to bail. The Prosecutor informed the court that the housekeeper was the lone person in the house after the Minister left and had access to the cash.

The housekeeper was released on G$75,000 bail.

She is expected to return to court on April 3, 2019.

I

Democracy betrayed…

…again by PNC t’s said that “justice delayed is justice denied”. And in that context, the observation of philosopher of Liberal Democracy, John Rawls, that “Justice is the first virtue of social institutions”, is very apt; as David Granger, leader of the PNC and President of Guyana, tag teams with GECOM to delay the elections that were constitutionally mandated on March 21, 2019 by the successful no-confidence vote of Dec 21, 2018.

Elections are the very lifeblood of democracy, since quintessentially they facilitate its prime virtue: for the people, in exercising their franchise, to be able to say, “We, the people, in constituting a government….” And if that power is delayed, then we have to conclude that “a franchise delayed is justice denied”.

Just as it was when, for almost three decades, they turned us into an international pariah by rigging elections so blatantly that any mention of their government was invariably flagged with an asterisk!

In the last elections rigged by Burnham in 1980, the British Parliamentary Group of Observers described it as “more crooked than barbed wire”!! In those riggings, Burnham always started by corrupting the institution in charge of elections, GECOM, by first having a chairman – first Sir Donald Jackman and then Sir Harold Bollers (both ex-Chief Justices, not so incidentally!)- under his thumb, and then by fiddling with the voters’ list.

And so, when the US decided in 1990 to stop underwriting Burnham’s rigging and usher in “free and fair” elections, the first thing their proxy, the Carter Center, did was to come up with a GECOM Commission that would be fair, so as to deliver justice to the Guyanese people’s right to choose their government.

The formula of three Commissioners nominated by the Government and three by the Opposition obviously demanded that the Chairman, with the casting vote, be neutral, or the whole mechanism would be biased.

And this is where Art 162 (2) comes in, since it was changed to demand consensus in choosing the Chairman between the President (Government) and the Opposition Leader– that it must come from a list submitted by the latter. So when Granger was allowed to get away with unilaterally choosing the 85-yearold Justice James Patterson, it didn’t take even a whit of cynicism to conclude the PNC were up to their old tricks.

So this insistence by Granger that there can’t be elections until “GECOM” (read Patterson) is ready is just nonsense on stilts!! While Art 61 says the President sets the “time for elections”, Art 106 MANDATES that elections MUST be scheduled 3 months after a successful NCM. GECOM ain’t mentioned.

GECOM just has to do its goddamn job – run elections!! …phase 2 Back in the early days of Burnham’s rigging, a declassified file from the US archives showed that he’d proposed to the then US ambassador that he was planning to bring in “small islanders” from the Caribbean to neutralise the PPP’s advantage in numbers, after ditching the UF. While he did bring in some, they didn’t like the interior where they’d been sent to be kept under the radar. The plan fizzled and he used “other means”!

Fast forward to the present, where the PNC also want to ditch their junior coalition partner (the AFC “dead meat”) and not surprisingly, they’re cogging from Burnham’s playbook to boost their numbers.

So when it was revealed that thousands of Haitians who’d entered can’t be found – and now they’re automatically allowed to stay for six months — rigging antennae are raised!!

Immigration Minister Felix says not to worry…the President’s directive is just executing a Caricom HoG decision. But that decision demanded they show the Haitians have the means to sustain themselves for that time!!

Was Immigration so instructed? …or saved?

New US Ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch told the confirming Senate Committee on Foreign Relations she’s planning to “work with the Guyanese Government and people to build upon gains in democratic governance, the rule of law, and citizen security.”

Like constitutionally mandated elections???

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

45

46 NEWS

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Trinidad travelers affected by Boeing 737 MAX grounding (Trinidad Guardian)

S

cores of peo­ple hop­ ing to get to Mi­ a­ mi from Pi­ar­co In­ ter­na­tion­al Air­port were ting ready to board get­ their flight around 3 pm yes­ter­day when they were turned back and told to leave the de­ par­ ture gate.

Mo­ments ear­li­er, Unit­ed States Pres­i­ dent Don­ald Trump had ground­ed all Boe­ing 737 Max planes with im­me­ di­ate ef­fect, leav­ing those pas­sen­gers who were set to leave for the Unit­ ed States at 3.25 pm on Amer­i­can Air­lines flight num­ber 2703 strand­ed at Pi­ar­co.

An­oth­er flight des­ tined to leave Mi­am ­ i for Port-of-Spain at 5.55 pm (on Wednes­day) yes­ter­ day, flight num­ber 2713, was al­so can­celled.

To com­pound mat­ters for many of the pas­sen­ gers, of­fi­cials were not im­me­di­ate­ly avail­able to clar­i­fy what would hap­ ing to a pen next, lead­ slight furore at the desk.

Po­ lice were called in to en­sure that the sit­ua ­ ­tion did not es­ca­late.

One pas­sen­ger with a tick­et for the 3.25 flight bought via the miles sys­ tem was told to can­ cel the tick­et and seek a re­ fund. How­ev­er, he like

Passengers walk through the Piarco International Airport yesterday, hours after the US announced it had grounded all Boeing 737 Max aircraft worldwide.

many did not know when they would get an­oth­er flight on the air­line out of Trinidad. He said the next avail­able flight to him was list­ed as March 30.

How­ev­er, AA of­fi­cials at the Port-of-Spain tick­ et cen­ tre told the T&T Guardian that the air­ line would be work­ing

to en­sure their ser­vice is not dis­rupt­ed to­mor­row.

The su­per­vi­sor at the fa­ cil­i­ty said the air­line will as­ sess its op­ tions with re­gards to equip­ment to en­sure their flights from Trinidad and To­ba­go will not be af­fect­ed. They urged pas­sen­gers sched­ uled to leave Trinidad on flights with the air­line

to check their web­site for up­dates about their sched­ule.

Amer­i­can Air­lines al­ so post­ed a state­ment in the wake of the US Pres­ i­dent’s de­ci­sion. It said: “On March 13, the Fed­ er­al Avi­a­tion Ad­min­is­ tra­tion (FAA) ground­ed all US-reg­is­tered Boe­ ing 737 MAX air­craft, in­

clud­ing the 8 and 9 vari­ ants, as a pre­cau­tion­ary mea­sure. This in­cludes the 24 MAX 8 air­craft in the Amer­i­can Air­lines fleet. We are com­ply­ing with the FAA di­rec­tive.”

AA said it op­ er­ ates 85 flights per day on the MAX 8, out of 6,700 de­ par­tures through­out the Amer­i­can Air­lines sys­ tem.

The com­pa­ny de­fend­ ed its safe­ty record and al­so listed its sta­tis­tics us­ing the Boe­ing air­ craft stat­ing, “Amer­i­ can has flown more than 2.5 mil­lion pas­sen­gers — dur­ing 46,400 op­er­ at­ing hours en­com­pass­ ing near­ly 18,000 flights — safe­ly on our MAX 8 fleet since the first one was de­liv­ered Sep­tem­ber 2017 and be­gan com­mer­ cial ser­vice lat­er that No­ vem­ber.”

The on­line post add­ ed, “We apol­o­gise for the in­con­ve­nience this may cause some of our cus­ tomers. Our team will work with all cus­tomers im­pact­ed by these flight can­cel­la­tions in or­der to re­book them to their fi­ nal des­ti­na­tion. Af­fect­ed cus­tomers may re­book them­selves on aa.com by re­triev­ing their reser­va­ tion or us­ing our mo­bile app. If a flight is can­ celled, cus­tomers may re­quest a full re­fund

by vis­it­ing our web­site.

Cus­tomers who booked through a trav­el agent are re­quest­ed to con­tact their agency di­rect­ly.”

Coun­tries that ground­ed the Boe­ing Air­craft in­clud­ed Aus­ tralia, Chi­na, In­done­ sia, Malaysia, Mon­go­lia, Oman, Sin­ga­pore, South Ko­rea, the Unit­ed King­ dom, USA and Trinidad and To­ba­go. ment on In a state­ so­cial me­dia yes­ter­ day, Min­is­ter of Fi­nance Colm Im­ bert said, “Un­ til Amer­i­can Air­lines can find oth­er planes, the MIA-POS route is sus­ pend­ed, since AA was us­ ing the Max 8 for the TT route. But CAL will con­ tin­ue to fly its 737-800s.”

Caribbean Air­lines cor­po­rate com­mu­ni­ca­ tion man­ag­er Dionne Ligoure mean­while said it was too ear­ly to say if the lo­cal air­line would see an in­ crease in pas­ sen­gers as a re­sult of Trump’s de­ci­sion.

She said, “Caribbean Air­ lines of­ fers the most ser­vices to South Flori­ da, and is open for busi­ ness and will hap­ pi­ ly trans­port any­one will­ ing to trav­el to and from Mi­am ­ i. We con­tin­ue to close­ly mon­it­ or our in­ ven­to­ry and book­ings in this re­gard.”

Retired UWI professor highlights challenges as Gov't funding dwindles L

ILLIPUT, St James — Ronald Young, a re­ tired professor of The University of the West Indies, says while educa­ tion is a “big business”, successive governments continue to allocate less resources for higher edu­ cation while demanding that these institutions produce more.

“Especially if you look at this budget, it is not sufficient to say that we just don't have the money, because money has been found to put into other things,” said Young. “Other things are important, mind you, but education is important.

“And we know that education is not only im­ portant for the develop­ ment of industries, inno­ vation, export... but it is also important for crime.

It is not that education is going to solve crime, but certainly [it] will help to alleviate some of the crime issues,” he added.

The professor, while questioning why institu­

tions of higher learning are appealing for more money when education is said to be “good busi­ ness”, pointed out that tertiary institutions are faced with a number challenges.

“We know that the fee thing is not working. We know that the business of generating money by consultancy for industry [is] not working, because our industries are not doing innovative things, and so they are not going to be paying the univer­

sities to innovate when they are not looking for innovation...” Young ar­ gued.

Professor Young, who was speaking to mem­ bers of the media at the University Council of Jamaica Symposium on Quality Education and launch of the UCJ Integrated Quality Assurance Management System at Iberostar Hotels and Resorts in St James on Tuesday, was expounding on com­ ments he made while

chairing a session that dealt with quality issues in the discipline.

The professor of hu­ man and compara­ tive physiology, who has served as pro-vicechancellor with respon­ sibility for the gradu­ ate school at The UWI, also commented on the Government's recently announced provision of $3 billion in grant sup­ port to the Students' Loan Bureau (SLB) for the 2019/2020 fiscal year, which is aimed at

increasing access to ter­ tiary education.

The move allows for payments to be made to the most outstand­ ing balance first for new loans, an immediate re­ duction in interest rates of two percentage points for postgraduate stu­ dents who are in good standing with the SLB, and a 10 per cent for­ giveness in loan balance for each full year that a student is employed fulltime to a registered char­ ity in good standing.

However, Young said the move is suggesting that the Government will not be giving more money to tertiary insti­ tutions, but instead to the lending institution to allow students to pay their fees.

Meanwhile, a number of tertiary institutions received institutional and programme accred­ itation certificates from the University Council of Jamaica on Tuesday.

Among the ac­ credited universities are the University of Technology, Jamaica and Northern Caribbean University.

Caribbean Maritime University, Excelsior Community College, Mico University College, and the University College of the Caribbean (trad­ ing as the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean) are candi­ dates for institutional accreditation.(Jamaica Observer)

47

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Tributes paid The PNC and the to Rose Hall Armed Forces Martyrs 106 v years later

By Ravi Dev

- bravery and courage of slain Rose Hall Estate workers highlighted

T

Family of the slain workers at the memorial

he fifteen Rose Hall Estate sugar workers, who were slain 106 years ago, were on Wednesday remembered for their boldness, during a small commemorative and wreath-laying ceremony, held at the Monument Site, Rose Hall, East Canje, Berbice.

A moment of silence was observed at the ceremony to honour the workers. The ceremony, which opened with the Universal Prayer by Berbice High School (BHS) student, Angelique Adams, was chaired by Senior teacher of BHS, Sharmaine Michael-Caesar.

According to the Department of Public Information (DPI), acting in the capacity of Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge delivered the feature address. He highlighted the contrast between the history of sugar and the bitter experiences of those who made the production and distribution of sugar possible.

"I think we can all agree that the struggle of these 15 Guyanese who died on the 13 of March 1913, was a struggle that ultimately resulted in better conditions, better pay and respect for the rights of workers. Not only in Rose Hall, not only those who were in the fields of Rose Hall, but workers across Guyana."

Minister Greenidge further underscored the agony endured by the indentured labourers and the bravery they possessed. He noted that the Rose Hall Martyrs Memorial monument is a reminder to future

generations of the necessary sacrifices if freedom is to be achieved.

"We must remember the Rose Hall Martyrs who endured unimaginable hardships and we must be inspired by their sacrifices."

According to the minister, compared to previous years ago, it is evident that Guyana has witnessed the emerging of new opportunities and industries, which will bring about transformational change.

The ceremony also saw the attendance of several notable persons including Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Karen Cummings, Minister within the Ministry of Finance, Jaipaul Sharma, Minister of Social Protection, with responsibility for Labour, Keith Scott, Regional Chairman of East BerbiceCorentyne, David Armogan and Mayor of New Amsterdam, Winifred Heywood.

On March 13, 1913, the 15 Martyrs were shot by several colonial police, after they refused to adhere to an order from the plantation's manager, to perform duties on days granted to them as holidays. During the ordeal, over 50 other workers received injuries.

The murdered labourers are Motey Khan 26, Badri 26, Lalji 45, Durga 72, Sadulla 23, Bholay 33, Hulas 25, Sarjoo 21, Jugai 30, Nibur 75, Sohan 33, Gafur 27, Juggoo 37, Roopan 25 and the lone female, Gobindei, 32.

As Guyana appears headed for another round of rigged elections under the leader of the PNC, this time Brigadier (Rtd) David Granger, history stands in danger of repeating itself. But as Marx warned, while the first time (under Burnham, in our instance) it is “tragedy”, the second time it will be a “farce”, since it is a caricature of the first. Which is really of no consequence to the folks under the new jackboots.

But the tragedy can recur only when those who suffered the first time around did not deal with the reasons for their tragedy. In the case of a new PNC dictatorship, these were the triad of institutions that Burnham controlled, which formed the pillars of his regime – the PNC party, the Bureaucracy/ Civil Service, but especially the Armed/Disciplined Forces, which allowed him to do whatever he pleased – especially rigging elections.

In contrast to the other institutions, the Disciplined Forces were transmuted in form and size after 1969, when Burnham had already rigged elections; seized sole control of the Government by jettisoning the PNC’s erstwhile coalition partner the UF; and launched the Guyana Defence Force (1965).

By then he had no need to make concessions to internal opposition forces, and the development of the Disciplined Forces provided a very reliable guide to Burnham’s political ideology, which interestingly was entrusted to a very junior officer: David Granger, who has vowed to fulfil Burnham’s legacy, and revealed he was “always PNC”.

Using as the rationale an aborted secessionist uprising in the remote Rupununi — which was put down by the 2nd Battalion of the GDF), in which now President Granger served as Adjutant; and proactive actions by Venezuela and Suriname in their border claims, all in 1969 — Burnham boosted the manpower of the armed forces from 2,631 in 1966 to over 21,000 by 1976. The resulting ratio of one soldier to every thirty-five civilians was one of the highest in the world.

Burnham though, could never even offer an explanation, at least publicly, why this new, massive armed force was 90 per cent Creole/African in a nation with over 53 per cent Indians.

Burnham envisioned that the armed forces, with their rigid hierarchical command structure, were the most efficient vehicle for the mobilisation of the African/Creole youth.

The GDF, formed just before Independence, and the Guyana Police Force (GPF) were joined by the Guyana National Service (GNS) in 1974 and the Guyana People’s Militia (GPM) in 1976. The women and youth arms of the P.N.C.,

the Women’s Revolutionary Socialist Movement (W.R.S.M.) and the Young Socialist Movement (Y.S.M.) were also armed.

The Forces were extensively politicised by a unit headed by David Granger, with the expressed mandate granted to involve the army in the “total development” of the country and the people. There were very meagre developmental accomplishments, but the army’s ubiquitous presence among the population, their seizure of ballot boxes during elections (1973), their use as intimidators and strikebreakers, and their unswerving loyalty to Burnham were “accomplishments” crucial to the survival of his regime.

When the PPP acceded to office in 1992, it seemed logical to most that they would have attempted to make the Armed Forces more representative of the country’s populace, if for nothing else than their own security against what ex-

President Desmond Hoyte had described as “kith and kin” in the said forces. But with no action taken excepting to allow the GPM and GNS to wither, veteran PPP stalwart Ashton Chase futilely asked this question openly, since he pointed out that, before Burnham seized power, this was a burning issue with the PPP. Especially since Burnham had demanded not “any abstract loyalty”, but the military’s involvement and unswerving support – which he called the policy of ‘NonNeutralism’. They committed their total allegiance to the ideology of the P.N.C., “and not to any other Government’. This meant that if the P.N.C. were somehow to be removed from office, the army would not necessarily have to support the new Government.

Burnham, as Chairman of the Defence Board, also personally appointed all officers, who swore a personal oath of loyalty to him; and senior officers participated in the Biennial Congresses of the P.N.C. Granger has appointed exmilitary officers to a majority of Government departments; reintroduced the People’s Militia and the Cadets Corps, and boosted the manpower of the other forces.

The new Public Service College has followed suit.

We can expect Granger to continue following Burnham’s authoritarian footsteps if he is allowed to rig the upcoming elections. Be warned.

48 Bollywood

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

A P

riyanka Chopra is back in America and her husband Nick Jonas has welcomed her with a brand new luxurious car. After completing the shoot of Sonali Bose’s The Sky Is Pink, Chopra returned to America recently.

Priyanka, on Wednesday, shared a photo of her standing in front of a brand new Maybach with Jonas and her dog Diana. She has even named the car ‘Extra Chopra Jonas’. In the caption, PeeCee wrote, “When the hubby goes number one.. the wifey gets a @ maybach !! Introducing.. Extra Chopra Jonas.. haha .. I love you baby!! Yaaay!

Best husband ever.. @nickjonas” Recently, the Jonas Brothers’ comeback song “Sucker” not only made an entry in Billboard Hot 100 songs but also became number one on the list.

The song was released last week and also featured Priyanka, Joe Jonas’ girlfriend and Game of Thrones star

Sophie Turner and Kevin Jonas’ wife Danielle Jonas.

Priyanka also shared the news of “Sucker” topping the Billboard Hot 100. She shared, “So good to come home to this! I’m so proud of u baby” He wrote, “AHHH!!! This is unbelievable. My heart is so full of gratitude. There was a time I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to be able to make music with my brothers again, let alone have a number 1 song on the Hot 100 on Billboard. Thank you to every single person who downloaded, streamed and listened to #sucker on the radio.

This still feels like a dream, and the best part is that it’s just the beginning of this incredible new chapter.”

On the work front, Priyanka has a YouTube original If I could Tell You Just One Thing releasing on March 27.

The Quantico actor will be seen interviewing inspiring women in the series.

(Indian Express)

large part of the current generation has grown up on a steady diet of three Khans in Bollywood.

Starting from the 80s, we have seen their films, read tabloids about two of them fighting and the third one trying to make amends. Their bromance on screen and off screen both has enticed us for years and we’re still not over it.

While Salman started as the boynext-door Prem and gradually moved into the Bhai zone, Shah Rukh, for the most part, has maintained his lover boy image. Aamir Khan, though, never fell into a box that restricted him.

We knew what we were in for when we went for a Salman Khan film in the 90s, the shirtless act was quite a rage back then. We were also ready to fall in love every time we saw Shah Rukh Khan romancing on screen but it was with Aamir that the audience was always in for a surprise.

Be it the uncle in Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke or the tapori in Rangeela, Aamir put something new on the table and that usually worked in his favour.

Undoubtedly, there are countless fans of Shah Rukh and Salman but we have often seen on social media that the fan groups of these actors are always waging war on each other. But when it comes to Aamir & his films, the audience unites.

In the past few years, these three have risen to the stardom that is unprecedented. Hindi film industry had never seen three actors rule consistently for three decades. Now, Salman has

T

K

eerthy Suresh, who has entered the big league of films following the success of Mahanati aka Nadigaiyar Thilagam down South, has now taken a big leap in her career. The actor will be making her Bollywood debut in a Boney Kapoor production opposite Ajay Devgn soon.

Keerthy’s maiden Hindi project will be helmed by Badhaai Ho director Amit Sharma. Touted to be a biopic on former Indian football coach Syed Abdul Rahim, the movie will represent the glory of the Indian football team in 1950s. As per reports the film will be shot in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, besides foreign schedules.

Boney Kapoor’s daughter and actor

Janhvi Kapoor confirmed the news by sharing her excitement on Instagram.

Posting a picture of Keerthy, she wrote in her Insta story, “@keerthysureshofficial been obsessed with you since I saw Mahanati. So excited that you are a part of dad’s next film. Welcome!!!”

The yet-to-be-titled flick will have dialogues by Ritesh Shah while Akash Chawla and Arunava Joy Sengupta are the co-producers.

On the work front, Keerthy Suresh will next be seen in a Telugu movie being directed by Narendranath. It is being produced by Mahesh S Koneru under East Coast Productions banner.

(Indian Express)

otal Dhamaal, starring Madhuri Dixit, Anil Kapoor, Ajay Devgn, Javed Jaffrey, Arshad Warsi and Riteish Deshmukh in significant roles, is having a dream run at the box office. The Indra Kumar directorial has earned a total of Rs 143.56 crore in the domestic market.

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted, “#TotalDhamaal is rock-steady…

[Week 3] Fri 1.70 cr, Sat 2.76 cr, Sun 3.95 cr, Mon 1.40 cr, Tue 1.15 cr. Total: 143.56 cr. India biz.”

Total Dhamaal is the third installment of the Dhamaal franchise that started in 2007.

Total Dhamaal did not receive great reviews from critics but the audience has welcomed the comedy caper. The increasing box office collections of this Indra Kumar directorial show that fans had a gala time at the theaters.

The Indian Express critic Shubhra

created a new genre for himself, the films that highlight him as the hero and where he can get away with anything. Shah Rukh, on the other hand, has consciously been trying to break out of his lover boy image but sadly, has not found consistency yet.

Here, Aamir takes away the cake.

He can bulk up and be the Sanjay Singhania of Ghajini and can also play a college boy in 3 Idiots.

With every film he does, he brings in his loyal audience and they aren’t there just for him. In fact, they are there to enjoy the film as well which isn’t always true for Salman or Shah Rukh’s audience. The flavour of all his films is so starkly different from one another that the viewer is simply in because he trusts Aamir’s judgment.

Salman and Shah Rukh offer larger than life fantasy that feels otherworldly but Aamir offers stories that engage. He might not be the hero in those but still, his presence makes them better (Taare Zameen Par & Secret Superstar). The former’s fans love them blindly but for Aamir’s fans, they stay consistent because Aamir makes it a point to impress them over and over again.

In his three-decade-long career, Aamir Khan has earned the tag of Mr Perfectionist and that too, without stereotyping himself. In an industry where actors are known repeating their hit formulas over and over again, Aamir Khan is playing his own game, that is a rare feat. (Indian Express)

Gupta gave the film 1.5 stars and wrote, “Brainless comedies can be a lot of fun (brain, stop smirking), but they need to be written with smarts. Here, the CGI animals (the climactic chunk of the film is set in a zoo) have more ef-

fect than the humans. A rhino’s horn becomes a pointed spear for falling backsides. A chimp and an elephant are used to give us lessons on kindness. And a roaring tiger becomes the emblem of Gujju pride, with a character saying: a Gandhi chased the Brits away, and the one we have now will conquer all. Clap clap. Pandering to the powers that be? Oh, fully.”(Indian Express)

HOLLYWOOD 49

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Aladdin trailer: Watch Will Smith’s unique take on Genie

T

he first official trailer of Disney’s live action Aladdin is out. While Will Smith’s Genie disap-

In the promo, we see how Jafar convinces Aladdin to go inside the cave to fetch the lamp.

His love story with the

and Marwan Kenzari as Jafar.

Director Guy Ritchie has tried to create Agrabah in the real

J

pointed the audience in the introductory teaser, this trailer too will not help him in scoring any brownie points with the audience.

The best part about the trailer is the music as the makers have retained some original tunes from the 1992 animated version.

princess blossoms as Genie assists him in his plans.

Robin Williams had famously voiced Genie in the 1992 animated version.

Alongside Will Smith’s Genie, the film also stars Mena Massoud as Aladdin, Naomi Scott as Princess Jasmine

world for this live-action experience but it is yet to be seen if the audience is in agreement with his casting choices.

Apart from Aladdin, Disney will also release the live-action version of Dumbo and The Lion King.

Aladdin releases on May 24. (Indian Express)

ennifer Lopez said yes to Alex Rodriguez’s proposal, and with the rock he presented, who could say no?

The couple posted an Instagram photo of their hands with a massive engagement ring on Lopez’s ring finger. The former Yankees shortstop captioned his photo with “she said yes” and a heart emoji.

The couple has been dating since early 2017 and later that year landed on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine with their celebrity couple nickname, J-Rod. In January, Rodriguez told The Associated Press that he and Lopez had similar backgrounds and her lat-

A

M

organ Freeman is set to star in Ryan Reynolds’ The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, the sequel to The Hitman’s Bodyguard.

The veteran actor has joined Frank Grillo in the film, reported Deadline.

No details are as yet available about Freeman’s character.

Samuel L Jackson and Salma Hayek are set to return for the second installment. Patrick Hughes is returning to direct and Tom O’Connor has penned the script.

The sequel follows bodyguard Michael Bryce (Reynolds), who is en-

listed by Jackson and Hayek’s characters to join them on a mission along the Amalfi Coast.

Production is expected to start this month.

Freeman’s last cinematic outing was Disney’s The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, which released months after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct on production sets or on promotional tours over his career spanning more than five decades.

He next stars in Angel Has Fallen.

(Indian Express)

est film Second Act reflected the ties that drew them together.

“It really resembles a lot of the arc that Jennifer and I lived in our life: Both born in New York, both come from immigrant parents, both have two children, both Latino Americano — her from Puerto Rico, me from Dominican Republic. We’ve been through our ups and downs, but here we are in our 40s and trying to live the best lives possible and, at the same time, give back and pay it forward,” Rodriguez said.

It will be Lopez’s fourth marriage and Rodriguez’s second. Each has two children from previous marriages.

(Indian Express)

rnold Schwarzenegger has said that filmmaker James Cameron is very much involved in the making of Terminator 6 which is being directed by Tim Miller.

The veteran filmmaker, who kick-

cussions about which direction to go with a certain scene or how the dialogue should finish or what the certain look should be of an individual and all that stuff so there was a big collaboration between Jim and Tim Miller.

stared the action franchise with the 1984 original The Terminator, is currently working on the sequel to his hit 2009 sci-fi film Avatar.

But Schwarzenegger says that has not stopped Cameron from getting involved with Terminator 6, which he copenned with Miller.

“It was a very interesting film to do with Tim, the dynamic, between him and with Jim Cameron producing.

So Jim Cameron is right now directing ‘Avatar’ films so he’s taken on this enormous challenge and he’s very busy with that. “…but he’s a control freak and as you know, ‘Terminator’ is kind of his baby so he does get involved in the filming so there were interesting dis-

I feel it was in good hands with both of them,” Schwarzenegger told fansite TheArnoldFans.

“Terminator 6” will mark the actor’s reunion with another franchise veteran Linda Hamilton, who made a name for herself by portraying Sarah Connor in the franchise.

It will be the first film the two actors and Cameron have worked on together since 1991’s “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”.

The new film, considered a direct sequel to the first two installments of the franchise, will retcon the events of later films Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), Terminator Salvation (2009) and Terminator Genisys (2015).

(Indian Express)

50 SPORT

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Countdown clock, free hit for no-ball in Tests?

C

ountdown timer clocks to speed up the pace of play in Test cricket, free hits for no-balls in the longer format and the use of a standard ball in the World Test Championship are some of the radical proposals put forth by the MCC World Cricket Committee to "improve the spectacle" of the longest format.

According to the MCC, the proposals, discussed last week during meetings held in Bangalore, will be tested as well as forwarded to the ICC for consideration.

In an exclusive chat with ESPNcricinfo, former England captain Mike Gatting, who chairs the MCC world cricket committee, and former Australian legspinner Shane Warne, outlined the idea behind each of these proposals which are as follows.

Timer Clocks to prevent time wasting A timer, to be shown on the scoreboard, to count down from 45 seconds from the call of "over". This will be increased to 60 seconds for a new batsman on strike and 80 seconds for a change of bowler. If either side is not ready to play when the clock reaches zero, they will receive a warning, with further infringements in that innings resulting in five penalty runs being awarded to the opposition.

A similar timer to be used at the fall of wickets, potentially with variable times, depending on the distance from the dressing rooms to the pitch, and at drinks breaks. Batsmen and fielders should be in position before the clock reaches zero.

During DRS reviews, the standard protocol should be cut short as soon as the TV production team is aware that it will be 'Not out.' For example, time is often spent trying to discern an inside edge for LBWs, only to see that the ball was missing the stumps. As soon as the ball tracking data has been loaded, if it

Dukes are the major ball manufacturers engaged by various boards. With the World Test Championship kicking off with The Ashes as the first contest this summer, the MCC has proposed to standardise the usage of balls in Test cricket, barring day-night Tests where the pink Kookaburra has been used. One of the methods proposed is to have players from around the world vote in. Also, the MCC is going to try out the red Dukes ball in Asia and see the results.

According to Gatting, the choice of which ball to use ought to be based on the opinions given by current players including Indian captain Virat Kohli, who last year had been critical with the lot of SG balls used during the home Test series against West Indies. India's senior off spinner R Ashwin had also given a thumbs Sourav Ganguly, Vince van der Bijl, Shakib Al Hasan (standing), Shane Warne, Mike up to the red Dukes ball, Gatting and Kumar Sangakkara (sitting) at the MCC World Committee meeting MCC which he used while playing in county cricket in will result in a 'Not out' decision, the not out, but it's also a free-hit. Imagine TV umpire should be informed imme- what happens to the crowd. They go the last few years. "You take on board from 'Oh no, my favourite player is out' what people like Virat Kohli and othdiately. to 'No, he's not out, it's a no-ball' and ers say about what sort of ball they Free-hit for no-ball in Tests The MCC committee felt the free 'Wow, it's a free-hit.' Imagine the ex- like," Gatting said. "And one would have to say that the Dukes ball has hits had been successful "deterrents" in citement!

"It's in there for T20s and ODIs, why come up, and people have said that as limited overs cricket to bowling no-ball, and should be tried out in Test crick- not in Test cricket? It actually helps a standard ball, maybe that's what we et, too. Having free hits would not only the no-ball situation too. For instance, should be looking to get and play with.

"Because it seems to have given a make it exciting for the fans, it would England only bowled their first no-ball better balance for batsmen and bowlin ODIs for three years, because of the also speed up the over-rate. ers even on flatter wickets. I think we free-hits.

I think it can help reduce the Warne cited an example to illustrate how free hits could prove to be number of no-balls in Test cricket as should be listening to the players about an advantage. "Let's say I bowl a ball, well. I think it's a good change and a this. It's not what I think, it's the playthe umpire gives it out and it's a refer- recommendation to the ICC, hopefully ers. They're going to play with it. And they've spoken out and they would like ral. And then it's found out that I ac- they pick it up." to see a standardised ball and it might tually bowled a no-ball. One, the batsDukes to be the preferred ball in Tests?

Currently, SG, Kokkaburra and well be a Dukes ball." (ESPNCricinfo) man thought he's out, but not only is he

Gonsalves happy with progress of CWI restructure after ICC meeting

S

t Vincent and the Granadines Prime Minister and Chairman of the CARICOM sub-committee on cricket, Ralph Gonsalves, is happy with the progress his organization is making with regard to restructuring Cricket West Indies (CWI).

CARICOM and the International Cricket Council (ICC) met officially to address the governance of West Indies cricket recently and, according to Gonsalves, cricket’s governing body is appreciative of the stance of his organization.

The two entities, one represented

by Gonsalves, the other by CEO Dave Richardson, met in Dubai before the just-concluded ICC board meeting.

In April of last year, the ICC had turned down CARICOM’s request to meet, saying the CWI would have to be represented at such a meeting.

An alternative of meeting during the Women’s World T20 last November also didn’t happen.

“I spoke to Dave Richardson (Head of Secretariat, ICC) and I outlined to him our position, that is to say that, cricket is a public good and it ought properly to be regulated and ought not to be operated by a private-sector entity,” said Gonsalves, adding that he also pointed out CARICOM’s proposal to change that situation.

“That we want to pass appropriate legislation so that we can … the State will not be involved, the governments will not be involved in the management

but we will have the structure of this public good reflecting constituencies other than the current one to ensure that it is more transparent, that the organization is more transparent and more accountable to the region, reflecting this public good,” he said.

Gonsalves also made sure to point out that CARICOM had no intention of running roughshod over longheld ICC statutes regarding government involvement in the running of the sport.

“We intend to abide by all ICC statutes, we would incorporate best practices, and that’s basically the message, it’s the same we have been preaching all the time. It is not an anti-Cameron message, it is a pro-West Indies cricket message. The people in the region will have an opportunity to discuss the briefing that we will prepare for the legal draftsperson and then we will discuss this bill among the people of the region and then take it to our respective Parliaments,” he said.

CARICOM had suggested in a 2015 report the board be dissolved. All six territorial boards signed a letter rejecting this idea, which led to suggestions by some that CARICOM wanted to take cricket out of the hands of Cameron and the traditional board to

replace it with a board of its own.

With an Indian court recently advising the

St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister and Chairman of the Caricom sub-committee on cricket, Ralph Gonsalves

Board of Control for Cricket in India that it could no longer operate as a private entity, CARICOM changed tac and began looking at restructuring the CWI, rather than dissolving it.

“But the question is: Cricket is a public good. Can a private entity run the public good? And that question has been determined in another jurisdiction in India, so that’s a separate question. I’m not interested in the dissolution of the West Indies Cricket Board,” Gonsalves had said back in 2017.

As far as that process is going, July could mark the first time that CARICOM members will get a look at the instructions that will go to a draftsperson will look like.

“Hopefully we can get something to the heads of government in time for the July meeting for them to approve of the instructions to go to the draftspersons,” said Gonsalves.

Gonsalves is buoyed by the response of the ICC to CARICOM’s plans, saying its CEO was ‘appreciative’.

“The ICC appreciated that I came to talk to them. They agree also that you can’t have a board being in a hostile relationship with governments or several of the governments. That doesn’t make any sense and that is not good for cricket generally. He was appreciative of what we are trying to do and appreciative of the fact that we are not going to undermine the ICC statutes about the independence of management from any political direction or control.”

Just as pleasing to Gonsalves, is CARICOM’s view on the progress it has made in the name of putting West Indies Cricket back on a path of success.

“CARICOM is happy that I saw the ICC and with the report that I gave to the ICC. So I think we are on target.

Every stage of the process thus far has been good,” said the Prime Minister.

(Sportsmax)

SPORT 51

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Hardik Pandya fit, Shivam Mavi out, Sourav Can Trafalgar do Ganguly is "advisor" what Showstoppers Berbice Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ Competition

could not?

-NA Kings enjoy similar billing

Hardik Pandya gives Ben Stokes an innovative send-off (BCCI)

Fit again, Hardik joins Mumbai Indians

India allrounder Hardik Pandya has regained full fitness and has joined Mumbai Indians' preparatory camp which started on Tuesday. Hardik had been rested by the Indian team management for the entire limited overs series against Australia due to "lower back stiffness." During the time away from the national team, Pandya was at

the NCA in Bengaluru for rehabilitation. On Thursday, Hardik even tweeted a video of him batting at the nets, asking fans who he was trying to imitate.

er Sandeep Warrier as his replacement.

Nagarkoti, one of India's key players during the Under-19 World Cup triumph last year, was signed for INR 3.2 crores. He's currentKKR get Warrier; ly at the NCA, and will Nagarkoti, Mavi ruled out Tearaway quick need another "two-three Kamlesh Nagarkoti has months" to fully recover. been ruled out of the IPL In his absence, KKR had for a second time run- signed Karnataka seamning, as he's yet to re- er Prasidh Krishna last cover from a back in- year. He has now been jury. The franchise has inducted as a permanent signed Kerala fast bowl- member.

Nagarkoti, one of India's key players during the Under-19 World Cup triumph last year, was signed for INR 3.2 crores. He's currently at the NCA, and will need another "twothree months" to fully recover. In his absence, KKR had signed Karnataka seamer Prasidh Krishna last year. He has now been Shivam Mavi chases inducted as a permanent member.(Cricinfo) after a ball (BCCI)

A glimpse of the action in this year’s Berbice Zone of the Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ competition.

F

ollowing two nights of exhilarating street football, the business end of this year’s Berbice Zone of the Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ Competition will bring the curtains down this Saturday, at the New Amsterdam Ferry Stelling.

Defending champions Trafalgar will face Lichfield in the first semi-final, while New Amsterdam Kings tackles East Bank Gunners in the other last four encounter. The question this Saturday will be whether Trafalgar can pull off the back to back win, a feat that Showstoppers couldn’t achieve in the West Coast/ East Bank Zone in February.

The champs have so far displayed ominous form throughout the competition and are expected to survive what is

billed as a stern test for them. Players the caliber of Kevin Layne, Olvis Mitchell and Delwyn Fraser will rest on the performances of Allan Garnett, Shelton George and Carlos Grant.

In the feature clash, NA Kings will most likely start as favourites to advance, especially with the likes of Quinn Hazel and Jamal Butts.

On the other hand, East Bank Gunners pursuit of a place in the championship game will depend on how well Sherwin Nicholson and Joseph Giddings perform.

It is expected that a number of Banks DIH officials along with media representatives will be on hand to witness the finals of this year’s tournament. The other sponsor on board is Colours Boutique of Robb Street.

Rishabh Pant returns home for final World Cup examination

I

f you're Rishabh Pant, every step you take, every stumping you miss, every run you score, every catch you take and every move you make has the potential to be scrutinised, even more so now with India in their final stretch of World Cup preparation.

Pant was handed an opportunity in the fourth ODI after MS Dhoni was rested for the final two games. He showed his boundary-clearing ability during his 24-ball 36 - no worries as far as the batting goes - but Pant, the keeper, struggled to collect the ball cleanly.

His two missed stumpings when Ashton Turner was on 38 and 41 - elicited chants of "Dhoni! Dhoni! Dhoni!" from the Mohali crowd.

A cheeky attempt to underarm flick the ball onto the stumps resulted in an overthrow.

Earlier, he had missed a more difficult stumping chance via a deflection

Rishabh Pant attempts a switch hit (Getty Images)

off Peter Handscomb's pads when left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav drew the batsman out of the crease.

Handscomb was on 105 at that point. He added 12 more to his tally before being dismissed, but Turner made India pay dearly, blasting 84 off 43 balls to tip the chase of 359 Australia's way.

Clearly, it wasn't

his night. Turner announced himself in style, in just his second ODI, to win the match and give Australia World Cup selection headaches. What about Pant, who is also trying to make that flight to the UK? It can be intimidating for a 21-year old, but Pant is now into his third year of international cricket. Having

become an IPL star and a Test regular, he must be familiar with such pressure, but there's no doubt the spotlight will be on his wicketkeeping.

However, both Shikhar Dhawan and bowling coach Bharat Arun defended Pant's wicketkeeping ability.

Not too long ago, Dinesh Karthik was India's finisher and he

even said that this version of him relished high-pressure situations.

In the past two years in ODIs, Karthik has been unbeaten in seven out of ten matches India have won while chasing. Only Joe Root (nine), Virat Kohli (eight) and Dhoni (eight) have been better in this period.

While Karthik has had a fairly extended run since the Champions Trophy - he had played 17 ODI innings - Pant has got only three innings in this period.

Yet, he has been deemed good enough to earn a Category A central contract, the the secondmost lucrative retainer.

The team management is impressed with his sixhitting ability and is prepared to be patient despite his limitations as a wicketkeeper and outfielder.

The reason why they're heavily invested in him is for the six-hitting prowess he brings

to the middle order, a factor that could be crucial if Hardik Pandya isn't available. But now, he'll return to his home ground with the series on his line. Among the existing options, Vijay Shankar doesn't bring such raw power: he is more a technically correct batsman who provides a few tight overs with the ball. Can Pant capitalise?

Virat Kohli insists the IPL will have no impact on World Cup selection, effectively meaning Wednesday presents Pant one last chance before the World Cup. Karthik has already shown the management what he's capable of, and by the time Pant was fumbling behind the stumps in Mohali, Karthik was having fun at his good friend and Tamil Nadu team-mate Abhinav Mukund's wedding. Who'll have fun at the World Cup: Karthik or Pant? (ESPNCricinfo)

52 SPORT

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

England 2019 T20I Series v West Indies review

Old results in new-look Windies set-up

– 7 series wins, 7 series losses since 2016 World T20

By Brandon Corlette

N

icholas Pooran’s fireworks in the first T20 International, Sheldon Cottrell’s four wickets in the series, and Devendra Bishoo’s wicket maiden in the final match were among the few positives shown by the men in maroon in the recently-concluded Sandals T20 International series.

The newly-appointed T20 Captain, Jason Holder stated that his team were not ashamed of their series performance.

England’s 2019 tour to the Caribbean was filled with unexpected events; from Windies claiming the Test series 2-1, levelling the OneDay

International (ODI) series 2-2 and suffering a T20I whitewash 3-0. Since the 2016 International Cricket Council (ICC) World T20, West Indies played 14 T20 International series, winning seven and losing seven of those (including World T20).

Post the Darren Sammy-led Windies World T20 triumph in 2016, Windies played India in the United States of America in 2016 and won a two-match series 1-0. Windies then lost to Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Caribbean 3-0 and 3-1 in 2016/17 respectively.

After that double blow against Pakistan, Windies won three T20 International series on the bounce in the 2017 period. These series wins came against Afghanistan (3-0); India (1-0); and England (1-0). The patchy performances continued with Windies experimenting with players, they then suffered 2-0 and 3-0 overseas losses against New Zealand a n d Pakistan respectively.

The most recent T20 series win for Windies came against Bangladesh in their 2018/19 overseas tour. It was the Carlos Brathwaite-led team that won the three-match series 2-1.

At the end of this T20 International series, England’s Chris Jordan was awarded Player of the Series for Shimron his six wickets Hetmyer in three had a poor m a t c h -

es. Left-arm swing bowler David Willey ended the series with six wickets while the ever-consistent leg-spinner, Adil Rashid had five wickets in the series.

Reflecting on the batting performances in the series, England’s Jonny Bairstow finished as the leading run scorer with 117 runs at an average of 39, and a high score of 68. The only other batsman to cross the 100-run mark was Sam Billings, who scored 105 runs in three matches with a high score of 87. Nicholas Pooran (70) and Joe Root (59) scored half-centuries this series.

Chris Gayle, who brought the “Gayle storm” to England in the ODI series, played two T20Is this series and scored 20 runs. The veteran batsman had played his role in the ODI series, but the likes of Shai Hope, Shimron Hetmyer, and Darren Bravo failed miserably with the bat.

After Hope’s magnificent 2018 in white-ball cricket, he lacked consistency. This T20I series may have raised questions about his position in the T20 team; he scored 13 runs in three matches batting at the top of the order. Bearing the tag of the

most exciting batsman on the globe, Hetmyer had a poor showing with the bat and an ordinary time in the field.

He scored 32 runs in this series at an average of 10.66 with a high score of 14, batting at number three.

The famous Ian Bishop line will forever live in the Caribbean: “Carlos Brathwaite remember the name, history for the West Indies”. Post those monumental four sixes, Brathwaite continued to struggle. Brathwaite, who was stripped of his captaincy this series, scored 10 runs in three innings and grabbed two wickets for 66 runs in the eight overs he bowled in the series.

Darren Bravo, who is known as the clean striker of the ball in Caribbean Premier League (CPL), had similar numbers as Hetmyer this T20I series.

He scored 32 runs at an average of 10.66. The number one all-rounder in the longer formats of the game, Holder had an ordinary T20I series. Prior to this series, Holder has been struggling to make the T20 team and he was given the captaincy for his solid performances in the other two formats. This series loss may have raised eyebrows for Windies to rethink their T20 team selection in the future.

Chris Jordan was the star of the series

series

CONCACAF Nations League Qualifier….

Golden Jags gear up for practice match against Suriname

W

ith just 11 days before Guyana face one of their biggest matches ever and possibly enable themselves to qualify for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the Guyana National Senior Men’s Team are set to play the Suriname Senior Men’s National Team on Saturday, March 16 at the Pierkhan Stadium, Nickerie, Suriname from 16:30h (15:30h local time).

The team, commonly known as the Golden Jaguars, will comprise 18 shortlisted Guyanabased players and are scheduled to depart for Suriname on Friday morning.

In an invited comment, Golden Jaguars Head Coach Michael Johnson, who returned to Guyana on Tuesday, said the match would seek to test the progress made with team prepa-

EBDFA brought fierce competition to the national team

ration and some technical areas, as well as the team’s overall game understanding.

“The game against Suriname will give the players a real stiff test and we will be able to see which players have improved in

all areas of their development. The [Guyana Football Federation] GFF Training Centre is a solid base that allows us to get some good work into the players, but you can’t be competitive without games. With both teams involved in

the CONCACAF Nations League fixtures, this gives us the opportunity to try out player systems and develop their understanding without the scrutiny of the result being the main objective,” Johnson said.

A detailed list of the

squad will be made available soon.

Meanwhile, the Guyana-based squad engaged the East Bank Demerara Football Association select team last Saturday in a training match at the GFF’s National Training

Centre, Providence, East Bank Demerara.

Guyana-based Assistant Coach Charles Pollard, in an invited comment, said there were a lot of positives taken away.

“We were working on possession from the last game (against Fruta Conquerors FC) – from keeping possession to converting our chances.

In the weekend game, the guys did well despite the opposition was not as strong as expected. We looked at our moments, the decision making and converting the chances; those were a plus, we were spot on in that regard,” he said.

The training matches are part of the preparation for Guyana’s final CONCACAF Nations League qualifier against Belize on March 23 at the National Track and Field Centre, Leonora, West Coast Demerara.

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

53

54 SPORT

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Beterverwagting, Carmel reign supreme Windies captain Holder in Cheddi Jagan Windball Tournament happy with growth

A

fter almost a week of riveting windball action between 15 participating schools, the curtains came down on the Cheddi Jagan Memorial Windball Tournament with Beterverwagting and Carmel Secondary emerging as champions.

Last Thursday, the National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue was filled with over 200 students as they travelled from the West Coast, East Bank and East Coast of Demerara to participate in the Cheddi Jagan Memorial Tournament.

As explained by Director of Sport, Christopher Jones, such tournaments are a way of honouring past Presidents for their contributions.

The teams went through their paces over the following days, which led up to the final being staged on Sunday evening.

The semi-finals in the girls’ category saw two lopsided encounters with the teams chasing coming up short.

In the first match, Carmel Secondary posted 91-2 as Indira Amardeo carried the innings with a top score of 74. Amardeo later returned with the ball, her 2-20 helped restrict Tucville Secondary to 59-3 to take the win.

In the other semi, Camille’s Institute pulled off a convincing win after posting 130 without loss and then limiting Covent Garden to just 51-1 in their allotted overs.

The third-place play-off saw Covent Garden failing to reach Tucville’s total of 64. Kizan London

Jamal Da Santos was adjudged the male MVP

ahead of World Cup Jason Holder

B top-scored for Tucville with 29. N Agrippa’s 43 was not enough to get Covent Garden over the line as they slumped to 61.

On the other hand, Carmel outplayed Camille’s Institute in the final chasing down 82. Stacy Flores shined for Camille’s Institute with 32, but her shine was dimmed by Amardeo, who knocked 40 to get her team over the line and cop the Player of the Match accolade.

The male category was equally competitive, as Beterverwagting and Camille’s Institute outplayed Vreed- en-Hoop Secondary and Carmel respectively to reach the final.

In the first semi-final, BV romped to 63-2, thanks to Kapil Dev Phagoo’s 28. Vreed-en-Hoop were unable to hit their target, fin-

ishing their allotted overs on 57-2.

The other semi-final contest saw Camille’s Institute racking up 100-1 from their overs, with John Pillay top-scoring with 68.

Although Jamal Da Santos hit a formidable 67, Carmel were unable to get over the line, finishing on 88-2.

Then Beterverwagting got the better of Camille’s, as eventual Player of the Match Kapil Dev Phagoo contributed 40 to the winning total of 64.

Carmel overpowered Vreed-enHoop in the third-place playoff to take those honours. Posting 63-0, Carmel made light work of the total, reaching 68-1, owing to a solid batting performance from Player of the Match Jamal Da Santos.

ASSETERRE, St Kitts (CMC) — Captain Jason Holder says he is pleased with the development shown by West Indies ahead of the World Cup, and hopes to use the TriNations Series in Ireland to put the finishing touches on preparations for the showpiece.

Against all odds, the Windies twice came from behind to draw their fivematch one-day series against world number one, England, producing several outstanding performances throughout.

West Indies will come together again in May for their next ODI series involving Ireland and Bangladesh, a period which Holder believes will be integral.

“If I look at our performances, we were pretty pleased with them but we're still down at [number nine] so we just need

to improve on that,” the all-rounder said.

“There are a lot of points to be had in the World Cup. We've got a series before the World Cup in Ireland, so hopefully we can gather some momentum going into the World Cup and gather some more points in the World Cup.” Overall, West Indies exceeded expectations against England, especially in the Test series where they stunned the visitors by massive margins in the opening two matches, to regain the Wisden Trophy with a Test to spare.

In the ODIs, the batting proved inspiring, with the hosts twice scoring in excess of 350. In the fourth match, they tallied a Windies record 389 in pursuit of 419 at the Grenada National Stadium.

WEEK ENDING MARCH 17, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

55