Guyana Times International 25th January 2019

INTERNATIONAL THE BEACON OF TRUTH

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‘Groundwork begins’ WEEK ENDING JANUARY 27, 2019

ISSUE NO. 433

See stories inside

‘I thought I would die’ – Charrandas

…former Guyana MP tells int’l media about threats to life after he voted against his own Govt Page 5

PPP/C's Presidential Candidate Irfaan Ali and other party members have begun a country-wide outreach to meet and listen to the concerns of citizens in preparation for the upcoming national elections

SUNY and CUNY offer assistance to students affected by federal shutdown Page 10

‘Be ready to defend Guyana’s national sovereignty’ …President Granger urges Army

Page 15

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NEWS 3

WEEK ENDING JANUARY 27, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Guyana expresses concern over Venezuela unrest

…urges all parties to desist from actions that might lead to further violence, loss of lives

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pposition Leader and General Secretary for the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Dr Bharrat Jagdeo at a presser on Thursday said that the Opposition has endorsed the statement issued by the Government of Guyana as it pertains to the social unrest ongoing in Venezuela.

Jagdeo said he was briefed on Thursday by Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greendige and was sent the statement that was issued by the Government on the developments taking place in Venezuela.

The Government in its statement said that it “is gravely concerned at the deepening of the political crisis in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and supports calls made at both the regional and international

levels for immediate dialogue involving all political and social actors, with a view to the preservation of the democratic process and a return to normalcy.”

Moreover, the statement continued that “Guyana calls on all parties to desist from actions that might lead to further violence and loss of lives. The Government of Guyana remains firmly supportive of efforts to resolve the crisis through peaceful means and with full respect for human rights and the rule of law.”

Jagdeo said that he assured Greenidge that “we don’t want to do anything right now that will be inconsistent in a major way with the Government’s action…

At this time we would like to associate ourselves with this state-

Several persons have died since the Venezuela unrest started (Daily Sun photo)

ment…Right now we want to closely coordinate our approach on this matter.”

A deep depression marked by hyperinflation and shortages of food and medicine has triggered an exodus of Venezuelans to surrounding countries.

This situation was further exacerbated when tens of thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets on Wednesday in protest of the incumbent Government headed by

Nicolás Maduro who is being accused of rigging his way to a second term.

According to the AFP, Opposition Leader Juan Guaido, 35, set the showdown in motion Wednesday by proclaiming himself “acting president” and was swiftly recognized by the United States and about a dozen regional governments, including those of Brazil, Argentina and Colombia.

Mexico, Cuba and Bolivia, all in the hands of leftist governments,

pledged support for Maduro.

Further afield, Maduro received support from allies Russia and China while France and Canada backed Guaido.

Following increasing displays of aggression with neighbouring Venezuela over its claim to Guyana’s territory, the Guyana Government last year filed documents at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) outlining the issue being faced and outlined why it be-

lieves that the Court has a right to hear its case to settle the controversy over the 1899 Arbitral Tribunal Award.

Guyana is hoping that the International Court will in a final and binding judgment, determine the full legal validity of the arbitral award that established the international boundary between Guyana and Venezuela more than a century ago.

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WEEK ENDING JANUARY 27, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

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EDITORIAL

An excellent choice

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he People’s Progressive Party took another step in its preparation for General Elections in Guyana when on Saturday its Central Committee of 35 members elected Mr Mohamed Irfaan Ali as its presi-dential candidate. The PPP was in a fortunate position of electing a young leader from among a list of very qualified professionals – all of whom are very experienced in politics, Parliament and in Govern-ment; all of whom also have a long history of representing people across Guyana.

It was a hard-fought fight to become the next PPP presidential candidate and all the five candidates deserve commendation for going through the rigors of earning the confidence of the PPP’s Central Committee. Now it is up to the PPP and Ali to win the confidence of the people of Guyana. If the party and Ali can successfully persuade the people of Guyana in the soonto-be-held Regional and General Elections, then Ali will become the next President and the second youngest President of Guyana.

In selecting Mohamed Irfaan Ali as its presidential candidate, the PPP has maintained its legacy of re-posing hefty responsibility in youth and in promoting youth in leadership. When the PPP talk about the importance of youth, it actually has its history of creating space for youth to demonstrate their poten-tial. It is the political party that in 1953, had a 35-year-old Cheddi Jagan as Premier, a 25-year-old Ash-ton Chase as Minister of Labour, and a 29-year-old Forbes Burnham as Minister of Education. In 1994, the PPP named Bharrat Jagdeo as the youngest-ever Minister of Finance at the age of 30. The PPP had the boldness and courage to name and then have Bharrat Jagdeo elected as President when he was only 35 years old and named Carolyn Rodrigues as a minister at the age of 25. The PPP named Carolyn Rodrigues later as the youngest-ever Minister of Foreign Affairs in any Caricom country and then fol-lowed that by naming Anil Nandlall as the youngest-ever Attorney General. Following upon this com-mitment to youth, the PPP now has named a youthful Irfaan Ali, at the age of only 38, to carry its man-tle in the upcoming General Elections.

Inevitably, there are those among us who will question whether this young man has the experience to lead the nation at this critical time. It is a time when Guyana’s economy needs a major boost and a time when innovative ideas will be required to ensure the traditional economy is reengineered to continue playing a major role in a transformed economy.

It is also a time when oil and gas will become another major pillar in the economy and has the potential to transform the economy into the major Caricom economy. The questioning of Ali’s credentials to lead the country at this time, therefore, is relevant.

There can be no doubt that in spite of being still a young man, still a youth leader, Irfaan Ali also has extensive experience. He has been in a leadership role of the youth arm of the PPP – the Progressive Youth Organisation (PYO) for almost two decades now and in the Party’s leadership for almost 15 years. Besides presently serving in the Party’s Central Committee and Executive, Irfaan Ali has served for almost a decade as the Party’s Finance Secretary. His involvement in political leadership has, there-fore, not been trivial and has been in major roles. He has also been in leadership at the regional level and, since 2011, in both General and Regional and Local Government Elections (four successive elec-tions) has led his Region Three to provide the biggest percentage of PPP wins.

He has served as minister, first being named a minister at the tender age of 28. Irfaan Ali’s Ministries were major ministries – Housing and Water, Trade and Industry and Tourism. For most of his ministeri-al experience, Irfaan Ali has controlled these two ministries at the same time. It was a major responsi-bility that the PPP, through its Presidents, Jagdeo and Ramotar, placed on a very young man. He did not disappoint them; he did not disappoint the PPP; and he served his country with distinction in these two portfolios. In his period as Minister of Housing, he led the establishment of more housing schemes in Guyana for any five-year period in the country’s history and distributed more house lots, particularly to low income and middle-income families, than any other Housing Minister in our history. As Minister of Water, he led Guyana to almost universal access to potable water and Guyana gained United Nations recognition for this achievement.

Under his tenure as Trade Minister, there were major business development and creation of several industrial parks. As Minister of Tourism, he led the drive to make tourism a major pillar of the growing and diversified economy. But Irfaan Ali distinguished himself not only as a competent and dynamic Minister of Government, he was also a dynamic legislator. He became a major spokesman in Parlia-ment for the Government’s economic trajectory and the macro-economic and financial stability poli-cies and actions of the then PPP Government. After 2015 – he assumed the role of shadow finance minister for the PPP and, in that capacity, he has been a thorn in the side of the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government, exposing the weakness of their steward-ship and the mismanagement of the economy.

Ali has also been the Chair of the PAC and, in this ca-pacity, has led the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in one of its most active periods of financial scru-tiny in our parliamentary history.

He might be young, but he is also a very experienced governmentalist, legislator, and politician. The PPP has made an impressive choice for its presidential candidate. Together with a team that includes the other four persons that competed with him and, under the guidance and leadership of the PPP’s General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo, the PPP will be a formidable force in the next election. The other political parties will do well not to underestimate him.

A scene from the Region 3 Children's Mashramani competition held on Wednesday at the Leonora Synthetic Tarck, WCD.

Mayor de Blassio orders all City agencies to help enroll New Yorkers in Health Insurance

…deadline for Open Enrollment period a few days away

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EW YORK––Mayor Bill de Blasio was joined

by Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Dr. Herminia Palacio earlier this week to sign an executive order requiring City agencies to provide New Yorkers with information on health insurance options and encourage them to enroll in a plan.

According to a release from the Mayor’s office, effective immediately, the Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit will train agency front line staff, provide agencies with relevant information, and develop a framework to ensure all New Yorkers who interact with the City get information to help them access affordable health insurance. The executive order means increased outreach to enroll people in insurance at parks, schools, public housing, police precincts and government offices—anywhere where City agencies connect with New Yorkers directly.

This order expands on the work GetCoveredNYC is already doing to help New Yorkers enroll in health insurance before the Open Enrollment deadline of Jan. 31 and builds on the Mayor’s commitment to guarantee health care for all New Yorkers.

“Health care is a human right, and we won’t rest until every New Yorker has coverage,” said Mayor de Blasio. “We’re now asking all City agencies to help us achieve this goal by sharing information, connecting people to our GetCovered team and ultimately help all New Yorkers access affordable coverage.”

“Whether it’s 600,000 New Yorkers, or just one, it’s one too many people who are living without health insurance or guaranteed health care,” said Dr. Herminia Palacio, Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services. “While our City has done a lot to engage hard-toreach New Yorkers who are eligible but uninsured, this Executive Order will leverage

the expansive reach of all our City agencies to get us even closer to ensuring everyone has the information and resources to receive health insurance and get connected to quality care.”

“With health insurance, people know what benefits they are entitled to, and they are empowered with the range of options available to them,” said Dr. Mitchell Katz, President and Chief Executive Officer of NYC Health + Hospitals. “I commend the Mayor's executive order redoubling efforts to get more people insured.”

“Health insurance and access to quality care are basic rights that all New Yorkers deserve,” said Eric Rotondi, Acting Director of the Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit. “The mayor’s executive order builds on years of outreach by GetCoveredNYC’s City and community partners, and helps ensure that all New Yorkers, regardless of income or any other factor, are aware of the assistance available to them and receive care when they need it.”

“At a time when the federal government is threatening crucial services and benefits for low-income families, this Administration is making a concerted effort to ensure that every New Yorker, regardless of where they come from, has access to quality healthcare,” said Department of Social Services Commissioner Steven Banks.

“This Executive Order expands the role of City agencies to use every point of interaction with New Yorkers as an opportunity to educate them about their options for health insurance and to remind them about the upcoming deadline for the Open Enrollment period.”

“GetCovered has helped tens of thousands of New Yorkers sign up for health insurance, and today, the City is committing to help even more New Yorkers enroll,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot. “People with insurance are more likely to

have had a routine checkup, get preventive care, and to have a personal care provider -- important components for maintaining good health.”

According to the Mayor’s Office, eight million New Yorkers now have quality health insurance, thanks to the expanded options available to New Yorkers under the Affordable Care Act. In New York City, the uninsured rate has decreased by nearly fifty percent since 2013.

Nonetheless, about 600,000 New Yorkers remain without coverage, half of which are eligible to sign up for insurance either through state or city programs, including MetroPlus, the City’s public insurance option.

Starting in summer 2019, New Yorkers ineligible for insurance coverage will be able to sign up for NYC Care, a new program that connects people with quality, affordable care and which guarantees them access to a primary care physician at one of NYC Health + Hospitals’ 70+ facilities.

The executive order comes as GetCoveredNYC reminds New Yorkers that the deadline for Open Enrollment period is nine days away. GetCoveredNYC is a citywide initiative that helps New Yorkers enroll in health insurance and get access to primary and preventive care. The initiative provides free one-on-one enrollment assistance, in person, over the phone, and online at locations across the five boroughs, including many NYC Health + Hospitals facilities, Department of Health facilities, Human Resources Administration offices, and MetroPlus offices.

Assistance is available in more than a dozen languages. During the Open Enrollment period, uninsured New Yorkers can enroll in health insurance coverage through the New York State of Health Marketplace. New Yorkers who previously enrolled through the Marketplace must renew their health insurance each year to maintain coverage.

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‘I thought I would die’ – Charrandas …former Guyana MP tells int’l media about threats F

to life after he voted against his own Govt

ormer Alliance For Change (AFC) Member of Parliament Charrandas Persaud, who has since been expelled from the party, has outlined the threats to his life after his “yes” vote in the National Assembly on December 21, 2018, toppled the David Grangerled Administration.

In an interview with Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Persaud said he made the move because he believed the Government has not been focusing on developing the country or creating jobs.

“I was not very calm,” Persaud is quoted by CBC as saying, adding “I was frozen.”

Persaud, who was expelled from his party over his vote, said he was terrified for his own safety because of Guyana’s history of political assassinations.

Because of that, he said the only person he talked to about his intention was the man he asked to provide some security for him in the gallery in case he was “jumped”, the CBC reported. “I cried all night [the night before the vote],” he told the CBC, adding that he thought he would die.

The CBC reported that Persaud added that the feeling only got stronger after the vote when he said another

MP told him he would be dead that night. “It was not an idle threat I entertained,” he was quoted as saying.

“Persaud said he was even prepared to use his water carafe as a weapon should he be attacked.

He said he was lucky nothing happened, adding that modern technology probably saved him.”

“Thank God for the advent of cellphones. Too many people were watching internationally and locally,” he told CBC. Persaud added that he did not take any chances, and after the sitting, he went directly to the Canadian High Commission in Georgetown and the next morning, he flew to Barbados and then on to Toronto.

According to the CBC, Persaud moved to Canada from Guyana in the late 1970s and studied at the University of Toronto, eventually getting his real estate licence. He returned to Guyana in 1999 to practise law and eventually got into politics.

Guyana Times International had reported in December 2018, that as Persaud broke ranks and delivered the proverbial nail in the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coffin, his life was threatened twice; he was hit by both colleagues flanking him as well as received many explicit comments within a five-minute period. This was all done while the National

Assembly broadcast the sitting live on its website. The video is still up on the Parliament website showing clearly what transpired. Persaud received the hostile treatment from his colleagues after he voted his con-

science and sided with the Opposition People’s Progressive Party’s motion of no-confidence against the Government, of which he was a part.

During the final segment of the 03h:51m:04s video, during the sec-

ond part of the debate, when Persaud delivered his first “yes”, all hell broke loose. He received the first punch on his left arm, at 03h:33m:04s in the video, from an APNU MP who insisted that Persaud “can’t vote against the Government” .This was followed by a series of expletives from the same MP and surprisingly, Persaud received another punch from another APNU MP. Then came the issuing of death threats to Persaud. If one listens to the video, one would find that at 03h:33m:04s and 03h:35m:35s, he receives the threats: “Charrandas you gon dead tonight” and “Charrandas you want dead tonight” respectively. It sounded as though the threats came from a female MP on the Government side of the benches.

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The focus for Guyanese should be Irfaan Ali has tremendous leadership qualities and would on removing this incompetent Govt be a successful President

Dear Editor, Leadership is one of the first characteristics that people think of when they consider the role of a pres-idential candidate.

It is evident that voters within the central committee of the PPP used leadership as the most important factor in choosing a presidential candidate and of course the popularity of the can-didate among the central committee is highly dependent in influencing the outcome of the presiden-tial candidate.

The PPP in choosing Irfaan Ali as their presidential candidate has indeed elevated a leader from among various other leaders.

While it is not easy to have yourself scrutinised, criticised and sometimes even brutalized, you have to show great courage and that was a key factor that made Cde Mohamed Irfaan Ali emerge as the PPP presidential candidate.

Personality, character, intelligence, integrity, patience, tolerance,

coupled with a combination of expe-rience and personal achievements is the trademark in making Cde Irfaan Ali the party choice.

While Cde Irfaan Ali has an excellent track record, we need to focus on some of the achievements that were made under his stewardship and then people can understand why he was chosen by the leader-ship of the PPP. He: – lifted thousands of families out of poverty – provided security of tenure for thousands of poor and working people -opened the doors for thousands of people to access loans who were excluded before due to poverty.

– increased the percentage of women in property ownership and independence – provided safe and clean accommodation for families – made clean potable water and electricity to about 90 per cent accessible – created new commu-

nities that are mixed ethnically, unlike the past – provided access to goods and services in new housing schemes eg schools, health centres etc – gave access to land in the schemes for houses of worship and playgrounds – created a boom in the construction sector that contributes over 22.6 per cent of economic growth – created 5000 jobs in the housing and construction sector – expanded the tax basis for the local governing bodies with new schemes – encouraged the creation of new community-based organisations.

There is no doubt that the presidential candidate would enhance the PPP/C at the next election. Let me close by saying that “New ideas are driven by brave people willing to step into the arena rather than commentating from the sidelines “.

Regards, Zamal Hussain

The day of reckoning for the APNU/AFC cabal is coming soon

Dear Editor, The Guyana Election Commission (GECOM) recently indicated its readiness to address competently, the institutional oversight of General and Regional Elections. In the last week of December 2018, sev-eral of our widely circulated newspapers reported the following statement of GECOM’s Public Rela-tions Officer, Ms Yolanda Ward, who in relation to the passing of the No-Confidence motion, affirmed that GECOM would uphold its constitutional mandate. She said: “For us at GECOM, it’s our constitu-tional mandate to conduct General and Regional Elections as well as Local Government Elections. If that is the decision that we will have to conduct elections within a short period, then we will have to ensure that those elections are held as required, because it is our constitutional mandate.

I’m sure that our Standard Operating Procedures will click into gear and we will be prepared to execute elec-tions at a time we have been asked to do.”

Further, it is wide knowledge that GECOM has a register of registrants that is valid until the end of April 2019. It is based on the ninth and tenth cycle of continuous registration, and the last claims and objec-tion exercises were undertak-

en in preparation for the November 12, 2018, Local Government Elec-tions.

Hence, GECOM should not have too many adjustments to be fully prepared for the Elections within the constitutionally due “90 Days”, after the Government has fallen. It is no secret that this AP-NU/AFC Government has demonstrated traits of being the most corrupt Government to occupy the seats of our National Assembly. In exercising Government matters, they are most dictatorial, non-transparent and acutely disrespectful to our people and Country’s obligations.

They have failed to fulfil all their Manifesto promises to the citizens while enriching themselves. Signif-icantly, production in most of the vibrant activities and areas they inherited has dropped drastically. This vindictive regime has dashed our youths’ future to the wolves rather than secure it. Spiralling crime, cost of living, as well as increasing taxes, now threatens and enslaves our basic existence, as this illegal Cabinet now attempts to force our people to witness their mantra and geriatrics in Parliament. The mansions and expensive Cadillac lifestyles of the few in the APNU/AFC cabal are too much for our small and hardworking

population to bear.

Ramjattan’s recent cries and utterances about new House to House Registration is merely a futile at-tempt to confuse the public and delay the process of having General and Regional Election in the stipu-lated, constitutionally-due date defined by the 90 days period. GECOM’s continuous registration activi-ties improved the same list of registrants by way of the approved methods for use at the 2015, 2016 and 2018 elections.

Given there were no outcries from Ramjattan or the APNU who deemed it good for those occasions, what is the issue now?

It is public knowledge that there is a process in place to address the issue of deceased persons on the List of Registrants whereby the GRO department would submit a list of deceased names, which GECOM shall delete after authentication. We now await the statements of GECOM’s Chairman Justice (Retired) James Patterson, who is expected back at work on January 22, 2019.

Mr Ramjattan, your time of calling is now! You and the fraudulent APNU/ AFC cabal must answer our citizens at the polls!

Sincerely, Neil Kumar

Dear Editor, Some people seem to feel that running a Government is a sole proprietor business – a oneman busi-ness – but this is so far from the truth.

It is a known fact that a Party goes into an election with a manifesto which sells the party to the elec-torate. If the party wins, then it is a team effort comprised of persons who should have the ability to deliver on those promises. In addition, there are many advisors who are strategically appointed to as-sist these persons. The presidential elect not only gives guidance but takes guidance.

In Guyana, the coalition and the new kids on the block with their handful of supporters, some claiming to be disgruntled PPP members and supporters, are hammering away at the election of Mr Irfaan Ali as the PPP’s presidential candidate, making their repetitive rounds of personal attacks while claiming that he is “Jagdeo’s third term”.

Bharrat Jagdeo has always been the focus of attack in and out of Office; his salary, his pension, his “mansion” as is claimed.

Yet even the Prime Minister is now earning more than him and living the “Ca-dillac” lifestyle.

This Government utilised great efforts and massive financial resources to ensure that he does not get a third term as President since they are mortally afraid of his sharp intellect and his topnotch statesmanship. The decision of the Caribbean Court of Justice did not deter or daunt his

spir-it. It must be recalled

by Guyanese that after the PPP’s defeat by a one-seat majority he rose from the ashes like the proverbial Phoenix and began a political crusade that was unrelenting in exposing the corruption and thievery of the coalition. His weekly press conferences were just as eagerly looked forward to as “Days of Our Lives”!

Eventually, he strategised and orchestrated the downfall of the APNU/AFC Government; something which hardly anyone had believed would have been possible. Jagdeo’s relentless pursuit bore fruit and gave hope to the hopeless in this country which had begun to fall into the abyss of social and eco-nomic degradation. But while he did the Herculean task, some were waiting like the hyenas to partake from the kill of the lion. A few of these were in the media headlines for all the wrong reasons! Now he is being vilified once again by those heartless opportunists who never even bat an eyelid for their country. But I know that it will never derail his focus of ensuring the good life for his people!

As I recall, when Donald Ramotar became the presidential candidate twice for the PPP, there were no cries, wails and gnashing of teeth. He was not seen as the surrogate or puppet of Jagdeo. He was ac-ceptable because they knew that they could outmanoeuvre him at any time. In fact, they dubbed him the “Lame Duck”!

The then Opposition took full advantage of this and Nagamootoo tabled a no-confidence

motion which saw his Government’s downfall.

Ramotar was the “perfect” opponent and now the coalition wants another one.

However, when one listened to the debates and presentations of Irfaan Ali, it is evident that he has what it takes to not only run this country but to destroy the cor-ruption posse and thwart the efforts of the APNU/AFC to bring down his Government if needs be. He has that charisma, courage and competence and enough has been said about his achievements as a Minister. Let them call it what they want but Irfaan Ali is no Donald Ramotar and will never be an easy walkover!

Finally, as a member of the PPP, I am in total agreement with the election of any presidential candi-date since I have full confidence in the ability of my Party to choose the best candidate. The Central Committee has 35 potential candidates from which one must be chosen. When I was with the Alliance for Change I had no problem with either Trotman or Ramjattan being the presidential candidate. When I joined the PPP, I had no problem with Ramotar being the presidential candidate twice and today I have no problem with Irfaan Ali being the presidential candidate. Let us put Guyana first and focus on the removal of this Government.

God Bless our presidential candidate and God Bless Guyana!

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf RDC Councillor Region Six

Actions of GECOM Chair unreasonable and unfair Dear Editor, The GECOM Chairman, Mr James Patterson initially made headlines when President Granger triggered widespread criticism by trampling standard democratic practices to appoint him to such a sensitive and demanding position.

The public not only complained about the immorality surrounding such an appointment, but they also griped over the fact that Mr Patterson is way too advanced in age to effectively serve. Mr Patterson is almost 90 years old and realistically, it would be difficult for him to be up to speed to serve in such a capacity. The public has rightly viewed his appointment as a bad one with serious consequences for Guyana. But President Granger does not care a hoot. President Granger’s interest lies solely in deriving political benefits from such an unfair transaction.

What else?

Unsurprisingly, Mr Patterson is back again in

the headlines. This time, he is stalling election prepara-tions and creating uncertainty at GECOM because he is on a prolonged sick leave. Many even feared that Mr Patterson is faking his illness to help APNU/PNC/AFC because Government has a slim chance of winning the elections if it were to be held in two months’ time.

Guyanese must remember that President Granger has tremendous influence at GECOM because he appointed Mr Patterson. GECOM can’t be independent. Amid such unreliable and frustrating circum-stances, President Granger informed the nation that elections can only be held when GECOM is ready. President Granger’s position is vague and unfair, only adding uncertainty and ignoring the problems at GECOM. GECOM may never be ready because its Chairman isn’t reporting for work. A date for the elections needs to be fixed because GECOM has to accommodate elections

no later than is required by the Constitution.

Mr Patterson must drop his excuses and live up to his commitment to serve. And this means that at the very least, he must immediately show up for work or immediately resign. His actions are unrea-sonable and unfair.

The clock is ticking.

In sum, this narrative exposes the undemocratic and dubious operating procedures routinely used

by President Granger to trample his people for political gains. Obviously, President Granger fails to con-nect the hefty price tag that comes with his leadership and how it effectively brought his Government down. With this situation on hand, Guyanese now have a chance to free themselves from such a leader at the polls. President Granger needs to play it fair. The world is watching.

And GECOM needs to be ready in a timely manner.

Sincerely, Annie Baliram

news 7

WEEK ENDING JANUARY 27, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

ECD man in ICU ‘No business as usual’ after spending …Attorney tells court power of Guyana Govt should be limited to essential functions 3 days in Police I lock-ups …family calls for probe Kalicharran Sawak’s sister, Shavani Sawak

By Rupadai Seenarine

T

he family of 39-year-old Kalicharran Sawak of Lot Three La Bonne Intention (LBI) on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) is calling for some answers, after he was taken into Police custody last week and later placed in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) without their knowledge.

Sawak was arrested

by Police Thursday last after he reportedly broke a window at his mother’s house and used indecent language towards family members. He was taken to the Beterverwagting Police Station and then transferred to the Sparendaam Police Station.

Speaking with Guyana Times International on Wednesday, his sister, Shivani, related that her brother was scheduled to make a court appearance on Tuesday, but when the matter was called, he was not in court.

The case was adjourned for 10 minutes and when it was recalled, the Magistrate was informed that the defendant was in the hospital.

“When I went to the Police, he said my brother critical at the hospital. When they took my brother on Thursday at the Station, he had no marks of violence, he wasn’t a mentally disturbed person. He was perfect when he went in there,” the woman said.

She added that the Police informed them that her brother was in the ICU of a city hospital in critical condition.

“On Thursday, he was misbehaving like breaking window and using indecent language and we went to BV (Beterverwagting) Police Station and made a report and they take him there. They forward him

to Sparendaam Police Station,” the sister related.

She explained that when she visited the medical facility on Tuesday, her brother was unresponsive and in critical condition. He was also suffering from internal bleeding.

An explanation given by the Police stated that the man was creating noise, thus resulting in him being placed in a cell alone where he injured himself.

“Now he’s critical at the hospital. No one could give account what happening to my brother. The Police said my brother was making noise in the lock-up and they put him in a room by himself and he hurt himself. By going to the hospital, we get to understand that he is bleeding from his eyes, ears [and] a little from his brain. He cannot walk at all,” the sister added.

The family has since sought legal advice from Attorney-at-Law Anil Nandlall.

Speaking with this publication on Wednesday, Nandlall said that the Guyana Police Force (GPF) has to give an account in relation to the injuries.

According to Nandlall, the Police Complaints Authority will be briefed on this issue as he made calls for an independent probe into the situation.

“Depending on how the matter unfolds, depending on what the findings are, we do not rule out the possibility of challenging the actions of the Police in the High Court or their omission to act in the circumstances, to seek compensation for the injuries sustained,” the Attorney informed.

Efforts by this newspaper to get a comment from the GPF on the matter proved futile.

t was an action-packed afternoon at the High Court on Wednesday when the verbal submissions on the first of three no-confidence motion cases which were filed were heard by the acting Chief Justice Roxane George, SC. Christopher Ram’s Attorney Kamal Ramkarran outlined that “business as usual” in Government must end. In addition to Ramkarran, Attorney General Basil Williams, SC, and his predecessor, Anil Nandlall made submissions regarding the bid of applicant Ram for Cabinet to resign and have President David Granger call elections with all convenient speed following the passage of the December 21, 2018 no-confidence majority vote.

Ram joined the High Court challenge to have the court validate Charrandas Persaud’s “yes” vote and have national polls by March 2019. Ramkarran made it clear that Government’s power should only be limited to essential operations such as giving money to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), arguing that Articles 106 (6) and 106 (7) of the Constitution are clear and unambiguous and stressing that “business as usual must come to an end once Cabinet resigns”.

Article 106 (6) of the Constitution states: “The Cabinet including the President shall resign if the Government is defeated by the vote of a majority of all the elected members of the National Assembly on a vote of confidence.”

Meanwhile, 106 (7) 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 two-thirds 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.”

The Attorney told Justice George that there would not be chaos if Cabinet resigned, since the President would still remain

1966, but this was omitted in 1980.

Thereafter, it was returned in amendments passed in 2003.

Williams said there could be chaos if Government Ministers were allowed to operate their ministries without direction. This contradicts the position of Attorney Ramkarran, who earlier reminded the Court that Permanent Secretaries were meant to run ministries. Nevertheless, Williams opined that it was wrong for Ram to move to compel Government to resign while the Court is hearing the matter and it was yet to conclude.

“Wild goose chase”

Acting Chief Justice Roxane George, SC

the President under part 7 of Article 106 until the person elected in the elections assumed office.

Moreover, Ramkarran, who is the current Head of the Guyana Bar Association, said too that no moves have been made to call elections in three months as the Constitution requires, observing that December 21 to January 23 was “certainly not” with all convenient speed.

The Attorney posited that the National Assembly has not agreed to extend the deadline for elections.

He pointed out that one month, 25 days remained until the constitutionally mandated date. He told reporters that he was confident the decision would go his way premised on the arguments he has put forward.

“34 majority” argument

Next up was Attorney General Basil Williams, who held steadfast to his 34 majority argument, noting further that parts 6 and 7 of Article 106 must be examined together, agreeing with Ramkarran that the Constitution should not be read in a narrow way.

He submitted that Ram erred when he cited 106(6) only, stressing that governance must continue, even if Cabinet resigns. He said that a confidence vote was provided for in the first Constitution in

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo’s Attorney, Anil Nandlall argued that Government could still continue to function save for the Cabinet, a nucleus of the Executive Government, which should resign. He reiterated that Government would remain in office until a President is sworn in.

He disputed the AG’s position that Government deflector Charrandas Persaud was a usurper as his previous voting on other matters was accepted since 2015. He reminded that it was the very Government that appointed the former Member of Parliament, saying that it would have been silent if Persaud voted with Government. Nandlall, in fact, said that the AG wanted the Judge to go on a “wild goose chase” owing to insufficient arguments, especially regarding the calculation of half plus one argument.

“Williams is asking Your Honour to go on a wild goose chase because he has nothing to go on; so he has to make it up as he goes along,” Nandlall stated in Court.

He observed that the words ‘absolute’ and ‘simple’ in terms of majority votes were not included by the framers of the Constitution.

The no-confidence motion brought by the Opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) against the Government in the National Assembly succeeded when former AFC parliamentarian Persaud voted in favour of the motion.

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WEEK ENDING JANUARY 27, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

PPP/C presidential candidate AFC unsure of begins national outreach Nagamootoo’s

return as PM candidate

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ays after being elected as the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) presidential candidate, Irfaan Ali travelled to Berbice, on Tuesday, where he was given a resounding welcome as he commenced a national outreach programme with the intention of meeting with the electorate.

The presidential hopeful, who was accompanied by several party stalwarts, visited a number of villages on the West Coast of Berbice where he had the opportunity of meeting with youths and business owners among other

stakeholders.

During his interactions, Ali listened to the painful stories of many persons, including youths who have complained about the difficulties they are facing to make ends meet and the broken promises of the coalition Government.

The residents also ex-

A

pressed concern at the deteriorating state of the economy, poor public

health services and the high taxes imposed by the current Government.

In addition, some elderly persons have also raised concerns about the meagre pension they receive and the hassle they face on a monthly basis to receive their monies.

The PPP/C presidential candidate also received requests from a number of persons to reverse a number of draconian tax measures implemented by the coalition, including widening the Value Added Tax (VAT) base.

The residents were also upbeat about the results of the no-confidence motion. Many supporters of the coalition have also pledged their support to Ali and the PPP/C in the upcoming elections.

Ali, on the other hand, spoke of the potential of Berbice and its economy, and pledged to work with everyone to realise it.

Ali is expected to continue his outreach to other parts of the country in the coming days and weeks leading up to the General and Regional Elections constitutionally due by March 19, 2019.

Following his election as the Party’s presidential candidate, Ali told a gathering on the West Coast of Demerara of his plans to make heavy investment in the country’s agricultural sector as well as create some 50,000 jobs during the first year of his presidency.

Prime Minister and AFC Executive Member Moses Nagamootoo

s political parties kick into campaign mode, the Alliance For Change (AFC) is unsure whether Executive Member Moses Nagamootoo will return as its prime ministerial candidate for the upcoming General and Regional Elections, constitutionally due in March.

This is according to AFC’s Chairman, Khemraj Ramjattan, at a press conference on Wednesday, when he told reporters that the party would be discussing this, among other issues, at its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting this weekend.

“We’re not there at this stage in relation to that. All of that will have to be decided at national congress,” Ramjattan said when he was asked whether Nagamootoo would return alongside the presidential candidate of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)/AFC coalition at the upcoming polls.

In accordance with the 2015 ‘sweetheart deal’ in the form of the Cummingsburg Accord between the two parties, the AFC will have the prime ministerial position while the presidential post goes to APNU if elected.

On Monday, President Granger was endorsed by his party, the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), to run for a second term. In fact, the PNCR – the larger partner in the five-party APNU – officially threw its support be-

hind its leader via a letter from General Secretary Amna Ally.

In the letter, Ally noted that Granger was elected unopposed at the last congress as the party’s leader and he remained “capable, fit and proper” for a second term and on that basis the party endorsed his candidature.

Last week, however, AFC Vice Chair Cathy Hughes had said that it was too soon for the party to say whether it would support Granger’s presidential candidateship.

But Ramjattan told this newspaper last Sunday that while this matter would be discussed at the upcoming NEC meeting, it was “likely” that the party would support Granger as presidential candidate.

“I support him fully as presidential candidate, personally… [but] we haven’t gone there as a collective,” Ramjattan said. “We’re having our national executive [meeting] and certainly you’ll have me supporting him there… But, of course, I anticipate [there will be support for President Granger]. I don’t think of anybody else with the quality of statesmanship as him,” the AFC Chairman, also Public Security Minister, had asserted.

President Granger was diagnosed in October with NonHodgkin Lymphoma and was receiving treatment in Cuba, which requires him to travel back and forth continued on page 10

NEWS 9

WEEK ENDING JANUARY 27, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Murder of young WCD businessman:

Female accused gave alleged killers head ties to cover faces …Police tell jury

Allan Dorsett, called “Baird”

Delwayne Croft

Esan Lawrence, called “Muscle”

Jermaine Williams, called “Yankee”

Samuel Bacchus, called “Kirk”

Cassandra Singh-Dorsett, wife of number one accused

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Murdered: Zulfikar Namdar

he case regarding the seven persons on trial for reportedly killing Zulfikar Namdar, called “Vickey”, at his family’s grocery store at their Meten-Meer-Zorg, West Coast Demerara (WCD) home in September 2013 continued at the High Court.

At Monday’s hearing before Justice Navindra Singh, the jury heard that it was lone female accused, Cassandra Singh-Dorsett, who gave the men head ties to cover their faces when they allegedly committed the crime.

Singh-Dorsett is the wife of number one accused, Allan Dorsett, called “Baird”. The other five on trial are Delwayne Croft; Esan Lawrence, called “Muscle”; Jermaine Williams, called “Yankee”; Andrew Chandler, called “Sonic”; Samuel Bacchus, called “Kirk” and they, together with the husband and wife duo have all entered pleas of not guilty. In a packed courtroom of relatives of the deceased and the seven accused, Police Detective Sergeant Rodwell Sarrabo testified that he was on duty when three confrontations were held between “Allan Jagdeo” and the accused persons; Delwayne Croft, Samuel Bacchus and Allan Dorset.

It was during one of these confrontations, according to Sarrabo, that Cassandra was identified as the one who gave the men the head ties to cover their faces. When the males returned after allegedly executing the act, they were reportedly told: “Why you had to

Andrew Chandler, called “Sonic”, was a friend of the deceased, Namdar

shoot the man.” Under cross-examination, the police witness admitted that all three of them, during the confrontation, denied killing the 20-year-old man.

Attorneys Nigel Hughes and Ashley Henry are representing the number one accused Dorsett while Adrian Thompson is representing Williams, Chandler and Bacchus.

Meanwhile, George Thomas is appearing for Croft, Lawrence and SinghDorsett. Attorneys Tuanna Hardy, Abigail Gibbs and Teriq Mohammed are prosecuting the case presided over

by Justice Navindra Singh.

Namdar’s mother, Fazila Namdar had told the jury last week that she, her grandson and their driver were forced to lay face down after two bandits invaded and demanded to see the business owner. Fazila had said she handed over a kit containing G$1.3 million in cash, several pieces of jewellery and her passport. Steven Mohamed, who was packing drinks aback the store, also recalled coming face-to-face with the gunmen, who had asked for the “boss man”, but he said he had not known where he was.

Andrew Chandler one of the accused, lived a few houses away from the store and was working as a labourer at a nearby masjid which was under construction. The case continues before Justice Singh.

‘An old PNC trick’ …analyst says attempt to redo voters’ list is another delay tactic and must not be tolerated

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olitical comm e n t a t o r Ramon Gaskin said he has taken note of the coalition Government’s posture as it relates to the holding of elections, and based on his analysis of the situation, it will try to do everything within its power to delay one being held in March this year.

Gaskin told Guyana Times International, in an interview on Wednesday, that there was no question whether there should be an election, but the issue has to do with the timeframe for such an election. However, he said there has been recent talk from Government which is pushing to update the voters’ list.

“The elections must be held! You don’t need a new list.

We just had elections (Local Government).

There is no trouble with that list… So we should go to the polls.

I am ready to go and vote… Any attempt to worry with that list would be a delay

tactic on the part of Government,” he stated.

Gaskin, a former advisor to late President, Dr Cheddi Jagan, reminded that this delay tactic being employed now by the Government was nothing new to the People’s National Congress (PNC). He recalled that elections were delayed by two years before, when the PNC was in power. “ D e s m o n d Hoyte (late former President) did this in 1990 and delayed elections for two years until 1992. We were supposed to have elections in 1990. He was in office from 1985 until 1992 when United States President Jimmy Carter intervened and encouraged PNC to go to the polls,” he recalled.

The political commentator told this newspaper, “this is PNC behaviour” and unless the Opposition remained focused, this could reoccur.

But Gaskin strongly believes that if this is allowed to happen,

it could have several negative impacts on the country. “Simple, Guyana cannot afford a repeat of that.”

Gaskin was the first to voice concern over the current political situation in the country, accusing the Government of trying to delay the holding of elections in Guyana within the stipulated 90-day period. He said that it was making strategic moves all aimed at delaying the democratic process.

He said the first move was to challenge the no-confidence resolution that was passed in the National Assembly on December 21, 2018.

“Everything that the Government is doing, including going to court, is a delay tactic … it is aimed at delaying the holding of elections. And this meeting between the Chief Whips and the GECOM (Guyana Elections Commission) is just another set of delay,” he asserted.

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WEEK ENDING JANUARY 27, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

SUNY and CUNY offer assistance to students affected by federal shutdown

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overnor Andrew M. Cuomo has directed SUNY and CUNY to assist students with college-related expenses during the prolonged federal shutdown. According to a release by the Governor’s office, payments for tuition and related college expenses will be postponed, and no late fees or penalties will be charged to impacted students. This temporary reprieve will apply to federal employees, dependents of federal employees, and students who are dependent on loans from the federal government that may be delayed.

"As the federal shutdown continues to devastate the hardworking men and women of this country, New York's students are among those hit hardest

by Washington's inaction," Governor Cuomo said. "We will not stand idly

CUNY Interim Chancellor Vita C. Rabinowitz said, "We want to assure CUNY students whose families depend on paychecks from federal agencies that the one thing they should not worry about is their tuition payments and other college expenses. The shutdown is forcing so many in New York and across the country to confront financial adversity, but we are committed to opening the new semester without disruption, regardless of the situation in Washington."

The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, with 64 college and university campuses located within 30 miles of every home, school, and business in the state. As of Fall 2018, nearly 425,000 students were enrolled in a degree

from page 8

AFC unsure of Nagamootoo’s... between the two countries. In fact, he returned to Guyana on Saturday evening after undergoing his fourth round of chemotherapy for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.

Despite this, the Head of State has assured the Guyanese citizenry that he was getting better and a medical briefing from his doctors in Havana described his progress as “satisfactory and in conformity with their expectations”.

Come February 14, the APNU and AFC will celebrate the fourth anniversary since signing the “lovers’ deal” that eventually got them into office back in 2015.

However, the AFC, in recent years, has come under fire for the submissive role it has been playing since joining forces with APNU. In fact, the top leadership of the AFC had

decided back in 2017 to revise its governing agreement with its majority coalition partner.

The Cummingsburg Accord has a lifespan of a minimum of three years and maximum of five years, and was focused primarily on the General and Regional Elections. As such, the minority party in the coalition had contested the November 2018 Local Government Elections (LGE) separate from APNU after planned negotiations to craft another accord on local government fell through.

At Wednesday’s press conference, however, Ramjattan said that while the 60-month Accord was still valid, it would, nevertheless, come up for discussion this weekend ahead of any further negotiation talks with its coalition partner. “…Indeed there

might be need for further fine-tuning and in view of certain developments recently, I suppose there would be need for both sides to deal with major issues, especially in relation to preparations for the next elections,” AFC’s Chairman noted.

Since the December 21, 2018 passage of the No-confidence motion with support from AFC’s former Member of Parliament Charrandas Persaud, several political commentators and stakeholders, including the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Opposition, have been calling on the APNU/ AFC Government to resign and call elections, which, according to Article 106 (7), should be held within three months. This means elections should be held by March 21 this year.

Man fatally stabbed as he tries to intervene in domestic dispute

A by as the federal administration undermines students' ability to achieve a higher education, and today's action will help ensure furloughed federal workers and their families get the support they need during this precarious time."

"While Trump puts people's lives at risk and the longest federal shutdown in U.S. history continues, we are stepping up to help New Yorkers," said Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul.

"By postponing payments for tuition and other expenses, students can still receive the education they deserve and families who are impacted by the shutdown can get the assistance they need as they face this hardship."

SUNY and CUNY leadership will work with their respective campuses to make financial arrangements for impacted students and their families, the Governor’s office said.

The move follows the Governor's call for the New York State Department of Labor to provide increased support to workers seeking unemployment insurance benefits and the State's Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance to help those working without pay apply for and obtain public assistance benefits.

SUNY Chancellor Kristina M. Johnson said, "As the shutdown continues, our campuses have taken extraordinary efforts to accommodate our students, letting them know there are resources to help them return to their studies. We expect to welcome all our students back in the coming days, and are pleased to help our campuses make that possible. No one should stay home for fear of an extended federal shutdown."

program at a SUNY campus. In total, SUNY served 1.4 million students in credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs in the 2017-18 academic year. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Its students and faculty make significant contributions to research and discovery, contributing to a $1.6 billion research portfolio. There are 3 million SUNY alumni worldwide, and one in three New Yorkers with a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunity, visit www.suny.edu.

The City University of New York is the nation's leading urban public university. Founded in 1847, CUNY counts 13 Nobel Prize and 23 MacArthur ("Genius") grant winners among its alumni. CUNY students, alumni and faculty have garnered scores of other prestigious honors over the years in recognition of historic contributions to the advancement of the sciences, business, the arts and myriad other fields. The University comprises 25 institutions: 11 senior colleges, seven community colleges, William E. Macaulay Honors College at CUNY, CUNY Graduate Center, Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies, CUNY School of Law, CUNY School of Professional Studies and CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy. The University serves more than 275,000 degree-seeking students. CUNY offers online baccalaureate and master's degrees through the School of Professional Studies.

D Field, Sophia, Greater Georgetown businessman was on Sunday evening allegedly stabbed to death in front of his business place as he attempted to make peace between a man and his reputed wife.

Dead is 48-year-old Godfrey Phillips, of Lot 3028 D Field Sophia.

He was reportedly stabbed once to his left abdomen and was pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

Based on reports received, the now dead man had already closed his business for the night when he heard an argument. As he ventured out, he saw the suspect arguing with his reputed wife and cau-tioned them about their behaviour.

The suspect of Pike Street, Kitty, Georgetown reportedly became annoyed, whipped out a knife, and inflicted the fatal blow on Phillips.

After committing the act, the suspect and his reputed wife fled the scene, but the Police confirmed that he was later arrested and was being grilled about the heinous crime.

At the Turkeyen Police Station on Monday morning, Subrena Phillips, the dead man’s widow, related that she was at home on Sunday evening when she received a telephone call informing her that her husband was stabbed.

Without hesitation, she contacted her eldest daughter, who confirmed that her father had been stabbed and had been rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital.

She ventured out and on her way to the hospital in the company of her nephew, she received another call – this time from her youngest daughter who informed her that her father was dead.

“I still turn up at the hospital and I saw he was already wrapped … I unzipped the holder and I saw his eyes and mouth open …,” she related with tear-filled eyes.

She related to Guyana Times International what she knew of the in-

Dead: Godfrey Phillips

cident, “I heard that he went to part some fight between a man and his reputed wife, and he went and tell them to calm down, that it ain’t looking good and is then the man pull out and push the knife.”

The suspect, she added, hailed from Kitty, Georgetown, and left the scene after committing the act. The distraught woman stated that she did not know the suspect, but he was known to her children.

She told this publication that she and her husband had been married for the past 24 years, and had three children.

At the scene, the man’s eldest daughter pointed out the spot where her father collapsed and died.

She related that at the time of the stabbing incident, people were in the vicinity of the shop and saw what took place, but they were afraid to speak out. This newspaper understands that a young woman who witnessed the stabbing incident has since given a statement to the Police as they continue their investigations.

Phillips’ body was taken to the Lyken Funeral Home to await a post-mortem.

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WEEK ENDING JANUARY 27, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Probe launched into mysterious death of Essequibo Coast man while in Police lock-ups

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n investigation has been launched into the mysterious death of an Essequibo Coast resident, who was in the lockups at the Anna Regina Police Station on Sunday evening.

Dead is 46-year-old Om Singh, of Lot 35 Danielstown, Essequibo Coast, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam).

Reports are the now dead carpenter was arrested on Sunday evening about 21:45h by ranks of the Anti-Crime Patrol Unit after they responded to a report of domestic abuse.

It is alleged that Singh and his wife were engaged in a heated argument and the neighbours contacted the Police.

Nalini Singh, daughter of the now dead man told Guyana Times International that after she learnt of her father’s arrest, she visited the Police Station and saw him lying on the bench motionless.

Upon enquiring about her father’s condition, she was reportedly told

by Police that “they did what they have to do”.

However, at 02:30h

“Mango Man” murder case

Voir dire continues for defendants “Smallie”, “Catty”

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Dead: Om Singh

on Monday, the Police ranks visited the home of the now dead man and request-ed his Identification Card (ID) or passport.

It was at this time the relatives were told that the man had died, and the Police needed some form of identification.

In a state of shock, the relatives related that Singh did not suffer from any illnesses and went to the Police Station in good health.

On the other hand, the Police related that Singh suffered a seizure

and was rushed to the Suddie Pub-lic Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Relatives are of the belief that Singh might have been beaten while in the Police lock-ups and are call-ing on the relevant authorities to have a thorough investigation.

The now dead man’s reputed wife was subsequently taken into custody.

The man’s body was taken to the Onderneeming Funeral Home to await an autopsy.

he High Court in Georgetown was the scene of continued heavy security on Monday as the murder trial involving defendants Mark Royden Williams, called “Smallie”, along with Sherwin Nero, also known as “Catty”, continued.

However, it was a voir dire (trial within a trial), which means that what transpired cannot be publicly disclosed as it may be prejudicial for the ears of the 12-member jury that was empanelled earlier this month when the Demerara Criminal Assizes got underway.

The two men stand accused of the August 30, 2007 murder of businessman Kumar Singh, called “Man-go Man”.

Reports were that on the fateful night, four gunmen invaded Singh’s Cove and John, East Coast Demerara (ECD) home during which the businessman was shot dead. It was in July 2008

Murder accused: Mark Royden Williams, called “Smallie”, along with Sherwin Nero, called “Catty”

that the two suspects were initially charged for the capital offence.

Williams has spent nearly 11 years behind bars awaiting trial and he is also a death-row inmate. The duo has denied being guilty of the businessman’s unlawful killing. Justice James Bovell-Drakes is pre-siding over the matter while State Attorneys Tamica

Clarke and Tiffini Lyken are prosecuting the case.

Defence counsels Nigel Hughes and Ashley Henry are representing Williams and Nero.

Williams had escaped prison in July 2017 after being sentenced to death in February of that year for the 2008 Bartica Massacre.

The case continues at the High Court.

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WEEK ENDING JANUARY 27, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

New political party aims to “transform” Guyana’s political system

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New and United Guyana (ANUG) is entering the political arena with a promise to work in a constitutional framework that demands inclusion and cooperation for the interest of all Guyanese.

The party pointed out that a vast majority of the electorate is already loyal to one of the two major ethnic parties – People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) and the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/ AFC) – which they support in the belief that they gain some sort of protection if their party is in office. However, the reality is that when one party is in office, the other section of the electorate feels abandoned, marginalised, and discriminated against.

To this end, ANUG is imploring Guyanese to support the party and assist in creating a constitutional system that will bring ethnic parties to share executive power and give the nation confidence that a system of governance will be introduced to protect their interests.

“We believe that the only solution is to create a system where both political parties share executive power so that all Guyanese can move forward in confidence that their combined interests are protected.

The two main political parties are unwilling to take these steps, despite decades of promises by both of them. Only a separate political move-

The founding members of A New and United Guyana (ANUG) at the party’s launch on Friday

ment, a third party, can motivate them to do so,” the new party said.

ANUG outlined that the large ethnic groups consisting of over 75 per cent of the voting population and a competitive political system make the political context extremely toxic – an environment that rewards ethnic loyalty at the ballot box and makes politicians ethnic entrepreneurs. However, the party noted that there are constitutional ways out of this dilemma.

“We believe that Guyanese have already paid the human and material price, and ignorance can no longer be the excuse. So we stand ready with an agenda to radically reform the political system under which we live and establish a system that will give all ethnicities an equitable constitutional

stake in executive decision-making and implementation,” ANUG assured.

The party committed to work from the first day of taking constitutional office or being able to otherwise influence governmental policy, to establish shared executive power and within one month of being able to do so, set about the constitutional reform process to make the necessary changes in the Constitution. It also promised to never enter a coalition with any other political party for the purpose of securing a role in Government.

In fact, one of the party’s founding members, former Speaker of the National Assembly and former PPP Executive Ralph Ramkarran, at the party’s launch on Friday at Moray House, gave an undertaking that ANUG

would not join either of the major parties to form a Government.

“We will not go into a Government, if one of the parties gains a plurality and not a majority and they are searching for a partner to give them a majority, we wouldn’t be there…

What our role will be is to say this is what we want. If you support this, we will support you and what we want is to build a governance system that is inclusive of everyone and which will solve the political problems of Guyana,” the veteran politician told a packed gathering at the party’s launch.

Ramkarran, who came out of political retirement after resigning from the PPP back in 2011, is confident that ANUG is strong enough to win the upcoming elections or at least get

enough seats in the National Assembly to hold the balance of power.

According to the party, politicians’ promises to Guyanese must mean something and the people should also have some way of enforcing promises. In an effort to demonstrate its commitment, the party said it will make these two main commitments legally enforceable, that is, anyone will be able to go to the courts for the appropriate declarations if the party is to violate either or both commitments. If the court rules against the party, ANUG legally commits to resign from Parliament.

Apart from Ramkarran, other frontrunners in the party are former PPP Government Minister Dr Henry Jeffrey, Attorney-at-Law Timothy Jonas, busi-

nessmen Beni Sankar and Kian Jabour, as well as Akanni Blair, who was recently appointed PPP’s Vice Chairman in Linden. The party is now looking to pull in female members, saying that those they have approached thus far are willing to support ANUG but fear discrimination to publicly join the party.

Moreover, ANUG is also facing this conundrum with the business community, saying that while businesses have pledged to support the new party, they are only willing to do so anonymously.

ANUG will be pushing on this agenda: opportunities for youth, reducing poverty, streamlining the oil and economic sectors, tackling corruption and climate change.

Granger remains “capable, fit and proper” to run for a second term – PNCR

I

t’s official. The incumbent President David Granger has been endorsed by his party, the People’s Na-tional Congress Reform (PNCR) to run for a second term at the next General and Regional Elections, constitutionally due in March.

The PNCR is the larger partner in the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition and on Monday, it officially threw its support behind President Granger. This was communi-cated in a letter from PNCR General Secretary (GS) Amna Ally.

In the letter, she noted that Granger was elected unopposed at the last congress as the party’s leader. According to the GS, the President remains “capable, fit and proper” for a second term and on that basis, the party endorsed his candidature.

On Sunday, AFC Chairman Khemraj Ramjattan told Guyana Times that his party was “likely” to support

Granger as the coalition’s presidential candidate. He had added, however, that the matter would be ventilated among the party at the upcoming National Executive Conference on January 26.

“I support him fully as presidential candidate, personally… [but] we haven’t gone there as a collective,” Ramjattan said. “We’re having our national executive [meeting] and certainly you’ll have me support-ing him there…

“But, of course, I anticipate (there will be support for President Granger). I don’t think of anybody else with the quality of statesmanship as him,” the AFC Chairman, who is also the Public Security Minister, had asserted.

At the party’s first press conference for the year on Wednesday last, Vice Chair Cathy Hughes said it was too early for the party to say whether it would support a Granger presidential candidacy.

“We’re not there yet right

President David Granger

now; we’re absolutely not there right now. We hoped that President Granger continues the speedy recovery that he’s making … We continue to wish him the best, [but] we have no idea when the elections is going to be and so we’re not in a position to answer that right now,” Hughes had stated.

While there had been no

official public statement from the APNU camp until today, President Granger last year had indicated the possibility of him returning as presidential candidate for the coalition. “… I am a servant of my party; I’m a servant of the Partnership; I’m a servant of the coalition and my duty is to serve and I will not run away from service; that is as much

as I can say… I have to bear in mind that my elevation to the presidency was as a result of popular support, it was a result of democratic processes and I will not abandon those processes …,” the Head of State told reporters at a press con-ference in August.

Since then, however, President Granger was diagnosed in October with NonHodgkin Lymphoma and is being treated in Cuba, which requires him to travel back and forth between the two countries. In fact, he returned to Guyana on Saturday evening after undergoing his fourth round of chemotherapy for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.

Following the toppling of the Government after the no-confidence motion was passed on December 21, political parties have intensified preparations for elections.

On Saturday, former Housing Minister Irfaan Ali was elected as the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) presidential candidate.

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Mother dies at GPHC 9 days after child’s birth

…family calling for answers

By Lakhram Bhagirat

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mother is now calling for justice and an investigation into her daughter’s death after giving birth at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) on December 28, 2018.

Bibi Khan of Vergenoegen, East Bank Essequibo is accusing the doctors at the GPHC of “killing” her eld-est daughter, Fariena Mohammed, and offering no plausible explanations for her death.

The grief-stricken woman said the 30-year-old Mohammed was pregnant with her second child and on Thurs-day, December 28, 2018, she went into labour shortly after 13:00h.

She was rushed to GPHC and gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Shahid Ali, shortly after 16:00h.

“She get this baby normal and everything…she was okay but she say that she belly was hurting…

On Monday, December 31, she call me and tell me that the baby nah feel well. She said that the baby wasn’t getting to breathe and was getting blue,” Khan related. The woman related that the doctors informed the fam-

ily that the baby would have swallowed some of the amniotic fluid hence the reason for his complications. The baby boy was transferred to the Neona-tal Unit and immediately began receiving treatment for the infection. Mohammed was discharged but remained at the hospital since her infant was still hospitalised. Since she was in the ward and her baby in another section of the building, it required her walking a few flights of stairs to feed him every two hours.

During one of the feedings, a paediatrician noticed something strange with Mohammed and began probing. According to Khan, her daughter was breathing heavily and having shortness of breath which caught the attention of the paediatrician who asked the woman’s doctors to investigate further. It was from there, however, that the situation went downhill.

“They did an EKG and that come back normal and then they say that they want to do a CT scan and she called me and tell me to bring money,” Khan related.

The grieving mother said that she received the call about the CT

scan on the morning of January 05, 2019 and informed her daughter that she would take the money during the lunchtime visit. However, she was told that the doctors said it was urgently needed and that she should visit the hospital as soon as possible with the money for the scan.

Sensing the urgency in her daughter’s voice, Khan rushed down to the GPHC and arrived shortly after 10:00h.

With tears threatening to escape from the wells in her eyes, Khan said she was not prepared for the sight she met when she entered into the ward. Her daughter was being held in a sitting position by the team of doctors with several wires hooked on to her chest and her mouth and nose were covered by an oxygen mask.

The woman painfully related that her daughter did not even bat an eye at her or even speak.

She said she started to ask questions, but no one was answering her directly. Instead, she was instructed to go and pay for the CT Scan and that the ambulance would take Mohammed at 11:00h for the procedure at another hospital.

She told this publication that she started to feel uneasy and was asked to wait in the corridor.

After she saw it was past 11:00h and no attempt was made to go for the scan, she started asking more question and was informed that her daughter was too unstaDead: Fariena Mohammed

ble to move.

She said that they stayed at the hospital until 19:00h in hopes that the doctors would tell her some-thing definitive but all she got was a doctor telling them that there is a strong possibility that Moham-med would fall in a coma for three days. Armed with this information the family retreated to their East Bank Essequibo home and at about 22:00h Mohammed’s husband received a call from the hospital asking that they go immediately. The family rushed there but on their way a relative called and said that Mohammed had already died.

“When we reach to Public Hospital they done take off all the machine on her and done put her in a full-ing bag (body bag). Tell me what is it?

Them kill my child since in the early for them to do all of this? When they

Baby Shahid being held by his 5-year-old sister

took her over to ICU she didn’t been know nothing,” the angry mother said.

Mohammed died shortly after 22:00h on January 05, 2019. The autopsy concluded that she died be-cause of a heart attack. The family is not satisfied and has since indicated that there may be a cover-up since Mohammed was healthy until they started to treat her for the shortness of breath.

The mother of two was buried on January 8 while her newborn son was still in the Neonatal Unit of the hospital. The child has since been released into the custody of his fa-

ther. The woman also had a five-year-old daughter. They are at the family’s home in Richmond Village, Essequibo Coast.

Mohammed’s mother is calling on the hospital’s medical staff and by extension the administration to provide them with the history of her daughter’s treatment along with the answers to her multiple questions.

“I need justice not only for my daughter but also to make sure that no other mother goes through what I am going through.

They need to stop doing this and treat people better. All Public Hospital does do is kill people and that is it.”

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‘Be ready to defend Guyana’s national sovereignty’

…President Granger urges Army

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ollowing the recent attack by Venezuela in Guyana’s waters last month, President David Granger charged ranks of the Guyana Defense Force (GDF) to work harder to deter aggression from Guyana’s territory.

The Commander-in-Chief made the charge at the annual GDF Officer’s conference held at State House on Thursday.

Reminding the gathering of the attacks on Guyana by our foreign counterparts, Granger noted that the country has always been victim to claims on its territory despite international recognition of its landmass, territorial borders and Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ).

On December 22, the Venezuelan Navy intercepted an ExxonMobil contracted oil exploration vessel offshore the Stabroek block area of Guyana’s EEZ and attempted to land a helicopter on the Ramform Tethys (ship).

As a result of this, Exxon was forced to temporarily halt its operations on the Martine space belonging to Guyana

where it was operating.

President Granger further reminded that, this aggression is not the first to be launched by Venezuela.

Back in 2013, an armed Venezuelan Navy vessel entered Guyana's waters and forced a seismic survey vessel into the neighbouring country where the ship and crew were detained.

The vessel, the ‘Yekuana’, was trailing the seismic vessel, the MV Teknik Perdana, which was contracted with Anadarko, which at the time, had a petroleum prospecting licence to search for hydrocarbons in the Roraima block offshore Guyana.

The Venezuelan Navy later escorted the vessel off of Guyana’s shore and illegally placed them under arrest.

These attacks have caused Guyana to file documents at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) outlining the issue being faced because of neighbouring Venezuela and outlined why it believes that the Court has a right to hear its case to settle the controversy over the 1899 Arbitral Tribunal Award.

Guyana is hoping that the

International Court will in a final and binding judgment; determine the full legal validity of the arbitral award that established the international boundary between Guyana and Venezuela more than a century ago.

According to Granger, Guyana reserves the right to pursue measures to protect its sovereignty and rights against future hostile acts.

“The defense force have been and must always remain to deter aggression, to defend national sovereignty and ensure the development of our country and a safe, secure and strong state…” the President stated.

The Head of State noted that the various attacks and continued illegal activities occurring by our “persistent neigbours” must stop.

“The defense force, must maintain itself in a state of readiness to secure our entire country and to protect it from future dangers. They are charged with the defense of Guyana, the force therefore is obligated to secure the state and safeguard the country from invasions …Encouragement must be

deterred, resurrections must be suppressed, we must remain secure” the President said.

Guyana has seen an influx of migrants as a result of the economic and political distress currently facing Venezuela, which has recently been escalated with thousands of Venezuelans taking to the streets against the incumbent Government headed by Nicolás Maduro, who is being accused of rigging his way to second term.

In responding to the protests which have resulted in casualties and heightened tensions as the US has backed the Opposition Leader Juan Guaido as the legitimate President, the coalition Government of Guyana, through a foreign Affairs statement said it is gravely concerned at the deepening of the political crisis in the country and supports calls made at both the "regional and international levels for immediate dialogue involving all political and social actors, with a view to the preservation of the democratic process and a return to normalcy." (Kizzy Coleman)

GECOM Commissioner says house-to-house registration will push E-Day outside of 90-day period

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GECOM Commissioner Bibi Shadick

eople’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) representative on the Guyana Elections Commission, Bibi Shadick on Tuesday made it clear that houseto-house registration could not be accommodated within 90 days.

As stipulated by the Constitution of Guyana following the no-confidence resolution, an election must be called in 90 days. For Guyana, that resolution was passed on December 21, 2018.

On Tuesday, Shadick made the position known as she was responding to her colleagues on the oth-

er side of the Commission who stated the present list could still contain a large number of dead voters and the only way to sanitise the list is to get a new one. It is believed that the People’s National Congress (PNC) Commissioners are pushing for house-tohouse registration in order to have a delay in the hosting of Regional and National Elections.

“It is agreed that there is a valid list up to April 30. The thing is, we’re working with the fact that there is a valid list.”

“One of the

Commissioners mentioned (house-to-house registration), but I don’t think that can be accommodated before an election. If that is accommodated, we’re saying to the Constitution, ‘go wherever you want, we’re doing what we want’. These are abnormal circumstances.

So we have to deal with it in a different way.”

Back in November 2018, GECOM was able to deliver a Local Government Elections (LGC) with limited hiccups. In less than a month, however, a no- confidence motion was filed against the Government.

The no-confidence motion brought by the parliamentary Opposition – the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) – succeeded when Charrandas Persaud, a former Alliance For Change (AFC) parliamentarian, broke ranks 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. Article 106 (6) of

the Constitution states: “The Cabinet including the President shall resign if the Government is defeated by the vote of a majority of all the elected members of the

thirds 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.”

lated cases came up for hearing last Tuesday, but acting Chief Justice Roxane George committed to a ruling by the end of this month, while noting that such an order

National Assembly on a vote of confidence.”

Meanwhile, clause 7 goes on to state: “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 two-

Government has gone from promising to respect the vote to denying the vote’s validity on grounds that include an argument that 34 out of 65 should have been a majority vote. A court case has been filed seeking, among other things, a stay of the elections pending a ruling.

That and other re-

would be unnecessary.

The Opposition Leader has already warned that if elections are not facilitated within 90 days and there is no parliamentary agreement to extend this time, Guyana will have in place an unconstitutional government.

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PPP Linden supporters rally behind Ali as presidential candidate

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A section of the gathering at one of the meetings in Linden on Wednesday

e o p l e ’ s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) supporters in Linden, Region 10 (Upper DemeraraUpper Berbice) have thrown their support behind presidential candidate Irfaan Ali as the Party continues its campaign in preparation for the upcoming General and Regional Elections.

On Wednesday, Ali continued his countrywide outreach – just mere days after being elected the Party’s presidential candidate. This time, he met and interacted with PPP/C supporters in the mining town, during which they discussed issues facing them such as unemployment while he outlined his plans to take Guyana forward, including his plans for job creation.

Ali said he was touched by the warm welcome he received from the Lindeners.

“I want to assure you, Comrades, that this is not about supporting Irfaan Ali; this is about the People’s Progressive Party and support the People’s Progressive Party to go onto victory…,” he told a gathering of party supporters.

Flanked by PPP/C parliamentarians and former Ministers Juan Edghill and Jennifer Westford, Ali added, “It is a team approach, the PPP has never been about an individual.

The PPP has always been about team…”

Meanwhile, PPP supporters in Linden were vocal in their outpouring of congratulations for Ali. One supporter said he was “overjoyed” at Ali’s election as presidential candidate, while calling on his fellow Lindeners to “…let us all forgive one and another, and work for a common victory for the PPP”.

Another supporter expressed gratitude to Ali and the team of PPP officials for reaching out to the supporters in Linden.

“I must say congratulations… Thank you for being here with us and sharing your vision with us. We can go out from here after today and say the outreach was a success, so thank you very much for coming,” he stated.

Meanwhile, one woman reiterated her commitment to the Party which had begun since it was under the leadership of the late Dr Cheddi Jagan.

“Nobody can’t move me from here and I dedicate myself [to the party]… This party does always give back…,” she asserted.

One day after being elected, Presidential Candidate Ali commenced his countrywide outreach with a massive rally in his home community – Leonora on the West Coast of Demerara. He then visited residents in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) on Tuesday.

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Senior Cop accused of raping 13-yrold remanded

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Accused: Assistant Superintendent Seecharran Singh

n

Assistant

Superintendent of Police found himself on the wrong side of the law after he was placed before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Thursday for allegedly raping a 13-year-old girl.

Seecharran Singh stood before Acting Chief Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs- Marcus and was not required to plea to the indict-

able charge that was read in-camera.

Singh is accused of engaging in sexual activity with the minor between June 17 and June 18, 2018 while they both were in the vicinity of the East Bank of Demerara.

After the charge was read, the senior cop was remanded to prison until February 5, 2019.

He was represented by Attorneyat-law, Bernard DaSliva.

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Vindhya Persaud pledge Third child Nandlall, commitment to Party’s victory succumbs at GPHC

Former Attorney General Anil Nandlall

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ormer Attorney General Anil Nandlall and People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Member of Parliament, Dr Vindhya Persaud did not secure the presidential candidature, but the pair is committed to seeing the Party to victory at the next General and Regional Elections.

Nandlall, in an interview shortly after the vote, said, “Naturally, I am disappointed. You don’t ever enter a contest thinking you will

A

Dead: Sharezer Mendonca

fter undergoing a chemotherapy treatment which left 6-year-old Sharezer Mendonca battling for her life at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) in an unresponsive state, it was revealed that she took her last breath on Thursday.

Mendonca suddenly fell ill after receiving chemotherapy treatment at the said medical institution and was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Relatives related that she was taken to the Pediatric Ward on January 3, where she was administered with an injection before undergoing treatment.

However, a short while after, Mendonca became unresponsive and cried out that her body was aching.

Father of the child, Michael Mendonca told this publication on Monday that his daughter was admitted again to the ICU after being placed in the wards for a few hours. He noted that it appeared as though her face was swollen but relatives were not allowed to touch her body. Doctors also indicated that anything could be expected within a few days.

During the same period which Mendonca was admitted, threeyear-old Roshnie Seegobin visited the

said medical institution for the cancer treatment but after returning home, her condition deteriorated. She was diagnosed with leukemia and received treatment at GPHC. Mother of Seegobin, Pranita Harripaul explained that her child woke up the following day and complained that her feet were aching. A few moments after, she was unresponsive and later taken to GPHC where she was admitted.

After her daughter’s condition deteriorated further, Harripaul reportedly questioned this occurrence. The response she received was that her child was injected to her spine, which affected the functioning of her nervous system. Seegobin died at the hospital shortly after.

This publication understands that another child, Corwin Edwards also passed away during this period as well after undergoing similar treatment.

In response to these alarming incidents, GPHC notified that an investigation was launched earlier in the week to find an answer to the ‘adverse’ reaction to the medication provided.

According to the institution, the usage of the medication was stopped.

not win. I thought I would have won. But the Central Committee of the Party did not feel that way.

We have all pledged our commitment to work towards the Party’s victory at the next election. And I’m committed to that… the process was that which we agreed on.

It was fair because the collective agreed to it.”

For her part, Dr Persaud was one of three candidates to withdraw before the voting began, the others being Opposition Chief Whip Gail Teixeira and former Culture, Youth and Sport Minister, Dr Frank Anthony.

Interviewed afterwards, she noted that the process was followed.

“I think at this point there was a process and the process was carried. And it allowed the 35-member committee to vote by secret ballot. And it allowed for two people to go towards that process. For me, the next step is looking at the elections and the Party winning.”

When asked why she withdrew from the race, Persaud declined to comment. She would only say that while there were varying factors, she would not delve into them.

Dr Anthony and Teixeira all declined to comment when they exited Freedom House after the voting, although when pressed, Teixeira noted that “withdrawal does not mean defeat”. She also

Dr Vindhya Persaud

added that the best man won and that she would be there to support Ali. Also present at Freedom House was former Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon.

Saturday’s election was conducted by way of secret ballot.

According to the PPP, in a statement released later on Saturday, the four other contenders congratulated Ali and pledged their support to working towards a PPP/C victory after the vote.

Govt to account for D’Urban Park by month end – as AG sends off draft audit report to Public Infrastructure PS

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s is customary with any audit, the Audit Office of Guyana has dispatched an interim report from its audit into the controversial D’Urban Park Project to the Public Infrastructure Ministry, with a response to the report’s various findings expected by month end.

This is according to Auditor General Deodat Sharma during a recent interview with Guyana Times International. In fact, Sharma noted that the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Kenneth Jordan requested more time beyond December 2018.

“I did send off my initial report to the PS (Permanent Secretary) of the Ministry of Public Infrastructure. And he wrote to me saying that before the end of this month, I should have a response from him.

“I sent my interim (audit) report to him and he was supposed to respond in December (2018), but he asked for a month extension,” the Auditor General added. “So, I’m waiting on his response.”

It was Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Irfaan Ali, who had requested further probing be done by the Auditor General into specific projects. Among those projects was the D’Urban Park Project, for which the AG in his 2015 report listed some G$36.5 million in Lotto funds being used for rehabilitative works.

Ali had stated that these requests were in relation to follow-ups from the findings that had been included in the AG’s 2015 Report. In his 2015 report, the

D’Urban Park

Auditor General had said that following checks on the accounts, it was found that while Government transferred G$1 billion of the Lotto money to the Consolidated Fund in 2015, it held onto just over half a billion dollars to remain under the control of the Ministry of the Presidency and it spent G$305 million on various activities.

But the audit into the D’Urban Park Project has always been hindered by a lack of access to pertinent information, with the Audit Office being forced to write to the Public Infrastructure Ministry requesting documents.

Controversy surrounding the D’Urban Park Project exploded when it was revealed to the public that now Public Service Minister, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine sat as a Director of a secret company, which was established to collect funds from private companies to develop the Jubilee Park.

This information was initially omitted by Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson when he was being drilled by Opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) in

the National Assembly in 2016.

Additionally, Opposition parliamentarian Juan Edghill has been behind efforts to have the Public Procurement Commission investigate the D’Urban Park Project.

In a letter to the Commission’s Chairperson, Carol Corbin, Edghill had identified aspects of the Project the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) was most concerned about.

The Opposition had noted that despite promises to the contrary, no account of donations received between September 2015 and January 2016 was made public. It, therefore, queried the procurement process used for works on the project.

The scope a private company has to engage contractors and receive funding for a public project also came into question. The Party queried the budgeted and actual cost throughout the project, as well as the final cost. In addition, the Party had demanded information on what payments were made to individuals and contractors up to June.

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Ramjattan throws support behind Granger’s candidacy in upcoming polls D

ays after saying that it was too early for the party to take a stance on the matter, the Alliance For Change (AFC) is likely to throw its support behind leader of the PNCR-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), David Granger, as the presidential candidate for the APNU/AFC at the impending national and regional elections.

A recent report in the State’s newspaper had identified President Granger, who just returned from Cuba as he continues treatment for NonHodgkin Lymphoma, as the presidential candidate for the APNU/AFC coalition.

However, AFC Chairman Khemraj Ramjattan told Guyana Times International in a brief telephone interview on Sunday that while the coalition partners have not had formal discussions on the matter, he personally supported the return of President Granger as the face of the coalition at the upcoming polls.

“I support him fully as presidential candidate, personally… [but] we haven’t gone there as a collective,” Ramjattan said.

However, he noted that the AFC would be hosting its first National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on January 26 and the matter was expected to come up for discussion there.

“We’re having our national

executive [meeting] and certainly you’ll have me supporting him there… But of course, I anticipate [there will be support for President Granger].

I don’t think of anybody else with the quality of statesmanship as him,” the AFC Chairman asserted.

This newspaper was unable to question Ramjattan, who cut short the call, as to whether Moses Nagamootoo would be returning as the prime ministerial candidate for the APNU/AFC or whether there would be a new face submitted by the minority party in the coalition. At the party’s first press conference on Wednesday last, Vice Chair Cathy Hughes said it was too early for the party to say whether it would support a Granger presidential candidacy.

“We’re not there yet right now; we’re absolutely not there right now. We hoped that President Granger continues the speedy recovery that he’s making … We continue to wish him the best, [but] we have no idea when the elections is going to be and so we’re not in a position to answer that right now,” Hughes had stated.

While there has been no official public statement from the APNU camp, President Granger last year had indicated the possibility of him returning as presidential candi-

going his fourth round of chemotherapy for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.

Despite this, the Head of State has assured the Guyanese citizenry that he is getting better and a medical briefing from his doctors in Havana described his progress as “satisfactory and in conformity with their expectations”.

Come February 14, the APNU and AFC will celebrate the fourth anniversary, since signing the “lovAFC Chairman Khemraj Ramjattan ers’ deal” that eventually got them into office back in 2015. date for the coalition.

However, the AFC, in recent “… I am a servant of my years, has come under fire for party; I’m a servant of the the submissive role it has been Partnership; I’m a servant of playing since joining forces the coalition and my duty is to with the APNU. In fact, the serve and I will not run away top leadership of the AFC had from service; that is as much decided back in 2017 to revise as I can say… I have to bear its governing agreement with in mind that my elevation to its majority coalition partner. the presidency was as a result The Cummingsburg Accord of popular support, it was a re- has a lifespan of a minimum sult of democratic processes of three years and a maximum and I will not abandon those of five years, and was focused processes…,” the Head of primarily on the General and State told reporters at a press Regional Elections. conference in August.

Moreover, the minoriSince then, however, ty party had even contestPresident Granger was diag- ed the November 2018 Local nosed in October with Non- Government Elections (LGE) Hodgkin Lymphoma and is separate from the APNU after seeking treatment in Cuba, planned negotiations to craft which requires him to trav- another accord fell through. el back and forth between At Wednesday’s press conthe two countries. In fact, ference, however, the AFC he returned to Guyana last executives insisted that the Saturday evening after under- minority party has done as

much as it could to stay relevant within the coalition Administration and recommitted to supporting the APNU going forward.

This is in spite of the passage of a no-confidence motion against the coalition, which was supported by former AFC Member of Parliament Charrandas Persaud, whose vote in favour of the Opposition’s motion toppled the current Administration.

Since the December 21, 2018 passage of the motion, which hence became a binding resolution, several political commentators and stakeholders, including the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Opposition, have been calling on the APNU/AFC Government to resign and call elections, which, according to Article 106 (7), should be held within three months. This means elections should be held

by March 21 this year.

However, the High Court has since been asked to pronounce on two matters regarding the resolution – one contesting the validity of Persaud’s vote given his dual citizenship and another challenging the 33-32 votes, instead of a 34 majority, that was used to pass the motion.

Those cases came up for hearing last Tuesday and acting Chief Justice Roxane George has committed to a ruling by the end of this month.

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Ali brings youth, financial skills to table, says Jagdeo W

…cites grassroots work, performance in Housing and Water Ministries as election factors

ith the election of former Housing and Water Minister Irfaan Ali as the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) presidential candidate, General Secretary (GS) Bharrat Jagdeo has affirmed that he brings a lot to the table.

Speaking with the media on Saturday after the election, Jagdeo pointed to the fact that Ali is a youth, who can resonate with voters and the young population that makes up the majority of Guyana’s demographics.

“I think Ali is young; he can resonate with young voters. When you talk about youth, we are the party that lives this.

I was the President of Guyana at 35 years old.

This party here elected me for that. Ali is 38.

He is the youngest of the candidates,” Jagdeo said.

“He’s had several years as Minister, in one of the largest ministries.

He has delivered house lots to people across every single race and every single religion … and thousands of that. He was in charge of water, another big sector, and made a transformation-

Irfaan Ali

al impact in that period.”

He noted that any future Government must have delivering goods and services to the people at the forefront of the agenda, and added that while the present Government has failed in this regard, Ali’s experience bodes well for this.

The General Secretary then cited Ali’s work in charge of the

PPP’s West Demerara grassroots network, especially for the last two Local Government Elections and the General and Regional Elections. He also noted that Ali has been the PPP’s Finance Secretary for years.

Jagdeo also debunked assertions that the new presidential hopeful would be overshadowed

by him owing to his work as General Secretary.

Jagdeo reiterated that both he and Ali would have different roles to play and that he had no intention of abdicating his role as General Secretary.

“I have a job as General Secretary of the Party. Here, we’ve selected a presidential candidate. My job as GS of

the Party is manifold.

It’s to grow the Party; I’ve set myself the task of greater inclusion in the Party.”

“Number two is to galvanise this party to win power. That’s the role of a General Secretary. The candidate runs for the elections, but my job is to bring people together and work on a campaign strategy. And the

campaign strategy is approved by the Party.”

Saturday’s election was conducted by way of secret ballot. Immediately prior to the elections, three candidates withdrew from the contest leaving former Attorney General Anil Nandlall and Ali as the two contestants.

Following the passage of the no-confidence motion in the National Assembly on December 21, 2018, the PPP began its search for a presidential candidate.

The no-confidence motion brought by the parliamentary Opposition against the Government succeeded when Charrandas Persaud, a former Alliance For Change (AFC) parliamentarian, broke ranks and made a conscience vote in favour of the motion.

While Ali will represent the PPP as the presidential candidate, media reports on party affairs in A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/ AFC) suggest that incumbent President David Granger will run for re-election.

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“We are in full campaign mode”

…Jagdeo tells PPP supporters

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PPP's Presidential Candidate Irfaan Ali, Chief Whip Gail Teixeira and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo at the Leonora rally on Sunday

lthough a date has still not been set for the next election, Opposition Leader and General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Bharrat Jagdeo has said that his party has commenced preparation and will work hard to return to Government.

Addressing thousands of supporters who gathered in Leonora, West Coast Demerara for an impromptu public meeting following the announcement of Irfaan Ali as the presidential candidate for the Party, Jagdeo reminded that every member has an important role to play to help the PPP/C to an election victory.

And while he made it clear that it was not the launch of the Party’s campaign, Jagdeo said, “We are in full preparation mode. We have one chance and we have to use that chance well in the future. We expect the Party to go into that mode. You will see that being rolled out in the next few weeks.”

Jagdeo said “the clock is ticking” while reiterating that once March

19 arrives, the PPP/C will not recognise the Government because that is the end of the three-month period following the no-confidence vote. He noted that the international community has been alerted to this.

The PPP General Secretary also cautioned supporters not to fall prey to the negatives being peddled on social media. He accused the coalition of creating “troll sites” that are feeding several negatives aimed at creating disenfranchisement among the supporters of that party.

“You are going to hear all kinds of silly, outrageous things. Ignore them, just move on,” he told the gathering.

He accused the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) of preaching “a lot of gloom”, noting that they have failed on every promise they made.

Jagdeo noted too that the coalition was doing everything it could to hold onto power, but reminded that its time was limited.

Referring to the court cases that were filed

by Government in relation to the no-confidence resolution, Jagdeo said, “They are going to lose this case… We have made it clear, that since

on the sidelines of the event that a committee has been set up to craft the next election manifesto of the PPP/C. That committee, according to

creation and so on,” he explained.

This committee, according to Jagdeo, is made up of himself, presidential candidate Irfaan Ali, Dr Frank Anthony, Shyam Nokta and Odinga Lumumba, among other executive members.

Jagdeo said that this process was likely to be opened up to allow for the input of a wide cross-section of members and executives of the Party, with the hope of crafting the best possible manifesto.

During his address on Sunday at a public meeting, Jagdeo reaffirmed his recent announcement that the Party plans to

ed on as yet, but said because elections are looming, this may not change.

“We have not decided on that as yet, because we are now in a shortened period of Government.

I doubt we will ever go back to Parliament,” he told media operatives on Sunday.

Questioned on the process for a prime ministerial candidate, the General Secretary said that that process has not been initiated, but could run simultaneously with the manifesto drafting.

“That’s the position.

I have not spoken with anyone on the prime ministerial candidate.

This is for the party leadership [to] decide.”

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo walk amongst PPP/C supporters at the rally on Sunday

the legislature has spoken, once you get past the 90 days, then this Government will become illegitimate and illegal.”

Manifesto

Meanwhile, the Party’s General Secretary told the media

Jagdeo, will meet to continue the process, which begun some time ago.

“So, it is being crafted. Lots of ideas we have already that are from the past manifesto, and lots of ideas that we have already stated like the job

reopen sugar estates and work to advance job creation.

Asked whether Ali will be serving as the next Opposition Leader until elections, Jagdeo said that was not decid-

He said, “A lot of things are fluid now. We have to get past the presidential candidate. This is essential for the process to move forward.”

Teen who died in Essequibo Coast accident provided for family – mother

A

n Onderneeming, Essequibo Coast family is mourning the death of their 19-year-old family member, who was struck down and killed on Friday evening.

Rajendra Anauge, called “Vijay”, of Section B Onderneeming, was killed about 18:40h on the Onderneeming Public Road after he was struck by a speeding motor car. The driver, a teacher, was allegedly drunk.

At the young man’s home on Saturday morning, his family was in a state of shock as they continue to come to grips with the fact that he is dead. Relatives, neighbours and friends gathered at the residence to lend support as they pre-

Dead: Rajendra “Vijay” Anauge

pared for the wake and funeral.

Anauge’s mother, Omawattie Singh, told Guyana Times International that the family was very poor and that “Vijay”, her eldest child, worked very hard to maintain his young

wife, parents, sister and five-year-old brother, who are all living in the same house.

Friday’s accident was the first fatality in Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam) for 2019.

This newspaper understands that the teen-

ager left home in the company of his cousin, and was heading to the Onderneeming Sand Pit Housing area when he was struck down.

According to Police reports, motor car PSS 7038 was proceeding north along the road reportedly at a fast rate of speed and while negotiating a right turn, the driver lost control of the vehicle and hit the teenager.

The driver, a teacher at Suddie Primary School, picked up the unconscious and badly injured teenager and rushed him to the Suddie Public Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

According to persons who witnessed the accident, Anauge reported-

ly died on the spot. His body is currently at the Onderneeming Funeral Home awaiting an autopsy.

Meanwhile, the 23-year-old teacher, a resident of Suddie Housing Scheme, failed

a breathalyser test and was since taken into Police custody, where he is assisting with the investigation. He is expected to be charged and placed before the courts in the coming days.

The vehicle that struck the 19-year-old construction worker

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28 NEWS

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Nandlall, AG file submissions in High Court

– cite case law, dictionaries to substantiate cases

V

arious parties in the slew of no-confidence vote related legal challenges have filed and sent out their submissions to the High Court. In one, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, through his legal representatives, is arguing that the court processes are being abused to overturn that fateful vote.

This is according to the submission made on Jagdeo’s behalf in the Compton Reid vs Speaker of the National Assembly; Charrandas Persaud; the Attorney General; Jagdeo and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) General Secretary Joseph Harmon.

Asking the court to strike out Reid’s application, Jagdeo’s legal team (led by former Attorney General Anil Nandlall) noted that “it does not disclose any reasonable ground for bringing the claim; it is an abuse of the process of the Court and it is scandalous, frivolous and vexatious.”

The submission goes on to argue that Reid’s application “flies in the face of the Constitution”, when one stops to consider the National Assembly (Validity of Elections) Act Chapter 1:04.

Meanwhile, a second submission was made on Jagdeo’s behalf by Nandlall and two other members of his legal team – attorneys-at-law Manoj Narayan and Rajendra Jaigobin – in the case of AG vs Speaker and Jagdeo.

In this submission, the team argues that the AG’s application is “incurably bad in law” and should be dismissed.

According to the team, the court has no jurisdiction to deal with the application by way of a “case stated”, based on the Civil Procedures Rules (CPR).

The team, nevertheless, addressed the substantive issues raised by the AG’s application, such as his claim that 33 is not a majority of 65. Here the team cited Blacks’ Law Dictionary, the

what a majority has a ripple effect. The team gave as an example the Court of Appeal and its three Judges and the Public Service Commission.

“The Attorney General’s approach will also lead to unusual and unworkable results under the Constitution.

Thus for any question proposed for decision to be passed in the National Assembly under section 168(1)1, where all 65 members are present and voting, the votes of 34 members must be obtained.”

“Where a Government is formed on the basis of the support of only 33 of the 65 elected members, it means that in order to implement any legislative measure, it must obtain the vote of at least one opposition member,” the team stated.

Ram vs AG, Opposition Leader

Attorney General Basil Williams

Oxford Dictionary and the Webster’s third new International Dictionary, in order to define a majority.

Blacks’ Law Dictionary states “A majority always refers to more than half of some defined or assumed set. In parliamentary law, that set, may be all of the members or some subset, such as all members present or all members voting on a particular question.”

The Oxford Dictionary defines a majority as “the state or fact of being greater, the number by which in voting, the votes cast on one side exceeds those cast on other.”

Meanwhile, the Webster Dictionary states that a majority is “the quality or state of being greater: number greater than half of a total: the excess of such a greater number over the remainder of the total.”

The team went on to assert that by the AG’s definition, the meaning of

Meanwhile, Attorney General Basil Williams, through his legal representative, has submitted a response contesting the arguments put forward by activist Christopher Ram, who had approached the court seeking to have the Government resign as per the Constitution.

In the AG’s response, filed by Attorney Maxwell Edwards, he argues a number of things. According to the AG, resignation depends on Parliament being dissolved before General and Regional Elections.

In this instance, the AG cited Article 106 (7) of the Constitution of Guyana to support his arguments. He then went on to reject calls for Government to be in a caretaker mode, contending that the vote was not a valid one.

On the matter of former AFC MP Charrandas Persaud’s dual citizenship, the AG then pointed to Article 165 (2) of the Constitution. The AG noted the danger to Guyana’s democracy to have

Political activist Christopher Ram

MP’s who are disqualified from voting due to dual citizenship, vote in the National Assembly.

When the cases were first heard in her chambers, Chief Justice (acting) Roxanne George had given the sides a date of January 18 to exchange submissions, January 21 for rebuttal submissions and in the case of Christopher Ram versus the Attorney General and Speaker of the National Assembly, submissions will be heard.

Oral submissions for Compton Reid versus the Attorney General, former MP Charrandas Persaud and the Speaker of the National Assembly will be heard on January 24. And finally, in the case of the Attorney General versus the Speaker of the National Assembly and the Opposition Leader, oral submissions will be done on January 25.

(Jarryl Bryan)

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FEATURE 29

…Karen tells her story

K

aren MohammedDias is a survivor. Although she questions the word and its meaning in her situation, she is nevertheless a survivor. She was diagnosed with Stage 1B1 Cervical Cancer in 2018 and because of its early detection, she was able to have surgery and successfully remove her cancerous cervix.

To this day, five months after her surgery, she is still grappling with the fact that she may never see a child of her own and if she had asked more questions, then maybe it could have saved her some trouble.

She is slowly accepting that she may never know the answers to those questions and is forging ahead.

Looking back on her journey, Karen said that she has always worked hard to ensure that she could afford the best possible care whenever she fell ill. That meant that she would be visiting the best of the best private doctors to ensure that they have all the answers to her questions.

However, as she found out that was just a figment of her imagination.

She chronicled her journey pre cancer to post cancer and this is part of what she wrote: “In 2009/2010 or thereabout, I visited a private gynaecologist with the complaint of irregular periods – once every 3-4 months, as far as memory serves. I was then gently informed that I had what is called ‘Imbalanced Hormones’ and was written a prescription for Mircogynon (an oral birth control pill). It sounded odd, as I wasn’t told how contraceptives were going to help me with this kind of issue. However, I accepted and left, because I paid and expected him to know what he was doing.

It worked! I was happy. I felt normal again.

Without questions, I used the pills for approximately 8-9 years.

“In 2017 while still taking the pills, my period came twice in one month. That confused me a bit since the birth control pills are meant to regulate your cycle (as I now understood). I went to the pharmacist and asked for something to stop the bleeding.

Thankfully, she advised me to go do an ultrasound instead, to ensure it wasn’t the cause of something more serious. I subsequently vis-

ited Eureka (Medical Laboratory) to have my ultrasound done, and found out I had a condition known as PCOS – polycystic ovarian syndrome – where you ovulate a lot less.

“Upon advice at home, I sought a second opinion. Of course I’m going to go to a private doctor, this sounds serious, I remembered thinking.

Here we are at doctor number two, who took me off of the birth control pills and told me to return when my period does. I bounced in there three months after, all happy that progress was made, only to be sent to do all sorts of blood tests and ultrasounds – this was not cheap, but necessary, I reminded myself. I did all that was required of me, to come back to the conclusion that I had PCOS. “I was placed on Metformin – a known diabetic medication, Metformin likely plays its role in improving ovulation induction in women with PCOS through a variety of actions, including reducing insulin levels and altering the effect of insulin on ovarian androgen. (I only know this because this time I researched). So, I’ve accepted that when I’m ready to have a child, it won’t be easy, I knew that much. I walked away with my meds, but with no deadline on when to quit these.

“My cycle became regular with the use of Metformin, I’m happy again. It was time my husband and I thought of starting a family. I needed a gynaecologist I was

comfortable with, happy with. I was out of options, as you hear horror stories when you ask for opinions.

“In May 2018 after my birthday, I decided to find myself a doctor, seriously this time. I wasn’t getting younger. My cousin recommended her gynaecologist to me, said she was pleased with him during her pregnancy.

“Day one, I explained my known history to him, and I told him I was there to see if the PCOS was gone, and wondered what my next step was for starting a family. He advised the discontinuation of the Metformin, and encouraged weight loss. I was instructed to get undressed behind the wall, for a physical examination. At that point, I was asked one question, ‘have you ever done a pap smear?’ Answer, ‘No.’ “He didn’t seem too pleased. Upon visual observation, I was told that I had a mass in my cervix and he wanted to do a biopsy to ensure it was non-cancerous. He did say I didn’t have to take his word for it, that I should get a second opinion if I wanted to. Prior to that, I was instructed to return with my husband to discuss this before making arrangements to have a biopsy done. Within the following week, the biopsy was performed, and the results were out the next.

“My husband and I returned to the doctor number three; unfortunately, it’s what we feared – cancer. He advised me of all the pos-

sible treatments and operations, but admitted that he needed to hand the case over to the oncology department at GPHC [Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation], as it was then a case he no longer had control over.

“As my husband and I were clueless as to our whereabouts at GPHC, my gynaecologist volunteered meeting the oncologist-gynaecologist with us. After reviewing all tests and results, I was again physically examined. I was sent to do blood tests, a chest x-ray, and a CT scan; to determine whether the cancer has spread, and size of the tumour. Thankfully, it had not metastasised and was just confined to the cervix – early, but not that early to avoid what had to happen next.

“I was advised I’d have to have a radical hysterectomy done where the surgeon takes out the uterus and the ligaments (tissue fibres) that hold it in place. The cervix and an inch or two of the vagina around the cervix are also removed.

‘But, can’t we take the cervix out and try to have

a child, and then we do the hysterectomy?’ I asked. I was told this was possible but if I did and needed radiation after, I’ll no longer be fertile.

“My procedure was scheduled for two months after, as I needed to wait until an oncologist specialist would have been visiting GPHC – apparently this happens every few months. I had two months to deal with the acceptance of the present, what my life will be like after a hysterectomy, what it meant, and long-term side effects.

Everything I could possibly find to educate myself, I read. The surgery was done successfully.

“Ladies, use my lifethreatening scenario, to avoid this happening to you. Ask as many questions as you need

to. There are no stupid questions. If you don’t know what to ask, suggest some close relative or friend to go to your doctor’s visit with you.”

Karen advises that every woman get their yearly check-ups and young girls be afforded the opportunity to get the HPV vaccine which she could not have gotten.

At 29 and almost four years into her marriage, there are now complications because of her not being able to conceive.

She says she is thankful for the support of her husband and those around her during her illness and the continued support, as she is still doing everything to ensure that she is in complete remission. (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

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The basis…

I …corruption

t’s rather rich for the PNC types to tag the PPP as being irredeemably corrupt when in only three years there have been more acknowledged instances of corruption than in the entire 23 years of the PPP regime. Sure the PPP had instances of corruption – that’s inevitable any government not made up of angels. But if the PPP ACTUALLY were so corrupt, how come there hasn’t been a SINGLE conviction in three years? And it hasn’t been for lack of trying!!

There were the FIFTY forensic audits; there were two specialised agencies launched – SARA and SOCU – at the cost of billions. But yet the PNC keeps on going on about “corruption” by the PPP during its term of office. It has to be a case of what Freud calls “projection”! You know…you feel guilty about some shameful act you did, and you vehemently accuse others of committing that very act, to show that you’re not bent that way!

Fact of the matter is that the PNC was birthed from corruption and corruption, therefore, is part and parcel of its institutional genetic makeup. Was it not “corruption” to facilitate the externally-funded coup that ousted the PPP in 1964? And it was from original corruption that all PNC’s subsequent actions were poisoned by corruption. Like rigging elections for 28 years and corrupting their supporters’ minds by making that OK. When you do that to people, their ability to take a moral position on wrongs even in their own lives becomes corrupted. And that’s what the PNC did to our entire society. The dictatorship lied about every action they took and forced the people to “believe” them. Pretty soon no one could tell right from wrong! And it’s this moral blindness the PNC’s projecting onto the PPP right now, as their corruption flowed reflexively the moment they entered office.

The D’Urban Park “Stadium”? How many hundreds of millions are still unaccounted for?

The US$18 million “bonus” signed in secret for the 5bbl oil giveaway and secreted away?

Then there was the G$632 million Pharma contract with ANSA; the bottom-house pharma warehouse; the Demerara Harbour “swing bridge; and not to mention the under-invoicing fuel scam that’s still going on.

How can the PNC talk about corruption in the PPP when that party had to work miracles to remove the US$2.1 billion debt the former left us saddled with.

Have they no shame? …of violence Another instance of “projection” playing out by the PNC is to claim “under the PPP” hundreds of persons were murdered – and implying they were mostly African choir boys. But what’s never mentioned is how and by whom the killing spree started. From the moment the PPP won the free and fair elections in 1992, the PNC created a climate of hate against the new administration.

For instance, by trumpeting claims of “ethnic cleansing” in the public service, conveniently ignoring that Hoyte started the downsizing – which was ordered by the IMF. After they lost the 1997 elections, it was in the hostile climate of PNC violent protests that 31 businessmen were murdered in 1999 alone.

Then, of course, came the PNC ‘slow fyah; mo’ fyaah’ that resulted in dozens of policemen and civilians killed in the frontal attack on the State by the “Breakout Mash 5”. Why not mention these?

For it was under this cover the drug lords launched their grab for turf. …for City Hall profligacy Once again, the PNC central government has bailed out City Hall – this time to the tune of G$100 million, for garbage collected. Never mind they’re facilitating rampant corruption and nepotism by the PNC gang.

For refusing to fund this corruption, the PPP’s blamed for being “racist”!!

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T

he Cancer Institute of Guyana (CIG) is a non-profit organisation that has been in operation since 2006 as a result of a project between the Health Ministry and Global Imaging Services Inc. The Institute is touted as a one-stop centre for diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of all types of cancer prevalent in Guyana.

The mission of the CIG is to provide evaluation; radiation treatment at a subsidised cost; follow-up services for patients with malignant and certain benign diseases which are performed in accordance with standards of the Health Ministry and the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and to improve services by reaching out to individuals in remote villages who have no access to education, screening, and diagnosis.

The CIG has a team of qualified professionals that manage their dayto-day operations. The Institute offers a wide variety of services which include MRI, mammograms, ultrasounds, xrays, and bone density testing.

“CIG understands the special needs of people of Guyana and makes these services available to the patients who come through the Ministry of Health at a subsidised rate. Global Imaging Service and Cancer

Institute of Guyana understand and value the need to improve the health of the community it serves, and to this end, we pledge to work with governmental agencies/ NGOs and physicians groups to improve health awareness by way of education, screening, diagnosis and treatment,” the CIG says on its website.

In an effort to provide more effective treatment of cervical cancer, the Cancer Institute just last year boosted its cervical treatment services with the procurement of a Brachytherapy machine aimed at significantly reducing the instances of remission.

The treatment of cervical cancer occurs in three stages and includes chemotherapy, external radiation and internal radiation.

The Cancer Institute’s Medical Director, Dr Sian Chakraborthy had said that with the acquisition of the Brachytherapy machine, Guyana was now in compliance with international treatment specifications. He noted that the machine was not only for the treatment of cervical cancer but can be used for a variety of other cancer treatments, adding that the primary focus for now is the treatment of cervical cancer. Brachytherapy or internal radiation is the final part of cervical

cancer treatment. The Brachytherapy machine is fully computerised.

According to the Cancer Institute’s figures, the number of patients diagnosed with cervical cancer fluctuates every year. However, most of the time, the diagnosis is made in the fi-

preventable, and, if prevention fails, it can be completely cured if detected in the early stages. The CIG screens over 1000 women per year for cervical cancer and states that it is the second most common cancer in women in Guyana, adding that it is often de-

nal stages of the cancer since most women wait until they are seeing signs and experiencing symptoms before they get checked out.

In 2011, there were 42 cases diagnosed at the Cancer Institute.

In 2012, there were 30; 2013 saw 54 new cases; 2014, a total of 41; 2015, a whopping 68; 2016 saw a drop to 55 and ever since the number has been dropping with 50 and 46 in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

The Cancer Institute says that cervical cancer is a type that is entirely

tected too late.

Cervical cancer starts in the cells of the cervix, which is the opening leading to a woman’s uterus. When cervical cancer first appears, there are no symptoms and the woman is entirely unaware that a deadly disease process has started in her body. Later, as the cancer grows, there may be pelvic pain and bleeding.

Cervical cancer is entirely preventable, because it is caused by a class of viruses called Human Papilloma Viruses (HPV), and vaccines are

feature 33

available to prevent infection from those viruses. Some types of HPV do not cause any disease; some types may cause non-cancerous warts, and other types result in deadly cervical cancer.

Cervical cancer that is detected early is more likely to be treated successfully. Most guidelines suggest that women begin screening for cervical cancer and precancerous changes at age 21. Screening tests include: A Pap smear test during which your doctor scrapes and brushes cells from your cervix, which are then examined in a lab for abnormalities. A Pap test can detect abnormal cells in the cervix, including cancer cells and cells that show changes that increase the risk of cervical cancer.

HPV DNA test. The HPV DNA test involves testing cells collected from the cervix for infection with any of the types of HPV that are most likely to lead to cervical cancer. This test may be an option for women age 30 and older, or for younger women with an abnormal Pap test.

Stages of cervical cancer include: * Stage I. Cancer is confined to the cervix. * Stage II. Cancer is present in the cervix and upper portion of the vagina.

* Stage III. Cancer has moved to the lower portion of the vagina or internally to the pelvic side wall. * Stage IV. Cancer has spread to nearby organs, such as the bladder or rectum, or it has spread to other areas of the body, such as the lungs, liver or bones.

Early-stage cervical cancer is typically treated with surgery to remove the uterus (hysterectomy). A hysterectomy can cure early-stage cervical cancer and prevent recurrence. But removing the uterus makes it impossible to become pregnant.

Simple hysterectomy: The cervix and uterus are removed along with the cancer. A simple hysterectomy is usually an option only in very earlystage cervical cancer.

Radical hysterectomy: The cervix, uterus, part of the vagina and lymph nodes in the area are removed with the cancer.

Minimally invasive surgery may be an option for early-stage cervical cancer.

Surgery that preserves the possibility of becoming pregnant also may be an option, if you have very early-stage cervical cancer without lymph node involvement.

(Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

34 NEWS by

Petamber Persaud

A

lthough the main characters in her five novels are of Chinese ancestry, Jan Lowe Shinebourne, is writing about a Guyanese reality, a Guyanese experience/evolution, a Guyanese sensibility of race and class conflicts, miscegenation, internal and external migration not unlike Roy Heath’s treatment of the urban black reality, not unlike Christopher Nicole’s treatment of the elite white reality, not unlike Sasenarine Persaud’s treatment of the Indian reality, or not unlike Basil Rodrigues’ treatment of the Indigenous sensibility, the ancestors of those peopling our literature having all come to this land by way of the Bering Strait or by way of ships, evolving into a Guyanese sensibility.

Shinebourne has taken umbrage with labels depicting her writing as focusing on the Chinese sensibility only because she was born part Chinese.

But it is useful to take into account other parts** of her sensibility/identity – she is also part Indian, born and grew up on a sugar plantation during the colonial days when society was divided by class and race and her early novels focused on ‘the effects of colonialism on Guyana’.

Her first novel, Timepiece, was a first step in this direction, in exploring this theme. In Timepiece, she writes about a young woman, Sandra Yansen, who has grown up in a rural village where she felt rooted in her rural community which she loves. When she leaves school, she moves to the

WEEK ENDING JANUARY 20, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Preserving our literary heritage

capital Georgetown. In Georgetown, she feels uprooted and adrift because she has no friends and family there.

She does not like the cynicism in people she meets. They have no sense of community, they are not strongly connected to each other like the people in her village, and their relationships are casual and shallow.

She cannot root herself in Georgetown. She meets a young man she likes who tells her that Georgetown is dominated by class; his father has suffered because of it.

They try but fail to make a strong connection to each other and when he visits her village, he realises they are not compatible. It is a period when people are beginning to emigrate, to escape the political, social and economic instability that is a consequence of the political upheavals the country has been through, which are only hinted at in the novel. All the young people she has met in Georgetown are emigrating but the end of the novel indicates she has no plans to leave, it ends with her strong sense of the unchanging strengths of the rural community she is from.

In her second novel, The Last English Plantation, Shinebourne sets her story in 1956 when the political fractures of the 1960s began to show. This time,

she chooses a much younger female protagonist, a 12 year old, June Lehall, as she prepares to venture out of her rural community to go to an urban secondary school. Like Sandra Yansen in Timepiece, she also experiences the culture shock of confronting the intense race and class conflicts that colonialism bred in the country. We see June enter school and getting swept up in the race and class conflicts between her classmates.

Shinebourne’s third novel Chinese Women, deals more openly with the race and class conflict created by colonialism which the narrator, Albert Aziz, a young Muslim Indian, has had to fight against all his life from when he grew up, the son of an Indian overseer, living in the exclusive living quarters among the white expatriates.. He describes how racial segregation and prejudice was maintained by the expatriate overseers to keep non-whites in their place on the sugar estate. It was a form of apartheid that he feels caused all his suffering So racialised was this system, he has internalised it so deeply he can only see people in racial terms of superiority and inferiority. He falls in love with two Chinese women who he idealises in terms of their race. He believes that Chinese people are better by virtue of being Chinese especially the Chinese girl he meets at school, Alice Wong.

He falls in love with her and long after they leave school and he has emigrated to Canada, he continues to carry a torch for her and at the age of 60, he tracks her down to England to propose to her, but she rejects him.

The colonial system of a kind of racial apartheid in British Guiana was so extreme and had such a profound impact on the young Muslim, he can only see people’s worth and his in terms of race and in the end, living in a post 9/11 world, he identifies with the Muslim cause and finally turns against the developed First World which he views as the creation of the imperialism and colonialism that cursed his early life growing up on a colonial sugar estate in British Guiana.For Shinebourne, Albert Aziz stands for what happened to Guyana, when it became negatively racialized and stratified.

Shineboune’s fourth novel, The Last Ship, portrays life on a rural colonial sugar estate, this time, in the context of the arrival of Chinese indentured workers. She portrays the arrival of a first generation Chinese woman, Clarice Chung who at the

age of 5, travels from Hong Kong to British Guiana on the last ship to bring the Chinese to the colony.

The novel takes us through her life until she dies when she is 65 on the sugar estate where she eventually settled and raised three generations of her family. This novel is not just about Chinese people, it is about the struggle of three generations of a family to find a secure footing in Guyana on a sugar estate, and the price they paid for it, especially the women who struggle to rise above the hardship and humiliation of Indentureship and racism in colonial British Guiana. Clarice Chung is a fiercely strong and ambitious woman who exerts her influence mercilessly over her family. Her female descendants find it difficult to follow her example about which they are ambivalent, especially her granddaughter, Joan Wong, who fights against her legacy and tries to escape from it by fleeing to England where she settles down.

The Starapple Tree is Shinebourne’s fifth novel ( soon to be out). It is about an English priest, Father John Martin, who goes to British Guiana in 1964, to become a vicar at Canefield, a remote sugar estate in Berbice. He is a northerner, from Lancashire, an earthy, plainspoken man and a deeply committed priest but he arrives at a very difficult time in the country’s history. The country, once a British colony, has embraced socialism and is turning its back on Britain and its colonial influence. The British are leaving and the infrastructure they created is collapsing. Father John is not fully aware of the implications of this for his mission. In this sense, he is an innocent abroad. He has come to Canefield to promote Christian love and community but discovers that the population is partly Hindu Indian and African whose preference is for ecstatic religions with its roots in African dance traditions. They present him with difficult challenges he struggles to overcome. The best reception he gets is from a group of boys who like to visit him by climbing up the starapple tree that grows against his veranda.

He struggles to find friendship and acceptance in the wider community and eventually, this leads to misunderstanding and disaster for him when they seem to reject him, and cause him to return to England with a sense of failure and disappointment.

And there is more flowing from her pen…. *The above information supplied by Shinebourne. **Shinebourne won the Guyana Prize for Literature in its inaugural year, 1987. All her novels are set in Guyana. She is also a writer of short fiction. Her other book is ‘The Godmother and Other Stories’. While in Guyana, she was a part of a rich literary tradition that included a magazine, ‘Expression’, many libraries, many bookstores, and other writers/enablers like Brian Chan, John Agard, Mark McWatt, Terence Roberts, Milton Drepaul, N. D. Williams, Victor Ramraj.

(Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

FEATURE 35

WEEK ENDING JANUARY 20, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

T

he name Allison Butters-Grant is synonymous with the saying “Guyanese to the bone.” She was one of Guyana’s most patriotic citizens and though she lived abroad for most of her adult life, she never forgot Guyana. Much of the Guyanese population was shocked on January 13 when they

company with deeplyheld values of integrity, a strong sense of right and wrong, great compassion and loyalty, and a solid commitment to family, staff, community and, above all, a quality product that proudly carries the tag line “We eat what we sell”.

She was a trusted colleague, a suc-

Allison Butters-Grant

heard the news that Butters-Grant lost her battle with cancer.

Butters-Grant was the President and Chief Executive officer of Global Seafood Distributors and died on January 13, 2019 in New Jersey after a brief battle with cancer.

Butters-Grant was a larger-than-life figure, who brought her remarkable passion, experience, and energy to everyone she came in contact with and the multiple organisations she was active in. Her love for Guyana and her sterling contributions to its development over the years speak volumes about her passion for progress in Guyana on many levels.

Butters-Grant was greatly admired and respected as a female entrepreneur and trailblazer. She infused her

cessful entrepreneur, and an inspiration to many.

Butters-Grant had the vision to establish Global Seafood and with a steady hand, she guided the company from its humble beginnings to a household name for quality seafood products. ButtersGrant has made an indelible mark on who we are today and we will keep her legacy of great service, personal relationships, and outstanding stewardship alive and well.

“The entire Global Seafood family mourns this loss. On behalf of our management team, employees and family, we extend our deepest thanks for all the kind words and sympathy during these difficult times…With the passing of Allison ButtersGrant, Global Seafood has suffered a major loss. Notwithstanding

Butters-Grant with Guyanese music legend Eddie Grant

GIVING BACK: Allison Butters-Grant presenting Kevin-Gildharie with a sponsorship cheque

that loss, the management and staff is confident that her husband and Manager Director Kerwin Grant, who will assume the post of Chief Executive Officer, and the rest of the Global Seafood team will capitalise on the changes and vision that Allison has made and continue to expand, build and bring her vision into realisation. Another hallmark of her leadership was building a great team to en-

sure that our guiding principles will remain intact and that our vision to build an unparalleled quality seafood brand will continue,” her company said after her passing.

Global Seafood Distributors is located at the West Ruimveldt Industrial Site, where they process local fish.

Butters-Grant, a Charlestown, Georgetown native, grew up in the fishing industry as her par-

ents were the owners of several shrimping trawlers.

She migrated to the United States in 1986 after completing her education in Guyana and aimed for higher learning overseas. She gained a degree in Business Administration with a minor in Accounting and Database Management in 1990 from Essex College of Business, and began blazing the trail.

She spent 29 years in the US before mak-

ing her way back home to establish her business. She had been blazing the trail ever since, proving that her method was different. She cared about the community and the overall development of Guyana.

The business community and President David Granger, who himself is battling cancer, have all expressed their sadness at the passing of Butters-Grant.

(Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

36 NEWS

WEEK ENDING JANUARY 20, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

HIV prevention Footballer remanded for response inadequate in robbery, damage to property key populations A – PANCAP

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he Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/ AIDS (PANCAP) recently conducted research in the Region, which found that the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) prevention response is inadequate in key populations.

According to the PANCAP Coordinating Unit, the Priority Areas Coordinating Committee (PACC), the technical group of the PANCAP Executive Board, commissioned an evaluation of the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS (CRSF) between 2014 and 2018.

This Committee bears the responsibility of coordinating and overseeing the implementation of operational plans for the CRSF. “The evaluation found that while the Caribbean has made progress in responding to the HIV epidemic, the impact of the prevention response has been inadequate, particularly among key populations,” PANCAP said in a statement.

This evaluation was said to have been conducted between April and November of 2018 with three objectives focused on obtaining feedback from the regional partners as to the progress, achievements and gaps of the Regional HIV response and to determine the level of implementation of the CRSF, the progress, achievements, gaps and challenges. It was also aimed at providing clear recommendations on the strategic priority areas for the new CRSF and to inform its development.

It was conducted in two phases which saw the collection and analysis of survey data from a Partner Self-Assessment and a Partnership Assessment and the collection and analysis of data for key indicators of the CRSF 2014 to 2018 to help the Partnership determine the progress made, particularly in relation to impact and outcomes, in phases one and two respectively.

New HIV infections decline

Statistics provided by the organisation, which were collected in

six strategic priority areas revealed that the annual number of new HIV infections among adults in the Caribbean declined by only 18 per cent from 2010 to 2017, from 19,000 to 15,000.

Majority of the new HIV infections, which represented 68 per cent of the total population was accounted for by Men who have sex with Men (MSM), Sex Workers (SWs) and their clients, transgender persons, and persons who use drugs PANCAP disclosed.

New infections among children also fell from about 2300 in 2010 to 1100. Although significant progress has been made in eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV, available data for the period 2015 to 2017 showed that HIV-infected pregnant women receiving Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) to reduce HIV transmission declined from 92 per cent in 2014 to 79 per cent in 2015 and 75 per cent in 2016 and 2017 respectively, illustrating a significant decrease that requires investigation.

Nonetheless, there has been progress in placing more people living with HIV on treatment, however, much more needs to be done to increase the numbers and to retain people on treatment, PANCAP reported.

Financing decreasing

According to PANCAP, the Global financial resources to support the HIV epidemic have been decreasing since 2011.

“However, domestic financing has improved during the implementation of the CRSF 2014 – 2018. UNAIDS 2018, noted that domestic resources increased between 2006 – 2017 by 124 per cent, while international resources declined by 16 per cent”.

As of the end of 2017, domestic resources were contributing significantly to the cost of ART and the overall treatment programme.

Despite this trend, national resources to support services to achieve prevention continue to be low, with the implication that the gains could be reversed if this gap is not quickly filled,” the organisation explained.

19-year-old footballer of James Street, Albouystown, Georgetown, was hauled before the court on two charges of armed robbery and unlawful damage to property.

The teenager stood before Georgetown Magistrate Faith McGusty and denied both charges.

Job Caesar, who was represented by Attorney-at-Law Paul Fung-A-Fat, faced both charges. The first charge stated that on November 25, 2018, at Lot

178 Albert and Charlotte Streets, Georgetown, while being armed with a gun, he robbed Jennifer Validin of a cellphone valued G$30,000.

The other charge stated that the young footballer, on the same date and the same location, unlawfully damaged a motor car valued G$3.5 million, property of the same Virtual Complainant.

The teen’s Attorney contended that the VC was being dishonest since the colour of the vehicle

which she claimed Caesar damaged kept changing through posts made on social media.

Police Prosecutor Seon Blackman objected to bail on the grounds that a gun was used in the crime, while noting that Caesar has another pending matter before another court. The defendant was remanded to prison.

The case will continue on January 30, 2019.

Taxi driver charged with sexually assaulting teenager

A

taxi driver was on Tuesday hauled before the courts for sexually assaulting a schoolgirl.

Nowrang Samaroo, called “Fenton” of Canefield, East Canje, Berbice appeared before Magistrate Peter Hugh charged with sexual assault.

It is alleged that on January 8, 2019, at Vryheid Road, New Amsterdam, Samaroo sexually assaulted the teenager while she was a passenger in his motor car.

Samaroo, who was unrepresented, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Police Prosecutor Inspector Bernard Brown had no objections to the accused being granted bail.

He was placed on G$75,000 bail and would make his next court appearance on January 29, 2019.

It was reported that on the day in question, the teen plunged out of the suspect’s car after he attempted to rip off her clothes.

The teenager reportedly boarded the car outside her school with

the intention of heading home.

However, during the journey, the driver allegedly started to make sexual advances at the teen. Soon after, he reached across to the teen and started to take off her clothes, but the teen opened the door and jumped out.

She was picked up by another driver and taken to the Police Station where a complaint was lodged.

Bus conductor granted bail on rape charges

A

cting Chief Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus on Tuesday granted a 37-year-old bus conductor bail after he was charged for raping a child under the age of 16 on two separate occasions.

The accused, Handikuma Bakker of Pearl, East Bank Demerara (EDB), was not required to plead to the indictable charges. The first charge detailed that between May 1,

2018, and May 31, 2018, in Georgetown, he had sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old.

Another charge stated that between June 1, 2018, and June 31, 2018, in Mahdia, Region Eight, he engaged in another act with the said 13-year-old girl.

However, Bakker was fortunate to be granted bail in the sum of $300,000 on both charges and will return to court on

January 29, 2019. Additionally, Magistrate Isaacs-Marcus ordered the accused to stay away from the minor.

Reports are alleging that the accused and the teen were in a relationship, during which he took her on several trips and also gave her cash.

But sometime after, the teen’s parents became aware of what was taking place and reported the matter to the Police.

Ex-cop to spend 4 years behind bars for cocaine trafficking …accomplices freed of charges

A

23-year-old exPoliceman, of Adam’s Road, Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara (EBD), was on Tuesday sentenced to four years in prison by Senior Magistrate Leron Daly on a trafficking of cocaine charge, which occurred back in 2017 at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).

Louie Dublin, along with his two accomplices Delvor Bunbury and Gavin Harris, was charged back in 2017 for the crime and was remanded to prison.

The ex-cop was busted during a sting operation carried out at the Lotus Restaurant and Bar located at CJIA, Timehri, EBD, where he was found to have in

his possession a bag containing the illegal drug ,which was said to be given to him by the other two accused.

However, the charges against Bunbury and Harris were dismissed, since Magistrate Daly ruled that the prosecution did not provide sufficient evidence to prove the men guilty of the offence.

Meanwhile, Dublin faced the full brunt of the law after sufficient evidence was found for him to be convicted. At the time of the drug bust, Dublin was a serving member of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) while Bunbury was Manager of Ivor Bunbury Furniture and Harris was his assistant.

Jailed: Louie Dublin

WEEK ENDING JANUARY 20, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

President David Granger reviews the Guard of Honour on Thursday at the opening of the Guyana Defence Force's Annual Officers' Conference, held at the Baridi Benab, State House — at State House, Guyana.

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38 NEWS

WEEK ENDING JANUARY 20, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Sexual Offences Registry to open to public by year end – Greene

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espite being launched in 2018, the Sexual Offenses Registry will not be open to the public until this year-end.

This was recently explained by Director of Child Care and Protection Agency (CCPA), Ann Greene.

According to her, the necessary information still has to be uploaded to the website.

“The registry will not be in effect until yearend. It’s up, but we have to input data,” she explained. Greene added that the Child Care Agency will now be required to do an extensive amount of research, to ensure that cases were not appealed among other due diligence checks.

“It’s a legal thing. If a man appeals his sexual offense and all of that, we have to go through and see, (so) it’s not just to put up a name. It’s a legal process for including a name, so it’s not going to be open to people. We are hoping that it should be by year-end, but it’s a lot of work, so we are working to get it right,” Greene said.

Back in October last year a senior officer reported that the muchanticipated Child Abuse and Sexual Offenses Registries which were launched back in September 2018 were being set up and tested to ensure all aspects are intact.

Greene pointed out during a previous interview that the names of perpetrators of sexual

Ann Greene

abuse will be publicised and exposed to the public, who will be able to access the requisite information on the internet.

“People were clamouring for that, and so I gave a commitment to launch the Child Abuse Registry.

It is really to put online the persons who would have committed offences against children. If anybody wants to employ anybody, you could run the Child Abuse Registry,” she had explained.

Greene did not reveal the cost of the programme, but only said it was budgeted for and is a rather technical database.

The perpetrators’ pictures, she said, will also likely be available through the Registry, since the department is cognisant of the fact that people have the same names.

It was on this note that the Director reiterated the importance of such a database in combating child abuse nationally.

WEEK ENDING JANUARY 20, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

From rags to …

By Lakhram Bhagirat

O

ur obstacles in life should not determine how far we go; they should not limit our growth, rather when we are faced with them, we should find other avenues of overcoming them. Whether it is by confronting them head on or going around them, we must use every possible avenue to ensure that we achieve whatever we want so when we look back we

can say, “I made it.”

The drive to achieve his dreams and be successful is what led Ravi Latchman to do all that was possible to get where he is today. At 25, Ravi is a successful businessman offering the Guyanese people and even those further afield a wide variety of Indian clothing and accessories at unbelievably affordable prices. However, the ride to get to where he is today is nothing short of inspiring.

Ravi hails from the West Coast Berbice community of Bath Settlement and is the owner of Colours of India Clothing and Accessories Store. He is one of the goto suppliers of Indian clothing and accessories in Guyana with a customer base that spans the length and breadth of the country. His customers would travel from as far as the Essequibo Coast to Bath Settlement just for him to supply them with their desired clothing and accessories.

He is considered the Indian bride whisperer since no brideto-be leaves his store disappointed or empty handed. The variety that he stocks is expan-

sive and caters to every budget. Knowing the struggles involved, Ravi would quite often scale back his prices significantly so that his customers can get their desired look without breaking the bank.

Ravi has not always been able to help those who would need it, since quite often he was in a position of needing help himself. His childhood was one that involved him being raised by his elderly grandparents while his

parents and two younger brothers migrated to the twin-island republic of Trinidad and Tobago in search of a better life. His late grandparents showered him with immense love and supported his endeavours to the best of their abilities.

Being a little boy growing up with elderly grandparents meant that Ravi could have easily overruled them, and he took advantage of that fact quite often, since he would spend countless afternoons playing with his friends.

“My grandparents had a small grocery shop

and a little chicken depot. Sometimes I used to steal the powder milk and sugar to make fudge.

I would also take chicken

leg and we would have ‘bush cook’ too,” he reminisced.

In exchange for doing as he wished, Ravi was tasked with making sure that he excelled in school, and that was something he did not take lightly.

He was quite often referred to as the class nerd and when he graduated from Bath Primary School, he gained a place at the Berbice High School but only briefly attended there. Wanting a challenge, he enrolled at the Academy of Apex Education on the East Coast of

Demerara, where he continued to be challenged.

After sitting the CXC Examinations, he gained 13 passes, but unlike many students, Ravi was working with Qualfon while attending school because of the financial constraints.

Armed with the dream of becoming a doctor, Ravi moved back to Berbice with his grandparents and his parents moved back from Trinidad. Shortly after, his grandfather passed away.

“My family was not financially stable to help me fulfil my dreams of becoming the doctor I wanted to become. I was frustrated. I didn’t know what to do. I finally made a move to Trinidad; I was 18 at the time. I moved over and it was not easy.

I did many different jobs like my very first job was working in a mattress factory, then I was a kitchen assistant. I was a bartender/waiter. I did carpentry, catering and even accounting,” he related.

He would live in Trinidad for a total of five years and remembers working 20-hour shifts just to make ends meet.

The struggle was so real that Ravi slept on the floor of his apartment for over one year while making other sacrifices to ensure that the majority of his money was remitted to Guyana so that his fam-

ily could have a better life.

“My life wasn’t easy, but I reaped the benefits after years. I eventually furnished my apartment after my ajie (paternal grandmother) said she wanted to come and see me, because I did not want my family back home to know what I was going through.”

As time passed, so did Ravi’s dream of becoming a doctor. Reminiscing on how he started Colours of India, Ravi says one day he was scrolling through Facebook when he received a message from someone in India asking if he was interested in being business with her. He related that to his family who were all sceptical, but it was a risk he took and in the end it paid off.

In October 2014, he received his first shipment from India and from then, he started selling Indian clothing and accessories. In March 2016, he decided to move back home to concentrate on building his brand.

FEATURE 39

“It was not an easy task at all, because of all the other competitors it have around. My greatest support is my family and I can always rely on them for anything. Colours of India grew, because I put all my spare time into advertising my business.

Sleepless nights also when it is time to order goods from my manufacturers because to the difference in time between Guyana and India.”

Just a few weeks ago, Ravi remodelled his store to make it more spacious offering a wide variety of items. He has one of the largest collections of bridal lehengas,

accessories, saris, and male Indian wear. Over the next five years, he intends to open at least two more stores to reach more people.

“The advice I would give to anyone who wants to start a business is to always put God first, always smile. Have patience, don’t be jealous and don’t ever give up no matter how rough that road maybe. It have people in our lives that would make us rise and some that want to pull you down. Never let the ones that want to pull you down succeed.”

(Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

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WEEK ENDING JANUARY 20, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

B y L akhram B hagirat

F

our years ago, Pooran Seeraj was the hottest name on the local Chutney scene after having being crowned the Chutney King, but since then, he has been notably absent; howev-

er, now he is back and, boy, is he back with a vengeance. He is back to reclaim his spot as the king with his brand new song “GT Ladki” and renewed knowledge from India.

The 39-year-old father of three grew up in Bath Settlement on the West Coast of Berbice in humble circumstances.

Looking back at his childhood,

and later the New Amsterdam Secondary where he sat and passed seven subjects at CXC. With very little opportunities for employment in Berbice, Pooran moved to Mon Repos on the East Coast of Demerara and

gained employment with a manufacturing company.

He then applied for a scholarship at GuySuCo. “At the age of 17, I

was employed by the LBI Estate, GuySuCo, as a Trainee Field Foreman.

In 1999, I secured a scholarship to GSA [Guyana School of Agriculture] and graduated in 2001 with a Diploma in Agriculture. After graduation, I returned to my job and eventually began having a family of my own. I became the father of my first daughter, Simran Seeraj, at the age of 21. I then secured my second scholarship to read for my Bachelor of Science Degree in Agriculture at the University of Guyana in 2003. Unfortunately, my family life fell apart a few months before my graduation in 2006,” he said.

Three years later, Pooran would get married again to his current wife, Sonia, and they now have two children. In 2016, he secured another scholarship, but this time it meant moving out of the country. He left for New Delhi, India where he acquired his Master’s Degree in Agricultural Physics from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in July 2018.

He returned home and is presently an Agriculture Research Scientist with the Guyana Rice Development Board’s Research Station.

Tracing his music career, Pooran notes that music serves as the outlet for him to express his innermost feelings. After he separated from his first wife in 2006, he turned to music and joined the Shakti Strings Band in 2008.

“I contested in the Mashramani Chutney Competition on four occasions without placing. However, I was crowned as the Chutney King of Guyana in

Pooran says that his father worked as a cane cutter while his mother stayed at home to take care of the family.

He was always pushed to achieve greater things and focused on gaining an education that would position him to provide a better life for his family when the time came. He attended the Bath Primary School

2014 with the entry “Under The Maarow”. I also secured the first runner-up spot in 2016.

I have recorded more than 50 songs to date which includes Chutney, Bollywood and English. Most of my recordings were done by Avinash Roopchan of Shakti Strings Studio. I am contesting in the 2019 Chutney Singing Competition once

again after studying abroad for two years.

The title of my song is “GT Ladki”,” he said.

“I honestly feel that music allows us to express ourselves in a different way than just making a verbal statement. I think that statements through mere words are often forgotten after a very short period; on the other hand, musical expressions make a stronger impression.”

FEATURE 41

He noted that one of the greatest challenges as a Guyanese musician is the lack of copyright laws. This makes it very difficult for an artiste to earn the fruits of his/her honest labour in the music industry. He explains that artistes have to spend their own money to produce music and get little or no returns on investment owing to lack of copyright laws.

He said that he was

forever thankful to all of those people who helped him throughout his musical career, particularly his family and the Shakti Strings family. He is ready to take the stage in the Mashramani 2019 Chutney Competition, where he intends to cement his place once again as KING! (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

42 TRAVEL & TOURISM

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he Amerindian community of Wakapoa is located in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam). It is home to over 3,000 natives and is about 35 miles by river from Charity, a small township.

Travelling to Wakapoa begins with an exciting speedboat ride from Charity down the Pomeroon River.

As the boat meanders its ways along the Pomeroon River, tourists can enjoy basking in the fresh, cool air while observing the breath-taking nature scenes. Then through bowing trees, about nine miles along the creek, Wakapoa appears. Upon ar-

WEEK ENDING JANUARY 20, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

rival, visitors are left in awe of the silk cotton tree, one of the Wakapoa’s landmarks, that stands majestically at the entrance of the village.

The community of Wakapoa is said to be made up of several islands on which the residents, who are of Carib, Warrau and Arawak ancestry, live. Most are farmers cultivating cassava, plantain, eddoes and coconuts to sell at the Pomeroon and Charity markets. (Photos compliments of Wakapoa Faceboon Page) (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine) Pure bliss

Sun setting over Wakapoa Village

About to take a plunge

Wakapoa Primary and Secondary schools

The FEVER Stone located at Moraro, Wakapoa it is believed that if one tries to move this stone he/she will come down with an unbearable fever

Wakapoa kids helping to 'scrape' cassava, one of the first stages in the process of making cassava bread.

WEEK ENDING JANUARY 20, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

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Picking the right leader for the job

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…for the job

he PPP elected their presidential candidate through a procedure they’ve had for exactly fifty years: having their 35-member Central Committee vote by secret ballot. Yet, from the squeals from some quarters you’d think General Secretary Jagdeo stuffed the ballot box like Burnham in 1973! No one could believe Irfaan Ali would trounce Anil Nandlall in a straight one-and-one faceoff.

But he did after all the other three candidates dropped out. Some had figured that he could only squeak in if the vote was splintered …but here it was he came through 24-11! Fact is, the overriding majority of the PPP’s CC had to’ve felt Irfaan was the better candidate at this juncture of our history.

And what’s this conjuncture? The PPP is a party that has explicitly defined itself as one dedicated to development to raise the standard of living of the poor in our massively underdeveloped Guyana. Secondly, that all parties agree that our model of development should be based on the free-market system and foreign direct investment should be encouraged to produce goods for the export market. And thirdly, with first oil scheduled for 2020, we finally will have the capital to build the infrastructure demanded to make an economy take off.

The point of all this, is Guyana needs at its head a Chief Executive who understands the mechanics of combining those factors to produce growth with development rather than the PNC talkers we’ve had between 1964 and 1992 and from 2015. They’re releasing a lot of hot air into the atmosphere about Irfaan not being “lettered”. With all due respect what did the lettered lawyer Burnham, the dentist Jagan and the historian General Granger do for Guyana’s actual development?

That’s not to say these gentlemen from Queen’s College didn’t WANT development – far from it. They slavered for development. But they didn’t have the background that cultivated the nous to pick sense from nonsense from the cornucopia of development models out there. Bharrat Jagdeo had the MOJO to save a devastated Guyana and set it on the virtuous path of growth. But Irfaan was allowed to go beyond that, standing on Jagdeo’s shoulders so to speak. Youthful as he is, he was given the oppor-tunity to actually put his party’s and his ideas on a critical aspect of human development – Housing and Water – to the test and he came through with flying colours.

And that’s what the members of the CC knew: what was needed to hit the ground running and get Guyana on a sustainable path of growth AT THIS JUNCTURE was someone with the specific skill set that Irfaan possesses. But it wasn’t just the CC who recognised that cometh the hour cometh the man. The people who spontaneously came out in their thousands in Irfaan’s native West Demerara knew, up close and personal, the measure of the man.

Unlike some other leaders. He didn’t move to the bright lights of Georgetown when he became a Minister – but remained with them.

For these and so many other reasons, Irfaan’s the man of the hour!

…against the PNC

One of the peculiarities of Guyanese politics is that Burnham imprinted on it a compulsion to seize power by any means necessary. Including violence.

As such, parties that oppose the PNC have to be prepared at all times for extreme PNC-inspired violence. Young Jagdeo was tested by the “mo fyaah, slow fyaah” strategy of PNC leader Desmond Hoyte. They never thought he would stand them down – which he did by 2008, when the last of the Buxton gang were eliminated.

With oil raising the ante, the PPP must have leaders at its helm who won’t flinch from the tough deci-sions that have to be made soon.

Irfaan has shown in his work that he’s not a pushover, but will stand up and be counted to do the right thing for his country –- whatever the forces arrayed against him.

Irfaan is a young man who will stand up.

…as co-pilot

Next up for the PPP is to select a prime ministerial candidate. What absolutely must be avoided is to pick someone like Moses Nagamootoo.

There’s only so much the Guyanese people can stomach!!

WEEK ENDING JANUARY 20, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

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WEEK ENDING JANUARY 20, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Suspects in executionstyle killing of taxi driver nabbed …while receiving treatment at hospital Dead: Kelvin Walters

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he two men who were wanted in connection with the execution-style killing of a taxi driver at Two Brothers Service Station, Eccles, East Bank Demerara (EBD) were nabbed while receiving treatment at a private city hospital. Guyana Times International was told that based on information received, Police swooped down on the private hospital where the men sought treatment.

According to Police, both men were being treated for injuries consistent with that of a motor vehicle accident.

One of the suspects is a 25-year-old resident of Albouystown, Georgetown. On Tuesday evening at about 19:30h chaos erupted on the East Bank of Demerara when two men who were on a motorcycle, rode up alongside Kelvin Walters, who was in his car, and shot the young

(Barbados Government Information Service)

F

father to his face. He was in the car with his wife and their five-year-old daughter.

Investigations revealed that the 35-yearold man was proceeding south along the eastern carriageway of the road in motorcar PXX 1509 with his wife and child and whilst in the vicinity of Two Brothers Service Station, Eccles, EBD, the men pounced on him.

After being shot, Walters slammed into the two men on the bike. The suspects fell onto the roadway but hurriedly got up and escaped on foot leaving behind the motorcycle and the weapon.

Walters, who is an exsoldier was pulled from his motorcar and rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Walters is said to be the main witness in a case which is expected to come up in the High Court shortly.

Berbice schoolgirl plunges out of moving car as driver tries to rape her

A

n East Canje, Berbice teenager is now nursing minor injuries after she allegedly plunged out of a moving car after the driver made sexual advances at her.

According to reports received, the girl boarded the taxi on Friday and sat in the front seat as she was heading home from school.

During the journey, the driver allegedly started sexually assaulting her. At the time, the driver had already dropped off the other passengers.

The sexual advanc-

Barbados bans single-use plastic

es continued against the teenager’s will. However, as the driver attempted to rip off her uniform, she reportedly opened the door and jumped out.

She sustained minor injuries as a result.

She was picked up by another driver and taken to the Reliance Police Station, where her parents were contacted.

The student was taken to the New Amsterdam Hospital to receive medical attention. The Police have launched a manhunt for the driver, who has since gone into hiding.

rom April 1, the importation, retail, sale and use of petro-based single use plastic (plastic made from petroleum) will no longer be allowed in Barbados.

Products such as single-use plastic cups; cutlery, including plastic knives, forks and spoons; stirrers; straws; plates; egg trays (both plastic and Styrofoam), and Styrofoam containers used in the culinary retail industry will be banned from that date.

In a joint press conference yesterday, Minister of Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy, Kirk Humphrey, and Minister of the Environment and National Beautification, Trevor Prescod, announced the ban, and its parameters.

Humphrey explained that with effect from January 1, 2020, there would be a ban on all petro-based plastic bags, with the exception of those used for the packaging of pharmaceuticals/medicines, hygiene and the preservation of food.

In addition, a moratorium has been extended on the use of tetra pack straws, while poultry producers have been given more time to find alternatives to the Styrofoam trays used to package chickens.

“Barbados has to be a value driven country. We have large expectations for ourselves. We have said that we want to be fossil fuel free by 2030. We want to have a renewable platform. We want to be a country that when we speak to the world we speak as an envi-

Minister of Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy, Kirk Humphrey

ronmentally friendly country and destination. “[Therefore] these are the things that we must do if our words and our actions are to be aligned and so, we have made ourselves clear as to where we stand on single use plastic,” Humphrey said.

Speaking at the Ministry’s Charnocks, Christ Church office, he said the decision came after months of consultation with stakeholders, including plastic bag manufacturers, persons in the poultry industry, the Barbados Manufacturers’ Association, the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Customs Department, and importers. He explained that the ban on petrobased plastic bags was extended until 2020, to allow manufacturers to come up with alternative ways of making plastic bags from

a bio-based material that was environmentally healthy and friendly.

“We do not wish to come to an established industry that employs Barbadians and deprive them of opportunity, but we also know that the cost of continuing to use these things in Barbados will outweigh any potential benefits,” he said.

Meanwhile, Prescod stated that plastic bottles used in the production of juices would not be subjected to the ban. He added that the required legislation needed to be in place to allow consumers to take the bottles back to the suppliers to be part of a recycling process. There are a number of alternatives to the petro-based single-use plastics available, some of which are made from paper, sugarcane and bagasse.

Trinidad: Five bullets for Sheldon Sukhdeo (Trinidad Express)

T

he decomposed body found in a forested area at Las Lomas on Tuesday has been identified as kidnapped businessman Sheldon Sukhdeo.

Relatives confirmed Sukhdeo’s identity at the Forensic Science Centre in St James yesterday.

Speaking at the weekly police briefing, police public information officer Inspector Wayne Mystar, said an autopsy found that Sukhdeo had been dead for five days.

The body bore five gunshot wounds.

The body was found with hands bound and the head wrapped in duct tape.

Police said the clothing was similar to that Sukhdeo was wearing when he was reported missing. And there was a tattoo on the man’s forearm with the word “Sheldon”.

Sukhdeo, the brother of murdered real estate and used car dealer Sheron Sukhdeo, was kidnapped at around 4.10am on December 16.

He was driving his white BMW X5 vehicle along the Solomon Hochoy Highway when he was stopped by a black SUV near the Gasparillo overpass.

Police said Sukhdeo was ordered out of the vehicle at gunpoint and taken away.

Three Venezuelans who were in his vehicle at the time were interviewed by police. A $2 million ransom was demanded for his safe release.

Sheldon Sukhdeo

47

WEEK ENDING JANUARY 20, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

New Beginnings… W

A

…with PPP

fter a year of fervent speculation – more by forces outside the PPP than inside! – after the CCJ determined third terms weren’t in sync with our Constitution, the PPP has elected the individual who will carry its presidential standard in the next elections. Which, the Constitution insists, should be three months hence!! That individual is the youthful Irfaan Ali, who’s been in the Party all his life, starting with the PYO. In more ways than one, this is a new beginning for the PPP in that Irfaan will be the first leader who wasn’t personally groomed by the Jagans. Some may see this as a defect, but your Eyewitness sees it as a plus! The world has moved quite some distance, even after the Berlin Wall fell – signifying the jettisoning of the end of the “east-west” Cold War and all that meant for the Jagans. Irfaan would’ve grown up in sync not only with the leap in technology and connectivity which has generated a paradigm shift in politicking, but with the new globalised world that has emerged after the financial crash of 2008.

As expected, even before the PPP had made its choice, the guns were out for Irfaan – but as your Eyewitness signalled, this was because they saw him as their most formidable opponent. It was rather pathetic that their point of attack was on the young man’s “certificates” – but it betrays that they’re still stuck in the 19th Century and the 21st Century has passed them by. What’s with this fetish about certificates?? Did Bill Gates graduate from college?

Burnham did have a London LLB and mimicked a British accent after spending only five years in London – and Lord did his supporters lap it up!! So much for being anti-colonial!!

Anyhow what did Burnham do with his certificate?? Destroy Guyana by every single measure, that’s what!! His slogan was “House, feed and clothe the nation”. But by the time he died, we were homeless, hungry and naked!! When Irfaan was chosen as Minister of Housing and Water, there were many who scoffed, just as some are doing again. But Irfaan launched a revolution in housing, by distributing the largest number of houselots to citizens not only in Guyana, but in the entire Caribbean. Plus turnkey houses!

Same with water…so much potable water was delivered directly to Guyanese that youngsters would want to know what you’re talking about if you complain about “fetching” water!!

Now, don’t get your Eyewitness wrong – he’s sure Irfaan isn’t perfect. But then only God is!! But if we go by his record, he has a good chance to prove his critics wrong.

Once again! …with ANUG Just as with Irfaan, there are many who scoffed at the principals who launched “A New And United Guyana”. And it wasn’t just about their party’s name and their “mango pelter” phone logo!!

The complaint was that the fellas had TOO MANY certificates and not enough experience on the ground because of the life those with all these certificates are supposed to live!! This just goes to show that you can’t please everyone – so you might as well please yourself!

But your Eyewitness agrees with the criticisms in one (obvious) regard – the absence of even a single woman on the dais! C’mon fellas, in this day and age of gender equality, surely you’re going to have some problems convincing HALF of our electorate that you understand their perspective. Remember as Brother Bob says, only those who feels it knows it!! And for sure this criticism rings true about the similar absence of the “small man”, who, some had hoped, would one day become the real man!!

Anyhow, there are still three months to go…fill those lacunae! …on national security?

The Police Commish cited “national security” for clamming up on a host of pertinent issues in the probe of Charrandas, after his boss, the Public Security Minister snitched on his ex-MP! But the Minister clearly didn’t share the same concerns as he freely spilled his guts to the press!!

By Ravi Dev

ith elections in the air – this time by the shock no-confidence vote – the ethnic sentiments that act like magnets to polarise the populace have returned with a vengeance.

Coterminous with the introduction of modern electoral politics in 1953, voting became increasingly influenced by ethnicity. By the 1960s, it was not a coincidence that elections became ethnic censuses.

One of the dilemmas of democracy in Guyana under our Westminster majoritarian/plurality rules is how to manage this now reflexive formation of ethnic “factions” to preclude real or perceived tyrannies of a winning majority group/faction.

After the Indian-dominated PPP’s massive victory in 1961, the then minority African/Coloured section had to deal with the possibility of being forever excluded from the Executive. This was the “African Ethnic Security Dilemma” in Guyana: if they played by the rules of democracy, they would be excluded from the Executive.

Democracy also presumes that the State will be managed for all the citizens of the country: the managers should be servants of the people.

Hegel called them the “universal class”. If the staffing of the institutions of the state is controlled by any one “faction”, this presents another dilemma for democracy. Usually, the majority faction controls the Executive and the organs of state – and in fact this is what could produce the “tyranny of the majority”.

However, if there are circumstances in which a minority has control of the state institutions, especially if these include the Armed Forces, the Civil Service and the Judiciary, then the will of the majority can also be denied, since the minority would calculate that they have the wherewithal to challenge the majority without state sanctions.

This was the situation in Guyana where the minority African section is vastly overrepresented in the key state institutions mentioned,

especially in the Armed Forces. As predicted by us in 1993, because of this historically extant structural condition, the PNC and African Guyanese resisted their exclusion by parliamentary (1992-1997) and violent extra-parliamentary means – including armed rebellion – between 1998-2008. PNC leader Desmond Hoyte’s “kith and kin” call after losing the 1997 elections brutally exposed the “Indian Ethnic Security Dilemma”: even though they were the majority and under the Westminster system could form the Executive after “free-and-fair” elections, that Executive could not guarantee stability, especially for their supporters. Before taking any policy decision, the PPP – under the “Principle of Anticipated Reactions” – always had to consider whether the opposition would initiate violence, under cover of their control of State institutions. At the same time, their Indian supporters are under an omnipresent fear of being physically attacked, whenever the question of national power is contested, as at present. The fear was realised between 1998 and 2008 in a wave of politically inspired attacks on the state and Indian Guyanese citizens.

Sustained post-1980 migration

of Indian Guyanese, exceeding that of African Guyanese, deepened the India Security Dilemma. The former’s numerical advantage was lost by 2000, with the 2012 census showing them dropping to 39.8%; African Guyanese 29.2%; Amerindian 10.5% and “Mixed” – which generally voted with African Guyanese – rising to 19.9%. The results of the 2015 elections confirmed the African Security Dilemma has been resolved, with the African/Mixed populations now 50% of the electorate. For insurance, the Government is wooing the Amerindian population with the politics of patronage and is consequently very worried about Schuman’s new party.

The Indian Ethnic Security Dilemma, therefore, has now been exacerbated into a straight-out certain oppression of them as a minority group by a Government that combines the “authority” of electoral office with the “power” of support by the Police, Army and the Civil Service. Even though the PPP was in office for 23 years and a Disciplined Forces Commission (DFC) – following the armed uprising against the state – recommended in 2004 that recruitment for the Disciplined Forces be structured to ensure its composition more broadly reflects the composition of the country – this was never implemented.

Instead, the present PNC-led Coalition Government has moved to increase the numbers in the Disciplined Forces – including reintroducing a 1500-staffed Peoples Militia – with new recruits remain overwhelmingly drawn from the African Guyanese community, even though now President David Granger was a member of the DFC that recommended ethnic representativeness.

The strident rhetoric by PNC leaders of a “coup d’état”, bribery; corruption and murder and racism by the PPP is a narrative for retaining power by any means necessary.

The oil funds add another powerful incentive.

Trinidad not getting involved in Venezuela’s turmoil N (Trinidad Guardian)

a­tion­al Se­cu­ri­ ty Min­is­ter Stu­ art Young says Trinidad and To­ba­go will not get in­ volved in the cur­rent po­lit­i­cal tur­moil in Venezuela and says he has no in­for­ma­tion of a “coup” in the coun­try.

His re­ sponse came dur­ ing a news con­ fer­ ence to­day af­ter US pres­ i­dent Don­ald Trump an­ nounced that the US now recog­nis­es Venezuela’s Op­po­si­tion Leader Juan Guai­ do as the coun­ try’s in­ter­im pres­i­dent.

Guai­ do swore him­ self in as pres­ id ­ent on Wednes­day.

Young was asked for a re­sponse on the sit­u­a­ tion.

National Security Minister Stuart Young

“At the end of the day, sov­er­eign states should re­spect sov­er­eign states, and that re­mains

Trinidad and To­ba­go’s po­si­tion,” he said.

As for Trump’s recog­ ni­tion of the op­po­si­tion

leader, Young replied: “That’s his pre­rog­a­tive.

He can say what­ev­er he wants. At the end of the day, as far as I am aware, Venezuela is a sov­er­eign coun­try.”

He said that to­ day, while there are mas­sive an­ti-gov­ern­ment pro­ tests across the coun­ try, the gov­ ern­ ment of Venezuela con­tact­ed him on an­oth­er mat­ter.

“I cer­tain­ly would not wish for any coun­try to have a coup,” Young said.

“We stand ready to as­sist in what­ev­er way we can, but we cer­tain­ly don’t think that one gov­ ern­ ment call­ ing for an­ oth­er gov­ern­ment to fall is the right thing,” Young said.

48 Bollywood

When Anupam Kher met ‘mutual admirer’ Jimmy Fallon

A

nupam Kher on Wednesday met Jimmy Fallon and the veteran actor said it was a pleasure getting together with the TV host.

Kher, who is currently in the city shooting for medical drama “New Amsterdam”, posted a picture with the late-night talk show presenter on Twitter.

The veteran actor also said the duo shared mutual admiration for each other’s work.

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WEEK ENDING JANUARY 20, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

“When you meet someone whose work you admire says he is a fan of your work, it is a wonderful and a humbling feeling.

“Thank you dear @jimmyfallon for your warmth, appreciation and generosity. It was a pleasure meeting and chatting with you,” he wrote.

Kher was last seen in Bollywood film The Accidental Prime Minister.

(Indian Express)

ami Gautam says Uri: The Surgical Strike was able to engage the audiences through emotions as she believes heavy dialogues and sloganeering are not needed to generate the feeling of patriotism.

The film, written and directed by Aditya Dhar, has been declared the first blockbuster of 2019. It recently crossed the Rs 100 crore-mark at the box office.

Yami, who plays an intelligence officer in the film, says the movie’s backbone was the Indian Army but it was driven by strong sentiments.

“The subject was something which was real and was driven by emotions. It’s definitely a missionbased film but it is backed with strong emotions. The core of it was patriotism and the Army. And it was really something that was there in the script,” she said.

Asked about the film’s subtle take on nationalism, Yami says it was all in the sublayering and credited Dhar for the execution.

“I don’t think you need to portray your sentiments or love for the country in words. That is why good writing is essential because not everything is vocal or in words. It’s present in the sublayering,” she says.

“The emotion is there which you can feel. It might not be said in words but the way everything is synchronised and the way entire story is fused together, so you can still feel it throughout the film. That is the beauty of Uri,” she adds.

The actor says she has immense gratitude for the film’s run at the box office.

“There is a lot of gratitude, especially when you know that the entire team has worked so hard and has a belief in one person and his vision. We all shared the responsibilities and the sentiments with which he (Dhar) wanted to make a film.

“Audiences have not only loved the film but also embraced it.

It is really overwhelming,” she

F

ormer Miss Universe and actor Sushmita Sen has said she was waiting for the right script to make her comeback and might even don the cap of a film producer in the near future.

The style icon, who walked the ramp here for designer Ashish N Soni, also said that she felt more comfortable directly interacting with her audience as a professional model than facing the camera in films.

“Since my days as a girl, I have been doing fashion shows. I always feel at home in events where I can have live interactions with audience,” she told reporters here recently.

Asked if she had plans to take up film projects any time soon, Sen, who has acted in top grossers like Sirf Tum (1999), Biwi No 1 (1999) and Main Hoon Na (2004) said, “I have to wait for the right thing.”

“I was very close to being a part of a film, which finally did not happen, not because of me though. Let’s see, God has better plans.

Sen also said that

says.

Prior to its release, the film, which also features Vicky Kaushal and Paresh Rawal, was labelled a “propaganda film” by many on social media, which Yami says was “disappointing”.

“At a personal level, I don’t really bother about the negativity. I don’t think about it. It was disappointing… (But) it was a very small section which had some opinion and (I think) everybody has a right to express what they think.”

The actor says the film was about celebrating the Indian Army.

“The kind of things they do for us and stand selflessly like a wall of steel for us. To make sure that all of us work, without a fear of being under any threat, that is all possible because of the Army. You can question anything but you can’t question them,” she says.

Yami says the intention of Uri was to restore the feeling of patriotism among the country’s youth.

“If at all, the film had any propaganda, it was only to instill or rather to re-instill the feeling of patriotism, the valour of Indian Army and to connect.

People saw the positive side which is to connect the current generation with the Indian Army.

“Our jawans are the real heroes of the country but there are not many films that are made about them. This film was a humble tribute to them,” she says.

Post Uri, the actor’s reasons for signing a film remains the same: to play a character with purpose.

“The intention with which I signed Uri will be the intention behind my next too which is to do something diverse and feel new.

A film which has a story to tell and to work with a good filmmaker. To work with a good team and do work which will help me explore my talent. I am hungry for very good, powerful and substantial roles.

“That doesn’t mean the strength comes only when it is measured in the number of lines you have. Your role must have a sense of purpose or something substantial to do in the story. This is what I am looking forward to in my next,” she concludes. (Indian Express)

she might make films when the time is right, but would not want to mix the two professions of acting and production.

What is going on right now in Bollywood is amazing. I can produce a film when the time is right even though I may not act in it,” the 43-year-old diva said.

Talking about fashion, Sen said she was fascinated with the experimentation done by the new breed of designers, most of them students of fashion institute.

More than what a girl wears, her happy and confident look should be taken into account, she added.

(Indian Express)

When Sonam Kapoor met Mindy Kaling S

onam Kapoor, who is currently in the US, met Mindy Kaling and the actor could not contain her excitement.

The 33-year-old actor attended a Lakers game at the Staples

ture.

Sonam’s cousin and actor Arjun Kapoor commented on the post, saying, “I wanna be @ mindykaling she’s the best.”

Mindy also posted about her chance en-

Center with husband businessman Anand Ahuja on Tuesday where she bumped into the Hollywood star.

“So last night at the game I got to meet and hang out with one of the coolest people I’ve ever met @mindykaling she’s impossibly sweet, funny and smart. Also thanks @anandahuja for taking multiple pictures of us!” Sonam wrote on Instagram and also shared a pic-

counter with Sonam on Twitter.

“Had the best time meeting the gorgeous and hilarious @sonamakapoor and her husband @anandahuja at the game last night,” she wrote.

Sonam will be next seen in Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, which is set to release on February 1.

Kaling was last seen in Ocean’s 8. (Indian Express)

WEEK ENDING JANUARY 20, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

HOLLYWOOD 49

James McAvoy lauds dedication of Dwayne Johnson, Chris Hemsworth and Hugh Jackman

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T

he nominations for the 91st Academy Awards were announced on Tuesday. Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma and Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite leads the nominations with 10 nods each. Other movies that were expected to score big like A Star is Born and Black Panther did just that.

But like every year, there were a few surprises and snubs this time around as well. Here, we list a few: No female directors: It is 2019. And The Academy chose to not acknowledge a single female filmmaker in the Best Director category.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: Sure, the best Spider-Man film ever and one of the best superhero films ever made did get a nomination in the best animated feature category, but was it just a good animated film? It also had astounding, inventive visuals, a phenomenal script and a thumping, extremely hummable soundtrack (both score and original). There was innovation and a love for the character in every aspect of the film. And to top it all, it was a damn good time at the movies.

Bradley Cooper: Cooper gave his all to A Star is Born, and it showed.

The film felt as personal as Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma with all its perfections and imperfections. He produced, directed and starred in it. And if that weren’t enough, he sang in it too, with surprisingly good results. If not anything else, he deserved a nomination for the best director.

Ryan Coogler: Black Panther, with seven nominations, may augur a brighter future for superhero films at the Oscars but its director himself was criminally ignored by the Academy. We think the man, who shattered the most

pernicious myth of Hollywood that coloured casts do not sell movies (Black Panther earned more than Avengers: Infinity War at the US box office), deserved better.

Michae B Jordan: In Black Panther, Jordan played the role of one of the best villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. At times, thanks to great writing and Jordan’s performance, it felt easier to sympathise with Erik Killmonger than the titular hero.

Jordan played the role with a lot of charisma and passion, and his performance was adored by critics. He should have earned a best supporting actor nomination.

Peter Farrelly: Green Book director Peter Farrelly was not nominated in the Best Director category, though his film got five nominations — including best original screenplay and best picture.

Timothée Chalamet: Chalamet could not garner another Best Actor nomination. His performance in Beautiful Boy was praised almost universally, even as the movie itself did not get much traction with critics and audiences.

Crazy Rich Asians: Another culturally important movie like Black Panther, Crazy Rich Asians, which also broke several box office records, was missing from the Oscar nominations.

Emily Blunt: Blunt probably deserved two nominations this year — in the Best Supporting Actress category for A Quiet Place and in the Best Actress category for Mary Poppins Returns. She was snubbed in both.

(Indian Express)

Ryan Reynolds cancels surgery to promote Deadpool 2 in China

R

yan Reynolds cancelled his arm surgery to fly to China for Deadpool 2 promotions, ahead of the franchise’s surprise theatrical debut in the country.

The 42-year-old star had injured his left arm shooting the film and was scheduled to have surgery in New York on Sunday, but skipped the appointment.

Last week, Fox announced that a re-cut, PG-13 Deadpool 2 would hit Chinese screens on this Friday. This was the first time the franchise has passed the country’s stringent censorship rules.

According to Variety, Reynolds told his fans in Beijing that he was not going to let the surgery interfere with his “dream” to visit China.

“It’s been a dream of mine for years to bring ‘Deadpool’ to China and Chinese audiences, so for me this is, uh, heaven on earth.

“This was more important (than the operation). I was not going to miss coming to China,” the actor said.

Reynolds, true to his wry humour self, said he believed he may have heard the moniker somewhere else before.

He also went on to jokingly propose the new nickname as the title of the next Deadpool sequel.

Last year, the PG-13 version of Deadpool 2 was released in the US as a Christmas special titled, Once Upon A Deadpool. (Indian Express)

ames McAvoy has given a shout-out to Hollywood action heroes such as Dwayne Johnson, Hugh Jackman and Chris Hemsworth for their dedication towards gruelling workout regimes.

The actor, whose last release was Glass in which he reprised his role of multiplepersonality sufferer Kevin Wendell Crumb, hired Magnus Lygdback as personal trainer to achieve the required physique.

Lygdback has trained Gal Gadot for Wonder Woman 1984 and Alicia Vikander for Tomb Raider.

“I was like, ‘OK. I’m going to have my shirt off, aren’t I?’ And (Shyamalan) was like, ‘Yep.’ “Guys like The Rock and Hugh Jackman and Chris Hemsworth – the guys who keep themselves in that condition every day. That dedication is incredible,” McAvoy told USA Today.

One of Kevin’s split personalities is

V

in Diesel has invited casting suggestions for the next xXx movie from his fans on social media.

The actor, who headlines the action film franchise, teased his Instagram followers about the plans for xXx 4 by asking them to help him choose the cast.

On January 20, Diesel shared a photograph of himself alongside Deepika Padukone, who played Serena Unger in xXx: Return of Xander Cage.

“Heading into a xXx meeting this weekend…

Who would you like to see added to the xXx League?” he captioned the post.

Names such as Jason Momoa and Tom Hardy ruled the list of suggestions.

the Beast, the dark, animal-like persona which required him to be in shape.

“I knew I had to get down in the gym and kind of back up his name. I had to give a little bit of aesthetic credibility to that fear that he’s supposed to inspire in people. You’re in every day working your socks off (acting), and you’re also in the gym at five in the morning and then pretty much working out on set whenever you are the Beast to get you all pumped up and get your veins popping and get the relevant muscles swollen for the shot,” McAvoy said.

“He’s not like a supervillain in most movies who is like, ‘I look like I’ve got a six pack and I’m going to destroy the world!’ He is not a megalomaniacal, despotic human. He is alien. He is animal. He is other than human. Just standing still as the Beast was tiring in a way that no other character is,” he added. (Indian Express)

Some fans rooted for Diesel’s costars from the Fast and Furious franchise – Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham and Idris Elba. The troika will feature in the spin-off movie Hobbs & Shaw later this year.

Chris Hemsworth, Dave Bautista, Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon also received a mention or two.

Padukone, who made her Hollywood foray with the third installment of the series in 2017, will return for the fourth part, director DJ Caruso had confirmed last year.

Taiwanese actor-pop star Jay Chou and Chinese actors Zoe Zhang and Roy Wang are also part of the new project. (Indian Express)

50 SPORT

WEEK ENDING JANUARY 20, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Magnum Mash Cup to kick off February 2 …organisers appeal for rethink of GFF sanction

T

Director of Sport, Christopher Jones and Sansports’ Esan Griffith pose with this year’s championship trophy in the company of Magnum officials and players

he doors of the National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue will once again open to futsal action in the coming weeks as ANSA McAL, under its Magnum brand, prepares to host the second edition of the Magnum Mash Cup. The indoor tournament, which had a blistering first year in 2018, is being organised by Sansports with the help of the National Sports Commission (NSC) among other sponsors.

The Mash Cup action will feature 32 teams from Georgetown, East Bank, East Coast, West Bank and Linden over nine nights of nail-biting football.

Speaking on behalf of Sansports, organiser Esan Griffith highlighted the importance of support for those teams that are drawn out of

communities. Notably, the organiser spoke to the issues that the tournament faced in its first year, promising spectators that security was of utmost priority.

“As promoters, we want to assure that security will be the top of our priority during this tournament, so leave your guns, knives among other things and bring your rags, horns, and flags to shout for your team as the tournament progresses,” Griffith declared.

But the organiser was not done, as he made an appeal to the President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) to grant elite players the opportunity to play in the tournament.

“We want to make a public appeal to Mr [Wayne] Forde, president of GFF to rethink his position and to allow

the players to come on board, so that each community could have their best team during this competition,” Griffith

stated.

In 2018, the GFF had placed a sanction on all elite league players, barring them from

participating in futsal and street football tournaments that were not “sanctioned under the auspices of the Elite League”.

On a lighter note, Director of Sport, Christopher Jones brought a lot of positives to the party, firstly by emphasising the need for young people (players) to see some amount of hope and commitment on the part of everyone involved, to see development in sport.

“We would like to stress the importance of young people being involved in sporting activities and that is why through investment from the Government, we will continue to make facilities available to them so that they can practice,” the Director of Sport stated, before going on to hail ANSA McAL for its continued involvement in sport.

Aside from providing the first-place trophy for the Magnum Mash Cup, the Director of Sport made the bold announcement that the NSC would be adding to the prize monies. The firstplace winner would have pocketed G$500,000, but they will now receive $600,000. The secondand third-place prizes which were G$250,000 and G$100,000 have now been increased to $350,000 and $200,000.

The Magnum Mash Cup will kick off on Saturday, February 2, with game days being February 5, 9, 13, 16, 19, 21, and 24. The finals will be staged on March 2.

Aside from the NSC and the primary sponsors, the tournament has seen support from Trophy Stall, Insurance Brokers, and Beacon Café.

The team from Bent Street were the ones to emerge victorious in the first edition of the Magnum Mash Cup in 2018

Kohli rested for last two New Zealand ODIs

I

ndia captain Virat Kohli will not play the last two ODIs of the New Zealand series, and the T20s that follow; he has been rested for those games, the BCCI said on Wednesday.

Rohit Sharma will captain India in his absence.

No replacement player has been named for Kohli.

This will be the first time this decade India will be playing an ODI outside Asia (excluding Zimbabwe) without Kohli. However, the decision to rest Kohli should come as no surprise since

the selectors and the Indian team management have stressed in the last year the need to manage workloads of key players, to keep them fit for the World Cup which will be played in England from May 30. In March 2018, Kohli had skipped the Nidhas Trophy T20 series in Sri Lanka, he sat out the oneoff Test against Afghanistan in June, and then took time off during the Asia Cup. Strike bowl-

er Jasprit Bumrah had also been rested for the limitedovers legs of the Australian and New Zealand series.

In a media release, the BCCI said that Kohli would be back for limitedovers series at home against Australia in March. "Considering his workload in the last few months, the team management and senior selection committee is of the view that it would be ideal for him to get adequate rest ahead of the home series against Australia," the BCCI release said. (ESPNCricinfo)

WEEK ENDING JANUARY 20, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

SPORT 51

Andre Russell replaces Bolt gives up Steven Smith in football dream, eyes injured Multan Sultans squad business ventures Andre Russell

Usain Bolt

W

M

ultan Sultans have signed the West Indies allrounder Andre Russell in place of the injured Steven Smith for the 2018-19 PSL season. Other notable moves at the PSL replacement draft on Thursday include Lahore Qalandars bringing in the South African pair of Hardus Viljoen and David Wiese to cover for the partial availability of AB de Villiers, Carlos Brathwaite and Corey Anderson through the season.

Smith, who is presently serving a one-year ban from Australian international and domestic cricket for his role in the Newlands ball-tampering scandal, was the second player picked at the PSL draft. His participation in the tournament, however, was ruled out when he suffered an elbow injury during the BPL, which was found to require surgery. This setback leaves him unlikely to resume his international career as soon as his ban ends at the end of March.

Apart from Russell, Multan also picked up James Vince as a replacement for his fellow England batsman Joe Denly, who will miss the PSL after being picked in the ODI squad for the tour of the West Indies.

"We had to deal with the double blow of losing out on Steve Smith and Joe Denly, but we are delighted that we have been able to bring in Andre Russell and James Vince," Multan fter many years of serving slate in the position of President, Sultans captain Shoaib Malik said.

Guyana’s basketball fraterAlex Graham, Lawrence "Russell is one of the best T20 cricketnity, stalwart Michael Singh Simon and Kenrick Thomas have been slotted in as Vice has been touted to take the reins President, Patrick Haynes of the Guyana Amateur Basketball as General Secretary, Federation from outgoing President Nigel Hinds.

Gavin Singh as With the GABF’s Annual Treasurer and Andrew Hercules General Meeting closely apas Technical proaching, many in the fraCoordinator. ternity have speculated about Affiliate the new leadership that the Federation is expected to see.

Members of the uyanese Esuan Crandon has Outgoing President Hinds, Federation are joined two other skilled proafter registering many successeligible to vote; fessionals as they complete these include the West Indian assistant coach poes in the premier position, announced that 2018 would be his basketball as- sitions. To this end, the Guyanese sociations from along with his counterparts are excitlast year as President.

The announcement came at a Bartica, Berbice, ed about working with the team and Road to Mecca media engagement, G e o r g e t o w n , are optimistic about their chances.

Linden and at which Hinds also promised that Serving alongside Crandon in the Michael Singh has been G u y a n a position of Assistant Coach are West with the assistance of Singh, the a part of the basketball tournament would carry on when fraternity for countless years B a s k e t b a l l Indies allrounder Vasbert Drakes and he was no longer President even if Officials Council, former Middlesex and Sussex batsit was to be hosted privately. This an- Women’s Basketball Association, man Toby Radford, in a trio that will nouncement gave the first inkling that Georgetown Masters and GT Pioneers. have their first stint as a team in a Singh would be the one to take up the Each affiliate will be afforded two votes matter of days. mantle from Hinds. for each of the elected positions.

Crandon who led the Guyana However, the position of President Having a well-oiled machine is criti- Jaguars to four consecutive four-day from 2019 onwards was still left open cal for the GABF since the Federation titles, in a statement expressed his is preparing to send a team to the determination to see the side succeed. to a number of potential leaders.

As the time to the deciding day FIBA Americas qualifying tournament.

“I am passionate about the game drew closer, another development was This tournament will lead the way of cricket and a true supporter of West revealed. According to a recent re- for the FIBA Americas Championship Indies cricket, so ultimately I want to lease from the Federation, former Vice in 2021. The Federation will host its make a contribution to the game in President Singh was leading a ‘slate’ of Annual General Meeting on Saturday, the region and see the players perpotential executives.

December 26 from 13:00h. form at their best. I’m here to do what While Singh has been listed on the is required to help the team succeed …

ith the idea of becoming a professional footballer appearing a pipe dream, Jamaica's retired track superstar Usain Bolt says he is placing greater emphasis on cultivating business ventures.

During a press conference on Monday, Bolt committed $1 million support to Special Olympics Jamaica ahead of their participation at the World Games in United Arab Emirates in March, only the latest in a string of charity work undertaken by his foundation.

“Sports life is over so I'm moving into different businesses,” the 32-yearold told journalists in reference to life since retiring in 2017.

Inevitably, the 100-metre (9.58 seconds) and 200m (19.19) world record holder was questioned whether he has given up the pursuit of transitioning to a football career — a move he often spoke about, even before his athletics retirement, but one that seemingly went down the drain for good last year.

Though not providing detail, he admitted that the process could have

been managed differently.

“I don't want to say it wasn't dealt with properly, but I think we didn't go about it the way we should [have],” said Bolt, widely accepted as the greatest ever sprinter.

“We learned a lesson — you live and you learn, but for me it was a good experience. I really enjoyed it, just being in a team. It was much, much different from track and field,” he added.

Bolt had trained with multiple football clubs, with German Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund the biggest among them. His greatest opportunity came with Australia's A-League outfit Central Coast Mariners.

But that deal failed, with the multiple Olympic Games champion reportedly turning down the Mariners' contract offer.

The Mariners had announced that, despite having been in discussions with potential commercial partners to help fund the deal, the club and Bolt had agreed one would not be struck.

(Jamaica Observer)

Michael Singh tipped to take the reins of GABF

A

ers in the world and we are confident that he will bring his match-winning instinct to our dressing room this season.

"Vince is a player we have kept our eyes on for a while now. We have picked him based on his consistent performances and we are very excited to see what he can do for Multan Sultans."

Waqar Salamkheil, the Afghanistan left-arm seamer, has pulled out of the PSL due to a clash with Afghanistan's tour of Ireland. Peshawar Zalmi have picked the West Indies batsman Andre Fletcher, whom they had released last year, as his replacement. Quetta Gladiators, meanwhile, have picked Dwayne Smith to cover for Dwayne Bravo, who will not be able to join them before February 27.

"Smith brings a wealth of experience with him and will be extremely valuable for us in the top-order in the UAE leg of HBL PSL 2019," said Quetta coach Moin Khan.

During the replacement draft, all six teams were also given the option of picking their 21st player from Pakistan.

Lahore snapped up the middle-order batsman Saad Ali, while Multan went for the allrounder Hammad Azam. Quetta and Karachi Kings went for Mohammad Irfan Jr. and Umer Khan respectively. Islamabad United and Peshawar did not submit their picks, but the PCB has confirmed both teams will name their player later.

(ESPNCricinfo)

Guyanese Esaun Crandon optimistic about Windies coaching stint

G

Esuan Crandon

that’s what I enjoy doing, coaching and helping others.” Crandon said.

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Road to 2020 Under-19 Cricket World Cup…

Windies Under-19 preparations continue in Guyana – CWI Regional Under-19 tournament to be hosted in Guyana

By Brandon Corlette

T

he Cricket West Indies (CWI) Under-19 Coach, Graeme West is presently in Guyana to continue the numerous programmes for the 2020 Under-19 Cricket World Cup, which will be held in South Africa. West is presently involved in a three-day assessment camp with the Guyanese players who were selected to the Windies Under-19 training camp. Kevlon Anderson, Ashmead Nedd, Sachin Singh and Kelvin Umroa are the selectees, who are currently involved in the three-day programme.

The three-day program that focuses on cricket skills and fitness will conclude today (Thursday), January 24, 2019, at the Everest Cricket Club. The 20man Under-19 squad made their first appearance in a training camp in Antigua, December last.

West is on the verge

Under-19 Coach Graeme West with players and local coaches Wednesday at Everest

of visiting Jamaica, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago to interact with the Windies Under-19 players and the local coaches.

West told this publication that the 20-man squad selected may not be the final squad since CWI Regional Under-19 tournament is scheduled to play in July-August 2019 in Guyana, which will feature the three-

day format and the 50over format.

“If a player performs outstanding in this tournament that is outside of the 20-man squad, there is every chance of him gaining selection for the Under-19 Cricket World Cup final squad,” West told this reporter.

The visits to the various countries will greatly assist West, since he will be spending more

time with the players.

These players were selected from the 2018 Regional Under-19 tournament that occurred in St Vincent.

West is an Englishman, who joined the West Indies coaching team since 2012 and has guided the Shimron Hetmyer-led West Indies team to a World Cup title in Bangladesh, early 2016. The confident

Englishman is seeking the perfect preparation for the International Cricket Council (ICC) Under-19 World Cup that is slated for January and February 2020 in South Africa.

CWI has taken this initiative to introduce the Caribbean Under-19 players the High Performance syllabus that will educate the youngsters. The 20-man

squad that is currently selected and includes four Guyanese consists of players that represented the Caribbean in the previous ICC Under-19 World Cup that took place in New Zealand.

These players are opening batsman Kimani Melius, fast-bowling allrounder Nyeem Young and left-arm Guyanese spinner Ashmead Nedd.

Police, GFC seal final spots in Stag Revival Cup A wave of excitement will wash over the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) Ground, Bourda on Sunday as the Stag Beer Revival Cup final is staged with the GFC team doing battle to snatch the inaugural title on home turf.

The final game of the Georgetown Football Association (GFA)organised tournament will no doubt be an exhilarating final encounter after it was perfectly scripted on Sunday last.

The boys from the Guyana Police Force (GPF) football team were the first to stamp their names on one of two final slots after they edged past newcomers GT Panthers in an encounter that almost went

Just under three months ago, Police won the Limacol Football Tournament

ute, thus giving the law officers the lead in the

Deon Rodney

down to the wire.

Frontrunner Steffon Ramsey was the first to score in the 37th min-

first half. In usual fashion, Police commanded the lead, working overtime on their defence to restrict their opponents

for the rest of the half.

However, GT Panthers could only be held at bay for so long.

In the 57th minute of the encounter, Sherral Daniels finally pierced the goal, after a number of wayward attempts on his team’s behalf, to level the scores. Both teams went back and forth for some time before Deon Rodney played hero for the law officers. Rodney connected with the goal in the 70th minute, handing Police their second and winning goal.

The other game of the night was also one to watch, with enough

thrills to keep the vocal crowd on the edge of their seats. The contest between Fruta Conquerors and GFC held many uncertain moments, as two of the best Georgetown teams fought hard to advance to the final.

Fruta Conquerors were the first team up, following Dellon Williams’ goal in the 35th minute. Their celebration and relaxation were short-lived when GFC made a resounding reply just three minutes later with a goal off the boots of LaVaughn Enniss.

With the scores

locked at 1-1, the fans were treated to a superb display of wit and skill, as both sides were determined to advance to the final. In an anti-climax before regulation time expired, Williams of Fruta Conquerors was handed an opportunity to score in the form of a penalty in the 85th minute. To his team’s dismay, Williams shot wide of the goal, squandering the opportunity.

The contest eventually went down to penalties, where GFC proved to be the better of the two with three goals successfully connect-

ed as opposed to Fruta Conquerors’ two.

The winner of the final of the Stag Beer Revival Cup is expected to walk away with a $500,000 first prize.

Second and third place will receive $250,000, and $150,000 respectively.

The Revival Cup was launched last year by the GFA with support from the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) to cater for football clubs within the Georgetown area, resuscitating the competitive spirit between the Georgetown clubs after a long time.

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West Indies women to tour Pakistan after nearly 15 years

W

est Indies, the last non-Asian women's team to tour Pakistan, are set to play in the country again after nearly 15 years. The series, comprising three T20Is, will take place in Karachi from January 31 to February 3, and will mark the resumption of women's international cricket in Pakistan since they hosted Bangladesh for two T20Is and two ODIs in September 2015.

West Indies had last toured Pakistan in March 2004 for an ODI series.

They were only the second team overall to play in the country, after Netherlands.

They will play the three T20Is at the Southend Club in Karachi, before moving to Dubai for three ODIs that will be part of the 2017-21 ICC Women's Championship.

The first ODI will be held at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, while the second and third matches have been assigned to the ICC Academy ground. The West Indies women will arrive in Dubai on January 26 before travelling to Karachi on January 30.

"The visit of the West Indies women's team to Karachi is great news not only for Pakistan cricket but for women's cricket in general," PCB chief operating

officer Subhan Ahmad said.

"We are thankful to Cricket West Indies and their players for trusting the PCB and agreeing to play three T20Is in Karachi.

"The decision of Cricket West Indies endorses our position that Pakistan is as safe and secure as any other country. On behalf of the PCB, I would like to say that we are confident that this tour will go a long way in the complete revival of international cricket in Pakistan.

"The PCB and the CWI have a very long history of collaboration and mutual respect, and this decision further illustrates strong relationship between the two boards. With the West Indies women's cricket team's agreement to partake in the three T20Is, the CWI has reiterated their support for a key member of the cricket fraternity in a time when we are working extremely hard to get international cricket back into our backyard.

"By playing in Karachi, they will also contribute to the growth and popularity of women's cricket in this part of the world. I am sure this series will inspire a number of young women cricketers to take up this great sport."

CWI chief executive

Johnny Grave said: "This tour is a further major step for our friends at the Pakistan Cricket Board to bring their cricket back home, and we are pleased that our players and support staff have recognised this and supported this venture.

"The security plan arranged by the PCB is of exactly the same level that the Windies men's team had last year and independent security advisors, Eastern Star International (ESI), have confirmed to both the CWI and WIPA that they are satisfied that the risk is manageable and can be mitigated to an acceptable level.

"We have made it very

clear to the players and support staff that should any of them have any personal reservations about this tour, than we fully understand and accept their position."

Last year, the West Indies men's team played three T20Is in Karachi, snapping a near-decade absence of top-flight, bilateral international cricket in Pakistan, enforced by the attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in 2009.

Zimbabwe, too, toured in 2015, for five limitedovers games, while World XI exhibition T20s, a T20I against Sri Lanka and a few Pakistan Super League matches have been played in the past two years.

Although Pakistan women made their international debut in 1997, a continued conservative outlook towards women in the sport has meant only 23 ODIs, two T20Is and a solitary Test have been played on home soil. Only two non-Asian women's teams - Netherlands and West Indies - have played international cricket in Pakistan, the former becoming the first side to tour the country for a sevenmatch ODI series in April 2001.

West Indies played three ODIs in Pakistan in 2004 and although the home team lost the series 2-5, the headlining acts of the tour came dur-

ing the drawn one-off Test.

Pakistan opener Kiran Baluch surpassed Mithali Raj's 214 to make 242, which still stands as the highest individual score in women's Tests. Shaiza Khan, the Pakistan captain, followed up Baluch's heroics with the best match figures of 13 for 226, including a hat-trick in West Indies' first innings.

Bismah Maroof is set to return as the Pakistan captain for the West Indies series. Following a sinus surgery in July 2018, Maroof had stepped down from the position. She recovered in time for the World T20 in November, but the experienced Javeria Khan had to fill in as stand-in captain.

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